JaxPad Forum Group - Critique & Redline

I could use some critique. - Vizon

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:35:56 -0000

Alright then...I would recommend eliminating the visible joints (where the legs meet the body) - that makes it look more like a toy. I would also lengthen the body if you're going for more of a tiger look. Also I didn't include it in the redline, but you can see in the tigers how much bulkier their shoulders/upper body build is. To match that powerful build I would add a bit more mass behind the head/thicken the shoulders.

I could use some critique. - Fr0styRyan

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:29:25 -0000

Something perhaps tiger-like in terms of its leg anatomy. It's just a creature that popped into my head.

I could use some critique. - Vizon

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:16:42 -0000

I'm sorry to have to ask this - but I honestly thought this was a rabbit up until I studied it and saw its long tail - what kind of creature exactly you are going for?

I could use some critique. - Fr0styRyan

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:39:44 -0000

Just a few changes...trying to figure out some kind of composition...But for now, I gotta get back to homework.

I could use some critique. - Fr0styRyan

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:56:26 -0000

I'm not liking the anatomy. If you could redline it with an explanation, I'd appreciate it. :)

Plz to be critiquing (WIP) - Metsys

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:45:38 -0000

I think the character might be a little too far to the left. Put him at the 1/3 division of the canvas instead of at the 1/4 where he is right now. The head seems too close to the top edge of the canvas. And watch out for those tangents. But aside from everything else that's been said already, it looks pretty good.

Plz to be critiquing (WIP) - Fr0styRyan

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:28:11 -0000

For the most part, the pose looks well done. Proportions look fine, and perspective's working. The only part that seemed a bit off was his bent arm. There are no folds on the coat to indicate that the hand is resting on it. So just add a little bit of that. The only thing that's kinda buggin' me is the composition. I'm not sure what to think. No idea what the focal point is since both the character and the lab receive a lot of attention; perhaps the added shading will make it more clear. The character's pose is extremely simple, but then again, not sure what someone would do when taking a portrait shot in the lab. Maybe it would've been nice to see him be just a little more dynamic somehow, but overall, the picture's still good. :)

Perspective Question - Bankin

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:10:03 -0000

Okay, this is just a doodle I shaded in... but I'd like to know one thing Even without a background or horizon line, does this still show perspective, not in relation to the background (because there isn't one) but in relation to itself, herself... anyway, because of the leg behind clearly further back than the rest of her, the cloak-thing, and her stick (its actually an elaborate club, not some sort of magical staff). The scan didn't show up a lot of the shading on her body, but anyway... If you have anything you'd like to critique, by all means go ahead ^^ Thanks for looking!

Request Pic Specific Help Needed - WolfReign05

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:42:40 -0000

Thx that was alot of help. I knew there was something wrong with the tail but couldn't really tell what the problem was. I agree with your advice with the fur though, it doesn't really seem to fit in the picture but I was planning, as you said, to add fur detail in the shading. Adding contrast to the character shouldn't be a problem but should I darken the shadow he makes?

Request Pic Specific Help Needed - Clara Ferreira

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:11:02 -0000

For cartoon I never recommend a full fur texture, it rarely suits the style. Try only to do some fur when you shade instead of applying the texture to the whole body. I can't find an appropriate picture to explain myself better, but the suggestion stays. :) Considering the sun in back there, you could do a bigger contrast between lights and shades, at least in the anthro guy. Try to imagine yourself taking a picture exactly like your drawing, if we ignore the reflex on the camera, you'll see your friend all shaded up with only the contour extremely bright. But if the sun is more to the left/right, then the contour that is hit by the light directly has a smooth lightning and the opposite contour has a shorter and harder lightning line. As for the rest, I think you only need to fix that tail (it's out of place, like if it's coming out from the hip instead from the back). I hope I helped you somehow. :)

Request Pic Specific Help Needed - WolfReign05

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:25:20 -0000

To get straight to the point, there are a couple things that I really need help with. -I tried to blend the colors with cotton swabs but it seems to take away from the color and doesn't blend to well unless I'm doing it wrong. Any methods of blending that you can share? -Composition errors that I can fix up? -Lighting help -anatomy errors -would attempting fur texturing be appropriate for a cartoony pic like this?

Plz to be critiquing (WIP) - KoOkY!

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:01:16 -0000

Sudan Red said: I am a Forensic Scientist (fer reals) and I can tell you that what you see on CSI is faaaar from the truth. Definitely no smoking in the lab! ;) You should look up some blood splatter/bullet trajectory equations for the blackboard or even a rough drawing of a crime scene? I am sure you could find some on the intarwebz. They would be much more topical than the Relativity equation. :) You could also add some squeezy bottles that would hold different reagents, or since there is a microscope in the picture, you could add a box of slides somewhere.

