Dissatisfaction

[avram]

I’ve grown dissatisfied with my artwork. I’m focussing too much on outlines, not enough on texture and shadow. My linework seems monotonous. Time for some changes. Time to hunt influences.

I decided the above after I did the following. And after I got about halfway through a piece in fine marker on smooth bristol board. (Which works pretty well, incidentally. I was worried that the smooth bristol might not take my non-photo pencil, but it worked fine.)


Not really happy with how this came out either. I laid down the blue wash a few days ago, then did the drawing on top of it in black and white Prismacolor pencil, which made it tough to erase, so I got her facial proportions wrong. What I ought have done is started out working in water-proof pencil, established my darks, then dropped a wash on top of that, then gone in with white for highlights.

Comments

[kent-allard-jr.livejournal.com]

> I’ve grown dissatisfied with my artwork. I’m focussing too much on outlines, not enough on texture and shadow.

I dunno. If you're thinking of a webcomic, an emphasis on outlines seems appropriate. (PvP gets away with very simple shading, for example.) Plus, IMO, your fills are pretty good. (You seem more skilled at these things than I am, anyway.) I'd work more on the proportions, and getting the figures just right. They don't have to be naturalistic -- I think Melorn looks fine here -- as long as they're consistent and nice to look at.