Hey all! I just made an account here at the SVS forums, and I'm excited to get involved here! I've been a listener to the podcast since it came out and a huge fan of the artists that created this website. Just for some background on me, I am currently in my gap year between high school and college but I plan on attending Nossi school of art in the fall for their illustration course.

Now onto the critique. In the past week, I finally got an XP-pen drawing tablet. This is an illustration I made to practice using this tablet. Also, I am still kinda new to photoshop so any advice on how to better use it is much appreciated! What I really want a critique on is the composition of the piece and how I did with the storytelling aspect of it, but really any advice you all have on anything you see let me know! I am all ears. Also, this was my first time making the glowing effects that are coming off the chest and I am not 100% sold on the way I did it. If anyone has any better way Pleaaase share it.

Thanks, guys! -Isaac

@Erin-Cortese Wow, thank you so much! The glow that you added really helps the piece! Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and do the draw over. I honestly did not expect such a good response from everyone, I'm so excited to be a part of this community! As soon as I wrap some things up with a commission I will be revisiting this piece to use you guys great advice! Thanks so much again!

@Ashton-H Thank you! That's awesome! We do have a lot in common, and I would love to collab at some point. Do you have an art Instagram or website I could follow your work on? I was thinking about making it open but I really wanted to leave a little up to the imagination for story purposes (and partly because I don't know what is actually in the chest). Thank you so much for taking the time to reply!

@ashinmakes Thank you muchly! I was trying to leave a lot up to the imagination as I dont have the story fleshed out yet. The character is a knight character I made up years ago and have just kept drawing him since. I will be posting more of him! Thank you for the advice! I was so focused on playing with the colors, as I dont draw with color very much, that I completely forgot about using value properly. Thank you! The changes you suggest along with better lighting coming from the chest should make this piece more like what I pictured. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it!

@shinjifujioka Thank you! I was trying to practice with color by using more muted colors throughout. As far as the trees in the background, your advice makes a lot of sense and I think it would help push them back, thank you! When I was drawing them I was playing with atmospheric perspective, but I didn't think about the fact that as it's a dense forest the trees would be darker rather than a middle grey. Still learning! thank you so much for your advice, I will be posting the revised version soon!

@Ashton-H Thank you! That's awesome! We do have a lot in common, and I would love to collab at some point. Do you have an art Instagram or website I could follow your work on? I was thinking about making it open but I really wanted to leave a little up to the imagination for story purposes (and partly because I don't know what is actually in the chest). Thank you so much for taking the time to reply!

@Erin-Cortese Wow, thank you so much! The glow that you added really helps the piece! Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and do the draw over. I honestly did not expect such a good response from everyone, I'm so excited to be a part of this community! As soon as I wrap some things up with a commission I will be revisiting this piece to use you guys great advice! Thanks so much again!

Hey all! I just made an account here at the SVS forums, and I'm excited to get involved here! I've been a listener to the podcast since it came out and a huge fan of the artists that created this website. Just for some background on me, I am currently in my gap year between high school and college but I plan on attending Nossi school of art in the fall for their illustration course.

Now onto the critique. In the past week, I finally got an XP-pen drawing tablet. This is an illustration I made to practice using this tablet. Also, I am still kinda new to photoshop so any advice on how to better use it is much appreciated! What I really want a critique on is the composition of the piece and how I did with the storytelling aspect of it, but really any advice you all have on anything you see let me know! I am all ears. Also, this was my first time making the glowing effects that are coming off the chest and I am not 100% sold on the way I did it. If anyone has any better way Pleaaase share it.

Thanks, guys! -Isaac