Looking for constructive criticism, puh-lease...

[Igraine]

I talked to Fate about this a couple days ago (I think? ), but finally just worked up the nerve to try this now. I'd really, REALLY appreciate some constructive criticism from anyone at all, for my drawings. Only in the past few months have I actually picked up a pencil and drawing pad after many years, and started to sketch/color again. They're all either 2H/2B pencil, colored pencils and/or sepia-colored pens (I prefer sepia to black, for now).

And the subjects are all (so far) either my own World of Warcraft characters, or the characters of good friends I've roleplayed with, for almost a year now.

Just as a sampling, my first:



and my latest:



Most of the rest are at my Deviant Art page at Igraine's drawings I just didn't want to clutter up this thread TOO badly.

[Sunni Ookami]

That is really good! Wow!

The only things negative things I would point out were the angle of the faces in both of them and "What happened to her nose?" in the second picture. It's really short criticism, sorry. Just wanted to put my input in really quick before I have to leave.

[Fate Flyer]

I'm glad to see your new art, Igraine. I must say, my initially impression was, "WOW! I wish I could draw like that if I had taken a break from it for so long." I love that your drawings are of your World of Warcraft characters, too.

The first one is absolutely beautiful. The mood in it so happy and playful and uplifting. I very much like the details that you added to your draenei. So she had two sons then with a Night Elf? I think that's sweet, and I actually had a bit of a "romance" between my draenei (yay, that was my main ^^) and my fiancé's Night Elf, so I really love that too about your drawing. The way you have the baby's arm reaching up too is just darling.

There really is not a whole lot that I can find to critique. The boy behind the draenei seems to be a bit more hidden perhaps than he should be. I'm trying to figure out and visualize how his body would be behind the draenei, and it just doesn't seem like all of him would fit behind her like that, so I think a little more of him could be showing there. That's really the only "major" thing that I can find here! This is a wonderful drawing! Something that may help you, is to visualize the entire composition. A great way to get an idea for how you want to place everything in your drawing is to first do a series of rough sketches to plan it out. This is something that we've been told at school to do frequently. You're essentially just sketching out what you want to draw (in this case, 3 characters) in different ways (the angles, the poses, etc.) and in different placements on the paper (close-up, medium-range, or at more of a distance), until you find one you like. These sketches, in addition, can also serve to better help you with the anatomy and whatnot, so you can get a feel beforehand (before you start your real drawing) for where the character's bodies will be and how they should look.

The second piece is so amazingly tender and gorgeous. This also has a definite mood and feel to it too. You have the woman with a tear coming down, so it either appears as if they are forced to separate for some reason or that they are coming together again after perhaps some time apart. It really makes the viewer wonder, and also makes the drawing that much more compelling. I like how realistic this drawing is as well.

The only advice that I can really offer here is to increase the size of the man's head. It seems a little short, and if you study your own head in the mirror, you'll see that it's probably taller even than you may have thought. Also, like Sunni mentioned, the woman's nose probably would be showing somewhat, at least the tip of it. Otherwise, really stunning!

Keep drawing, Igraine. You are really an excellent artist, especially for having been away from it for so long!

[Adrius Frostglare]

No, actually, Igraine's Meleta married a high elf paladin (while not a blood elf by "race", he is politically a blood elf) a few years after World of Warcraft's current events, when there is peace between the races and whatnot. One clear hint is the fact that night elves don't have red, "morning" colors. They considered making them more draenei-ish, but after careful consideration and research, they noticed that all half-draenei (Garona, her son Med'an, and the blademaster in Garadar, both half-draenei orcs) have dominantly the traits of their complimentary race, including feet and skin color, though their eye color (shining blue eyes) and some facial appendages... though the face appendages probably won't show for years (and that's only if the elf side doesn't bullyslap it out of the picture).

Second one is with... well... y'know, I ain't spoiling the story. I do hope she copy/pastes it here but it's coming along very sweetly.

[Igraine]

Thank you all so much for the comments (Yes, you too Sunni - short or not, you took the time - and you were quite on target!)

