Amateur Hour

Well, I think the girl's chest is a bit too large for my tastes, but the rest is fine mate. :)
I'd also probably go with making her hair slightly more brighter on the fringe, for a happy medium between the 2 pics. But again, that's personal taste.
 
I'd do away with the neck bone lines, they make her neck area look kind of clustered and confused, and the lines make them look to prominent. You could just remove the lineart and allow the shading you've already got there to indicate their presence though.
 
to be honest i'm never quite sure when i'm supposed to draw those lines in, they only appear on certain pictures here and there.

Thanks for the advice :)
 
I know why they seem so big now! (Oh gawd, here comes the pervert... Great line Simon Cowell.)

I think what makes them look bigger than they're actually are is that each breast is splitting too far away from each other (like they're pointed in a 90 degree angle from each other), which makes them look unnatural. You just need to bring the circles of where you've drawn a little closer together, or draw the lines for where each breast leave the centre of the chest into a steeper angle than what you have atm.

In summary, the breasts are probably the right size. Just push them a little closer together so the dont spread outwards too much. Hope that helps (and I've not sounded like a complete perv...)
 
Another practise piece (next original drawing is at the inking phase) This time i took Spyro's advice and added in the pale yellow background :) I was quite happy how it turned out and hence it became my new msn avatar :p
 
Nice, the form of the hair is really good and the colouring gives it a good depth.
The yellow background does help it not look so harsh.
I would say you went slightly overboard with the shading around the eyes.
The eyes themselves look great though, that gradient in them does a lot for them.
 
New Piece up i need to apologise for two things here.

First is that there seemed to be a problem during the resize so the picture was big enough to go on here, and secondly i'm sorry that that picture it self is crap. Currently the only real thing i'm liking about it is the shading on the cloak, the head isn't bad either i suppose but the whole picture just looks wrong to me and i can't figure out fully why

but regradless practise is practise the next one should be better :) of course it will take longer to do since its slighly more complex composition wise
 
Probably cause it looks like he dissolves into nothing as to what it looks wrong.

However, the cloack is very nice, and the face it.

Why is it, I look at him and I think "Vash the Stampede" though?
 
The face is great on that one, the cloak, too. I'm not sure what it is, but you're right something looks wrong.
Perhaps it's his torso that isn't really in line with his face (although I suppose he could be turning his head) or maybe not.
Maybe you should try adding darker shading to the inner (farther) part of his cloak. That might give some depth and make it look more natural.
 
RetroRainbow said:
The Lines;

#1. Put the layer on screen, change opacity to 50 - 60 %. For all the lines around the face, get a colour like dark brown, and colour all over the facial lines.

#2. Do the exact same for the next step. Put layer on screen, and choose your hair colour. Do the same, use a 70 - 80% opacity.

#3. Screen the rest of the clothes with various colours, for various parts.

The Actual Colouring;

#4. Pick a skin colour, and put it on multiply. A nice skin colour. Being honest, BlackWolf, I'm not too fond of your salmon pinks. =( Opacity, maybe 90% depending.

#5. For shadows, use the exact same colour, but go to that spectrum color thing, and pick a colour near the exact same, but perhaps a shade or two darker. The shade can't be too obvious, though! Put it around the obvious places where you'd think the shadows would fall. Opacity is 40%.

#6. For darker shadows around the direct sides, use the same colour, but multiply it. Opacity is 60%.

#7. Do the same thing for the rest of the clothes, and whatnot.

Hair Colouring;

#8. Now, pick a color you like and start coloring (multiply layer as before). This will be the base color since we'll be doing many layers for hair. Opacity around 80%, depending.

#9. Now, shadows. Pretty similar how we did the skin shadows. This time use many different colors and layers and opacities and see what happens. I usually leave all of the layers on multiply. Soft Light & Linear Burn can look good as well.

#10. Create three (multiply) layers, and use different shades of the hair colour you chose. Of course, they all must be somewhat similar.

#11. That should be enough of shadows. Now some light! Pick a light brown (or yellow etc), new layer and set it on soft light. Color some parts where do you think it looks good and then set the opacity around 40%.

#12. In case it doesn't show anywhere, do this too; New soft light layer, pick brighter color. About the same opacity. But this time add the color on the parts that you already soft lighted, not everywhere, just to the places you want to be the lightest parts.
Click to expand...
Copy and paste'd into notepad. Save'd. Danke, I too shall try some of this.
 
Adding to RetroRainbow's tips I would say do not be afraid to use lots, and lots of layers. If you are doing soft style shading build up the colours very slowly, so they blend together smoothly.
If I am colouring skin, clothing and hair I use at least 5 layers, usually many more.
When you are blending with the smudge tool, set the opacity of the tool to something like 60%.
Also, I often find it really hard to achieve good skin colours, so if you are having trouble open up an anime picture, or another persons work in whatever program you are using and use the dropper tool to steal :eek: the colour!

I think your most recent piece is looking great, though I think the reason it may look slightly strange is because without being able to see the arms, it makes his chest almost look like has back.
 
:D Thanks for the advice Retro and Charter, i've done a quick test using it, also is the same image but using the previous method for doing colouring along with pencil colours.

retro i would like to see more examples of the way you do things if you don't mind
 
Just looked through your topic as I always have and I like some of your new work, especially "CypherSilverS" and "SerenaTest" Nice colouring on that one. =)
 
Thanks again Retro :) I'll give this all a try when i can, there won't be new work for a little while though as i've lost internet access at home and its problamatic getting my drawing files onto the libary computers.
 
Okay time for a quick ressurection.

New sketch work today, so nothing fancy. I was messing around and foudn quite a number of places i can improve on.

Anyway they are female cast members of a story idea i was working on.
 
Hmm, would be interested to see this story idea you speak of realised. :)

Really like some of the character details, my one criticism would be that some of the proportions are slightly off - I'd say you should develop your figure drawing a little more. Then again, I'm in no position to criticise given my own drawings short comings :roll:

Keep up the good work anyhow and keep developing your skills, I would definitely like to see more.
 
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