Quark's Art Heap

Yeah, my last art thread BOMBED, so I thought I'd try one last chance at getting my work noticed here.

First thing's first, I accept any and ALL criticism, as long as it's constructive. I want to learn from my mistakes and will gladly accept all suggestions to my artwork. I feel I haven't been making any progress lately, so I'm desperately wanting that to change. Every comment helps me, so tear my stuff apart if you will.

But still, if you have nothing to criticize or suggest, I appreciate your comments as well. Encouragement never hurts.

Okay, now that this freak show's on the road, here's a few of my recent drawings.

The first picture looks good in general, the devious smile fits with the glasses. But, the mouth is a bit oddly placed... Very good hair, though.

The second picture looks really good, effective and quirky. Very nice work.

The last picture has very nice design and a good background, along with neat shading, but the limbs look a bit too stiff.

Thank you for your advice! I was aware that the first picture's mouth was off somehow, though I tried giving him a crooked sort of smile (came out a little weird). And now that I look at the last one, I too agree it looks a little stiff, even for someone wearing all that armor. I also think I probably should have better cropped the image, but... whatever. xP

Again, thank you for your suggestions.

Originally Posted by GentleArtillery

The second picture looks really good, effective and quirky. Very nice work.

Don't you mean quarky.

The first one freaks the heck out of me. But yeah... good... Freaky, but good.

Shawdowy creature thingy! Nice! Now, what is it? (I mean, can see it. I just wanna know what it is.)

I love the third one. It's my favorite out of the three. But, he looks like he'll fall forward if he stays in that position too long.

Originally Posted by Desquode

The first one freaks the heck out of me. But yeah... good... Freaky, but good.

Styx is a freaky guy. Glad you think it's good.

Originally Posted by Desquode

Shawdowy creature thingy! Nice! Now, what is it? (I mean, can see it. I just wanna know what it is.)

It's my Battle Arena character, Sin. You can read about him by clicking the link "My friends" in my signature.

Originally Posted by Desquode

I love the third one. It's my favorite out of the three. But, he looks like he'll fall forward if he stays in that position too long.

Aye, I was trying to make it look like he was moving forward or something, but I can see how it might look like he's about to fall on his face. xD

This is mostly concerning the first picture.

Since you seem to focus most on 2D character/cartoony designs, I think the strength of your line needs to improve. There is such a thing called "line weight" which more or less refers to the emphasis put on a single line. In other simpler words: Making some lines darker and wider than others. Most of your sketches have the same line weight, which can make the picture very simplistic in impact, because the veiwer's eye is not being drawn to anything in particular. This could also be due to your very light sketchy/messy style of drawing, but there is such thing as a "clean" sketch. :]

I see attempts of shadow and shading. I'm sure you were not focusing on shading when you sketched, but I shall give some tips that I think you could use anyway. Try to use as much as the actual pencil as you can, when you shade. I know blending with your finger can sometimes be the easiest way, but don't use your fingers to do more than ... oh I'd say 30 percent of the smearing. Esspecially in just regular pencil (obviously things like charcoal and such are different).

Reason why I say that, is because I think a character sketch looks alot more ... whole and the same when the shadowing texture matches the line texture of the actual figure. Get what I'm saying? Maybe you don't...haha. Oh well.



Now for the actual picture. You really don't have any serious anatomy problems. But I'm just going to point out some things.



The skull seemed slightly too small to me. I have a habit of doing big heads, though. That or maybe the ROOT of his hairs could of been placed higher upon his head. I'm not saying make his hair shorter, but raise where the start of his hair spikes started on the top parts of his head.

The shading around the eyes and nose is nice, and it looks fleshy. Though I couldn't quite put my finger on it, something about his jawline ... it seems too narrow? I mean, I know you were probably trying to create his unique appearance when you drew his facial features, but his jaw condyle (the joint of your jaw which connects to your skull) seemed to high and rigid.

The muscles in his throat should be slightly curved down to where they meet up with the clavicle. They are actually the SCM muscle (sternoclediomastoid in long terms, yay anatomy!) and the SCM sort of wraps around your neck a bit.

Now, he has way too many teeth to be correct, but I like it.

Originally Posted by DekuQueen

This is mostly concerning the first picture.

