KatsuKitty said:
I'm getting into drawing. This is my absolute first real effort at it. This is a naked pregnant woman, so you may find it NSFW (there's nothing pornographic about it). Do I have enough talent to justify practice? Any critique?
First thing I noticed is that the arms are bending in between the elbow and the wrist. Don't worry, if I told myself to stop every time that happened to me, I'd never get anything done. Matter of fact, I still have trouble with it. Find an angle in which the elbow will bend, and the beginning of the wrist will meet with the gut. Then bend the wrist to the position you want the hand to rest. If you're having trouble determining how a bent wrist looks like, get a camera, and take a picture of yourself doing it.
As tempting as it may be to take the easy way out with fingers (they are pretty hard), give the fingers a bit of spacing. Trust me, nobody really likes
The Paw. As for the left hand, drawing fingers from the front while resting on something is a hassle, and I do have the habit of just drawing five semi circles and calling it a day as well. At the angle you're drawing this at, the thumb may or may not be visible. Since I'm just just as bad, if not worse with this habit, it'd be a good idea to start by drawing the fingers up to the part where they bend rather than just drawing the little nubs at the end. Remember to space the fingers out again. Not by a whole lot, just give 'em some space to breathe. Oh, and the left arm should be bending backwards, unless you're trying to make a pregnant John Wayne (and thank you for giving me inspiration on what to draw next).
The right leg looks fine for a first attempt at something, but something's clearly going on with the left leg. For starters,
the woman has two right feet, and unless that's supposed to be some kind of statement, it really is the most irritating flaw I can find throughout this whole piece. As for the rest of the leg, the left leg looks more like it's standing straight, then bending at the knee, then bending back past that. Also, emphasizing the ankle on the left foot wouldn't hurt.
Although don't get me wrong, there's people out there who have been doing this sort of thing for YEARS and still make mistakes much worse than this. It takes some serious stones and a strong will as well as putting effort not into the drawing itself, but into studying people or objects to the point in which you know the structure so well, you can draw it with ease. And remember the kicker about art.
It will never be perfect. Even when you've convinced yourself that it's perfect, it will still be flawed in the eyes of at least one person. The trick? Get over it, don't let the idea of perfection halt your progress, and don't let the opinions of critics convince you that you'll never make art that will please anyone. This is a good start right here, and the more open you are to critique, the better your future pieces will come out. Practice takes more than just repetitive drawing, y'know.
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