Down by the Water

I would like o Submit this to Catch a Pysduck please.

Difficulty - Medium
Target - Psyduck
Points needed - 45

 

You are my next victim! :0

JK! Claimed, though!

 

Hi ghost, back for more I see. I apologize about the delay in curating works! The golduck line I hear is one of the creators', I think sugimori (or is that gengar), favorites! It is no reason why it found in the wild in a lot of the main series games. Anyways onto your work:

Initial Impressions and Background:

I'm taking the time to discuss the background before your subject because I believe talking about that will help me explain what I mean.

I see this is done in colored pencil and that your work is in rather strange place between cartoonish, solid black outlines and a roughly drawn out background that makes minimal use of outlines, kind of the opposite rendering of your subject. This contrast really sticks out as I am confused on what direction you wanted to take with your drawing. It seems like you were struggling just to fill it with stuff rather than take some time to think about what is there. It is better, however than some of your previous forest works as it seems like you are slowly building up the the tools and confidence to create more and more complicated scenes that deal with things other than the primary subject.

I like how that your waterfall is at an angle at it clarley is, but I am a bit upset that is rendered more like a super modern fountain than an actual raging waterfall. It is too flat. It looks more like a clean sheet of water rushing down. Where's the splashing? The mist? The violence? The drama? The Romantics of the 1800s sat in front of waterfalls because they invigorated the soul! People go see Niagra not because it is a peaceful stream but a raging monstrosity! I see that you are going for a peaceful pond, but the waterfall always disrupts the pure silence bringing in fresh, continuous renewal to that place. On a similar note your water is flat like glass. There aren't really any ripples specifed other than the small section behind Golduck.

I'm a bit bothered by the reeds in the foreground at the bottom of the page, they look quickly placed there. I am a victim of this as well, and it is a rather common trope for people learning to draw to place long grass blades to liven up the page, but often they wind up looking flat and placed there rather than harmonizing with the rest of the scene. I think you could have placed something different maybe a few leaves floating on the water, or maybe have them poke out of it. Perhaps some lily pads if you want to go for a more serene pond look.

Scale of the work:
Scale is a rather advanced concept but objects to have relative sizes. If Golduck were that big, then I don't even know why you placed the waterfall so small. I'm not going to hammer this one on you too hard right now, but please be mindful as you have probably unintentionally drew Golduck about the size of a building.

Technique:
This is clearly done in colored pencils. The coloring overall is consistent and there is a mostly consistent, strong light source highlighting your subject.

I see that you had difficulty with the outlines: in the background you at least made an effort to conceal them, trying to give some sense of three-dimensional, while you have thick, strong outlines on Golduck which flattens him despite your shading. While it isn't bad, I would recommenced pick something: if you want heavy, black outlines stick with them, or if you want little to no or invisible outlines, stick to that! Differences in shadow and color already form shapes and lines! Where a wall and a floor join doesn't need a crisp, black outline to delineate the difference! However, if you need to work with outlines by all means keep it! I think you are growing but everyone has to make the jump eventually. If you need the outlines to draw on your subject, then pencil them in lightly (you don't always need to make hard, dark lines with pencil) and go back in with a blue colored pencil.

The forest coloring is a bit wider in variety than your Phantump drawing, but I do think you can push yourself in color! Water reflects your subject as well! I think if you go to a pond, you'll see that it isn't just blue, you can see reflections of the clouds, the brown sea bed, trees hanging over the pond. If your pond is that still as you have drawn it, I would definitely see a bunch more in it as opposed to the generic sky blue! I like how your trees in the background are varying browns, and your golduk appears to be colored well. They could have been rendered slightly more even though they are far off in the distance, however, but otherwise good job!

Golduck's Likelihood:
For the most part you haave done a good job of drawing Golduck. You have his general body shape and bodily proportions, but I have mentioned that you drew him too large in the context of your scene, so I won't go there again. You have drawn his muscles almost too angular. Loosen up a little and let smooth curves take their place. I think that would free up a large bit of the tenseness I am sensing from the way you have drawn him. His head is slightly too small, but that is a minor thing. It appears that you have just copied his pose from the official artwork but that is fine for this scene as it looks like he is going to dive or defending against an unseen predator or enemy. It does directly address the viewer and it is a bit uninviting despite placing him in a magical and serene pond.

Conclusion:
The biggest things I can tell you is to watch out for the scale of your subject relative to its surroundings! It tells us so much about the scene! I might be better to focus on the scene as a whole rather than first on the subject and a generic scene to place it in. Really consider how everything plays off each other to make some harmony. For now though, I think you have made a drawing that barely qualifies, but it qualifies. Keep at it! 45/45 Golduck is caught!