Crits for this Watercolor Painting?

[Kalico]

Hey all!

I always feel so nervous posting here...haha.

Anyway, here's a watercolor painting I think I've pretty much finished, but I wanted to get some feedback on it if anyone's willing . He's one of my characters from a novel I wrote--a harpy-angel named Finch.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to change much in it anymore due to watercolor's unforgiving tendencies...but any advice would be good for the future! (And who knows, maybe I could find a way to fix whatever it is that needs fixing if it's dire enough, heh ).

Thanks to all who look!!

[Ayem]

Hmmm... his right wing is looking a little cramped there. It's kinda makin' the picture look cramped, ya know? Not as much movement as there could be.

[Kalico]

That's a good point! On retrospect, I'm not quite sure why I chose to have that wing folded in the first place...hmm. That problem might actually be fixable, though, if I merely painted more feathers to the left? I'd have to make sure the anatomy would look correct still though...hmmm.
Thanks for the crit, though, Ayem!

[Viridis]

I think the biggest thing I see with this is that you've got very flat colors. The grass is green. The feathers are brown. The jeans are blue. If you want real depth to a piece, don't be afraid to mix in other colors that are just very light. You'd be amazed what a pale wash of yellow ochre or slight strokes of burnt sienna mixed in can do to liven up a patch of grass.

Mix up your colors, and maybe work on your backgrounds a little bit. I'm a little confused-- if he's sitting on top of a cliff, how can his foot be resting on the ground over the gap?

There's also a rather washed-out look the the piece overall, with a lack of any uniform light source-- why don't we see a shadow on the ground behind and below him, for example? Think about these things and push them further in maybe your next piece, and you should definitely improve.

[Kalico]

I think the biggest thing I see with this is that you've got very flat colors. The grass is green. The feathers are brown. The jeans are blue. If you want real depth to a piece, don't be afraid to mix in other colors that are just very light. You'd be amazed what a pale wash of yellow ochre or slight strokes of burnt sienna mixed in can do to liven up a patch of grass.

Mix up your colors, and maybe work on your backgrounds a little bit. I'm a little confused-- if he's sitting on top of a cliff, how can his foot be resting on the ground over the gap?

There's also a rather washed-out look the the piece overall, with a lack of any uniform light source-- why don't we see a shadow on the ground behind and below him, for example? Think about these things and push them further in maybe your next piece, and you should definitely improve.

Thanks so much for those crits!! Yeah, I see what you mean. I actually did put in other colors such as sienna into the grass, etc, and have a very light wash of yellow ochre, but the scan is pretty terrible. But that still doesn't excuse it--I should've used more colors to get a less-flat feeling. Purple would've been nice...and more sienna....hmm.

Here's another watercolor I did recently where I think I did better with colors than the above example, though they might be a little garish, hah. Any crits on the below piece are welcome as well, although it's a little surreal, heh... I see flaws in it, but it was fun, so I'm welcome to suggestions!
Thanks guys!!

[Janos]

Your first watercolour does seem rather flat and I also do not understand teh background. Is it a canyon? if it is, is the angelboy gigantic?

Your second watercolour is quite nice, and although teh colours are rather garish, they fit the mood of an eccentric piece. I really like the fish, though the one you see from top seems to be lighted differently to teh others.

Cheers

[Asatira]

I also wonder about the background. I don't think there are many cracks in the ground like that; it looks more like a canyon and the figure is too large for it. And if you have a leg resting against something, have it look like it's resting against something. When I first looked at it, I thought the leg was just swinging out. And lastly, don't be afraid to have something go off the page. I think that's what happened with the angel's right wing. In future pieces like this, you can have the wing go off the page or angle both wings so they in a different position, say more perpendicular/back than the flat pose you have for his left wing.

[JBurrough]

I think the main points have been hit on the first piece, but I want to add that there seems to be an articulation issue with the wings as well. The figures left wing articulates at three points, while the right wing has only two... I think that's the part that seems off regarding the wings.

To the second piece, I can only say beautiful. Love the colors and design, though for some strange reason I'd love a bit of brilliant green and purple in the sky... the whole piece reminds me of the aurora borealis, for some reason. (I doubt that's spelled right, but I'm too lazy to look it up just now, lol, cocoa has me lethargic).

Keep up the great work!

[Viridis]

Eee! Fish in space!

I love wacky pieces like this, especially when they're full of delicious colors. It's very nice, and has a lot more character than the first piece. I think the only thing I'd say for that would be to add some green and maybe blues, as JBurrough noted. If you look at pictures of nebulae in space or the aurora, there's a lot of really wild colors in there and blending those could be pretty fun. You also might want to consider going in with some white gouche or acrylic and putting some highlights in either as stars, or as "spray" to make the illusion of them "swimming" in space more clear.

(I know purist watercolorists are always like OMG DON'T USE WHITE but it really can make a huge difference. I've started using Bleedproof White for small highlights in my pieces and you can get some really neat effects.)