Hey, I saw the great artwork you guys put up, and though mine's not to par, I would like any comments and advice on my own work. I realize that the shoulders of men are bigger than women, though, so don't tell me that. (I've heard it a million times, believe me--but I prefer to keep my style)

Emery, my character for the Choice and Destiny RP

Amethyst

Onyx

Turquoise

Quinn

Quinn's Father

Bijou

Tir

Thanatos

And that's all, for now. I picked some of my favorite ones. Amethyst, Onyx, and Turquoise are from a story called Jewel Knights, and the rest are from a game/rp/story project I am doing with my brothers... I hope you like! (Or at least comment, and tell me they're crap... Just so I know...)

Awww, your style is cute. I wish I could draw as well ^-^ Cartoon characters aren't made to have exact human proportions for the most part.

I know, that's what I love about cartoons... You can do what you want to! But, at deviant art, people aren't so insightful. I have heard that my guys all look like girls, and they tell me that to fix it, I need to draw men with bigger shoulders. Any other critique I get, I take it very seriously, but when people criticize my style, I get a little upset. So, I told them in my journal that the girly guys are just my style, and to please quit telling me to make broad shoulders. They were fine with that. ^^ A few of them, who had never told me to change my style, were in agreement, so I feel okay about it.

I just felt the need to say it here, so if people want to give me advice, please don't tell me that one. That was all... ^^;

But thanks so much, Sydra! I'm glad you took the time to look and even compliment! So, you don't draw then? I don't know what I would do if I couldn't draw... I'd be very sad. I'm happy with what I do, though, so thats all that counts. (And my closest friends adore my style, they even understand it! I love my friends...)

Hehe, well when I do try to draw, the picture never looks like what I see in my mind. XD I've been told by artsy friends that it is a matter of practice, however I do believe that some coordination is needed and I sorely lack that... and I can't draw hands what so ever, darn expressive things, and shading confound me.

Oh yes. Bijou and Emery are my favorite. ^-^

Mm... they are lovely, Ember, though not quite the style of drawing that I like. ^^ Especially Emery, he looks really fitting except uh... I keep thinking he's a girl because of the chest portion. ^^;; Sorry about that.

Bijou has some really amazing hair(?). o.o

Your pretty darn good. Your style of drawing resembles mine abit, except there's something ... cuter about yours. ^^ (I bet it's because the characters you draw are 3-4 years younger than mine)
Personly, I think Emery and Amethyst are the best of your work. (you got the expressions perfectly)
The head of Onyx is abit too crooked ("crookness" can be cute-looking, but u overdid it just a little with that one)
Oh, and I'm not a big fan of colorization, so I think the last ones would look better without colors (personal oppinion though)
All in all, very nice work.

Sydra,

Bijou is one of my personal favorites as well! I just love how his expression came out. And I know what you mean about artwork coming out not as you saw it in your head... That happens to me a lot (in fact, it's happening right now, because I CANNOT draw Rhys for the life of me!! Oh well, I will eventually get him down... I think) I'll post up Kalani when I am done with him, right now he's half-done. Hands are hard for me too... I tend to hide them or put them in gloves, because gloves make them easier to draw...

Seluna,

Oh, I know what you mean about the chest! *laughs* My brother and best friend said the same thing. At first I was like, no! There's no boobs! But, it does look like it, with the way I drew the folds! Sorry about that... I have another picture of him, as well, but I liked this one better (just act like you don't see the boob folds!) Bijou, as I said before, is a big personal favorite of mine... I love everything about his character, and I really, really like the way he came out! I don't see many flaws in him (but there a few... Just don't look too hard)

Zanian,

I am not very good at drawing older characters... I like to draw large eyes and small noses, so everyone looks very young (even when they aren't) Quinn's father is the oldest character in there... And you don't want to see my old guys... They aren't good at all. I have to tell you, I am very happy you noticed the expressions. I make a big deal out of expressions. I hate those anime pictures where they look like they're staring off into space, and have their mouths hanging open. I HATE those! I like expressions to match the character. Amethyst is a lonely, miserable kid, so that's how I drew him. And Emery is a sweet, kind priest, so that's how I drew him. You get the picture. ^^ Yes, now that you mention it, Onyx's head IS crooked. (I always thought there was something off about her--I just couldn't place it) Thanks for pointing it out! (See, that's what I mean by help) Also, I am not a big fan of colouring, either... Especially hand colouring. I prefer my work in black and white, you can see the details, and all that. Those characters were coloured because my brother wanted them to be; I would rather have left them alone...

