Hey guys, I'm sort of new to newgrounds, and I want opinions on my artwork. I'll take any criticism that you can offer. I want to eventually be good enough to make my own comic series, possibly a web comic. I'll take any and all criticism for any and all of my artwork, but what I post here, I'd especially like opinions on. This first piece is a character that I designed specifically to try and make fantasy armor for a female warrior that was more functional than sexy.

At 11/12/12 01:44 AM, Solomon-Pider wrote: Hey guys, I'm sort of new to newgrounds, and I want opinions on my artwork. I'll take any criticism that you can offer. I want to eventually be good enough to make my own comic series, possibly a web comic. I'll take any and all criticism for any and all of my artwork, but what I post here, I'd especially like opinions on. This first piece is a character that I designed specifically to try and make fantasy armor for a female warrior that was more functional than sexy.

Hey, I like what you have going on here. You've taken a really tough pose and done well with it. Are you planning to shade this? If not, that's really what's missing here. The colors are good, the linework is good, the pose is good, but there's no modeling to speak of, so the whole thing is very flat.

If I were you, I'd choose a light source, as well as a shading style (cell shading vs. realistic), and give this picture some depth.

At 11/12/12 03:25 AM, Shayl wrote:

At 11/12/12 01:44 AM, Solomon-Pider wrote: Hey guys, I'm sort of new to newgrounds, and I want opinions on my artwork. I'll take any criticism that you can offer. I want to eventually be good enough to make my own comic series, possibly a web comic. I'll take any and all criticism for any and all of my artwork, but what I post here, I'd especially like opinions on. This first piece is a character that I designed specifically to try and make fantasy armor for a female warrior that was more functional than sexy.

Hey, I like what you have going on here. You've taken a really tough pose and done well with it. Are you planning to shade this? If not, that's really what's missing here. The colors are good, the linework is good, the pose is good, but there's no modeling to speak of, so the whole thing is very flat.

If I were you, I'd choose a light source, as well as a shading style (cell shading vs. realistic), and give this picture some depth.

Firstly, thank you for the comment, it really made my night. :) Secondly, you're right, I wasn't planning on shading this picture, but I think I will. I need the practice. I've only just started learning how to use both gimp and Photoshop, and I'm afraid that it will look bad. But you need to practice to get better right?

At 11/12/12 04:11 AM, Solomon-Pider wrote: Firstly, thank you for the comment, it really made my night. :) Secondly, you're right, I wasn't planning on shading this picture, but I think I will. I need the practice. I've only just started learning how to use both gimp and Photoshop, and I'm afraid that it will look bad. But you need to practice to get better right?

Cel-shading tutorial, yay!

At 11/12/12 10:32 AM, big-jonny-13 wrote:

Cel-shading tutorial, yay!

Incredibly helpful, thank you so much!

Alright, while I'm working on shading her lordship, here's one i just finished. It's shaded, and I've used some experimentation with it, so I'd like to know what works and what doesn't.

Alright, after reading through that tutorial a bunch and trying for a while, here's the cell-shaded version of her Lordship. Lemme know what works and what doesn't.

At 11/12/12 09:28 PM, Solomon-Pider wrote: Alright, after reading through that tutorial a bunch and trying for a while, here's the cell-shaded version of her Lordship. Lemme know what works and what doesn't.

Nice! It looks even better! Don't really see any issues with your light source or anything like that.

At 11/12/12 10:36 PM, KaDoYuu wrote: That looks marvelous. You may want to darken her left glove, just a bit, though. As is, there are multiple light sources, which is just fine, depending on what's in the environment around her. For a drawing without background, it's better to try one or two light sources, at most. What you've done is amazing for a first with gimp a/o photoshop and really makes the piece pop out. It adds a lot to the piece. I really hope I've been of some help to you!

You've been a great help! I edited the picture a little bit, and added the shading to the left glove. Thank you for taking out some time to give me advice! Now I need to work a little bit more on drawing things with backgrounds.

At 11/12/12 09:49 PM, Shayl wrote: Nice! It looks even better! Don't really see any issues with your light source or anything like that.

Cool, onto the next picture! This one is more of just a concept right now. In next few weeks I should have a copy of flash, and I want to start animating things, so I've been designing a character to animate, and what I have is a ghost girl, can't really think of a good name for her though, and if anyone has a suggestion, I'd be willing to hear it. Still just a concept right now, so you know, keep that in mind.

Alright, here's Chester! Chester is a character That I designed to be a shopkeeper of sorts. I won't go into it now, but this is sort of a test of his design. Another thing I thought of that would be helpful and hopefully fun, I want people to tell me what they think the character's personality is like just from the design, not just this drawing but all of them. You don't have to, but that might help me make design choices better.

At 11/15/12 03:19 AM, Solomon-Pider wrote: Alright, here's Chester! Chester is a character That I designed to be a shopkeeper of sorts.

Seems like he might be a smart-alec, either than or someone who's fairly smug.

Also his hand seems a little weird

At 11/15/12 03:29 AM, Shayl wrote:

Seems like he might be a smart-alec, either than or someone who's fairly smug.

Also his hand seems a little weird

Smug is right, and damn, looking at it now I think you're right. I'll work on his hand.

