***Critique*** Give me 3 things to improve my art.
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Hey guys, just wanted some critiques on my art in general and maybe some tips on how to improve.
I've ripped some images from my Instagram for you to check out. Any critiques or tips would be appreciatedThanks in advance.
If you would like to see more here's my Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tonybarberartist/
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I love the format of “giving you three things to improve”! That makes it definitely easier to give a critique.
I know from your other posts that you like stylized comic art with strong contrast (Mike Mignola - type) and would love to do posters (I’m assuming posters for events and advertisement and that kind of stuff? Or print and sell your own posters?).
What works: I think your line-work is very expressive, color choices are good and the flat shading technique is in a good shape.The first thing I would work on is adding backgrounds. I think doing just isolated figures is going to be your biggest limitation going forward: whether you want to do comics or any other type of commercial art which is not concept art. If you want to take a step further, you could start studying and applying display typography, so you can really position yourself as a poster artist.
The second thing I would work on is your “problem spots”. Looking at your instagram channel, there are a few things you avoid drawing: hands are almost always hidden or blurred (which is quite typical) and human figures are underrepresented in your “final” illustrations (though you have a lot of studies - way to go!). Talking as AD now, this is one of the first thing I judge in a portfolio: how does this artist draw humans, particularly faces and hands. It´s also the one thing I look at to judge if the style of the artist is suitable for the project I have. After scoring through hundreds of artists` portfolios, this is probably my biggest flag (in the positive and the negative). It doesn’t mean that the humans need to be realistic - a successful and expressive stylization can be even more effective for many things.
You have some little issues with volumes and shapes here and there: for example the ellipses on the banana, the perspective of the peel and the position of the mouth and teeth are a little off. The blue figure anatomy is slightly skewed, the tongue on the blue figure looks weird, etc...These things probably just correct themselves the more you draw.A third thing I would think about is your subject matter. It doesn’t look very cohesive and I’m not sure, at first sight, what you actually like drawing. If your aim is poster art, you could look at posters you like (there are also books that collect successful or award-winning posters) and see what kind of images work. Or you could give yourself a fake but realistic assignment of coming up with a poster for an event, organization or concert.
I’m not sure this is the kind of “things to improve” you were looking for, but more and more I’m thinking that just looking at technique and fundamentals is sometimes not the most helpful input. Advice that has helped me most in the past has been about content and direction - so offering the same here
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Thank you so much for your detailed, honest opinions and advice I'm glad you looked at my old posts to match up what I want as an artist vs. what I have been creating.
I have a lot to think about and to work on! This excites me as I have some direction moving forward.
Cheers.
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My three advices are:
one- This is not a sprint, is a marathon. Constance and focus are the most important. Continue working every day, finish one piece and go to the next. Work every day, learn every day, acquire good habits like watching every day a tutorial.
two- Have a "Big Plan" A direction, patterns. In your work, in your learning, etc. Make consistents body of work, all related, not loose ones. Have a purpose, finish projects and have something to show better than independent not related drawings.
And little ones two, like "this month I'm not going to use green color". See what happens, learned.three- You have to have fun. Every day you have to wake up in the morning eager and excited to work on your projects. If you don't feel that, make changes and don't stop until you start having fun every second that you are working on your art.
and four, extra one- Exercise every day, learning to dance can be a fantastic way of exercising and learning a lot of thing about your body at the same time, I always recommend it. Eat healthy and drink at least a litre of water every day. Do 20 minutes of meditation every day.
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@zombie-rhythm
Great advice! Thank you for taking the time!