And I can't tell you how much I appreciate the genuine criticism, too. It's so helpful to have people point out the flaws, and give suggestions, than just to say "that's really nice" or "better than I could do" - and then not say the obvious like, ummm... "Where's her nose?" (Which, btw, I can actually fix - it's only in pencil, and that portion is not in pen after all. I'll post again after I give it a go. ) I can't think of any way, at the moment, to fix the length of his face beyond some deeper shading. *headtilt, looks at drawing a bit longer*

You're absolutely right, Fate, about sketching the figures out beforehand - but with the first drawing, and the realization the little boy's body disappeared? >< I got lazy when I actually got close to done... But, you're SO right...

And yes, my draenei priestess has gone "cross-factional," almost all RP for her done on forums where, it seems, Horde and Alliance can actually understand each other's languages. It's all for the better anyway, since I do almost no ingame RP with her at all (Mel's on a PVE server, after all, where it's "lfRP? lolz") And thank you for the story compliment, Frosty. I'll mention it to the co-author of that section of the story, and see if it would be something she would like to do.

[Sunni Ookami]

I'm glad you didn't get a bad notion from it. When I was typing it, I was like, "Oh, man she's gonna hate me for this, but I don't have time to explain! D:"

But, yeah. You draw waaaaay cooler than I do anyways! I'm talented, but I always find soooo many flaws to mine! I like it when people are full blown honest about it, then say that you draw good. It helps me point out the flaws that other people see, too.

[Igraine]

I'm glad you didn't get a bad notion from it. When I was typing it, I was like, "Oh, man she's gonna hate me for this, but I don't have time to explain! D:"

Nope, not at all - I want the criticism, which is why I put it all here in the "critique" forum, and not in the main art one. So, nope, no hate - just lots of hehe

[Igraine]

Thanks to the things you all pointed out, I went back into the second picture, fixed and reworked some things that needed it, and am reposting it just to show your critiquing was taken to heart. Thank you so much!

[Igraine]

This is my latest, called "A Wedding Night," for which I'm definitely looking for criticism as well. The color scheme was chosen by my friend Ani-Thari (which is why I love them so - I fail at color Thankfully, she does not... ) My DA page is here http://katarinaanastasia.deviantart.com/ , that more or less chronicles me picking up drawing again, after a really... REALLY... long hiatus. If you have a DA page too, please feel free to stop by, and say "hola," and provide a critique/criticism for anything you see there - I promise, you won't hurt my feelings. hehehe

And many thanks to Fate, too - for her encouragement.

ETA: I've provided a direct link, if your screen looks like mine, and is cutting off a portion for some reason. >< I'll work with it, and see what I can do to fix it here at FOG.
https://2img.net/h/i23.photobucket.com/albums/b369/Igraine927/Drawings/AWeddingNight.jpg

It's also up on my DA page as well.

[Sighlent]

Wow Igraine these are really really good! And the 'Wedding Night' one is indeed beautifully colored!

[Igraine]

Thank you so much, Sighlent - I really appreciate that. And yes, Ani-Thari's definitely got a good eye for color (thank God).

[Ragter the junior greeter]

Huh...never really been much of a critiquer(is that even a word..?), but here I go...at least, a little bit.

The only thing I can find slightly wrong with that A Wedding Night picture is the pose...I mean, I've seen it dozens of times before, but to me, it looks as if it'd be really rather painful to get into that pose, and if not painful, well, at least difficult to get into it. Then again, I have no idea if it's painful or difficult to get into that pose, that's just what it looks like...

Other then that, it's good. I especially like the little details, like that candle wax dripping off the table.

[Igraine]

Thank you, Ragter - I wasn't sure how many would notice the little details like that, and I'm glad you liked them. And as for the pose... ?

>.>

<.<

Yeah, it's doable. But I'm married, and can say that, and... uh... yeah... :">

[Fate Flyer]

Igraine, I love this new piece of yours! It's so gentle and romantic and peaceful. Something that I'm noticing about your works is that they all have this really prominent feel to them -- each of them has a mood. I really love that about your art. I like that you chose red blankets (which help the romantic feel) one a blue background. Had the background have been another warm color, it wouldn't have been as balanced. The table with the candles was also a great addition. I just love everything about this drawing!

