[haggiben]

Hi!

I think that there is definitely an interesting story here and the rendering is done quite nicely. I really enjoy the light that the luminous plant is casting on the surrounding elements, particularly the grass.

I think that the composition is a bit off, forcing all of the elements into one place,

which also happens to be very close to the middle, I think perhaps moving the tree a bit left and the character a bit to the right could balance out the make the composition a bit more interesting.

I think that placing elements in the middle is a very bold statement, like saying that this is so important and definite like something devine,

and the story that you are telling seems to be more calm and exploratory than that.

 

I think that there is to much detail in some of the shadow areas and

that they should be simplified like what you did in the bottom right of the tree.

I find that defining simplifying the shadow areas from the get go is very helpful when creating big pictures like these

because it allows us to be “lazy” in a lot of places in the drawing while still maintaining the detailed look.

[haggiben]

I think that there are a few problems in the  shadow areas:

They are to black, and even though you simplified those areas you should have used a lighter tone, while of course still maintaining the clear separation form the tones used on the light areas. In general I think such dark shadows should be used sparingly perhaps only in the occlusion shadow to maintain a balanced image.

You have also kept the secondary lighting inconsistently only on some areas,such as the left upper arm, both knees which raises the question, Why do the other shadow surfaces not have secondary lighting at all? Especially since the background is not dark there should be some reflected light on all the shadow surfaces.

But  I think that the piece as a whole is drafted very well. The anatomy and composition seem true and appealing. The lit areas are rendered superbly and show the muscle tone and in all the lighting arrangement defines the character very well. That in my opinion is the most important thing, that the drawing as a whole is appealing.

[haggiben]

thank you so much! I appreciate everything you said and I agree, especially with the smoke bit…

[haggiben]

Hi!

I’ll jump right in to it:
First of all I love the muscle definition in all of your pieces, I think that is really one thing that stands out immediately. the way you used color and light to bring them into focus is something that I hope to be able to do someday.

I think that your compositions are done well and I love the vibrant colors. I actually enjoy just staring at the images, but the 1st image has a few problems I think:

this hand looks disconnected from

the rest of the body, and I would have left it in shadow

because the light is pulling to much attention to it,

while it seems to me that it is not the main focus of the entire composition.

 

this top part is cut off in an unfortunate place

as it is almost exactly on the neck

and I don’t think it is a good idea to crop between any two limbs,

also I’m not sure we need the empty space behind the back,

and perhaps cropping it would give this guy a sort of mirroring relationship with the other guy, giving that he is cropped that way as well.

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