I'm getting ready for work & don't have much time but wanted to upload some little drawings that I did over the weekend. Please feel free to offer any kind of constructive criticism. The fig & kiwi are small drawings that are almost doodles. The flower is something I struggled with so feel especially free to offer suggestions for it.

J

your shading is spot on im my opinion great work

I don't think you needed to name them i could tell what they were straight away. Great renditions, and the Hibiscus is perfect, my only comment would be you tend to do the same as i do with drawings. That is not add enough definition, to give the effect of light contrast it with dark. I am forever leaving things light and fluffy by not using a deeper shadow. That said, they are still great drawings and i would be proud had i done them.
RJS

My comments are posted accordingly! Check your Gallery.

Thanks for the encouragement, it does mean a lot.

RJS, your comments about the lack of contrast are exactly the sort of critique I meant when I posted in your Thank You thread.

I realize that art is very subjective, but there are certain "rules" that apply to nearly every medium such as the light against dark/contrast rule.

Back to that. I am guilty of that in drawing & had a difficult time overcoming it in my painting. I think that's the mark of a tentative, unsure artist, don't you? While I'm aware of it, it's still difficult to make what seems to be harsh-looking shading on such a delicate subject! Will we ever find the perfect balance? Right now I seem to teeter from one extreme to the other & go too light sometimes & too harsh and dark at others!

I know - practice, practice, practice! All the comments here are invaluable to help know when that right balance (in every aspect) has been achieved!

Thanks again, everyone!

J

The first thing that my art tutor said when i showed him my sleepless painting was " this could be so much better had i gone darker in the shadows, thus making the lights lighter!
Maybe one day i'll get it right.
RJS

J-Lynn... I haven't viewed the images yet, but I will...and comment. In the future for something like this....start a thread as you did, but go ahead and post the image/images here in the thread also. Since you are asking for a direct critique, and ideas for improvement, it would be best viewed right here

You are right on the money. A lack of darks is a "mark" of someone not yet comfortable with rendering. Once the artist learns to "push the darks" the work really improves DRASTICALLY, and in all honesty is the one thing I, (and others) tell newer artists more than anything else. Try practicing your value scale....1 to 10. If your drawings don't go past 6 or 7 they will never have "life" to them.


Ray