Character Drawing

First of all, let me tell you the obvious things that I know I have to work on. My sketchiness is horrible. That is definitely needs work. I also know that I definitely need a new scanner because it scans in my pencil sketches horribly and that I am quite horrible at hands. I know that she is incredibly skinny, but that is kind of part of my style. Tell me if that is alright or not.

I need you people to tell me what I can improve on. I know the details can barely be seen because of the horrible sketchiness and my horrible scanner. This is a chance for you art fans to just tear it apart! I need help with my actual human features. I posted up a picture before, but that wasn't necessarily a human. So I dare say, despite my horrible attempt at dancing and weird placing of the hands, my sketchiness, and my believed stiffness please tell me what I did wrong and how I am supposed to improve.



This girl is from my novel, and I am afraid that her hair is covering her eyes making it seem so much more melodramatic, but I did that by mistake. I accidentally forgot to draw the eyes.

Now help me oh valued critiquers. Critique me with all you got!

Sincerely,
~Incognito

Oh my goodness, I'm positively green with envy!!!
The shading, body proportions, outfit and the sketchy-style art!
*bows down reverently*
I humbly beg you to take me as your disciple, oh Great One...'

Anyhoodledoodle, brilliant work!
*whips out a Gold Star*


EDIT: Okay, I guess that didn't help you much.
From my amateur perspective, you're being a tad to hard on yourself.
(I'm sound like a hypocrite because I'm always being hard on myself)
But the sketchy-style isn't bad, its an art form of it's own, and you did a nice job.
The slimness isn't too exaggerated, and it seems fitting as the girl is a dancer after all.
Svelte, graceful and a tad willowy. There's nothing wrong with that.
Haha, I actually like your mistake of leaving the eyes out and covering it with hair.
It gives that 'groovy' feel, it shows how 'into it' the dancer is.
I'm definitely not one to consult for shading, but I didn't really find any problems,
Same for body proportions... I think.
But hey, its an excellent drawing!

You're your toughest critic. This drawing is amazing! I haven't written a review for a really long time and I'm not exactly a brain sergent when it comes to art, but I think I know the basics.

This was extremely well done and after seeing the drawing I want to read your book. I love the position her hands are in, the slight shading(that might just be the sketchiness), and the particular shape of her body. Not to skinny but realistic enough to resemble a curvy modern teen. Although I loved this drawing I think you should've accented her chest more and swept her hair across her face more gracefully. I know you forgot to show the eyes, but I think that worked out. Also I realized after a moment that she has a tatoo of some sort on her stomach. Maybe you should make that more bold in some way, but again that may just be your scanner. Nicely done. I give you a golden star.

Hope I HELPED!! (I don't know why I capitalized hepled)

**Mo**

I love the sketchiness of the drawing, and the movement is very flattering. she seems somewhat lost and dazed in it almost which is very interesting from an artisitic point.

one thing im curious about is the really long legs and short thin torso, almost sickeningly thin. I'm not saying its bad for the style, It's just very thin.

The face could use a bit of work, for the nose seems a little off place. The hair is covering most of it, which looks very neat and well done, but the chin is fairly pointy and the nose just doesnt look quite right.

The shoulders are a little stiff, and the arms arent necessarily perfect but do look understandable. the wrists are a little small though.

and the hands could use some work. i dont mind them as much for they are the hardest part to draw, and for the most part they werent terrible, but they could have been more life-like, less pointy and balled at the ends.

Other then that, i truly enjoyed this drawing. it has been one of the best i've seen and the sketchiness makes it look like a true work of art. I give you props for a drawing well done, and beautifully positioned.

if you want me to review anything else, just give me a PM or tell me!

Gah! This is great! You are waaaayyy too hard on yourself. I wish I could draw like this. All I can draw is mushrooms haha!

Her hands are great where they are. It just shows the dance is a unique and different. She seems to be really into the dance and like she's almost in a daze or a dream.

I'm not good a sketching so I'll just say the sketchiness is okay. Makes her look more life like.

The clothes are cool and is that a tattoe on her stomach?

All in all, wonderful job and you deserve a gold star. Happy writing and keep on drawing. Also, don't be so hard on yourself.

Meadow

Hey there, Incognito!
I agree about the sketchiness, but really, it isn't that bad. A blending stick and a good earsor would solve that problem. Speaking of erasors, there are some really visible erasure marks near her hands.
I don't particularly like the idea of her hair covering her face. The face is what tells the most about a character. Their cheeks, whether gaunt and hollow, or round and overflowing. Their eyes, distant and thoughtful, or aware and cunning. Eyebrows, raised or relaxed. The hands of the character tell the story, as your's do here, but the face tells the why and the how.
Her legs, from the knees up, at least, are just a bit too fat for the rest of her body. Gotta keep the proportions right, you know. Of course, it might just be the style of pants she's wearing. If the latter is the case, then draw a faint outline of her leg, right where the fabric brushes against the skin.
Her foot, the one touching the ground, is twisted in a really awkward position. I'd recommend twisting it to the right, in the same direction as her head. Actually, the same would apply for her whole lower body. Twist it with the head, instead of in the opposite direction, to give her more of a turn/jump appearance. Even if that's not what she's doing, she should still look that way, since the body's natural tendency is to twist in the same direction as all the other parts.
As Rosey said, bring her mid-air leg a little closer to the other one. As it is, it looks like she's tipping off-balance.

