critique now for future improvement

[LizSpit]

It is with a belly full of worry that i post this. I actually forced myself not to look at the thumbnails on this page before posting my image, just so i wouldn't chicken out of it. heh.

But, anyhow. I'm working on a project, nothing professional, something for myself really. I posted a sketch in the sketch forum that i'm hoping to get critique on. But the question came to me, what after the sketch is finished? It's hard to get critique on a finished peice because, heck, it's done. ink isin't erasable. The solution? well i'll just post an already finished picture and keep the advice in mind when coloring the new.

And so, ignoring the rock in my stomach (formed from such a long time getting asspats in DA i imagine), and with hopes of improvement for the future i post this.

I'm mostly looking for coloring critiques here, but anatomy, composition, and everything else is appreciated.

http://www.mainestarvingartists.com/...inthegrove.jpg

http://www.mainestarvingartists.com/...tsfavorite.jpg


also, an overall critique of the work in my gallery would be appreciated as well (WARNING: a lot of furry stuff there, this is a style i'm currently trying to work myself out of.If you can't be objective in the face of so much furr, please don't bother looking. heh. )
http://mainestarvingartists.com/lizspit.htm

[Seedling]

Hey, quit with all the worrying! :-) A critique is like a jump into a cold swimming pool – it can either be a miserable experience to avoid, or a very quick way to wake yourself up and get moving!

Color: The girl on a tree-branch image has a very nice range of tones: bright without being garish. You made those muted browns and greens be an interesting foil for the blue sky and dabs of purple. I think a few brighter highlights on the skin would improve it further, but otherwise, it’s solid.

The colors in the other image aren’t bad, but the values make the image a jumble. The light of the character’s skin makes her stand forward, but then her clothes and shadows are too dark, so those parts are getting lost in the foliage. And her shadows are green, which is causing further visual confusion. You certainly can make the shadows be green, as if they are lit by light filtering through green leaves, but keep this in mind: the color of a green leaf illuminated by green light is going to be a lot greener than the color of light gray skin or light blue skin illuminated by green light.

Style: the black outlines make these images look like stained glass. The tree-branch image in particular has an art nouveau feel to it.

Composition: the tree-branch image has a few big elements, and some fun details on top of those. I think you were able to arrange those elements well because of that simplicity. The other one has too many elements, and they seem to have escaped your control. If you could take the woman, dinosaur, wall of foliage, and the ground, and treat them like just four objects, then you might have an easier time getting them to do what you want.

[LizSpit]

first off, thanks for the time you spent in critiqueing my images.

It's funny that you say that, in my own critique of the image i thought the colors looked cartoony because of the brightness, More highlights aye? I'll deffinately give it a shot. Maybe that's what it needs to seem more 'real' to me.

yes, i was having some trouble with the green shadows. It's something i wanted to stick with throughout the 'project' , but couldn't seem to get it to look the way i imagined it. Your comment illuminated the subject to me. (haha. pun.) I'll deffinately keep it mind when working on the shading for the next peice.

Now , the thick outlines is something i've alwayse done in my work, honestly just to give me a bit of a buffer zone when i'm coloring in case the color works it's way out of the lines. Do you think these thick lines lend themselves to the images, or should i explore different techniques to make the pictures more impactfull? Or is it all just a matter of personal preference?

I see what you meen by treating the different aspects of the background as their own objects, Deffinately keep it in mind for the next one.

thanks again

[Seedling]

You're welcome. :-) About the outlines: they are nice, but if you want to keep learning as much as possible, the keep trying different approaches. Keep the outlines in your bag of tricks, but try doing images without them so that you can learn other tricks.