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Meriko Says: Woo, nice pic! The coloring and pose are really not bad at ALL~ ^_^ I'll just give you some pointers to sharpen you up even more.

Coloring/shading/highlighting: One thing to remember is to keep your light source in mind at all times. Depending on what article of clothing or body part I look at, the light source is pretty much all over the place. I'm guessing you meant it to be upper right, going from the bow and the green clothing. But her boots seem to be catching light from below, and her arms are highlighted from the left-foreground.

Also, using only white to highlight can give a picture a hazy/fuzzy feel. I suggest using varying colors to highlight and shade. When I color in a person's face, I usually use no less than 6 colors, like white/pale peach/peach/tan/brown. Sometimes I'll use up to 14 colors...mixing in pinks and oranges and such here and there...it just depends on the depth you want to create. Of course, in anime-style shading, it's just 3 colors...light, medium, dark. But since you're using soft-edged shading, I thought you might want to try gradient shading.

So, for her bow, you could flat shade in brown, and then use a darker brown to shade, and then shade a thinner section using a REALLY dark brown. Same with highlighting. Use a light brown for highlights, and then touch up the highlights with an even lighter brown/tan. It really helps to give it a more...3D feel. Follow the wrinkles in clothing, too. Highlight where the wrinkles push up, and shade really deeply where the clothes fold in.

As for the pose, it's nice and dynamic! ^_^ The lineart is pleasingly simple, and you're paying nice attention to anatomy, but you can never study it enough! Using the circle-sausage method of sketching in a figure helps a lot. It lets you sketch in a body and study the proportions while not getting distracted with smaller details such as noses and fingers. Draw an oval for the head, column for the neck, etc. After you draw in the basic pose, you can study all the body parts to make sure they measure up correctly. For instance, in this pic, I think her upper arm is a bit long...it's supposed to be pretty much the same length as the forearm, including the wrist but not the hand. Use your own body or magazine photos for references on perspective, foreshortening, and proportions...it helps. Or heck, have a friend pose for you. (A good, patient friend.)

Anyway, hope this helps! Good work, and I look forward to seeing more artworks from you!

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Ryuuzaki Says: First of all, I do NOT think you're a beginner. =) The pose looks fine to me, but some of the body shapes are a bit weird. Her hip REALLY sticks out...I don't think it's supposed to do that! :D Also her extended leg looks kinda puffy, like she was a stuffed animal. You might want to add some stronger curves to show some power behind those legs. Also, don't let the lines go into her legs. ^^ That's what makes em look puffy.

As for coloring, I can see that you did some relatively simple coloring in this piece. Your color choice is fine, I just think shading with stronger colors would make your colors stand out more. Right now there's a lot of white floating around, in highlights and in the tint of the colors. If you shaded more aggressively, you'd have richer colors that really catch the eye. I make strong use of the multiply brush in Photoshop to do shadows. Nice job though, and stop calling yourself a beginner! :D

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Juno Says: Hoiiii, Nevar~! :D Man, Renee's expression is so awesome... full of life, very...expressive! :P At this stage, you're not a beginner, as the other REFF doods have mentioned :D The pose itself is well done and expressive in itself, and so is the anatomy.. it just needs a bit smoothing out, is all ^_^ Your linework is great too, but keep in mind that lines can portray depth and dramatize an illustration in the same way color and pose can. For example, the arm holding the bow could have thicker linework, and thus, it would stand out more and show that the arm is in front of the rest of the body. Coloring skills comes at its own pace. You're always improving, and the more you do it, the more you'll understand on its true "power." As Meriko mentioned, you have chosen to keep the colors bright and solid, and there is absolutely no problem with that. :D If you want to go for a more realistic, 3D look, use a wider range of gradation, and define your shadows and highlights more sharply. I love how you decided to do that "black panel" look for the background.. it makes Renee stand out. The color of the background corresponds well too, though I would suggest maybe a darker color, or less sparkles... it draws attention away from the foreground. Great job, Nevar!! I hope I have the privilege to critique your artwork again. Ciao for now~! :D

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