Progress slowing, need another set of eyes

#1

Hey, guys. I’ve been drawing on my own for 6 to 8 years. Recently, I took a step back and realized that I’m progressing too slowly, and perhaps progressing poorly. I want to be at least at a lower professional level by 2018, and if I want to get there, I feel like studying on my own with no help won’t cut it anymore

2016 has been a productive year so far, but this picture is the first one I’ve just been unhappy with despite spending more time on it than usual.

I did self-critique, but I don’t feel like I’d like the picture even if I fixed everything I critiqued. Additionally, while I don’t hate anime-styled faces in general, I regret using one for this picture. Using a more realistic style would make it much easier for me to see where I’m screwing up.

That picture took me 12 hours. I know speed comes with time, and I was doing several things I wasn’t accustomed to doing, but that’s just ridiculous.

So I need help. What’s wrong with the picture that I couldn’t see, and what/how should I practice in order to fix it?

#2

there is little coloring in the light and in the shadows
it appears to be flatly lit with a bright abmient
the different materials appear to react to the light in the same way, implying that everything is made of the same material

#3

If your goal is to become a professional and get there by 2018, then the only way to get there is to adopt the most effective learning and training strategy that will not waste your time on ineffective methods and hinder your progress with bad advice and bad habits. That kind of significant artistic growth is not going to happen just because you troubleshoot one problematic image and fix the issues, as you already suspected.

What you need, is to buckle down and really strengthen all the critical foundations of visual art that all proficient artists must know and master in order to compete professionally. That means you have to tackle composition, perspective, values, lighting, color theory, anatomy/figure, etc., and then also the 2D-centric skills related to your chosen medium such as line quality, brushwork, etc. And if there are any emotional/psychological baggage that getting in your artistic development (such as lack of motivation and discipline, easily discouraged, self-loathing, bad time management, etc.), you’ll need to address them and overcome them too.

You might want to take a look at the workshop I teach here at CGSociety (and now CGMA too) called “Becoming a Better Artist.” It is linked below in my signature. I teach all of the subjects I mentioned above, and much, much more, in one single workshop.