In the Music Shop

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Thrace

@Renduin one thing that jumps out at me is the blurry banjo on the left. If you were standing behind it and looking forward I don't think that it would be blurry.

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sergio

@Renduin

I really like the lighting set and atmosphere. The shop, for me, is gorgeus. There are some constructive aspects that must be corrected like the shoulders, the left arm and the left hand fingers. I get the idea of the banjo but it looks a bit odd.

I really think that, improving a bit your human body drawing, you'll get a very appealing style.

What is the character looking at? It's not clear. Thinking in similar illustrations I did see before, normally the characters are clearly doing something. Eating a sandwich, reading a magazine, sleeping, thinking, always with very descriptive gestures.

I think your image will gain interest if the boy handles an instrument like an harmonica and looks at it expressing desire. Then the image will narrate a story...

Please, excuse my english.

audrey dowling

I agree with Sergio, I would rework the body position
The perspective of the display he's leaning on seems a bit off as well. it looks seen from up high while the rest of the scene is more at eye level

NoWayMe

I agree with everything that was said so far (construction of the body, especially the hands, perspective, adding a bit of storytelling...) Another thing I think would improve the whole image is changing some of the violins in the back for other instruments. Right now it is extremely repetitive and I would vary it a bit with instruments of big-medium-small sizes to avoid the "ladder effect".

I have seen your introduction thread and you have improved tremendously is only 3 years! I hope this forum will help you as much as it is helping me.

mattramsey

@NoWayMe said:

I agree with everything that was said so far (construction of the body, especially the hands, perspective, adding a bit of storytelling...) Another thing I think would improve the whole image is changing some of the violins in the back for other instruments. Right now it is extremely repetitive and I would vary it a bit with instruments of big-medium-small sizes to avoid the "ladder effect".

I have seen your introduction thread and you have improved tremendously is only 3 years! I hope this forum will help you as much as it is helping me.

Second these crits.

seanwelty

@Renduin I like the feel of the lighting in this piece. What bothers me about the figure is the person has the head of a boy, but the shoulders of a man. Notice the abrupt angle from the neck to the shoulders. Try making this a more sweeping line so the shoulders are less bulky. Also the neck goes straight down from the head to the shoulders. This is a very unnatural posture. Most of the time the neck projects forward. Just observe people in profile. You will almost never see the neck vertical. All that said, you can get this image to feel right and gorgeously rendered, but it will not change the fact that it does not tell the story well. What does this boy see that has him so excited. I think you need to show what has him so excited. As far as the blurred banjo goes, I understand why you did it, but it does not fit the way you rendered the rest of the image. If your boy is the focal point everything that is the same distance behind the boy as the banjo is in front should be blurred as well. Another way to pull focus is to reduce the contrast and details of the objects. You did to with the violins in the window and the display racks in the background. You should treat the banjo the same or treat the violins and racks in the background with a blur. I thing shallow depth of field with heavy broken is effective in photography and film, but less effective in illustration.

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Will Terry

@Renduin I think you've already received some great ideas. Moving forward I would I would encourage you to make sure you have really good reference for this style. The more academic or "realistic" the style the more necessary it is to shoot good reference with a model lit from the same place as the light you want in your illustration. All of the best realism painters rely on great reference. I love your attitude of chalking this up to a learning experience!

Bobby Aquitania

I know you're moving on but also pay attention to After Thought. Most times people draw the figure first, but draw the background either simultaneously or afterwards. I would suggest making use of layers. Do your background at least 75% complete on a separate layer, and your figure on it's own layer as well. Then you can move them around to what pleases your eye the most.

Right now I see the banjo's problem isn't that it's blurred as so much as an after thought allowing the full arm to be shown. That's not important, the banjo covering his arm would be more convincing. The objects in the stand are floating with no symmetry, not that it needs it, but one or two objects would have accomplished the same effect, that would say display case. What you have is messy display case, maybe you were going for that, but it detracts from your figure's focus... the same goes for the back of the cello. Feels like an after thought to fill in the corner. A side view of the cello would have told your story better...

I agree with Sean's advice on the figure, and Will's idea of lighting a model to help with the realism. Anyway just wanted to give you one more thing to consider, good luck with your next step. Peace.

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