TinyBird's sketches - only critiques please, no compliments

[IsaacEs]

So much crazy variety in this sb! awesome stuff

[PeteJ]

this sketchbook is too amazing.

[TinyBird]

[Tamaira2011]

love the adventurer-spider-thingy really great.

[TinyBird]

sleep

[TinyBird]

Yeah I’m horrible when I’m supposed to tell what my things are about without blanking out mentally. Because that’s really all I manage to say. If I ever get Gore printed, all the back is going to say is “it has fantasy in it”. I just don’t know what my things are about or how to say it without turning red, which is probably something I should fix.

[Leonor]

LOL! I do the same. Or I babble a lot about it in incomprehensible detail and then I regret it. (To be honest I'm still not quite sure what I'm doing)

Aren't you doing two comics, though? The fantasy one and the sci-fi-dark one?

[TinyBird]

Aren't you doing two comics, though? The fantasy one and the sci-fi-dark one?

Yes but I wasn't doing it when they asked me of this.

[Kriss_Kringle]

You seem to be on your way to becoming a jack of all trades,dude! Great versatility going on here!

[TinyBird]

You seem to be on your way to becoming a jack of all trades,dude!

"Jack of all trades, master of none"
Gee. Thanks. I'd rather appreciate an actual critique if you have something to say.

[TinyBird]

[kamikazel33t]

I really like the sketchbook(you probably get that a lot xD), I actually like looking more at the very sketchy stuff, I was just wondering how long you took to draw the figures? What I can suggest even though I am probably not in a position too xD, is too work more on line variety with your figures and try and emphasize the gesture of the pose using that and really try to push the asymmetry of the figure's pose. This is the knowledge I simply just picked up off of books I was reading although I did not really come around to applying it perfectly(actually it's more half assed xD) so if you don't notice that you need it in your work or that the advice confused you or did not come around as useful feel free to disregard it. Keep posting!

[TinyBird]

I was just wondering how long you took to draw the figures?

Most of them were 10 minute poses I think, the model didn't say.

[Kriss_Kringle]

What the hell,man?I didn't mean that in a bad way.It's a well known fact that in order to be a good drafstman you have to be a jack of all trades so I don't know why you're upset.
As for the critique part,I don't have much to add because your stuff is already looking great.I don't like how you do the eyes sometimes on your comic characters,their irises are too big but that's just a case of personal taste as opposed to being an actual fault.

[Cider]

"Jack of all trades, master of none"
Gee. Thanks. I'd rather appreciate an actual critique if you have something to say.

Sincere critique: responding to compliments with sarcasm seems ungracious. You don't give anything up if you acknowledge that somebody likes your stuff.

Now, I'll pile on the flattery . I've been following for months now, and this is my favorite sketchbook on ConceptArt. There's lots of stunning pictures on CA, but I don't find a better sense of story anywhere else. I can actually find surprising and unexpected here. Awesome work.

[TinyBird]

Sincere critique: responding to compliments with sarcasm seems ungracious. You don't give anything up if you acknowledge that somebody likes your stuff.

I don't see quoting a well known quote that has negative uses as a compliment, and honestly I ask in my original post:

No compliments.

yet people seem to deliberately to ignore that or better yet never bother to read that (which is generally why I don't chew everyone out and just close my SB until there's something I see worth complimenting about).
I don't find compliments to be constructive at all, really. If I don't like something but someone else does, hearing them they like something is not going to change my mind.

[Cider]

Fair enough. Maybe I'm dense (likely), but even after reading the "so yeah, no compliments," I didn't know you literally wanted to hear no compliments. My apologies.

That said, I stand by my critique: accepting compliments graciously is good practice, IMO. That doesn't mean changing your mind about anything, or fawning over every kind word, BTW.

[p sage]

people seem to deliberately to ignore that or better yet never bother to read that (which is generally why I don't chew everyone out and just close my SB until there's something I see worth complimenting about)

Not everyone reads your book from page one (or wherever that post is) until here.

I've just been following the book you have because I'm waiting to see when your linework will improve. Honestly I think the bristly digital lines could improve. But it's no lie or flattery to say you do a good job of telling stories.

I hesitate to give any critique, because from what I've seen, you battle back a lot. So I say very little and try to be supportive.

I'll say very little here from now on.

[TinyBird]

I hesitate to give any critique, because from what I've seen, you battle back a lot.

May I ask in where I've battled against a critique given to me? Also I'd really like to hear what bothers you with my linework. (Though honestly your comments in here just puzzle me because I have no idea what you mean with "LOL moments" and such in specific panels.)

