Artist Advice

[JBridge]

Yes, but do you see anything wrong with it? I'm going to need some constructive criticism if I'm going to improve.

[diresloth]

The size of the fingers in relation to each other is perfect, something I could never get, but the perspective on the knuckles doesn't look right. I feel like if we're seeing the hand from that angle, we should be able to see more of the thumb. Alternatively, the fingers themselves should overlap each other more. It looks awful flat this way, see.

[Dec]

Okay, if you want CC, you've got it. *slips on her SeriousBusiness hat* Just remember that you asked for it, and to not slip into the whole "Oh god, my drawing sucks so I must be depressed now" thing. It kills motivation really fast, especially really early on. Its best not to wallow in it.

Yeah, those knuckles are kinda odd. It might be because you did the picture from a mannequin's hand, but since I don't know what the hand looked like, I can't really comment on that. *shrugs* I'm just going to pretend its a human hand. I'm also gonna guess that you're going for realism with this, so all of the critique is basically coming from that.

So, the knuckles first. Make a peace sign with your hand, and look down at the little 'U' shape made where your fingers split from your hand, at the bottom of the finger-made 'V'. Now, if you look at it in comparison to the knuckles, it's set above them, making a triangle. Because of how the lines look in your drawing, it instead looks like that seam cuts down all the way in between the knuckles, which isn't how you want it to look.

Okay, the wrist. I kinda like the wrist, actually. It seems fairly solid, and on thinking on it a bit, there seems to be three reasons. One, the lines are slim, compact, and sure, which makes them non distracting. Two, it seems to be shaped right, from what I can tell. And Three, it didn't fall victim to that smeared charcoal, so it has a better preservation of where its shadow/highlights are.

Not all the fingers have those three things, the pointer finger and also the line defining the back of the hand being the most obvious, because that line is pretty big and undefined. Also on the pointer, right after the first knuckle where it disappears behind the hand, the line seems to be talking an odd angle, which doesn't seem to be quite right if I try imagining the finger as continuing, and it looks like you where focusing more on how the line of that finger met the line of the next. Something like that also seems to be happening with the skin fold under the last knuckle of the pinkey, and the line doesn't leave space for the tip of the finger.

That covers the bulk of what I got from the separate parts of your hand, so I'll move on to realism. The first thing would be to point out that things aren't made with lines. Lines represent the boundary between objects symbolically, but they aren't literally there. Other concepts, like negative space, mass, and shading, are much more important to realism. Almost literally speaking, it isn't the lines that are important, but the things between them.

Most of the drawing class I was in a few years ago was dedicated to exercises showing this. A a few similar exercises are covered here.

There's probably more I could suggest here, but I'm not good enough to know what those things actually are, soo... *shrugs again* Good luck, and be sure to keep going - god knows I always take criticism as a blow to my ego, no matter how hard I try not to. Don't let it slow you down, Okay?

[JBridge]

Thanks a ton. I've shown that drawing to a few different people, and you're the only one who's actually given me that kind of criticism. You've been a great help here.

[Dec]

Okay, I've got a problem.

Basically, I've been drawing a lot more than usual for the last month, and my hand has been taking a beating. I need to keep drawing and working on the computer, but I don't want to end up with carpel tunnel. I also need my hand to get better ASAP, so that I can get back to full capacity again. You guys have any advice?

[Blackmoon]

Hold the pen or what have you a little looser.

Make sure you're holding it at a comfortable angle. Try to keep your wrist straight.

Take breaks. Long breaks.

[einram]

That sometimes happen to me too, and what I normally do is just rest it, until I feel alright to draw again. When I say rest, I mean not doing anything with my drawing hand(except for typing when chatting). I don't know any medical remedies, but if you're really worried, you can ask for medical assistance. And speaking of carpal tunnels, I once received an email of the dangers of not positioning your hands right when using the computer. It had these pictures of what is the right position when typing, holding the mouse etc. and the last bit were pics of someone having a carpal tunnel surgery...*shudder*

[Tom]

You must become the pen, young grasshopper. Other than becoming more zen I've got no advice, never really experienced any sort of pain due to overworking my hands.

I miss potholes, 'cause that would've been an awesome Double Entendre.

[JBridge]

When I get carpel tunnel, I usually just shake my hands. It helps, but it really isn't a long-term solution.

My mom plays violin for a living, and thus gets it sometimes. She has braces that look... a bit like fingerless gauntlets really. It's supposed to restrict the hand somewhat. You can still move your hand, just not enough to give it stress.

I think they're prescription. I'd have to ask her.

[diresloth]

I've been poking at this for awhile now, trying to get back into the groove of things. What do we think of it?

I've finally got my shit together, so expect more pages of HGC in the near future! Finally!

[Blackmoon]

Hmm. Well, it's good, but two things of note:

Either her head is tiny, or she is incredibly... uh, talented.

And her left foot (well, right foot, but it's on the left to me) looks good, but the other one seems a little short in proportion to the rest of her body.

[diresloth]

Hehe, this character is particularly "talented," but here I also got the head/body ratio off a bit. I can never get that right, it's always off one way or the other

And yeah, the left foot is supposed to be slightly further back than the leading one, but I didn't draw it right so it just looks silly. Feet are another thing I should really pay more attention to... :/

I mainly like this drawing because the costume is so fun...

[Blackmoon]

Feet take practice. I still suck at them.

[diresloth]

So as I'm drawing Page Five of Celeste, I realized I'm having a whole lot of trouble making backgrounds because I can't remember where exactly everything is in relation to everything else. I should really draw like a little map or something, but I'm too lazy :/ Anyone else have this problem?

[Blackmoon]

I sometimes do. Whenever I'm working on something like that, I do a quick concept sketch of the area or two- usually a couple for angles I intend to use, as well as interesting parts or architectural highlights, and usually a "bird's eye view" just so I can see the layout of everything. It works wonders.