GI Joe art contest help

[Staf]

Just wondering if somebody out there would care to review my GI Joe art work and give me some constructive criticism. It's on page 3 of the GI Joe art contest, or search under my user name "Staf". The name of the piece is "Arena of Death" (maybe I need some help on thinking up an original title also(JK)). Anyway, I like my pic but it's not near as polished and professional looking as the winners. Anybody that could give me help in figures, inking (especially adding black areas), composition advice, etc.
I'd be glad to return the favor and review one of your pieces to the best of my ability if you'd like also.
Thanks,
Staf

[Marrow2000]

I think your anatomy is okay, and your muscle anatomy is pretty good (though I don't know about the kneeling guy's deltiods...)

The only thing that looks like you need to work on (aside from lots of practice) is perspective and line work. The standing man's leg doesn't look right, and the room is also out of perspective. Your line work just seems like you haven't been properly exposed to inking work. Try some books on inking. How old r u?

[Staf]

I'm 30. I used to draw a lot as a kid and through HS, but recently starting picking up pencils and took a couple CC art classes (drawing and painting) in the last 2 years.
I hear you on the perspective. I've been working on it, buy it's a difficult process and I don't seem to have a good eye to catch my own mistakes yet. I see now that the leg that is kneeling looks like it should be on a floor that is more 'flat' to the eye. Whereas the feet of the standing guy look like they might be at least close to OK. There are a few other problems I see in the background too.
Away from the topic of perspective, my floor and wall surrounding the the combatants has no real depth or substance. Any suggestions on how to make this look good without taking attention away from the central figures?
I don't have much pen/ink experience at all, as you were easily able to tell by my line work. Can you suggest a good book?

Thank a lot.

[fhqwhgads]

I will add some points, as looking back on my artwork I too think, "Ur, well, maybe next time I'll do THAT differently!"

I think that if your composition were changed it would make a huge difference in the work. There are a lot of little black and white spaces, which all end up blending into each other. Destro's face, for example, would come forward a lot more if the background behind his helmet was all black (or all white, but black is more dramatic). There need to be larger spaces that are all one shade or tone so that from a distance (or first glance) there is a balance to the black and white parts which you notice about a picture before taking in any of the details about it.

I don't think that the background needs a lot of shading, but again, different tones would help here (the wall all grey, i.e.). It doesn't really need as much detail as you've put in, though. It's nice to recognize the Baroness in the audience, but it has to be done with as little detail as possible. Note that the winners of the cover contest had virtually no backgounds (I'm considering the Cobra Commander poster to be part of the foreground) and that there was a lot of contrast, large spaces that were all black or all white.

Try doing your drawings first in a quick study of shades- do a quick outline of the characters and background elements, but don't put in any detail. Decide what tone each part is going to be; shade each part and re-work it until it seems to balance just looking like a bunch of black, white, and grey blobs on the paper. Then you know it will look okay later too.

I didn't notice too many half-tones in the drawing- no greys or cross hatching or whatever. Although sometimes it can lessen the dramatic impact of the picture, the greys, if used sparingly, can make the forms a lot more realistic. It's tough, because if you look around you (or take any photo and print it in greyscale) there are hardly ANY fully black or fully white shades in the real world. Yet to make a picture look like more than a smudgy mess, it's a good idea to use greys only sparingly. It's this balance that takes a lot of time and experience to pick up on.
A pretty good book is "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" but probably if you've taken classes, that's the book that was used. It concentrates on teaching adults who have not had a lot of art instruction (you'll find most books are geared toward younger students). It has a lot of really good short exercises for developing an eye for drawing.

Hope this helps. Keep it up.

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"They'll be all up ons!"

[Staf]

Thanks a lot for all of your help. It gives me a lot of things to think about and practice. I draw pretty much daily but probably spend a lot of time practicing bad habits. Your ideas give me exercises to improve and items to keep in mind in every drawing
And I'll buy 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain', my CC drawing class didn't require any texts so I've never used this book, but I've seen it in the book store.

Thanks