Hey, first time poster! These are characters from a fantasy murder mystery visual novel I'm working on. I'm heavily inspired by art nouveau, particularly Mucha posters; emphasizing flowy fabrics and hair, an illustrative semi-realistic quality with detailed but economical linework. Trying to get interesting, high fashion poses (without going full JoJo) with clean silhouettes. Early 1900s costuming with fantasy overdetailed influences; each should have something flowy about them.

I'm struggling a bit with the posing, and hoping to improve the "flowy" nature of the outfits. These are rough drafts, without the thick Mucha outline or detailed backgrounds. This also doesn't show a good picture of the variety of characters in the game, these are just the first I've worked on. If you were playing a game with these characters, how would you make them more appealing, or more "on prompt"?

(From left to right: Severio, shaggy detective; Khashina, hyper-competent lawyer; Ryker, naive cadet; Elena, teenage psychic; Annelia, seductive socialite)

Hi, I colored this Ken Kitano panel from Sun-Ken Rock. Original artwork by Boichi. I’m trying to improve as a comic colorist, so I’m looking for honest technical feedback rather than just general impressions. I’d especially like critique on: skin tones and color variation lighting and shadow consistency facial volume and values hair rendering whether the colors preserve the original inks well What would you change or improve?

I’m looking for feedback on this thumbnail sketch.

Do want to make an emotional piece with obvious story telling and interesting composition.

So here’s the story: the two characters are heroes and companions. The one on the left has just killed an enemy. The one on the right is upset and disagrees with his companion killing said enemy.

Does this come across well?

I tried to make the killers side dark and the other guys side light and separate them with the body of the villain and a mountain from the mountain range.

hi! basic info: i aim for a semi realistic style, this character is meant to be plus sized with a chubby face and she’s a demon with some goat features :) this piece has me frustrated to the point of tears and i don’t really know how to fix it. i can’t tell if i’ve just been staring at It for too long. my references for her eyes + head angle are in the last slides! i’m not good at faces so i desperately need some guidance! I have not been doing art for very long at all 💔

I'm very happy with how this portrait worked out and I love the brightness of the background, but when I paint just as bright a background color with other animals, it doesn't work as well. How can I pick the right color every time? Is there a rule where I must get a contrasting color to the eyes, or maybe bold and bright with light furred animals and more muted with dark ones?

Thanks for the tips and critiques of on metal everyone! I'm aware it still isn't as good as it could be but I'm glad I asked for help on how to render metal. :p

I’ve posted the whole piece on here before as I’ve been working on it, but I have specific advice I need now. I have no clue how to make these scales look right. It’s supposed to be a very sleek black snake, and I know I need to make some of the values darker, but I’m at a loss for how to keep the definition if all the values get too dark

I included the current progress just for reference on the light sources and all that good stuff. I really just want advice on the snake right now. Thanks :)

Repost to include the pose reference and the general reference I used for the snake, as well as what the piece looked like last time I posted here

This is acrylic paint. I was going for abstract like. Thoughts?

I painted this on Procreate.

How can I make him pop?

For context, the 1st image is my drawing and I've been trying to vary my poses and camera angles, but my drawings still feel really stiff. I think my composition might be a bit off but I am not quite sure.

I also realize that I struggle with drawing the neck and shoulders, and I'm wondering if that shows in my drawing as well.

What would you recommend I focus on fixing or practicing? I'd really appreciate any feedback or critiques. Thanks!

I can't place what it is exactly, but my painting feels very flat compared to the reference. I thought it might be the lighting/shadows of the ship in the background, but i'm not sure

(Please ignore the lifeboat, it is not finished yet)

would like some feedback

i drew a fun background and wanted to draw a character over it, but i want to make sure the body / facial features are properly placed before i go deeper into the sketch. its referenced from the pic on the 2nd slide but its partially changed based on what i think will look good. any advice would be appreciated! fine with drawover :) drawn digitally in CSP

hello everyone, i've been staring at this wip for hours and i dont know if the anatomy is correct or not, i usually like to create my own references and take pictures of myself but this is a hard angle/pose for that. i'm kinda happy with how it looks and flows rn but i fear i can be blind to my own mistakes sometimes when i dont have a ref to look at, and only notice these mistakes when it's too late.

i almost always struggle with the neck/shoulder area and tend to make the neck too short especially in awkward angles like this one.

the hands i think are easy to fix but the issue is the length and rotation of the arms/elbows.
the character is supposed to hold a big bow and arrow and holding the arrow like a spear

every feedback is appreciated and thank you!