First of all, let me say that you're pretty damn good.

Now:

Nope, when it comes to drawing you're one of the best I've seen here.


And shouldn't it be that way? o_O I mean, in most designs, even anime ones, men are portrayed(sp?) with larger shoulders, like, more muscle and whatnot.


Ver nice, I really like the detail you gave it, especially that cross(?) on the back of her hand.


I love the concept you gave them, just want t point something out:
- Amethyst's face, looks, huh, a bit too round on the cheeks if you know what I mean.
- Turquoise's look like they're falling apart, no offense, especially the ones in the hand that's raised up ^^'


I laughed when I saw Quinn's dad, he just seems, not a dad xD, not because of the face and such, but the wholse design of him. Love the concept though.


Unfortunatly, those are the only one's that are colored, I owuld want want to see all of them with color =) I think they would look better ^^

I like your style, it has a "kawaii" feel to it and most important thing, you made this characters from scratch, you didn't saw an image and started copying it, so thumbs up for you

Ember, I think they were great^^ My faves are Bijou and Quinn's father. I draw too, but I don't know how to get them on a computer....stupid me. Anyway, I woud agree with Final Fantasist. As far as actual drawn art goes around here, you are one of the best I've seen^^ I beg to differ with Zanian... I think the colored ones look better. Just my personal opinion though^^ I hope to see more sometime^^

*EDIT* About the color though, I agree with you that it's a pain to do and it's better to see details without it, but coloring makes it more attractive. Sometimes. I prefer black and white myself (rather contradictory of what I said above...) but my sister said my art looks better colored, so I color it. I dunno. Go with what you prefer I guess.

Nice work Ember! These are really cool drawings. I agree with the others, that the coloured pieces are better than the other ones. Since I prefer coloured drawings, those are my favourites. The best ones for me are Tir and Thanatos. About Tir: I love his hair and the weapon is just awesome, and coloured very well.

Well, now I have Kalani up! Kit isn't done very well, but I plan on practicing with him. (I am not very good with animals...)

Kalani and Kit

Edge the Dragon

Edge the Human

Another Dragon Whelp

Amrus

Hayat (Thanatos's brother)

Oh, and I know I messed up on Amrus's yellow sword... But I draw in pen, so it wasn't possible to erase it. I should have coloured the blade black, but those were not my intentions...


Final Fantasist,

I am glad you think I am one of the best, thanks! (But there are so many great artists, really! And I'm not trying to be humble) Well, I know that men have bigger shoulders, and I do draw the really manly men that way, but normal or pretty guys, I just keep smaller shoulders, because I like them. That's why. ^^ Poor Emery... I really need to redraw his outfit. That boob-fold is just wrong. (It was an accident, I swear) I am not sure what you mean by the too round face and something falling of Turquoise... But I will look into it (ask my siblings and best friend if they see anything odd) I know what you mean about Quinn's dad. It's cause he looks... um homo, isn't it? My brother constantly joked about that... (Should listen to him) I don't hate colour, I just prefer black and white. It's just, I hate to colour! And I don't have anything to digitally do so (and even if I did, I am not entirely sure I would use it anyway--I like a homespun look)

dragonbrigade,

Well, to get your artwork on a computer, you just need a scanner. You scan them in, then upload them to a place like Deviant Art, or photobucket (the two places I go) and voila! You can put them anywhere! I can only draw, alas. I can't use those digital things. They mess me up, and I can't do the little details right... You are right about colours making it more attractive though. They catch the eye better, especially when they are colours that go well together. I guess I get nervous before I colour my art, because I don't want to mess it up...

gelmar,

Heheh, funny story about Tir. I drew him at a friend's house. And her brother took one look over my shoulder, and said, "he looks anorexic." Well, when Tir wasn't coloured, the black tattoo line on his chest made it look like his ribs were showing. He looks better in colour. *laughs* By the way, his name comes from runes. My friend and I were going to write a story and use the different runes as characters. Tir was the only interesting one to develop, and I later took him for use in my brother's (and mine) project. ^^ Thanatos got his name when I was looking for a name which meant Death but hadn't been overused. His brother's name is Hayat, which means Life. If I could find Hayat, I'd post him, though I wasn't as fond of his design...

EDIT: Found Hayat--he's not that good...

Ember you are using colored pencils? Water color pencils?

I still say Kit looks adorable.

I love them^^ Don't worry about Kit, he looks fine. I think the dragon whelp is cute.. hee hee. I really like Kalani and Kit the best though. I don't really have anything else constructive to offer... You are a good artist^^

EDIT: By the way, thanks for the info^^ Now I just need to get a scanner...