That's it for the bad stuff. Now onto the compliments.
I really loved this piece. I wish to God that I could draw like this, and that I had enough patience to draw like this.
I absolutely adore her grace. She's beautiful. I love her dainty nose and the mischevious curve of her lip.
I basically know nothing about art; I just know the way that things and people should look. I give you a gold star, because you know both.

EDIT: To all those who said that her pose is impossible, I attempted it, and it IS possible. You'd have to have extremely good balance, but it is possible.

So, the right leg is placed a little weird, like, the foot really. She does have stiff shoulders like The.Dreamwalker said. The sketchiness is cool, and your hands are pretty awesome as well.

I'd like to see, however, more of her eyes.

Her pose, like Rosey said, is a bit odd. I, also, do not think it would be possible.

Hope that helps.

~Rei

Please, tell me, how on earth did you learn to draw like this??? When I draw people, I give up and just draw a stick figure in it's place!! So seriously, tell me, how did you learn? How long have you known? I'm desperate, considering I want to draw Manga someday.
*Gets down on knees and begs, putting on a puppy dog face and big, sad eyes.*


YOU ARE AMAZING!!! LOVE YOUR HANDS! AND FACIAL FEATURES!!!!!!!


Okay, now for the actual critique.

This was great, and aside from what others have pointed out, I think that you could've done something for the leg that is bent and in the air. For a second it looks like she's doing a yoga position, then you see the foot's smaller and realize that it's a little behind her. Maybe a little more shading?

That's it. Nice job! All I can do is draw a box...

Okay, first of all, you're really good at drawing! I could never draw like that! and the sketchiness is not bad, it makes the legs look well defined and the pants have curvature. I'm going to attempt to say what I can in text, and then I'll point out things by uploading the sketch with paint lines on it!

The pants are the best thing about this drawing. They are well drawn and they have good shading and proportion.

In the below diagram, I have labeled the parts, I would like to new address the "right" leg.
The top half of the leg looks good, but the bottom is twisted. I know that you wanted to have it pointed, but you need to bulk the ankle up a little. If you look closely, you will see that it has gone from being head on up the top, as if the character is standing face on, to being side on at the bottom, where the shoe is. There needs to be some sort of twisting to indicate that the person is turning; or else it looks like they have a twisted ankle!

The left leg is next. It fades into the background very quickly, and I think it looks a little too short, and too thin. Again, you have this out of proportion. Try and move the foot down a bit, and bulk it up.

I think that the same goes with the rest of your person, it looks like she has been staying with the starving children in Africa for a year. Pt. 5 is what gets me the most. Her hips are nearly non existent, and her legs are in an almost perfect triangle from where I've indicated. [Nice tattoo by the way ]

Point 3:

The hands are lovely! I can tell that you mist have spent a lot of time on them, because they look almost perfect! The only thing I can say is that you haven't rubbed out one of the old pinky's on the left hand (her right!) I could also say that they look a little pointed if I were to be picky, but I know they are meant to look like that, and they look fine anyway! Heaps of really good artists have trouble drawing the hnds, so well done! You have some real talent!

Point 4:

You have done a nice job on the hair, even if you think it makes the drawing look a little monotonous. I don't think that it does, but that's your opinion. I really cont say much more about it! It looks good!

Another thing that bothered me was the clothing that she wears. She has a lot of tattoos on, but what are the bands around her arms? I think that they look like throns, but I kbnow they shouldn't be around her arms then! So what are they? You need to draw more detail to the clothing. (No pun intended.)

Well, that's all I can say! Sorry about all of the exclamation marks... I'm in that type of mood. But really, you should be proud of yourself for this, it's a really good sketch!

I thank all of you for how to improve this. I kind of see what you guys mean by the stiffness in the shoulders and odd positioning. I am not a dancer, I am a hockey player, so I do not know how the body works like that. I also see how I can add more detail onto her glove thingys. (I truly don't know hat they are myself.) I thank you for all your critiques and comments. I surely will do my best to improve it on what you commented for that is the actual reason why I put this one here.

I also thank you people for giving my positive insurrance on my artistic ability. When I draw something, it always seems so hard for me to tell if it is good or not. Most of my drawings I do not know if they actually turned out and I tend to be unsatisfied by it. I have an older sister who is incredible at drawing, and I have been trying so hard to get as good as here. Again, I thank you all.

You comments are well taken and I will keep them in mind for my next drawing.

~Incognito

^.^ Lol, I have the same problem, but I got stuck trying to beat her at maths.
I know how you feel, everything you do always has things that could improve... and as the creator you can see them the most. I always get that with writing. Lol, GO HOCKEY (I play field goalie.)

Kepp drawing!

that is Sheeda! wow my views about her was wrong!

i really like the picture except for the facial appearance which to be honest looks evil, i like the movement.

you make her look lively by moving her legs and placing her in complicated movement. I only do not like the face though. She looks like a boy.

I guess she does slightly look like a boy...
That was a mess up by me. I am horrible at faces if I draw the body first. I am fairly decent at them if I draw them first, but then I tend not to finish the body and the proportions get even more tortured then they are noe.

Thanks everyone for reviewing again.

~Incognito

heeey
This is awesome! The body proportions are great and the clothes are cool! The hands are absolutely amazing ... I have LOADS of trouble with hands (and feet). Speaking of feet, I'm not too sure of the leg that's like in the air. Looks a bit small and out of proportion to the rest of her but that might just be me
Keep up the great work!
xxmimixx