Hey Lo, First of all, it's great to have you here in the Proko community. I know that, at least in my personal experience, it can be daunting to share your artwork and open yourself up to criticism (especially when you may find your work "embarrassing") but it is certainly a big and beneficial step. Aaravi has some good points. Learning how to create art is a journey and everyone's journey can be different. It's important to be able to sometimes just let go, experiment and see where it takes you. But I understand the frustration. Oftentimes we have an idea, even if only vaguely, of what our art should look like (or of what our "destination" is on this journey) and when we fail to achieve that ideal, it can be disheartening. I often think back to this video with a speech from Ira Glass. https://vimeo.com/24715531 It may say storytelling in title but I believe it fits all kinds of creative expression. You may have to do a lot of work to get to the point where you feel you are consistently creating things that live up to your vision, but I believe with good practice and perseverance you can get there. Now, you came here asking for a concrete plan. While there is a balance to be struck when it comes to following a rigid plan and allowing your creativity/desires to flow, I, as an artist who is also always learning, will try to give you some ideas that I think will help. You're probably familiar with the saying "practice makes perfect" and maybe you've heard the follow-up from Vince Lombardi "Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect." In this case, I believe the answer is somewhere in the middle. You can do a ton of work and make progress, but intentional work will in most cases get you further faster. With that said, here are some things I would recommend focusing on. Structure: The Basic Forms This was something that I neglected for a long time, and it wasn't until I started going through Proko's figure drawing series that I really started to grasp and incorporate it. Being able to consistently draw the basic forms (spheres, cubes/rectangular prisms, cylinders) can be key to leveling up your art. Even before knowing anatomy, it can take a flat, lifeless drawing and turn into something that looks like it really exists in a world on your page. Take this drawing I did almost a decade ago, and compare it with just the underdrawing of one of my recent projects (For an even better example of using simple forms to construct the figure, check out Proko's Mannequinization Lesson in the figure drawing fundamentals course https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/mannequinization-structure-of-the-human-body/assignments ) I see so many newer artists who can do beautiful things with colour, but it's effect is muted because of the flimsy structure beneath it. You don't have to be a master of anatomy to draw the basic forms that help the objects you create to feel real and tangible. Breaking things down into simple forms also helps with shading. When you're armed with this knowledge/ability you can really make your drawings pop! I really like to look at animators, or artists with a simpler style when it comes to studying these basic forms, as it can be easier to spot the building blocks they used. Some of my favourites to look at are https://www.instagram.com/seangallowayart and https://www.instagram.com/gurihiru In addition to breaking down real human models into basic forms, it can be fun to look at artists you enjoy and do the same to their work. This can open up your eyes to new ways that you can break down the human body into simple forms. Looking at your work and one of your time lapses, it looks like you already have a fairly good grasp of this area. Your piece with Ganondorf, Link and Prince Sidon stands out to me in this regard. Especially Ganondorf's arm, you can really feel the form. Continuing to work on these foundational elements while expanding your knowledge of perspective and anatomy will serve you well. Even though this is an area you already do well in, I wanted to cover it before getting into the rest of the points. I have to take a break for now, but when I get back I want to talk about using interesting shapes + rhythms, line quality and confidence. Also, I will try to draw over some pieces to help give some visual examples that might be more helpful. For now, I'll leave you with this. I think your work is in a great place and I see a lot of potential! It's been fun to look through your work and I'm excited to see what you do in the future!

I FINALLY finished this piece. I incorporated a lot of the feedback I got here, or tried to. I spent a total of 13 months working on this piece and redrew it more than 2 dozen times in different media on different papers. Ultimately the "finished" piece was done in Prismacolor pencil on French Paper Co. Speckletone paper. I like the tooh of the paper and it works well with the Prismacolor though it's not really a drawing paper. This was a gift for my wife. The character is our dog, Marlow, who died 2 years ago. He loved water so this is how I envisioned him in doggie heaven.

I've been starting to deal with a lot of the same problems. A lot of my focus has been on black and white, or grey scale, pencils and inks. Recently for commissions I've been doing a lot of colour work. I quickly ran into the same problems where my composition worked great in the ink stage, but started to become really shakey with the colours. I've definitely started making the shift to designing my pieces with the colours in mind. A necessary lesson to learn, even for pencillers/inkers because someone's probably going to have to colour it. I'll see if I can find some links, but I read a lot of stuff about perceived brightness and the LAB colour spaces.

