Hey Chip,
Great art you've been posting lately. I especially like the last one as I think you've given your work added dimension with the cast shadows. Really well done.
However, there's something I see you not doing in most of your pieces that flattens them out:
- Form shadows and light
- Occlusion shadows
Form shadows and form light are shadows and light that wrap around the form, they don't just exist on the edges. Here's an image of what I'm talking about:
Understanding how light and shadow define form directly rlates to having a solid understanding of the shapes you're drawing.
Those top 3 drawings should have A LOT more volume to them. Instead they feel kind of like paper cutout drawings.
Occlusion shadows are dark accents that occur where forms come close enough to each other that they crowd out the light. They leave a small dense area of shadow. You crazy guy there should have a lot more of these to define his shape a little more. I've added both form shadows and occlusion shadows to in a paintover below that illustrate this.
And here's a call out sheet specifically showing what's what.
Hope that helps. Keep posting! I'm seeing improvement with each post!