Someone conviinced me to draw today

[Holic]

And i did.
I rarely draw, especially as of late. So my hand has become a little less steady. And I used a sharpie marker. Probably not the best drawing tool for me because I had to cover up whatever mistakes I made with forced shadows or lines. Im used to mech pencil. So, witness...
Oh, and I spent quite a bit more time on the first one.
The second one was just to slightly alter my style a bit.
The third one was just me trying to draw 2 eyes on the same face without messing up.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/muse_ic1021/scan0004.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/muse_ic1021/scan0005.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/muse_ic1021/scan0006.jpg

But let me know your HONEST thoughts please. No bullshit cause that doesnt help.

Edit: My bad, forgot to post the pix. They'll be up in a minute

 

[eisprinz]

Here's a heap of crit, for ya. Take it all with a grain of salt.


1st Drawing

Pros
Hand - not too bad, gets proportions right, somewhat detailed
Hair - plausible shape and size, somewhat consistent shading
Background - rhythmic, but not interfering. Quite effective.
Expression - it gets some emotion across

Cons
Hand - even though you've done an okay job, the hand is the second most psychologically complex piece of anatomy in art (the face is number one), so it needs attention: knuckles would be a good addition, though I understand that kind of subtlety is had with a Sharpie. One point that is easily fixable is the bump in the wrist that signifies the end of the radius.
Eye - for such an important focal point, the eye in this pic offers little drama. Advice: add more contrast between darks and lights, specifically where the shinies are. And make sure the pupil is black.
Hair - one half of the hair is consistently scribbly, which is fine. The other half is more realistic. Either one works, depending on your style, but consistency with one or the other is wanting.
Shoulder - her right shoulder (left of the pic) is very short and very jagged. It needs to be more rounded, and not come so soon. It's upward angle also does not correspond with the other shoulder.

2nd Drawing

Pros
Eye - very lavish, definitely the focal point
Structure - The large U shape made by the arms and shoulders frames the picture and lets the eye travel around the face, continually being brought back to the center by the eye
Anatomy - the placement of the shoulders and arms is plausible. The addition of the clavicles and the dip between them is a nice touch, but a bit hard to see with all the other miscellaneous lines

Cons
Emptiness - aside from the eye, there is nothing of note on the face. There is no indication of a nose or lips underneath the mask, which could have been indicated by a shadow pattern.
Eyebrow - it extends off the side of the face. It ought to curve around the skull, if it's really that long
Hair - by showing background behind the head, it indicates that there is no long hair in the back, or that it is otherwise pulled aside. As the character has long hair on the sides and front, I'd assume the hair in back ought to be long as well. It's also very thin on top, so I'd add more volume by the crown.
Clothes - the sleeves should droop down, with the fabric bunching up above the shoulders and sagging (or stretching, depending) underneath the armpits. The lines on the cloth look like wrinkles rather than folds.

Ambiguous - the use of text in art is disputed. I don't see the immediate relevance to the work, so it seems unnecessary, but questioning the connection between the work and the word adds another psychological aspect.

3rd Drawing

Pros
Background - the angle of the shading as well as the quality of the line adds a dynamic that contributes to the expression the character is making.
Face - the curves on the side of his face are not lost on me - they add some subtlety, though the subtlety is counteracted by the line quality.
Expression - the meaning and emotion is fairly strong

Cons
Hair - the place where you connect the two sections of shading in his hair is very apparent. Draw from crown to tip to avoid having to make messy joins.
Eyes - not quite lined up correctly, nor is the shape right. It's a nitpicky, but definitely not trivial detail to have the eyes quite right. It's easy to let things slide if a mouth is kinda wonky, but with eyes, it's easy to spot a problem right away. Also, his right eye (left of pic) is freaky because the pupil is not centered.
Anatomy - since I'm pretty sure that this is a guy, he should have at least a hint of an Adam's apple

Overall
Pros
You seem to have a generally good instinct on facial geography. While the features are a bit off here and there, they're, at the very least, plausible.
The emotion of the characters and psychological intent of the pics is generally pretty clear. There's not too much uncertainty on what they're "about."
While shadows are absent in some places, in other places, they are decently rendered, considering the harshness of black and white.
Cons
The line quality is poor. It can be made more consistent with some patience, as well as a honed instinct (but of course that comes with more practice). Smoother lines could also have been achieved by ghosting over a planned line a few times before making it.
Generally, the shading could've been much neater, if done in more regulated crosshatch patterns or even more anal, stippling.


Hope that helps...

 

[Shenorai]

First one: Looks pretty good. There are a few things I could point out, though. The nose and mouth seem just a tad low, at least in my eyes. Also, she should be resting on the heel of her palm. Look here for reference: Looking out the window...

Second one: There is still the nose to consider when drawing the mask. The top bugs me too, but I won't go into female anatomy.

