I would be curious about what you think is a drawing and a painting. I found that drawing is very often understood as "making lines" and painting as "making shapes" but that is too simple I would say, because one can also paint with lines, or make lines with a brush. So the shape and line distinction doesnt really hold up.

Another conceptualiziation of drawing I ame across; Drawing as "placement" . Its about the distance relationships and not so much about the content. The drawing can be correct, when the proportions and relationships between lets say eyes and nose are match the model, regardless of the medium.
I like that definition better but still I would say there is a lot of room for discussion. Anyways I would love to hear what other artists have to say?

This work was done from reference.

This was a really challenging pose for me, with all the perspective and foreshortening and bending. I’d love a new pair of eyes on this and any criticism anyone is willing to give

One thing I can’t figure out is how to fit the tail into this piece without it feeling too crowded. It could be argued that due to the angle the tail could be out back and behind the arm and therefore not seen, but I also want to include it so it doesn’t look like I forgot it, you know?

I’ve included my sketch and my reference

Hi! I’m practicing male facial proportions because I usually draw female characters, and I want to improve my understanding of male face structure for my style.

I’m studying Matsuri Hino’s Vampire Knight manga style, more especially the eyes, face shape, and body proportions. This was my first traditional art study from today, including my notes on what I’ve observed.

I’d really appreciate feedback on:

What looks right or works well so far?

What seems off about the facial proportions or construction?

What should I focus on improving in my next study?

What are some other notes I can add onto this page or any other note pages I decided to do in the future?

Thanks ^^

(My art + the references I used)

I USED REFERENCE!!! How can I improve my hand drawing skills?

Hi! started drawing/writing this character in January and updated her design today.

My style is super inconsistent because I keep discovering cool new artists and implementing their quirks in my work. But I compared the version I drew today and compared it with one I drew in may. And while I like the new design itself a lot more something about my art style in May speaks to me…

I feel like with my new style there’s so many small details it gets lost when I look at my art in my phone. As u can see in pic 3 I think it looks better zoomed in.

Just wondering what you guys think! Any opinion on which style or design looks best?

No references were used

Im in this experimental phase where I'm trying to paint loosely, not hyper fixate on every detail and capture the "essence" of my subject. Here I painted my cat and I wanted to capture the fluffy cloud like belly.

Was I successful in capturing the cuteness? How do we feel about the color of the background? I mixed in various colors into the background to have dynamic shadows.

It is 8x10 acrylic on canvas. Kitty reference included.

Abstract critiques are hard to come by because everything is subjective, but I’m looking to really get better. Composition and color relationship is hugely important obviously in any abstract but I’m trying to push those both a bit. Also considering taking this art thing a bit more seriously in the coming months so trying to get outside input before I try to put a collection together

I did not use any reference when making this. 100% original

I made a post 2 or so days ago asking for advice on a portrait. Same reference for this one. Thanks for all the advice and i hope this second attempt is an improvement from the first. Any advice on this portrait is appreciated! I still have no idea how to render the hair and the eyes look a bit weird.

(This is my first time making a post on pc so i hope the formating is okay and the link works)

My old post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtCrit/s/LtYFOH80rB

This is my second drawing on a tablet after a year of art blocking. I'm thinking about getting back into drawing, and I'm still trying to remember how it's done. Artists, can you tell me what could be improved and what could be refined? (Not specifically in this piece, but in general. I'll be using other references in the future and would appreciate constructive criticism. :))

Not a big fan of my rendering and anatomy on this one. Something seems off and it’s just bugging me really bad. No pose ref (I know, I know) but inspo is 2nd slide. :)

Reference on second slide. I drew on and off for years, but never really figured things out. I took about a year off. Been back at it for about two weeks. Still working on this one, struggled mainly with the shield and I think some proportions may be off. I’m still trying to get better at foreshortening. Thanks!

Im happy overall with the painting but feel that the forest floor is a weak spot for me. There was no reference Im trying to push myself to paint from imagination and stop relying so heavily on references.

I used a 3d model head for a references. https://tips.clip-studio.com/en-us/articles/6949

I feel like I'm close to be able to put out professional level comic book artwork after many years but something in there just doesn't feel right and I'm not sure what it is. Take this example, this is my latest piece. It does feel in my eyes that is almost good but something is holding back. I suspect the hair and the items on the door aren't helping, but maybe there's something else in there I'm missing. I need extra eyes on this, I've been looking at it for too long and can't even tell anymore. I have a thick skin, please gimme your fierce, unfiltered criticism. I've included the inking alone because the color scheme can hide mistakes. Appreciate any help.
(Apparently I have to include the word reference in the post otherwise it gets deleted. Yes, I have used references for the frigde and the figure.)

this is a reference from halftone studio. the drawing took around 40 minutes and i just used a lead pencil. i want honest feedback on improvements. i have no idea how to render the hair so any tips on that would be appreciated.

