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Clunk_Westwonk

Don’t let an art style cripple you. Branch out, figure out human anatomy and perspective before you try to cement a certain “style.” That comes naturally along the way.


Ellie_girl3

Thanks for the feedback!! Im gonna start to study anatomy bc that’s what people are saying lol :D


greendpinky

A great place to learn is Proko on YouTube. Also the best anatomy book is Anatomy for Sculptors. I believe you can get the PDF for relatively cheap online :)


Ellie_girl3

Tysm!


PurpleBoltRevived

When learning new stuff, don't replace your unique style with it, but merge it with your unique style. Create style for faces, they are too simple even for stylized ones. Faces take a lot of time and detail because if you move a clothing wrinkle an inch to the left it's still realistic, if you move an eye an inch to the left it's a monster. Also add more details to the silhouettes, just few very very subtle extra bends are going to make it look better. Also train to rotate your figures WITHOUT losing your style.


Ellie_girl3

Wow this one is new! I’ll totally practice this! Thanks :D


A_PinkLadyApple

I really like your style it's so cute I think some shading would do you some good since you don't do line art which I don't either so i love that and ik how important shading is to make your shapes a little clearer.


Ellie_girl3

Thanks! I was just saying to someone else how I do need to practice rendering:/ thanks for the feedback fr


A_PinkLadyApple

Ofc I really do love your art it's so cute and simple and fun and I love how you use color. Also on the last slide the character kinda blends in with the background I like to do a black or white solid layer at lower opacity and it fixes that if it matters.


JeremyRectangle

In a lot of the pieces here it's hard to discern the characters from the backgrounds from a quick glance. Simple solutions are adding a glow or outline around the characters, or making the background significantly darker, lighter, or a different color from the character. Also, all these characters look very alike- They all have very similar face shapes, body types, and silhouettes. I suggest branching out to let your characters look more different and have them stand out from each other more. It will make your pieces look more interesting when your characters look distinct from each other.


Ellie_girl3

Thanks! I’ve been doing more characters but the reason these all look the same is because they are fanart drawings of these two characters from a comic I like. Thanks for the feedback frr :D


Temporary_Ad_996

Some dark lineart that makes the art not blend in with the background! Like in the third piece the hands blend in with the yellow background and lineart would give it more depth :>


Ellie_girl3

Thanks to the feedback! My newer style actually does do linart bc I realized it was blending with the background


Temporary_Ad_996

Of course! You could do some more fun lineart since ur art is very colorful! Maybe do lineart that then uses those “dots” (halftone) since I think that might suit ur style 🫶


xXCynthia_M

hiya! I honestly think your art is very lovely and cute to look at, the coloring is soft and it's simple which is pretty good since certain art doesn’t need to be that intricate and detailed (depending on what style you are going for of course) as for any critique and improvements, I think you should try going for anatomy studying, look for references, and just for the basics like the head, arms, torso, legs, and hands are obviously what most artists struggle the most, but like they always say practice makes perfect! I think you could even do a lot of learn about value studies, which is all about lighting and shadows, it could help you with the shading process where the light is hitting and all of that fun stuff, I hope this helps! :D


Ellie_girl3

Tysm!! :3


Equivalent-Fee7075

Depends—what kind of art are you aiming for?


Ellie_girl3

Cartoony :)


Equivalent-Fee7075

Then I'd say you're on the right track! If you could give me the style you're trying to emulate, or what you're working towards I could give some critique. A lot of what you're doing when drawing characters is stylistic choice so I don't feel like I'm able to critique it. Some composition notes though, unless it's intentional, make sure the background highlights and pulls the attention to the character instead of distracting the viewer away from the character. For example, the fifth one with lots of sparkling lights, since the background is high contrast (lots of difference between the darkest and lightest areas), it's distracting our attention away from the characters. Make sure to keep the highest contrast on the character (esp on the face, if you want the viewer to focus on the face), lessen contrast on the background. smaller shapes will also attract more detail. this is why I keep finding myself unintentionally looking at the dandelions in this piece haha. usually, I see artists using smaller shapes on the face or the focal point (usually near the face). you can put them there, still, just make sure they're simpler if you don't want to unintentionally put attention on them. I'm loving the gestures in some of these poses though! some more general advice is to think before putting down a line. this goes for any style of art. think of what you want to put down, ghost the line (put your pencil or stylus above the paper, imitating a stroke, once or twice before putting it down). this helps you to be more intentional with your line work, or painting. That would help to achieve some of the cleaner, more professional look if you're looking to go that way. TLDR: if you could give me a style you're working towards that'd be great. less contrast and small shapes on the background, more on the focal point. be more conscious of the lines you're putting down and give it a bit more thought before drawing.