Third one: Not a bad attempt at the eyes. Just makes me wonder what he's glaring at. ;

All in all, this was pretty good for a sharpie drawing. And eisprinz, you should go and take a look at some of my artwork, too. I could use the criticism.

 

[Holic]

Awesome. True helpful C+C. I knew I could count on some people being completely honest.

This will probably all come off as excuses, well they are, but I'm going to tell you what happened during the situations you pointed out.

I suck at hands. There, I said it. Anyways, I was really scared of drawing the hand. I usually only focus on faces so adding this new element was risky for me. Especially permeantly when I was pretty much done. I didn't want to make it look really weird so I just left it alone for the most part. I didnt want anyone to really focus on it but it couldnt be helped.

Hair: yea, I couldn't decide what I wanted to do in the first one. I wasnt sure how the hair would react to the hand in the first pic. In the 2nd one, I didn't even really notice. Thanks for pointing that out. The third pic, I do start out really low when I start drawing strands. Its a bad habit.

Eyes: I always start with the eyes. I usually have no idea what Im going to draw, but I always start with them. I then sculpt the rest of the drawing around it. The eye in the first one is kinda boring, so I decided to draw her disinterest. I guess I didnt quite communicate that. The 2nd one was shock. So I tried to imagine a situation where she'd be shocked. That's why her hands are up. The 3rd one was literally just a test. Im afraid of drawing 2 eyes on the same face because they always end up different. Thats why the pupils are off. Its why I tend to cover them up.

Other: I didnt really know what to do with the shoulder. Im not really familiar with that position so i tried my best to just freehand it without a clue. About the mask on the 2nd pick. That whole thing is just a curtain to hide a huge mistake I made right after I did some of the hair and the eye. Do you see the really dark line that goes through the collar from right to left. That was part of her face outline and chin. I really made the head too big. SO the mouth and nose got offcenter and I had to cover them up. Thats why the mask is really dark on the left to cover up where the mouth and nose used to be. 3rd drawing, Adam's apple my bad.


Shen: he's glaring at YOUSSSS

Thanks for all the critique. Im sure with this advice and some practice, I can do better! ^__^

 

[eisprinz]

Awesome. True helpful C+C. I knew I could count on some people being completely honest.

It's nice to see someone who isn't afraid of crit.

I suck at hands.

Trust me, you're still much better than a lot of people.

I usually only focus on faces so adding this new element was risky for me.

Art is about taking risks. And it's a good thing you did - it gives you good practice.

Hair: yea, I couldn't decide what I wanted to do in the first one.

Planning is always nice. But I can understand your spontaneity, since it seems it was a sketch after all.

In the 2nd one, I didn't even really notice. Thanks for pointing that out.

NP. I used to do it, too.

The third pic, I do start out really low when I start drawing strands. Its a bad habit.

The fact that you recognize it is good.

Eyes: I always start with the eyes. I usually have no idea what Im going to draw, but I always start with them. I then sculpt the rest of the drawing around it.

This is how the majority of people start out. But it's also sort of a bad habit. It can often lead to strange placement on the page, as well as lots of empty or strangely filled spaces.

Learning to plan and construct is worth it. Making the structure of the drawing (at the very least planning out what you want, and where you want it, if not a fully skeleton) is a skill that shouldn't be skipped. At first it'll seem really labored, and will often turn out worse than when you drew starting from the eyes.

But once you get used to it (it took a WHIIILE for me to start doing it), it really helps you finish faster and better.

The eye in the first one is kinda boring, so I decided to draw her disinterest. I guess I didnt quite communicate that.

Even though it's meant to be "boring", you still cite the eye as the focal point. It still needs to pop a bit more - the character is bored, but the viewer shouldn't be!

The 3rd one was literally just a test. Im afraid of drawing 2 eyes on the same face because they always end up different. Thats why the pupils are off. Its why I tend to cover them up.

Again, experimenting and trying is a big part of art. And 99% of it is gonna be wrong. So feel free to keep "testing" different and newer things. It's a good stretch.

Other: I didnt really know what to do with the shoulder. Im not really familiar with that position so i tried my best to just freehand it without a clue.

I'm lucky to have a full-length mirror in my house. If you have a large mirror - or a friend to pose for you - take advantage of it. Live models (even if it's just yourself in the mirror) help a great amount.

About the mask on the 2nd pick. That whole thing is just a curtain to hide a huge mistake I made right after I did some of the hair and the eye. Do you see the really dark line that goes through the collar from right to left. That was part of her face outline and chin. I really made the head too big. SO the mouth and nose got off center and I had to cover them up. Thats why the mask is really dark on the left to cover up where the mouth and nose used to be.

Gotcha. Yeah, it's the woe of using a permanent medium. I wouldn't have guessed that you had messed up, but it makes a lot of sense. And if you'd created shadowing and texture to it, it would've been flawlessly integrated.

3rd drawing, Adam's apple my bad.

No prob. Some people omit them, but this drawing seemed like it called for one, at least to me.

Glad you take concrit well. Post more - it's fun to see growth.