Morning doodles

[TinyBird]

Fair enough. Maybe I'm dense (likely), but even after reading the "so yeah, no compliments," I didn't know you literally wanted to hear no compliments.

Well, I admittedly do kinda get that a lot "oh you're pouring your heart open about things that seriously distress you, YOU SO FUNNY WHATTA KIDDER LOL wait what you were actually serious?".
After several years it starts to grind a bit.

Though honestly I'm not sure either what I should do with a compliment. I can use a critique to look at my work more critically, but not a compliment.

[Leonor]

Tinybird, what about "only crits, no compliments" under your username or sketchbook title?

Or you might want to consider sorting whatever conflict that makes you distressed about compliments. If they don't matter to you, they shouldn't be bothering you either.

I've recently learned that praise with a reason can be of value in some contexts. For instance, if you post 10 thumbs of the same concept it might be easier to say which one is better and why than to point the flaws in all the other 9. If there's a reason behing the compliment it could be good to know, so watch for the reason.

The bad thing about caring for compliments is that people get to a point they only feel good based on how many compliments they get. But to let compliments do the opposite, to upset you, is also commiting a mistake. You're letting others control how you should feel. Basically, this whole kerfuffle on feeling bad over compliments thing is a bad attitude to have too, so it might be worth it to watch for that.

To encourage more crits, follow up to the ones you have. Someone told you your digital lines are brisk. You could experiment with being more precise with your inking. What for how old comic classics were inked, how lines were expressive without looking messy.

[TinyBird]

Tinybird, what about "only crits, no compliments" under your username or sketchbook title?

Well it was pretty much proven that people don't take what I say seriously but it's worth trying.

Or you might want to consider sorting whatever conflict that makes you distressed about compliments. If they don't matter to you, they shouldn't be bothering you either.

Of course compliments matter to me, it's just that I generally hate my art.
It's mostly like this:


And yes, I know that's not a good attitude to have but I honestly don't know how I can change that.

To encourage more crits, follow up to the ones you have. Someone told you your digital lines are brisk. You could experiment with being more precise with your inking. What for how old comic classics were inked, how lines were expressive without looking messy.

Well that would require me to actually get crits that I understand... (now it's me being dense, but I have no idea how to actually make my digital inking more precise because I can't really tell what's the difference between that and my traditional inking) but your suggestion about comic classics is a good one.

[Lê Ngọc Anh Thư]

really love your style, so cute and funny!

[TinyBird]

[Suncut]

I really like the latest traditional sketches you did, I love those shapes you are using. (sorry) I think the difference between your traditional inks and digital ones is that the stroke are much longer and flowing with traditional, and have natural pleasing variations in the line weight, whereas the digital has shorter strokes and the line weight ends being pretty even throughout the pieces. I guess I'd be interested in seeing you use more variations in the length and the weight of your digital strokes. Or keep the line style mostly, but start spotting more blacks to add variation. I get the impression most of the digital lines are done really fast, so it's hard to judge the quality if you aren't putting everything in and using a lot of time to make something as good as you can occasionally.

I like the latest dragons but the lightning effects ends up looking sloppy, I'd either also add soft airbrush shadow around the edges of the dragons or remove the lightning effect and leave them flat.

[p sage]

OK... apologies for going back on my promise to say "very little"

May I ask in where I've battled against a critique given to me?

Maybe it's a bad perception I have, but it seems like when I see critiques... you will answer them with a sentence that begins with "Well, I did that because.... " ... and then a rationalization follows. I get that. I empathize, because I draw things that get critiqued too... and it's natural to defend one's self.

It's been rare for me to see you simply take a point, and agree with it. (and I've been quietly following your work for a while... because I like your message).

Maybe you answer crits like that because you are further along in your understanding of making art, and maybe the critiques are flat out wrong. Maybe we aren't articulating what we see very well. either.

Also I'd really like to hear what bothers you with my linework.

Well, sometimes the lines suit your subjects, but I feel sometimes they don't. Line quality affects mood. Smooth, flowy lines have a different mood than thick, straight, uniform lines.

The lines in most of your work have an abrasive, "scratchy" quality to them... which applies kind of a tense emotional mood to the work. If all of your work is intended to have a tense mood to it... maybe that's fine.

The strokes do seem very deliberate, which is good. It means your idea is well defined and lines like that carry conviction. They have the power to convince the viewer.

Some of the interior lines (non-contour lines) carry the same line weight and uneven character, which tends to confuse my eyes... the expectation being... smaller shapes need more refined lines, and interior lines in general shouldn't compete with the outline. And because interior and exterior lines tend to have the same quality, the shapes of things flatten out and lose volume.

It's difficult to get too technical, because it forces a person who is used to thinking visually to articulate something very precisely.

