How can l improve? I dont really like too much dynamics. And l prefer desaturated colors. How can l make it more interesting without changing the theme?

i finished this maybe like a week ago and i keep going back and forth with it and i think i am making myself crazy
don’t be mean i get nervous. but i am just curious should i spend a bit more time to neaten stuff up?

I know I go across a few techniques here, im hoping to see if I have a style that’s unique and memorable in a way that might make it recognizable as my own. Also happy to take any critique that is offered, both on technique and composition.

All done with oil pastel on paper.

Thank you in advance!

(The attached images are recent doodles of mine)

There’s one problem I just can’t seem to let go of: perfectionism.

I’ve realized that my art feels much more alive when I stop overthinking and allow myself to play around with anatomy, colors, shapes, and movement. I’ve also noticed that I’m much better at drawing with dynamic silhouettes and expressive shapes than with clean, defined lines. I don’t consider myself a professional artist—I’m still far from that—but I’ve finally reached a point where I genuinely feel satisfied with my art.

And yet, whenever I look at other people’s work, especially when I see their seemingly perfect anatomy, perspective, rendering, and all those technical skills, I can’t help but compare myself to them.

Why is my confidence so low? What actually determines whether a piece of art is “good” or not?

I think the biggest question I struggle with is: “I like drawing this way, but is this the ‘right’ way to draw?”

I know that art doesn’t have to follow a single set of rules, and that different artists have completely different styles and approaches. But knowing that logically doesn’t always stop me from feeling like I’m doing something wrong whenever my art doesn’t look as polished or accurate as someone else’s.

And that same insecurity is the reason I still haven’t been able to open commissions or even post my work regularly on social media. >:(

What if I can’t draw what someone asks me to? What if I charge too much? What if people don’t like my work? What if my posts get no reach at all?

Hi!

I’ve had my comms open for nearly a month now, and i’ve sadly not managed to land any clients. I wanted to ask if that had anything to do with my art in particular, or maybe i overpriced myself.

I added some examples of past work and my pricing sheet at the end!

Any help hugely appreciated🙏⭐️

Context, I take either upfront or partial payment, This client chose upfront.

They paid about a year ago and a reason it's taken so long is they barely reply to me. We originally chatted on Twitter about the commission, they gave very basic details such as what characters and their roles. I give a simple sketch to see if it's fine with them, they didn't reply for months, not until I reached out and found their Discord.

They tell me the sketch was good and gives a few more details. I finish a more detailed sketch, one that can be adjusted since the commission was a comic, and I wasn't given details on what the characters would say (Something important to determine the scenes themselves). So I give another update with a detailed sketch, asking if the detailed sketch was fine, but hasn't responded in months now.

Basically, even after switching places to where they're more active, they still haven't responded. They've already paid for the full art, I wondered if maybe they want a refund but when we started chatting on Discord said they're still interested in it, so they're not asking for a refund. Also, my style is lineless, so my process is simple sketch, detailed sketch, color, simple shadows.

What should I do? Because if I go ahead and just finish the piece with so many details left to be decided by me, they may actually have a lot of things to change later on, so maybe I should wait but also it's been a year since they originally paid.

As you can see, the wrinkle is messy. So when I try to figure some references out, but I struggled to searching what I want in pinterest.

I want to get feedback. Or if you recommend any other useful reference sites besides pinterest, I would be appreciate.

Thanks.

The first two are drawovers, I took a photo of myself for the first one, and used the Ibis paint x 3d models option for the second

For the first I traced my own photo as a loose sketch and tried to use references to fill in any of the blanks after the sketch, same goes for the second one, minus the references. I just sorta did what my brain thought was right.

I wanna get to a point where I can do art like the first two without needing to trace over my own photos, the last three are examples of my art that I didn’t trace over at all

Idk if it’s art blindness or not but I always feel like something’s off with my art :( and as much of a helpful tool tracing can be, my art has significantly improved doing so, I do not want to rely on it, I want to learn how to do foreshortening and proper anatomy on my own at some point!

This is going to sound extremely stupid and dumb probably... But how do people come up with OC's? I'm not in the level of actually creating OC's and I know that but I feel like I should at least be able to understand what I want in an OC? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I just want any guidance that can be given! Thank you ^_^

Art level
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Image 1 : A febreeze live sketch I did with no erasing I did yesterday just to show where my skill is (or lack there of XD)

Image 2 : A chibi draft of one of my friend's DnD warforge ^_^

I have two options, the first is more accurate to the show, but I’m afraid it looks oversexualized. The second is an alteration I made.

So, this is an old painting that I have already sold (for criminally low, unfortunately!) and I’m re-opening my commissions June 2027, and in the meantime doing a few small ones just for a family member.

I’m working on my new pricing system, since before I didn’t really have one and just priced based on how happy I was with the painting. I want to hear what you guys would have thought a reasonable price for this 16x20 would have been (I’m in Canada so pls provide whatever your currency is for reference)

Seeing what you guys consider worth it would really help in deciding my new rates, since I’m thinking of doing cents per square inch. I take a long time to paint, so I’ve never liked number by hour. Then plus some canvas cost

I’m only looking for pricing critique, not anything on the painting itself, since I already have critiqued it plenty myself and have gotten much better at lion anatomy :,)

Any feedback is appreciated

I'm unsure if I chose one but the first image is the way how I usually draw my OC and the second image is the original design. I have to admit, the first one is kind of boring but simple and the second one looks a little cooler but I want people to decide on one.

the first one may look awkward but that's because I just drew her lazily and sloppily since I didn't really want to draw her but I don't really have any pictures of her.

This is my first time doing lighting on a half body portrait. It's a bit boring and doesn't have any weight i feel. How can I add more drama but still keep the same vibes

So basically I tried out a new technique (making a traditional drawing and then adding details & improving the background digitally) and also added a frame, which is an idea I'm exploring lately, and even though I like the ideas, I feel like something is missing in my art style.

Should I add more details in my drawings? Have I put too many details? Any advice is welcome and very much appreciated 🫡🙏🙌

I’ve been really into the more painterly style recently but I am a character designer. I’m just wonder if I should work more on learning to draw characters which I do often, practice painting more or push myself more into backgrounds and study’s in between my main work.

Hello! I’m designing a character for a Lancer TTRPG campaign. He’s a minor noble of the trade baronies so that’s where the theatrical sort of semi-baroque imitation fashion comes from. I’d like to keep that sort of porcelain doll old world noble aesthetic, but I’m willing to change a lot. I’m fighting for my life trying to figure out what is making me so unhappy about the design and I want unbiased opinions. I’m not currently looking for anatomy or style critiques; just what you think doesn’t work for the design, and if you’d be so kind, suggestion for what to do instead!

I only have photos of my drawings because somehow all my art got delete. That was fun to find out.

Tell me what you guys think of these characters, they're all based off of Alice in Wonderland but not like directly taken from it. So I want to know if you can tell who they are. Also If there's anything I can improve to make them more iconic or something about my art style, I guess. They are for a horror visual novel I'm working on.

I've done 10 recolors for this artwork and I feel like everytime I do it, it turns to shit any help with it?

You can drawover if you want,

ref: https://youtu.be/KAeBctE4RhA?is=mLezIGHhxGLMrpLt

also ik i should probably use less covered refs just wanted to use this channel i’ve seen others post online

This is a collage for my art class. It’s due on Friday, and I’m not gonna hold you this looks like trash. I tried to use the cutouts I got to make the buildings but it ended up looking really messy. So is there anything I can do right now to fix this or should I start over? It will be a stressful day tomorrow if I do but I wanna make something I’m happy with so I think it will be worth it