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a bit.. unusual.
texture on the wall done by http://nes1973.deviantart.com
(Not rat. Look at the second shadow on the wall. :))
texture on the wall done by http://nes1973.deviantart.com
(Not rat. Look at the second shadow on the wall. :))
Category Artwork (Digital) / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 510 x 569px
File Size 34.2 kB
Okey-doke.
First of all, the texturing in this piece, even if it is not entirely your own, is well-chosen to establish a feel of depth and a rather hardscrabble, unrefined sense to the room or building that fits well with the somewhat rough emotion of the character. This is complemented by the lighting and shadow work, particularly the shadow of a tree or roof-support on the wall to the right of the shadow of the character, and the shadow of scaffolding or shelving in the deeper purple recesses through the open door. The 'near' shadows (doorframe against wall, character against wall) are notably sharper than the more distant shadow of the tree or column with its blurry edges, which enhances the sense of depth and world beyond the frame of the picture.
The color palette is richly chosen, with the purple balancing out the yellow horizontally and the yellow of the eyes being picked out by the brightest yellow on the wall. It pulls the eye to the highlight spots and feels warm without being gaudy or abrupt.
Things I would change if I felt the piece needed revisiting:
The eye feels almost flat, I would shade it slightly to add some sense of roundness to it, and I would enunciate the pupil a little bit more, widening it to make it more apparent.
The shadow placement tells me that the sun or some other yellow light source is coming down on the character at a 45 degree angle from the upper left. As such, I would expect brighter highlights on the chest and leftmost shoulder strap of the apron. As it stands the brightest highlights on the apron are from thigh to calf on that side.
I would use highlight and shadow to push the fact that the thumbs are hooked into the apron, which would stretch it and cause a sharp pull from the shoulder straps that isn't evident here...What you have is 'adequate' in that the mind fills in the blanks, but with the exemplary light-shadow elsewhere I feel these are weak.
Similarly, the shadow of the cap-bill and of the goggles on the cap feel weak in comparison to the depth of other shadows, particularly between the cap-bill and the ear.
The character seems to be a rat. With the level of detail you have put in on the rightmost hand and on the ear, I would expect to see a bit more detail of the tendons and knuckles of the feet. As it stands they feel somewhat flat to my eye and lack anatomy.
The tail is similarly flat and lacking in depth or anatomy, and seems to have a mis-stroke of the yellow wall-surface 'biting' a chunk out of the tail on the far rightmost point of the tail.
The fall of the apron on the far left of the figure suggests a 'normal' biped leg arrangement with plantigrade feet (not 'jack-legged') but the visible right leg suggests exactly the opposite. At least on my monitor the shadowing on the visible right leg is too muddy to define the anatomy well. If it is digigrade there needs to be more deep shadowing below the knee to the ankle and shank of the foot, and the shadow beneath the arch of both feet needs to be deepened to show departure from the floor. If it is not digigrade then the outward sweep of the 'knee' on the right leg needs to be corrected and the anatomy of the calf fixed. If the bulge there is meant to be baggy pants (another option) then the color needs to be differentiated enough from the rat's upper body that it is apparent as fabric.
There is a bright, bright hot spot on the facing edge of the leftmost board of the platform or stoup the rat is standing on. The spot is almost rectangular and feels very artificial in the picture. It isn't blended and doesn't match the tones of the ends of the other boards.
The dark, vertically scored surface at the far lower-right, beneath the yellow wall with the shadows on it, seems to go vertical _below_ where we would imagine the wall meeting the ground if the rat were standing on the 'porch' of a one-story building. It suggests a cliff-face, and its diagonal meet with the yellow wall creates a break in the 'expected' perspective of the piece based on the floor visible within the doorway. There is also no clear shadow line or highlight line where it meets the yellow wall surface as one might expect where two surfaces meet. If the yellow is stucco overlapping this base, there'd be a chipped line with a strong, sharp, narrow shadow. If they are two different surfaces then there should be a strong highlight where one overlaps the other. Instead the interface between them is sharp in the lower left and blurred and muddled in the upper right. It makes it unclear what is where and how the perspective really works. If you feel that the dark shadow there must necessarily be at a diagonal to match theother diagonals of light and shadow in the center and upper right of the image (which I do think it strengthens) then do something to 'anchor' that surface to or behind or infront of the yellow wall, and create some sort of perspective break to reinforce the 'ground' level.
Emotionally, the character is unclear...But I think this is to the better in this piece. He is NOT easily read. He is NOT going on about something obvious. There is an air here of strength and tenacity, I would even say of stubbornness and resoluteness. We do not know if this character has seen something displeasing in the setting (?) sun, if the sunset is reinforcing some unpleasant deadline, or if the character is just that sort of tough, determined sort to be glaring at an otherwise pretty sunset with a sort of 'damned right I got through another day.' grumpy triumph.
ANY of these interpretations works with the expression here, both of the figure and imposed by the warm and extreme light and shadow and the rough and tumble look of the background. Any of these interpretations beats all hell out of the usual happy, gleeful or erotic, glassy-eyed subject expressions that make up better than fifty percent of furry art.
This is a kickass piece. There is clearly something going on outside of the frame. There is a world outside of the frame, and the character chooses to focus on that world, not stare out at the viewer and break the fifth wall. While I have gone on at length about little nitpicky details, the overall impression the piece leaves is still that of a strong character in a rough setting with a story to be told.
