Hit me, beat me, kill me - criticize me!!

[InsanityVonMike]

I'm sure you must think I'm lazy but really, I've been very busy with school projects and even some freelancing! Maybe not a reason enough but now finally I made myself some time to work on a piece I've posted here before... it was only kind of a thumbnail really. Anyway, here it is!



Sized 56 x 66 cm. I plan on making the shadows a little darker and also adding some highlights with a white pastel chalk. What do you think?

[InsanityVonMike]

I'm starting to believe that this thread would do better among the sketchbooks... I don't really feel like making a new thread here for each and every piece :/

But whatever... I've been quite busy lately, but this time not with school projects but with my artistic creations (: Here's a few.

This one, like the previous dragon dude (which I've now completed but have no photo on it unfortunately), is a continuation of the both fantasy sketches/thumbnails I did earlier and that are also posted here.


And these... a few live model sketches I did today!


PLEASE, do criticize - it's of great value to me! Thanks

[Chris Sanders]

Less illustration more observation. get yourself loomis (anything is good) but successfull drawing and figure drawing for all its worth. and george bridgeman. and for rendering nothing beats time and dedication with your pencil and paper at the ready. dont leave your house without a sketchpad.
Also think about your lighting. when your doing an illustration like the one above depicting some ghoulish chap (btw did you work out the perspective for that staircase or just do it by eye? either way its pretty good) think of it like a scene in 3ds max or something. start with your composition and then add a light source and makesure you make a note of where it is, doesnt mattter if its an arrow or just a not on another page. and keep refering back to it. but to get a solid grasp of light just keep studying!

Is that an intuos 5 i saw under that piece of paper?

[InsanityVonMike]

I basically made the illustrations because I needed some for my portfolio (will hopefully be attending art school this fall) but I totally agree, most of the time I find studies rather boring which possibly hinders my progression. But I do try to progress even when I'm working on illustrations, although that may sound a little controversial... not that it's a way of practice that I promote.

When I did this last illustration, I felt a bittle like as if I had to choose between volume and light/shadow. Is this a common issue? Now, the camera didn't do the picture justice. I did try to repair it in photoshop but there's still so much loss in its detail and volume!

To answer your first question, I did work out the perspective on the staircase but with that said, I'm not sure if it's all 100% accurate. Not the railing though, that's all by eye. Did you find any errors? However, there's no direct light source - it's all hidden in the clouds. If that's to my advantage or disadvantage, I cannot say.

And to answer your second question - no, it's an intuos4 But it's really good!

[Chris Sanders]

Form and light and shadow are the same thing. you can only read form by light and shadow. and the problem with the drawing is that if you squint at it- you cant tell what the hell is going on. studies are boring yes... thats why you have to spice it up.. draw something that interests you. or if you want to drawsomething from your head... but cant use that ambition to push you to study.

the staircase seems ok to my eye - as in its not jumping out at me as incorrect. however there are construsction techniques in basic perspective books that will help you to really ground your work. its a pain in the arse to learn but after you do you wont forget it.

[InsanityVonMike]

I'm only willing to agree to some extent... if you shade a sphere with only volume in mind then it will turn out round even without a certain light source. If you then shade an entire painting thinking this way, it will be given volume/form without actually making much sense in terms of light and shadow. And that was my issue... light and shadow take up much more space than if you simply shade volume without a light source. But I really did try to give light and shadow the attention it deserves - guess I'm just not that good yet and need to study more, like you said

Anyway, here's another acrylic painting I did the other day. The primary issue on this piece was to make sure that the areas that are in the dark didn't come out as flat. Not sure how well I managed but any tips on improvement would be great!



Also the latest version of Mr. dragon dude

[Lhune]

You're drawing the illustrations for your portfolio? Including the dragon guy? Because if getting into art school is your goal, I'd stop right there and start working on stuff they want to see, which is a willingness and drive to learn and improve, not "pretty pictures". Sure pretty pictures help as an example of what you're capable of, but since you're just not very far down that that artistic road yet, it's probably not going to help you much.

