Not sure if I'm done with this. I know I probably shouldn't be, but I have 2 other paintings I need to do, plus I need to finish my thesis, so I'm FREAKIN' OUT MAN. I'm freakin' out.
Anyway, yeah. Crits, comments, usual stuff is always appreciated!
Edit: Just noticed the photo. The painting is actually a lot darker and more contrasty in real life. Kind of weird how it's coming out like that in the photo. I'm going to have to do something about that.
Auugghh I love that last one. I think the only real problem I have with any of these is that one area always seems to be at a hugely different level of finish than the other areas. On the last one its the teeth, one before that its the mouth, then the eyes. The pieces of yours that look best are the ones that have the same level of finish all around. Maybe build up everything at the same level, blocking everything in, building it all up at the same time? Rather than starting with one part (Even though that one part is the most fun)?
I like the second one, but with the exception of the ear, the first one's features are almost totally flat. They look like they were painted onto a faceless mannequin.
Kochikens-Yeah, I totally agree with you. Granted these were all pretty much rushed (the guy gave me a week to do those 3 paintings, plus a shitload of other work I had to focus on), but with that advice I can bring these more to a finished end.
Tam- The faceless mannequin was what I was going for actually. It's why eyes were scratched into her head, but the lips and surrounding bone structure could definitely use some work to make it look more...life-like, I guess!
Edit: Also, thanks! It feels like I haven't been getting many responses in this thread. it's nice to finally get some critiques, etc.
Wow, you actually ended up using all of my ideas when we were brainstorming about your thesis. I'm kind of flattered, really :oops:
Edit: Since this is the first time I'm seeing the hydra, sirens, and furies, I have to say the hydra is probably my favorite. I really like what you did with the furies, especially the old man. Overall, really fantastic job!
If anyone is going to be in NYC on April 14th you should go to Alyce's school art show. Meet the artist and all :P
Thanks! And of course I used the ideas you put out there while we were brainstorming, because they were good ideas!
I`m really unhappy with how I executed the sirens though. If I had more time I would have redone that piece. I dont mind the background, but with the sirens themselves, the shading is all fucked up on them. uuuhg. oh well.
Not a critique per se, but I don't understand the now popular move for the Minotaur to have leg joints that articulate as if they were an actual bull's legs. That ain't how the Minotaur got down back in Crete.
I blame D&D making them some monster race.
Most art portrayed him as simply having the bulls head. Granted a few pieces *William Blake portrayed him as him with the full body of the bull, torso of the man, and head of the bull. Think Centaur style. Weird.
I guess there is no wrong way, I just prefer the old Greek statues.
Haha, yeah, i actually prefer the Greek statues as well, but I really just wanted to draw a bulky dude with hooves. It made working on this piece slightly more fun than if I were to draw a man with a bull head. Not sure why.
Man I just watched Gozu, speaking of creepy bull people.
But yeah I really like these, the colors and texture are just pleasant to the eye. My only crit would be sometimes the shapes of certain things seems oversimplified. Like the minotaurs arm lacks any real definition, making it look kinda stretchy and elastic like, and it doesn't seem like it connects to the body in a believable way either.
Just to make a general comment, the character and color design of these are all really charming, but I think the next place you need to go to bring it to the next level (and you're going to hate me for this because it's boring), is some hardcore perspective work. You obviously know a bit out of perspective, but it feels like you're not yet so adept at it that it's become a natural thing in your drawing mindset, and that comes across in a few places. ex: the hydra's cubicle and the boss aren't in the same perspective as the rest of the cubicles, in the Medusa piece the guy sitting across from Medusa has a bigger head than the guy sitting down from him, the bingo table on the stage isn't in the same perspective as the rest of the tables, the minotaur seems to be wide, and it feels like you struggled putting the figure into a sort of very deep perspective. It's something that the average person won't notice at a conscious level, but something at the back of their mind will be telling them that, for whatever reason, it's not as strong as it could be.
Now the risk here- and what you might fear- is that bringing very tight, technical perspective could kill the charm of the style; a valid concern- if you were too tight in treatment of it, it could serve to make the perspective too conspicuous, or lead to the style becoming generic. But it doesn't necessarily have to be so; I'd take a look at Steve Purcell's Sam and Max webcomic here for an example.
He's got a very light, whimsical sort of design sense in his work, the same as what you seem to be going for- very charming, fun stuff. But look at his backgrounds, and the forms of his character and objects and you see that the reason that his picture making ability is so strong, is because he knows perspective so well, he can use it in a natural way that doesn't call attention to itself. You don't see all the effort and toil that went into it, as you do with most student work trying to demonstrate perspective. Part of what makes it so charming is that it's totally solid, but something that might have taken hours to work out, or spent years figuring out the principles- all that struggle and experience gets covered up, to make it look like he just dashed it off in 30 seconds, effortlessly.
