Set out to practice coloring yet here is where I ended up instead :)

After months of messin' around, I'm back to figure drawing. I'll post some of my old works in the future.

Hey everyone! I just started working with watercolor seriously (I had played around with it but not in a healthy way) So, I have done these two pieces and have fallen in love with this medium! I would appreciate it if you critique my work. (I did the landscape two days ago and finished the misty one today)

I love the fact that your lines are not fluffy which means you have decent control over your lines. What is missing in your work is depth. that you can achieve by changing the line value and strength so to say. Also, draw live models as safely and as much as you can!! and try to start with big lines and capture the movement of your model. after a little exercise, you can study the book by Joseph Shepperd "Drawing the living figure" it has all kinds of poses of both male and female bodies and breaks down the muscles and bone landmarks. It really helps a lot. Also touching your body and finding the bones that make their way right under the skin is quite helpful. Good Luck!

Given the way you did this, it's AWESOME! And it's your first time! really well done. First things first, I suggest that you always flip your line art or shapes at the beginning of your process so that your figure or portrait is balanced. I love the texture of the face you did, but in my eyes, seeing it side by side with the hat and the coat, I can't feel them being of the same universe (weird way of putting it maybe :) ) but the level of texture and detail doesn't match between them. Of course, you can have unfinished parts in your art it actually makes it so exciting! but it should happen gradually in my opinion. If you used reference for your colors and lighting, good for you! (however, the highlight values on the hat, neck, and clothes kinda throw me off; you might want to check them again) , but if you didn't use any references for your lighting, WELL DONE! However, I learned the hard way that there is nothing wrong with using references. In fact, it's the opposite! References are the most important part, whether if you want a source of inspiration, or you just want to make things right. The most appealing shapes for us are already there in nature, so why not use them? Also, Some rim light and a change of value in the background could make the character pop out better. Good Luck!

First of all, that's an awesome job you did on the coat! In my experience, if you find the biggest shapes of the figure then divide each of those shapes into smaller ones, it both gives you more accuracy in depicting the model and helps you find the planes of the surface. By finding these shapes and understanding the planes they represent, and also, having the lighting scenario in the back of your mind, I believe you will find drastic improvement in your work! the good thing about this is that it helps in every medium! (try looking at it like using negative space, after all the negativity of a space is relative :)) )