[Vargulf]

I was inspired from the Horsehead Nebula. She is my fursona, the colors represents every emotion that runs through my very soul. She is sweet, kind, compassionate, and strong when she needs to be...but on the other hand she has a bad temper when things upset her....Always likes to give a kind word and she never wants to be forgotten.

You may comment...I don't know if my shading is getting any better...please positive feedback.

[Vargulf]

Does no one like this?? No one wants to comment??

[Vargulf]

Does no one like this?? No one wants to comment??

Bump Aw come on not one kind word I really want to know what I need to improve on....Positive Crit please!!!

[The Last Raven]

Nice 'sona! She's pretty. Your shading has improved. I can see the different tones and it's pretty smooth, as well as good placement. I would advise. though, that you make them stand out a little bit more. Other wise they are good. Keep practicing thought. Also work on different gradients for the shadows. Look at the wolf in your siggy and think of it that way. Your highlights are coming along well as well.

[Vargulf]

How did they do that? What is it they used and how would I use them? I would love to improve her since it's supposed to represent me?

[The Last Raven]

Well, each person has different ways of doing things. The easiest and most basic way is to create a special layer for the shading. In the layers box there is a drop down menu. Click on the layer that you have made for the shading and then in the menu click multiply. The shading layer should always be above the color layer so that the multiply option works right. Once the shading layer is ready, schoose different shades of gray and color where you want the shadows to be. The multiply option makes the grays turn into a darker shade of the color that you already have on the horse. I hope I explained things well enough for you. If you need any more help or want to try some more difficult options, just PM me.

[Vargulf]

Thanks Raven I'm glad I ran into you on here....

[The Last Raven]

No problem. I love helping out!

[C.H.M.]

your getting really good!

[Equid Phantasm]

Coming from a newbie, but a normal regular artist (new to computer) love the horse, hate the background. Try taking a solid background and fade it away from the horse and leave the textured background after you've framed the horse with a solid or even a solid with shadow. The blue color and extreme texturing of your background draws the eye away from the horse caricature. For hilights or lighting, pick a source... say the sun. Decide where it is and bring your hilights from there... ie the points of the cheek and the front of the chest. The round blob of lighting on the cheek should be a strip, not a circle if it's hilighting and not a marking. I still love the horse though and the thought that went into a different color for each emotion.