Thirteen's Gross Art

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Thirteen · #1 Post by **Thirteen** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 9:47 pm

Hey. I just wanted to share some of my gross art with all ya'll.
Critiques are welcomed, because improvement is what I seek.

: Commission I did for Atma505 @ Weasyl

So here are some examples of my work. Just a heads up I hardly ever draw humanoid characters because I'm a giant furry, so I don't really have too much experience with that.
Also I'm a "self taught" artist, but I'm currently taking Drawing and Composition I at community college, so yeah.

MaiMai · #2 Post by **MaiMai** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 10:07 pm

I think you have a fun sense of color so far and your painting skills are pretty decent. Since you're taking courses at college, those aforementioned skills should improve!

You don't have to draw humanoid characters, but I think an understanding of basic human anatomy could help you draw better furry characters? That or keep a collection of animal pictures on hand so you have good reference materials. Other then that, I suppose you could ask yourself a few questions such as what you personally want to improve on; composition, lighting, line art, landscapes...

Thirteen · #3 Post by **Thirteen** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 10:20 pm

MaiMai wrote:I think you have a fun sense of color so far and your painting skills are pretty decent. Since you're taking courses at college, those aforementioned skills should improve!

Oh thank you!

MaiMai wrote:You don't have to draw humanoid characters, but I think an understanding of basic human anatomy could help you draw better furry characters? That or keep a collection of animal pictures on hand so you have good reference materials.

That's true. I don't really use references that much, but I really should! I'll start compiling folders.

MaiMai wrote:Other then that, I suppose you could ask yourself a few questions such as what you personally want to improve on; composition, lighting, line art, landscapes...

Mostly I want to get down anatomy so I can draw full body figures confidently. Also basic composition and drawing skills (which I'm taking classes in). For a long time I wasn't really all about improving, but I can see myself stagnating in skill. I feel like once I can draw a full figure competenly I can start worrying on landscapes, backgrounds, interiors, and so on.

Thank you for the critique. It gave me a lot to think about and consider!

chocojax · #4 Post by **chocojax** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 12:01 am

(I'd just like to add a tiny bit more to your reply to MaiMai: Not only compile, but be sure to observe in real life as well. Humans appear much more frequently than animals.)

I really like how you choose your colors, especially the colors used in mirth.png! Just a few comments:

commission feat bg.png:
- The boobs are strangely shaded. In this case, perhaps a bit more shadow on the undersides (of the boobs) would be good? So that it's clearer that they're fully rounded.
- Might've been neat if you added shades of blue to the background to match with the shadows on her figure.

a sky like fire.png:
- Blurry! It's probably just because the canvas size you worked on is average-ish to me.
- Perhaps you could've pushed the shades on the (closer) mountains more?
- Pushing the little bunny (?) figure at the bottom up more would've made it more noticeable, unless you were going for something hidden?

Thirteen · #5 Post by **Thirteen** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 7:51 pm

chocojax wrote:(I'd just like to add a tiny bit more to your reply to MaiMai: Not only compile, but be sure to observe in real life as well. Humans appear much more frequently than animals.)

Ah will do! I'll try to draw more from life then ^^

chocojax wrote:I really like how you choose your colors, especially the colors used in mirth.png! Just a few comments:
- The boobs are strangely shaded. In this case, perhaps a bit more shadow on the undersides (of the boobs) would be good? So that it's clearer that they're fully rounded.
- Might've been neat if you added shades of blue to the background to match with the shadows on her figure.

Ah thank you for the advice. I think the whole picture could use more stark shadows, so I'll work on making the value darker.
And the background comment is super helpful! I never even thought to add blue to the background. That woul've really tied it all together nicely.

chocojax wrote:a sky like fire.png:
- Blurry! It's probably just because the canvas size you worked on is average-ish to me.
- Perhaps you could've pushed the shades on the (closer) mountains more?
- Pushing the little bunny (?) figure at the bottom up more would've made it more noticeable, unless you were going for something hidden?[/spoiler]

[/quote]

I think when I drew that one (It was a while ago like a month or 2) I purposefully blurred it? I'm not sure. I think I was trying to capture depth. But since that time I've learned better haha.
Once again I have issues with shading and getting values darker, so I'll try to work on that.
The lil dude was purposefully pushed to the very edge, to create a sense of insignificance to the character in comparison to the mountains.

Thank you for the criticism! It's very helpful!

Thirteen · #6 Post by **Thirteen** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:37 am

More art!
Mostly doodles and practice!
I hope to make steps towards artistic improvement.

Thirteen · #7 Post by **Thirteen** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 6:27 pm

ive had really bad art block as of late.
here are some drawings. im trying hard to not make terrible art haha.

Drew · #8 Post by **Drew** » Tue Apr 14, 2015 3:14 pm

It's good to see someone else who's working on their skills and trying to get better.

A few things I thought of:
*Your cartoon style pictures show that you have a nice fluidity to your line work. That's good.
*I'd work on your anatomy eternal and internal, particularly the dragon, lacks any defined structure. Sketching out a basic skeleton might help keep things in relation to each other and help you see where muscles etc should go on.
*For reference of fantasy creatures look at close real world counterparts, like dinosaurs, reptiles and large birds.
*Don't worry about backgrounds and the like at the start, they distract from other elements of the scene and it pays to break learning down into little chunks. After all, practice isn't about making finished pieces.

I don't remember who said it, but art's not about getting good, it's about sucking a bit less every day - I always remember that when I look at my work after seeing the great stuff that other people are producing.

Keep practising and things will keep moving forward.

Thirteen · #9 Post by **Thirteen** » Tue Apr 14, 2015 6:23 pm

Drew wrote:It's good to see someone else who's working on their skills and trying to get better.

A few things I thought of:
*Your cartoon style pictures show that you have a nice fluidity to your line work. That's good.
*I'd work on your anatomy eternal and internal, particularly the dragon, lacks any defined structure. Sketching out a basic skeleton might help keep things in relation to each other and help you see where muscles etc should go on.
*For reference of fantasy creatures look at close real world counterparts, like dinosaurs, reptiles and large birds.
*Don't worry about backgrounds and the like at the start, they distract from other elements of the scene and it pays to break learning down into little chunks. After all, practice isn't about making finished pieces.

I don't remember who said it, but art's not about getting good, it's about sucking a bit less every day - I always remember that when I look at my work after seeing the great stuff that other people are producing.

Keep practising and things will keep moving forward.

Oh thank you for the advice! Especially on anatomy. I hardly ever sketch out skeletons, so I'll try that!
Thank you very much for the feedback!

Thirteen · #10 Post by **Thirteen** » Thu Feb 04, 2016 10:26 pm

I've had a year of improvement, so my art is less terrible. My technical skills have definitely improved, so that's cool. (Also the HF stands for houseflesh, which is sort of my new online name thing.)