Deviant'art is definitely better in this respect, compared to all the other social networks: it doesn't cut the images (like Twitter and Instagram) nor does it add pieces that totally ruin the layout and the impression (like Facebook does. Terrifying!). The point is that most social networks are not made to emphasise images but to provide a homogeneous navigation for the user. In Artstation, one might expect a less lazy construction of the home page, to avoid cutting the images.

Hi Dan! You certainly don't need to finish all the sketches but the level of detail you've achieved in the finished example you've attached I'd say is very good if you feel like spending a bit more time on a subject. It's up to you whether you want to finish a job or not. I've seen others notice that outside of the focal point (head and torso of the insect) you've left the rest too smudgy. So, this would be a problem if your goal is to make a naturalistic drawing, for example for a magazine: in this case you need to abandon the realistic view and try to include as much information as possible, without worrying about depth of field. Maybe you are familiar with the beautiful habitat plates in books or magazines like Nat Geo (oh my God, I don't know if it is still like that, but when I was young these plates were a feature of popular magazines): there are plants and animals all represented with the same level of detail because the aim is to show in an exhaustive way what everything looks like; the eye of the observer must move over the figure looking for all the subjects and then go and read the description in the captions.  It is a learning process, not just passive observation. If, on the other hand, you just want to paint a dragonfly or a bee or whatever, there is no need for every part, including the background, to have the same level of detail, indeed to do so would create distraction in the viewer. The legs in the foreground will necessarily be more detailed than those half-hidden further back. If for you the most important part of the subject, the part you want the viewer to notice first, is the head and torso, there is nothing wrong with paying less attention to the final part of the abdomen.

I honestly don't know what to say except that I like everything you've done. The texture of your brushstrokes has character, the face expresses personality. I really like the way you set the light. In short, very well done!

Hi Jan! I really like the concept! I think you need to adjust the perspective because the figures appear squashed against the back wall, which seems to me to be curved (first figure). Make the perspective homogeneous: it is true that they are three different figures but they are in the same space. I would also say that the horizon line is at the height of the painter's head in the centre. But if the observer is standing, it should be higher. Is the observer sitting behind the three figures? Then the horizon line is fine where it is. We have a nice line of action joining the three figures. Make sure that the figures follow it as well as possible. Now, check the spatial construction of your figures because they seem to be resting on different planes, especially the last one on the left. Enlarge the picture and consider where the ground line and the outer vanishing points are. Place the three figures on the floor and check that they are positioned correctly. Having enlarged the picture and found the ground, it is now obvious that the desk has a different perspective to everything else. In short, you have to arrange the geometric construction so that everything is solid and coherent. It also seems to me that there are too many light sources. I see one on the ground, between the caveman and the renaissance painter, then there's the light coming from the display and these are fine. Finally, however, there is an ambient light coming from the left, and this seems to me to confuse things a bit, making the whole thing inconsistent. In short, leave aside for a moment the final work and put yourself on a sketchpad to solve and simplify the aspects I have listed. Next time, before you start painting, do these various construction steps so that you don't have to make too big of a correction while painting. I hope I didn't confuse you too much and that I was helpful :)

Hello! These are my first tries of the assignment. I'm having lots of problems. In particular, I often have no idea of the direction the legs cilinders should be facing! It's easy when they're obviously going forwards or backwards, but where it's more subtle I never seem to get it (like the cat leg for example, which is going left and it seems that it is going parallel to my eyes). Advice is much appreciated :D

Look, consider that even professionals continue all their lives to practice and learn new things. If you have the right motivation there is no such thing as not being good enough to continue. Years ago I met a girl who decided to stop because she didn't think she was good enough. Her drawings at the time were actually quite crude but I convinced her to continue and enrol in a school in her town. After a year of practice her drawings had completely changed and now, after a few years, she is very close to being considered at the level of a professional (in the meantime she has discovered that she likes concept design much more than comics, which was her first option at the time). You have to keep going, absolutely, don't be discouraged by the amount of things you feel you don't know now, and above all don't be influenced too much by how you see others working, as everyone eventually develops their own personal method. We all start from the same point and we all, sooner or later, find ourselves in the position of saying "I'm too far away from the objective, it's better if I stop". The point is that you don't have a deadline by which to reach your goal, so you move forward one step at a time, one day at a time. There will be times when you feel like you haven't made any progress but if you try to compare your drawings with those of a few months earlier you will see that you have made quite a few steps forward. The important thing is that you continue to enjoy drawing and that it does not become an obligation.

Hi Dan! First of all I would give the wings a little more 'texture', they are transparent but not invisible. The sections of the veins are not totally flat, they are slightly convex, thicker at the edges and tapering towards the centre, so try to suggest this using the reflected colour of the sky and the colour of the flower, with some glazing (if you look closely at the reference photo I think you'll see what I mean). Another problem is the head, which seems to be cropped against the flower behind it. Try moving the flower upwards so that it protrudes from above the head, to accentuate the overlap. Also, the exoskeleton parts, including the legs, should receive some reflected light from the flowers. Try a little bit of desaturated yellow, a bit warmer, that way you should give it a bit more volume. The shadow of the abdomen seems to be the right shade, while in the other parts of the exoskeleton you have made them much lighter, flattening these parts. Also the end parts of the legs are too flat, especially too similar to the colour of the flower. Maybe in the photo they are partly covered with pollen (it's a type of cactus, I think... they release a lot of pollen, very fine, which sticks to the insects' legs) but it shouldn't be so uniform. Make the legs a slightly more reddish yellow and then cover some places with this pollen colour. Also look carefully at where they rest on the corolla, I think some should be partly sunk between the petals or pistils, to give less of a clipping effect. I hope I have been helpful :)

Mark Simonetti

Hi there, here my entry :) I finally got to use some of the references I've been taking over the last few years. Some had been gathering dust in the archive for more than twelve years. ^^; Most of them were taken in Cagliari, where I have lived for ten years, in the Natural Park of the Molentargius Saltpans or on the Sella del Diavolo, the striking promontory overlooking the Poetto beach. There is also a canal photographed near Manchester and a small waterfall in Varese, Lombardy (the area where my father-in-law was from). Thanks for giving me the opportunity to rummage through my photo archives, I have found a lot of interesting things that I had forgotten over the years! :)

It's been ages since I drew a still life, I'd say since the third year of the Art Institute. I had forgotten how enjoyable it was. Oh my gosh...at the time there was a professor who would enjoin me to hurry up and dismantle my composition after 80 minutes. And I had a nice studio easel. Now I have serious doubts I could sit that long on an uncomfortable stool. Stupid arthritis 😑