Lorelai Says: Hellooo Rad~! This is a very nice and neat picture, though a bit small for a critique...Ye asked us to point out stuff about the arms and feet, so i will...they're not bad at all~!!! I can only see one hand, though. You've got the basic stuff right..nice elbow identification, and I like how you were clear about Cloud's knuckles. The knees are good too, and the shading on his pants are superb, though they do look a bit...hmmm...familiar from official art...i.e. the level doesn't match the rest of the picture. now about the feet...they're turned outwards waaayyy too much. I've danced for 4 years and I still can't turn my feet out perfectly like that...and I doubt Cloud's done much dancing. Most people's feetsies point forward, towards the viewer, which means we'd see the (assuming they didn't wear shoes) toes pointing towards us, and the heel nearly hidden behind the ankle bump and top part of your foot. I DO commend you for staying consistent with your light sourcing!! That's very very good...I forget from time to time and I end up with a really odd looking picture...one last thing, Cloud could not possibly be holding his big-arse sword the way he is..and be standing straight up. It makes the picture look unbalanced... to see what I mean, do the following: Draw a line through a stationary, standing figure. now, for every mass that leans towards one plane (left or right), there has to be a balancing compensation in the other plane. i.e. if the figure raises his right leg, he won't appear balanced unless you stick something into the left plane, be it a left arm, or a slight curve at the waist, or maybe even a head tilt. Try it looking the mirror sometime...models are your friends. ^_^ I wish ye luck in your future artistic endeavors!!! Keep up the great work ^_^

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Keiiii Says: Hoi~ Anatomy, huh? It doesn't look so bad in the pic you submitted... (I guess playing safe by drawing what you know you can draw gets you ... well... safe ^^;). But if you're going for a more realistic type of style, the ratio of the character's height:head should be more like 8:1. Also, when you're standing comfortably, your feet "face forward" - in other words, if you look at someone standing comfortably from the front, you mostly see the toes instead of the feet. Instead of making the character's feet face "sideways" (like in your Cloud pic), try making them face forward. Try standing in front of the mirror and how forward/sideways your feet are, since not everyone's feet face forward at the exactly same angle.

Another thing. Cloud's shoulder protection armor piece thingie (the extra armor on his left shoulder, right from the viewer of the picture) should be *on* his left shoulder, I think... instead of just hanging on the edge of his shoulder, since it's meant to cover his shoulder and protect it.

If you're really concerned about improving your skills on drawing arms and legs, try practicing by drawing really silly pictures... such as a simple sketch of a character just standing there, stretching his arms (the bird's wingspread pose). The picture itself won't really seem like much, but it's good for practice. And looking at a real person and drawing from him/her really helps... ^^ If you're like me and don't have any real chances to get real models to draw from, try asking friends or family members like I do occasionally! XD

Keep up the good work! This Cloud pic is the only work of yours I've seen, but I think you're at the stage where you have unlimited possibilities, if I may say so. ^-^ I'd really like to see more works of yours in the future.

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