Nele still hopes she'll get good eventually - Update: August, 21st

[kevin_]

great sb, really like your colored characters!

[Nele Klumpe]

Thanks kevin

Selfportrait since over a year I think o___o

[Mark Tarrisse]

Hey Nele ! Sorry that illustration you talked about didn't really catch my eyes, after you telling me that we hadn't even commented on it, I got back over it and took some time to look at it a little longer.
First of all, I really don't like the knight, don't like the pose ( too static, and not well fit in the composition) he's almost taking the half of the illustration but has no true interesting details on him, and even the armor isn't render that well.
So yea nearly 50% of the image is lost for me, I'm not to fond of the background, you could have added some more vegetation on the ground and on the walls etc. And also behind the walls, you could have added a more interesting sky.
What elsseeee.... hmmmm...
The girl is pretty cool, the pose is dynamic, she looks interesting (except the face she could have had a more interesting expression maybe scared a little, or sure of her self and angry)
In fact I think the girl is really interesting and well done, but ! the rest is really "meh" !
Sorry to be so harsh, but you wanted a critique, that's how I make critics, that's why I don't do too much critiques anymore because people usualy hate me after each critiques
Hope you don't get it bad, I really think you're good at what you're doing, that's why I won't asspat, I prefere to tell you what I think about it, you can do really better, push your self further

[MeteorCat]

I really like the self-portrait and your latest characters. I wish I could draw like that from my head

[Infinit]

Well waht can I say... you caught us redhanded. At being lazy bums and just nitpicking at a piece that's easier to crit

But because I think you rly want some thoughts on your personal piece I will give you the questionable pleasure of recieving one of my all out crits!

First of I want to say that, for me, it's always harder to crit a personal piece, especally if there was a big amount of time put into it. So all comments are strictly ihmo

What I like:
+the colours are good
+her character is well done, good pose, expression of despair and stubborness, dynamic

What I don't like:
-The ruins look way too flat and lack details
-if this takes place in a very old ruin, where is all the rubble, why is there only grass no bushes, this makes the scene look staged (too clean)
-the ruins are quite generic and uninteresting
-the wall in the FG is way to restricting makeing it look like the girl is caught between it and the knight
giving her more "room" to come from can help to convey her motion
-the perspective is ...off
so I made a paintover to clarify my points

so the knight looks like he's way closer to the viever than the girl and should be on "our" side of the wall
just compare their body sizes, if he was where it looks he is he would be huge, kneeling or standing in a hole
that he's cut off on all sides isn't exactly helping
I guessed a path she would be taking to get to him.

I also made a paintover with a lot of changes I'd make to the painting


keep up the effort, I hope to hear your opinion on those points

grüße
Manuel

[Infinit]

I also rly like your selfportrait! I myself do them way too little...

[Revidescent]

Man, your stuff has been inspiring lately. That Pathfinder art test is fantastic, and I think the work from all your studies is really showing in your colours.

[Merē.Jorg]

You paint quite like a pro. Very much enjoyed looking through your whole sketchbook. Inspiring.

[Nele Klumpe]

Mark: Thanks for taking the time to write your honest opinion.
Of course crits are always hard to swallow, but it's way better then trying to figure out by yourself what's going wrong. So I'm going to keep pushing

MeteorCat: I think "drawing from your head" is somehow misleading. Though I'm not really using references for those character sketches I construct everthing from scratch. I do several pose thumbnails, I edit a lot, I draw in the perspective, the underlying anatomy. It's more struggling to make it work than copying a drawing that's already in my head. I wish I could do this. Would be interesting to know if other artists do it that way...

Infinit: Thanks to you too for taking the time. Man, I totally forgot about the knights size. I should know better. Next time I'll construct and plan a picture before I start to paint it.
Now you pointed all these things out I can only agree with you. It kinda proves what I already noticed: I really need to learn how to draw environments.

Revidescent: Thanks a lot! Been lurking at your sketchbook too and you got so much better! The improvement on colours feels kinda like a bonus, as I didn't really mean to study those *lol* Cool!

