Swiftly Drawn Art!

Poliwag on the surface viewed from underwater. First drawing! I'm a bit limited on colors atm so please excuse the lack of variety.

Spoiler

Pokemon: Poliwag
Difficulty: Simple
Grade needed for Capture: 40/100

Why would I ever attempt to draw this? Well...

Spoiler

Pokemon: Wynaut
Difficulty: Simple
Grade needed for Capture: 40/100

(Click thumbnails for larger images.)

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art [(2) Ready to be Curated]

I'm going to claim poliwag !

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art [(2) Ready to be Curated]

First Impressions:

This piece definitely caught my eye. I liked the colors and though I'm not totally sure what's going on in the background you did a good job with Poliwag so that definitely helped.

Dynamics

Initially I thought Poliwag was floating in water when I first looked at this, but I'm starting to doubt that assumption. There's a lot going on in the background with the vines and blue spots and it isn't that those aren't aesthetically pleasing to the eye, I just don't totally get it. Poliwag is in a pretty standard pose and I guess maybe that's why I assumed it was water because it looks like it's floating on its back. The things that throw me off though are the green tint you put all over the piece and the sun in the top right corner. Those are what are really making me confused. In future works I would try to stick to a more concrete image so the viewer isn't, well, confused.

Colors/Shading

I just want to say, the colors work really well here. The blues and greens are very pleasin to the eye and make for a very nice image. I also like the way you did a nice dark outline for the swirl on Poliwag's tummy. I would've liked to see some shading, especially because you went through the effort of putting a light source in the image. Actually it almost seems like you put a darker blue towards the light source and a lighter blue away from it, so I'm again a little confused. Also as you do shading make sure you play around with varying your outlines so the Pokemon really looks like it is a part of the piece and not separate form it.

Pokemon Accuracy

Your Poliwag definitely looks like a Poliwag, I really liked the detail in the eyes and the mouth looks pretty cute. It seems like you accidentally colored over the tail a bit which is a minor issue, but just something to watch out for.

Overall

While you do have some issues with trying to figure out what's actually going on in the piece, this is for a simple Pokemon and that issue isn't too large. This isn't the most in depth drawing, but what you did you did well so I'd give this a 50/100. Have fun with your new friend!

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art [(1) Ready to be Curated]

Wynaut “Why Not?”

@swiftgallade46

Form
So you decided to forgo a full on image with a background, and instead go for a bit of a pun. What I like about it was that you decided to include the pokemon IN the word, and not just put it next to the pokemon. And the question mark ties into the end of the pokemon, its effective yet simple.

Pokemon
Wynaut in general is very good. The colors are very close and the general shapes are spot on. There are only two critiques I can give on the pokemon itself. The head and tail seem just a mite smaller than they should be. Does it detract from the image? No, not in the least. Just something to possibly watch out for in future art.

Environment
The main elements of the ‘environment’ that we see here are in the lighting and shadows cast on the pokemon itself. From what there is on this image, the shading you applied is rather good. I still think that even with the direction you took with this image, something in the background would have been nice to add a sense of place to the image.

Improvements
1. Add in some kind of background, it will add layers of detail as well as give the image a larger depth.
2. Check the general size on some portions of the pokemon

Score
Because you tied the pokemon, the words, and the joke together, willing to give it a better than normal score.

40/100

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art [(1) Ready to be Curated]

Budew is walking up a mountain path as it spots a four-leaf clover.

Spoiler

Pokemon: Budew
Difficulty: Simple
Grade needed for Capture: 40/100

(Click thumbnail for larger image.)

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art [(1) Ready to be Curated]

@swiftgallade46

Budew

Spoiler

Color/Form
You have a fairly nice image here. The colors you utilized set the Budew apart from the background, the tans and blues contrasting nicely with the bright green and yellow. Having the pokemon centered in the image adds a sense of balance to the image. One thing that threw me off at first is the apparent scale of the image. When I first looked at the image in detail, the rock on the right side looked like a mountain, and it looked like a massive Budew was walking from a desert to a jungle. Perhaps something more to more accurately portray the scale would be good.

Pokemon
In terms of colors you utilized on Budew, it seems that everything is in order. Also, you at least had some simple shading that adds depth to the pokemon, which is good. As far as the bottom portion of Budew is concerned, the proportions are correct. I think your stalks at the top are a little small, and the blue petal definitely so. But the details are right.I do like that you drew Budew in motion, giving the image greater dynamic.

