"Fursona" Critique Needed

[JRTribe]

Um, bump? I thought I could get critiques here.

[CybrGfx]

As furries go, yes, you've done a very nice job. The ears and feet are appropriately misshapen and placed to fit furries design norms, and yes, you've made the breasts nice and almost perfectly spherical in true furries style. If your friend is into furries, she should be very happy with it.

Jamie, you will almost always find it difficult to get decent crits on your work. Mainly for your chosen subject matter, more than anything else.

Furries have their own following, more power to all of you, but by and far, the vast majority of artists in the world consider furries to be a somewhat deranged fan following of bizarre anthromorphic creations. Many people (myself included) do not care for them all that much, as they are considered to be somewhat immature and creepy. Far easier to just look at this thread, shake one's head, and say, "Nope, I ain't touchin' that one," and hitting the back button...

~C

[JRTribe]

As furries go, yes, you've done a very nice job. The ears and feet are appropriately misshapen and placed to fit furries design norms, and yes, you've made the breasts nice and almost perfectly spherical in true furries style. If your friend is into furries, she should be very happy with it.

Jamie, you will almost always find it difficult to get decent crits on your work. Mainly for your chosen subject matter, more than anything else.

Furries have their own following, more power to all of you, but by and far, the vast majority of artists in the world consider furries to be a somewhat deranged fan following of bizarre anthromorphic creations. Many people (myself included) do not care for them all that much, as they are considered to be somewhat immature and creepy. Far easier to just look at this thread, shake one's head, and say, "Nope, I ain't touchin' that one," and hitting the back button...

~C
Ah, yes, I see. I realize that the furry community is somewhat infamous... I'm actually not part of the whole thing. This is actually my first real effort at furry art. I mean, I tolerate it and to some extent I can be honestly aroused by some of the "artwork" associated with it, heh... but that's because the anatomy is primarily human-like, so... yeah, I don't have too big a problem with it. Then again, my views on things like that (in art, especially) are fairly liberal in nature.

That being said, my friend loves furry stuff, and I just thought she'd love this... which I'm relieved you agree with. I've seen some of the posts that you make and I must say that I don't think I've ever seen a critic as unabashed as you (I mean that in a good way, heh). I realize that the subject matter is somewhat sketchy--which is fine, I accept your opinion--but it's still a relief to hear that you of all people don't seem to find anything wrong with this piece, structurally and stylistically speaking.

[Prischool]

I have never critiqued a furry illustration before, but from what I can tell your character is anatomically correct and you have very nice line work. My two cents would be that your color palette is some what stark. I would make another layer on multiply and blend in some reds and maybe some magenta's lightly into your orange/yellow color for some variation. Also to add some cool blues or purples into your shading instead of the gray. I think it would compliment the golds you have already and pop your character out from the flat white background a bit more.

here's a quick mock up of what i'm talkin about.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b397/Csquaredftb/myspace%20ads/kristafursona0011copyiu2copy.jpg


Over all...

CybrGfx has a point about the subject matter. With the circle of artists that I run with, we tend to associate furry art with heighten sexual and erotic fantasy material represented in woodland creatures. It's hard enough for art to be analyzed when derived from the topic of sex, and it's another whole new thing when combined with animals other than the ThunderCats.

Well anyway, I'm sure your friend will enjoy their birthday present. You put a lot of time, effort and thought into your work and it shows. Good luck to the rest of any other art projects you end up doing, no matter what the content. :)

[TrenchcoatPixie]

I just got cranky when I saw a "jeez, where's my peeps at" bump only six hours after your original post. Relax, dude, some of us have got other stuff to do. Give it a day at least. ;) Especially when the subject matter is borderline pornographic--some of us need our morning coffee before touching that.

Aside from the color and anatomy suggestions already made, I don't think there's much here to critique. It's a figure, on a white background. No particular mood, atmosphere, or message seems to be suggested other than 'look, porn.' If your only goal when you set out to draw something is to make a drawing of a naked lady, there isn't anything to say about it other than "well, it looks like a naked lady, all right. Tighten up that anatomy."

Next time, I'd recommend challenging yourself with bolder lighting, a more varied palette, and/or a background, even if it's just a gradient with a floor.