Where you need to be going now is delving into that boring, not-fun technical work, struggling past the awkwardness of getting used to it, so you can get that same effect.
What I'd worry about here- and I have no reason to believe this is the case, but it's worth mentioning- is that while you're obviously having a lot of fun, and there's a lot of charm to the work that I and everyone here and I'm guessing your teachers are going to be digging it a lot- with that comes the risk of complacency. Why do boring, technical things you struggle with when everyone already digs the creative, fun work you enjoy doing? Lots of art students get caught in that trap, and on graduation find that they need more than charm, or art they enjoyed doing, or enthusiastic teachers in order to make a living doing art. At this point in your development I could see you plowing ahead and doing the hardcore perspective/life drawing/construction practice/anatomy and, combined with your aptitude for fun, charming stuff, becoming like Steve Purcell, a big name (he's a story artist at Pixar if he's new to you)- but I could also see you spend your art school time just continuing to have a lot of fun, but not living up to your potential, art/career wise- something that's all too often the case with art students.
Again, I don't have any evidence to say that's necessarily the case, but it's something I'd be worried about, especially since you're showing a lot of creative work, but not a lot of work focused on technical challenges. That could just be a result of posting selectively, or it could be symptomatic of a larger issue, I don't know.
Don't mean to be down on you (especially if it's an unwarranted concern), but I wouldn't bother going on about it if I didn't see a lot of potential that would be frustrating to see not lived up to.
Oh man, thanks you guys. I've been struggling a lot with perspective, because, like you said AOB, it's fucking boring. I really need to take the time, and sit down, and really focus on the technical aspect of art, as it's ridiculously important.
The thing about these most recent pieces, is that I was so restricted on time (the three most recent ones had to be done in less than a week), that not only did I not want to properly incorporate perspective (blerurgg), but I didn't have time to plan it out. But that's just an excuse, I suppose, and I hate giving those.
Anyway, I really do want to get a proper grasp of this, and I think for the next couple of weeks (or more), since thesis is over, that's what I'm going to focus on. Yes, I still have other school work I need to do, and that'll be posted as well, but I'm going to spend my free time working on things that aren't currently being taught.
Edit: I'll post more of my reply later. Gotta catch a movie!
The drawings I posted are all colored ink. Watercolor isn't opaque enough for me :P
You are my new hero. I love coloured ink, but I cant et any quality coloured ink where I live... its like, coloured glue/plastic thing that feels awefull and doesnt mix with the few winsor&newton ink I have left
Anyway, GREAT stuff!
FANTOMAS on
Yes, with a quick verbal "boom." You take a man's peko, you deny him his dab, all that is left is to rise up and tear down the walls of Jericho with a ".....not!" -TexiKen
The best ink I've used has been "Dr. Ph Martins". This is the exact product I use. They're a bit pricey (less so in the actual stores), but they're fantastic and blend really well. The brown (at least the one I got. mine may just have been a sucky batch or something) is that nasty gluey texture though like you described, so avoid that color.
If you can't get those where you are, order them online. Totally worth the price, IMO, and they last forever.
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Freakin Yum brand lollipops! That's the best name for a lollipop ever, I'd buy 5 of them on the spot.
Not sure if I'm done with this. I know I probably shouldn't be, but I have 2 other paintings I need to do, plus I need to finish my thesis, so I'm FREAKIN' OUT MAN. I'm freakin' out.
Anyway, yeah. Crits, comments, usual stuff is always appreciated!
Edit: Just noticed the photo. The painting is actually a lot darker and more contrasty in real life. Kind of weird how it's coming out like that in the photo. I'm going to have to do something about that.
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Critiques/comments...please.
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Tam- The faceless mannequin was what I was going for actually. It's why eyes were scratched into her head, but the lips and surrounding bone structure could definitely use some work to make it look more...life-like, I guess!
Edit: Also, thanks! It feels like I haven't been getting many responses in this thread. it's nice to finally get some critiques, etc.
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Hydra
Cyclops
Medusa
The Furies
The Sirens
The Minotaur
Critiques/comments are all welcome!
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Edit: Since this is the first time I'm seeing the hydra, sirens, and furies, I have to say the hydra is probably my favorite. I really like what you did with the furies, especially the old man. Overall, really fantastic job!
If anyone is going to be in NYC on April 14th you should go to Alyce's school art show. Meet the artist and all :P
I`m really unhappy with how I executed the sirens though. If I had more time I would have redone that piece. I dont mind the background, but with the sirens themselves, the shading is all fucked up on them. uuuhg. oh well.
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I blame D&D making them some monster race.
