Hello,
I have been submitting art to newgrounds for a while now. And I saw that the best way to get feedback is to open a thread like this one. So I have attached below what I believe to be my best work at the moment hoping that someone more advanced (or less advanced, it doesn't matter) could give me some pointers on what I might be doing wrong.
Its from the gears of war cover art
Hey dude I just checked through your gallery and I'd say you're on the right tack based on your post progression. The studies are looking good and if you keep those up you'll be improving no problem. One thing though is that you might want to invest in some more pencils to draw out the value range more, the best one to get is an Ebony pencil to get super dark values and that paired with a regular No. 2 pencil should be sufficient if you're not looking to get a whole set If you haven't already got a set, your latest work looks to have a good value range. When starting out its good to use high contrast to better understand forms and shadows in 3D spaces.
As for your gears of war drawing, good job on the body and detail work, though the gun and the body armor get a bit lost on each other, varying up the the shading technique and/or values will help to differentiate them. The gun uses more angular shapes so the light would catch the edges more making harder highlight points, its also darker at its darkest than the armor if I remember correctly. Looking at your reference there is a much stronger light source on the front of the face than on the back of the head, so the sides of his face and head are much darker than the front, don't be afraid to make those parts darker like in the image it'll make it show better over all. Right now the way you've done his eyes, make it look like he's wearing eyeliner, with features in realistic renderings its better to let the shading define the forms than to do them in lines. That will come as you practice form and shading as well as anatomy.
Keep up the good work dude.
At 5/5/16 11:35 PM, JackDCurleo wrote: Hey dude I just checked through your gallery and I'd say you're on the right tack based on your post progression. The studies are looking good and if you keep those up you'll be improving no problem. One thing though is that you might want to invest in some more pencils to draw out the value range more, the best one to get is an Ebony pencil to get super dark values and that paired with a regular No. 2 pencil should be sufficient if you're not looking to get a whole set If you haven't already got a set, your latest work looks to have a good value range. When starting out its good to use high contrast to better understand forms and shadows in 3D spaces.
As for your gears of war drawing, good job on the body and detail work, though the gun and the body armor get a bit lost on each other, varying up the the shading technique and/or values will help to differentiate them. The gun uses more angular shapes so the light would catch the edges more making harder highlight points, its also darker at its darkest than the armor if I remember correctly. Looking at your reference there is a much stronger light source on the front of the face than on the back of the head, so the sides of his face and head are much darker than the front, don't be afraid to make those parts darker like in the image it'll make it show better over all. Right now the way you've done his eyes, make it look like he's wearing eyeliner, with features in realistic renderings its better to let the shading define the forms than to do them in lines. That will come as you practice form and shading as well as anatomy.
Keep up the good work dude.
First and foremost. Thanks a Million!! This review is more than I'd hoped for, it's really in depth and you even took from your precious time to look at my gallery and give me feedback.
After reading this, I will definitely get a new pencil set. I had a feeling that my pieces needed more contrast and after your advice on the matter, I will invest time into trying to achieve that.
I do have a challenge with lighting at the moment, I will keep your advice (of not being afraid to make areas darker) in mind when doing my next piece. Also, I bought a white gel pen with intention to use it for the shining light (and perhaps rim lighting) but the pen turned out to be crap and was unusable. I have seen some artists (namely Jazza) use a "white pen" for rim lighting on traditional pieces. Any idea what they are called or perhaps what brands are actually of good quality?
Ahh, I see what mean about the eyes. (I'll keep that in mind and practise some more)
Once again thank you for you polite, yet highly informative advice. Honesty, I'm stunned.
