If anyone has time, I would love to have some constructive criticism on my art!

[Dernhelm]

Greetings! I am a new artist and I would love to improve and get ideas on likes and dislikes. My art can be found under the name, Shirley Roman. Thanks in advance to anyone who responds.:grin:

[Minna]

Where?

[Fatty]

Dernhelm's art is in the gallery along with Catz and the others. :-)

[Fatty]

As for critisism. I would say that I love the back grounds and the use of colour in the drawings. I think the style is quite naive, but I don't know if this is deliberate or not. However, it works for me, very evocative. Indeed it reminds me of something....hmmm

Anyway thats my humble opinion. though I am no art critic nor artist. :-) keep it up.

Fatty

[Dernhelm]

Thanks Fatty for your input. You are kind in using the word "naive". I would probably say "crude" is closer to the mark! I wish I could say it was deliberate - alas, it's merely the best I can do! lol

[Catz]

theres nothing wrong with naive tho...there are some situations where it wouldnt work but it works nicely with the colours youre using and the decorative, textural backgrounds...they give an almost iconic look...more aesthetic than realistic, and effective.
What media are you using Dernhelm? its hard to tell in a scan ;)
have you ever tried Oil Pastels? theyre fairly hard to get to grips with at first, but the buttery texture and saturated colours would suit your style well...hehehe if you can put up with the initial rather messy learning period....
:catz:

[Dernhelm]

Catz,

No, I have not tried oil pastels yet. They do look hard to grip which scared me off from using them. I thought about using watercolor, but went with chalk pastels. I really enjoy working with chalk pastels because the thin pencils are really easy and more precise to use in applying color.
I'm currently working on a picture of Frodo and Sam, but after that I would like to to a charcoal drawing of the Prince Imrahil. I just might give oil pastels a try if you think my style is suited for it. Thanks for the suggestion! : )

[Catz]

may i suggest that for your first experiments with them that you use a strongly toothed paper....it stops the colour from sliding around so much also there are a lot of other techniques you can use with them, such as Sgraffito(which is scratching thru the colour layer) or using a solvent like Turps ans a brush to work the colour...
dry pastels eh? my favourite media!! but i cant afford to replace my pastels at the moment...theyre so expensive, and if you do any portraiture you need lots of colours....so im working in pencils....*grins* ans even theyre not cheap heheh
:catz: