Things you notice about your artwork

[Mek]

The other day, I was browsing through my online galleries and my hand-colored work offline. I noticed that I have a tendency to use vibrant, bright colors; as opposed to 'dark' ones.

Not that it's a bad thing, mind you. I *love* using bright colors. But it was a trend I've noticed in my art, and found it rather amusing. ^^

So I'm wondering: Do you notice any 'trends' in your art? Like styles, color schemes, ect. all. =]

[Bubblegum Girl]

Well most of characters i draw are usually circle shaped and since I'm not good at drawing fingers, I use "powerpuff girl" hands. :sweat:

[Ickis]

All of my good drawings are in pencil,only near 5% of all of them have color.Most characters are reptiles.Most of my newer comics feature my 66' Beetle.:p

[Outlander00]

Ahhhh yes... I love this topic because as part of growing as an artist, you need to reflect on your work and critique it on your own, both the good and the bad. You need to look to yourself and "what works and what doesnt". It helps a lot that you become your own biggest critic... Just as long as you are careful to not be overly critical of your own work because that could lead to you becoming self conscious and doubtful of your abilities.

Now... What do I see in mine you ask...

The good things: I use a very organic style and way of shading in my drawing style. I also tend to use basic shapes and expand on them to create whatever I am drawing. My stlye is also very contrasty and that I tend to do a lot of black and white work (not that I am afraid to use color, I just like drawing in just black and white). My print work stlye is very bold and contrasty.

The bad things: Faces have never been my strong suit unless I had reference in front of me... so any character drawings I do (except for a few and that is because I remember the face) tend to be overly generic. Also, when doing drawings of females, sometimes I elongate them artificaly... a habit that occurs from not being able to draw as much as I used to. Thirdly, whenever I ink the more traditional cartoony style, I have a tendancy to jerk the pen I am using, unable to get a long straight line. Ive always had a problem with that and its either I get too nervous in the process or I have a case of nerves that affects that. Its wierd though becaue I do not do it when it comes to my tablet... just with a pen.

Well thats it for me. anyone else?

[Czar Gato]

The most noticeable one for me is that I tend to always draw with the figure facing to the left, no matter if it's human, animal, whatever. I think it's because I don't always start with a "skeletal" base for my figures- I tend to add too much detail from the get-go and end up drawing it how I want the finished product to look like with out taking it step-by-step. Because of that, I usually only draw how I can when I do so, and it always comes out looking better or "natural" when I have my characters face left.

[Rune]

Hmmm, looking at my stuff then ...

When I'm drawing people, 90% of the time it will be females. Somehow unless it's for a 'set piece' such as a Drawing Board event then it just doesn't seem to occur to me to draw male figures. Also left to develop freely, the women I draw tend to all follow the same format from face to figure - I really need to expand my horizons there, however I also really like drawing the figures this way. Also with people I can never make them look 'real life' there's always an artificial / cartoon quality to them especially faces.


The most noticeable one for me is that I tend to always draw with the figure facing to the left ... That's the same for me, mostly if I draw horses, I always do them facing left and always have to start at the ear.

As for my colouring, mostly I notice there's room for improvement - lots of it!

[Easily Amewsed]

Hmm.. lessee.. I guess there's good and bad with any tendency, for instance:
I have to 'build' everything I draw, especially figures. Good for thinking, but messy as heck.
I always try to pay attention to lighting issues when shading. On figures it is trickier though, cause sometimes aesthetics(sp?) and reality clash. I opt for pretty vs. super accurate 80% of the time so sue me.
I have to be careful of over rendering so that my characters don't get lost. I often try to avoid some it by using the ol Disney, 'pool of light' schtick when I can get away with it.
I still can't draw realistic human proportions and poses confidently so that's why there's never any posted here. I do try to remedy this by either looking in a mirror, or nonchalantly try to observe my family. The most recent tool I got to help me is my Spidey. He's got 65 points of articulation, never gets tired and is much better muscled than those silly wood art manikins.
http://www.namdrah.net/cdd/Other/SpideyPose1.jpg
My color palettes aren't as adventurous as they might ought to be. That's why I like the web..it doesn't matter how whack it gets. Thing is, for the more intricate work I find myself getting hung up on whether I think it'll print so I stay more subdued. I wonder if Kyle Baker ever has that worry.... <;)
My inking still needs better control and consistancy. I'm finding now that how I ink is a matter of what the end result of the image will be. Tight and thin if animation style, more calligraphic if stand alone blk&wh. I still wish I could ink like Bernie Wrightson.
My use of perspective is limited.. I have never yet found the 'zen' of complex layout. One the other hand..photos can often guide me when I find one with the 'shot' I like.
I need to try other styles. I love animation and comics styles, so abandoning the almighty holding lines for freestyle painting is traumatizing. The good thing is.. at least I don't waste expensive oils and paper with my attempts. Thank you, Painter.
EA :)

[Artimus Gigan]

I apparently draw too small...

which I am trying to fix

[ewomack]

This is a good thread. Everyone should contribute. I've never been big on realism, so my stuff tends towards the cartoony. When I was told in drawing class to draw a pile of chairs (to learn about spatial relations, negative space, and etc., etc.) I always put a cartoon character in somewhere. The teacher went nuts because cartoons are not considered "real" art. So I had to quit. Maybe that wasn't the best thing for me to do in retrospect, because my realistic drawings fell to the wayside while my toon side of my brain bulged way out of proportion. As a result, I have some issues with shading, shadows, lighting, perspective, gradients, and color.