Sketch Advice, please!

[Wendy Plybon]

Hi all! Looking for a little helpful criticism. I'm liking the idea of this sketch but the drawing feels a little off. Any suggestions?

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

Hi, Wendy! I like your sketch. I like your dog. I love his pose. I like the fountain. I have two issues I want to point out/ advise on:
1- the boy's face you can make him look upwards with an annoyed look for more of a dramatic effect.
2. The boy's rump- perhaps you can shrink it down a little. It seems a bit too big. You can make the dog stand more on the boy's back instead.
That's all I can see. Happy drawing!

[rcartwright]

I like the idea but I think the drawing would have more energy if the boy was actually being squished in the pose so you felt the weight of the dog

[smceccarelli]

Hi, very fun idea!
I think you could decide on an emotional tone and convey it better in the poses and expression. Is the boy helping the dog to drink? Then he should look happy and look at the dog with a friendly expression. Is the dog taking advantage of him? Then he should look much more uncomfortable and annoyed. At the moment it’s a neutral setup, it could be either way. One of my teacher used to say that the moment you have two characters you have an emotional relationship to manage.
The poses feel a bit stiff and unnatural, especially the boy. To hold the weight of the dog he would probably stretch his arms, or put a knee on the pavement. The backside feel too stretched out. Try to avoid having both limbs (and dog legs on both sides) in exactly the same position and pose - it´sa sure recipe for a stiff pose
Maybe you could act it out with something of equal weight and take some pics as a reference ;-))