help finishing a small illustration (and or general critique)

[coolionotpolio]

I have been trying to make a habit of finishing more pieces, however no matter how much i attempt to fiddle with this one it just never looks quite, complete, for lack of a better term :) I'm not really used to properly rendering a piece like this so i'm not really sure where to go from this stage.


any advice on where to go from here, or just general critique would be appreciated, i was attempting something tense and sort of grimy if that's any help :) ty

[JosephCow]

Do you have a reference for like what kind of rendering you would want to achieve that you feel like yours falls short of? Because with super stylized work it's pretty hard to say how it should be without knowing that intention.

Right now the only thing that comes to mind is that I'm not sure if the arms are another person's hands that are like going to grab the guy, or if they are his own arms. Just because without more context you assume they are his arms yet they are a different color, and the left one appears behind the body.

[coolionotpolio]

Do you have a reference for like what kind of rendering you would want to achieve that you feel like yours falls short of? Because with super stylized work it's pretty hard to say how it should be without knowing that intention.

Right now the only thing that comes to mind is that I'm not sure if the arms are another person's hands that are like going to grab the guy, or if they are his own arms. Just because without more context you assume they are his arms yet they are a different color, and the left one appears behind the body.

They are another person's, If it's not clear i could probably do to clarify a bit more? :) In the context of the scene, It's sort of a non literal dreamy thing where he's getting grabbed at from below by disembodied limbs so the logistics are a bit odd for that reason lol. I guess like somewhat rough and heavily textured is the main goal here? I think part of why it feels like it seems like kinda unfinished is there's not really enough detail or definition in the forms, but i find it difficult to apply that to the kind of style I normally take up (probably partly just because I'm somewhat unpracticed in that regard.) I appreciate the feedback on the arm's though, and i hope that my admittedly vague explanation helped at all lol.

[JosephCow]

i would add a couple more arms, the composition might work better as a longer vertical canvas if you wanted to add a bit more of his body. that might make the idea read more clear. As for the rendering style it seems like you're achieving what you described, i'm not too sure about that since it's very personal and it's also not a style of drawing I have done much of.

That being said one idea is look at some drawings that create the kind of gritty, horror vibe. Like Francis Bacon's charcoal drawings maybe. Vigorous marks and scribbles can sometimes do a lot to evoke disturbed feelings for example. I think those decisions are ultimately up to your preference, though.

[coolionotpolio]

Ty for the recommendation of the artist, they seem like they've made some very interesting material actually, I will probably do a pass of the drawing in the morning :) i appreciate the help.