This is my first post, so I'm unsure if I did it right but I'm looking for some tips.

[Necromutagen]

This is the central character to the universe I've been building. I don't know if I want it to be a comic book series or not. Several people have commented on my art style and said it's a mixture of 1970's fantasy art and traditional Japanese artwork. Part of me wants to go to school for this but I've also considered just finding a teacher to give me one on one lessons instead. My biggest inspirations are Frazetta, Giger, Lovecraft, Spawn, Witchblade, Venom, and the art from Doom Eternal, Bloodborne, Darkstalkers, Nightmare Creatures, and Dead Space. There's a number of themes that a frequently in my art, which include: Parasitism/Symbiosis, infection, sexual alchemy, paraphilias, insect anatomies, solipsism, genital horror, eyes, and inhuman birth.
Many of these themes are present in this drawing which measures 22"x30" on a sheet of vellum Bristol board.
Anyway, I welcome any constructive criticism you may have be it on lineweight, anatomy, tonal values, perspective, or composition, etc
I've been drawing for about 2 and a half years and want to get better. In late August of 2020 started taking things seriously and I set out to make 10,000 drawings but only made slightly over 7,000 because I began work on my first large drawing using pointilism as a primary technique. Something I will not be doing again because it took me four months to draw and ink the thing. The seven thousand drawings range from studies, to finished pieces but almost all of them are studies and I have a stack of sketchbooks plus a large bin that is being filled up with drawings. Over that year I averaged about a sketchbook or two per month. I've invested a lot of money and time in doing this and I'm finally at a point where I am making more finished works but as a result of the fun my studies have slowed down and I think next year I will set out to make 10,000 again.


Update: I've posted some older drawings as well as my current project. The ink sketches are from 2019-2020. Everything was very scratchy and I had just started drawing. The large inked piece I did early this year and the pencil drawing is from this week. I feel like I understand tonal values a lot more now but I struggle a lot with getting out of the "T" pose and transitioning to more dynamic 3D poses.
My anatomy also needs work.

MODERATOR NOTE: I fixed the image and removed the attached files. That included moving the "older drawings", but anyone can view them by going to the DeviantArt link posted later in this thread. ~pell

[battlewraith]

Welcome to the forums! Penciljack can't host images (when I click on your link it's the size of a thumbnail). You need to host the image somewhere else (Deviantart, imgur, etc.) and link to it here using tags *[img]yourpicture[/img]* or clicking on the image button on the toolbar and entering the url there in the menu.

[Necromutagen]

Hey thank you. Here it is!

[humble-tomato]

Still not working. Please don't attach the file here. It won't work. Use imgur and such and follow battlewraith's instruction.

[Smitty]

Necro, Welcome Aboard.

Unfortunately, the image function here at PencilJack is McSmurfed. A few will see your images, some will see a microscopic image, most will get nothing but text links which lead to a message stating we're not allowed to view the image...D'OH!

Good old fashioned, hand typed image tags (ex: [img][/img]) will solve the problem but, first you have to upload your pics to an image hosting site such as deviant art, imgur, or your own website. Once you do, your image will get a unique address or URL (NOTE: we're not looking for the URL of deviant art's intro page, or your DA album, or slideshow but, the URL of the individual image alone. This can be found by highlighting an image in your album and selecting "Open Link in New Window" or the PC equivalent. When that window opens and shows your image, copy the URL from the address bar of your browser.) Paste that URL, between your image tags and your image will show. Example: [img]pasteURLhere[/img]

If you hit the QUOTE button at the bottom of this post you'll see the exact code of the image below

[EddieChingLives]

Twitter works for hyper-linking as well.

[Necromutagen]

Hi did this work?

[pell]

Hi, Necromutagen. Welcome to Penciljack. No, they are still being attached to the forum because, unfortunately, you have to UNCHECK "Retrieve remote file and reference locally" when you use the image dialog. For some reason it is checked by default, but it is not allowed and doesn't show properly for many people when it works. Of course the images have to be hosted somewhere online where the individual files are accessible without having to be logged into the service. DeviantArt and ImGur are popular, but anywhere that works is fine.

If you provide a link to where your images are hosted, I can fix your posts for you.

[Necromutagen]

I hope this works. https://www.deviantart.com/duskthorne

[pell]

I hope this works. https://www.deviantart.com/duskthorne

Thank you. I went through the thread and fixed this image link and deleted all the attachments. To get the link, I right-clicked your image at DeviantArt and clicked "Copy Image Link" in Firefox. It might be something different in your browser, but the idea is to get the link to the actual file, not the page it is hosted on. Then, here at PencilJack, use the image tool, paste the link you just copied in the URL box, UNCHECK "Retrieve remote file and reference locally" (that's what is causing the attachments that don't work), and press the "OK" button.

Here is the link to your DeviantArt image that I used:

https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...kurL-lgaWBGwsw

[Necromutagen]

Thank you! Now hopefully I can get some critique.

[crazyjedichicken]

welcome to the boards! love hearing how much your drawing/studying! it's the best way to get better! hope you don't mind this draw over/ re-draw! over lapping your figures will really help you break out of the "t pose" you mention! looking forward to more of your stuff!

[Necromutagen]

Thanks crazyjedi! The example you gave is extremely helpful. I have a question. I recently got a lightbox and was wondering, can I use it to learn to draw faster? My idea is to use it to trace different images from things like human and animal anatomies until I have the muscle memory developed and a vast mental catalog of plants, insects, architecture, animals, clothing, poses, textures, etc. And then I can take those and reassemble them into my own creations. I dont plan to stop doing studies though because I also have to have an understanding of the forms I'm drawing and simple line memorization isn't enough, but I just thought it might help. Let me know your thoughts.

[Bryan E.Warner]

Say there new PJ'r welcome aboard Necro...My 1st impression an that always counts..is you have got the eye for detail...Love details..that is what makes your creation come to life..But! so not to hammer you on practice practice practice ( which we all need to do ) just a few tips..right now your character an BG look pretty flat...I'm reminded of tattoo art ( nothing wrong with that..) now line weights alone can help you get a more 3-D look..Thin lines to the stuff in the BG ( Back Ground ) thicker as you go forward...picking a direction of light...thinner lines to the light.. thicker to the shadows..theses 2 trick alone will start giving your work dimension..then it's rendering an that is a talent that goes hand in hand with your line weights...if you have a library that's not far.. look for " The Art Of Comic Book Inking...by Gary Martin " I mention this cause it looks like you have started in ink...( it's always good to pencil an idea an when happy with your image..then ink..) OK..enough of this old artist for a spell...I look forward to seeing a final on this...keep up studying..an Keep That Pencil Busy!

[Necromutagen]

Hey Brian. Thanks! I actually drew this in pencil and went over it in ink. I'm not good enough to do something like this in ink alone. Yet. The lineweights should help a lot. I've started to redraw him on another sheet of bristol after my friend taught me to use a grid to get better proportions and the grid has definitely helped with my other drawings. I'm working on 3 different drawings but will post an update as soon as I make more progress. Talk to you soon!