I was trained classically as a home-schooler before my college went into technical arts (non-classically inclined product development) and eventually when the crossover happened from my own personal study to the East I ended up shattered mentally at times. 2020 was a very special year that created a perfect hurricane, so it may not produce the same effect as readily for you. I just advise a mental preparedness and sobriety where possible. Reaching down to the Arabic, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, etc. The classical nature of that study becomes less technical and more mentally engaging in ways that even Plato, Pythagoras, and the Hindu Vedas say can create a crazed state of glimpsed inter-relationships. Leonardo Da Vinci did not go crazy but he hit a point of interlocking mysticism that certainly pervades all the way to Carl Jung's analysis of Divine Geometries and Universal Synchronicity. Yet I must admonish you that it is very valuable and encouraged to become an explorer in the way that you propose. Make sure you have a good community around you when you reach out to that side. Remain light as you go deeply. The architectural studies I did lead to a very deep understanding of positive and negative space. It dove deep into the Green Tea Ceremony which is about how the room and it's actions are about the composition of the mind as a mandala of the Universe in a similar interlocking Moebius strip of sorts. Athens was focused on this. Egypt as well. You'll quickly hit that zone when you get into renaissance fibonacci 1:3 Golden Ratio and all of the various physics implications relating to the personal artistry you produce. Technical reproduction is more a manner of replication. The elements, reduced through a 3D engine nowadays can sort of be built from the ground up mentally and it is very fun until it feels manufactured. Leonardo said that you will be thinking THROUGH things as you paint and why he holds painting itself as the highest of all mediums when he did his comparison. (He writes of it in his notebooks). Then the mind hits to classical thirst for meaning. Michelangelo hit this point in his life as well. Perfection gives way to a love of imperfection and the understanding of what perfection itself is through Platonism. When you go to classical production you'll inevitably get into geometries which have metaphysical concepts associated to them. THAT is what got me. After words themselves became shapes and number and word equated outwards there was a large meditation that the mind portals through. You can study further through to the Enzo circle and will end up at a quantum physics zones. You'll enter into conceptual zones under Euclid like the definition of a line at the fundamental reality of it all. Symmetry, Chirality, etc. You'll enter into science itself as neurologically understanding the rods and cones in your eyes and how the brain assimilates information off of EM waves. If you are speaking of classical academia, it is very odd that we still have such structures because impressionism blew the scene out by questioning the philosophy of "value" some many years back. Duchamp I once despised but now I see I was unprepared for his value at the time. The world turned a very strange leaf in the 20th century and it may be that it does so at each century in a rhythm once you get to enough study. It is almost an odd humanist music. When you enter into "What is the value of art?" You will have to answer a great deal. I was dealing with a move to another state, 2000 miles away where I didn't know anyone, during 2020 immediately after the world decided to play the worst game of musical chairs I have ever seen. I was extremely stressed and took cannabis because people said it was legal and for anxiety and had the biggest inverted flip of my life. I had been studying the classics for YEARs prior and at a certain point, when trapped indoors for too long, reading classical esoterica, it smacked my brain and mind so hard that I saw a connectedness that wonked me out like a looney toon. I am telling you now, never imbibe in things that cause unbalancing when you get near the East in classical art study. The imbalance is very dangerous. The Hindu Vedas and Yogis often have have guides at certain stages because it will become dangerous. Zen masters often only impart the truths one student at a time because it cannot be done in larger crowds and sometimes the students die somehow. In the west you will encounter the Iconoclasm classically and have to formulate what it was about and how to get around it as well. Classical patronage is often a matter of "value" connotated upon the artist. You must recall that the Medici family did not value Leonardo yet he was very advanced in his thinking. So the classics do have a flaw in distribution. So it is not a measurable thing, yet conceptualism itself is inherently valuable in art. Money and ego and understanding are fickle at best and should be taken lightly. Application of art is rapidly evolving as the tools advance nearly out of control. So it is right to advance conceptualism ahead of the technological advantage. Being able to concept things at a high degree is what will set you apart after the technicality gets learned. Once you can make anything, the decision of "What" to make and "why" to make it will be all that remains. The knowledge of interrelationships is an advisable step. Reading great classical works is advisable too. Why are the Parthenons measured the way that they are? (you can visit one in Nashville if you so choose). Why did they decide this or that? Why should I place this here or that there? I don't think there's any other way to learn, except for Classically, because all of it really is paying homage, backwardly to the foundation of all humanity. So go for it! It's great stuff! The nature of art in nature is so beautiful that you should dive in. Take Marshall Vandruff's composition courses for a great look at his perspectives. He pointed out some great fun stuff about the shape of the stars that was life altering in how it all related. You are certainly in the right place. Every teacher here is fantastic for Classical education. The difference is finding out how to override the public ego to gain your fame. Fame is fickle. It's necessary in one way to gain money, but it exacts a price classically. Picasso passed away dissatisfied at his entire career because he had money but did not explore as deeply as he wanted. As a Zen Artist I do not value money but instead community and effect upon the overall world and time itself. In a way that means I am valueless and also priceless. Art is a means of communication of largely spiritual aspects, reaching into such depths that I dare say the end result is rest at peace within the origin of all things; God. I do not wish to have debates on such matters though and so I often work from the nameless angle that the Dao espouses; spiritualism. Find a way to make money but always do for yourself also. I would have loved to console Pablo but no man can invent time. Yet to marvel at the world itself together is a bonded thing that people will love you for and provide for your needs if done well and with sincerity. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and you will be answered. Just make sure you're knowing what you're asking for when you ask questions of the classical things. <3 Because just like you everyone has difficulty at defining "Kingdom Hearts" you will equally have difficulty defining "Classical" and "Art" itself if you seek too deeply. ahahaha Cheers! Get at em! You seem fervent! That's great! You are and will grow further into a great artist for your inquiries! <3

