Dashin' *Critique wanted*

[Foxx 258]

Hey y'all!

 

Vixxen here, with some new art! I am looking for critique, ad now that you have stumbled aimlessly upon this thread, you are condemned to reply, or chaos will ensue(I know where you live). Seriously though, as I said in another thread, if all you have to say is OMG, ur sooooooo perfect , then save it for another artist in need of a pick-me-up. I want real critique, because at the end of the day, a critique is a list of things you need to improve upon. If I don't have that list, developing as an artist will be fairly tricky. Needless to  say, you don't have to be a pro reviewer, just somebody with an opinion. If you're stumped on what to say, just tell me what I should keep doing and what I need to improve upon.

 

Write away!(Pic is in spoiler)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2014 by Vixxen

[Diva Pony 345]

OK, it seems you don't want us to say omg it's beautiful but sorry, it is. 

 

There is one thing I would change and that is the mane that is covering her eye.  After the initial omg my eye was immediately drawn to that hair and I can't seem to get past the distraction of it.  It looks more like paint in her eye than her mane in front of her eye.  It just doesn't feel / look right.  That's really not technical is it?  :-)

 

But I LOVE the softness of the wings and the clouds and what you have done with the rest of the mane is very dramatic and really quite beautiful.  It's almost as if Dash is made of clouds and rainbows herself.

 

I don't know if that helps or not but you clearly have a beautiful piece here.

Edited March 30, 2014 by Diva Pony

[Foxx 258]

OK, it seems you don't want us to say omg it's beautiful but sorry, it is. 

 

There is one thing I would change and that is the mane that is covering her eye.  After the initial omg my eye was immediately drawn to that hair and I can't seem to get past the distraction of it.  It looks more like paint over her eye than her mane.  It just doesn't feel / look right.  Maybe because it looks like it is in her eye and not covering it.  That's really not technical is it?  :-)

 

But I LOVE the softness of the wings and the clouds and what you have done with the rest of the mane is very dramatic and really quite beautiful.  It's almost as if Dash is made of clouds and rainbows herself.

 

I don't know if that helps or not but you clearly have a beautiful piece here.

Thank you, your words are much appreciated. That mane was off to me as well, but I only realized it once I exported it and uploaded it to DA :okiedokielokie:

[Fanglore 140]

first off i would like to say that i like this pic but here is a few thing i think you need to fix or at least watch for in later pics

 

1 i dont like how her mane covers her eye

 

2 the mane also looks to long

 

and 3 she almost looks like she is trying to do the twilight dance. 

 

i know its not a artistic review but they though me off the pic right away so watch for them in later art 

[Foxx 258]

first off i would like to say that i like this pic but here is a few thing i think you need to fix or at least watch for in later pics

 

1 i dont like how her mane covers her eye

 

2 the mane also looks to long

 

and 3 she almost looks like she is trying to do the twilight dance. 

 

i know its not a artistic review but they though me off the pic right away so watch for them in later art 

Thank you for the critique, I will look to improve upon all of those things in my next piece.

[Evil Nightmares 552]

Awesome parts:

-Hair is very nicely detailed

-Awesome body design

-Very nice shading on the body and legs

 

Criticism parts:

-The right wing looks a bit flat and oddly shaded (feels alittle out of place due to odd shading)

-The ear is too darkly shaded in comparison to how the rest of the body is shaded

 

That's the only criticism i can offer that hasn't already been offered. But overall it's nicely done, and i enjoy it. So great work.

I eagerly look forward to seeing more of your art work.

[Onylex 2,837]

Hey y'all!

 

Vixxen here, with some new art! I am looking for critique, ad now that you have stumbled aimlessly upon this thread, you are condemned to reply, or chaos will ensue(I know where you live). Seriously though, as I said in another thread, if all you have to say is OMG, ur sooooooo perfect , then save it for another artist in need of a pick-me-up. I want real critique, because at the end of the day, a critique is a list of things you need to improve upon. If I don't have that list, developing as an artist will be fairly tricky. Needless to  say, you don't have to be a pro reviewer, just somebody with an opinion. If you're stumped on what to say, just tell me what I should keep doing and what I need to improve upon.

 

Write away!(Pic is in spoiler)

 

 

 

dashin___by_sparkdash-d7c5gdd.jpg

 

 

 

Well, I have been studying art and art fundamentals for about 9 to 10 months, even enrolled in an graphic arts class. I will admit that I don't have the best critical eye because I myself am still learning but, I can point out what I notice hopefully helping.