You are not!! Are you? You just got that much cooler! ;) (and when can I see yer other artwork durn it??) And Cat Brooks: If he's got a smoking problem, you still could maybe fit in a pack of cigarettes on his desk or in coat pocket peeking out, or maybe an unlit one tucked behind his ear or something. Hmmms.

Plz to be critiquing (WIP) - Cat Brooks

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:11:47 -0000

Oh wow, I never expected an actual forensic scientist to be here! Thanks for giving me something to look for; blood spatter and bullet trajectory equations are an excellent idea. And I'll look up some crime scenes; it would be interesting to try and adapt them to an anthro universe, haha. Thanks for the suggestions :D And I guess I'll have to change the cigarette. :P I knew it wasn't realistic but I didn't realize it'd be that noticeable! I'll just switch it with a pencil or maybe even sunglasses as a nod to Horatio, ahaha.

Plz to be critiquing (WIP) - Sudan Red

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:50:13 -0000

I am a Forensic Scientist (fer reals) and I can tell you that what you see on CSI is faaaar from the truth. Definitely no smoking in the lab! ;) You should look up some blood splatter/bullet trajectory equations for the blackboard or even a rough drawing of a crime scene? I am sure you could find some on the intarwebz. They would be much more topical than the Relativity equation. :) You could also add some squeezy bottles that would hold different reagents, or since there is a microscope in the picture, you could add a box of slides somewhere.

Plz to be critiquing (WIP) - Cat Brooks

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:57:08 -0000

Thanks! Yeah, I know he wouldn't actually be allowed to smoke in there, haha. I played around with that hand doing other things, but since the character was described as having a "smoking problem" I thought it'd fit. I might just change it to a pen or something, anyway. I'm definitely going to add some writing to the blackboard, just haven't figured out what yet! I'll probably add that last, anyway. I might add in little details like "Missing" posters and things like that, too. I plan on there being some moody lighting coming from the computer screen, so hopefully that will help with the "science"-y mood.

Plz to be critiquing (WIP) - ElementalDragonArt

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:08:00 -0000

yeah, like a complex equation using pie, or something classy like E-Mc=2 ? or have detailed drawing of some animal the scientist is studying, an show it with great detail, like a design sheet! but with science i always think, glowing stuff, so you could use some sweet glowing germ or glowing liquid.

Plz to be critiquing (WIP) - KoOkY!

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:53:08 -0000

Cool! Looking good so far I think. One thing that jumped out at me right away though....I don't think they'd let him smoke inside of a forensic lab like that. Hehe. Otherwise I do like the layout and everything so far. Maybe some writing on the dry erase board behind him which you might've been planning but just not gotten to yet.

Plz to be critiquing (WIP) - Cat Brooks

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:43:56 -0000

This is a commission of an anthro bobcat who is a forensic scientist. I've been out of the commmission market for a while now and I wanted to make sure this one goes smoothly, so I thought I'd ask for help along the way. :) How's the composition? The pose and anatomy? Does the setting look sufficiently "forensics lab"-esque? (I didn't want to throw in beakers and random flasks containing neon-colored liquids since the character is pretty realistic and modern.) Any help and suggestions would be great. I'll post another WIP soon, hopefully after getting some feedback though. :D

Female enough? - KoOkY!

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:43:27 -0000

Oh thanks for the feedback Bankin! Yeah I've heard from a couple people now about the breasts needing to be a bit lower though nobody's mentioned the knee or the feet and I think you're right there. Need to fix those. I think the hips are okay but shoulders need narrowing maybe, which in turn will still match up the hip to shoulder ratio like you mentioned. Hehe. Will work on her more tonight! Thanks again.

Female enough? - Bankin

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 08:16:52 -0000

I'd say the breasts are somewhat high, they sit in the middle of the chest, and hang a little lower depending on size and the clothing... in this case none. That and the hips could be wider (the idea female form is where the hips match the shoulders in width On a different noted, her right leg looks odd, the knee points on way while the foot goes the other, while that is possible, its certainly not comfortable, and doesn't really suit the casual tone of the pose. The feet are also disproportionately small, they seem smaller here than the hands, which they most certainly shouldn't be. While the head is realistically too big, larger heads are common in cartoony styles, but I think the body's sense of realism is too great to work a larger that life head. But that's all up to you I think you've done quite well, and draw fantastic busts, but, and I cant say I am not guilty of the same thing, should focus more on the body now, your skills with facial structure are at a point, where you cant go any further with your work until unless you focus more on the body. Thanks for reading, and keep up the good work :)

Dragon Baby in-egg - Drakenhart

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 21:21:06 -0000

Hey All its been a while. :) The links Vizon offered really helped. TY! :) Its not entirely perfect, imo, but it is to a level of at least general believability. :D

Female enough? - KoOkY!