I'm not sure I see anything that I could critique in this wedding night picture. It's all really lovely! I wish I could be more help. Perhaps, you may want to try darkening up your shaded places, like the shadows on everything just a bit more, so they are more prominent. For instance, here is someone I know who uses colored pencils to do his drawings. Here are some examples of his work:
http://VyToR.deviantart.com/art/Luft-unleashed-97444022
http://vytor.deviantart.com/art/Erik-45896187
http://vytor.deviantart.com/art/Sturmblut-raptor-14064298
I don't know how he gets his coloring to be so bright and dark -- he must press really hard! Lol. I've tried to color like that with colored pencils before myself, and it never turned out that way, so don't worry about trying to do what he does, but that was just a little something that I could think up. :]

I am watching you on DA now!

[Igraine]

Thank you so much, Fate. As for the table with the candles, and the people - this was the first time I deliberately worked wtih the rules of thirds and fifths. (Yus, I ish noob artist still).

And your friend's absolutely BEAUTIFUL use of colored pencils? I'm still just... whoa... Just amazing technique and color and... whoa... He did inspire me, too, to go out and invest in a box of my own real Prismacolors today.

[Fate Flyer]

You are very welcome, hun. You are really quite an amazing artist, and your work is impressive, especially for a noob! Lol.

Oh, I know it. I really am envious of his drawings too. I'm glad they helped to inspire you. :] Ooh, and yay - Prismacolors! Those are my favorite, but it's a shame they aren't cheaper hehe. I look forward to any future drawings. ^^

[Ragter the junior greeter]

Wow, that's...doable? I didn't want to try it just in case I ended up hurting myself.

Anyways, you're quite welcome and, yeah, as I neglected to mention before, it does give off the romantic feel, though at the time, I couldn't tell what was giving it that feel, which just makes it all the better.

Furthermore, I do tend to notice little things when I want to, a little known fact about me there.

[Dio the Awesome]

I would offer constructive criticism, but my mind is too blown and I'm not very artsy, so aside from glaring errors (of which there are none), I can't give any advice, I can only manage a complement, in the form of a long, drawn out sentence that will abruptly end...

[Igraine]

Furthermore, I do tend to notice little things when I want to, a little known fact about me there.

*files away under Ragter's name, for use against him later as might be deemed appropriate*

I worked out, Fate, that here in Alabama at least, the Prismacolors are about $1/pencil... Yeah, painful... but worth it in the end, I'm hoping. Thank you again for all the encouragement.

And for Diodri, I can only offer my gratitude in the form of a sentence that, in all it's run-on glory, might or might not turn out to be fairly long and, with that degree of uncertainty in mind, might leave the reader to wonder at what point the author of this particular sentence will choose to abruptly en-

[Igraine]

Just the latest I've finished - a character sketch for one of Deadman's collection o' personalities. And that's really all I was trying for in this one - just highlighting a bit more about "who he is," at a simple glance.

This is the DA page, if it's cut off on your screen: http://katarinaanastasia.deviantart.com/art/Malan-Silvershield-133933104

Critiques are still welcome - there are some things I like about this one, and some things I wish I'd done just a little differently, but it's always good to hear from you all:

[Sighlent]

Again, absolute amazing. I especially like the little critter (I forgot their names, it's been forever since I've played WoW) hanging from the tree branch above him.

Hm...

-Ponders playing some WoW now-

However the patches are going o kill me.

[Igraine]

Thank you Sighlent! *big grin* He's a dragonhawk, by the way - or, at least my very own special version and interpretation of one... >.> <.< Those little claw-like appendages at the end - I always figured they had to have SOME reason for them, and they are flying forest creatures supposedly? Yes, I know, tortured logic is tortured - but anyhoo...

And the patches? *sigh* They make everyone sad. I do some endgame raiding on my main, and there's nothing like the dread of wondering, on a Tuesday night, whether you're REALLY going to get to go raid or not... -.- But it's the only game I play, and I still have a ton of fun with the lore (though with Garona's and Medivh's love child about to be the prophecied "savyer of teh hole werld," well... -.- yeah... )

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