One thing to consider is that you can take those basic perspectives and then, instead of having the edges spoke-wheeling towards the vanishing points, define a box larger than the object you are drawing and think of it like an iso-cage-mesh. Sculpt inwardly on the box and have the item in correct space, but not so uniform. Organic things are less linear, so by turning the items at various angles like a messy room, you create a liveliness that is dynamic. Practice this outside of the drawing space by arranging simple kitchen items on your table. Some items put into a geometric linearity as if it is following the grid pattern. Then arrange some things at 45 degree angles or less or more to break up that pattern. If you have seen footage of video game engines, imagine the bounding boxes that meshes occupy. Imagine your drawing in this way. You will arrange the perspective in a euclidean grid of some sort, but then you will carve INTO the box that defines its bounding box. That is what I meant in the first few sentences. Dynamic things are often angular so if you break up the linear regularity, it will naturally become dynamic. Keeping things within perspective means obeying the linearity in so much as you can concept the bounding box itself. It's a bit of interplay between these concepts, but I hope it helps! Kim Jung Gi does this VERY well in how fluid he morphs into a gridded reality of x,y,z and plays with shapes like gum in his mind. Check out every video you can on this site and interviews they have done with him. It will perhaps formulate mentally over time. "Iso-cage" here is a very good keyword to look into. <3 Great question!