First of all, the texturing in this piece, even if it is not entirely your own, is well-chosen to establish a feel of depth and a rather hardscrabble, unrefined sense to the room or building that fits well with the somewhat rough emotion of the character. This is complemented by the lighting and shadow work, particularly the shadow of a tree or roof-support on the wall to the right of the shadow of the character, and the shadow of scaffolding or shelving in the deeper purple recesses through the open door. The 'near' shadows (doorframe against wall, character against wall) are notably sharper than the more distant shadow of the tree or column with its blurry edges, which enhances the sense of depth and world beyond the frame of the picture.
The color palette is richly chosen, with the purple balancing out the yellow horizontally and the yellow of the eyes being picked out by the brightest yellow on the wall. It pulls the eye to the highlight spots and feels warm without being gaudy or abrupt.
Things I would change if I felt the piece needed revisiting:
The eye feels almost flat, I would shade it slightly to add some sense of roundness to it, and I would enunciate the pupil a little bit more, widening it to make it more apparent.
The shadow placement tells me that the sun or some other yellow light source is coming down on the character at a 45 degree angle from the upper left. As such, I would expect brighter highlights on the chest and leftmost shoulder strap of the apron. As it stands the brightest highlights on the apron are from thigh to calf on that side.
I would use highlight and shadow to push the fact that the thumbs are hooked into the apron, which would stretch it and cause a sharp pull from the shoulder straps that isn't evident here...What you have is 'adequate' in that the mind fills in the blanks, but with the exemplary light-shadow elsewhere I feel these are weak.
Similarly, the shadow of the cap-bill and of the goggles on the cap feel weak in comparison to the depth of other shadows, particularly between the cap-bill and the ear.
The character seems to be a rat. With the level of detail you have put in on the rightmost hand and on the ear, I would expect to see a bit more detail of the tendons and knuckles of the feet. As it stands they feel somewhat flat to my eye and lack anatomy.
The tail is similarly flat and lacking in depth or anatomy, and seems to have a mis-stroke of the yellow wall-surface 'biting' a chunk out of the tail on the far rightmost point of the tail.
The fall of the apron on the far left of the figure suggests a 'normal' biped leg arrangement with plantigrade feet (not 'jack-legged') but the visible right leg suggests exactly the opposite. At least on my monitor the shadowing on the visible right leg is too muddy to define the anatomy well. If it is digigrade there needs to be more deep shadowing below the knee to the ankle and shank of the foot, and the shadow beneath the arch of both feet needs to be deepened to show departure from the floor. If it is not digigrade then the outward sweep of the 'knee' on the right leg needs to be corrected and the anatomy of the calf fixed. If the bulge there is meant to be baggy pants (another option) then the color needs to be differentiated enough from the rat's upper body that it is apparent as fabric.
There is a bright, bright hot spot on the facing edge of the leftmost board of the platform or stoup the rat is standing on. The spot is almost rectangular and feels very artificial in the picture. It isn't blended and doesn't match the tones of the ends of the other boards.
The dark, vertically scored surface at the far lower-right, beneath the yellow wall with the shadows on it, seems to go vertical _below_ where we would imagine the wall meeting the ground if the rat were standing on the 'porch' of a one-story building. It suggests a cliff-face, and its diagonal meet with the yellow wall creates a break in the 'expected' perspective of the piece based on the floor visible within the doorway. There is also no clear shadow line or highlight line where it meets the yellow wall surface as one might expect where two surfaces meet. If the yellow is stucco overlapping this base, there'd be a chipped line with a strong, sharp, narrow shadow. If they are two different surfaces then there should be a strong highlight where one overlaps the other. Instead the interface between them is sharp in the lower left and blurred and muddled in the upper right. It makes it unclear what is where and how the perspective really works. If you feel that the dark shadow there must necessarily be at a diagonal to match theother diagonals of light and shadow in the center and upper right of the image (which I do think it strengthens) then do something to 'anchor' that surface to or behind or infront of the yellow wall, and create some sort of perspective break to reinforce the 'ground' level.
Emotionally, the character is unclear...But I think this is to the better in this piece. He is NOT easily read. He is NOT going on about something obvious. There is an air here of strength and tenacity, I would even say of stubbornness and resoluteness. We do not know if this character has seen something displeasing in the setting (?) sun, if the sunset is reinforcing some unpleasant deadline, or if the character is just that sort of tough, determined sort to be glaring at an otherwise pretty sunset with a sort of 'damned right I got through another day.' grumpy triumph.
ANY of these interpretations works with the expression here, both of the figure and imposed by the warm and extreme light and shadow and the rough and tumble look of the background. Any of these interpretations beats all hell out of the usual happy, gleeful or erotic, glassy-eyed subject expressions that make up better than fifty percent of furry art.
This is a kickass piece. There is clearly something going on outside of the frame. There is a world outside of the frame, and the character chooses to focus on that world, not stare out at the viewer and break the fifth wall. While I have gone on at length about little nitpicky details, the overall impression the piece leaves is still that of a strong character in a rough setting with a story to be told.
You show me two types of weak places in picture - because of my laziness and because of anatomy ignorance. At least, I should not hurry to finish a drawing. :)
I must thank you. You did a whole article and it was useful, and much..incentive too. :))
p.s. And sorry, if I was too short.. Can't talk much.
I must thank you. You did a whole article and it was useful, and much..incentive too. :))
p.s. And sorry, if I was too short.. Can't talk much.
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