Want an Illustration or Fine Art Critique? V1


Ito-Saith-Webb's avatar
Hey all, been a while since I have been to the boards and I haven't done some critiques since I got my BFA. Post one thumb and only one thumb of an illustration or Fine Art piece that you would like to have a critique on and I will give short critts on the pros and cons of your work. As a consideration, you might come by and checkout my work gallery but I don't require it in return for giving out a critique.
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Ito-Saith-Webb's avatar
Pros: Interesting characture design and nice exaggeration. Value range is strong and a strong amount of detail and texture. While veins usually don't form on the end of the nose it is disturbing and makes the drawing more striking.

Cons: The crows feet, why nicely exaggerated, is also over done and doesn't feel right because usually the converge at the very corner of the eye, but you are doing cartoon eyes so this makes it harder. The outside line work is fine and it has some nice variation of weight to it but bringing it inside to the eyes makes it feel inconstant. You could have also done without the outlining and used contrast to help define your image. Try reading this article I wrote on the various forms of contrast and how they can help you [link] .

I hope that helps.
favicius's avatar
Thank you for the critique.It helps a lot. I've read your contrast article and the other ones in your blog and i really enjoyed. Thanks you very much.
Ito-Saith-Webb's avatar
Glad you found it helpful. I do articles and tutorials a lot on that blog. I always try to update once a week in case you are interested in subscribing to the blog.
Ito-Saith-Webb's avatar
Pros: Color, brush and texture techniques are strong. Good mood. Good human proportions.

Cons: I think the value ranger could be a little wider on the light side. A few more plains on her face for modeling would be called for, especially around the eyes, as except for you nose her face feels a bit flat. Also while your textures looks good I think you could push them a little further.

Not going to really touch composition though because of its nature of being a test painting.
Ito-Saith-Webb's avatar
Critique sent. I did state to only post one thumb so I only critiqued one.
Denece-the-sylcoe's avatar
That's fine!
Sorry. ^^;
PMucks's avatar
Reference photo included for comparison.
Ito-Saith-Webb's avatar
Sorry for the delay, I had personal matters that needed attending to.

Pros: The likeness is spot on and the proportions are correct. The value range is decent and the texture of the freckles are excellently done.

Cons: Even though I think that the hair is well done it seems very rough in it's application. I also think that you could have had one more lighter shade to you value range just for that extra little punch.

Hope that helps.
Ito-Saith-Webb's avatar
Sorry it appears that your image doesn't exist anymore. If you have re-posted it as a new deviation then please submit it for critique on this thread again. Sorry for the delay, had personal matters to attend to.
Ito-Saith-Webb's avatar
Sorry for the lateness of the reply but I had to take care of some personal matters.

Pros: Interesting design and the concept is clear in what you are trying to convey. Interesting pattern on the background.

Cons: You are using way too much white and this is giving the piece an over exposure feel and it is also obscuring detail. Pure white and black are very powerful and can flatten out your image.

Hope that helps.
Ito-Saith-Webb's avatar
Sorry for the late reply but often I have to take of personal matters.

Pros: The style of the painting has a strong children's book feel to it. The compositional placement is well done with a nice strong focus. The atmosphere on the whole feels very cozy and the detail level is at a strong level which just adds to this atmosphere which say warm and safe.

Cons: You are using some line work for this which is fine for a children's book illustration but it feels sloppy or too thick in areas here and there. Lastly the light on her leg from the fire is too dark and should be lighter.

Something that you might try instead of using the water color to do you line work is to use color pencil. You can use it before or after and it won't ruin your work. The wax from prisma colors will repel the watercolor but using it on top would be better. You can also use the color pencil to add texture or hit rim lighting like what you were trying to do with her leg.

Hope that helps.
harusame's avatar
No worries, thank you for taking the time to critique my work,

Thats great! I never thought of using the colored pencil to
punch up the highlights!
What with how tiny my paintings are, I think thats a great tip,
the outlines will be so crisp :D

Thank you so much!
M.G.
Ito-Saith-Webb's avatar
Pros: Strong composition with great flow, mood and energy. I like the texture you create through your brushstrokes, especially on the sea serpent and water.

Cons: I think your shadows could be cooler in color instead of just a shift in value.

Hope that helps and fun piece.
SigbjornPedersen's avatar
Thank you Ive gotten critique from you before and you allways give really good critiques!

about the shadows, yeah I kinda tried that, I added purple to it to get alittle bit more color, but its not so much that it looks purple, cause I got so strong reds in it compared to the low saturation the purple have. I know purple isnt a really cold colour, but I think it was abit hard to balance it right with a cooler color, and i didnt want to end up with a painting with too much colour differences so I ended up with this I think its pretty good, im happy with it. I tried that stuff you said but I just couldnt get it to fit right maybe I will next time, I think a few more pieces and i will get that stuff better.

Thank you, your advices is very helpful you are really good at art critique!
Ito-Saith-Webb's avatar
Did a quick paint over for you [link] What I did is I went into curves first lighten the contrast a bit in the darkest parts as they were approaching black. Then I created a new layer over that, set it to multiply and started throwing in blue/green for some of the shadows of the sea and the boat. Around the dragon's eye I brought in a light purple on the same multiply layer and some green into the sea. When choosing your shadow color it is generally a safe bet to bring in a color compliment or analogous compliment color; I tend toward the latter. Which is why I chose blue/green to sneak that color in there and purple for around his eye. I did this really quickly just to illustrate the difference. Hope that helps.
SigbjornPedersen's avatar
Thank you very much!!! That is awesome, and I just learned a great way to get more colours into the painting!
Its not huge changes you made, but no doubt a good improvement it all came together so well now.

I just looked up color compliment and analogous compliment color, and the last thing is actually what I was going for it seeems, since I added purple so I was atleast in the right direction in picking secnodary colour:)

Im gonna do these changes today on my artwork and I will remember that from now on, no doubt.

again that you very much, really helpful stuff I sure learned a thing or two from you this time aswell Im glad someone takes time to teach us how to be better!
Ito-Saith-Webb's avatar
Your welcome and glad it helped!