To fan art or not

[Diamondcz]

I think I have changed my mind. It is really wrong so I'd rather not post it and move on to something different. :/

[Tikki]

Hmm...I might be taking an inappropriate leap of judgement, but are you not posting because of det's comment? That shouldn't stop you. Your art is good. det is just pointing out things to improve it. you're just starting out, so you can't expect to be an expert at it.

det's comments are far more productive than comments like I made, where I offered no advice/criticism!

I'm sure you're nervous about sharing your art, especially since you're just starting out and this is completely new! you should certainly post it. det's crop of it looks great, and it's still ALL of your original art work!

think of it this way- all great writers have an editor. the editor takes the writer's product and changes it in a way so that the product's strengths are capitalized! That's what det did!

Don't get discouraged! It's a great piece and you should be proud of it! :)

[det]

Heh, yeah. I give you a little bit of background of myself: Have studied art and submitted my own fanart to Blizzard (though very cartoony). I work in animation, so it is not like I am just trying to be smart here.

I love boobies as much as the next man :) And you were concerned about them. Maybe not because of the same reason as I was.

You should certainly submit it. Not sure what DID cause your change of mind, but it shouldn't be the inability to take criticism - especially since you asked for our opinions

[Diamondcz]

It's not like that. You gave your opinion that the picture is wrong. I am not gonna submit a picture like that. And i'm probably not able to make it right. I am self-taught. I always wanted to study art but I was poor and couldn't afford that... a wrong turn of fate. I just draw because I something inside me is driving me towards that, I always have something to express and since I'm not good with words then this is the only way for me to express it right.

[det]

You mean you will not submit the picture with the cutoff that I suggested? Or a picture that now seems "wrong" to you?

I hope this doesn't discourage you in your work. You get better with practice. What if somebody said: "I like the picture, but that snakey tongue is disgusting"? Especially since you are self-taught, this is very well done. And being self-taught is a good reason to come to forums and take opinions from people who may be more experience, or who are actually professionals.

Artists always walk a thin line between rejection and approval. The very first thing I made my own was the line "Does anybody else beside your mom and your friends think it is good". This may sound cruel at first, but think about it for a second. Impressing your friends is easy. Impressing strangers is harder.

Go all out and and be daring. Draw a beautiful naked breast or crop the picture as suggested. I guess it is a photoshop work? So you even have an option to keep the framing and work on the weaknesses. Do not say "i'm probably not able to make it right".

Of course you are!

[Diamondcz]

What I meant was that I don't wanna submit it because it was drawn badly. Who would want to look upon that? :/

And this is not really and artistic forum but on the other hand, even on DevArt the professional artists don't go and give constructive comments to the amateurs, at least I've never seen that in a few year's I've been there. Therefore it's kinda hard to improve based on other people's opinions. :/

[Tikki]

it's really not badly drawn at all. put it this way. If I made that I would be splashing it around the new, left, right and center! You have great talent. That being your first SELF-TAUGHT peice...come on! Be proud of yourself! I'd be tattooing take to me if I had created it!

Art is VERY subjective. what some love, others don't. I mean, just look at the great master's of art. they're constantly being praised, or put down!

The important thing is that it's fun for you, and that you don't get discouraged! You should submit it! Det has experience in art (and breasts!), so he'd be a good one to take styling tips, and techniques from!

It's like any paper you write. You have drafts upon drafts before the finished product is done :) And that's why we're here! You can show us something, ask us what we think, change it up, show us again...etc...until you're pleased with it and then you can submit it to wow :)

[Diamondcz]

I'm not complaining about people liking it or not. I know that the art is subjective but I was talking about doing it right! I unintentionally disfigured a beautiful woman in my picture and it has been exposed to all of you :/ Drawing a human body without a model is not really easy so I'm still wondering if I'll be able to make it right.

[Valas Azuviir]

Originally Posted by Diamondcz

I'm not complaining about people liking it or not. I know that the art is subjective but I was talking about doing it right! I unintentionally disfigured a beautiful woman in my picture and it has been exposed to all of you :/ Drawing a human body without a model is not really easy so I'm still wondering if I'll be able to make it right.

Disfigured is too strong a word. Positioning was off, yes. But that's something that one figures out with experience and practice. Same with the proportioning, even those who do go to Art School make many a piece about which they're just not happy.

Practice practice practice. My ex-gf was an artist as well. I'd say she was pretty good, but even then, it meant a lot of practice and work. (And I've known some other artists in my time, all fairly decent to good in my view) Using pictures as reference material when not having someone willing to pose, is one trick you could pick up. You don't need pictures of page 5 girls, or girls who come out of Cosmo etc etc. Pictures of normal folks in your surroundings will do as well.

Each body is unique anyway, its more about finding why everything flows the way it does, when it does and how it all fits together.

Same with the tongue. Gene Simmons from Kiss is pretty famous for that tongue of his and keep in mind that with most humanoids the male is larger than the female. Now granted, Draenei are taller than humans to begin with, but this and this, should give you a scale idea. So in this pic, if the tongue were to go, to say around the level of where it meets the hair, and only then would you get the curve and tip, then it would probably flow a bit better.

Keep this in mind, everyone makes mistakes, how you handle your mistakes is what can help define you as a person. So you can be discouraged and run away, or you can go.. Ok.. Made a few errors, least see if I can't fix them.

And the first edit probably won't get them all, nor will the second, nor the third and quite frankly it doesn't matter how many edits it takes, as long as you eventually grokk what the problem was and how you resolved it. The journey truly is more important than the destination in this case.

Having said all of this, for a first piece, it's already quite impressive. Skin, noses, eyes, ears, hair and shading are pretty much spot on as far as I can see. And all of those things are fairly difficult to get right as well.

[xDarkDrifterx]

Being self taught and drawing this well (shading etc) you should definitely just make some changes to it as suggested (or not) and submit it. There's no reason not to - you have nothing to loose - and considering where you're starting in the scheme of drawing -you can only get better and better from here on.

I personally have no issues with the breasts - art is subjective - especially fan art that is manga / hentai / echi related (which is why no one's opinion anywhere should sway you - take the opinion's in - learn from them - but you don't always have to agree with them - this includes teachers IMO) and also 99% of women have a slight deviation in the size of each breast. Isn't the Bloodelf cupping one of the Dreanei's breasts? Thus causing the slight deviation? Well - that's how I saw it at least. The issue I had with it, was that I thought the Dreanei female's facial features where a bit square (or masculine).

BTW - You can't go wrong with Girl on Girl WoW IMO

Thanks for sharing - it takes some inner strength to post your personal creations online for the world to judge. Keep up the good work and come back and show us your next piece, or this one if you decide to make any changes.