It got rushed near the end, so the feet ended up clumsy looking. :<



Shameless plug: Feel free to check out my deviantart, I'm Ryshuki on there.

Please note: Lots of detail was lost when I photographed it, plus this is significantly smaller than the real drawing.
It was based off of some random photo, and was done as a project for my loverly freshman art class in high school. I hate time limits. :[

Oh it's gorgeous, I wish I had your skill! I can't imagine how wonderful it looks in real life. My favourite part would be the wrinkles around the next, and the nice shiny highlights, it really looks ike a frogs 'skin' would look.

Thank you. :3

The neck wrinkles were so difficult for me. I didn't understand where they were coming from or going in the picture. I just ended up drawing the shapes and colors instead of separating the wrinkles to draw them.
Same with the right eye... but not the left eye. I guess that's why the one I separated looks too pale. ;x;

I really like this; I think the colors you choosed are good, vibrant but still realistic. I think there might be some anatomy issues with the feet, and I can't really tell what the yellow thing is? If you could post the reference you worked from for us, that would be great :D that way we could critique based on what you used.

As I posted with the drawing: It got rushed near the end, so the feet ended up clumsy looking.


I don't have the photo anymore, but it doesn't matter anyway. The major anatomy problems are obvious. I spent so much time staring at this drawing that I doubt there's any critique anyone can give that I haven't already noticed. It's just that once I finish a drawing, it's pretty... finished. xD

I had fun with the colors, they definitely vary from the photo. ;o;
You can tell that the left leg has an entirely different color scheme, that was when I was trying to perfectly match the colors. But around the belly area I got kind of bored, and I realized that I was using too much black, so I used purple instead. xD

The yellow thing wasn't in the reference photo, and it's ok that you don't know what it is. It's only there because my teacher asked for random background clutter-- I was making fun of him by putting it in the front. ;3;

That's really cool. The skin does look all properly froggy with the highlights and such. The worm is nifty. xD

Now I wants to use pastels too. :'D

You definitely should. Pastels are easy to use and have lovely textures. :3

Wow.. this looks amazing. o__o It's so real. xDD The log/branch doesn't look as detailed, but you realism is waaay better than mine. xD I think it looks great. x3

Pastels? Easy to use? *laughs hysterically*

So I got mine out (which I bought ages ago, used once ages ago, and never touched since) and homaigawd it's harrrrd. I'm not so good with really dirty smudgy things, and it's a bit of a dirty mess. D:

Wow that frog is so real looking I can't Believe thats pastels I really don't like working with them but man you make it look so easy.

How long did it take you to do it?

Have you tried to do real people?

@Suppi:
Thank you. ;3;
I took one look at the branch in the photograph and gave up. It was extremely dark brown with tons of highlights and water and such. If I had another three hours, then it may have been possible. TT____TT

@Solinhild:
oh. iunno. I guess everyone has their favorite mediums. I love ink and really dirty smudgy things, but I'm not so fond of paints, including watercolors. Digital painting is hard for me. I need to really feel the texture of what I'm using- ink flows from the pen, and charcoal/pastels are pure texture.
Ink is a medium I force, but pastel is my favorite medium. I really feel like I'm making art when I use pastel. Even when I draw something badly, it still feels wonderful. This is my second pastel drawing, I still have to get my own set.
The trick to pastels is to start out with a sketch. Choose any color you want to sketch- I like to put white or bright pink on top of dark paper. Then I fill in some solid colors, going directly from the photograph and trying to match colors precisely. I smudge with my finger and blow off the dust gently. I tend to use a kneaded eraser to get rid of any color that goes outside the sketched lines. When working with pastels, I don't outline, I just fill in the color.

@Celestial_madien:
Pastels are easier for me than other mediums, but they're not easy. Lots of hard work. xD
It took me about six hours total, which is really a short amount of time for a pastel drawing. I did it in 20 minute sessions for a while in class, and then I took it home to work on it for a solid three hours. I normally spend more time on my drawings, but I'm ADD and unmedicated. The ADD is linked to another condition, and the worse that condition gets, the worse my ADD gets, and I'm at the point where it's very difficult to stay focused. =/

I have not done real people with pastels yet, but I plan to. However, pastels are very much like charcoal, and I did a portrait the first time I used charcoals (not so long ago). I can't take a picture of the finished version because it's framed, and the glass reflects too well, but here's the WIP:




I fixed the eyes in the finished version. .___.;;
His name is Meg, stands for Misaligned Eye Guy. Except everyone in my family calls him Turban Guy. He's hanging in a hallway, and whenever a guest asks about him we claim he's a relative. (We're Jewish, so we get some odd looks at that. XD)

Ehehehe, I can (kinda pretty much) paint, digitally paint, and that stuff. I've tried acrylics and watercolours, and like both. I've got a thread floating around in this forum if you want to see what I normally do, and my dA is in my siggy, although it's pretty empty. xD
And with the thing I just started on (I'm doing a frog because of you :'D ) I'm pretty much doing everything you said right there. Sketch it out and fill it in. Unfortunately, I don't have the right colours, and can't make them, so it's a little wonky. Monsieur leFrog looks mighty cheerful, though. XD But I'm probably working too small, as he's only about 5 inches across. xD;; Can't get his skin to look froggy, though.