Merē.Jorg: I'm far from being anywhere near pro, but thanks a lot

I... gotta... practice... more!!!

Uhhh, I should remind myself of updating this! Already been two weeks. Man, how time passes by!
I'm currently busy with some comission work. Still struggling a lot. I wish I had more time for personal studies. There still so much to learn!
Currently on my study-list:

- Tonal composition (I'm currently doing thumbnail studies of Frazetta illustrations)
- Landscapes (Again and again... will I ever learn it? I hope so)
- Poses, more perspective and detail Anatomy

I also wish I could practice more faces... but there's only so much time a day

And now I look at the date I see thet I'll turn 26 next week So much at becoming an awesome artist while still being 25. I guess no one will have a super talent blast level up pill for me for the next week?
No? Hm...
So I'll better keep practicing then. "Being awesome" has never even been a measurable goal after all.

Character Sketch dump!!!!







And photostudies:

[MeteorCat]

What a wonderful update. That photostudy is great. Simple and accurate.

The first character is my favourite. His clothes/accessories are awesome and his face is very bold - someone you would remember

[Nele Klumpe]

Thank you MeteorCat

Updates:

Photostudy:


Quick portrait from memory:



photostudy:


half referenced, half from memory (Not really finished, but I noticed I gotta do more studies first until I can do this from memory... )




And some more charatcers. The first two have kind of a weird pose... I still gotta praactice so much more ö________ö

[Rafal Dorsz]

Just saw this through facebook, and something came to my mind, and so I came here to write about it.
So, here goes:
I don't know if someone thought of this already, but I think I know what might contrubute to this problem of weird/stiff poses that you seem to have.
First, I think when you're drawing your characters, you seem to be trying to show off as much of the beautifully designed clothes as you can. In those cases that the character is not just standing relaxed, it results in a weird pose, such as the guy with the gun in the last post. He's sort of in a action-y pose, but at the same time he's carefully keeping all his limbs out of the way, so that everything is clearly visible. Also, they're trying to keep their limbs nearly perpendicular to the viewers line of sight, so that nothing is too foreshortened.
Second, it seems that those characters rarely twist their torso, and that, I'm told, is a good way to show action. This causes the legs-disconnected-at-pelvis problem. This brings me to the second part of this problem: the lack of a clear line of action. I'm sure you know what that means, so I won't go into details.


I took liberty and copied a few of your previous drawings that I think have these problems:

I indicated with red arrows, where the limbs are moved away from their more natural position so as not to be in front or behins something else. Notice how often in a 3/4 view, the entire arm closest to us is brought back and away from the body so as not to obstruct the torso design.
Let me know if you want me to edit the image out of this post.

All in all, your designs and rendering are very good most of the time, it's the poses that hurt a little. They are possible, but they're not natural. It's fine if the character is just standing and presenting the costume, but if you're going for an 'action pose', I think getting some foreshortening, torso twisting, and hiding that beautiful vest behind a punch thrown at the camera would go a long way. In other words: don't be afraid to hide some parts, to show the whole better.


I hope it helps. This is what I could think of. I don't know if it's correct, or whatnot, but I'm just doing my best to help.

Take care!

[Vinicam]

This sketchbook just blown my head! So inspiring... Love the clothes designs the most and the progress shown from the start of this thread until now. Keep it up plz!

[Nele Klumpe]

Rafal: thanks for taking the time! I think you got a point there. The poses already were better some time ago, when I tried to get in some foreshortening and overlaps, but I kind of forgot about that!

Vinicam: Hey there! Great to see my work is good for something Inspiring other artists is one of the best compliments you can get!


Okay, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to update much this year, since I got so many illustrations to finish until december. From now on that means 1 colored illustration a week. (And I can't show them until next year either D:

Anyway, but I can show some stuff that got released recently and also some studies.
Let's start with characters! (Yeah I know, weird head sizes, characters that fall over... I'm working on it D: )








Life drawings depicting my lovely husband





Frazetta 15 minute value-composition studies (I really recommend those, learned tons from them)



Photostudies, still practicing landscapes, all 20 minutes



And finally some illustration I did from May (first one) until June/July (Last ones) All for "Das schwarze Auge"









Well then, take care

[MeteorCat]

I probably love just about everything you draw. Great job Nele. Keep it up!