Environment
Its a simple environment, yet nicely detailed for a pokemon of this level. Few minor potential issues. The path seems nice and well utilized, with a crisp clear-cut edge. If it is this nicely kept, however I don’t know how well the stray clovers fit in here. Also, it would be nice to see more greeny covering the dirt patch, the clovers seem out of place if theres not much else alive. Shadows where the Budew would be casting one could potentially give a better sense of where the light source is, even though you did add it clearly in the upper corner.

Improvements
1. Some additional shading and shadows help to better define the light source
2. Scale of the image could potentially be improved with other comparable objects, like pebbles or larger ferns/plants.

Score
40/100

Budew is yours

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art: 3 Ready for Curation! =)

Reaching for the Crimson Star!

Spoiler

Pokemon: Ralts
Difficulty: Medium
Grade needed for Capture: 45/100

Cool Dreams, Bro

Spoiler

Pokemon: Slowpoke
Difficulty: Medium
Grade needed for Capture: 45/100

DIS IS CUTE...I THINK.

Spoiler

Pokemon: Espurr
Difficulty: Medium
Grade needed for Capture: 45/100

These were all done with colored pencils. My scanner is bright, so it kind of dilutes the colors a bit for these pictures which is a shame.... Hope these were enjoyable!​

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art: 3 Ready for Curation! =)

I'm going to do Slowpoke

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art: 3 Ready for Curation! =)

<3

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art: 3 Ready for Curation! =)

Form/Color
Okay, this obviously isn't the most aesthetically pleasing in the world, but honestly I like it. Colored pencil is a really hard medium to get right, much harder than people think. A lot of the curations I've been doing recently haven't focused on all of the details that help bring a picture to life, but you did an awesome job doing that here.

Pokemon
Slowpoke is pretty basicly drawn, but the story of Slowpoke is what makes this section okay for me. You have the Slowpoke with some obvious emotion on its face, dreaming of being a pretty rad Slowbro (I like the sunglasses on both of Slowbros faces 8)). Shellder is pretty well drawn too, which is good! There's clear emotion and story telling through the Pokemon that you've drawn and that makes it very easy to be happy with your work.

Obviously, in future attempts, especially for harder Pokemon, I would encourage you to shade your works more. This is really where colored pencils becomes a pain in the tuckus. It can be tiring to be constantly pushing down on the pencil to create a truly dark color of shade from a pencil, but the effect is really awesome when you do it. This will also take off the pressure of your outlines (your outlines are pretty good here to be honest, but it is a difficult thing to do). When you use dark colors to shade into outlines you don't really have to have such solid lines running around your piece. But like I said this is more for future pieces than this particular one.

Also kudos for doing an original pose on your Slowbro and even Slowpoke! It shows creativity and thought when you don't just reproduce the official artwork

Environment
The background isn't amazing here (not I'm not including the other Pokemon in the background), but again, the little additions you put in help make the image even better. Stuff like, the shells on the beach and the little grains of sand are just nice elements and show that you put effort into the piece. Also, the way you have water splashing off of the rock is a really cool and believable. Same with the wading you have of the water!

Again, a more clean background would be nice in future pieces. If you really think about it, the sand is just two squiggly lines colored in. The sky/sun/cloud are kinda blandly thrown in too, it's not that they are bad just sort of generic/cliche amount of effort. Also, it looks like you're trying to have the water be receding after being on the sand, but the effect isn't really successful. I'm not totally sure how to fix that because it's kind of complex, but I need things to point out so bear with me.

Improvements
1. Add shading to your images to make them look more realistic!
2. Work on your coloring / cleanliness a little

Score
I don't have much to say about this image other than I liked it. Sorry if I didn't really say a lot of positive, but overall good!

55/100
@swiftgallade46;

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art: 3 Ready for Curation! =)

@Elamite; Yeah, I tried some shading but it didnt show up too well thanks to my scanner I think the reason it looks generic is cause i was goin for kind of a cartoony look to complement the joke of the image lol Thanks for the input! =] (and the Slowpoke btw)

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art: 2 Ready for Curation! =)

I changed my mind and decided to do Reaching for the Crimson Star instead. So claimed.

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art: 2 Ready for Curation! =)

Reaching for the Crimson Star Curation
@swiftgallade46;

Form

Everything looks pretty spot on for the form. Easy to tell it's a Ralts and all that. I particularly like the curve of the feet—I think that you managed to portray that there's feet there while at that same time keeping that dress-like feel that this mon and its evolutions are known for. The back horn on the helmet is sort of turned more toward the viewer than a true to the side version, but it doesn't take away from the picture at all.