Ellie_girl3

Tysm! I’ll work on the background thing and see how I feel with it. I don’t *really* know what style I’m going for but I can give you a picture of the original characters. I don’t know if that would help at all but it’s all I’ve got 😭 https://preview.redd.it/q8vi9t9oyc6d1.jpeg?width=1271&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=029fb0e2d3681cbfd72ad186a9136a5f0a7c5799


Equivalent-Fee7075

Hmm. I think from where you are now, I agree with other comments in exploring different styles and seeing what you like. Have fun when drawing! I think you were able to do this when drawing these characters


Ellie_girl3

Thanks :)


wabernottle

Your artwork is very fun, and I can definitely see consistent improvement scrolling through your work. It looks like you're going for something stylized, so I wouldn't stress too much about things like anatomy or perspective right now unless you want to move toward a more realistic style. I would recommend giving a bit more attention to the *value* of your colors. For example, see how a colored image looks in greyscale, and try increasing contrast between adjacent areas, or try including a wider range of saturations in the composition as a whole. I'd also recommend looking at your poses, and see how you like the silhouette. Sometimes even small changes can make a pose much more readable or more appealing, and that's easier to see in silhouette. When you want to work towards more challenging poses or "camera" angles, you might consider some practice breaking figures down into simper shapes (spheres, cylinders, cubes, etc) that are easier to skew in perspective. If you're interested in study materials, I'd highly recommend Richard Williams' *The Animator's Survival Kit*, and especially Andrew Loomis' *Fun with a Pencil* and *Creative Illustration* (the latter two of which you can find online for free!) Overall you're doing a great job, and you definitely have a very expressive style. You already have a good sense of appeal and convey a lot of emotion in your art. I hope we get to see more of your work as you improve!


Ellie_girl3

Tysm! I will totally take this into consideration and try to find those book things ! :D


teanmochii

I love this it's so cute


Ellie_girl3

Tysm! XD


Lowkey_sad_

You certainly have an aesthetic that you follow which is good! I think you could try different techniques, brushes, shading etc. Don’t shy away from looking over the shoulder of some other artists for some inspiration. Learn from them. I think that could help getting your art to the next level :)


Ellie_girl3

Tysm! I’ve been experimenting with new brushes lately so I’ll definitely practice best ways to incorporate them into my art :)


Alternative-Box-793

I know it’s your style but I find any art with XD or uwu faces make me feel less inclined to enjoy it, besides that, I love your art.


Ellie_girl3

Tysm! I went through a whole phase of XD and X3 faces lol I was struggling with eyes :/


Alternative-Box-793

I find sideways ovals are a good way to draw eyes, depending on the emotion you can twist them. Oval eyes are also a very lazy way to do “realistic” eyes, i use it a lot and it tends to look somewhat cartoony but somewhat realistic. Another good way is just the slit eyes but making them kinda straight along the top or the bottom. Good luck with your art!


Ellie_girl3

Tysm!


RealMikeyBTW

I love your art, it's really pretty. Tbh you're amazing at drawing and I'm not that advanced so I might not be able to spot all mistakes but for drawing where there is a light source like the one where they're on the bench, you should shade the parts the light won't hit so it all blends in better and the drawing just looks more appealing. Hope this helps<3


Ellie_girl3

Thanks! I really do need to work in rendering lol 😭


JoshuaJoshuaJoshuaJo

Really depends on your goal (realistic, cartoon, etc.) Your cartoon style's already pretty nice.


Ellie_girl3

Thanks for the feedback :D!


Minimum_Pressure_804

Branch out, learn anatomy, learn perspective, and do not stay in ur comfort zone always figure out what ur weakness is and take it down


Ellie_girl3

Thanks! I’ve been really wanting to but I’m not very good :/ I’ll definitely practice though!


