hetalia | (no subject)

I really love prominent-nosed France! And his very France-like expression makes me smile. The colour of the eyes is lovely, too.
Care for concrit?

*laughs* The way you say it makes me think you want to give it, and you sounded like you were fishing for nice things to say. I know I'm a bloody awful artist. Go ahead.

Edit: And, looking at how I phrased this now that I'm more awake, I really apologize for the tone I took with you here. It was only that, in such an active community, I have to assume that the only reason no one comments much on my drawings is that they're drastically bad, and everyone's too nice to tell me ... but I know that you're nice, and I trust your judgment. Thank you for offering me an opportunity to improve.

Edited 2008-09-09 12:30 (UTC)

Hahaha, oh god. Please don't apologize, this is the most awake-putting thing I've heard in years. Woke me up better that a bucket of cold water. I mean that in a good way. I haven't really thought about commenting, and why and how I should do it, for a long time.
It kind of sounds like you understand concrit differently than I do, though. I offer concrit to artists that I like, in the same way that I'd only offer to beta a fic to an author I like.
And the reason you aren't getting comments is probably that your picture is just a head. There isn't usually much you can say about a head, unless something about it just happens to be your ~~fetish~~ area of particular interest, like prominent noses (particularly on France) and just this kind of smug-ish, confident nonchalance are for me. Without that, you can just leave plankton comments like "Wow" or "neat!" or "Awesome" or "^.^" - the kind you feel embarrassed to type and nobody wants to hear anyway.

Well, thank you for trusting my judgement! What I wanted to say was 1) that the distance between the eyes is usually equal to the length of one eye, and 2) that the middle of the nose usually lines up with the middle of the lips. (Reference! http://img73.imageshack.us/my.php?image=petergrahammironovpppcv9.jpg) I tried moving the left (his right, our left) part of his face (including the eye, the eyebrow and the nose, but not touching the lips) more to the right: http://img355.imageshack.us/my.php?image=frgileonnenqb0.jpg . I think this eye distance and position of nose relative to mouth are more natural, and also look really hot. *Ahem* Disregard the hair, though.
The part of the cheek that I circled in red is somewhat unnatural, too. It is too low to be a cheekbone and too high to be that bit of muscle/fat around the lips.
Say, are you drawing this with a mouse?

I didn't really get comments on Russia/China, either, which was at least as complex as works that do get lots of comments here. It's just--awkward-feeling, I suppose. You're right that a head's boring, and you're right that there's nothing valuable about 'plankton comments' (such a great term!) ... but. I want to draw interesting things. ;__;

Aaah--I use that rule when I'm doing most of my art (which you've seen); it's just that I don't really understand how anatomy rules apply to a more anime kind of style. In a style that assumes deformation of basic proportions, how do proportions ... work? I kind of hate drawing in that style, because it feels extremely unnatural to me. XD All art from now on is going to be my way. ~~The right way, the only way.~~

I am indeed working with a mouse. The basic lineart, I did with pencil, but all of the coloring was with a mouse.

You drew Russia and I missed it? Indeed I did - drat! I need to go through the community backlog attentively. Who knows how much other awesomeness I've missed!
Yeah! I really want to draw interesting things too! ;A; One of the things I regret most is that I can't come up with plots for pictures when I want to draw them (like, the France/Russia series? I'm stuck. Um. If you have some time to spare, could you perhaps help me with it by ~~writing it for me~~ betaing the probably incredibly purple prose I've written?.. )

Actually I haven't seen most of your art yet. I've yet to browse through your journal, really. Have just discovered your Dumbledore/Grindelwald picture, which is why this comment is taking so long to appear.
Yes, it really is weird how some rules still apply to anime. But I've discovered that there are some proportions I have to keep if I want a drawing to look attractive to me. But these things are apparently really personal - most people seem to have no problem with arms that are so long that the wrist hangs lower than the hips, and I don't like them...
But if you hate drawing in a style, why would you do it? To explore the style and find a variation that you like? Or to "keep true" to the original look of the characters? Or for other reasons?

You have my respect! I myself couldn't dream of colouring anything with a mouse, much less outlining it...

I want to draw him again. So that's probably going to be the next project: draw him in my style. Maybe doing something. Possibly in a fistfight with the US. I think that would be both hot and not-boring.

I hear that. For some reason, I can only really manage 'plots' to my pictures when I'm actually writing comics. (I'd be very glad to beta! I have a lot of free time, but I pay for it with my emotional stability. ;__;)

See, that's weird--because my wrists are well below my hips on my actual body. Somewhere around my upper thighs. O_o? I tried it mainly to 'keep true' to the characters, because I love their look and I wanted them to be recognizable--but also because each style has something to teach, and I've learned a lot about the nuts and bolts of Photoshop from this project. What I've learned about outlines alone is phenomenal. So it's not all bad. ^_^;;

I wish I could afford a tablet. =(

Oh yes, please draw it! I too think it would be very hot and not-boring.

Yeah! When I do get ideas for pictures, they tend to turn into comics. Or weird picture/text combinations.
Thank you so much for agreeing to beta! I've been feeling terribly uncomfortable about asking you to do it.

They're seriously longer? When you're standing, not when you're sitting? Oh wow, I didn't think that happens in real life. Pfft, I wonder why I still thought that. It's not like I haven't lost enough arguments about whether proportions I held to be immutable are merely my own proportions or indeed the golden standard of human anatomy.

"Each style has something to teach" - that's so true! I love learning from styles. I don't think I've ever tried to learn from a style that I'm uncomfortable with using, though. Maybe I should try that.

Yeah, I know how you feel. I've been dreaming about a tablet for the longest time, and then I actually got one for my birthday. Greatest present ever! It's pretty old by now, though, and now I'm dreaming about a new one.

No worries! You've given me great advice; hopefully I can do the same for you.

*stands* Yep! wrists definitely end below crotch level. My sister's arms are even longer; her hands are halfway down her thighs. But we make fun of her monkey arms, and she can never find shirts with long enough sleeves. XD

Mmm. ^__^ Maybe I should ask for that for Christmas. I can't think of anything else I really want~

♥ I love his smile. Great fanart ^^

Thank you very much! ^__^ I like it, too.