The only thing I found kind of odd about the Pokemon itself were the feathers on the back of the legs. From what most pictures display, those bits are like leftover parts of the dress dragging on the ground, as if someone put on too big of socks or something. In this piece, they look a little too jagged to be part of the smoother body—a complete opposite to the gentle curve of the feet otherwise. There's also a curve coming off the bottom of the foot to the feathers which makes them look elevated, and even though the Ralts is floating, it seems to defeat gravity and stand out oddly. A flatter slope coming off the bottom of the foot would've probably been more fitting. This is a very small thing, though it was something my eye picked up right away.

I especially like the detail you put into the eyes, showing them glowing with psychic energy to explain how the Ralts is floating in the first place. I think that is exactly right. The glow continues around the body of the Pokemon too, although it's pretty faint. I think you could definitely increase this effect, such as making it thicker/darker closer to the body, and then have it gradually fade out. This would just draw a little more attention to it and make it more noticeable. I think it was a great idea for you to put in, so people should see it! Additonally, I think this same technique could be used on the stars too, since they're giving off light.

Technique

What the Pokemon is doing is also portrayed well, particularly in the arms. These seem to be reaching, as what is indicated in the title of the piece, and its shown through the use of diagonals, which suggest motion. It's a great technique and also helps draw the viewer's eye to the crimson star.

The rest of the body doesn't show a diagonal though—this looks like a crescent. This makes me think of like a fetus curve, or some other “safe” posture. The opposite of motion. The two messages sort of clash a little, so my eye sort of pauses when it tries to decide if the Ralts is truly moving toward the star or if it's just sitting suspended in space. Showing the rest of the body at a diagonal (or at least a little straighter to not mess with the arm posture) may have helped with that effect and really conveyed the motion.

I do like that you stuck to the traditional dark outline for the Ralts too, just like in the official artwork. You did that on many of the background objects too, and that gives the piece an interesting effect. However, if you do do this, be sure to watch for your previous pencil lines. Darker lines like black are good for Pokemon outlines, but if you're going to use a color line, be careful that we can't see where you sketched it in too. This occurs in a lot of the stars, like the one in the top right corner. It's not a super big thing, but it does make it look a little rushed.

On the same lines, be careful when coloring with colored pencils. I know they're pretty tough to use, but there are a couple areas where the color doesn't look filled in all the way and there are spots of white, such as in the craters of the moon and the background sky. Colored pencils definitely take some patience, but it's well worth it. If you keep going over the area lightly, the color patch becomes smooth, and that will help avoid some of those unintended white spaces. We don't want scribbles!

Shadows can also be done in the same way, if you go over a certain area more than the others. I didn't see a lot of shadows in this piece, even allowing for a less-than-stellar scanner. I don't think many would've been needed—mostly places on the Pokemon where we'll know they'll be, such as the meeting of different appendages. I do see a little bit of darker area where the hat meets the head, but I think that could've been even darker. An art teacher I had once said that the darkest place is between two objects.

Knowing your scanner isn't the greatest (as I saw Smores comment about shadows too), you could maybe try to purposely exaggerate them a little to make sure they show up. I don't think the stars in the background necessarily needed shadows, but I think that the moon could've benefited from them a little, to show it's a sphere. That “dark side of the moon” look, you know? The far edge, perhaps the one on the right side, could be slightly darker. The same thing can be done with the craters to make them really seem like holes, particularly underneath the circular lips and on the inside of the crater on the upper lip.

Colored pencils are super hard to use, but I know you can do it! I do see a little bit of color variance on the helmet too, so I know the shadows are almost there.

Background

This background is pretty simple, but it serves its purpose. The other stars in the sky, as well as the circle of the moon, put a ring around the Ralts to really make it the center point of the piece, and that's good for keeping attention on the focal point.

The lightness of the Ralts' body and the yellow of the moon did clash a little bit to me, however. Because the moon was so pale, it sort of blended in with the Pokemon. That sort of can't be helped in this piece, since the Ralts was placed in the center of the piece, and the moon is, well, bright.

That's one thing you can definitely think about as you continue to make more art—composition. Generally speaking, centering things in the middle of a canvas is not always the most interesting. There's a reason school pictures make you shift a little to the side! This is called the rule of thirds and used in both art and film and probably other areas (a lot of story arcs are in three acts as well). If you split the canvas up into thirds both horizontally and vertically, the most eye-drawing areas are where those lines meet.

As a radical thought, imagine moving around all the pieces in this work. What if only a tiny bit of moon was visible? What if the crimson star was much larger? What if the Ralts was further away? That would really portray the struggle of trying to reach it, if say the Ralts was in the bottom right corner and the crimson star stayed where it was. This adds a bit of dynamic and enriches the story you already have.