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:55:35 -0000

After a few days of trying some quicky female sketches finally attempted a more finished sketch and thought would be good time to toss it out here to see if she looks female enough. I've had a long-standing issue of drawing very manish women though I think this is improved. :) Edit: Lowered the chest a bit, seemed up too high and a little too small maybe.

critique on a sitting dragon - EosFoxx

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:59:27 -0000

thank you Hrath ^^ thank you Vizon I changed the wing a little. I made them bigger. Is this big enough? I am unsure how the other wing has to look like. The blue lines shoul symbol this. Is it okay like that? (sorry for the bad english)

Critique please - Slipstreme

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:59:44 -0000

I know it has been months since I got back to this, but here is an update. I reworked the first image with a pose I felt should capture everything I want in the image. I still can't seem to do the "I'm looking up at you from between your legs or close to it" kind of pose that I had in mind before settling on this one. Although this one does have more of the expression I want on Slipstreme's face visible. I am particualarly having problems with the legs, especially the right one's foot. It seems like the pose is completely off balance and that to stand like that would actually mean falling over instead. Have at it. I would like to hear about everything you can see I can improve on. I started with the perspective lines I wanted and tried to fill in based on that, but found myself having to individually determine the perspective of the basic shapes and fill out from that instead of using a gesture sketch. The gesture sketch was a bit too difficult for me to determine. I am pretty sure there is probably something I can do with the perspective to improve on the image, but not sure what.

Can anyone help me with horse anatomy? - Calzephyr

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 05:04:38 -0000

Oh - I also realized what might be giving you a problem is that the lower half of the body is in profile while the front end is leaning towards three-quarter view. For the pose to look right, both halves must match. You might find it easier to draw the unicorn's body in profile view with the head turned towards the viewer, or go with the three-quarter view and adjust the back end. You may find this dramatic three-quarter view pose inspiring! http://www.flickr.com/photos/housden/181311536/

Can anyone help me with horse anatomy? - Calzephyr

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 04:50:04 -0000

Oh, I do love unicorns :-) Feather Dancer has the right idea. I would lower the neck and move it more forward, because it looks painful as is. There is a natural flow through the shoulders to the neck, and this position looks like it is fighting that. Here are some pics from Google Images to give you an idea: http://www.frischgewaagt.com/pics/jump.jpg http://www.ginger-horse.co.uk/images/Ginger-horse_jumping.jpg http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/1004/50242115.JPG

Can anyone help me with horse anatomy? - Feather Dancer

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:20:42 -0000

A bit messy but I went over yours and messed with it to bring out the horse a bit more as I can't help but get the impression of "This is what I think a horse looks like" given there's quite a few anatomy squiggles here and there. Some things to note with the wierd world of horse anatomy: They have a kite like shape for their forehead which goes to just behind the skull where the spine starts. All breeds feature it just less prominant on some than others. The neck begins after the cheek bone and not before like a human neck. Thats what gives the graceful arc shape of the neck. Horses will not stick their legs out unless they are about to land or "attacking" with a fore limb (Be it air or a literal being), they keep them in the "hooked up" position otherwise. Though the skull the mouth stretches waaaay back, they can actually open it to where about Boris' lips are http://feodor-alexandr.deviantart.com/art/Boris-40123514 I uploaded some more pics you can have a look see at http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v213/Zephyr_the_Hedgehog/Photographs/Horse%20ref/ though otherwise hopes this helps. It's by no means exact as I'm no horse expert but hopefully it shows how you can improve it to be even more horse like :)

Can anyone help me with horse anatomy? - Feather Dancer

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:39:15 -0000

I'm not home at the moment (Work lunchbreak) so can't redline or anything at the precise moment. However I do have some horse photos uploaded from Cross Country events that may help, plus some more I have at home and not uploaded yet. On that account, if you go onto the gallery and type Horse in the search box it'll throw up all the horse shots I have uploaded but here's a couple right off the bat: http://feodor-alexandr.deviantart.com/art/Chatsworth-2005-11-32950064 http://feodor-alexandr.deviantart.com/art/Bramham-Horse-Trials-2006-39-34601931 When I get back tonight I'll drege up the awaiting photos and redline with better crit but this should keep you going in the meantime :)

Need some help with Human anatomy - Vanessa

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:36:18 -0000

Vizon said: Even more meat around the base of the thumb, I'd say.

ooo this looks even better. O.O maybe I'll redraw him later. This is how my finished piece came out though.