Since you seem to focus most on 2D character/cartoony designs, I think the strength of your line needs to improve. There is such a thing called "line weight" which more or less refers to the emphasis put on a single line. In other simpler words: Making some lines darker and wider than others. Most of your sketches have the same line weight, which can make the picture very simplistic in impact, because the veiwer's eye is not being drawn to anything in particular. This could also be due to your very light sketchy/messy style of drawing, but there is such thing as a "clean" sketch. :]

Hm, I see what you're saying. I've been working with different line thickness in my 2D design class recently, but I was mostly thinking of them as subjects more than anything. I have a habit of seeing the object for what it is rather than what it looks like in my head, which is what I'm starting to pay more attention to. I'll try to experiment with some of this more often.

Originally Posted by DekuQueen

I see attempts of shadow and shading. I'm sure you were not focusing on shading when you sketched, but I shall give some tips that I think you could use anyway. Try to use as much as the actual pencil as you can, when you shade. I know blending with your finger can sometimes be the easiest way, but don't use your fingers to do more than ... oh I'd say 30 percent of the smearing. Esspecially in just regular pencil (obviously things like charcoal and such are different).

Reason why I say that, is because I think a character sketch looks alot more ... whole and the same when the shadowing texture matches the line texture of the actual figure. Get what I'm saying? Maybe you don't...haha. Oh well.

Yeah, I get what you're saying. I kinda wish I hadn't done any shading at all in this one, but... that was my last minute thing I did which sorta ruined a deal of the picture for me. Thanks for the tip about smudging, though. My old Art teacher says that if you're going to smudge shade something, make sure you're consistent and smudge the whole thing. xP I'm not very consistent in anything I do.

Originally Posted by DekuQueen

The skull seemed slightly too small to me. I have a habit of doing big heads, though. That or maybe the ROOT of his hairs could of been placed higher upon his head. I'm not saying make his hair shorter, but raise where the start of his hair spikes started on the top parts of his head.

Ah, I guess so. I didn't really mean to make his head small, but I was trying to make him look a little more muscular, which is why his body might be a little too big.

Originally Posted by DekuQueen

The muscles in his throat should be slightly curved down to where they meet up with the clavicle. They are actually the SCM muscle (sternoclediomastoid in long terms, yay anatomy!) and the SCM sort of wraps around your neck a bit.

I noticed that I'd been doing this wrong just yesterday, actually. I was studying necks a bit because I felt something was off in one of my drawings, and noticed the lines bent inward a little bit. Upon studying my own neck, it made sense. XP

Originally Posted by DekuQueen

Now, he has way too many teeth to be correct, but I like it.

Yeah. xD I think I got a little lazy on the teeth... but whatever.

Thank you VERY much for the critique, I love all the detail you put into it, it helps a lot. I'm hoping to get more critiques like this one, because frankly I don't like waiting in line in the critique thread. xP

Critiquing is very good for you, so I understand why you want it. Though, alot attributed to improving in 2D drawing has to do with looking at other pictures and deciding for yourself what do you like about it and what do you think may be incorrect. I hardly recieved critique when I was drawing as a young kid. Yes, I've done it all my life and have a significant talent for it, but having this independant quality in art can be beneficial. I'm just telling you what works best for me.

It trains your mind to start seeing things differently. Someone's critique or words that you just listen to can be applied, but it's another thing to begin to train your brain yourself. This is probably sounding really complicated and overthought but I don't mean for it to.

Thanks for the tip, DQ.

Here's another image I did today. It took me only about an hour to do, if even that long, so it's nothing extreme.

Nice! I especially like the picture in the middle, because it... Looks cool, Quark!

Originally Posted by Quark

Thanks for the tip, DQ.

Here's another image I did today. It took me only about an hour to do, if even that long, so it's nothing extreme.

Less evil looking yet creepier picture of Sin?
*Thinks that what it looks like*

Originally Posted by Desquode

Less evil looking yet creepier picture of Sin?
*Thinks that what it looks like*

Nah, it's not Sin. I was just trying for a different sort of dark figure look. I gave him dreadlocks and made his eyes less evil. I didn't want him to look completely evil, with maybe a slight chance that he's good, but the dark tendrils on his cape showing that he's most definitely inspired by dark powers.

Originally Posted by Quark

Thanks for the tip, DQ.

Here's another image I did today. It took me only about an hour to do, if even that long, so it's nothing extreme.

reminds me of something from the end of evangelion...! very creepy!

I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't post your pictures in my thread please. :3 Thank you.

Here's another image I drew.

My art is some what... less good, just a little bit. I like them. good work. by the way quark, I see a human head in you sig, who is that... with the crazy guy talking?