Shameless self promotion

[Sova]

http://attic-fairy.deviantart.com/

Just would quite like someone to give me honest opinions on my work, constructive criticisms please (:

[darkwoon]

http://attic-fairy.deviantart.com/

Just would quite like someone to give me honest opinions on my work, constructive criticisms please (:
Ok, I'll try...

Volumes: My biggest gripe. In most pictures of your gallery, the representation of volumes is not consistent or simply lacking. Those are characters and, as such, the viewer should feel their shape and weight. The perspective is also weird at times, though it is hard to judge on characters.

Clean & finish: My other biggest gripe. Your pictures do not leaves me with the feeling that a lot of effort was put to make it feel "finished". There are lots of minor mistakes that could have easily been corrected in a few minutes, yet were left untouched. That is ok with the "5min sketches", of course, but it isn't with longer-term work, like "Share my Fate".

Anatomy: You obviously have basic knowledge of anatomy, but I'd say you're attempting deformations without taking the underlying musculature/bone structure into account. "Deathbed" is a good example of that: the woman's arm structure makes her look as a kind of zombie more than a desperate woman. Getting more in-depth knowledge of anatomy, possibly in the context of comparative anatomy with the animal world, would be in order.

Coloring: Ok, either you want to color things and you give the required effort to it, or you don't care and you don't do any. "Say hi, Minny" is the perfect example of how lazyness can destroy a picture's effect: the coloring of that piece is rushed up to the point it is distracting. If you are not ready to spend time on your colors, then just don't do it.

Composition: I think you really need to learn composition rules. Characters are not self-sufficient: where you place them in the picture frame, how you light them, which elements you put forward/backward, all those are at least as important as the character itself. Most of your pictures leave a poor impression simply because they are poorly framed.

Overall, I have a mixed feeling about your gallery. On one hand, there is obviously understanding of anatomy and shading basics. On the other, I am left with a feeling of lazyness in technical execution. Only two pictures seemed to have received significant effort - the hand and the eye ones.

I'm also somewhat unconvinced by the overall design style of your characters - some of them ("Share my Fate", "Elliot Timed Sketch") seem to flow very smoothly, but most looked forced into a caricature style rendering them very unconvincing. I'd be curious to see how you'd handle other styles.

I'm also a little disappointed by your use of shading. Most of your pictures have a rather "dark" theme underlying - yet shading is never put into use to support this. Granted, the shades you're applying are technically correct, but at some point, light participate to the picture as well as the figure itself (Chiaroscuro being the school-case of those techniques). My opinion is that, more than a lack of technical skills, it is the lack of sense of composition that hurts.

Strangely enough, I found "WHO'S THAT POKEMON" to be your most interesting work overall - the composition is quite correct, the character is expressive and the style keeps from falling into caricature and sensationalism. Unfortunately, it was, as most of your work, left unfinished.

Hope this helps!

[Sova]

Wow, I'm glad to get such a detailed reply, this will really help! (:
Yes, I admit I am lazy with my work 99% of the time, and it's my own fault as almost every time it's due to my incredibly short attention span D:
I'll definitely take all of this into consideration when I next draw :D