critique my work

I use to only draw cartoons and manga styled drawings for a long time, but now i'm trying to work on realism to improve my anatomy skills, so I was wondering if anyone could critique some of my work.

my sketch blog: http://jesssketchblog.blogspot.com.au/

some examples of my work so far:

 

 

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VUIzDJMoOWM/UHN4GdpDpwI/AAAAAAAABPk/MrjUD5uk3SA/s1600/IMG_0830.JPG

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CjiXJ2DP_Rk/UHN4EB4KMyI/AAAAAAAABPc/MmvBwM-_318/s1600/IMG_0829.JPG

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wgpyCVom7x8/UHN3q_rZsiI/AAAAAAAABPQ/VdfCDbS9W7Q/s1600/IMG_0844.JPG

 

Hi DBZ girl,

I commend you on trying to work more on your anatomy skills! Many artists who are interested in a certain style, especially cartoon or manga styles, will use that as an excuse not to study the basics. When you do decide to return to your genre of choice, you will have a distinct advantage over this crowd.

I'm noticing that hands seem to be a challenge for you. I wish our hands & feet practice tool were done, so I could give you that link to help you practice! But in the meanwhile, here's a link to hand drawing tutorials, and exercises that people have found to be helpful in their own struggle to perfect hand anatomy: http://artistshospital.deviantart.com/art/Human-Anatomy-Hands-and-Feet-97090323

Hope this helps!

Hello,

 

I think your figures are pretty great!  you show all the bumps and lumps which is really good. Your 10 second drawing are very lively! i can see the movement!

I'm trying to look at each of the pics, and I gotta say, you've got some potential. Even though some of the thigs are a little stiff. In the second pic, the muscles in the neck should be a little more defined. Also, Kim G was right, the hands and feet needs more improvements.

@ Kim

Thanks for the advice.  so far I've started to work on improving my hands but I haven't started on feet yet.

http://jesssketchblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/hand-studies.html

http://jesssketchblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/another-hand.html

@ tintedpure

I'm glad that my 10 second drawings are ok. I'm not that good at judging them myself, since I'm a bit of a perfectionist.

@ Dominique

thanks, i'll try to work on the muscles some more.

Awesome, DBZ girl! :D Good for you for buckling down and focusing in.

I see manga influence especially in the hand. The veins are a nice touch but they still lack the subtle texture and depth of an actual hand. Find a high res pic of an old persons face or hands and try to draw them exactly as you see them.

Overall, I think a study of rendering with dramatic light might make a cool piece and a good exercise. Take a pic of a friend with a bright light on a part of their body in a dark room. Try using black paper and a white pencil.

I have a book called "Human Anatomy for Artists"  by Elliot Goldfinger. It is the most comprehensive anatomy book I have seen, it borders on a science book. Knowing what is underneath everything will help you with awkward poses or difficult detail. I am in the same boat as you, trying to improve my drawing skills. Especially my anatomy and figure drawing.

I am starting with general figures; proportions, thinking about how the bones, muscles and joints interact when you move and stuff like that. Then I will move to specific features.  Are you confidant with your general figure ability? Can you draw a person jumping or doing a cartwheel without a reference photo?
Composition. Interesting people, interesting poses, crop a small section of a person and try to make that part photorealistic. Check out the "rule of thirds" . Use different color paper. Find interesting subjects. I had an idea to google "faces of meth" and draw all of the portraits that come up.

You definitely are doing well and im sure youll get better and better.

 

mike

 

@mike

Thanks for the advice.

Because of my previous experience with drawing manga and such, I can sort of draw poses without refrence photos.  However they end up looking very stiff and unatural, so I think I also have to study how weight and gravity affects the figures as well.

All of your advice seems a lot to absorb at first, so I might try them step by step.

thanks :)

I've tried to do a few images using white charcoal on black cardboard.

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iAgSdi7KcjU/UJuKLvXtGeI/AAAAAAAABck/ksBQzu8Q_d4/s1600/IMG_0207.JPG

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ud5DsYc4cXo/UJuKWGq7NtI/AAAAAAAABdE/2NoEDruQq0I/s1600/IMG_0210.JPG

http://jesssketchblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/white-charcoal.html

 

Hello miss DBZGirl,  just  a comment for you.

You are so good. Although, your manga figures are a tiny bit stiff. Also, I love what you did with the muscles in your figure studies. Plus, you may need to work  on portraits a little bit. Kim is right, you do need little bit of work on the hands, but they are coming out better than mine from my high school days.

Other than that, keep it up sister!