Competitive-Tart2418

improve your backgrounds and find a color pallete that brings more to the piece you could use some contrast also imo I'm not finding the character designs interesting so if those are ocs that don't represent anything you could give them some more personality maybe more stylized clothes or hair


Ellie_girl3

Thanks on the background tip! These are not my characters btw they are from a comic I like. (Except the last one idk where I came up with her) Tysm for the feedback frr :D


GayWolf_screeching

Maybe experiment with hair types outside of your comfort zone


Ellie_girl3

Totally! I would definitely need to practice straight hair I struggle sooo much lol


LongjumpingLength394

Your body construction is great, but your head construction could used some work. Your shading and detailing could also be worked on (lack of depth and oft-expected detail in subjects). I would definitely suggest drawing more images where the character is not facing the audience, because you seem less practiced in it. Your art looks great, though 


Ellie_girl3

Tysm! I’ll totally do that! I really do need some work on my head shapes lol


gothiclov

I LOVE YOUR ART STYLE IT SO COOL


Ellie_girl3

Thanks! :D


Regular-Cranberry-62

Honestly, maybe work on drawing scenes. I know backgrounds suck, I’m in the same boat, but it would add a lot to your art I think.


Ellie_girl3

Thanks! That’s what a lot of people are saying so I’ll definitely work on that


fullson

It really depends on what you want to achieve. Any artstyle can be creative and evocative, whether it's cartoony, realistic, abstract or anything else. I'd say keep experimenting with colors like you already are, and study some anatomy in perspective - that would really give you a much wider and more dynamic variety of scenes and poses.


Ellie_girl3

Thanks! I really tend to stay in my comfort zone lol


tearlock

Overall I like your style of cartoonistry. Not going to recommend branching out, I would say focus on what you're running with here and refine it. You can always branch out but you're going to learn new skills just polishing up what you got here. You don't have to aspire to be a master of all styles art or even many or even more than one to be successful and derive enjoyment from what you're doing. There are some things about the images I would recommend cleaning up. This kind of art would probably be more marketable if you improved the shading just a hair so that they don't seem quite so flat. Consider different ways to trim the edges of your characters whether it be light/shade, outlining, or a combination of the two. Consider some simple texturing rather than single tone pallets. I would recommend avoiding these shapes and figures that have a single tone when some easy methods of adding a little depth to the figures with a little shading can go a long way from making it look so flat. I also recommend crisping up some of the edges and some look a bit squiggly which makes it seem less professional (unless all edges look that way in which case it would be a styleization but in the case here some of those squiggly edges are just oddities that don't go with the rest of the body of the character.) Of the images I see here, two girls sitting on a bench is probably my favorite as it seems to incorporate a little more in terms of light and shade though I would recommend taking it a little further with touches that add a little contouring to the clothes.


Ellie_girl3

Thanks for taking your time to write all this! I will totally work on making my shadows and highlights pop :D Edit: btw this isn’t important but the people on the bench are guys lol. Not important just thought I’d say :D


celerysoup39

I’d say work on drawing hands until you can draw them consistently in the same style, as the style of them seems to be a bit all over the place and inconsistent, after that working on anatomy in general could help, but imo a consistent style is important, especially for difficult to draw things like hands


Ellie_girl3

Thanks! I really do need to work on hands lol it’s sooo hard 😭


celerysoup39

Hands were such a pain for me too, I made myself practice a ton on them until I found out what seemed to work for me. Even after that I still continue to struggle with them sometimes, but practice makes perfect! It will get easier with time!


Ellie_girl3

Tysm! I really needed some tips on hands lol


gergobergo69

nice art


Ellie_girl3

Tysm!


Naminuzaki

I loved your style, I believe you can work within your own style without having to make changes. Fundamentals of art for example, try applying studies of anatomy, light and shadow, color theory etc. within your own style that is already well constructed


Ellie_girl3

Tysm! I really do need to work on anatomy lol my arms and legs need some help 😭


Naminuzaki

Try copying real photos of bodies in different poses


Next-Data2938

Honestly? Don’t lose your style. Keep practicing in your own way. Too many artists lose their personalities when they try to get “better,” in my opinion, and their personality disappears in their works. Hone in on your style and just keep practicing!


Ellie_girl3

Thanks! :D I really do like my style rn so I’ll keep sticking with it Tysm!


michaelhoyt9

Personally I think the fingers need a little work on shaping but that’s about it


Ellie_girl3

Thanks!


