Random Self-Critique

[the_gneech]

Dear Gneech:

When you revamp your art style for the new version of SJ, you need to keep the following in mind:

• Cut back on those huge, horizontal muzzles. They get in the way of characters' eyes!


• Speaking of eyes, make them a tad bigger generally. Not anime-huge, but bigger than the little beads you tend to do now. (With the exception of Stretch Ferret, of course!)


• Use more photo reference. It always improves your art by 200%.


• Thumbnail first. Don't compose on the page.


• When possible, put at least a week between the draft and the final product.


• More shadows in the inks. Practice this muchly!


• Rulers are your friend. You know you can't draw a decent straight line without one. Don't be lazy!


• Ditto model sheets. Particularly since you're redoing all of the character designs anyway.


• Speaking of models, work out new marking/mask sheets and stick to 'em. Try to keep the markings on the hands/feet very simple, to avoid clutter around what are already difficult areas to draw.


• Study Sue, Vince, Herbie, iktis muchly, particularly the character designs. Look for underlying structures.


• Your perspective sucks, except when it's great. Tighten this up.


• Don't be afraid to get more expressionist. Make Dover skinnier, Katie chunkier, Tiffany curvier, etc. Not to the point of total distortion, but more than you do now.


• Try to be looking at good art when you're getting ready to draw. Think about what makes it good and incorporate that!


• Finally, don't get discouraged. Look how far you've come!

Your pal and second-harshest critic,
The Gneech

PS: Other critiques welcome. :) I'm mostly posting this here so I'll remember it.

Comments

[frostdemn.livejournal.com]

Those are all some very good critiques to follow, but must I say there needs to be more Leona??

Hm, have you considered branching into other art styles as well? Aside from drawing the way I've seen you draw, maybe draw your characters *coughLEONAcough* in styles you see in magazines and newspapers! For some reason, I'm thinking of the art style from Rhapsody in Blue in Fantasia. Lots more smooth curves for the characters and not always conforming to your regular proportions (i.e. the arms and legs can be drawn as fluid curves instead of showing the distinct angles the bones form).

I'm not sure where else you can find some inspirations for branching out into new styles, but there IS also the option for branching out in new mediums! I'm suddenly visualizing a Gneech wearing a paint-spattered smock with a brush clutched firmly in paw, a beret atop his head in the place of the trademark fedora!

Ooh, and animation. That's another idea!

Wait, these aren't critiques any more rather than ideas to branch out and uh...
More Leona, please?

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Pick up Sue's CD-ROM. She has a lot of sketches that show those underlying structures.

[delphinios.livejournal.com]

Finally, don't get discouraged. Look how far you've come!

Best advice on the list! :)

[lowen-kind.livejournal.com]

Well, you know where I stand ... somewhere in Malaga, NJ. :=3

BTW, the H-O scale "The Watering Hole" may be ramping up again. :=3

[aj-hyena.livejournal.com]

I think those horizontal muzzles have sort of become your signature myself.

And for some reason I think Comfort going off in Russian is sexy. Go fig.

Ageis J. Hyena, signing off, over and out.

[exatron.livejournal.com]

Make Dover skinnier

Sounds like someone is getting put on a diet.

Don't forget to study Vince's layouts. Crazy as they can get, they have an underlying order.

You may want to try doing a few really short stories in a comic-sized format, with a fixed pagecount, to get used to the medium.

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

if you want to take a non-gaming saturday where we're both available (or maybe a sunday or something) to get together and just Art at things, i could probably use the practice, and we could point out areas needing improvement, and suggestions on how to do so.

[galadrion.livejournal.com]

So just out of curiosity, who's your first-harshest critic? *grin*

I think you may fix this with smaller muzzle

[eddiecanis.livejournal.com]

but I never could rap my head around how tiffiny (and some of the other big cats) muzzle color are . It sometimes look like they have this black strip thing that they snap on top of their muzzle.

I know not a very good way to describe it and I am sorry I really do not have a suggestion to fix it.

At least you draw, I have stop for some odd reason.

Anyway sorry my two cents here.
Otherwise I like your art and really enjoy the stories.

[kylet.livejournal.com]

What's wrong with huge, horizontal muzzles??? XD
Or small eyes? Small eyes are sexy!

I do concur with thumbnailing and rulers, something I need to do more of. Not sure about ink shadows, though, that's dependent on the coloring.

Vince? That hack?