Epic Battle of Fire and Water

I only got one picture right now, but tell me what I can and can't improve.



Don't be too harsh.

Edit: I think I messed up on the water. Drawing moving water is hard. Especially when it's going horizontally.

HMM! Let's see... What I can say is that when you want to draw water blasting, it looks cool when it kinda spirals. You know, like in Pokemon? XD
And more straight lines for the fire part. I think... it should be straight most of the way until it comes off at the end, where it should fan out when coming in contact with the water blast.

To be perfectly honest, im not sure whats supposed to be going on in the image.

Yeah, I made it in a rush.

I didn't expect it to be good.

hmm.. those random black scribbles everywhere don't help define what the picture is.. and the water kinda looks like solid crystal, metal, or glass. i'd suggest getting refernce of a flame thrower and water spout.

Just keep practicing, you are bound to get better eventually. Elemental attacks are always a problem for me when it comes to drawing.

Originally Posted by xoɹǝpnpɐpןǝz

Yeah, I made it in a rush.

there is no excuse for that

Originally Posted by xoɹǝpnpɐpןǝz

I didn't expect it to be good.

if you didn't expect it to be good you shouldn't have started making it

somebody needs to tell you how that looks like.
the fire is a pure no-no
and that water... it's simply not water

search for references this time and draw it again, and this time don't color it.
make the fire go up and the water fall.
and post here!

I see what you were trying to draw. The water side looks to be an icicle which is being melted by the fire. It's not terribly bad, but with practice comes perfection (not really, but you know what I mean). ;P

Anyways, I'm going to have to agree with MOLD and say that if you want it to look a bit more epic, then draw the water with a bit of the swirling motion going on. I think that'd be neat. I don't think adding some spiralness to the fire would be that bad either. Fire and water go in every which way, not really forming a certain path unless it's forced too. You know what I mean? So just work with it until you find something that you're completely comfortable with. Using references is always a huge plus, but learning to draw things using only the references you have in your mind is a plus that I find to be more of a blessing. :>

With all that being said, don't you ever start putting yourself down if you see any negative impacting critique - every artist experiences it, and I know first hand that getting bad critique is really discouraging. So you keep doing what you're doing, and I think you'll be fantastic in the very near future. I can tell by what you've drawn thus far that you're doing quite well with yourself. You got talent, my friend. :3

Also,

Originally Posted by baby marion

it looks alittle weird.

Critique like this is greatly discouraged. You can say what you want, however, you should add a bit more of a backbone to it. Explain exactly what makes it so weird. Give the artist help. Don't just say something and then leave him/her guessing.

So yeah. Carry on. ^^

get a match, a deodorant and a friend with a camera
tah-dah, your fire reference

get a cup of water and a friend with a camera
tah- dah your water reference

scan both pictures and turn them into one pic.
study the water and the fire a bit, make 83675365 sketches
and then try again

(the deodorant thing always help when drawing fire : D)

Make sure it's the spray kind of deodorant though. The stick kind won't work. AXE works perfectly for this situation. =D

Wait, what?

Also, I don't have a printer.

eh?
you mean scanner, right? lol

That too, I don't have a printer nor do I have a scanner, buddy.

Well, look up pictures of torch flames and water being sprayed from hoses and that should help you just fine.
You also have to keep in mind that if those two things were to contact one another, they would create a reaction in the middle.

actually the water would "push" the fire away, since it's heavier

For one, I can congratulate you on your effort of drawing the two elements in motion. Most people forget that water and fire in high speed look more solid and heads towards one direction than when they are in a more relaxed state.

The elements of water and fire are especially difficult to draw. You need to understand how they flow to the point that you don't overdraw it. Also, they contain so much detail and depth that it can years to master the basics if you were to draw it with pencil.

I can offer some bits of criticisms for you. First point is that if you want to make it look as realistic as possible, don't add outlines. Outlines give the picture of a more solid and block look and this doesn't help with elements. You need to make them look like they are still in a flowey kind of motion. The best way to know what I'm taking about, watch someone smoking in a still-air environment. (Don't breathe it in), but you can see how it looks strong and solid, yet fragile and flowey.

Elements that hit each other (like the one you've demonstrated in your drawing) end up like a mess naturally. There should be more waterdroplets everywhere, including more flames licks surrounding the fire and also steam! Fire washed over by water create a huge amount of steam.

Also, as someone has already pointed out, it was unecessary to add in those black lines, unless you were trying to add in motion effects or something.

I hope my criticisms has helped you and good luck with more future art!

Originally Posted by MOLD

HMM! Let's see... What I can say is that when you want to draw water blasting, it looks cool when it kinda spirals. You know, like in Pokemon? XD

You reached your hand into my mouth up into my brains grabbed my thoughts and stole them.