iconic style characters

[Neil-W2]

feel so unworthy and inadequate
in art doing artwork, like nothing i do is good enough
it's fine that there are always people better than you its just that
at the very least id like to feel like i don't completely suck

how do you shake that kind of a feeling
like all your work is completely amaturish?

feed back is appreciated

[Grunler]

If you want a critique on these designs, try elaborating on your concept. Who are these characters? What world are the from? What do you want to do with these designs? You could take this in any number of directions, so it's important for us to know what you have in mind, even if what you have in mind is vague and uncertain.

If you want to have a discussion about feelings of inadequacy, critique center is probably not the place. That said, I would suggest focusing on your own relationship with drawing rather than your skill relative to other artists.

I took a look at some of your previous threads, and it seems like you tend to let a thread die off after the first round of critiques, instead of implementing the advice given to really push your images and get more feedback. Try taking an image from start to finish through a single thread.

[DinaCardillo]

Hey, I've seen your other threads and your stuff is nice. Now stop whining please. I think that if you want to get better you should really apply what you are told here, or at least the part of it that you agree with.

I think that Grunler is right, you should take your painting in a single thread from start to finish. I saw some of your threads and you got really good advice but you just didn't keep posting. I know it's quite hard to get all the critiques here (sometimes I see awesome paintings that get critiqued to the bones) but you should thank those, apply them and move forward with your art.

That being said, I like these little gals. But what do you want to do with them? I like the style, maybe you could try doing them performing some actions or with cute expressions. What did you draw them for? Just random or something in mind for them?

[TinyBird]

feel so unworthy and inadequate
in art doing artwork, like nothing i do is good enough
it's fine that there are always people better than you its just that
at the very least id like to feel like i don't completely suck

how do you shake that kind of a feeling
like all your work is completely amaturish?

I don't know man, read Art & Fear and buckle down and start practicing until blood flows.
I do agree with others about you abandoning every one of your posts. It's your choice and maybe you finish those things privately, but it feels kinda useless to give any help to you when you never seem to take any of it, only later post another thread talking about problems that we can't help you with.

That being said, those are pretty cute, but if you want the style to be iconic in the way that it's so recognizable that when someone sees the style they'll think these characters, the style in here is pretty safe and generic chibi stuff still. Cute, but done so many times that it might be hard to make it iconic.

[Neil-W2]

yeah,

im kinda worried about finding myself pigeon holed into a position where all im doing is perpetually revising the a single piece of work and not actually getting anywhere, or producing anything or ever working on anything else

you need to produce solid quality good stuff right, but isn't it also important to work on many different things? is there a way to balance the 2 things? should i be trying to balance them some how?

---

it's too generic eh ... hmmm ... wasn't really thinking too much about that;
suppose had something more like character design sheet or character line up in mind as opposed to an image telling some sort of story with characters that are actually doing something

wanted to show characters done with some type of style
they're a bit generic eh, nothing about them stands out describing who they are what they're about. they're almost like movie extras, or random strangers at a bus stop

[TinyBird]

im kinda worried about finding myself pigeon holed into a position where all im doing is perpetually revising the a single piece of work and not actually getting anywhere, or producing anything or ever working on anything else

So, what, your solution is to not work on anything a longer time?
I mean like you said, you can always balance that, have couple bigger things you work on slowly (critique thread images are good for that generally, as getting crits can always take bit time) and just draw whatever you want as fast as you want for the rest, working on several things at the same time. I think that comes more to the question of how much you actually draw.

or random strangers at a bus stop

Have you actually really watched random strangers in real life? I swear many random strangers could easily work as pretty memorable main characters in anything, after all their whole look is based on who they are.

[DinaCardillo]

One question, what is your goal as an artist? You said that you fear that your stuff is amateur-ish, does that mean you want to be a professional? Do you want to get paid for your art? How old are you? What kind of art do you want to do? Illustrarion, comic books, concept art for movies, etc.

I suggest that you pick a direction for your art and start working. Otherwise you'll never have a consistent style (much less "iconic") and you won't get anything done.

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As for this piece, this style has been done to death. I agree with TinyBird, these people don't look like strangers on a bus stop at all. Everyone is the hero or villain of his own story, and if you look at strangers you will always see something about them... a particular scar a young girl could be very ashamed of, a poor boy with an expensive phone he clearly can't afford trying to fit in, etc. These people just look bland.

You should try to make characters that have something distinct about them, something to look at that makes you wonder the rest of their story. At least that's how I do my stuff, or how I want to make it for that matter (I'm new to this, I used to draw bland anime characters all over again).

[vineris]

yeah,

im kinda worried about finding myself pigeon holed into a position where all im doing is perpetually revising the a single piece of work and not actually getting anywhere, or producing anything or ever working on anything else

you need to produce solid quality good stuff right, but isn't it also important to work on many different things? is there a way to balance the 2 things? should i be trying to balance them some how?

Probably. Set deadlines for yourself. (Reasonable ones). Finish a piece by the deadline, post it up, start work on the next piece.

It doesn't need to be perfect, or even good. It just needs to get done. If it sucks post it up anyway, move on to the next thing, redo it next year.

This is the only way long-term projects ever get accomplished.

If you feel sad about your art all the time, that means that you have too much time on your hands. You aren't working hard enough.

