Cub in Forest

[Zuno]

This is the second version (V1)

This is a fantasy type tiger cub (species called Moonling), but with the exception of a bit of a color difference and wings it should look like a tiger cub.

What I struggle with the most is to make the image look like a whole.....
Any tips?

And please, I'm still not please with it and will continue working with it, but I need to know what looks wrong, anything and everything =^_^=


*added V3 (has wings and markings, + some more work on the fur)

[JL.Alfaro]

theres too much black on this, way too much. you need to experiment with color- hues and complimentary colors. you should really start with a black and white image and then apply color to it later on. Animal anatomy is off a bit- not much I can say beside that as i am not an expert on animal anything.
The eyes are on different levels, and the added wings and such on the second image are awful- get rid of them. Start a second image with what you have learned on this one. Dont rely too much on pre-made brushes. and dont use white for highlighting.

[mutestar]

The best advice I can give you is study anatomy and work more on midtones. Like JL.Alfaro said, you rarely, if ever, want to use black and white for them. Because he covered more of the colours, I'm going to hit the anatomy.

The eyes are a bit uneven and their shapes look different. The muzzle looks off - the nose is pulled down by the tongue and the little parts under the nose (the sides of the upper mouth - hopefully you know what I mean) don't seem to attach properly to the rest of the face. Make sure you give them somewhere to go. The chin could stand to be a bit larger, but that's not a big deal.

I like the way you gave a pudgy quality to the body - it makes it look more like a baby - but it connects to the head oddly - did you draw this with basic shapes before you painted it? The rib cage and back legs appear to be in profile, while the front paws are somewhere between a front view and a 3/4ths view. If the paws were in full frontal view I'd have the ribcage be in-between frontal and 3/4ths and the hips in 3/4ths. That way the pose would be more readable and easier for you to see how to draw the different parts. One way you could have a bit of a quick fix here would be to move the paw on the right side out so that it is directly in front of the viewer. This would help with the pose and make it more natural. Also maybe add a little more chest showing behind the neck ruff. Lovely job with the paws themselves! I wish I could draw them that well.

The rump is where I see the most trouble with anatomy - the poor thing doesn't look like it has hips! The way the animal's body is set up more or less like the attached image (excuse the quality - it's late and I have class in the morning). While I don't claim to have great proportions in this 2 second sketch I hope you can see the general hip shape - kind of a narrow box, maybe tilted a bit, at or below spine level. The way you have it looks as though the hind leg is dropped over the bottom of a rib cage like a blanket.

Overall, I'd say work more on anatomy before you worry about the texture (though I appreciate that you tried). The best animal book I've found is Hultgren's Art of Animal Drawing and it's only $10 - not bad at all! Good job so far and good luck!

[Zuno]

Thank you so much for the critique! =D
I guess it's apparent that I have little experience with art =P
It makes me so happy getting these comments so I can improve =^_^=


JL.Alfaro:
I did start from B/W and add the colors in later, but I didn't use to many hues as I have little knowledge of how they should be used to get the right effects. I know about the basic color concepts thou, I should try put the knowledge to practice for once
I did use a bit much pure black and white and to little mid tones in the B/W, I see that now. I'll try do something with that as well =^_^=
But the wings would have to stay thou, as they are part of the design (If I remove them I can't use this image as a Moonling, they must have wings)
Maybe someone have tips on how to make them look better instead?


Celarania:
I didn't realize I had that many mistakes on the animal ^^;
Thanks for pointing them out, I'll see if i can fix them =^_^=
The book you recommended looks great! I found it on amazon with the possibility to look inside it, I will definitely buy it! =D

[Donovan V]

The first thing to hit me was the contrast. I think you could add some depth if the objects up front have a heavy contrast and as you move into more distant objects they have less contrast. My two cents for you. Take with a grain of salt. I'm not an expert either