Can anyone help me with horse anatomy? - Vanessa

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:33:41 -0000

Well there's this contest that's coming up on deviantart. The deadline is june 15th. I don't much care about winning, I just want to have a pretty nicely done drawing. I know the anatomy is off. I inked the drawing thinking it looked fine til I showed it to a friend who thought one of the legs was off. Here's the picture. Sorry for the quality, it's the scanner. D; It makes things appear extra dirty. LOL.

Need help with inking. - KoOkY!

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:13:12 -0000

Oooh good eye Metsys. I forgot that I did take it into Photoshop afterwards and added I think a 3 pt. stroke around the entire silhouette as I usually do with most of my pictures. Yeah I agree that should've darkened the lines along the bottom there, didn't think of that at the time though do remember thinking it looked a bit weird. The background sadly I threw in there in a matter of minutes and it shows, just wanted to finish it at the time. ^.^ Was it easier and faster? Well, no, actually was about twice as long. Lol! But then it's the first time trying it that way so not giving up just yet with it. :)

Need help with inking. - Metsys

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:25:41 -0000

I like it! It doesn't look mechanical. The line variation is subtle enough that it looks natural instead of overdone. Your choice of thick and thins are well placed. I noticed in some places where as soon as a silhouette line of an object turns into an inner object line it suddenly changes thickness, such as where the purple mushroom cap meets it's stem, and other places on the bug. I'm not sure exactly what your inking process was but it looks like there's an additional line or stroke that makes up the silhouette of each individual object. It actually looks just fine on the bug, but the one on the mushroom was the only one that bugged me (no pun intended). So the same effect is on the centipede, and it works, but it's not working on the mushroom. Probably because the mushroom is two big overlapping shapes instead of a bunch of intertwining shapes, and it looks odd when the line thickness suddenly changes on something that big. The only other critique I really have are the line colors for the stem of the mushrooms and the bottom of the bug, basically any part where the value of the grass is close to the value of the line. A darker line in those areas would help separate the foreground objects from the grass, and make it look like there's more shadow down there. And maybe have some blades of grass overlapping parts of the bug and mushrooms? But now I'm just nitpicking. So yeah, it looks really good. Obviously it gives you more control, but the real question is was inking with Illustrator faster and easier for you. I do think that the line quality in this is one is an improvement, so hopefully the process is easier too. Good work!

Need help with inking. - KoOkY!

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:08:49 -0000

Metsys said: Your welcome :).

I went through that as well and first Illustrator inking results are here: http://kooky.jaxpad.com/image/18309/happy-bug I still don't think I was varying the line widths nearly as much as I should have been though guess that'd be my fault instead of Illustrator's. :D Any critique, please feel free... Wasn't colored in Ill. though that was still PS.

Need help with inking. - Metsys

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:45:18 -0000

Your welcome :).

Need help with inking. - Fr0styRyan

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:41:41 -0000

Just wanna thank you all who gave links to online resources, as well as Metsys for the video tutorial. I'll see if I can give Illustrator a shot, though it might take some getting used to. :3 If I have another question, I'll come back and ask my concerns.

Need some help with Human anatomy - Vizon

Sat, 31 May 2008 07:32:51 -0000

Even more meat around the base of the thumb, I'd say.

Need some help with Human anatomy - Vanessa

Sat, 31 May 2008 06:29:54 -0000

Thank you very very much!! It will look so much better now that I got some good help. haha now just to improve it and hope other people like it too. :B

Need some help with Human anatomy - Nocte

Fri, 30 May 2008 22:48:12 -0000

Hope I can help a bit here. :) It's a good drawing, and the few small issues I could spot should be easy to fix. The hands were drawn too large compared to the rest of the body, and the proportions between the palm and the fingers was a bit off. (More about drawing hands here.) I've also taken the liberty to move his ear forward. If you look at a head in profile, the ear is actually near the middle.

Need some help with Human anatomy - Vanessa

Fri, 30 May 2008 20:47:49 -0000

Well I've been practicing a bit lately and This drawing is finally me practicing people. I need some help, The hands on this drawing look awkward but since I'm new to the whole human drawing thing I have no idea what would make it look better. So could I get some redline?

Need help with inking. - KoOkY!

Thu, 29 May 2008 01:23:58 -0000

Metsys said: I just stumbled on this today and thought I'd add it to the topic: http://www.itchy-animation.co.uk/lines.htm It's tips about inking in various programs. The artist also compares inking with Photoshop, Illustrator, Painter, and Sketchbook.

Cool! Actually found my old copy of Illustrator (9.0) so was finally able to go through a bit of your tutorial Metsys. Did a silly sketch over in my sketchbook area that I'm going to try to ink tomorrow in Illustrator. See what kinda mess I can make of that. :P