Help! I just can't solve this..

[Kumica Truong 0]

This is doing my head in and I just can't seem to solve it (particularly the right arm and/or how it connects to the body/head). Anyone want to take a stab?

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@Kumica-Truong-0 i personally think the anatomy looks great!

[demotlj]

Do you actually mean the cat’s left arm? Assuming that’s what you mean (and that I haven’t lost track of arms in flipping things upside down and backwards) I think the problem is more the paw. I used my dog as a model and flipped the picture upside down.

As you can see, the top of the paw faces away from the viewer.

This is a tough spatial relations problem so I may not have it right but maybe it helps.

[Kumica Truong 0]

@demotlj yes, left arm, I meant left arm! Haha. I don't know why but despite having decent spatial awareness, by brain gets the left/right labels mixed up all the time (I'm visualising "right" but say "left")
Anywayyyy.. thanks so much for taking the time to model your dog I'll give your suggestion a try! So if I'm underdtanding correctly, you're saying we'd see the "heel" part of the paw right?

[Kumica Truong 0]

@Nyrryl-Cadiz aw thanks . Maybe I've been looking at it too long. And/or maybe I can get away with any flaws.. lol

[cszoltan]

I thing its good, for a cat it is perfect, both arms.
Great job!

[Kumica Truong 0]

@cszoltan aw thank you! I'm not completely convinced yet but my ego is loving this

[Ross Cuellar 0]

Personally I like it! I think that even if the paw doesn’t really bend that way, it makes sense for the story moment. I do have a theory though.
I noticed some tangents and maybe that’s affecting how you feel about it?
I marked them and did a quick ugly fix to show you what I mean.

[Kumica Truong 0]

@Ross-Cuellar-0 yes!! I definitely think it helps. Thank you!!
Do you think the angle of the head needs to turn a little more to the side now though?

[MOO]

I would say that the arm is okay but you might want to have the paw resting differently, instead of on the top of the paw, that seems a bit awkward. The pads seem like they should be resting on the bowl so yu would just need to flip it up, if that makes sense. I'm not savvy enough to sketch it out on here.

[MOO]

Here are a couple of sketches to try and show what I was saying. The first one actually ended up not much different than yours, then, on the second one I was thinking that maybe the arm was supposed to be facing the other direction? Anyway, for what it's worth

[Kumica Truong 0]

@Marsha-Kay-Ottum-Owen ooh the second could work! I like it. Thank you!
Yeh it gets confusing because I'm anthropomorphising the pose but not the body parts.. I think?

[Lovsey]

Hi! This is my first time posting and I’m super new to digital drawing but hopefully my perspective can still help you - take what you want and ignore everything else! Also, I’ve never overdrawn on anyone’s work before and, truth be told, I feel weird about it, but it’s also the best way for me to show what changes I would make in your situation.

I’m currently doing the Introduction to Gesture class on the SVS Curriculum and one of the construction methods is to do the pose yourself. When I do this pose (on the edge of my bed haha) my left hand is facing forward and there is tension in my pinky finger as it grips the edge...so I translated my hand into a paw for your image - it’s a really useful method!

I propped the back foot up onto the bowl because, to me, it seemed like it needed more tension (I would possibly also twist the foot around and show more of the bottom of the paw but my style is more realistic so I think this could work for your style and matching the direction of the other back leg)

I brought the tail more into the centre and added an outline on the other hind leg to give more definition to the rump area to show the twist in the body a bit more clearly.

I reduced the size of the ear that is further away from the viewer. And added a bit more ‘weight’ to the base of the fishbowl. Probably the biggest change came when I moved the fish - the cat wasn’t really focusing on it (that’s the hard thing about eyes that don’t have a definite pupil, the head angle is the only aspect showing eye direction although I really do like this eye style!)

All that said - I absolutely love the endearing character you’ve created and it is so much better than anything I have been able to draw digitally after months of learning how to use Procreate

[Kumica Truong 0]

Thanks so much for everyone's insights and suggestions - super helpful. I love this forum!

I just thought I'd give a bit more context. So this was the original illustration.. which I had just as much trouble with, but in the end managed to make it work.

I'm now wanting to use it for a pin design hence the black outlines and flat colour (of the version I asked for help with). It also means simplifying as much as possible without compromising the design. You'd think it would be as easy as tracing over the design (and usually it is!) but in this case, it's where I ran into issues.

Out of curiosity, do you think this one has the same issues and I've just masked them with a bit of rendering? Or is it just me that thinks this one works (better)?

[Kumica Truong 0]

@Lovsey I love how much you've thought about things and the physics of it all. Something I definitely need to improve on. Thanks for all your insight - definitely helpful and I agree with all your points.
The placement of the fish - yes!!
I like the angle of the left paw, but like you said, I agree, I think the back foot now needs to be twisting around as well. I think I would need to twist the entire bottom half of the body slightly so it shows more of her booty.

Side note - how good is Procreate! My Cintiq had unresolvable driver issues for months.. I eventually gave up and bought an ipad and apple pencil as a "solution".. and haven't looked back! I don't miss my Cintiq at all, although I occasionally have pangs of guilt when I see it collecting dust and remember how much I spent on it

[Lovsey]

@Kumica-Truong-0 This rendered version is gorgeous and I think you’re right, it doesn’t have the same problems. In fact, now I can see the form more clearly I can see that her rump is twisted further away from us than I realised on the flat colour version.

I think it’s still possible to translate this into a flatter image for your pin design if you alter the outline a bit from the original to suit the different style. In the outlined version the left paw looks more ‘complicated’ than on the rendered one because the asymmetry of the toes is more obvious (which is also in contrast with all of the other paws). The issue would likely be resolved if you make the toe shapes look more uniform and ‘pressed’ into the edge. I think you’re very close to getting it where you want it!

[Lovsey]

@Kumica-Truong-0 said in Help! I just can't solve this..:

Side note - how good is Procreate! My Cintiq had unresolvable driver issues for months.. I eventually gave up and bought an ipad and apple pencil as a "solution".. and haven't looked back! I don't miss my Cintiq at all, although I occasionally have pangs of guilt when I see it collecting dust and remember how much I spent on it

Shame about your driver issues making your Cintiq unusable, someone out there has to have a solution to the problem - I’d hold onto it and keep googling haha but perhaps it could also be worth something to someone who could use it for parts?!

Procreate is really good but also really confusing for me considering I’m coming from traditional art experience only.. I’m really not used to working with layers and I can’t seem to get my head around even selecting the right digital brush for the job! But I’ll get there with some persistence

[MOO]

@Kumica-Truong-0 I think it looks a lot better.

[Kumica Truong 0]

@Marsha-Kay-Ottum-Owen which one? My original rendered piece?

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@Kumica-Truong-0 I think it's looking great. But I think you should look out for that right hind leg and the fish bowl. They are creating a bit of a tangent.