[Junpei]

^ I was about to say the same thing. I really like the landscapes you did lately, I have a hard time with those so I'm always amazed when someone does them really well.

[lionheartGFX]

all of your illustrations are so beautiful! its true that some of them look a little bit stiff but its just from all that atention to detail you take in your drawings i love it, but i think your problem is a problem no more, thos recent figures are amazing! and feel so dynamic as well very well done

please post more im really digging your style! 5stars

[meticulous]

Really some great stuff here - wow I haven't been by in a while - LOVE the bus people! I am more of an "avert the eyes" kind of person and I have trouble staring at people and drawing - I need to work on that - drawing from a photo only gets you so far. *Digging the ball point pen stuff I see here and there too!!
Always a pleasure stopping by - great stuff and keep up the hard work!!

[Nele Klumpe]

MeteorCat: Thank you
Junpei: Awww, I don't do them very well. I gotta practice so much mooooore
lionheartGFX: Thanks a lot, I hope I can update a little more in the future.
meticulous: Uhhh tose buspeople are soooo old! But for drawing in public: It's just practice, you learn when you can look at them and when not


Yay! Seems like I could find some time to gather up some of the studies and doodles I did the past weeks..

Actually except from the SCS that I only upload because I feel like all of them should be complete, thought they're already a little older.




And the last few month I challenged myself with drawing 100 heads in a row. Most of them are from photoreference from hair magazines, some from photos and a few from life, from head, or wes burt :3 lalala



And next some studies I did following along the mentoring class over at the Crimson Daggers. I'm really attending the class, but the assignments are so inspiring, I couldn't resist So here are a few Bouguereau Studies and some skulls from life.







And some more Characters from my sketchbook of course

[Sans]

you are awesome

[aks9]

so many beautiful figures! i wish i had your figure drawings skills, as i struggle with the figure so much. way to go nele!
and that face-sheet and last study there are excellent

hey, didja got-any follow-up on this?

aks9: I already bought some of my supplies, but I'm still missing one piece so I can start building up my construction. I'll post a tutorial on how I built my plein air construction as soon as I get to build it, promised

[MeteorCat]

Incredible incredible incredible! I have no crits to give.

[Eternal Apprentice]

I have learned a lot from reading what other people have to say in here TRUE CRIT!!! I love it! I also have a goal to be at least three times as fast and 5 times better by the time I am 25. I hope I make it. I especially love the comment Rafal Dorsz had to make about turning and twisting and foreshortening the figures. WOW. I feel like my figures ( My lame attempt) come out dead or un inspiring. I want to feel/hear a WHOOSH when I see my figures!

Right now my winter break will be:
Draw in Pen
Draw from Life
Make figures go WHOOSH!!
Draw as many faces from life as I can.
Work on making my second animation!

All of which I NEED help on so I'll hope over to the Animation section and see what they can help me with. In terms of software. I already have a tablet.

[PollyBoffin]

I haven't checked your entire sketchbook, but on this last page, one thing seems clear, the faces of your characters seem rather generic and stiff. Maybe try to practice more on drawing faces? Your characters all seems rather neutral at the moment and maybe some more studies would help. I'll check your sketchbook more thoroughly later on and tell you more what I think. But it looks good so far.

[KateyParr]

Hey! That last character came out very dynamic! Well done!! Your attention to detail is really admirable... you are very talented and your digital work is drool worthy in terms of colour and form so don't beat yourself up!!

Just free up your lines, go CRAZY! See what you can draw when you really let go... Try this: http://conceptart.org/forums/showthr...d-head-anatomy

Just experiment, be confident and go for it! You're a VERY GOOD artist, don't doubt it for a second!

Also, this http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G_nwqzkTqR...10_26_boug.jpg
is STUNNING! Really beautiful study, the colours are fantastic. I really love it