Sydra,

I use coloured pencils and markers, but I need new ones... My pencils are very brittle for some reason, and everytime I go to sharpen them, they break--very annoying! I wish I had watercolour markers or pencils though. They make everything so beautiful... I worked hard on the whelp's colours, so I think they look nice, Edge the human form needs a little revamping (that picture is about 6 years old) to go with his new whelp form, and I put Amrus up to show what my old people look like (he's supposed to be in his 50's) Hayat I put up because I had mentioned him when I talked about his brother, Thanatos. Thanks for the compliment on Kit though. I don't like it because it's really sketchy, but I'll have a solid pic one of these days!

dragonbrigade,

Thank you. I plan on colouring Kalani and Kit in the future (the fox is normal colours for foxes, and Kalani is blonde, with a violet eye, and his skin is lightly tanned) Your welcome about the advice. I hope you can find one. They can be as cheap as ten bucks at OfficeMax.

I may'ave said it before, but I like your drawings. Out of those Turquoise, Quinn, and Bijou are my favorite. You did really good in coloring Bijou, and Turcuoise and Quinn just look spiffey. I like how you did the eyes and expressions. Alot better than any of mine.

It's been a long time since I've dabbled in art, but my primary coloring instrument was the money-draining prismacolor pencils. I can tell you this, colored pencils are very delicate - if you drop them or do anything that upsets them, they can break internally which results in your pencil breaking every time you sharpen it. They say the best way to avoid them is to sharpen them with a knife or something more....manual, I suppose. But electric sharpeners are your enemy.

I should have bought tria color pencils - they're just as good as prisma, but less expensive, in my opinion. But I don't know if you use those already or not. xP

Something to try if you want to attempt coloring any of your pictures and you have a large set that allows you to blend - use some 'tooth' paper, also, experiement some with a colorless pencil. It is used for blending in two shades and can be very helpful.

But I used to be like you - I hated coloring my pictures. Mostly because every time I did color a sketch I -really- liked, I would get too excited and ruin something. xP Color pencil is very hard to erase - even with magic rub erasers....

I like all of your sketches - my ultimate favore was Kalani and Kit. Especially Kit. I love the feel of your pictures - they have such a very light-hearted feel and they're fun to look at. Some of your boys might look like girls, but it's a style I don't mind. Why shouldn't they be beautiful to look at? It's just a little off-setting when I think, "What a pretty girl" and then I see you refer to it as a guy. xP

But, again, I don't blame you for liking black and white better than color - you have fantastic line work!

Question...are they animals? They don't look like people to me...they look like anthropomorphs. Is that intentional?

Flynn,

Thank you very much! Info on the Quinn pic; he is the main character in this project my brothers and I are doing. I have a few coloureds of him I'll put up when I find them... That picture is one of my attempts at movement! I have a bad habit of only drawing a lot of character designs (because I grew up doing just that) so now I have problems having my characters do anything other than standing. It's because when my sister and I were little, we liked Barbies, but we got tired of all their same expressions and not enough good-looking guys (there was just Ken and he's so ugly!) so, I began drawing paperdolls! As a result, I can draw people, and in all kinds of outfits, but... That's about it! ^^; But it did help me grow into my style. You wouldn't believe how many evolutions my style went through, before I finally created this one, which I have been attempting to perfect for the last... 9 or so years now.

Cyo,

Thanks for all the helpful info! I'm going to the arts and crafts store sometime next week; I can see what they have, and invest in something better than what I have to work with... I know what you mean about mistaking my boys for girls. It happens to me all the time! And I feel like I suck at drawing girls, yet my guys look like girls... The only people who always know whether they are guys or girls are my two best friends and my brother (and they've had a long long time getting used to my style), so don't worry about it. A lot of them are not human, to tell you the truth (you catch on well). Like half-dragons and elves, and demons, and such. I also have a race we called Vulpes... Here are a few of them:

Aly A Forest Vulpes

Argil A Netherworld Devil, 7th Circle

Veis A Netherworld Devil, 3rd Circle

Rosario A Leaf Fairy

Rory A Groundling

Kraag A Minotaur

Helaku A Goblin

Karimu A Nocturnal Demon

Nesyah A Fallen Celestian (Usually the lose their wings and are sent to the land of mortals to redeem themeselves, but he left on purpose, which is why that wing is torn)

And that's it for now... But we have a lot more races, as well. And sub races, like Arctic Vulpes (my favorite!--we only have one), and different types of Surface demons... Bijou is a Kellenian... And Thanatos and Hayat are the rare Soul-Harvesters (they're the only two left) And blah, blah, blah (sorry if I bore you! ^^; )

What do you use to sharpen them with? A normal pencil sharpener tends to do that more often than anything, have you tried using a stanley knife or a normal pen knife? Those work way better for sharpening pencils without breaking the end, although you just have to be careful not to cut your fingers. ^^;

As for your work, your line drawing is great. A little surprised with the detail work put into them all, I always get annoyed adding those small details when drawing.

