Ali's Sketchbook & Improvement

Hey guys! I'm very happy to be a part of this forum. I'm in this very motivated improvement stage of my life and hope to learn and share my experiences with everyone.

To start off, I will post a WIP that I've been working on lately. It's been incredibly frustrating to work on, which means I definitely need to do more studies on it. Weapons, especially, are a very huge weak spot for me.

Hiya Ali, and welcome to the forum!!

This place is really friendly, so have a blast whilst you are here!!!!

What is it that's frustrating you with this image?? I think it looks pretty good at the moment. The lighting is good around her lower body, but given the elven nature of her dress and face, I think this would benefit from being brighter, especially in the face area.

Plus, her arms are a bit heavy for an elf I think. Keep it coming Ali!!

Hi Ali
Welcome to these brand new forums! I visited your website earlier (yes I stalk all our new members ) and you have some wonderful things on there! I especially admire how you paint fabrics. I will look forward to seeing what you share with us!

Wow, thank you two for the amazing welcome! It feels so nice

@Domtopia: Thank you for the feedback about using brighter lights, and the heavier arms. I didn't even notice the shape of the arms because I've been so focused on the things that I don't like about it. I think my biggest issue right now is that I designed the composition in a way that will force the string of the bow to go directly across her face and it's very distracting. I'm trying to figure out a way to keep it somewhat thin and transparent-looking so that it isn't too noticeable. I'm also not yet happy with how "smooth" everything looks, but textures are usually the last thing I will do in a painting. I started with color with this one instead of black/white to establish values, so I think the struggle to get the values correct is what I'm not liking about it right now. I'll keep working at it, though!

@Charlotte: Hi! Thank you for looking at my website and for the compliment on the fabrics. I still feel like fabric materials (silk, leather, cotton, lace, etc) are very foreign to me, but the pursuit of artistic success is never-ending There will always be something to improve. I checked out your website too and REALLY love your use of colors, and you have such great ideas!

Oh thank you! *blushes*

Nice work. My small critique would be that I would like to see a little more colour use, it feels very grey/blue to me, which is a good basis to put some highlights in somewhere to draw the focus.

I agree with Stuart, I know it's supposed to be a dark and dramatic image, but I think adding in a shot of colour would really make it pop

Thanks SO much everyone for the feedback! I fought with this piece with many ups and down this entire week and finally found a color scheme that I really enjoy. I'm very glad I received the feedback that I did. I feel like it helped me create something that I'm proud of, and a new portfolio piece. !

The attachment feature seems to butcher the quality a little bit, so if anyone is interested in seeing some of the detail, you can quickly glance at my deviantart located here: fav.me/d7qan5r

That looks a lot better now. Maybe you can build a little yellow into the sky just to vary it a little, but I'd say you're just about there.

I understand that it's finished but I do have one slight suggestion. I think the sky's just fine but currently she has one arm that is basically all warm coloured and one which is all cool or greyish. I think the part of her chest and shoulder facing us could be made more grey too, to tie to two sides of her together. I did a very quick tiny paintover, so you can see what you think.


(EDIT: It helps to include the image...)

Edit again: I forgot to say I love the little note at the end of the arrow. She looks so sad and concerned and then there's that little bright bit of humour in there