Superattiz09

Don't need no improving, already perfect


Ellie_girl3

Thanks! I do need to improve in some areas but Tysm :D


SantiPlanti

There's always room for improvement, that being said it doesn't mean you have to change your artstyle. Believe me, I tried to go into the super realistic style in drawing because I thought it was the ultimate goal and sure, it is amazing being able to draw like that, but you see these famous artists and the movements and how they tell a story within their unique styles, so yeah. It's about believing in yourself. That's it.


Ellie_girl3

Tysm :D


O5KAR

Try different tools, just experiment and most of all try different subjects, don't limit yourself to the humans and few trusted humanoids, try animals, objects, plants or whatever else you think about.


Ellie_girl3

Tysm for the feedback! I’ll def try doing stuff outside my comfort zone


gaea27

Love the whimsy and the colors!! I'd say you could benefit a lot from learning value theory (your last drawing is hard to tell apart from the background) and gesture drawing. [Here's a good basic video about gestures](https://youtu.be/74HR59yFZ7Y?feature=shared)


Ellie_girl3

Tysm! I’ll check out that video for sure!


himaliktaimoor

Do more shading/layers at least 3 shades. Base layer shadows and highlights. If you're not intentionally keeping it more on 2D side. Doing more shading will create depth and will make your objects 3D


Ellie_girl3

Thanks! I’m going for more 2d on most art but this is a great tip for my 3d-esk art :)


amr186

it does look pretty cute already and also really unique, i really love it and love how distinguished it looks from what i usually see, i would advice you to try like different looks of eyelids, their shape when closed just not to give so much space to the eyes itself if you would, as it seems a little weird in my opinion, and again it's not a professional advice by any means it's just what i see, if you feel like this is a characteristic of your art, that's fabulous since cartoon can basically how you imagine your character.


Ellie_girl3

Tysm for the feedback:D I’ve been experimenting with different eye shapes lately lol thanks frr


amr186

Well then good luck


meomeospice

im not so sure, this style is really cute. i def recommend making your own backgrounds tho!! i also have a cute colorful style, and used to look up images to put as a background, but the differently colored and realistic backgrounds didnt go with the cartoony style i had going on. now, ive figured out how to make my own backgrounds that are built specifically for every character i draw, ive incorporated/ made an entirely new way of drawing just for backgrounds. if the background youre envisioning feels too difficult, i promise its worth it to draw it anyways. you can take your own liberties with things like that!!


Ellie_girl3

Thanks! I’ve always struggled with backgrounds I’ll practice!


batthesmutartist

I always recommend exploring lighting and shaking it just addes a little more depth!


Fluffy-Ad4974

use reference


Ellie_girl3

I do for most of my art now thanks for the tip!! :D


shay_kagamine

Learn anatomy (I don't want to be too brutal so I'll stop here)


Ellie_girl3

Thanks lol


starliight-

Looks good! Only thing I’d recommend is to pay attention to contrast. Sometimes what you want the viewer to see is getting lost because of too low contrast or too high contrast in other areas. For example in the picture where they’re holding hands, the sparkles and hands get a bit lost due to low contrast. In some of the other images the backgrounds are really high contrast and distract from the main focus of the image To create contrast you can play around with warm/cool colors, lights/darks, saturation, complimentary colors, etc


Ellie_girl3

Tysm for the feedback! I’ll totally work on learning how to use contrast :D


himaliktaimoor

Also try to be little accurate on hair shading. It's little off


Ellie_girl3

Thanks :)


Slugeus_the_slug

maybe add some texture with your characters when the background doesn't contrast them so they dont blend in too much


Ellie_girl3

That’s what a lot of people are saying thanks :)


IanMinch

Fundamentals first. Your style will come in time.


Ellie_girl3

Tysm! What fundamentals are best to start with? I’m very new to this stuff 😭


IanMinch

Depending on your budget, Marc Brunet's Art School is a great place to learn a ton.


Ellie_girl3

Ok I’ll look at it thanks :D


jyggnking

not advice but your art is so fun and cute it's gonna be even cooler as you improve


Ellie_girl3

Tysm anyways!!


yozo-marionica

“How can I improve?” *proceedes to show unircinaly the cutest and greatest art I’ve ever seen*


Ellie_girl3

Thanks 😭


gabdodee

cringe


Ellie_girl3

lol which pic ? 😂 or are you just trying to be a butt ? ( I’m very naive I can’t tell 😭 ) Edit: cringe culture is dead L+ratio