You've done these designs. Good. Now put them in a scene and get them to show some personality. Do a full-colour illustration of these three girls doing something by next week. If you don't, I'll know that your hobby is not art, it's wallowing in self-pity.

(PS - your assignment doesn't need to look particularly good, it just needs to be done on time as specified.)

[Neil-W2]

ive had experiences where im literally pulling all nighters or working on 4 hours of sleep on a regular basis, and still ended up feeling crappy about my work

well, how do you determine what you want to do with your work or what kind of style you want to have? isnt it important for a good artist to be able to mimic different types of styles?

hmmm guess i havent watched random strangers in real life enough. never been very good at designing stuff. whenever i say something like that i usually recieve some kind of rebuckle like 'cause u make that the case' or 'u just gotta work at it' or something like that. and i keep trying it out anyways, designing stuff. occasionally ill get a '1 hit wonder' but usually my designs dont pan out too well.

i think id be more comfortable with just producing stuff that designing it. like concept artists or ppl that design the stuff send stuff to me and tell me to just 'make that!' and then i make it.

art & fear eh? ill keep an eye out. yeah i need to draw more often, feel like i dont draw as often as i used to these days

eitherway wallowing in self pity does seem to have become a bit of a hobby for me

[TinyBird]

ive had experiences where im literally pulling all nighters or working on 4 hours of sleep on a regular basis, and still ended up feeling crappy about my work

And you're surprised? Working on four hours of sleep doesn't exactly enhance anyone's capabilities, it generally makes them even worse when your brain stops registering information (which means you are less likely to notice your mistakes while doing them) and I don't know where you've gotten the idea that pulling an all-nighter would produce better work than usual. (Also the "you can't polish a turd" saying applies, just spending more time on an piece doesn't always mean it becomes better.)

well, how do you determine what you want to do with your work or what kind of style you want to have? isnt it important for a good artist to be able to mimic different types of styles?

I'd say more important to have a good grasp at the basics and fundamentals, since that's generally what allows you to create in several different styles with much less effort. When your skills have a strong base, adding and changing superficial things is easy. So I'd say that if you're not sure what you want to do, stick with practicing fundamentals and everything you can find, I'm pretty sure eventually you'll notice that some things are much more fun to draw than others. But in the end it's up to you to decide these things, no one else can tell you what you should do with your work.

i think id be more comfortable with just producing stuff that designing it. like concept artists or ppl that design the stuff send stuff to me and tell me to just 'make that!' and then i make it.

Ever thought about 3D modelling? That's the closest that I can think for that.

[vineris]

Yay! You followed through with something! Good job!

Now your characters have slightly more personality to work with and you can expand on that. You have one girl that looks dopey and like she doesn't pay attention -- she would probably be childlike and dress in bright, uncoordinated colours like a child. You have one worried girl who is probably very responsible and more likely to dress like an adult and wear adult-ish colours. And we have the third girl who is just confused, and that's not quite enough personality to go on. I would probably choose something different from the other two just to distinguish her.

You can accentuate your design choices based on what you have shown about these characters in your picture.

ive had experiences where im literally pulling all nighters or working on 4 hours of sleep on a regular basis, and still ended up feeling crappy about my work

Everybody goes through a stage where they feel crappy about their work. The difference is whether you dwell endlessly on your past failures or you move on. Once a thing is done and you have learned something from it, you should put it behind you.

PS - get some sleep. Lack of sleep makes depression worse, and then you're even less likely to do stuff or like it.

well, how do you determine what you want to do with your work or what kind of style you want to have? isnt it important for a good artist to be able to mimic different types of styles?

hmmm guess i havent watched random strangers in real life enough. never been very good at designing stuff. whenever i say something like that i usually recieve some kind of rebuckle like 'cause u make that the case' or 'u just gotta work at it' or something like that. and i keep trying it out anyways, designing stuff. occasionally ill get a '1 hit wonder' but usually my designs dont pan out too well.

i think id be more comfortable with just producing stuff that designing it. like concept artists or ppl that design the stuff send stuff to me and tell me to just 'make that!' and then i make it.

Well, creativity is a skill that's separate from drawing ability. If you do not enjoy exercising this skill then you are not going to be as good at it. You can either choose to try and get better at this skill, or you can try to find a creative person like a writer to work with. There are usually lots of amateur writers looking for people to illustrate their stories or comics. Now... these writers are usually not very good, but if you'd like some practice working with a creative person it may be worthwhile to try a couple short projects with them.

But you should also ask yourself whether being comfortable is something that you really want to do. In general, people learn the most from things that challenge them and make them uncomfortable. Staying in your comfort zone will make you feel better about yourself and your work, but you will not learn very quickly. Doing things that scare you a little will often end in failure and you may not feel good about that, but you will improve faster. You should choose some compromise between these approaches that has you feeling good enough so you don't quit, but not so good that you stop improving.

Also, I would start observing people around you and how they look and do things. Even if you have a writer or art director giving you specific directions, you will have to make some decisions for yourself and it will be much easier and more efficient if you store mental images as you go rather than if you have to look them up every time and forget them as soon as they're used. Ideas are like rabbits. The more you catch, the more they breed together to create new ideas.

Anyway, now that you have a start and maybe a couple things to try, keep going.

[Neil-W2]