Did you buy Loomis' "Successful Drawing"? From the looks of things, you really, really need it.

[InsanityVonMike]

I think it's also important to understand that art schools differ from country to country. I'm from Sweden and there are many different kinds of art schools here who are all looking for different kinds of material. The schools that I'm trying to get admission into are mostly looking for personality, composition and creative thinking and if your art isn't unique, then your chances aren't very big. Sure, you need to show that you understand some of the basics as well - and I will do that with figure drawings. But from what I've heard and seen, you need to show that you have a particular style and that you're not just painting because you like doodling. You know, I'm not discrediting any of you because I believe the things you're saying are very wise and you have much more experience than I have - but just so we're on the same page. I hope you don't think they're that awful even though there's a lot of room for improvement.

I do have it as an e-book but unfortunately I've been a little short on time so I haven't been able to read every single chapter

[LightspeedChump]

Your last image needs a lot of work - but I'd suggest looking at the composition first, why have you manually resized the image to give you those white bars at the top and bottom ? The dragons in the background are too many and take up too much of your space and take away from what I assume is supposed to be the main focus. You seem very productive to me though, well done.

[InsanityVonMike]

Do you mean the bald man or the dragon? I know the bald mans right shoulder's color tone is a little off compared to the other dark areas, but I can't see any other obvious errors so if that's the one you're talking about please tell me what else to fix The bars were placed there so the aspect ratio would fit the original concept, which you will find on the first page... do you think it looks bad? And thanks for the tip, I will try to either remove or resize some of the dragons in the background.
What else should I make changes to? I need to send in the paintings on the 22th so I'm in a bit of a hurry Personally I'm a little ambivalent about his forearm... I was trying to give it a perspective but to me, it kinda looks really short... is this an issue?

[Velocity Kendall]

Good work and good advice so far. You strike me as someone who loves drawing and art, and I think thats like 80% of the battle. Now you just need to focus and make sure the lessons you learn on each piece are put to work on the next one.

Humour me for a moment, but I love the video game Gran Tourismo; one of my favourite things is taking a (grass greenw with yellow wheels) Ferrari F40 round a famous racing track called the Nurbergring Nordschlief. Its really long and complex, and seems impossible at first, but little by little you learn bits, then connect them together, then learn how to carry speed through the corners, until eventually youre trying to bring together all your trial and error to shave off vital seconds.
I really enjoy that competition you have with yourself, to try and get better and better and make each lap, and each mistake count.
Thats probably completely obscure but the point im making is, work a lot, enjoy your work, dont be too precious with each piece, make lots of mistakes, but always try not to repeat them if you can.
If forearms are bugging you, draw 50 of them, from different angles. Thatll show up glitches in your understanding of wrist and shoulders too. and so on. then you can link it up with what you know about ribacges, etc etc etc.
Best of luck and keep posting!

edit heres what im talking about. this guy didnt start out knowing the track, he learned slowly and built up. here he takes his widowmaker Porsche and his giant balls round the 'ring... if i ever somehow win the lottery even though i dont buy tickets, this is where ill be. upside down on fire at 160mph.
yes i am a very sad man

[Velocity Kendall]

damn you bot, why cant you also steal and repaste the link the person youre quoting used to explain what they were saying? i want to see the part where he talks about the three-dimensional man being etched in his brain or whatever
if i ever catch a bot im going to punch its code in so good

[arenhaus]

You really ought to begin to process your photos of the drawings... and take them in better light, or use a scanner. Everything is dark, muddy, and with poor lighting. You should at least use the Levels tool to make paper lighter and graphite darker. More contrast, please!

[InsanityVonMike]

@Velocity Kendall Hehe thanks, that's a nice metaphor! I genuinely try to improve after every piece of art I make and I will try to work more on the basics now when I'm done with the portfolio. It's probably a little controversial to seek for improvement through illustrations and not art studies but I've had no other choice really.

@arenhaus I guess that depends on which ones you are referring to because the ghoul and the dragon are both drawn on really dark paper. But sure, I can try to make them brighter in the future either way