The Irregulars -- A Livestream Study Group

[Fieryfly]

I keep forgetting that I am supposed to upload everything I am working on. So here two works I have done this week. I am kinda messing around with the different kinds of vector options in SAI. Second one was drawn because I was writing a piece of an One Piece story that I am working on and I sat in the train and I was delayed and I was bored.. xD

[Sherlock Holmes]

Couldn't stop myself: My char in the ratehr famous Nariuto RP (however it's a bit outdated. Thi is when he was 16, he's 18 now)

Mouse.
http://artpad.art.com/?mhilf28dcrk
More details: http://artpad.art.com/?mhilu3mef3g

With beard.
http://artpad.art.com/?mhilx916cym0

Another char from another RP:
http://artpad.art.com/?mhimgsp05h8

These aren't bad.. (Considering the program/site you're using is rather rudimentary.) It's impossible to really critique based on these, though, because I don't know if this is where your skill level actually is or if you're being limited by your tools. Do you not have an actual program to draw in so you're using this site instead or were you just experimenting and you do have other means for painting?

I keep forgetting that I am supposed to upload everything I am working on. So here two works I have done this week. I am kinda messing around with the different kinds of vector options in SAI. Second one was drawn because I was writing a piece of an One Piece story that I am working on and I sat in the train and I was delayed and I was bored.. xD

Try to be a bit more consistent with your lighting -- You've got a strong shadow under the chin, but nowhere else. Your hair was lit from the top left, which contradicts the shadow under the chin of being light from the upper right. The wool on the collar was lit from the left side and the front. By adding in just a few more simple shadows and a few directional highlights to the hair, you can establish the lighting a bit more solidly. Always think about which direction your light is coming from and how strong it is.

For the second piece, the heads are very, very small. I'd make them a bit larger to fit better with those long/lanky bodies, just so they don't disappear so much. Otherwise, it's sort of a cute vignette little piece. (There are one or two tangents, but I'm not going to paint them over -- See if you can spot them. I'm not referring to the backs leaning against the pole, which is understandable to a certain degree.. They're in other places.)

Keep it up!

[Fieryfly]

Thanks Sherlock ^^ I wasn't finished yet, but I do have problems with lighting and such. I'll keep those things in mind.

[Roran Hawkins]

Hmm... I have practically 0 experience drawing with a computer but on that site with my mouse, just for fun. I'm trying to learn how to draw and colour with gimp, but since I don't have a drawingpad it's very limited. I've got a bunch of drawings, mostly pencil and pen drawings I want to scan and upload, but I'll do as soon as I get my hands on a scanner or find a free scanner at school

[Sherlock Holmes]

Hmm... I have practically 0 experience drawing with a computer but on that site with my mouse, just for fun. I'm trying to learn how to draw and colour with gimp, but since I don't have a drawingpad it's very limited. I've got a bunch of drawings, mostly pencil and pen drawings I want to scan and upload, but I'll do as soon as I get my hands on a scanner or find a free scanner at school

Ah, I see. Having only a mouse definitely makes digital art more difficult than it is with a tablet, but it is doable. (It just takes a lot more patience to achieve good results.) Definitely scan in the traditional stuff (or take a picture of it) and upload it at some point -- it'll be a much better gauge for telling where you're at with your art level. ^^

[Stalker]

Mmmh... Mmmhh... Yes... This looks nice >:0
>;0

I'm the kind of person who loves to draw, but isn't passionate about it, at least not enough to try to improve. I just kinda... practice it until I get better at something, like fingers or eyes or something silly like that.
I'd like to get shredded to pieces by constructive criticism! Yeah!

At the moment of writing this, my love for samurais and the whole 80's retro noire shebang was rekindled, and summed with my love for animal masks (especially rabbit ones) made me focus my scarce energy into drawing fanart for Hotline Miami. Nothing close to finished, but it's better to correct it early, no? I think in one or two days I'll look at it and yell at myself, because somehow I looked over some glaring error I could have easily fixed...

What am I aware of? >:I Why, other than my problem of oversaturating drawings with lines, other troubles I have include: Anatomy, clothing creases, shadows, oh... Just about a lot of things. But my biggest one would be shading in general. I think I can count the times I've tried to seriously shade a drawing with my hand. I have practically zero experience in shadows, and coloring... Garshasp. <:I

[Scribz]

Mmmh... Mmmhh... Yes... This looks nice >:0
>;0

I'm the kind of person who loves to draw, but isn't passionate about it, at least not enough to try to improve. I just kinda... practice it until I get better at something, like fingers or eyes or something silly like that.
I'd like to get shredded to pieces by constructive criticism! Yeah!

At the moment of writing this, my love for samurais and the whole 80's retro noire shebang was rekindled, and summed with my love for animal masks (especially rabbit ones) made me focus my scarce energy into drawing fanart for Hotline Miami. Nothing close to finished, but it's better to correct it early, no? I think in one or two days I'll look at it and yell at myself, because somehow I looked over some glaring error I could have easily fixed...

