Thank ya :))

She was fun to doodle and it was time after my long period of procrastination-

Yuketa

Back at it again with the top-tier critiques, I adore them! I quite like how the feathered dudes turned out, and am still fairly content with the shading on Venerixen's piece as well as Polly's. I'm trying to get better at backgrounds and practice more because they are absolutely not my strong point, so I appreciate the kind comments!!

Honestly not sure how I got into drawing dragons, but here we are.

Tenes - Hec yeah bro. XD

But yeah! I love the way you layered the feathers on top of each other in perspective, and how you achieved capturing the form of the wings. I'm sure that practice with scaled wings before that certainly helped, too. :3

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And yes, the shading job on both pieces came out solid! They both match the mood of their respective pieces, with color, value, and execution.

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Ahh, backgrounds, huh? I do backgrounds sometimes, and although I can't say I'm an expert, I might be able to help or offer tips. Your backgrounds as they stand at the moment are very strong in terms of setting the mood, tone, and atmosphere of the piece, and they are all kept relatively simple, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. What are one or two areas that you are specifically trying to improve upon? If it's giving a space for the characters to live in, perhaps have a horizon and basic objects/structures behind them. If you want a different style of background, maybe change up the color palettes drastically, play with gradients, and try out different textures. Stuff like that.

I'm here to help. :3

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Awe hec yeah--I'm not sure how you got into drawing dragons either, but I live for it, lol. This grey and white dragon, as its own oc, looks pretty cool to start! I like how you did the filled black eye, the shadow shapes in the main portions of the neck and those outlining the wrinkles are so good, and the light blue glow coming off of them is chef's kiss, such a good touch.

Yuketa

Ack, my bad for the late reply~

Man, I appreciate your comments, thank you! I would say that practicing scaled wings helped a lot. Kind of gave me an overview of the anatomy, yanno? Basic structure and whatnot.

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Oy, backgrounds are awful for me. Even creating simple ones. It absolutely takes me forever to find something that I'm satisfied with, even if super plain. I do appreciate your comment about the mood/tone, etc! That's something I definitely have difficulty with. But you hit it spot on! I actually did recently try playing around with gradients and colour palettes, just haven't been satisfied enough with anything to post it. :,]

I've been trying to get into drawing more detailed backgrounds and doing more work with lighting. Those, I would say, are some areas I'm trying to get better at. Especially lighting. I do appreciate your help a lot may I add. It helps me significantly, thank you!! <3

Tenes - All good bro!

Always! <3 And yesss, I love recycling and repurposing previously learned anatomy. Makes the work go by so much easier.

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Ohh I see! That is interesting though, I wouldn't have imagined you would have issues with mood and the like, quite interesting. I bet the time it takes for you to settle on something does factor into getting it right.

Ah! Gradients and color palettes! I'm sure you know I'll be excited if you post them, whether or not they're up to your standards. Failure in experimentation is for sure a learning experience, but it can also be fun if you're allowing yourself to not be satisfied, just so you can look at it and ponder a while. Just so you can make it to make it.

Ooh, so details, but especially lighting? One exercise you might try is applying a grayscale layer mask to your art pieces, then picking a background color by its value, and shade and highlight accordingly. If you get your values down right, you tend to be able to get away with color easier.

And I do love to help! Helping others helps both me and you, reminding me of core concepts (and that I should probably go practice them, lol) and hopefully helping you improve along the way as well! So I appreciate the conversations we have through this. You also leave quite thoughtful responses, and aren't afraid to talk about your process, of where you struggle, and where you're proud of your pieces, and I appreciate you all the more for it. :3 <3

Yuketa

I find that mood is a hit or miss for me at times, but I find by leaving it for a certain amount of time and returning does help. At least that is what I've been doing recently~

I'm glad that you watch out for my posts! I appreciate the support!! <3 And yes, lighting! I haven't thought about the grayscale idea. There are so many hacks/tips I have yet to learn. I currently use Procreate, and I'm not 100% certain of how to use it to my advantage yet. I would say that I know the basics, but not nearly enough. I'm going to try that recommendation out and let you know how it goes though!

Of course! These conversations help me tons! I enjoy talking things through, it helps me learn as well and reevaulate! Like you said before, it's all experimental and trial/error. Having these conversations and talking it through is a form of practice in itself :)

Tenes - Ahh, yeah, I agree with that. Fresh eyes often help.

Yeee! :3 <3

And yes, the grayscale thing is a great way by itself just to learn about value in general, and practicing that means you just don't need to worry about color at all, hahaha. I don't have procreate myself, so I don't know how the layering system works in it, but I think you'll be fine navigating it. I also keep my process on Krita simple, since I mostly only keep to the basics lol.

Ah I'm glad you think so! :D And I agree dude, verbal practice is great for keeping learned concepts in. :3

art dump time