Hey Cress! Wanted to drop you a line and some critique. :)
I think your strong suit is really color. You seem to have this pastel, really airy and light type of color schemes going on--it reminds me a lot of traditional air brush or fantasy games like Children of Mana. I think that's really a part of your own unique style here.
What I did want to point out is your approach to art. Technique aside,
what will make you the most popular is your tone and approach to art. Right now, it seems as if your approach is all about status and popularity. In your main thread question, you ask/state: "
I AM struggling on figuring out what would be popular" or when you ask people about your art sometimes you say "
Is it too ___?" I've never seen an artist get where they want or feel fulfilled (or become popular) by stressing over what will make them popular or favorable or even sell. The great Masters made art from their heart--they make art to make themselves happy, to express who they are, and some people will hate it--and others will think it's the best thing they have ever seen. Art is much too subjective to worry on what other people think--the only thing that matters is what you think.
With that said here are some
techniques you can work on to hone your skills further:
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Shapes. Shapes are one of the foundations to art. Right now, there are no solid shapes in your drawings. For example
here is a red line of one of your most recent drawings. Shapes give an object life by giving it mass and making the entire body look fluid and believable. Pokemon are incredibly simple shapes--ovals, circles, cylinders. One of the most noticeable things in your drawings is that these shapes are never completely "done". As in the head, the lines--if they continued through the ear--wouldn't connect. So, the head looks "off" because it's really just a series of lines.
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Complex Shapes. You'll need to get the basic shapes down first to do more complex shapes--such as humans. People try to jump straight into Manga-like styles because it looks so simplistic but even the best and most successful manga artists didn't merely practice the techniques of the simplistic shapes. Instead, they learned real human anatomy, sketched real people or realistic subjects and learned human anatomy. You can't stylize an object successfuly or most accurately without knowing the object you are stylizing. This is why your humans look "off". You seem to be copying lines you've seen others make, such as the curve from the cheek bone to the chin or the curve of the cheek bone to the top of the skull. Why do those curves exist in Manga? ( ...... *Gives time to think about and answer.* ...... ) It's because the cheek bone sticks out of the skull, which is the 'bump' you're seeing. The jaw than is inset deeper into the skull before the chin protrudes out slightly. This is why those curves exist in this simplistic Manga style. When you get more advanced, you'll learn about how making the cheek bump higher, rounder or more sharp will change the apparent "attitude" of the character. This is the difference between characters looking innocent, sexy or rugged/brutish. (You can do that with *any* feature--eyebrows, eyes, chin, length of the neck, etc.)
Some tips: Be fluid. Try drawing on paper. Your wrist should be very loose. Your lines aren't going to be perfect. Don't try to make them perfect. Don't worry about if it's right or wrong--don't worry about what other people do--just relax, take a breath and start to draw what you see in your head. Look at the picture as a whole--it's easier to do this by standing far away from the picture (whether on the computer or on paper). Remember that everything in the image needs to work together to look like a cohesive whole. Start drawing basic shapes and successfully draw some really basic fruit or objects with shapes before moving back onto Pokemon or fantasy forms. You need to know how to draw realistic forms first. Look up things such as basic drawing tips, complex shapes or gesture drawing on YouTube. Video tutorials are incredibly helpful. Also, there seem to be a lot of great artists and helpful people here--and there are many on other forums as well (and deviantArt). However, depending on how far you want to go and what you want to do professionally (if anything) with art, you'll need to ask those people for their input as well. It's pretty intimidating (at least it is for me) but throwing yourself in the deep end and engaging in a community of professional or prior successful artists and getting eaten alive is exactly what will make you move further, faster. Of course, nail those basic shapes first. ;)
And finally--some awesome references I personally love. :) Hope you find these helpful / inspiring!
My own art reference collection
Tutorials I found helpful
Video tutorials