Your style is rather fancy in a different sort of way, I like them alot. Your colouring is good aswell, could do with a little more contrast, but I understand how tiring it is to put pressure on the pencil while colouring xD. I prefer your grey and white work over your colouring.

Awesome work, loved to see more.

I don't mean to become a plague by posting here every time you post new pictures, but I think they're good^^ However, on Kraag, the left horn when you look at the picture, did you draw the rest of the fur so that you see through the horn? If that made any sense. I may just be misinterpreting it, but it looks like the horn was drawn over the fur...I dunno. Again, it may just be me, but I thought I'd point that out... Sorry if it's actually nothing... He still looks good though^^ Actually, all of them do. I really like your style.

I think I'm closer to getting a scanner(talked to my dad yesterday. hee hee), so when I do I'll post mine too. But yours are really, really good. Keep it up^^
(Sorry about all of my repetitiveness)

Natsuki,

I use the normal handheld sharpener, but perhaps I should try your recommendations, it may work well with me and whatever new pencils I may buy. I LOVE details! *laughs* Once I start drawing, I keep adding on little things, they're my favorite part, next to faces and hair, to draw. I love accesories; earrings, bracelets, headbands, scarves, and cloaks... I love adding things like that. Or braids. I like braids a lot too...

dragonbrigade,

I don't mind, you aren't a plague. I posted new things for you guys to tell me any advice at all. And I see what you mean with the Minotaur. I'll let you on on my shame; I can't draw monsters... I've been practicing a lot lately though (as you can see). My brothers want more monsters, so what can I do? I just need lots of practice (or we can get his friend to draw the monsters...) But, yeah, I see what you mean about the hair and the horn. It's my bad shading.... I drew the shading in the same direction as the hair, so now it looks like the hair is all see through over the horn... Hopefully, when he's coloured, it won't still look like that! (I hope) I hope you get the scanner! I'd like to see what you draw! ^^

To all of you who commented: I am really happy you like my style! *cries* It's nice to have people like my style, it makes me feel like my drawing isn't a waste of time. And I like the advice too (I need it)

By the way, Novum is one of my favorite monster drawings...

LOLOL, so many replies.

Generally I think they look very nice. I don't want to go and be redundant and you know, repeat every single thing that a million people have probably already said.

The characters are really well drawn and are very "chibi" so to say, which has a really nice endearing effect on them. I'm not exactly fond of overly-fem looking male characters, but if that's how you draw there's no helping it really. Color pencil is your forte with color, though I think if you were able to watercolor these it would look fantastic. Either way, whether or not you want to take my random blurb, it's still wonderfully drawn pieces. (:

Looks like you just made me a new fav. ^^ Kalani is so freaking cool-looking.... But! (don't you just hate that word? ), his horns aren't placed very well. They are just abit too close to the left (Kalani's left) side of the neck.
Oh, and I think Amrus looks hilarious! ^^ The entire concept you used to create him was very unique ^^

And Apple, your right, this has gotten many replies.... even one of mine. A "Zanian-post" is very rare nowadays, so Thou should feel very proud!

Keep 'em coming.

Thanks! There are a lot of comments! I feel loved

Apple,

I am not very good at painting, to tell you the truth, but I want some of those markers that mimic watercolour... Yeah, my style isn't for everyone (I completely understand the feeling) and I love cartoon/anime styles, because you can doo what you want, be as unrealistic as you want (as long as you get anatomy semi-correct) and everything will come out fine, in your own style. Like, the art of Disgaea, for example. He/she draws a lot of uber-cute things, and nobody calls him/her a bad artist, you know? It's their style. I love just how different everyone can be, all the different flavours of art is very interesting. (And some appeal to me, and some don't, like you pointed out)

Zanian,

Yes, Amrus is a goof-off type of character. He's sort of this mentor-guy, but at the same time, he's insane. ^^; He commands the powers of Day and Night in this one country. It's hard and complicated to explain, so I will leave it at that. (But he's a very fun character) I feel really special! You replyed to my post twice!! Hehe.