I've definitely seen your deviantart before, I recognize it. ;o;

Yayyy, frog.<3
It's ok if you don't have the right colors, just match them as close as you can to start with, and then as you detail it you can use whatever colors you feel like using as long as the shape, texture, and shading of the frog remains the same.

Really? :'D That's the first time I've heard that from someone. xDDDD Are you on gaia?

Lol, mostly I just don't have colours other than black that are nice and dark. I don't have really light colours either. So my froggeh is a little flat. I need a really dark foresty green and the closest I have is like...a shitty medium emerald colour. xD;; I'm contemplating saying screw it and instead of dark green spots giving him like...bright orange ones. lol

Ew, frog texture. xDD

I'm in panicky perfectionist mode right now, though, cause my portfolio interview is on the 31st and I need more stuff. :'D All my big realism-y stuff is mostly unfinished lol.

But shit, you say you're a highschool freshman? D: You better bloody be going into art for a career. xD

Haha~ that must've been hard. xD I give up really easily too, especially when I see something complicated. ><
But it still looks great. :]] I see a lot of detail put into the frog~

@Solinhild:
I'm on Gaia, but I definitely found it through Menewsha. I must have lurked in one of your art threads before and clicked the link. xD

I was lucky enough to have a dark green color, but I really didn't use it much. I used a ton of black to mix with other colors by blending. When it got too dark, I mixed in white or yellow to lighten it.

Frog texture is pretty... slimy. D:
But I think it's easier to do than fur. I can't imagine all those details with blocks of chalky pastel. o_o

Eeps, good luck on that interview. Remember, sleep only exists if you believe in it. .__.
I'd be terrified of a portfolio interview, but that's just me. I'm a sketchbook-clutcher, I don't often let people in school look through my stuff, and I feel like crying when even my friends look through. IRL, every criticism feels like a stab. On the computer I get unnecessarily defensive, but I value the opinions overall.

I'd love to have an art career, and my biggest goal is to be a published manga writer (as a side job from a main art career). Except I'd have to pay for college myself, as my parents do not support an art related career for me. I have a couple hundred dollars saved up, but I can't legally get a job for two more years. ><

@Suppi
Weeeellllll, it would have been hard if I put effort into the log. /guilty.
x3

Ah, well, I've only had the one, so yeah, I guess that's how. xD

Hurhur, I'm drawing on black paper, so mixing with black just makes it a muddy mess and flatter. xD
I'm using prisma nupastels, so they're not as chalky. Even when I use messy stuff, I'm all clean about it. :'D

Eh, I'm not sure how much interviewing they'll be doing. It's not like one on one in an office or anything. I think it's groups of us at a time, pinning out artwork up, which might be worse, since we can see what everyone else has done and judge how fucked we are based on that. :'D
I hate criticism too, but it's an evil fact of artsy life. D: Unless I agree with it, then I don't mind. XD

Ewww, no help from parents sucks major ass. If you have time, start shops on gaia and menewsha so you can get some people following you, which will hopefully lead to irl commissions and money. That might be a start until you can get a real job? If you can get paypal, that is. >_> Can always try sticking flyers in local mailboxes with examples of your portraits and prices and stuff, since a lot of people like pictures of their family done.
Um, get as many scholarships as you can. Enter scholastics and art shows, you should do well considering what your art is like now. If you're good academically as well, hunt down art schools with scholarships for that. I know SCAD (currently) gives like $10k a year to people with over 2000 on the SAT.

If you do well with all that and prove you can get somewhere and that art schools want you, maybe your parents will help? I've also heard that doing the first year of college in a community college and getting rid of basic classes there is a good way to save money, as long as the credits transfer.

I really like your drawing~ I'm a fan of pastels too. 83
I love working with pastels and charcoal and I don't mind (too much) the messiness of it all when I'm drawing, but breathing it in and leaving my hands stained after washing them five or more times is a downside. XD;

The same mistakes I see have already been mentioned / you most likely already know about them, so I won't repeat. Though I agree with your teacher in that the background looks a bit blank. >.<; So random plant life or bodies of water or something would be nice. Adding the yellow thing (I'm guessing some kind of ribbon thing?) was interesting, but now the drawing looks a bit off-balance, though I can understand the time limits and deadlines to art. XDD; Also, very nice detailing shown, even with using pastels. ^w^

Curiosity asks, how big were the actual dimensions you were drawing on? =O

@[email protected]
you're really good
I can't do the shinny parts ; ;~~
Your technique is amazing <3333

It's okay. ^^ I know problems occur when you try to draw something~ :]

thats amazing! I love it! the colouring is so well done! that portrait is amazing too! *dies* your too good!