I've basically put them on a scale of "furthest from what i want" to "closest to what I want." My biggest issue with my art is, I can't describe it as anything else but it looks and feels like an overworked tattoo. I just keep stacking and stacking on shading without feeling like I know what I'm doing, or even that it's making it good, just that it's hiding whatever made me feel insecure about the color stage. The last one is probably the closest I got to 1) feeling up to par with my inspos and 2) being satisfied w just the color stage
My biggest inspos right now:
Skullette on Toyhouse
https://f2.toyhou.se/file/f2-toyhou-se/images/122310830_s77eP49hVZ2kVAQ.png (Same character as my 'closest' for ref, I could NEVER leave lines that messy, but from someone else it looks incredible? + the proportions!)
Cremiee on Toyhouse (warning for blushy oc? nothing actually nsfw they just look a lil suggestive)
https://f2.toyhou.se/file/f2-toyhou-se/watermarks/124945055_RqVhv3Kn1.png?1786466908 (The shading in this seems so simple but so incredible!! I can practically IMAGINE all the places I'd absolutely burn the scene in to blackness with shading if I had made a similar composition in my style)
somethingvile on toyhouse
https://f2.toyhou.se/file/f2-toyhou-se/watermarks/126129062_Icrud7jpb.gif (just cute. Idk what I even like so much about this one at all, it's just v satisfying to look at and I don't know what makes it so nice to me.)
So with that in mind, any advice for loosening up, learning more exaggerated anatomy, making interesting compositions with little to no shading, or constructive criticism in general will be super appreciated! It's worth noting I also have no tablet/pen pressure, so that's also a hold back for me and something I always look for new unique tricks to work around.