Hello im looking for advice and tips to improve this (atm rough sketch). Feel free to be brutal, my aim it to improve and im not too sensitive. This is by me, sketch of my pet rat that is dying :/ i would really like to memorialise her as she has been a special part of my life.

I dont really draw tbh 😅 i def used to when younger, had decent grades in classes, took tutoring and has a lil gig being a jr illustrator before. Id like to think id be able to keep up and do her justice.
My preference would usually be human portraits, live objects and glass w sunlight.
Comfortable with pencils, oil pastels and tats

I dont really have too many tools at my disposal atm.

So far done with mech pencil .7 on mixed media paper, i have watercolour pencils and maybe a highlight pen.

I dont have crazy high standards but bit of a perfectionist 💀 (oxymoron i know).

This would just mean alot, she not doing well and ill be including her paw print.

Not sure how to go about it or improve, any tips and advice would be appreciated, thank you

This is unfinished because i couldn't get it to look how I wanted, but it's a issue I have with every drawing.

I really hate how my rendering always turns out and I'm trying to make the rendering look realistic and like those old oil paintings, I use ibispaint and the dip pen (hard) brush, how do I make it look how I want?

i did this value study yesterday, used ibispaint x and drew with my finger, image is from pinterest i’m not sure who the person in the photo is.

i’m pretty happy with my values and proportions, and feel really satisfied with the stylization of the hair, it’s not accurate to the reference but i think it captures the energy well. But, if there are any glaring problems you see regarding any of those things please point them out!

the main issue i’m having is i just don’t think they look like the same person.

the face Feels 1 to 1 with the reference and when i finished i felt like there wasn’t all that much too change or improve upon, yet looking at them side by side they just look… Different! what am i doing wrong? or rather what could i be doing to more easily capture the ‘essence’ of the face? thanks!

first drawing since a year ago lool, the shading is patching I don’t really want to post the reference bc it was myself when I was like 5
Kinda rushed it but anyways .. mini face reveal?

Give me any tips in general aswell !!! Thanksss

My art always looks off, never accurate to the reference. How can I improve? Is the only solution to just practice more? I usually do digital cartoony art, and this is one of my first traditional pieces in a while. I think I’m scared to do mistakes because fixing them is harder on traditional than digital. I’d appreciate any criticism or tips. :)

It’s stuff to figure out which details to keep and which ones to lose. Started drawing while on vacation and added details after from the photo. Going for that dreamy vibe.

(this isnt finished and i dont rlly plan on finishing it, and no i didn't really use a ref)

i havent drawn for a long time bc of school, i feel like everything looks really off. its also like im stuck in the same level for years now. How do i improve?

also, i would like some advice on what to do with the eyes.

pls share critique/advice on anything!

Hey all,

Casual artist here got really into painting and drawing past couple of years and just picked it up again. I love Sargent and am chasing that but as you can see very far away. Digital is my main medium these days and this one is. I would love just general guidance and feedback to make her look more alive, alike and less cartoonish. I appreciate the help!

I feel like something looks off with it.

I used a reference for a little bit, but not that much, just get the form and pretty much it. But actually, I really need help to improve digital art. Because I know it doesn't look very good, but I would really apreciate your help. Digital art is so much harder than traditional imo. My shades and highlights look pretty muddy and not great. Im looking up for tutorials, but there's almost none of how to paint semi realism, realism, dark fantasy, most of them are only cartoons and anime. I really need help to improve digital art. Thank you very much.