On the whole, I am happy with the thought and story that went into this piece. This is just some food for thought. A lot of things go into making art, and URPG is the perfect place to experiment with wild ideas and different styles.

Result

There are couple of things to keep in mind, like being sure to fill in lines, shadows, and composition, but I'm happy with the way this turned out. I can tell you did put some thought and time into it, and that's what good art needs. I'm scoring this 45/45, so that means Ralts is captured!

If something was confusing or worded strangely, be sure to let me know!

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art: 2 Ready for Curation! =)

Thanks for the curation, Winter! I will definitely keep your advice in mind for future pieces. I really like what you said about the rule of thirds and that's got me thinking of some new ideas. Thanks for my cute little Ralts! She will one day become a #Bausstatus Mega Gardevoir 8)

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art: 1 Ready for Curation! =)

I'm going to claim DIS IS CUTE...I THINK. as well. #gettingstuffdone

 

Re: Swiftly Drawn Art: 1 Ready for Curation! =)

DIS IS CUTE...I THINK Curation.
@swiftgallade46;

Form

My favorite part of this picture is the eyes. The originals look so blank and creepy, but you've managed to make them cute and anime-like, and I think it fits really well. I much prefer this version than the normal one. I also think that it creates a very nice effect with the pink petals floating around. The eyes are definitely the focal eye-drawing point, and after that, because of the color match, the viewer's eyes are taken around the rest of the image.

The head in general turned out really great. The ears and the tufts on the head look very natural and fluffy. For the most part, the rest of the body does too. There were just a couple areas that looked off. The first one that caught my eye was the arms. The left one seems to be joined to the body near the shoulder in the fur spike, but the right one seems to be joined at the top of the stomach. I get why this happened, since you wanted to stretch the arms out, but it looks kinda weird that they aren't joined where they should be.

I think what messed you up here were those tufts at the shoulder. They're like shoulder pads and not actually part of the bone structure. Drawing the bone structure/base body first and then adding the furt on later may help this sort of thing in the future. The same thing sort of happened near the feet, too. At first I though the angle of the feet was what looked weird, but I think now it's because of the same reason—the fur snuck into the body structure and modified it a little.

In reality, the body curves inward to meet the legs, so it's more triangle-shaped. Here the body is more box-like, like the tufts were the guiding structure instead of the legs. The basic body being drawn first could've helped here too, since those bottom tufts are just decoration. This isn't a major thing as it's not off by much, but it's still something to keep in mind. Everything else looked pretty good.

Technique

I am very pleased to see shadows in this piece. I especially like the ones on the head, underneath the ears and fur tufts. These were done great. The only place I would like to see a few more are on the lower body. There are some near the shoulders, but they sort of fade out. Granted, some of this may be because of your scanner too, so I did take that into account. A little shading on the sides of the body would've given the cat the illusion of being a little more rounded, which would've also helped lessen that box-look.

The other place you may want to consider some shading is where the Espurr actually touches the ground. Like I mentioned before, the darkest place is between two objects, and even if it's only a very thin amount of shading, it'll let the viewers have a clearer indication of where the light source is coming from (which is assumed mostly above right now). Careful on the tail area too. Because the end is so far away from the body, and if the sun is indeed overhead, it should actually be darker near the base.

I mentioned centering images in your last piece, but I think that in this case, from this angle, centering is definitely part of the appeal. Because the grasses bend outward and the cat is laying on its back, it looks a little like a cradle, and I think that's pretty neat. It helps influence the cute factor you were going for and correlates to the title, since most people find babies/young animals to be very cute indeed. Good job on that.

Background

The background here is simple, but I really like the little details you put into it. The petals, dandelions, and bugs all look great. In my opinion, it's really the little things like that that make a piece come together. That's how people can tell real time and effort went into a work.

Using varied colors in the grass was also a good choice. That is much more interesting than just one shade, and it makes it appear to be a field or something where there is a mix. There are some scribbles, however, and a few parts where we can still see white. Like I said on your other piece, be sure to fill those in. In this case, before you actually draw the grass itself, a gentle solid color would probably work as a backdrop. That could also help you blend some of the colors together. You could put this layer on afterward too, just to cover up the spaces or areas such as the top left corner that are lines in the opposite direction of the grasses.

Overall, the background definitely worked. There was some effort put into it, yet at the same time it doesn't take away from the mon either.

Result

I liked this piece very much. Any higher rank and I probably would've been more picky about it, but I think it does what it needs to. I can definitely see the technique coming through, and the elements you chose to include really work. I'm scoring this 50/45, so that means Espurr is captured!