Please critique me!

[arielmedel]

It seems you start drawing without making a rough sketch to measure proportions and anatomy due to that a lot of things are not in the place they should be nor do they have good proportion.

I know that probably the model seems to be ultra thin and tall, but I suggest for starting practice you draw a grid over your reference pic. One method that you could use besides the grid is to measure the girls proportions using the head. Supposedly a normal female measures about 6-7 heads. Sketch her body before drawing the dress.

Look carefully at the ref pic so you figure out the pose. Right now her legs are completely out of place and she seems too tall.

I'm sure that once you measure your model with heads you'll find out sometimes pictures trick the eye, making someone look exceptionelly tall or strong, but most bodies fall into the same rules.

Good luck.

(to learn anatomy I suggest you draw nude models first)

[MayaGuy80]

The grid idea and the head measurement are really good suggestions. I'll make sure to do that with my next pieces. For this one I think I meaured halfway points by dividing the distance from the middle of the model, drawing a mark, and dividing those two distances and so on until I had about 8 head sizes. It was an estimate so next time I'll be more pecise. Soon I'd lke to take a figure drawing class so I can practice the nude drawing too! I think that'd really help with how the body should look.
Thank you arielmedel for your keen observations.

Anyone else have any suggestions?
MayaGuy80

[chrisbeaver]

The proportion issues are the biggest ones, I've gotta say.. But those have been addressed; moving on! :wip:

Seems to me like on the left side of her legs, you didn't really address the back-face of her dress. It's on the right side but not the left; if that's an issue of fabric movement, then you could do well to pull the front of her dress lower down on the left side to compensate.

I wouldn't mind a little more contrast either, especially around her sash where the fabrics overlap each other. :)

[fluxist8070]

I can tell you worked really hard on this drawing because the paper looks worn an handled.
By your drawing, it appears that you were drawing from a picture- probably from a magazine or the web. She looks like a supermodel walking a runway....( I like to state the obvious. )


1. You should learn to draw from life before drawing from a picture. A huge issue in this drawing is that there is no sense of light creating volume. The reason why is because your reference probably has really crappy lighting. If you thinkn about those runway shows. It is all flash photography, which is going to give you really flat light. As a result, you could trace this image and it will still look flat. Use good references that are going to help you not work against you. Draw from life. Set up a still life with a light source and draw it. Once you get a sense of light, then you can take crappy pics and translate them. Alot of people asusme "reality" from photos, but when the same photo is translate din a drawing, those people will see the drawing and question reality.

2. Copy old master drawings. The old masters (I prefer dutch and flemish) worked with consistent lighting in their images.


3. Keep working hard. The beautiful and evident thing about this drawing is that I can tell by your marks that you worked dilligently. I can also see a little bit of frustration in the marks too. Keep at it and you will get it.

good luck!

[alicelefay]

The suggestions of Matt are really helpful, I keep them for me too...lighting is a big problem for me :argh:
I agree with the proportions, head seems really too little.
But I love the way you rendered the walking feet...it has a kind of innate harmony to me, I can't explain what, but it seems so good to me.
And this drawing really talk about your diligence...go on drawing, I'm curious to see your new works! :)

[MayaGuy80]

I want to thank all of you for your very insiteful critiques. You have all given me alot to consider with this image (the proportion, the composition, as well as trying to draw from life).

Recently I enrolled in a Drawing class, and we are working on a series as our final project. After reading the comment from alicelefay, I decided that I would add this to the post and see what you all think about it. I am still going to re-attempt the first image I worked on in order to practice what most of you mentioned in your critiques, so the new version will appear at a later date.

Until then, I would appreciate the same constructive feedback like you so kindly offered from the previous image of the runway model. Your insite is very helpful to me and completely welcome!

By the way...
Chrisbeaver: I agree with your impression about the dress. In the image, the dress actually looks like that (it's an angle where the front of the dress is higher and all of this material peaks out, but in a very odd way). I think with the next attempt at this image I will have to keep in mind where the line between what I see and what I create.

matthewboard: Your thorough entry gave me alot to think about. I do see the necessity of drawing from life and will be working more on that in the future. However, I do wish to draw from model photos like that from the catwalk, or in magazines because there is so much going on in the style (plus I can't get anyone to stand still for me to let me draw them). Any possibilites that I could find photos of models of a certain quality that would let me still be able to use them?
Also, you are right, I did work hard on it. Those pages are quite penciled out from all the scribbling! :-) I appreciate the noting of my diligence! (Same goes to you alicelefay!)

[fluxist8070]

The volume is still flat.
Working from photos is fine once you understand how to manipulate your values so you can add to your translation(drawing).

I cannot get a sense of the light's direction.

Also, try copying some old master drawings.

