(07-13-2013, 07:28 AM)Rognoll Wrote: I fell you there, landscapes are extremely difficult! On the other hand, that (self?)Portrait looks so cool!

(09-17-2013, 06:25 AM)Adzerak Wrote: Heya! Nice to see you hard at work and trying on different challenges. I really like the shading on the charcoal guy, the direct light, shadow and reflected light all read very well. Seems like a nice practice.

As for getting better at painting digitally, it's hard to give good general advice. I guess just paint lots of stuff digitaly to get used to the medium, get a feel for how things like value and saturation in your chosen digital art program compare to painting traditionally. What medium you use shouldn't really matter, as long as you can apply what you've learnt about art in general.

Don't really know what you refer to when you say that you flub up the figure. In your latest painting you've succeded in conveying a good expression on the character's face. The values seem a bit odd though, the lighted area is a pretty dark half-tone while the shadows are very dark. A strong light is needed to produce such shadows so the parts of the figure in the light should be brighter and more saturated.
Also the areas before the shadow should have more saturation I think, otherwise it looks kinda dull. And some more reflected light, like that on her hair, on her torso and arms couldn't hurt. Reflected light in another color will make the painting more interesting to look at *breathes*

*exhales* Damn, once i start writing crits i just blurt out lots of stuff, but if anything helps then I'm glad. And if it doesn't help then at least I gave you something to think about and that is one of the keys to development anyhow ;D Keep at it fellow Dagger!

(09-17-2013, 09:54 PM)Vandall Wrote: Looking great mate keep painting, but I will suggest that you watch Stan Prokopenkos videos if you havent already, they offer some awesome insight into figure and portait drawing

(09-19-2013, 07:04 AM)Adzerak Wrote: No probs man! ;D

"Do you think taking a traditional approach would help me over all in digital? Like focusing on things like still-lives? Or should i just act like a shotgun and continually study everything same time? "

Yes I do think so! It's always nice to freshen up a bit with different mediums and techiniques so you don't grow stale and get stuck in a comfort zone.
Study what you feel is most relevant to you, but you can't go wrong with basic shapes, human anatomy and perspective.
But most important is to practice your obeservation skills, no matter what you draw. So if you're painting a still life, don't just copy the shapes without analyzing the subject (it's easy to get stuck doing that). Think about why it looks the way it does. Where does the light come from, how does the materials differ from one another in the light and why, think about how the environment around the piece affects it etc. The observations you do will stay with you no matter what medium you use when you paint!

Studying without really analyzing and reading up on some theory is kinda like copying the answer to a math problem. It looks right and might appear correct to others, but you have no idea how to come up with the right answer yourself.