Hello. This is my drawing of a puppy (second pic is the source). Critiques, suggestions are welcome.
Thanks.
Puppy
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Re: Critiquing Work
There are a lot of nice things about your drawing and I like the sweet expression that you have successfully captured! One suggestion I have is that it would be helpful to have more contrast in your drawing with the darks being darker and the whites whiter (although I am not sure of the background tint of your paper). Also, I find it very helpful to draw from photos (or life) rather than from another drawing. When I draw, I often get multiple photographs (dozens and dozens of them) as well as some drawings people have done of the subject. I guess I never draw from another picture or exactly from another photo since I want the composition to be my own. These are just friendly suggestions. Others who are more experienced will have good feedback. Keep up the good drawing!!!
Re: Critiquing Work
Thank you kwheller for your suggestions. Yes, the paper I used was a cheap one, since I was just thinking of doodling at first. Contrast would have looked better on good paper.
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Mike Sibley
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Re: Critiquing Work
This is a good attempt, Manish. I'm going to assume you were interpreting rather than copying, and that's a perfectly good plan. But there are a few points I want to mention.
A: You've altered the shape of this eye quite considerably, and that has altered the pup's expression. It has a harder and more serious look now. But, more importantly, you have made an error with the curve of the iris. Where I've marked "A" the edge of the iris is an almost vertical straight line. But the iris is round., so you must continue that curve correctly. It might seem to be a minor point here, but it will distract and puzzle anyone looking at your drawing.
B: Think about what it is you're drawing. This is not a dark line, it's the hair curving away from you, so you're seeing it almost side-on. Likewise...
C: here, you've continued that line. I can see why you felt it was necessary, but the reason you needed it was because you've drawn the area above as white, rather than a darker brown. You required that darker value to make the white hairs stand out from it. What you did actually works quite well, but the effect would have looked even better if the area of hair above had been darker.
D: Here you have twisted the nose. You can see from my line on the reference how that line travels down the top of the nose to curve down the front of it, and continue down to the mouth. I think you've thought of it as being a straight line, forgetting that the nose has a top and a front, and that one curves over an edge into the other. That's also forced you to drastically move the left-hand nostril. It helps if you can think of these things three-dimensionally - don't just see the shapes in your reference, but try to understand what their three-dimensional forms are.
E: I marked this because you've missed an opportunity to draw us in to the dog. The reference drawing makes excellent use of the key highlight in the eye. As it's adjacent to the pupil, it has the brightest value in the drawing alongside the darkest. That maximum contrast pulls our attention directly to it. Your light iris has weakened the effect of that bright highlight.
Also, I think you've fallen foul of thinking "this is an eye, so it's eye-shaped". You've added a lot of eye to the left of the iris, which suggests a human eye - the eye you're used to seeing. But a dog's eye isn't the same as a human eye - it has little or no visible white around it.
Finally, you've made splendid use of negative drawing! That was essential when drawing hair.
B: Think about what it is you're drawing. This is not a dark line, it's the hair curving away from you, so you're seeing it almost side-on. Likewise...
C: here, you've continued that line. I can see why you felt it was necessary, but the reason you needed it was because you've drawn the area above as white, rather than a darker brown. You required that darker value to make the white hairs stand out from it. What you did actually works quite well, but the effect would have looked even better if the area of hair above had been darker.
D: Here you have twisted the nose. You can see from my line on the reference how that line travels down the top of the nose to curve down the front of it, and continue down to the mouth. I think you've thought of it as being a straight line, forgetting that the nose has a top and a front, and that one curves over an edge into the other. That's also forced you to drastically move the left-hand nostril. It helps if you can think of these things three-dimensionally - don't just see the shapes in your reference, but try to understand what their three-dimensional forms are.
E: I marked this because you've missed an opportunity to draw us in to the dog. The reference drawing makes excellent use of the key highlight in the eye. As it's adjacent to the pupil, it has the brightest value in the drawing alongside the darkest. That maximum contrast pulls our attention directly to it. Your light iris has weakened the effect of that bright highlight.
Also, I think you've fallen foul of thinking "this is an eye, so it's eye-shaped". You've added a lot of eye to the left of the iris, which suggests a human eye - the eye you're used to seeing. But a dog's eye isn't the same as a human eye - it has little or no visible white around it.
Finally, you've made splendid use of negative drawing! That was essential when drawing hair.
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Re: Critiquing Work
Thank you Mike for the detailed response. Will take note of it.