Tell Her the Truth

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~TruthWise Nov 23, 2012

My friend is afraid to ask for a critique. So I made a thread asking for her.

Look here, be honest.

[link]

Thank you

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^3wyl Nov 23, 2012 Hobbyist Photographer

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~triunfo84 Nov 23, 2012 Traditional Artist

Okay. I'll do a simple list of pros and cons:

PROS:
* I like her use of color.
* I can tell she loves to draw and has passion for her work.

CONS
* The huge glassy empty eyes have to go. I'm totally not kidding. They're ... I'm trying to find a kind way to put this. They're not working. I've seen other artwork styles with the really big eyes and I think they can work. (Not that I like the style personally. I'm just trying to be objective.) But here they are too blank, too dead, and too huge! There's a limit to how big you can go, you know what I'm saying?
* A study of anatomy is recommended. She needs to do a steadfast study of real humans. I take it that a lot of anime/cartooning/whatever-the-hell-it-is fans eschew doing this, and will only make token efforts, or claim that they "can" do it if "they want to," but this is NOT ENOUGH. It has to be a constant practice, like every day, or a number of hours each week. Without it she'll never improve.
* Some further study in realism, even if she plans to do only anime/manga/whatever-the-hell-it-is because the realism will give more "weight" to her artwork.
* The rendering (pencil strokes, application of medium) is uneven. "Streaky" is the word I'm looking for. It looks like crayon or colored pencil that needs to be smoothed out more. Not that I have anything against traditional mediums (it's all I use right now!). But a more confident application of it is in order her. Maybe mix watercolor and colored pencil? Or try some acrylics or oils?

I know the cons outweigh the pros. It's not that she's awful. And doing well with color is a good thing. A lot of artists don't have the feel for that, and I think she is doing fine there. (Though as with everything, she should be striving to improve there too. As should we all!

)

~triunfo84 Nov 23, 2012 Traditional Artist

I was looking at her "Realism" folder and she does have talent and lots of potential. But she says in her comments that she finds realism boring. This is a common feeling, I understand. But she needs to do it. She needs to find her passion and motivation for studying it. I said before that a lot of anime artists (or whatever-it-is!) like to say that they "can" do realism. But when the rubber meets the road, it's like they won't.

To say you "can" do something is like me saying I "can" exercise more. It doesn't mean anything unless I do it and show the results of steadily doing it. Without doing it, day in and day out, it's just talk and there will be no improvement.

~TruthWise Nov 23, 2012

Thank you

Do you have any tutorials that you can lend to her?

~triunfo84 Nov 23, 2012 Traditional Artist

Some books, yes. The old standby "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards is good, and has some interesting exercises in it.

For anatomy, "Figure Drawing for All It's Worth" by Loomis is often recommended, so I'd start with that too. It's a wonderful book. I believe the PDF can be found online.

~PaperSquid Nov 23, 2012

Very anime, and the eyes might be a little too large for her figures... but in some cases I kind of like them?? Like in a funny way, like her "rita" picture. (Which isn't a bad thing in my opinion!)
The coloring also is not very smooth. I bet it'd look a lot nicer and clean if she tried watercolors/watercolor pencils!
Her anatomy is also pretty okay for the anime style (I'm not a fan but it doesn't look too bad!)

She still needs more practice and study for whatever look she's trying to achieve, but where she is now isn't too bad!

Her "Lonely" picture I think is the strongest or that "Strawberry-Chocolate" one... but they look different from everything else??

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