Most art portrayed him as simply having the bulls head. Granted a few pieces *William Blake portrayed him as him with the full body of the bull, torso of the man, and head of the bull. Think Centaur style. Weird.
I guess there is no wrong way, I just prefer the old Greek statues.
buy warhams
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But yeah I really like these, the colors and texture are just pleasant to the eye. My only crit would be sometimes the shapes of certain things seems oversimplified. Like the minotaurs arm lacks any real definition, making it look kinda stretchy and elastic like, and it doesn't seem like it connects to the body in a believable way either.
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Now the risk here- and what you might fear- is that bringing very tight, technical perspective could kill the charm of the style; a valid concern- if you were too tight in treatment of it, it could serve to make the perspective too conspicuous, or lead to the style becoming generic. But it doesn't necessarily have to be so; I'd take a look at Steve Purcell's Sam and Max webcomic here for an example.
He's got a very light, whimsical sort of design sense in his work, the same as what you seem to be going for- very charming, fun stuff. But look at his backgrounds, and the forms of his character and objects and you see that the reason that his picture making ability is so strong, is because he knows perspective so well, he can use it in a natural way that doesn't call attention to itself. You don't see all the effort and toil that went into it, as you do with most student work trying to demonstrate perspective. Part of what makes it so charming is that it's totally solid, but something that might have taken hours to work out, or spent years figuring out the principles- all that struggle and experience gets covered up, to make it look like he just dashed it off in 30 seconds, effortlessly.
Where you need to be going now is delving into that boring, not-fun technical work, struggling past the awkwardness of getting used to it, so you can get that same effect.
What I'd worry about here- and I have no reason to believe this is the case, but it's worth mentioning- is that while you're obviously having a lot of fun, and there's a lot of charm to the work that I and everyone here and I'm guessing your teachers are going to be digging it a lot- with that comes the risk of complacency. Why do boring, technical things you struggle with when everyone already digs the creative, fun work you enjoy doing? Lots of art students get caught in that trap, and on graduation find that they need more than charm, or art they enjoyed doing, or enthusiastic teachers in order to make a living doing art. At this point in your development I could see you plowing ahead and doing the hardcore perspective/life drawing/construction practice/anatomy and, combined with your aptitude for fun, charming stuff, becoming like Steve Purcell, a big name (he's a story artist at Pixar if he's new to you)- but I could also see you spend your art school time just continuing to have a lot of fun, but not living up to your potential, art/career wise- something that's all too often the case with art students.
Again, I don't have any evidence to say that's necessarily the case, but it's something I'd be worried about, especially since you're showing a lot of creative work, but not a lot of work focused on technical challenges. That could just be a result of posting selectively, or it could be symptomatic of a larger issue, I don't know.
Don't mean to be down on you (especially if it's an unwarranted concern), but I wouldn't bother going on about it if I didn't see a lot of potential that would be frustrating to see not lived up to.
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The thing about these most recent pieces, is that I was so restricted on time (the three most recent ones had to be done in less than a week), that not only did I not want to properly incorporate perspective (blerurgg), but I didn't have time to plan it out. But that's just an excuse, I suppose, and I hate giving those.
Anyway, I really do want to get a proper grasp of this, and I think for the next couple of weeks (or more), since thesis is over, that's what I'm going to focus on. Yes, I still have other school work I need to do, and that'll be posted as well, but I'm going to spend my free time working on things that aren't currently being taught.
Edit: I'll post more of my reply later. Gotta catch a movie!
Check out my art! Buy some prints!
You are my new hero. I love coloured ink, but I cant et any quality coloured ink where I live... its like, coloured glue/plastic thing that feels awefull and doesnt mix with the few winsor&newton ink I have left
Anyway, GREAT stuff!
The best ink I've used has been "Dr. Ph Martins". This is the exact product I use. They're a bit pricey (less so in the actual stores), but they're fantastic and blend really well. The brown (at least the one I got. mine may just have been a sucky batch or something) is that nasty gluey texture though like you described, so avoid that color.
If you can't get those where you are, order them online. Totally worth the price, IMO, and they last forever.
Check out my art! Buy some prints!
Figured I'd bake some cookies for easter.
Welp.
Excuse the shit pictures. Both cameras are dead.
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Alyce, I think I love you. That is too awesome.
Show the stalkers your pretty face.
You can't even spell her name right!
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PS-They don't actually taste like zombies.
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How do you know they don't taste like zombies?
maybe zombies taste like baked goods!
Well in that case, if the zombie apocalypse ever happens, fuck guns. I'm eating EVERYTHING (everyone?)
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I just had a great idea for a horror movie!
DERP DERP
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p.s. Send me summa dem cookies please. Can you ship them to NJ?
Haha, thanks! I'd totally ship cookies to NJ. It'll give me more excuses to bake :P
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