Crits requested for Entertainment Design portfolio

[ArtCenterStudentToBe]

This is a draft of the portfolio I'm submitting to Art Center College of Design's Entertainment Design program. I welcome all comments and critiques. Thank you!

http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/TheColonyPoster.jpg
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/TheColonyStorySynopsis.png

http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Character1_LeadDroid.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Character2_Bella.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Character3_Gash.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Character4_Max.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Character5_Farris.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Prop1_Android_Incubator.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/prop2_Droid_skinning_tool.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/prop3_Droid_miner_pickaxe.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/prop4_gun.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Prop5_MysteriousOre.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Vehicle1_BellasCar.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Vehicle2_Max_Shuttle.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Vehicle3_Android_Transport.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Vehicle4_Gashs_Shuttle.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Environment1_Maxs_Android_Lab.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Environment2_Cathedral_Storage_Depot.jpg
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Environment3_Inside_Mining_Pit.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Environment4_Outside_Mining_Pit.png
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g353/ArtCenterStudentToBe/Environment5_Colony_Exterior.png

[Lithriel]

Your figures are detracting from the overall effect of your work. I think you need to focus on bringing realistic weight to the legs through contrapasto. Your figures seem stiff and forcefully bent at the knees and elbows instead of natural and relaxed. I would do many figure studies to polish your skills up.

The layout of your work is appealing though. Some of your perspective looks off, especially the max turtle research center main image. Mock it up in sketchup if you are unsure of the perspective or take it out of your portfolio. Also, the image of the hand holding the rocks looks dreadfully cartoon-ish compared to the rest. I would study astronaut gloves and try to inject some structure as it would be present despite the padding over the hand or I would take this image out as well.

Your environments and vehicles are a step above the figure work. I would take more of the figure concepts out and really show off your strengths as the latter of works are quite nice. It will improve the overall effect of the work as a whole.

[ArtCenterStudentToBe]

Thanks, Ashley. And by the way I enjoy your work. Yeah, my figures -- Bella in particular -- definitely need work. I am doing figure studies every day, so I expect Bella to improve. I feel I need to use more reference, because I so often just wing it when it comes to the figure. I sometimes think a bold, confident style can make viewers overlook wonky structure in a figure.

Good point about the rock glove. I will definitely fix that. Your comment about my environments surprised me, but I'm grateful for it. For one thing, I'm pretty sure I need to replace those contour lines with value/shading.

Thanks again.

[msafs]

With the figures, you seem to be greatly oversimplifying the limbs and folds. Realistically, arms and legs aren't cylinders and clothing doesn't make the accordion-like folds that are especially present in the Gash Carcalla and Adam Point Nine pages. Also, your values are pretty messy, and I think you'd benefit by trying to use more delicate shading and lighter lines. Right now, there aren't any real light sources, especially in the enviros where they really count. The brush you've used in the mining scenes is very distracting and I think the images would be much more effective if you tried to paint the planes of the form instead of just relying on the jagged wire meshes to give it shape. I'm not sure if you're allowed to include these in this portfolio, but if so, I'd definitely include some observational drawings – figures, still lives and enviros… most art schools want these. Also, to give your drawings more form, try shading with lines that go around the contours of the form, instead of just straight lines in a single direction for the whole picture.

[ArtCenterStudentToBe]

Thanks, Msafs, for the perceptive crits. It's totally true that I draw my figures as a collection of cylinders, and often don't refine them beyond that point. I need to learn how to refine those simple forms. As for the environments, I'll be replacing those contour lines with shading -- motivated by a specific light source.

Thanks again.