Yes, yes, I'm still alive.

[Fawriel]

Jesus Christ, it's been another drought lately.
But, hey. I'm going to move tomorrow. I'd have my bags packed by now if I didn't have to decide where to pack things after putting in the computer.
Tomorrow, I'm off to Live v.2!

That is, however, completely unrelated to this picture.

It just so happened that I was reminded of how much I love the Pokemon Gardevoir.
And, being a new member of a Super Smash Bros. forum ( steadily heading towards the highest post count WITHOUT spamming ), I decided to post a thread to gather support for her appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl!

...it's just one of those things you do when you like a video game character, any character in the game has long been decided. But hey, the support raises my hopes!

Anyway, here's the picture.



http://chaos.foxmage.com/gardevoirundmewtwo.jpg



I realize I made some bad mistakes in a few places. At least a major one somewhere. But I'm not telling you, where! Hah!
( I also realize that the background is cheap and tacky. *shakes head in dismay* )

Incidentally, I love this coloring method I developed for myself. Makes me wonder why I color so little. It's so pretty!

[Radium]

For the sake of orginality, I'm going to do this one as poetry.

The coloring's okay, consicely
It works effectively enough
Though getting ink to scan more nicely
Is considerably more tough.
Varying your lines in thickness
Helps give flat things more dimension
And drawing lines with much more quickness
Leads to smoother shapes in mention.
I'd use Illustrator, clearly
But hundred dollars... kind of much;
Have you tried a brushpen, merely?
The Micron ones are good for stuff.
So raising drawn lines in quality
Will make pics nicer on the eyes
And better lighting and like frivolity
Will make them really hypnotize.

[Stijn]

The lines seem to be a bit shaky. And the coloring on Gardevoir's left shoulder looks a bit off.

But Gardevoir O+

[Fawriel]

Yeah, the lines are very shaky indeed. I was trembling like heck.
Drawing lines faster works indeed, I did that for the "dress". At least with the pencil. It seemed too risky with the ink pen, given my lack of experience with it.

So... what exactly is a brushpen?
I did use two somewhat differently thick pens, but.. yeah, not THAT differently. I'll work on that.

I'll also work on making the differences in hue in the coloring less subtle so it looks better... not everyone stares as closely at pictures as I do. ^^;

[Radium]

So... what exactly is a brushpen?http://www.drawmanga.ru/images/m-pencils/mp_brushpen.gif Has a kind of squishy markery tip that draws thicker when you press down harder. Like an ink brush, but without the hassle of cleaning it or using an inkwell. And it runs out of ink fast.

[Fawriel]

Hmm... looks like a hassle, but very useful. About how much do those cost?

And, by your lack of criticism I assume I was right about the things I pointed out to improve in.

[Stijn]

Oh, as Radium said, make yourself comfortable with the Illustrator/Photoshop/Whatever Pen tool. It's really easy to trace some slick lines over your original drawing with it.

Illustrator and the like are quite expensive, but you might be able to get an educational discount, or acquire it in eh... other ways ;)

[Radium]

Hmm... looks like a hassle, but very useful. About how much do those cost?Your definition of hassle scares and confuses me. You can get them for something like 2-5 You Ess Dees around here; not much more or less than a regular Micron pen. Stijjins right, though, a fancy pen is no replacement for a good old fashioned vector line.

And, by your lack of criticism I assume I was right about the things I pointed out to improve in.Er, which things? It's a very simple drawing and there's not much you can obviously mess up on. It just lacks professionality, especially in how the lines look. As in, your line quality is comparable to the drawings in my sig or in this thread (http://www.jazz2online.com/jcf/showthread.php?t=16704). I tried removing the color and running the picture through Live Trace to see if it improved the line quality/confidence any; they look smoother, but definitely not as natural as if you actually drew them smoother.
http://foxmage.com/betterlines.png

[MoonBlazE]

You can make your free-hand lines smoother by doing a bigger picture. The shaking from your hands will become less visible when sizing down the final image to the size you want it to be - you won’t even see the signature afterwards.

I would also suggest reading this tutorial ( http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/30315977/?qo=33&q=tutorial&qh=boost%3Apopular%20age_sigma%3A24h%20age_scale%3 A5#5603731321784483308) on DeviantArt for better outlines if you’re working with Adobe Photoshop. The pencil tool is the way to do outlines of love without needing a tablet.

Keep just one thing in mind, Fawriel. All these things are easier said than done. One simply doesn’t jump to being professional from one drawing to another. I think your drawing is well done. Sometimes the lack of “that’s nicely done” comments on critique can discourage you from posting more art but don’t let it. Radium gives awesome advice here (<3 You Rad!!) that’s in my personal opinion worth to note down and keep in mind. (Although he could be a little more specific sometimes but oh well… ;-P)

[Batty Buddy]

Que Passa!!!!

Actual DRAWINGS? From FAW?!?

(Looks out the window and watches the flying space pigs.)

Ah, just kidding, buddy- looks cute.

[CrimiClown]

I thought I got rid of you for good last time we met! I shall not forget this, villain!

Oh, and cool stuff, dude. YAY for original Pokémon stances *points at Mewtwo* <3

[DoubleGJ]

What Rad said. Furthermore, the angle in which Mewtwo stands bothers me, it looks a bit like it should fall on its back, especially when considering it has such a large tail. As for the outlines, you can also try using quick, but short draws with the pen. Lines made this way should be smoother, although if you mess up and draw a bit off the desired place, it will look jagged - this method requires much practice. And if you have problems with line thickness control and smoothness combined, consider investing in various sizes of drawing pens. That's just the option I chose, with pens ranging from 0.1 to 0.8 and two markers, it's a bit expensive and more time consuming than a brushpen, but gives much more control over the lineart. Finally, try various tools and see what suits you best.

[Doubble Dutch]

I like the picture, that's all I can say.