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Finally love drawing.
JarrettKrueger
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
So I've been through working with a Wacom Intuous, and a Wacom Bamboo trying to draw but the idea of drawing on a surface while staring at another surface while trying to make an illustration look right drove me to the point of giving up on what I love; A Cintiq was well out of my price range thanks to recently having a child; Then Mike posted his praises about the MS Surface Pro; with a lot of gushing about the surface on my part my family and my amazing wife got together and bought me it for my birthday. This is the first thing I have fully completed on it; also the first image I have fully completed since I've been born. It's the first time I legitimately think I can post something I've drawn without hating it more than anyone else could possibly hate it. I'm proud of it and my Wife thinks it's amazing; that being said I am not moronic and I realize both me and my wife are seeing the finished product through rose colored glasses. That's why I am here; honest opinions and critiques will only help me get better as I have had no formal education in art.
Also this is the first place I ever posted any of my art a long....long time ago, I have long since forgotten that username but I remember great responses back then and I hope for the same. I also have a larger resolution if anyone is interested.
Also this is the first place I ever posted any of my art a long....long time ago, I have long since forgotten that username but I remember great responses back then and I hope for the same. I also have a larger resolution if anyone is interested.
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Typically you should probably post things like this into the Doodle thread until you have a collection of things to fill a thread. While folks here could take hours dissecting each thing you did in this one piece, it is usually more productive for getting assistance to have several works of different kinds to draw critique from.
I would recommend you take a look inside the Questions, Tutorials, and Answers thread for the tons of reference materials in the OP and in subsequent pages. There are some excellent (and free) pdfs of art instruction books you can use to do exercises to get better and, as you complete them on your tablet, post your work here and folks will get back with you on what they think you can do to improve.
I also recommend participating in the Challenge and Monthly Enrichment threads. They can really help you improve in a more structured way by giving you a specific topic to focus on.
Finally, the best thing you can do as a new artist is to read @Halen 's signature: Draw an Egg. It is the most complicated, silly sounding yet amazingly instructive task you can do. What you will need:
1) An egg
2) A light source (like a desk lamp)
Place egg by light source, turn off all other lights, and faithfully render it as accurately as possible.
— Robert Heinlein
I disagree. The doodle thread is for stuff you're not super serious about getting critique on but want to show any ways. Having your own thread is about showing your stuff and wanting to get feedback, even if it's one piece.
Jarrett, welcome! Can you tell us more about your drawing history? What program are you using on the Surface?
The figures themselves are kind of twisted and flat at the same time. I think you could really benefit from doing some simple figure studies, and some studies of depth on simple shapes and objects.
By which I mean.
Draw an egg.
First, where is the light coming from? Actually think about where the light source is, how many light sources there are, how strong the light is and even what color it is. Right now, your shading is there, but it doesn't seem to be reacting to a light source from that environment. (it's default lighting)
I'd also play with how saturated your colors are in certain places (such as the background) to bring important aspects forward. In this piece, I didn't realize there were figures in the background because the background was just as vibrant and contrasty as the figures. Strong paintings have good contrast of value and good contrast in saturation. A good tip I got as a beginner was to use the 75% 25% rule. If you have a background that's mostly (75%) muted in color, a bright, saturated red(25%) will stand out and make the most important aspect of the painting pop. In this painting it would have been more appropriate to tone down the bright greens so that the characters could read more clearly.
I hope that helps, good luck with your next paintings!