04-14-2020, 10:17 PM
Leysan: I assumed the forest picture was heavily referenced. 99%+ of detailed realistic paintings are heavily referenced. The fact that you could execute it well shows a very good sensibility. Getting faster is partially a workflow thing, but it mostly comes with improving your skills overall.
Since you are open to nitpicking, I've redlined your picture of the cool dryad-like character. This is as much for my benefit as it is for yours, because it's a very cool pose and composition, and I wanted to figure it out more.
I decided that her face and most of her neck is good, so I just traced it. I went into scribble mode for her extremities because I didn't think they were real problem areas (and I'm lazy). I'll go over the areas I made significant changes to:
1. Hip area. It's too small for her torso in the original. I got the impression that her whole torso is flexed, so I moved it downward instead of backward when enlarging it. I tried to maintain her bony hip anatomy, since it looks cool.
2. Chest and shoulders. I thought her farther shoulder was too small for the angle we're seeing her chest at, so I equalized her shoulders a bit. I also thought the sternal ends of her clavicles didn't convincingly meet up with her sternum, so I moved them to the left. I might have over-done it, though.
3. Arms. Her left arm is good, so I mostly traced it. Her right arm is not bad either, but I thought it could be improved. The dark line of her biceps/coracobrachialis should have been extended into her torso, since they originate underneath the deltoid. Otherwise, I just changed the shape of the upper arm to be closer to what I'd expect to see. I over-did some anatomical details to make things clearer for me, but she's a lean and mean type anyway.
4. Neck. Neck is pretty good. The only thing I thought should be changed is that we should see the sternocleidomastoid of the other side.
It's possible that more of the tops of her shoulders should be seen to be consistent with her torso angle, but I think it works visually as it is.
Lastly, I am not actually an appointed arbiter of how things should look, so whether any of these things are a visual improvement or not is up to you. If you would like further explanation of anything, just ask.
Since you are open to nitpicking, I've redlined your picture of the cool dryad-like character. This is as much for my benefit as it is for yours, because it's a very cool pose and composition, and I wanted to figure it out more.
I decided that her face and most of her neck is good, so I just traced it. I went into scribble mode for her extremities because I didn't think they were real problem areas (and I'm lazy). I'll go over the areas I made significant changes to:
1. Hip area. It's too small for her torso in the original. I got the impression that her whole torso is flexed, so I moved it downward instead of backward when enlarging it. I tried to maintain her bony hip anatomy, since it looks cool.
2. Chest and shoulders. I thought her farther shoulder was too small for the angle we're seeing her chest at, so I equalized her shoulders a bit. I also thought the sternal ends of her clavicles didn't convincingly meet up with her sternum, so I moved them to the left. I might have over-done it, though.
3. Arms. Her left arm is good, so I mostly traced it. Her right arm is not bad either, but I thought it could be improved. The dark line of her biceps/coracobrachialis should have been extended into her torso, since they originate underneath the deltoid. Otherwise, I just changed the shape of the upper arm to be closer to what I'd expect to see. I over-did some anatomical details to make things clearer for me, but she's a lean and mean type anyway.
4. Neck. Neck is pretty good. The only thing I thought should be changed is that we should see the sternocleidomastoid of the other side.
It's possible that more of the tops of her shoulders should be seen to be consistent with her torso angle, but I think it works visually as it is.
Lastly, I am not actually an appointed arbiter of how things should look, so whether any of these things are a visual improvement or not is up to you. If you would like further explanation of anything, just ask.