[JRTribe]

I have never critiqued a furry illustration before, but from what I can tell your character is anatomically correct and you have very nice line work. My two cents would be that your color palette is some what stark. I would make another layer on multiply and blend in some reds and maybe some magenta's lightly into your orange/yellow color for some variation. Also to add some cool blues or purples into your shading instead of the gray. I think it would compliment the golds you have already and pop your character out from the flat white background a bit more.
Thank you, those are very good suggestions. I hadn't even thought of using other colors for the more shadowy regions (I don't work much with color--mainly black and white). Thank you also for the visual aid and compliments on my linework and such. I really do appreciate it. :)

Over all...

CybrGfx has a point about the subject matter. With the circle of artists that I run with, we tend to associate furry art with heighten sexual and erotic fantasy material represented in woodland creatures. It's hard enough for art to be analyzed when derived from the topic of sex, and it's another whole new thing when combined with animals other than the ThunderCats.
To some extent, I agree that furry art is somewhat more sexual than traditional human character art... but I think that's just a stereotype, and I'm learning to steer away from those as they're not good for a healthy, creative mind. I leave myself open to a lot of things, and though furry art has never been a favorite pasttime for me, I can embrace it because I want to have an eclectic skillset.

Well anyway, I'm sure your friend will enjoy their birthday present. You put a lot of time, effort and thought into your work and it shows. Good luck to the rest of any other art projects you end up doing, no matter what the content. :)
Thank you very much, I really appreciate that last comment. :)
I just got cranky when I saw a "jeez, where's my peeps at" bump only six hours after your original post. Relax, dude, some of us have got other stuff to do. Give it a day at least. ;) Especially when the subject matter is borderline pornographic--some of us need our morning coffee before touching that.
Heh, sorry, where I come from, replies usually come quick and fast, so it's very different to what I'm used to. I just was wondering why my topic was getting so many views, but no replies. Meanwhile, other people's threads kept being updated and my thread was being knocked down the list. :P

Aside from the color and anatomy suggestions already made, I don't think there's much here to critique. It's a figure, on a white background. No particular mood, atmosphere, or message seems to be suggested other than 'look, porn.' If your only goal when you set out to draw something is to make a drawing of a naked lady, there isn't anything to say about it other than "well, it looks like a naked lady, all right. Tighten up that anatomy."
I didn't really want to convey "porn" with this image. It's more of a playful image, I think, and I'm not even showing any explicit content with it... But you make a good point about the background. I don't want to have it set in any particular place, though... Perhaps a nice patterned background or something just to help frame the image would be good, though.

Next time, I'd recommend challenging yourself with bolder lighting, a more varied palette, and/or a background, even if it's just a gradient with a floor.
Funny, I actually toyed around with a gradient floor, but then just dismissed it on the grounds that a white background just felt safer, heh... As for the lighting, I really just wanted to make a simply lit picture, nothing too dramatic... The focus really is on the character herself, and the mood set is more a playful one than anything else.

[JRTribe]

Okay, I'm not sure how the settings are on this forum, whether an edited post bumps up a thread or not, but a new post always bumps a thread, so here is my updated piece:

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/5859/kristafursona0014copyon2.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kristafursona0013copymy2.jpg)http://img402.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)http://img402.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)http://img136.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)http://img79.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)http://img90.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

I listened to your guys' advice and added some extra color in the shaded areas, I added a background/foreground and I think it turned out alright.

Now that I've actually got some context in this picture, the real critiques should come, heh. Don't worry, though, I can take it. I want to make this as perfect as Jamie-ly possible... and thanks, everyone, for your thoughtful responses. :D

[Hecatomb]

Furries have their own following, more power to all of you, but by and far, the vast majority of artists in the world consider furries to be a somewhat deranged fan following of bizarre anthromorphic creations. Many people (myself included) do not care for them all that much, as they are considered to be somewhat immature and creepy. Far easier to just look at this thread, shake one's head, and say, "Nope, I ain't touchin' that one," and hitting the back button...

~C

So true. This is the kind of imagery that's been slowly turning Deviantart into a horrible swamp of breasts and fox-ears over the past few years, and the very reason why I think twice before visiting that page these days.

[TrenchcoatPixie]

Oh, dear...

It was better when it was just a white background. These colors are lurid, and there's no sense at all of a consistent light source. What are you trying to CONVEY? What kind of environment and mood is suggested by clashing yellow, purple, and green, with no light source in common with your figure?

This still doesn't say "playful" to me. It still just looks like "hey, porn," only now with "oh, I guess I should have a background, too, and somebody said to make it colorful." If you have no REASON to put something in, if it doesn't improve the mood or message or composition in any way, leave it out. No thought went into this, and it shows.

[JRTribe]

Yeah, you were about a day too late. Thanks for your polite and prompt reply.

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