Free Wanderer

Hiya,

So, I really like the idea behind this and what you were able to convey with the image. It's so serene, so peaceful. You're able to get out a lot of character and emotion into the subject just from the way he stares blankly out into the sky. Even though he's a mix of a lion and an eagle, he feels so human and I'm wondering what's going on inside his read right now.

Your shading is simply marvelous throughout. What did you use, out of curiosity? It seems like colored pencils, but everything feels so richly textured and three dimensional, especially on the feathers and fur. My main problem is that your sky seems too lackluster. I can see the color wanting to swoop out, but it's hard to notice at first and doesn't really match in tone with the rest of the picture. Some advice for drawing, especially if you're not scanning it: shade very, very heavily. Even if something on paper is perfectly visible to you, it will be distorted and blurry once put onto the computer. So, if you're think you're shading too heavily, then it's probably perfect.

Another thing I wanted to comment on is that the area around the eagle's eye looks a little weird. I can't see the feathers; it looks like bone or rock that was placed on top of the eagle's real eye. You can see a really clear outline separating that from the feathers as well. I don't know if this was intentional, but it just looks a little bit odd.

All in all, this is a very interesting drawing! You have quite a talent, dear, so keep drawing! PM me if need anything else, alright? It'll be interesting to see more of your work.

-Elinor x

Hello, I Cirque and I am here to do a review for you. Also; HAPPY REVIEW DAY! I just want to mention that this is an awesome drawing, totally cool!

The colours used are very vibrant when it nears the sun, though dulls further in. What I mean to say is, you haven't given this picture a nature effect. By giving off a yellowish glow you could really bring out the highlights that are implemented on the Griffin's coat. I cannot see any other use of drawing but shading. Which I must say, is the best shading I have really ever seen. Though, I really must comment that you should add more textures like hatching, cross-hatching and any other concept of art.

Now that I have finished being negative, I'm going to say the possotives. Your shading work in incredible, instad of leaving it the one boring colour; you brought in other shades of say..white and really made the hand stand out. The sky looks brilliant with all those swials, though the floor not so much. I would fix that by adding other colours then just pastelly brown. Try flourishing more green throughout it, and I don't know even adding something of your own. I just really think light is needed.

Otherwise, this is one heck of a good drawing.

Gryphon (griffin, griffon, however you wish to spell it)! XD

I love his head. I've always had a devil of a time with birds' heads for some reason and seeing it done right is awesome. His front half seems a little stumpy and short compared to the back (maybe a longer neck/front chest on him would fix that?) but the feathers look so soft and three-dimensional.

The color of the sky is a little iffy, but I think that's mostly due to the quality of the picture. The shading on the rock and the gryphon are awesomesauce though. Great, great stuff.

~GryphonFledgling

I liked the shading and the details of it. Being ten, I cannot do that, at all... Well, AWESOME!

Hey there Sarah!

Well, what can I say? I think this is actually quite brilliant! The idea is that feel of a natural leadership, of that alpha male on a lone quest on adventure, you know? It's, perhaps cliche, but it doesn't matter because you've pulled it off to work well and no-one's going to start going: "Oh well, that's a bit of a jolly over-used idea." It's good.

My favourite part of the picture is the sky and the sun rising or setting, I can quite tell -- I'll go with rising because of the yellows -- this is because you've used the colouring very well to almost make it seem impressionist, surreal and realistic at the same time. That's a big achievement. It contrasts between beauty and the idea of a new beginning or perhaps the end of one. The sky, I love. Especially how the pencil marks (guessing it's pencil) make it seem like the sky is full of spirits with the soft lines of colour wish-washing around like implicit clouds. It's stunning.

As for the actual eagle (if it is an eagle) I think the head is well drawn and the whole this is coloured lovely. Though the body seems a bit out of proportion and since you've already finished this piece, that's going to be practically impossible to tidy up. So, I'd just suggest in future, when you're outlining your drawings in pencil first, just revise the proportions and get it a little better and there should be some dandy improvements!

Best'a luck and hope this helped,
Ben

Hiya Sarah!

First off, I think you did a nice job with the background, including the rock and its texture. Actually, you did pretty well with all of the textures in this drawing. I really like the way you drew the grass, including the strokes you used. I think the sun on the bottom rightish area of the picture is a nice touch, and gives this drawing a peaceful look (sort of what Elinor said).

Here's my biggest critique for you: I think this drawing would be so much nicer if you made this animal look less chunky and stunted by lengthening his neck a bit, etc., so he would seem more majestic.
Besides that, I wish you made the front feet (bird feet) more scaly so we can tell the difference between those feet and the rear feet (animal feet) more easily. Also, it would be nice if you made his eyes seem less evil, and more serious or peaceful...which ever way you want to go. So, is he evil? Is he serious? Is he thinking of something? Then, what? If you gave this guy more of...a personality, I guess you can say, this piece would be much more interesting.

Hope I helped! Keep up the good work-

KD

Hello Sarah!

I really like this. I've always had a problem with drawing birds so I thought the head was brilliant!
I love the idea of this. I've never really thought to draw anything like this. I do agree with Kaedee above in that it could have done with the Gryphon looking more majestic but this is literally my only thought.
I love the textures and shading on the rock, it really looks real and I can just imagine the Gryphon's bird claws clattering on it. Really nice. I am also loving the textures of the grass.

Yeah, anyway. I loved it. That much is probably obvious. You have had some great comments so I'm just going to shut up now

Keep Drawing!
~Lydia

Ps. Good luck with your art project!

Nice. I like the detail you put into it.
And I love gryphons (is that how you spell it?) :]
Keep it up!


-BG-

Hi Sarah!

This is really nice, you have some smooth pencil strokes, but I'm going to be a little bit nitpicky:

His extremities seem to be condensed. And it's bothering me so.

His head: it's too small in proportion to his neck, and his neck is too long, so it gives the entire upper body a strange appearance. A bald eagle's neck is extendable, but usually, you want the head closely connected to the head, the neck being only the connection from the bust/back to the head. Look here.

Hanches: A lion's hanches are very thick and muscular, and yes, they do have a knee crook, but it actually makes an almost "L" shape if you look here

This is good! Nice work! Next time, use real life examples for proportions and details. You'll get a much better idea then drawing from memory/imagination.

Good luck on future works.

Kamas

I do agree that the gryphon's (?) legs appear to be foreshortened somewhat.

This not only detracts from the realism, but I think it breaks up the lovely shape you have created here. You have a particular sensation about the way you draw, and I like the power and the heaviness in the beak and jawline. However, that sense is disrupted in the short, seemingly jointless legs. The rear legs are thick, but they don't appear muscular--only amorphous and vaguely lacking across his hips and lower back.

He is also holding his weight strangely, in my opinion. If he were a human, standing on all fours, his weight would be distributed between the flat of his hand (where it attaches to the arm) and the pads where the fingers join the hand. Fingertips would be used for balance. Your gryphon seems to be completely dependent only on the flat of his "hands," which leads to a slightly unbalanced perspective.

The wings, too, are oddly folded against his body. Maybe grab a photo of an eagle at rest and you can get a better idea of how they fold their wings. A creature this large would have a tremenous wingspan, and right now we just don't get that impression.

Whew. Now that I've got all that out of the way.

This actually has some very nice pencilwork! I love what you have done with the perspective, and although the colors are simplistic they are certainly effective. The only thing that I think I would like to see you do is layer, so you can get a little more depth to your work.

Nice job!