(Though honestly your comments in here just puzzle me because I have no idea what you mean with "LOL moments" and such in specific panels.)

Specifically I find your comics intriguing and humorous, and those are just spontaneous reactions.

The one where the father is reading a letter from his son... who is annoyed by the dufus staying with him. In the last panel, the son essentially "outs" himself (in an offhand way) by calling the dufus handsome. It made me chuckle.

---

Again... as an outsider to your creative process, but someone who follows your work... it's easy for me to see others enjoying what you're doing. It's because (I believe) you have certain skills for story telling, and you have compelling things you want to say. Already you're communicating through your art... some of us are getting the message. It's entertaining, believe it or not.

Well that would require me to actually get crits that I understand... (now it's me being dense, but I have no idea how to actually make my digital inking more precise because I can't really tell what's the difference between that and my traditional inking) but your suggestion about comic classics is a good one.

Apologies if what I say isn't articulated precisely every time. Its one of the challenges of artists to communicate, anyway... which is ironic. We learn to draw so we (as people) can communicate better... and I can't communicate so well.

LINES: You can experiment with taking size dynamics off the brush, and use just opacity dynamics for a while. You could do studies that require precise lines. You can look at digital work that uses a more precise line, and study it. Again... maybe you come back to the more bristly lines. But consider, maybe, what I wrote about using different line qualities to help express mood and interior contours a bit differently.

[Leonor]

Of course compliments matter to me, it's just that I generally hate my art.
It's mostly like this:

Compliments don't matter unless there's a reason behind them, a good explanation why it's good that helps you with your work. You can like your work without the confirmation of other people. If you know it's good and there's no crits, be happy.

I like it + no crits = work is good
I like it + good crits = work can be improved
I like it + bad crits = work is good
I like it + others like it = I like it
I like it + others don't like it = I like it
I like it + good explanation why it's good = work is good

I don't like it + good crits = work can be improved
I don't like it + bad crits = I don't like it
I don't like it + no crits = work is good
I don't like it + others like it = I don't like it
I don't like it + explanation why it's good = work is good

If you don't like your work, if you know it's bad, it might be helpful to say it and why. Or to improve on it before you post. People assume you're posting work you like and for which you didn't find mistakes. So they either say they like it because they can't find mistakes or offer crits if they find mistakes. Take care this whole "I don't like my work" is not fake modesty (you really like it but think you can't) that kind of attitude leads to +20 years of depression. True story.

[Candra H]

I hope you don't mind me chiming in here.

Well it was pretty much proven that people don't take what I say seriously but it's worth trying.

People do take what you say seriously. You might not be very good at taking compliments, or even constructive criticism, without getting bristly and argumentative, but you're intelligent, your work is good, and people pay attention when you "talk" in here because what you say is worth listening to. Whether they read your op or not isn't really anything to worry about. People rarely read those and you cant really expect them to.

You also cant force people not to compliment your work. It's a natural inclination in most humans to say when they like something, and for most to also add why they like it. Sure, it isn't easy to accept praise when you think your own work isn't that great. I always struggled to accept compliments about anything in life so I get where you're coming from. But over time, I learned to just thank people for taking the time to say something nice, even if I don't always agree with them. You're still young and prickly so I'm not judging you for anything in here because I recognise a lot of my younger self in you and know that with time and life experience, those prickly corners will eventually get rubbed off.

I guess I'm just saying that it's okay to say thanks for a compliment and carry on busting your chops to improve your work anyway.

As for compliments being useful or not? That's a personal thing you can only learn in your own way so people saying only constructive compliments are useful isn't really true. It's just how it works for them. I don't mind people telling me they like my stuff and leaving it at that. I don't need to hear why they like it, though if they add that in too, I don't mind either because that gives me a little objective perspective on what people like about my art. It's all good because I appreciate that they took the time to say anything at all.

In general, just keep doing what you're doing with your art and try not to compartmentalise everything into negatives or positives. Life is so much more complex and messy than that.

[self-epidemic]

From what I see there are no object studies ( though I wasn't going to go through all these pages, sorry ) maybe getting a good feel of materials, I think this knowledge could strengthen your variation, giving your characters/designs more interesting feel.

Its all okay work, and you have a lot of interesting studies, but apart from your cartoon work, I don't see any thing else, you don't really push past that, and its a shame because your forms and figures have a lot of potential. That's just my comment though, so take it as you feel

[TinyBird]

Thanks for all the critiques, I'll be sure to keep reading them and I'll address each properly (and try not to do a "well, that's because" thing for them) after I get into grasping how lazy I've been.


(I haven't been doing anything proactive)