Please Critique, My imagining of Gretel

[AnthonyV]

Hello
This is a first of many things for me (digital painting, conceptart.org, drawing something for longer than an hour <:p )
This is my take on Gretal from Hansel and Gretal
Any help will be much appreciated.

[Xaritonof]

Maybe to start is to draw a nude and then put on her clothes?

[meirou]

Wow, the work here reminds me of the stuff I used to do when I first started out! So it's great you've made a starting point but let me give you a few tips;

Use a reference for the pose you're trying to achieve, especially since you're a novice. If you look at the first pic, her feet and hands are extremely small. Her left wrist is bent at a very uncomfortable angle, as are her feet. As you progress through art, these details will become more apparent. You must learn now that uncomfortable poses to not translate well in art. Have you tried that position yourself? It's near impossible. Her head also stick out too much. I'd lasso it and move it slightly to the left of the page.

I don't know if you've seen people here talk about it, but alot of people mention the Andrew Loomis anatomy books. I'd sugest going to your libary, looking for the books and study them. Study muscle form, bone structure, perspective, colour theory. It will take a long time, but it's worth it.

If you need some references for poses, a good place is http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com/gallery/ www.posemaniacs.com (there's more that I've bookmarked on my other computer but I can't remember them.)


She looks a bit dead in the eyes and expressionless. You should pull faces in the mirror, see how your eyebrows, face shape, muscles etc. move. And draw what you see. It's always handy to keep a mirror beside you whilst drawing.

Lastly, have a defined light source/s. The shadows on her clothes and face are all over the place and they don't make sense. Be sure to keep this in mind.

good luck!

[AnthonyV]

Thank you very much meirou, I see what you mean as I look at Gretal more.
I'm missing a lot of basics (like good anatomy and drapery) >.> , time for life drawing classes
mjranum-stock's models seems like a good, free resource to practice drawing people, thanks