Aggg! Earwigs! Haven't had this problem, but I was reading Sydney Parkinson's journal, (the botanical artist on Captain Cook's first voyage) and he talks about how the flies in Tahiti would eat the pigment right off his paper. So I wouldn't be surprised if the earwigs eat the paint off of your paper. Do they eat through plastic? Maybe you can store palettes and artwork in a plastic bag or bin?

I think this a great start! You captured an engaging expression and it looks quite lovely overall. I have 3 critiques-

1. The left side of the forehead is breaking the shadow and saturation structure you have going on in the rest of the face, and is a little distracting. I think you went a bit too dark and saturated in this area.

2. Right now there's a very hard delineation between the skin and the hairline, and I think it could be transitioned with more care.

3. I think you could have included just a tiny bit of the shoulders and slight indication of her shirt, to balance out the weight of the head.

Overall you should be very proud! It doesn't look like a first attempt at water color at all.

I love this idea! It's shaping up really nicely. My only feedback would be to watch the proportions of the little girl's face. Her chin is quite large and it's making her look older than what her body indicates. Can't wait to see the final!

@Chip-Valecek Wow, the bathroom looks amazing! We remodeled ours last year, so I can sympathize with the pain on some level. We still haven't put up our trim.

Here's a couple more lighting studies:

@burvantill Thank you! Yes it's digital. I did a study with watercolors for the same class and it sucked. Lol.

@Alicja-W Thanks, that's the class these studies are from- the one by Dice and Robert. It is a ton of painting from life! I feel like I'm learning quite a bit though.

@MissMushy looks like your figure studies are going well!

I'm taking a couple of self-guided schoolism classes. For one class they've been having 5 studies per assignment, so I've already done 17 paintings and I'm only on assignment 4! Here are the ones I've done in July.

I think it's working pretty good so far, especially if you keep her skin simple, then she's contrasted by texture, much like Gustav Klimt did with his paintings. A fairly large block of smooth color, surrounded by detailed elements. I do feel the comp is feeling a little top heavy due to the light, un-textured bottom. What are your plans for that area?

I think a combo of the two would be good. I like the openess and distance of 2, but think it could do with some buildings to frame it. It would provide more depth and be more dynamic.

Hi @jdeebella ! Cute character. When I look at your drawing I think the reason it's looking flat is because you are being inconsistent with the lighting, values, and rendering, so it's organized in a way that is confusing for the viewer.

1. Lighting- Your cast shadow doesn't connect to his body and the position of it indicates the lighting is coming slightly from the back, while the nose and over all body indicates lighting coming more toward the front. Additionally your line work is heavier on the light side of the forms in many places. The tongue, eyes, and limbs don't seem to be affected by light and shadow at all.

2. Values and rendering- Part of the creature's body is rendered smooth, part is choppy, part is cross hatched. The rendering doesn't seem to be organized in any particular way, and therefore confuses the lighting and what the body of the creature is like. Is it furry? Is it hairless? It is shiny? Is it matte? The nose is rendered with a large harsh highlight and therefore seem reflective and smooth. The muzzle also seems to have a large harsh highlight. Is the muzzle also reflective and smooth or is it furry? If the muzzle is made with fur it wouldn't have a hard white highlight like that. If that part of the fur is supposed to be white, I would expect a fur texture to be indicated with linework.

I think you would benefit from reviewing how light falls on simple objects, and also how cast shadows work in perspective. I would also recommend taking a perspective course if you haven't done so already. It will help a lot and get you stronger in your constructive drawing. Keep up the good work!

Gorgeous work! I think you really conveyed the message in a creative way. I agree with every one about where the wave line falls. Other than that, I think if the woman was posed so she was floating on her back, with her hands behind her head, it would have had a slightly more relaxing, weekend feel. Right now her pose is propelling her forward straight back to Monday. Just a thought!