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xValkyrja [2012-01-22 23:36:07 +0000 UTC]

Overall

Vision

Originality

Technique

Impact

Overall, this piece shows improvement when set next to other pieces from your gallery, which is what everyone strives for, however, there's still a few things that would make this better.

I would really like to see more muscle definition instead of what seems to be haphazard shading that does nothing to bring out the structure of this filly's body. What I'm seeing here follows the popular - but incorrect - trend of simply throwing highlights wherever one feels like it or where the reference shows them without an understanding behind WHY those parts and muscles would be highlighted. I would very strongly suggest doing a study of horse musculature, or at least looking at the muscle placement and trying to gain an understanding of why muscles move the way they do as this will doubtlessly help correct this issue.

I also realize that this piece lacks a background and, as such, has no light source or light directionality so this is more a personal point, but it also helps if you draw in a light source and shade accordingly. If the light is from the horse's front the lighting and shades will be drastically different from lighting from directly above, below or from behind. There are tutorials that cover this much more in-depth; you can easily find them on DA if you are interested.

Anatomically, however, this piece is not bad. You can tell that the filly is indeed that - a filly. She does not look full-grown and still has some of the foal proportions which is good. For an Arab, her face is not as dished as I would like to see it - however, this is entirely dependent on the strain of Arabian she is. Obviously, Egyptian Arabs are more refined than, say, a Polish or Shagya Arab because they are considered more 'true' to the original bloodlines.

Lastly, though this may sound harsh, she looks either chubby or like she has a haybelly. Her barrel is, even for an Arabian in the 'scrunched' position you've depicted her, too wide.

Overall, though, this isn't badly done and the technique employed is far from bad. Keep it up. C:

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

YamiKatt [2012-01-22 22:34:04 +0000 UTC]

Overall

Vision

Originality

Technique

Impact

The shading looks very good in general and you're still improving quickly, but it's too homogenous. Horses are just like any other solid objects: the shadows that fall on them are darker on the side opposite from the light.

The legs look excellent shading-wise, but the body looks much less convincing. In this picture, the horse's underside isn't any darker than its top, meaning that although the horse looks shiny, it also looks flat. Basically, although there can of course be darker areas on the top and middle of each body part, the darkest should be the underside — and the underside should be noticeably darker, which it is not here.

Here are some clear examples of what I mean: [link] [link]

Look at the contrast between the bottom of the horses (belly, under head, under neck, etc) compared to the top of the horse or even the middle of the horses to get an idea of what I mean.

I also would still like to see more movement and life in the mane and tail. Here your mane is looking good, but the tail still looks rather lifeless and stuck together. Look at pictures of galloping horses' tails, and see what different kinds of motion shows up in the hair — it can really add excitement and interest to the piece.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Katy500 [2012-01-20 23:15:44 +0000 UTC]

Awesome! I've just one thing to say. Try to draw the tail more "free", whit move movement, like this: [link]
I'm not talking about the shading, because your shading is awesome, it's just the tail looks like the horse is "stopped", you know what I mean? Try to do the tail whit more movement, and the horse will look all better

👍: 0 ⏩: 1