Lorelai Says: WOHHHHH talk about NICE!!! It looks like it's some sort of metal pendant...like Squall's from FF8~! The muscle definition is gorgeous..the only thing I can think of is that some of the muscles don't make much sense. Your shading really makes up for it though, that's why the whole piece flows really nicely. Eep, it would help if you submitted a larger picture next time though~! Shrinking stuff makes pixels run into each other, and while this usually makes the pic look nicer on the whole, we as critiquers can't make out some things that maybe you should be working on. So! Ok, you like monsters. I like the quality of how it seems carved, and rendered or something, but I'm guessing that's not your goal...so, I suggest that instead of making the curves look like they're sinking INTO the monster, make them help the body of the monster pop OUT. For instance, look at Ifrit's face...that darkness in the cheek area is well done, and I can totally imagine a crevice there, like the hollowed out area in pewter. But I doubt a real monster (well, imaginary "real") would have any sort of indenture like that. Instead, the cheek probably should curve OUTward, which means the shading goes on top near the eye and at the bottom where it goes under and becomes part of the chin. Also, keep in mind that muscle, no matter how well defined, does not chunk up into polygonal shapes very often...muscles are long things, that attach to different bones in the body and contract/release to make them move, and it's highly unlikely that Ifrit would contract every muscle at once, as it seems in his shoulder. Think about how Ifrit's arm moves, think about what muscles need to be there to make that possible...and then simply think of the skin as a stretchable cloth, wrapped around those mechanics. See an anatomy book sometime about this too...illustrated examples help a great deal. I hope me advice helps~!!! You're doing a fabulous job~!! I wish perpetual achievement in your future artistic endeavors.

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Meriko Says: Woo, TINY picture. ^^;;; I'll squint and critique as best I can. *hee*

Ifrit! Rock on~ Let's see. The bodywork really looks great. Perhaps what you're getting hung up on is specific muscles and internal body structure. You're doing great with the "six-pack" look on his stomach, but in other places, I see where the muscles can be improved upon.

Let's take his forearm. Starting with the elbow...usually when you bend your arm, the joint cap will stick out slightly, leaving a slight knob. And then the forearm seems to have an overall "S" shape to it. The arm is rather human-like, so I'll use that as an example. The bones are straight, and covered with larger strips of muscle. So while an arm isn't a straight cylinder of flesh, it still needs to follow a certain straight line. If we take a ruler and go from the center of the elbow area to the center of the wrist, there are areas where it seems like the bone would be very close to the skin, especially near the elbow.

For practice sketches, draw a straight line and then "cover" it with pencil lines representing strips of muscle. An inner, bulging muscle that's fat near the elbow and tapers towards the wrist...a slightly slimmer one on the outside of the arm...and other, lesser muscles all around for turning the hand. After you sketch in muscle lines, it's easier to put in the actual outline of the skin, and to add in the shadows where the muscles meet. I've added a quick (really quick) sketch to show you what I mean.

And the shading is fine, but it would be much more impactful if it had more depth. A pencil can go nearly full-black, so take advantage of it and break lead! XD Don't go overboard, though. ^^;;; Just use it for places that would be in the deepest shadows overall, like under the armpit, and the outer edge of his torso. Darker shading can be used to bring individual parts out a bit, too. For instance, you can add more shading around his ear to make it stand out from his hair. (mane?) He looks well-shaded but a bit pale overall, especially since the picture is standing out against a full-black background.

A good thing to do is to buy an anatomy book, or a book about musculoskeletal structure. It doesn't matter if it's on humans, since the basics will still apply. If you need to study things that are specifically non-human, like overhanging eyebrow ridges, you can try studying whatever animal most closely resembles your creature, such as lizards for dragons and big cats for muzzled creatures like Ifrit.

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