NDA Art Critique Message Boards

Ok, so I'm new at this. I bought a book by J. Peffer that completely changed the way I did all of my art work(I always started with details resulting in horrible proportion). It's better now, but now I have to completely relearn. I have never shown anyone that wasn't really close to me any of my drawings...So, please be gentle with critiques...

I got this idea from "Passion of Scarlet" by J. Peffer. It reminded me of my sister, so I made it look more like her.


Whispering winds:


Behind the mask:


My BFF and I are writing a book. This was going to be one of our characters. She's already changed, but I can't bring myself to ditch her:


And my (pitiful)attempt at abstract:


So, any tips? I know that the color is really really light. I'm working on that one.

Very nice! My favorite are the first and last ones. Good proportions, coloring, etc., etc.
Just try to make the eyes a bit smaller. They seem too big in proportion with the rest of the head/body. Also, if you look at your eyes in the mirror, you'll find that the top lashes are thicker and more plentiful on the top, while there is less on the bottom/ "thinner" (of course, this is for a more 'realistic' look). Also, the mouth should start and end with the middle of the eyes, and it isn't that far away from the nose. Just some basic anatomic problems (of course, all of this is if you're going for a realistic look....not a manga-like look, I can't help in that department).
Of course, I find that the horse anatomy with the centaur is near-perfect....I can't find anything wrong with it!

I just started with a Manga/Anime look, so I still sorta mix them and realism too much. Thanks for the tip about the eyelashes. I never thought of that.

Thanks. That centaur was my favorite to draw.

These are all pretty good, just the anatomy problems already noted and a few shading issues. Other than that, these are some nice drawings.

Unless it is truly what you are trying to go for, I strongly advise you to start studying realism instead of anime. Manga/anime seems a lot easier, and it is. This is dangerous for your artistic improvement. Many people who started out drawing people in a manage/anime-ish style had a very hard time breaking loose from it again in a later stage. It killed their ability to draw things as they are rather than as they think they are.

So unless you are sure you never want to do anything with your drawing ability (study arts maybe), I don't think you should keep up referencing from manga/anime for your humans. It's better to know how humans are truly built up, and how to draw them right, and -then- convert to a more cartoonish style. Not the other way around.

Those drawings are pretty good, but I'd go with what Lhune said.

For example, the surrealists knew the subjects they were distorting before they distorted them - a lot of them have painted amazing still life/etc pictures earlier in their lives, before they started twisting their pictures.

Thanks. Yeah, the shading...stupid shading. I can NEVER get it right. Any tips? I'm afraid to mess it up, so I don't even try.



Thanks. I never really WANTED to do Manga/Anime, I just stumbled across it and started playing with it.

Thanks.

No problem

Glad I was of assistance

I couldn't help but comment. You're off to a great start, but I have to ask...

... you do realize that "J. Peffer" is Jessica Peffer (aka NeonDragon), the owner of this website/webforum, right? You sort of speak of her as if she's someone not connected to this place, so I was curious.

Thanks. Yeah, I know. I found this place because of her website, I'm just being precise. I'm a bit of a stickler about that stuff....sorry...