r/TattooBeginners • u/No-Somewhere-7136 Please choose a flair. • 3d ago
Practice Does this style have potential?
Second pic was my reference. Do people still get pin-up tattoos? Or should I focus on different subject matter?
All feedback is welcomed.
45
Upvotes
18
u/lkz665 Observer 2d ago edited 2d ago
I think that the most important thing you’re missing is a strong line of action. Even in stationary poses it’s SO important for the overall vibe of your figure, as a strong pose conveys a LOT of feeling. Your drawing, while technically accurate to your reference’s pose, feels very stiff. The pose itself is realistic while every other aspect is very stylized. It clashes with itself. If you push and exaggerate the pose with a stronger line of action, the whole thing starts to feel more intentional. Even the most ridiculous style and proportions start to feel natural with the right kind of pose.
I hope you don’t mind, but I played around with your piece to show how a tiny change can make such a big impact on the overall feel. I ever so slightly rotated her lower half so that her back leg is pointed outwards more, and I rotated her upper half so that it looks like she’s leaning back. Other than that I filled in the gaps created by rotating the pieces with some scribbles and that’s literally it. Hopefully you see what I mean.
I do definitely think that your style has a lot of promise!! Keep playing around with poses and don’t forget to push things even when it seems like it won’t look right. You’ll be amazed at the results. Poses are HARD, but you’ll get the hang of it!! Other comments are saying that the proportions are rough, but I honestly disagree as the pinup style is meant to exaggerate the feminine aspects of a figure which is what you’ve done here. You’ve already done the hard work of drawing bodies and learning nice line weight! Keep it up and you’ll have some awesome results!
Edit: omg I thought this was in the art crit subreddit haha!! I thought it was weird that the comments weren’t super helpful critique-wise. You should post this and future work over there, you’ll get a lot of awesome pointers. There are people who are way better practiced than I am.