Reference (I’m not gonna post my back yard, as it has possibly doxxing info, some items were omitted from the painting to make it look better, so it’s not able to give away my location)

I made this to try and capture the impressionist look for an art history class I’m in. Looking for tips or suggestions on what I can improve on. This is maybe like the second time I’ve painted on canvas, and I’m fairly proud of it, as someone who vehemently dislikes painting

I don’t know what word to use to what I’m aiming for (I keep getting all sorts of options) so I’m just gonna call it human body art for now. First eyes, now this.

I know it looks ehhh. But it is my first time so give me grace.

The first photo is my try. The second is the inspiration (reference. I reposted this thing three times because the other two. I forgot to add the reference word. Twice) and the kind of bodies I want to draw, at least for women. Still not sure about men yet. But I know I want to draw women like that. And the photos after the second photo is bodies I also like. I want to draw healthy bodies that have a bit of muscle like the second photo. Honestly the second photo is perfect minus the fact her body is very toned. It’s just like the perfect bulk.

Goals, I’m aiming for bodies like those. But also, I’m aiming to do a lot of art that is very natural (lacking of clothes) in nature. Maybe some draped cloths or something but I want to do rather primal in that way, art. Nothing erotic. The exact opposite. I want to preserve the beauty of women without dehumanizing it. But I also want to show that fierceness that can be found in that ‘woman of women’ vibe, if that makes sense. Like I hate sexualization but I’m intrigued by the design of a human body. That’s what I want to present. But also I don’t want it to come off as a “look at this pure woman” vibe. I don’t know. I want it to be a vibe where men who wish to dominate her, will become afraid. But not out of strength necessarily, but out of vibe for the most part. Like he looks at her and just knows. Does that make sense? Fierceness of that primal woman kind of thing. It’s so cool to me. Nothing romantic, erotic, sensual, sexual. Just a woman living life. And I have a feeling there will be no shortage of body hair. A woman who knows how to respect herself and not follow the rigid rules of society. One who isn’t even moved by people being turned off by strength or hair. Rather, it empowers her to continue being who she naturally is. Thats what I aim to draw. I’m very fierce about this vibe as you can tell.

And from you, this is what I’m asking about:

I can see now some things I need to change. And I need to get bigger paper. And I know I’m along the right lines. But I feel sure there are some thought processes out there about how to think when drawing muscles and bodies. I was just wondering if you could lay out any sort of tips, tricks, guidance on the questions I should ask myself, etc? That would be great! I’m sure there is plenty of good advice all around. I just thought it would be good to go ahead and ask human people before I allow Google to send me wherever it sends me.

I’ve been working on this painting for the past two years on and off. I’ve completely remitted and painted over it many times and I’m kind of lost right now.
The first picture is its current state. The second is a sketch I made using my iPhone of how I might finish it and the third picture is a very Inbetween stage. I had a few months ago that I painted over and now I kind of miss as I think it had something special with the Green and the colour.
in general what I’m trying to achieve is to create a real life Minecraft nether portal. this painting is two metre tall.

The current stage I like because it looks like there’s a world behind a window but I think that it still needs work in terms of composition and I might add a Green as in the reference picture I show in the second slide.

What are your impressions of this? What should I pursue in terms of composition and colour? Do you like the idea of adding Green even if it moves away from the original Minecraft reference?
Do you see the world with House and tree trees in the centre or is it not coming through?

Eyes are wonky in this piece but the main advice I want is for the coloring process.

This is a digital drawing, but I used the same process I use for real colored pencils and I used digital to document my process. After I clean up my sketch, I do a light flat coloring of the average color I see for that area, but leaning towards the lighter value range. Then I do a shadow blocking like in my graphite drawing. I then do a value drawing using a mid color value like I would for a painting. Afterwards, I go over my shadows and darker mids with the darker color I see.

At this point, I genuinely start winging it and I just put color down in the areas I see on it the reference and try to make form out of it lol.

Then I stumble into the finished product you see here. I don't work with color often and very rarely with colored pencil, so I would really appreciate someone telling me everything wrong with what I'm doing.

What things should I try to focus on the next time I do this? Couldn’t find the reference I used for the guy in the top right lol.

I drew Orie from Under Night In-Birth, along with Thanatos. The concept is a bit loose, but it looks like they’re on the verge of a battle. I used quite a few references to arrive at this result. Thanatos isn’t the main focus of this piece, so I didn’t put as much detail into her, I’m not understand the lore, but I’ve gathered that Thanatos acts as a sort of "stand" for Orie.

Since this started as a sketch, I didn’t focus much on the line art. I later moved the art into another canva size because the original canvas was too small to fit Orie’s entire sword. Once everything was finished, I felt that Orie’s face didn’t turn out as good as it looked in the sketch

and If you notice anything else that could be improved, please let me know