Let me suggest a book to you-
It is "Drawing Lessons from the great Masters."

Here is the amazon link (http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Lessons-Great-Masters-Fundamentals/dp/0823014010/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213852735&sr=8-1)

This book will give you a ton of knowledge and understanding in terms if drawing.

Try making copies of these drawings. Read it from front to back. Take it with you everywhere. It will make you a better artist.

[MayaGuy80]

Thanks Matt...I'll check it out.
I agree the piece is flat and I need to clarify the location of the light by how the objects are reacting to it. The problem is is I can't seem to figure out how to tell. Light seems so tricky because rearely do I find such contrasting situations .... it's usually very sublte in how it subtly gets darker then lighter...and that's hard to put to paper. Does this seem like an actual issue t you or is there just somthing I'm not getting?

Thanks for your responce!

[alicelefay]

I keep for me too the suggestions of Mark :D LOL
Let's talk about your work...as immediate impression, I see something more "sure" in this drawing, as if you are getting more fluid and convicted in your work...if this makes any sens to you.
I can't talk about lights, I'm still trying to understand them @_@
but I can say that the calice seems to flow out of the hand, like being a sort of surrealistic thing. The flesh between the fingers doesn't suggest to be pulled in some way by the calice, and perhaps it needs some shadow too.
I'm really happy for you, the drawing class will sure bring you to something new for your art :) go on! :D

[chrisbeaver]

Practice makes perfect in seeing color shifts. It sometimes helps to squint your eyes as you're looking at the subject; this impairs your ability to see any detail, and all that's left is value-shifts for your eyes to work with. It also helps trying not to think about things in terms of highlights and shadows; it's all just masses of colors juxtaposed or intermixed with one another, and it's by their relationships and proportions that we percieve the form underneath.

In John Howe's Fantasy Art Workshop (http://www.john-howe.com/portfolio/gallery/details.php?image_id=4569), one of my favorite guidebooks even though I'm not a painter, he goes into a lot of detail about his sketching process. For one thing he uses only very soft pencils, 4~5B, layering light marks upon light marks to build up to a rich depth of value while keeping a light grip on the pencil so that it can act on its own and give a little feedback through the process. He augments that by holding his pencil in pretty much any way except the way he writes with, to surrender a little bit of mental control from the equation. Sounds a bit new-age, but yeah, if you're tuned in properly the image can sometimes tell you how it wants to be made. I can't say for sure that what works for him would work for you, but it's worth a shot.

Maybe more of a on-your-spare-time sort of thing though.. Many drawing teachers are pretty darn obsessed with capturing the detail over the spirit :D

[alicelefay]

oh my, I'm so broke and there are so many books I'd have to buy :hmm: ehehehe
chris, thank you for your suggestion...I have been a "line drawer" for all my life, and now it's my first try to sketch using and thinking "tonal instead of line"...I see that this way of thinking and drawing is giving my drawings more intensity...but it's so difficult!! LOL
This is really a wonderful place to improve myself...it's wonderful!

[chrisbeaver]

It's never easy to sit back and try to do something completely different from what's always come naturally to you before. And no-one's saying you'd have to abandon lines altogether; it's just healthy to train your mind to work in new and funky ways. The more you can increase your awareness of positive/negative space and values and so on, the more confidently and elegantly you can manipulate them! :thumbsup:

[MayaGuy80]

Quick update. I worked more on the recent still life. Let me know what you think everyone!

MayaGuy80

[MayaGuy80]

I finally finished the still life hand image, and I'm going to post it up. I hope that you will critique this image base on both the positive and negative. I will use this image as a series of 6 pieces in my final project.

I really could use the feedback. Any input you can muster up will be completely appreciated!

Thanks
MayaGuy80

[chrisbeaver]

Quite glad that you stretched your value-range wider :) I think you could've pushed it further still, namely in the wrinkles of the hand and the shadow cast over it. I also would've liked to see the reflections in the glass explored some (just characterizing it through the form-shadows makes it look like plastic), but that said, it's a good step up from where you began at the start of this thread. Keep it up!

[Greenham]

Your rendering is great, but the bones in the hand are that of someone who's had an unfortunate encounter with an industrial thresher. Get some reference pictures for hand skeletons and it will become much clearer.

Also, the perspective of your glass and the hand are different. The hand appears to go through the table the glass is resting upon.

[MayaGuy80]

Thanks guys for the advice. I will definitely consider darkening the image and looking for skeleton references in my further hand ventures. BTW, the martini glass is actually a plastic cup, so it might make more sense having mentioned this!

Ok so here's another picture I've worked on this week. Let me know what you think about this.
Thanks everyone for your insite, critique, and compliments! Please keep em coming!
MayaGuy80

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