Thread: Vetting Eevee

Warning, huuuuge picture O.o Actually looks better over at deviantart.

"This piece has quite the funny story. Originally took my tablet out for whatever reason, and ended up sketching an Eevee in SAI to see how much I remembered from copying Eevee pictures the previous day (which I did because I joined Pokémon Ultra RPG and I loooove it), and it turned out so well people on Discord went totally wild for it, so I had to draw a background and whatnot. It's still not a full-fledged piece as I couldn't be bothered to properly lineart it, but I've always loved sketchy outlines so I think it has a certain charm to it. It looks cute."

Submitting it for as much cash as it earns because I already have an Eevee and got into drawing them to familiarize myself with the anatomy and looks.

Spoiler:

PS pretty nervous what crit it will get because, like, I know it's not perfect but I'm afraid my poor little soul won't be able to take it *insecurity on* *hides in a hole*

Hi Renee! I'm Ori from PBW but I'll be curating your piece for evaluation! Your Eevee is really cute, no need to be nervous about the critique ;;

++ Form ++
I can see the practice you put into drawing Eevee from the other days! You've got all the features in the right places, and the detail on the fur adds an interesting texture to the piece. She is sitting in a standard posture, but the theme of the illustration matches well so it looks very good! As you draw more Eevees and become familiar with the way you draw them, experimenting with new positions and postures can be a fun and easy way to create dynamic compositions.

++ Background ++
Great job with the vet room in the back! Eevee looks perfectly in-place, and I don't feel any extreme unbalance in from the subject to the background. I really like the detail you put into the certificate in the background as well. I personally have a very hard time with backgrounds, and man-made structures in general (straight angles and perspective are really hard orz), so I'm impressed with the structures in the room! Most of the lines follow the correct directions to provide depth to the objects and the room. The window corner is the only place that really stands out, as it is tilted towards the upper right, and creates a depth perspective different from the rest of the room. I tried to illustrate this in the image below!

Spoiler:

The rest of the room follows the horizontal lines featured on the sink and desk, so my only real nitpick is the window;; The trees outside are cartoony, but they remind me of the trees in-game! So they don't look too out of place.

++ Coloration ++
The picture overall has very good base colors. I don't think anything looks out of place, and shading is implemented. Your shading is very light, which creates a fluffy tone to compliment your sketchy lineart! Rooms are really hard to shade, as you have multiple light sources (presumably lights above the room, and the open window) but you did a great job. Shading below Eevee is also very pretty! Looks metallic and accentuates the table texture, which is really cool. Eevee herself has a bit of pillow shading, but that can be an easy fix. The inside of her left ear has a gradient light coming from the left, although the outer ear has a light coming from the top. This implies two separate lights on a part of her body that is very close together. It can be easy to overlook the big picture when you're shading, but below is a very easy to understand graphic on lighting by PurplePwny! I saw this picture a couple years back and it helped me start thinking about where the light was coming from when I was shading.

Spoiler:

The right skull, although it has less highlights, ends up looking a lot nicer because the lighting is balanced and not overshaded. Instead of shading each part of a figure separately, it's important to see where the light is reflecting on the subject, and how the rest of the picture is affected by that. Stronger values in your shading could help make the parts of Eevee that have depth pop more, and allow you to see her features better.

== Grade ==
I think your Eevee is a Medium rank piece! Once again, very cute, and well done drawing all of the background. You paid a lot of attention to detail and perspective with it! As you yourself stated this was a more casual doodle piece, with some changes to the shading, and composition, you can very easily make Hard rank next time!

++ Suggestions! ++
Starting from Medium, it is discouraged to draw just what you see in official pokemon art. Naturally as you pull what you remember from memory, you've only practiced a short while, so it looks like a standard profile shot. However, the effort put into background and the scene overall contributed to the score I've given! Since you're getting used to her form, paying attention to references is important, but it can lock you into drawing static and repetitive poses. When you feel comfortable enough, I recommend trying to imagine Eevee running, eating, or sleeping, and flesh those ideas out from your mind onto paper. You also mentioned sketchy lineart, and I think that's a personal decision to make! If you want to continue on with this style and really own it, I think it'll have a distinctive charm and unique feel! If you feel like you want to try something different and work towards a sharper, cleaner looking lineart, that's great as well. Art style is something that's more of a journey, and you should definitely go out of your comfort zone to try new techniques and see what you can create!

$10,000 is yours, and I hope you'll continue to draw more Eevees in the future ^^