Project Cocoon: The Beginning

As usual your work is amazing. You have improved so much since I started watching you and it is kind of incredible; and so I'd like to give you some feedback since you requested it.

VISION: You have goals when drawing this piece, both to improve your skills and to give back to your watchers. It couldn't be clearer here. You took time to look at everyone's characters individually and figure out every detail, in order to practice your art and make a stunning piece.

ORIGINALITY: These types of layouts are fairly common, but who says that's a bad thing? You arranged the characters meaningfully, so that each one could be best displayed, and everything is dynamic and feels like there's movement. Even for the characters who aren't mid-action, it feels like they are about to turn their head toward you or blink; that makes all the difference. As I said, personally I don't think that a layout like this is super original, but the way that you utilized it is fantastic, so I don't think originality plays in too much into the success of this piece. Since you are drawing groups of characters, of course some will probably be like this, and that is fine!

TECHNIQUE: I marvel at how clean and crisp your lines are. Your shading is so detailed and you work through a great range of darks and lights. Skin actually looks like skin, which is difficult to do when shading characters who are drawn semi-realistically. Cloth looks like cloth. Hair is flowing and either looks fluffy or shiny, appropriate the texture it should be based on the hairstyle. Overall everything looks clean, three-dimensional, and seems to have a consistent light-source.

IMPACT: Because it is so clean, and you use a good range of lights and darks, the impact is instant. Each character pops off the page and seems to come to life. Your colored works are beautiful but there is something about gray scale that, when done right, really stands out to me.

ADVICE?: I feel like whatever I say will be nit-picky, but I know you aren't asking for a critique just to be praised <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/a/a…" width="19" height="19" alt="" title="Sweating a little..."/> There are not many suggestions I have. I think that the woman in front has fewer dark areas for shading than the other characters and that makes her stand out. I think with the angle of the light hitting her, the shadows in certain parts of her might be slightly darker on the bottom of her shirt and some of her hair that is curled inward, away from the light. I also think her neck is at a slightly odd angle to her right shoulder, but it is not very noticeable. Even to find these small things I had to scrutinize the piece. Overall, I think it is fantastic, and the best advice I can give you is to keep going! Just keep drawing and you will continue to improve naturally just as you have already!