Great work! I will only say this because you are seeking some way of improvement without a direct technicality. Elements may be used to sharpen or defocus a character, even in abstract shapes. If a background has a square, consider if it has sharp edges or blurred. The sharpest element juts forward. The blurred element recedes. So if you wish to have a focal point, obscure what is not important with less clarity. My perspective is that backgrounds add a sense of gravity. When a background is simple, flat graphical shapes, it is more mentally conceptual, than grounded. So the shapes drop down lower to the base of the brain instead of the forward lobe. circles are friendly, squares are sturdy, and triangles are to be cautious of because they are sharp. You can take those primitive commonalities and juxtapose them or work directly towards them. Shadows ground a character because it defines a plane on which things rest, which is a shape itself; often a square planar (with no end if it is a horizon line), unless you show the rounding of the earth at certain heights or out of choice of style. So that is the gravity I speak of. It is a sort of "placement" into a zone that can be defined. Even a blurred ambience underneath implies a plane on which the ambience is projected. To have no background means you are dealing primarily with shape of anatomy. I would advise studying into the nature of why our bones are shaped the way they are. Gravity imparts a lot because we are geometrically opposed to the center of our spherical earth. Many character compositions are triangular in Leonardo Da Vinci's work, as well as Frank Frazetta, because the triangle itself is a stability against gravity. You can invert it to immediately become interesting because logic says that a triangle on its head is less likely to stand on its own, so the base of the brain observes it for potential changes in direction of falling. The above statement is a very lengthy study and reaches deeply into physics and basic survival elements related to martial arts and even mathematic triangulation (why things fold inwardly in deformations as triangles in animation) so it is not a study to be taken lightly. It may be quite absorbent, so get into it to gain something out of it without falling too deeply into the infinite rabbit hole of the Universe. One last thing to consider in posing: Martial artists are animating themselves at all times to cantilever and create force. Once you understand such posturing it is easier to decide to be more defenseless or more defensible. (often done to feign an opponent into false-security or baiting them towards an opening that they intentionally set as a trap). Style of movement is sometimes defined by say... a broken wrist or a catch in the hip. Every person has some level of difference in movement. Martial artists often employ overall body shapes (think of the song YMCA and the dance which mimics the letters). It can be a great study to consider how this anticipates themes that are being presented in the work. Is the cowboy off kilter or his gate wide and stable? Is the kid frightened of the monster into an unawareness of their own stance? etc. This will help compositionally because the pose will not become so straight-forward. You can alter what you see fit to add towards such clarified thematic in the storytelling of the image. You can adjust things without background to have an internal rhythm instead of it being defined by the external but the character will begin to float the less it is graphically flattened do to the elements of gravity being less easily understood at the immediacy. This can be intentional though and convey floating as a theme with intention if you so choose. Good question! It is hard to verbalize and I love that you challenged to ask it! Your work is colorful and very tasty in its color choices! Keep up the good work!

Similar to a line of action in reduction for animation, consider the "word" itself to be a line of action. When you reduce the idea down, what "word" is conveyed to you? It can be difficult to do this alone and so it is best to reach out and ask others as well. However, by practicing the poetic reduction yourself, you can also feel out what it is that you want to say as well. If the word (or 2 or 3 words) seem to be felt abstractly, then you may be thematically balanced. The theme is what your shapes are arranged to convey and it helps to have this anchoring point throughout the development (thumbnail - render). Here I feel the 3rd piece is best due to it's high contrast and the lower elements are cropped out. Yet I enjoy the silhouette of the 4th. The glow around the character at night is pronouncing it. By using background elements you can push the daytime element to emphasize the character if you wish. As you practice lighting and rendering, this will become easier over time to control. Very good effort! Great job! If the character is meant to be looking upwardly, then visualizing the plane below may divert the attention you are attempting to set the viewer on. By extending the composition to the left you can emphasize the environment they are purveying without having to turn the character around though. I can see this is partly done in 1 and 2, but I would show more of the background and let the foreground be less emphasized to add depth to the world itself. A FAST and dirty way to see what will be seen by the audience is to overlay the grid pattern by thirds in both ways. The natural golden ratio will draw the viewer to any cross point of the lines but that is an over-simplification as well on my part. I enjoy the softness of your clouds and the trees. It feels whimsical and light-hearted in its adventurousness. For a challenge, if you wish to undertake it, consider "secondary action" in animation principles on your next piece. While the character is the focus, adding secondary stories via the birds or environmental storytelling in the tree itself can add more overall depth and cause the viewer to linger on the panel more as they become enveloped in the liveliness of the piece. If you wish to become more iconographic instead, don't include these ideas of secondary action. You an also make a piece more immediately understood without those elements. It depends on how fast you want each area to be looked at. You could even add the secondary action to the character itself by showing history to the items present; the texture of the cloth being pristine or nipped. The lighting itself could be used to contrast or align with the same theme as well. Food for thought as you grow! Keep up the good work!