At 11/15/12 05:33 AM, Solomon-Pider wrote:

At 11/15/12 03:29 AM, Shayl wrote:

Seems like he might be a smart-alec, either than or someone who's fairly smug.

Also his hand seems a little weird

Smug is right, and damn, looking at it now I think you're right. I'll work on his hand.

I think the problem with that hand is that it's a flat plane, maybe if you turn it so his palm doesn't face straight back. To me it looks like right now that ball of energy is emanating from the side of his hand rather than his palm.

Alright, while I'm working on redoing Chester's hand, here's Doctor dragon! A dragon who is also a doctor. Need to think of a good name for him, was thinking of using the name Asclepius because I Google searched for Gods of medicine and that was an old Greek one. Not sold on it yet. If you have an Idea, go ahead and suggest it!

Alright, felt a bit sick and depressed, but I'm back on the saddle! More ART! and soon, backgrounds. Because everything is better with backgrounds. Also I have to get back to Chester and fix that hand...but for now Meet Dmitri'! Sort of another character concept I've been working on. Hopefully I'll be able to post a finished comic some time soon. Also, I'm iffy on his color scheme, so you know, if there are any suggestions feel free.

Some more work in progress stuff.

Next stage of this work in progress! It's part of a bigger picture That's a Christmas present! I'll post more of it as I get along.

Your overall shapes are pretty good but you really need to practice coloring.

I'm pretty much the same way- hate coloring and shading

At 12/22/12 08:00 PM, Idioteque123 wrote: Your overall shapes are pretty good but you really need to practice coloring.

I'm pretty much the same way- hate coloring and shading

Thanks. I really do need work with the coloring. Not just the process, but I need to work on what colors compliment the others moreso.

Another work in progress for the Christmas gift for my friend. I'm drawing his superhero, Mister Monocle, a man who got psychic powers from a monocle, fighting a robot.

Nice! Those are some lively lines. Hope you post a colored version up here =D

At 12/24/12 09:53 AM, Solomon-Pider wrote: Another work in progress for the Christmas gift for my friend. I'm drawing his superhero, Mister Monocle, a man who got psychic powers from a monocle, fighting a robot.

the one in the op isn't bad, style-wise. the anatomy could use some more dimension, if that makes sense?

At 12/24/12 02:46 PM, maficmelody wrote: Nice! Those are some lively lines. Hope you post a colored version up here =D

Your wish is my command :)

Sorry, the last picture had a problem uploading, redo.

At 12/25/12 04:16 AM, ChloBro wrote: the one in the op isn't bad, style-wise. the anatomy could use some more dimension, if that makes sense?

I feel stupid for not knowing this, and it's probably something really obvious I should know, but I don't know what you mean by the one in the op. Though I do agree that in general my anatomy skills in general could use some improvement.

Alright, another work in progress. A man made of black strings. He holds himself together under clothing and a flesh-like mask.

Two posts in one day! The picture that I made as a Christmas present. I'm happy with how it turned out. Psychic man fighting Robot!!!

At 1/6/13 03:42 AM, Solomon-Pider wrote: Two posts in one day! The picture that I made as a Christmas present. I'm happy with how it turned out. Psychic man fighting Robot!!!

Everything is looking nice, you've obviously got the creative part down! I suggest keeping photographs that inspire you, I use Pinterest because it's fast and I can navigate all my inspiring images quickly. I'll even dedicate a few minutes to collecting images I enjoy, you never have too many resources. Try drawing items in life, reference buildings and do quick sketches of relative space. I enjoy playing puzzle games, it helps me have a break from drawing/studying but aids in my use of space. Composition is important with art as is the coloring, they can make or break your pieces. If something doesn't look "right" to you, look up references and draw it over and over until you're so confident in how it looks you aren't bugged by any anatomical issues. Don't be afraid to erase and redraw. Keep it up you've got some original stuff!

At 1/7/13 01:37 AM, ChildSafetyLid wrote:

At 1/6/13 03:42 AM, Solomon-Pider wrote: Two posts in one day! The picture that I made as a Christmas present. I'm happy with how it turned out. Psychic man fighting Robot!!!

Everything is looking nice, you've obviously got the creative part down! I suggest keeping photographs that inspire you, I use Pinterest because it's fast and I can navigate all my inspiring images quickly. I'll even dedicate a few minutes to collecting images I enjoy, you never have too many resources. Try drawing items in life, reference buildings and do quick sketches of relative space. I enjoy playing puzzle games, it helps me have a break from drawing/studying but aids in my use of space. Composition is important with art as is the coloring, they can make or break your pieces. If something doesn't look "right" to you, look up references and draw it over and over until you're so confident in how it looks you aren't bugged by any anatomical issues. Don't be afraid to erase and redraw. Keep it up you've got some original stuff!

Thanks for your advice, I really do appreciate it. I'd completely forgotten that I should be drawing from life. I used to do it with relative frequency, I mean I wasn't any good at it but still I practiced. I sorta just...stopped at some point. I'll be doing that more. All of your advice sounds helpful, and I too enjoy a good puzzle game now and again. Do you have any particular favorites?