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jessicapadkin In reply to canebrake [2004-11-09 01:49:08 +0000 UTC]

Thanks mate, that means a lot considering I really admire both your work with markers and your monster designs! If you do have any detailed critiques or advice on the subject, I'd love to hear it.

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canebrake In reply to jessicapadkin [2004-11-09 18:18:20 +0000 UTC]

Ok crit.. hrmm
If I've got a big gripe about this image it's really the posing. With the digigrade feet combined with a tail (especially a very heavy, buly tail like Ravi's here) you really need to be careful about getting the feet at just the right place undernieth the body. Or you end up, like here, with your character looking about to tip over. Solving this problem takes deciding the role of his tail in how he balances and stands. If he uses the tail for extra standing support like a kangaroo, he'd stand with his legs a little further back than he does now and you'd have to make the tail look like it was taking some of the weight. If the tail isn't working something like a tripod, then the feet should be right under him with him leaning a bit foreward to balance its bulk. The posing also makes his arms look to more akward than the should be. Because they're sort of pushed back like chicken wings, they add the to imbalance of the pose. They seem a bit undersized too, but since he's more of an oriental dragon type design that's not really an issue. You might want to make his hands a little more hand-like, unless he also walks on all fours. Otherwise it seems a little strange to have very foot like hands. On the same mold as the oriental dragon theme, you might want to try not sticking his tail strait out of his butt as that kind of dragon is more snake/crocodile like than the european types. Having it come down through the pelvis and then snake up where it hits the ground or shortly before would help preserve the snakey/crocodile-ness and might make him look a little more graceful.

I really like the armor design you've done for him. Parts of it seem kind of strange, such as the back peice he has on. It might help it look more natural if the spine had more of an accentuated curve to it which could give the piece something of a 'back support' look to it. The parts on this thighs, legs and tail are perfect. I also really like his hairiness and how you've gone for that rather than the more common wad of spikes going down the back. And I love the tuft of black hair coming out from under his nose. If anything, I'd say make that bigger like a 70's Mexican bandit thing XD. The markings on his back seem like a bit of a waste because you can't see too much of them. I'd reccommend either getting rid of them or adding them to more exposed areas so we can enjoy them more.

On the colouring you've done a really good job. You've made the colour consistant and there's no streaking that I can see. Very important when using markers I think, unless you're going for a more watercoloury look. It gets a little sloppy in the hair, but that happens a lot because the tips of the markers are only so small. The grey on the belly scales looks like it has the same thing going on. Unfortunately, the only way around that is to draw huge, and that has its own problems. The tones you've used on the gold armor are great. To give it a little more of a chromey look, just before you put the mid tone on pit a thin line of the darkest colour you're using for it at the light/midtone border and then colour the midtone right over it. If you do that wet, it'll blend a bit and makes the light tone look lighter. You could also try not bringing the dark all the way to the edge and then blending a bit of the midtone there to give the impression of reflected light. Sometimes you don't even need to blend that part if you don't feel like bothering and it'll look nice and crisp.

Well, I hope that helps you.

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jessicapadkin In reply to canebrake [2004-11-19 17:47:56 +0000 UTC]

Thanks so much for the help, that was really useful! Hope you don't mind me asking for critiques, but I knew you'd be the best guy to help me out with this character.

Great suggestions for the posing and the design in general, I'll keep it all in mind the next time I draw this guy! The thing about this character... I kinda wanted it to look slightly unnatural when he walks on hind legs, since intelligent, civilised dragons aren't common in the comic and he's more naturally suited to flying and walking on all fours. Actually, he can take a rider, and his armour was designed to accommodate that, but it's a bit hard to describe without pictures...

I had a hard time with the markers... especially the bloody grey ones since they were cheapass poster markers not meant for artwork at all and only had a wedge. XD I love the look you get with 'em though, so I'll definitely work with them a bit more and probably invest in a decent set sometime in the future.

Thanks again for the help!

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canebrake In reply to jessicapadkin [2004-11-19 21:11:18 +0000 UTC]

I generally don't give out long crits on things here unless someone asks for it because you can't tell if the person will take it in stride or bite your head off XD I'm glad it was helpful for you.

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canebrake In reply to jessicapadkin [2004-11-09 02:00:38 +0000 UTC]

I shall hand out a detailed critique tomorrow after a good look then. (when my attention span isn't nearly as fried I hope XD)

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