[ButterflyChaser]

I'm not satisfied with how it turned out. It didn't go so great in the beginner's forum either. It pretty much just crashed. Anyways I'm looking for a critique and help making it better.

Original topic:
viewtopic.php?f=30&t=692413

[ButterflyChaser]

Anyone? Why is it so hard for me to find drawing help? Am I that bad to be considered a lost cause?

[woodland]

I really like the entrie thing. But what's in the dog's paws?

[Harpalyce]

It's actually quite good! I am 9/10ths asleep at the moment, but I will be happy to give you some crit in the morning

[ButterflyChaser]

I really like the entrie thing. But what's in the dog's paws?

It is supposed to be a buffalo skull mask on its side, but I struggle with the perspective. I'm not sure how the horns are supposed to go.

It's actually quite good! I am 9/10ths asleep at the moment, but I will be happy to give you some crit in the morning

Thanks. I'll be looking forward to it.
I am at the point with this drawing, that when I try to improve it on my own, I just keep going in circles and eating up timer time.

[lavender-riots]

Anyone? Why is it so hard for me to find drawing help? Am I that bad to be considered a lost cause?

Don't take this the wrong way, but...Yay! I'm not the only one! And you are not bad! That's awesome! (I so can't draw anything canine. I tried.)

[ButterflyChaser]

It's especially challenging if you're like me who is able to color things pretty well, but struggle with shape, form and perspective. Not to mention getting muscles, skin folds, wrinkles, fur, and other advanced details to look realistic or at least believeable.

It's like pulling teeth to get help on those more advanced things. It seems people expect I should know. I was trying to look up various guides but nothing really helped for this particular point of view. Most of the "how to draw paw" guides show only the top or bottom of the paw of maybe the front. Oh and it was strangely hard to find any photo of a dog's front paw on its side (without the dog standing) to even know how I can get the shape right. It seems people who can draw all those things just know how to do it. It would help if I had a model, but I am one of those unlucky people who's never had a dog. We do have a couple cats though.

[lavender-riots]

I struggle with all things realistic. I'd love to help you with those things, but I need help with them too! What a small world we live in. *sighs*

[Harpalyce]

I know that feeling of frustration well. But don't be discouraged! You're doing excellent work and bit by bit, you will improve.

I am not the best when it comes to drawing canines, but you may want to look at reference for shoulderblades. Usually you can see them a little underneath the fur. You might want to look at a reference of the major muscle groups in a wolf.

My biggest suggestion would be to step away from the blur tool. I know it's really tempting to over-use it, but right now everything looks too smooth and too fuzzy. If this is from a dream sequence, then you want this sort of effect. But right now it's keeping things from looking solid and weighty. If you want an ephemeral look, play up the blurriness and even add a slight glow. But for keeping a drawing grounded in reality, you want to use hilights and shadows to bring out the texture of what's in the picture. There are some great pieces of fur where you can see the roughness - keep that, and bring it through the entire picture. Use that same technique to make the rocks look jagged. You're nearly there, just step away from the blur tool a bit!

I love your careful use of color in this, it's very well done.

I think a great challenge would be to do something completely different, like cel-shading ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cel-shaded_animation ). Keep up the good work!!

[ButterflyChaser]

It's the airbrush and blending I used mostly, but I understand what you mean. Well I have to go. Will get back to this later. Thanks!