 

1: I notice about this is rainbow dashes head, it almost looks backward but, I think that is just because the placement of her mane is a little odd. 

 

2: It does look a little flat, I would recommend working on perspective and playing with 3D space.

 

3: Your lighting situation is a little odd as well, most of your shadows look very muddy/soft. Dont be afraid to use shaper shadows. The more dramatic your lighting situation, the shaper your shadows will be. 

 

4: You hair also looks a little flat but, this is also due to a lack in contrast between the strains of hair. Not every strain of hair will catch the same amount of light, adding contrast and darker shades of the same color in between will help to make it look 3 more demential. 

 

Lastly, don't be afraid to use line art as a base for your initial painting. In my opinion its easier to start with a base sketched out line drawing, fill it in, and paint over it. Masks are something that can help with this though, this is also depending on what program you use.

 

If you want more in depth critiques, I would recommend sights such as DA, CGhub, ConseptArt.net or Sycra Yensin Forums.  

 

Hope this has helped in someway or another, good luck.

[Casy 238]

Better than last time, but you did it again, Vixxen, you covered her whole body and limbs with hair  
If you want to improve, do a lot of sketches with good anatomy, don't finish every picture to this point (it will take a lot of time). Sketches you did check on next day and look at them, if you did everything right.  If you will be satisfied with your anatomy, you will never ever cover it with hair

Edited March 30, 2014 by Casy

[Foxx 258]

Better than last time, but you did it again, Vixxen, you covered her whole body and limbs with hair  

If you want to improve, do a lot of sketches with good anatomy, don't finish every picture to this point (it will take a lot of time). Sketches you did check on next day and look at them, if you did everything right.  If you will be satisfied with your anatomy, you will never ever cover it with hair

Gah!! Bad habits FTW!! But thanks for the tips! Oh and off topic now, but I was browsing around EqD and I saw you got an artist spotlight so congrats!

[Casy 238]

Gah!! Bad habits FTW!! But thanks for the tips! Oh and off topic now, but I was browsing around EqD and I saw you got an artist spotlight so congrats!

Yes, one before the newest one, thank you very much!

[ErBoi 501]

I hope I don't come across as harsh, dealing with critiques is something I've had to do on an almost daily basis for years now so I'm trying to word this in a way that I think would be the most helpful and direct if it were me asking for the critique.

 

There's plenty that could use some work:

-The pose is somewhat convoluted and, combined with the perspective, play a bit of a trick on the eye, it took a moment before I realized whether her body was pointed toward or away from the viewer.  A good test to see if you have a strong pose is to put it in silhouette and see if it still clearly reads.

-She's not proportionate to the show model, if that's what you were going for; otherwise, the proportions are OK except her front right leg is longer than her front left, if you imagine it straightened out, it would go below the ground, er, cloud, level.  Also, her neck is just a tad too long, in my opinion.

-The shading's too uniform all over.  She seems to have almost the same amount of light hitting every part of her body, particularly the feathers.  Keep in mind the shape of her features when you shade them, feathers are relatively flat so they won't have such a big, soft gradient.

Also, I'm not sure if this is because of the foreground, but the shading on her raised hoof looks like the bottom of the hoof is supposed to be showing, but the contour of the leg matches better with how it would look if the bottom was facing away from the viewer.

-The light seem to be coming in from just around the viewer's right, so I would say use less shading on her left wing and torso, and more on her right wing.  Also, with the direction of the light, her left wing would cast a shadow over her back and not her belly.

-Her tail and mane seem to be blowing in the wind in 2 different directions.  If you're going for a look that she's just turning around, I'd put just one consistent curve through the tail, as opposed to the S curve you have; also curve her torso in a way that continues the tail's curve.  If you are going for a blowing in the wind look, have her tail flowing the same direction as her mane.

-Her head and body are both in perfect profile while facing opposite directions; she's practically breaking her neck to achieve that pose so I'd avoid that.

-Her ear especially sticks out to me.  It could really use more detailing in any case because as it is, it just doesn't really look much like an ear as much as just an odd shape jutting out of her head.

-Trying to show definition in every strand of hair is fine, but it clashes with the simple look of her body.  I'd either simplify the hair detailing, or complicate the body detailing (fur tufts, more feather definition, etc.).

-And the background; the cloud in the upper right looks pretty nice, I'd try to apply the bluer colouring and fuller contour to the other clouds.

 

Here's a quick sketch of my take on the concept (ignore the selection lines, GIMP froze on me before I could finish making a silhouette so I had to take a screenshot to save the image):

Edited March 31, 2014 by ErBoi