Eh, hello. I shall post my artstuffs here for viewing and commenting and critiquing.

STICKY FINGERS WILL BE AMPUTATED.

PORTRAITS

Bump. :3

Critiques, anyone?

I can try critiquing~ Please do not amputate my fingers. 0=

Well, first thing, your poses for your anime style are too static. Needs more dynamic posing! And don't hide the hands! I would reccomend going out somewhere and gesture drawing, just quickly draw the people as they move around (don't worry about details or anything) just to loosen up. When I do this I find I am more comfortable trying to draw things in different perspectives.

I like your portraits. The only thing that bothers me about them is the value. There's not enough dark darks in them. (except your Joker one, that one's filled out nicely). Do you have darker grade pencils? Like a 6B maybe? I just think a little bit more contrast in there would help a lot. I can say though, that you capture the eyes beautifully, and that is one of the most important parts of drawing portraits.

I really like these. I'm no good at anatomy, but I think all the portraits look good. About the anime ones: I can't say much besides what Grayvs said. I do think though that the second to last picture in the anime section looks a bit awkward. To me because it seems she get thinner as the drawing go down, she is leaning into the 'camera' a bit. I have taken just one photography cl*censored* and I learned a few things from American's Next Top Model. (Lol.) If you lean into the camera, your waist and up looks bigger than the rest of you, and your neck is far shorter. If you lean back from the camera, the bottom half of you looks bigger but just a bit better than if you leaned into the camera.

I know this is probably into much more detail than you like, but if you are going for a certain look/angle this might help. xD

And yes, like Grayvs said, try different poses. :3 Different poses help you get a feel of perspective.

If I sound like an artist, just to let you know I'm not. :c I just have some knowledge/adivce. xD'

Thank you so much for all the critiques, guys! ;~;

Grayvs - Amen to the static poses. I have such a hard time getting out of the "standing up straight with hands behind the back" pose. I guess it's the pose I feel most comfortable with, and that's why I draw it so much. However, I need to try a variety of dynamic poses. That'd be great. Oh, and value trouble with my portraits? Okay. -makes mental note- I haven't really noticed that... I guess that's where you come in. :D And thanks for the compliment on how i draw my eyes; they're my favorite feature.

 Supermonky - Ah, I see. It does look funny now that you mention it. I really appreciate your detailed critique on leaning and 'camera view'. I'll definitely work on it. Thanks!

All right. From what I've seen, I think the main thing that's limiting your artitstic capabilities is your lack of understanding of anatomy and how the body works.

Your portraits looks good because you copied them from photos (this is perfectly fine, there's absolutely nothing wrong with copying photos. A lot of artists do that). And since they are from photos, you were not required to structure a person from scratch. Therefore, not gaining any experience in making up stuff.

It also appears as if you didn't really use a rubber much, meaning the first lines you've placed on the page are your final lines. BAD D8<. It's better to have something that's messy, thought through and corrected rather than something that's neat and strange looking. It's important that you know what you're doing, if you don't, study up. You've got to know how big things are in relation to other things (e.g. the neck is half as long as the head). Otherwise, you won't get anywhere with your corrections. 

Here's what I suggest you do to get out of that static pose, plan your poses. Don't just lay down you lines and that's it. Picture it in your head and try and transfer them onto the paper, drafting out the body with shapes. 

Example -> [x]

(this is just how I structure people, there's bajillions of other ways)

You colouring style's a tad unorthodox. From what I can see, you're blocking them in with a colouring pencil (or soft pastel?) and smudging it like crazy xD. Most of the time you don't even fill up the space that you're intending to block in. It just looks a bit unnattractive (purely based on my taste). I suppose it's not harm in practicing using other tools (paint, oil pastel, watercolour etc...), it makes things a bit more funner if you know how to use a load of mediums in my opinion xD

Alrighty, another thing... I'd like you not to call that style 'anime style'. It's not that it doesn't look like 'anime', it's just that I don't think that's a good approach to learning art. Don't try and copy other people's styles, make your own. You can get inspiration from other people to put in your own drawings, but never ever ever aim to be like someone else, 'kay?

I see. I have a lot of corrections and practice to do, I guess. ;~;

Thank you so much for the very in-depth critique. :3 I needed an extra-blunt one like it. Oh, but I don't understand what you mean by not calling it 'anime style', for i did not copy anyone's style. It's completely my own...

Apparently I'm well renowned for being blunt. Dude, do you think I'm really blunt? 'Cause I've been trying to not be blunt and I think I've managed to make myself less blunt over the past few years xD

I didn't think you were copying anyone's style in specific. It's just the whole 'tude of it all, I don't think there's any need for one to label how their drawings looks. It's not really good if you go around saying 'this is my realism style', 'this is my anime style', 'this is my chibi style'. Just draw and don't bother what it's supposed to be.

Uh, yes. A bit blunt, indeed.

As for your opinion on calling my art a certain style, I understand. I was just merely trying to categorize it...

Firstly, I like your smudging way of coloring. It's chalk pastel, right? That's part of your "style" and by style, I mean the way you draw in general. How someone draws is much like their handwriting- it is unique to them regardless of what category they apply it to. 

Your "anime" style was still unique to YOU. I noticed how your new pieces you posted (which I very much like, by the way) still reflected on your "anime" drawings, little things, like how you draw the nose and so on, are present in all of your drawings. That's just how you like to draw them.

There is nothing wrong with drawing in the "anime style" as long as you're willing to learn from life before copying someone elses work. Don't let Ping hurt your feelings, she means well.

Now I have a question, do you find art books helpful? I would recommend Andrew Loomis's art books, which you can find free on the web. His books on anatomy I think will help you out with your static poses.

That's some great input, yes. I do appreciate it, and I am glad that you like it.

Art books... hmm. I haven't really tried any, actually. But I'm open and willing to do so. :3 I'll look up the 'Andrew Loomis' art books. Thanks!