Oct '20

I have finished the title piece and would like critique that I can consider moving forward onto the next piece. The goal was to illustrate a mermaid - but not the stereotypical elegant kind; more in line with perhaps an action fantasy mermaid. Say perhaps a Dungeons and Dragons character? (Its all the rage I promise!)

I will post the process as well. Perhaps there is a thing that I could have changed in my workflow.


The digital mediums I worked with were Clip Studio Paint & Photoshop CC 2020 (I know, why use both of them when I have CSP. Old habits and familiarity I suppose.)
Thank you for your time and consideration in helping me improve as an artist.

9 days later

Nov '20

Hey Villainy101! Cool name btw.
I like your vivid pallete! Underwater environments have amazing potential when it comes to colors and you take full advantage of it. I also like the fact that while this a more battle oriented mermaid you kept armor to a light and functional level and didn't go overboard. Kudos to you :smile:
Now if I were you I would focus a little more on the fundamentals. You need to work on proportions. For example the face seems to be misaligned with the rest of the head. My advice is this: Take this photo

Choose the head that you believe is right for your illustration and redesign your mermaid's head based on that. Then keep this image to a reference file, because this is one the best reference images in existence :+1: Trust me, it will help you for years to come!
I will not tire you with composition because right now you have bigger fish to fry :wink: like proportions and foreshortening but I will give one final advice regarding color. The image should be bluer or greener because while your light source might be white or yellow e.g. the sun, it becomes blue under the sea because water absorbs the red colors. For example:

If you look closely you will see that Aquaman's skin is full of greens and blues. A quick and dirty way to wash the image with the ambient color of your choice is to create a top layer, fill it with green or blue, set it to color mode and reduce the opacity to make it more subtle.
If you need any further help or clarification I'll be happy to help. Keep drawing!

Nov '20

Thank you so much for the critique (and the name compliment :smiley:)! Your directions are invaluable and I'll give them a try and definitely keep them in mind as I move forward. I'll post to my sketchbook the results of the study and tag you of course to see if I followed as well as you explained.

Nov '20

It was my pleasure helping :smile: The tag sounds great! Forum navigation is a skill that I completely lack. Looking forward to see your work!

11 days later

Nov '20

Very cool stuff. I agree with what Artcaster is saying. I love the vivid colors. I myself struggle with anatomy and that pic of the heads that they posted is priceless. Keep it up.