TLDR: Looking for feedback, any glaring mistakes, suggestions for background, additional clotheslines and/or falling clothes - yes/no? Update: Almost there! Normally I do my roughs digitally and then print them out to finish with traditional pencils, but I decided to challenge myself and get the whole thing done digitally (Even after a few years of having a surface, I still find that I draw many things more quickly on paper). At this point I'm mostly cleaning up, finishing up a few details (Like putting in her web for the first panel) and trying to figure out what to do with the background. Originally I was just going to put another building, but I'm not a huge fan of how that's looking. I also worry that a whole cityscape background will have too many elements that cut into the action in the foreground. Right now I'm tempted to leave it blank, but that's probably just me wanting to be finished. Any suggestions on this front would be appreciated. I'm also considering adding some more clotheslines, either into the foreground or further back, but I wonder if this would be too distracting/too busy. Similarly, I was thinking about having some clothes falling through the air but the same concerns pop up. Also, if anything stands out to you I'm open to any critiques as well. Not sure how much more I'm going to go back into this, but I always want to learn more for future projects (Who am I kidding, if you point something out there's a good chance I won't be able to resist fixing it). Thanks everyone!

Hey Terrence, I really enjoy these designs. I think that my favourite just by feel would be the center one of Alex. That hair + face shape is just fantastic. What pops into my mind is that he'd be completely at home in my favourite video game series, The Legend of Zelda. As for which designs work for those personalities. My personal pick for Alex is still the center one. I think that the smooth gentle curves make him seem really kind and inviting. The one on the left would be my second choice, it just doesn't seem as unique/interesting as the center. I'm not sure whether you were planning to keep the pairs together (center Alex with center Georgie), in which case I would still go with the middle ones, or if you wanted to mix and match. For Georgie, I'm leaning towards either the center one or the one on the right. I think they are both just more interesting than the one on the left even though it still captures the character pretty well. I think the one on the very right gives you an interesting visual contrast between the brothers that coincides with the difference in their personalities. But the middle one also works for the character if you want them to look more alike. Additionally, my gut reaction is that the middle one looks slightly more naive, while the one on the right captures the wild aspect better. I hope some of these thoughts prove helpful. Just the designs alone make me want to read the story and learn more about these characters. I'm excited to see the final product!

For books in general, I've always preferred physical. I'm much more likely to casually thumb through a physical art book (for example, when eating or relaxing in the evening), than a digital book. Some of it is probably because I already spend so much time at a computer/on my phone, it's just nice to get away. I also use my computer to display all of my reference/inspiration images when working (plus usually a tab or two open from the Proko anatomy course) so having physical books keeps my screen from getting too crowded.

Hello David Finch, thank you for the stream. It's fitting that you are drawing Stan and Marshall, as one thing they often talk about is art mentors. When Jason Fabok spoke at my highschool he told us about how he got connected with you and then you "re-taught" him how to draw for comic books. I was wondering if you could share that story from your perspective. Especially what it was about his art and/or personality/character that ultimately led you to teach him.

Hello Mac, I really like what you've got going on here. I can already tell it's going to be a lovely finished piece. I'll start with what you've already got on the page. The rabbit leaping on the left. I understand why we can't see a lot of the head, but it still looks like a rabbit without a head. Which seems kind outlandish in such an innocent painting. I'm no expert on rabbit anatomy, but just by looking at the other rabbits it seems like there should be a bit more head showing above the front right leg. The other option, of course, is to change the pose/gesture to a position where the head is less hidden. In a similar vein, the rabbit under her arm seems a little odd. I see the ear extending down but, again judging from the other rabbits, it seems like it should extend past her arm. Also, right now with just the eye he looks a little devious like a snake. Perhaps showing just a little bit more of the head, with either an indication for the nose or the insertion of the ears will help. Lastly, the rabbit on the bottom right. You did a wonderful job with the gesture. I think that he's my favourite. The only thing I would say is that his left ear seems to point off into nothing. You could try having it point back slightly at the end, like a very small s curve. Or introduce more elements that it points to and have those objects bring us back towards the girl. On the subject of ears, you could try playing with the bottom rabbit's. Right now they seem kind of straight and stiff for a pose with so much movement. Maybe have the flow back with the movement, or have them gently curve forward so they at least harmonize with the gesture of her leg and the flowers. These are just some fun thoughts I had that you may want to try out. Right now it seems like there is a clear divide between the rabbits and butterflies. You do have the flowers both at the top and bottom, which is a nice touch that helps tie things together. It may be nice to have a butterfly or two also flying down around the rabbits. Something else you may consider is adding in a third animal. To me, three is where things start to feel like there is some variety. I'm definitely getting some Snow White/Disney Princess vibes, maybe some small birds or a deer approaching. That's all I've got for now. I hope you find some of my thoughts helpful. Or that they at least spark some of your own ideas for the piece. Looking forward to seeing the finished product!