My best advice is this: Stephen King says reading books is a form of "telepathy" since you are retreading the path of words written by an author. It seems to follow a similar manner of forming mental models in the manner that they directly affect neurology. I would suggest picking up Stan Lee's How to Write Comics and then apply foundational basics of art to the story you are developing. Design is a very large topic overall... it's almost infinite... hmm... learn psychology to get a head start on that path. How we psychologically interpret shapes will help make iterations of anything you are developing as a pre-production far more easy to direct towards an audience.

A skull that seems to have ventricles like a heart beneath! Interesting! Keep up the good work!

I feel an urge to skate along the water on top and ride off the tip of it! Great work at creating an environment that feels welcoming to explore. There is a tinge of the Green Hill Zoning in it but that may be gleaned from the colors themselves of the grass and sky. Colors drive a lot of emotion so if you are intending a landing into peaceful territory, then you are doing quite well in your choices! Accented colors will enunciate things away from a homogenous nature if that is your desire. ______________________ I believe your Aquaduct is the truer focal point, so I must admonish that you decide to render the detail of the stones on it more than the foreground rocks. Things do fade as they receded, you are not incorrect in that choice but because art is not truly reality, you may bend it to your will. Soften the detail in areas that are not your focus, and increased contrast where you immediately want me to look. Create a hierarchy, mentally (or a one sentence statement written down) and refer back to it when you take a small eye break in the process. This will keep you sighted in on your objective as you develop the piece over time. It is hard to keep that focus when we zoom in and out and render for a few hours. Think of it as a "Slugger Line" that is used when summing up an entire script for a film. ______________________ Excellent work! Pat yourself on the back and keep going! <3

The piece has a great sense of emotion. Great faces! Good skin tones and impactfully I can sense the scene's heartfelt nature. ________________________ Refine it until you are satisfied and accept it for what it is. If you would like a tip on what to play with towards improving fidelity here is my statement: Enjoy the character of your strokes but decide if you enjoy the lines showing through or if you prefer full representational rendering. Style will come upon you over time but identifying what you enjoy will give you better handle of it. I enjoy when my lines show through. For a long time it plagued me that I was malformed for that affinity. Be wary of such a thought. Don't be afraid of covering the lines if you prefer a more full rendering. Drawing "proportion" is infinite in a way but comic book artists distort what is necessary to the effect of their statement. Understand this well. Also! Playing with "soft edged" brushes helps to make fun gradient. Work with some soft and some hard. Dial in the detail as if you were blinded by opening your eyes underwater. At first it is fuzzy, but the harder the edge of the brush, the better you may dial in the focus. That is what is meant by working: Big to Small. The Big is unfocused blocks, like sculpting chunks of form. The small is the detail that is refined. Use soft-hard brush to feel out this interplay. ------------------------------ GREAT work! You produced a piece into existence that was not there before! Congratulate your efforts, love the work you have done and bound joyfully into the next piece when you have decided this piece says what you want it to say. <3 Cheers!

If you pick the focal point, which is the character, make sure it has enough space surrounding him to highlight him from the environment so we know what FIRST to look at, but when needing to fill space, after you have drawn the characters around him (once their form is rendered roundly in as much 3-Dimensionality as you like) begin to use detail/texture to fill in the spaces. Near the character, allow texture to be indicated, and in the surrounding area, fill it with all the texture of the metals, stone, cloth weaving, etc. This will always highlight the character by contrast while filling in the remainder with "processing" that the mind does as it sees detail. The brain will move slower over the detail and quickly understand the character. Because the detail will slow the mind, an audience will remain on the panel, understanding the scene slowly while never being confused by it. It will subliminally feel suffocating to the character while the other characters do not feel suffocated. They will be transformed as a part of the suffocating factor. If any other character is important in the scene, leave less detail on that particular one so that the eye will follow from your protagonist to that person next. Thus, you can control the ebb and flow of the scene without the detail detracting from the overall message. <3

We always pay attention more when things are light-hearted. Good call! ahahaha Thanks for your tutelage! Great ad ;D