[ilinh]

Hello! My name is Linh, I am a long time member of CGHUB but a new in forum lurking! I just recently stumbled upon the Drawing Jam thread on Water Spirits and was so inspired to make one of my own! Too shy to enter (as of yet) I thought it would be nice to show my current WIP of it (So far 2 hours in). Would love to see what you think and what can improved on. Also I'm not that great in working in backgrounds and trying to get as many references and practicing as much as possible.

Any tips when working with backgrounds and background lighting?

Anyway here it is.

[ifriteg]

Would like to see this finished. Would be awesome.

[seavvolf]

looks pretty sweet dude! A few things that stand out to me that I think could you improve your piece is to remember to follow your rule of thirds and your characters proportions look a little wonky. Try to find images of models posing in similar positions. as for your background, remember to try to have it rooted on your bottom third.
Hope this helps keep posting updates, love to see them.

[ilinh]

Thank you Seavvolf for that! I put this into thought and this is an update on my work in progress. Took a long time to get around doing it haha but yeah. I've just quickly focused on the background.

[iceburn91]

Hum.... i saw something darker. i think those trees are out of place :S but the old character was awesome.

[seavvolf]

Hey Linh,
glad to see your posting updates. You've positioned the head right on the upper third which is great to see but I feel that he still needs to be nudged over just a little bit more. If this was more of a concept piece I would say that where he is would be fine but I get the feeling you're going for a more finished piece. Having him stand on a third helps create a more dynamic feeling within your painting.
I know this might seem a little bit on the tedious side but I would really recommend going back and flushing out your line work for you character. The pose you have given him has a strong action dynamic to it but it also has parts of his body turned at some extreme angles, mostly his head. Remember to try and find strong reference images and to keep in mind fore-shorting.
As for your background your horizon line is positioned to high. Having the horizon to high can make your image seem more unnatural and static. and also don't worry about having foliage on both side of the image, having to much will make you piece feel cramped.
I hope this makes sense to you. These are all problems I use to have a really hard time with and still do. so don't worry to much and just take your time and keep posting