What am I aware of? >:I Why, other than my problem of oversaturating drawings with lines, other troubles I have include: Anatomy, clothing creases, shadows, oh... Just about a lot of things. But my biggest one would be shading in general. I think I can count the times I've tried to seriously shade a drawing with my hand. I have practically zero experience in shadows, and coloring... Garshasp. <:I

Great anatomy yo. <3

[Raez]

That moment when I'm too ashamed of my retarded 5yo drawing skills to ever join this group but I still plan to look around you guys' studies and try them myself.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Mmmh... Mmmhh... Yes... This looks nice >:0
>;0

I'm the kind of person who loves to draw, but isn't passionate about it, at least not enough to try to improve. I just kinda... practice it until I get better at something, like fingers or eyes or something silly like that.
I'd like to get shredded to pieces by constructive criticism! Yeah!

At the moment of writing this, my love for samurais and the whole 80's retro noire shebang was rekindled, and summed with my love for animal masks (especially rabbit ones) made me focus my scarce energy into drawing fanart for Hotline Miami. Nothing close to finished, but it's better to correct it early, no? I think in one or two days I'll look at it and yell at myself, because somehow I looked over some glaring error I could have easily fixed...

What am I aware of? >:I Why, other than my problem of oversaturating drawings with lines, other troubles I have include: Anatomy, clothing creases, shadows, oh... Just about a lot of things. But my biggest one would be shading in general. I think I can count the times I've tried to seriously shade a drawing with my hand. I have practically zero experience in shadows, and coloring... Garshasp. <:I

Practicing something until you get better about it is trying to improve. If you didn't care, you wouldn't bother practicing anything to get better. lol

This actually looks pretty good to me over all.. There aren't many notes I'd make about things that look off to me, but one is the size of the head - it's looking a bit too small for the body. (The back of the skull almost seems to be missing a bit to me because of the positioning and the length of the head is a bit short compared to the body, too. I'm assuming the mask is of the latex variety, so it fits fairly close to the head itself, and I'm making measurements based off that. If you enlarge the head and raise it up slightly so a bit more neck is showing, it seems to fix some of the issues.) The second is the shoulder on our left - it looks like it's dropped a bit too far down and a bit further away from the torso than it needs to be. (If you flip the picture in PS or an image viewer of any kind, you'll see it's pushing out and away from the body, when it seems like it should be leaning backwards from the viewer in perspective more. At least, I think that's what you're trying to achieve with that pose.

Quick paintover.

You'll notice I also made a note on there about being decisive with your perspective, too -- the way you've got this guy placed, he could currently be positioned in two directions, depending on what you were intending. On the left option, we'd see a bit of his back leg on our left (possibly on the right, too) and the sword blade would be resting out in front of him against the ground. If you were intending for him to be facing the viewer more, he'd actually be positioned on a ledge of sorts because the sword is dropping down too far (it would be hanging in front of him, below any ground level). If you decide on the first direction, don't forget to show the back of the legs.. If you decide the other, the sword needs adjusting. (Unless he is, in fact, sitting up on something that would allow the sword to drop down below him.)

As far as shading goes, it would depend on what sort of lighting you'd be looking to do as to what I'd suggest.. Something dramatic? Something horrific? Something triumphant looking? There are so many moods you can achieve simply by adjusting how your shading/inking looks. It takes a bit of practice, definitely.. Do you want something more realistically shaded? Do you want something more 2D/simplistic/stylized looking? Which look you ultimately want to go for makes a big difference, too. (I'd still recommend studying realism to help you get a good grasp on lighting because it's easy to simplify once you know how it works, but extremely difficult to fashion convincingly the opposite way around.)

Out of curiosity, were you looking to join this group or no? It's not really a place for people to get casual critiques -- it is a study group for those actively looking to improve their skills, but you said you weren't really interested in doing that (even though you are practicing), so I'm not sure what to make of you at the moment. XD

- - - Updated - - -

That moment when I'm too ashamed of my retarded 5yo drawing skills to ever join this group but I still plan to look around you guys' studies and try them myself.

There's no need to be ashamed -- everyone starts somewhere. (If you continue to be self-conscious, it can often have the effect of stunting your growth. Just know that every artist started where you are, so we understand how you feel.. And even still feel like that ourselves from time to time, if we're being honest, regardless of our skill level. Artists tend to be very critical about their own work.. You just have to learn to set that self-consciousness aside and carry on.)

Glad to hear you have intentions of checking out the studies and trying them (they'll definitely help!), but know that no one would make fun of your work here or look down on you -- you're welcome at any time. ^_^

[Scribz]

That moment when I'm too ashamed of my retarded 5yo drawing skills to ever join this group but I still plan to look around you guys' studies and try them myself.

You won't be judged here.

We look only for progress, not standards. We don't care if your drawings are shitty scribbles or masterpieces, what we care about is that that you consistently practise to better yourself. Nobody in life has been born a Da Vinci, not even Da Vinci.