Some ‘dreamy’ thumbnail based on reference photo taken from my apartment window view. Done in Procreate.

Hey. I actually like your use of color here but I am a sucker for a bit of muted colors, so I might be a bit biased, haha. I like your painting and was also drawn to specifically the wasp and the wings - they where really nicely handled! You made the wings very subtle yet destinguishable. I am not great at color myself since I've also avoided it for quite some time - so take my advice with a grain of salt; but I can also, as Smithies said sense that there are some values in the flowers that may not work with the rest as well as it could. It might be that your lights in the flowers are a bit too light (just a smidge) - especially the parts of light that are hitting the stems. I think it may make some of them look a bit unnatural Also, I know your reference-picture has quite the more vibrant colors and the lights on the stems are quite intense, but the darks and midtones there dont go as dark as in your image - so since you have made your whole image a bit darker and subdued in terms of value - the brights on the stems really stick out. I've attached an image highlighting the shadowshapes I'm seeing on the reference along with a comparison of the values on the reference (top swatches) and your image (bottom swatches). Maybe you can pull something from there? Seeing your adjustments - I still feel there are some troubles with the values in general around the flowers. It's as if you added a viginette to the lower part but I am not sure it helped unfortunatelly (sorry!). I'm rambling a bit.. So I tried to treat it as an exercise myself and I did a paintover to show you roughly what I'm thinking - It might look a bit muddied though. I tried to push the lights down on the stems which kind of makes them look a bit flatter in return - but since your background is very dark I think it's a bit inevitable to end up there without changing too many things. Ah yes, I added just a smidge of light to the wings aswell since I felt the tips could be a bit more accentuated (not sure if it was reallly needed though?). Again, not entirely sure if my changes were an improvement so hopefully someone with more experience can shime in and help you further :P

Final Submission

Hi, should these 5 thumbnails be a collection in some way related to each other? Should they tell a story individually or as a group? Thanks

I particularly struggle with this when drawing the figure! It’s so complex I desperately try and get the contour in, but the drawings I love the most are full of lost edges and unworked areas.. I just try to copy master drawings as much as I can, and find it particularly useful when I know what their reference has been so I can do my own, copy, redo my own trying to remember what I’ve learned from the copy etc.

They look pretty good to me! The description of form of the lower lid is where I think you could improve - the shading and lines look a little quickly done - perhaps use a something smaller to get more details in. Also, I feel the fold over the upper eyelid would have a cast shadow underneath, so maybe double check your reference for that? The pupil and highlight look well handled though

I think the second picture is the most successful of the two, although I like both. The first seems a little unfinished - there is not quite enough definition of the forms in the body or sleeve (on the left of the picture), and some of the defined hairs on the left side are a bit distracting. The way you have handled the light in the second picture is really cool, and I think the colours particularly in the hair are done very well. Keep it up!

Hello! I actually really like the colours you have used here! The drawing of the head is awesome and I love the way you have handled the wings. I think I find the flowers or the values a bit distracting but I can’t figure out which - like my eyes are wandering and I don’t know where to focus, but there is a lot of skill here so congrats :)

Wow this is great!!

🥲 just turned 30... Sad times

What happened to Oktober challenge is it cancelled?

idk, @Smithies. that looks pretty good to me, the only thing that i would maybe change is the highlight on her pupal, also i have not studied my fundamentals yet so my knowledge of that sort has not been sharpened yet but just remember sometimes its just best to take a break from your work like stay away from this piece for a few days and then come back to see with different fresh eye's often you as the artist can solve many of you're own problems 😉 go fig, you just some times have to change your own perspective , also dont be to hard on you're self this still looks amazing the way it is. god bless and take care 😉✌

This is awesome! Love the textures colours shapes and lighting!

Thing is it's not wasted time because you're learning something! And you can always pick these projects back up at a later date and finish them. I think deadlines are great if you need pressure to being a piece to finish, but sometimes our best work can't be created under that kind of strain.

I haven't done any thorough self portraits for ages, but just wanted to say these are gorgeous!

I think this is an opportunity to do something totally different! Maybe just splash some colours around and do something abstract, then it is experimental and you don't have to worry about it having to look like anything in particular. Find the enjoyment again and try not to judge what you've done (or at least no longer than 20 seconds until you've got the joy back again) 😊

Day 11, Doll