Critiques wanted but with a twist :P

Most recent update

I think im pretty happy with the pencils now , thank you so much everyone that took the time to reply and point out things that I may have overlooked .

the lil squiggles everyone did pointed out some things I really did need to correct and its very much appreciated .

no plans on inking until this weekend though

<3

what I'm confused about...

I hope you realized just what you were getting into when you posted this, Scarf. And if not, I'm sure you do by now.

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what I'm confused about...

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Okay Turbo.

Go to the mirror and attempt the same hand/body motions.

Hunch and lean a bit forward, as the character is.

Put your left hand( out, palm outward with all your fingers spread as much as possible at roughly at a 25 degree angle to your shoulders.

Now, put your right hand in front of your belly(as if your holding a shield), Now wind and rotate backwards as if your going to punch someone Indy Jones style.

Next, The character seems to be doing a "sweeping" motion the way her hips and legs are pivoted, so Pivot left to right.

When your in roughly the same pose stop and look at your left palm, your fingers.

I will agree with you the thumb is a tad small, but your fingers being flexed out to their fullest extent will not cause them to curve like in your pic.

Hopefully that helps.

-Cj...

Now in Pirate-eez,

Yar, Turbo me buoy. har,

Fetch yerseff toos the looking glass, yar and begins to drape yourself in the fashion of the wee girl's sketchin, ah-har.

Avast, and lean in for a looksy, ah-har.

Now as to be kindly lifting your fidgetting arm upward likes, and stretch them gnarled digits of your'n to the fullest, ah-har.

Now takes your sabre arm and balls it into the meanest fist this side of the bloody Atlantic and heave it backwards as if'n your'n to make a spiggot of me head.

Now sways like you've lost your sea legs.

Aw-har.

Aye, We be in accord with the not so prominence of the lass's folding finger, yet now I'm sure your to be seeing the error of your ways with your digits so pointed to the heavens.

May'n that be helpful to ye,

-Cap'm Cj of the NeverbeenNearyerbullocks.

LOL!

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I hope you realized just what you were getting into when you posted this, Scarf. And if not, I'm sure you do by now.

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Oh I do , its been an intresting learning experiance and im really happy I did it as theres a lot of things I like far more about the revised picture than the original and things I have been doing that I didn't really realize , such as oversizing my characters heads (a hold over from doing lots of chibis or super deformed caricutures ) and a tendency to neglect the back of my heads thus making them flat .

Im not sure if you got to listen in on the big Critique /no critique debate earlier this month but after reading through it I had to find out for myself what my threshhold was for critiques and can they make me a better artist by listening to them .

So far im seeing that critiques are a very useful tool , im not obliged to listen to all of them but I won't dismiss them out of hand . The Critiques with a overlay showing my original sketch and what folks see as improvements are for me the best learning tool .

My biggest hurdle in all of this has been to take the critiques as friendly advice and nothing to get offended over or argumentive /debatey about . Everyones advice has been useful as a learning tool even if I didn't make every change suggested .

My experiance has been very good so far and I'd suggest anyone feeling particularyly brave should give the critiqueing process both giving and receiving a shot by either posting something of theirs to critique or by helping to critique others when someone starts a thread asking for them specificly .

I think this was an awesome idea!

Its even more interesting because while each of the critiques may help improve the picture, it is in the eye of the beholder what they feel is the best. It seems that depending on who you ask, they may change something a little or a lot.

Really neat ^^

I feel a little weird about doing this because you're obviously a much better artist than I, but when it comes to critiques I find them hard to resist especially when it's on pieces that look so good already. I may not be an artist or an anatomy expert but I am a man with access to MS Paint at work and an eye for things which appear out of place. Please feel free to ignore any comments you don't find useful.

Here is my take on it.

Legend:
Blue = Looks good
Green = Looks good even though it's a little exaggerated
Red = Looks a little out of place

The left leg: This thigh bone appears to be a little unnatural. I'm not quite sure how to connect it to the skeleton. The knee and the butt don't seem to agree on a direction to face.

Collarbone & Neck: With the "facing left, looking right" pose this looks like a pretty tricky spot. I think the left shoulder is just too far forward. This in turn makes the left arm biceps look a little too large. The neck just doesn't fit on the spine the way that it seems (to me) like it should.

Face: The face is great, but I can't help but feel it's squished too far to the left of the drawing (to the right of the face.) The right eye looks fine but if it was me I would rotate the left eye a touch clockwise then move both the left eye and the nose a little more towards that empty real estate on the face. The mouth might be better a little to the right as well; and dare I suggest it, rotated a little counterclockwise.

I hope that helps in some small way... *scurries away*

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I hope that helps in some small way... *scurries away*

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Acck no need to scurry away and definitely no need to make comparisions about skill levels as anyone and everyone is welcome to post their oponion or comments (at least in this thread )


Im intentionally not replying to the critiques even though i've ended up using them as its too easy (for me ) to get pulled into an argumentive debate .

so at best everyone gets a general "Thank You" for their input and I change things that you point at that I may have missed .

At worst everyone gets a general "Thank You" for their input and I don't fix one or two particular things

So far im enjoying it immensely and while I won't do it on every piece , I can definitely see asking for more critiques in the future .

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Everyones advice has been useful as a learning tool even if I didn't make every change suggested .

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Well said. Some years ago a was regular poster on the art forums for the Puzzle Pirates MMO. Each week the lead game artist would provide a theme, and then each forum user, who felt inclined, would do a piece based on that theme. Most of us would post WIPS as we progressed, and we'd generally critique each other's work.

I learned a lot of things by doing that on a regular basis. Sometimes it's hard allowing people to say critical things about the art that you put your heart and soul into, but it's also a great learning process. Sometimes it takes another viewers criticism for us as artists to see the flaws in our work.

As you very correctly put it, the artist is under no obligation to lend any credence to the opinions of others, and sometimes there's just a point where a piece is "finished", no matter what anyone says. However, I've found that the pieces I like most, are the ones where I allowed the thoughts of others to influence my direction.

Back from the dead

Shrunk down and colored a copy of the sketch with colored pencils
loved how the glove and skin came out sorta blah on the black costume parts but all part of the learning process

Jinn anne Tonic

Thanks again for all the help everyone since I have a clean copy I may recolor her in the fouture when I get one of those smancy computer tablets

Been waiting to see how it turned out. Looks hot! (ha ha?)

I don't know why you poopoo on the black clothing, I think it looks really good, especially considering how hard it is to do black in a black outline pic.

Awww just normal art amatuer insecurities and Thanks

My only complaint is that she should have been a Corruptor.

Ahaha I have a level 50 corrupter so im not all Hero , my plan is one 50 of each archtype (Aside from space squids ) and im getting closer and closer all the time

great work. It can be hard to incorporate suggestions from different people.

Scarf,

Just wanted to say this was an interesting process having read this thread through. You certainly managed to take the best of the analysis and make it work quite effectively.

I really like the colored pencil look. Maybe because it is based on a comic book theme, I think the coloration works well. It almost has newsprint/pulp quality you mention, in that the colors are slightly imperfect as a result.

Finally, I have to add that Jinn comes across with a "good girl art" quality in the color form - also a hallmark of pulp style. I think the fact that she's a devil girl; mischievous smile; the curve of her mid-section; and a rather tight outfit probably is what leads that way. I think the open toes are the only things that distract from that look, if you were to change anything.

Anyhow, just my thoughts. I don't really have any more constructive than that to add.