SkiethWebb

Accepting Critique for <img class="avatar group" width="100" height="50" src="a.deviantart.net/avatars/o/p/o…" alt="" title="OpinionStation" />

I really like the blue block contrast against the black jacket and bright yellow hair. While simplistic, it still gives a lot of energy to the image and helps focus it on the character in this simple bust.

I would recommend working on a few hair studies to help with getting a better idea of where and when to place lines to suggest volume and shape. Shading would also help with giving the hair and picture itself more depth. You also have done something that a lot of beginning artist tend to do and that is have the hair transparent over the eyes. This isn't something that would recommend doing. I find the face tends to be more interesting when parts of it are broken up with the hair.

I think the best part of this image is how well you have captured the expression and feeling of the character. The character does indeed seem quite shocked by something.

I hope this helps, thanks for submitting to the group.

Glad it was well received. I think doing those two things will help really bring your skills to the next level. You have talent and a good eye, doing this will just give you more knowledge to direct those traits better. Best of luck with it.

So what really makes this piece stand out to me is the great use of red and blue lighting. It serves very well to put a contrast between the two characters.

as for improvement, there are three main things I can see that you could improve on. First one is going to be line weights. Giving things different line weights can really make a picture feel like it has more depth and accents detailing better. This is a good quick reference for it, but I would also recommend looking up youtube videos on the matter to get a good grasp on it.

The second thing that I see you would benefit from, as much as people hate hearing it, would be to study from realistic anatomy and how clothing reacts to being worn. You seem to have some basic understanding of it but taking a break from anime style for a bit and studying real life for a while will give you a much better grasp on anatomy, shading, how clothing pulls at places ect. Some of the best advice I ever got for my development was to learn all the rules of realistic art before you start experiment with breaking them. This and learning how to mess with line weights improved my own skill with leaps and bounds and I feel it could do the same for you. Especially since you seem to have a good eye for color.

The last real issue I see in this piece is the gun. While well done and proportionate to itself, it is disproportionate to the size of the person holding it. I would recommend looking up some stock photo's on this site and see how the size of regular pistol looks in comparison to the people's hands. As someone that owns and fires guns, I can tell you just by looking that the grip is not wide enough to provide proper support for the kickback to her wrist. A small thing, but something I noticed none the less.

What I feel is your strongest point on this is how clearly you are able to tell these people's personalities. You did a great job with the expressions, clothing choices, body language, and accessories you gave them. These choices while small by themselves do well together to convey a clear image.

So to recap,
- great job on colored lighting
- vary your line weights a bit
- study from real life for a bit before coming back to anime
- gun size
- you are very clear on expressing personality

I hope you find this critique was helpful to you in some way.

You are very welcome. I wish you the best with your practicing.

So the first thing that stands out to me about this piece is the inconstancy of it. You have outlining on all parts of the character except for the hat. This makes it feel unbalanced and like you just painted a hat over a pre-made base (I'm assuming this is not a base since you don't have it referenced in your description.) Adding some matching line work to the hat would help this feel more finished.

The second thing I would recommend would be to experiment with various line weights. I know that my own skills grew leaps and bounds when I learned to start doing this. I learned it by reading a lot of comic making books, but youtube also has plenty of videos covering this as well now. I found a basic one to start with here.

Some good points on this is you are doing well with how folds and shadows on fabric works. Your gradients are also doing a great job to add some life to your skin tones.

So to recap, I think your biggest area to really focus on it going to be your line work. I think you will see a lot of improvement once you get a good handle on that. Keep up the great work.