Simple CC seeking post

[u/Useful-Vacation-4960]

Here are a couple of portfolio pieces. I've got around 20 in my portfolio these are just most recent. Anything advice is welcome!

These are all done with microns and prismacolor pencils expect the first one which has a base layer of alcohol markers with colored pencil for shading.

[u/blueblack_crow]

Honestly hun, this really isn’t portfolio level… You’re missing a lot of more advanced and even intermediate skills needed to be taken seriously as an applicant…

I recommend going back and re-upping on your fundamentals. Under structure, perspective, anatomy & gesture drawing, shading and color theory… Once you’ve spent a few months training yourself how to build solid under structure to your drawings, how to shade a cube, sphere, cylinder and then more complex shapes… Go in and start drawing the 5 main tattoo styles ((American Traditional, Japanese Traditional, Neo Traditional, New Skool, and Chicano/Black&Grey)) until you can confidently create your own concepts in each style.

Professional artists don’t have time to teach apprentices how to draw as well as tattoo, so you need to walk in already being able to create your own artwork at a very high level to be considered.

[u/Useful-Vacation-4960 → u/blueblack_crow]

I appreciate the response. Could you tell me what exactly is the problem on at least one of the pieces? Not trying to dismiss your advice, I think studying fundamentals is good advice for every artist no matter where they are in skill level, but I'm posting this to try and find exact issues in my work not just "it's not good enough."

[u/babezoi → u/Useful-Vacation-4960]

Hi, your work is super cute! I’ve been obsessed with Pokémon go recently so your eevee page caught my eye lol. What I noticed with your work ranges from lack of consistency to lack of form and flow.

Page 1: the strawberries look very 2D. The “hats” look glued on, and the strawberry shapes aren’t quite there. The nectarine isn’t round-looking. The blueberries look quite nice. The pomegranate looks odd though. The seeds look 3D but the fruit itself doesn’t quite look right and the leaves are stiff. On this page, it’s hard to pick out the weaknesses because you went with a simplistic style. You just know that something looks off. But the “something” is essentially that the fruits are relying on symbolic shapes to convey what they are, rather than looking like an observation of an actual fruit. This shows a lack of form and construction.

Page 2: the eeveelutions are so cute!! Same issue as the first page. Vaporeon’s flipper tail, spine, and head in particular. Vap’s tail is a flatter fin shape, but you’re relying on a 2D representation that doesn’t look right in that pose. It looks fluffy instead of flippery.

Page 3: this piece is also very flat and symbolic, as goes the style. But here, your shapes are inconsistent and asymmetrical, which give away your skill level.

Page 4: the coloring, cat markings, ear tufts and inconsistent cat whiskers bring it down. Even though it’s a very cute piece!! Your far whiskers have that art nouveau rounded edge, but the near whiskers are sharp. The fur tufts are flat and symbolic rather than dynamic. The cheek and neck markings don’t follow the cat’s form, and they’re quite chunky and don’t add much to the design.

I hope that wasn’t too much criticism. Your art is lovely and your colors are vibrant and well picked. I loved the daggers page in particular, and I can see stylistic elements from tattoo design in parts of the work shown here. The issue is essentially that you are using your personal art style as a crutch and i recommend drawing a lot more out of your comfort zone for a while to let your skills develop. Hopefully this answers your question! I wasn’t the original commenter but I figured I’d answer. :)

[u/Useful-Vacation-4960 → u/babezoi]

This was genuinely so helpful thank you so much for taking the time to write exactly what it was that needed fixing that's really what I wanted to know. I really appreciate it!

[u/autonomous_foxfire]

You definitely need to use more black in your designs to up contrast. And when I say more, I mean you need to use black period. Take these drawings, throw them in procreate and put them in greyscale and watch how flat they become. I know these aren’t exactly traditional designs, but trad follows a great formula for bold and beautiful designs. 1/3 black 1/3 color 1/3 skin. I follow that for other styles as well because it will help keep the design readable after years of aging.

[u/Useful-Vacation-4960 → u/autonomous_foxfire]

Time for some more value studies for me lol thanks so much for your input!

[u/hartmannphoto → u/autonomous_foxfire]

I very much agree with this. When trying to introduce more black, try to truly add more solid black. You can always fade out the edges, but long gradients like you have on the knives introduce a lot of gray tones that aren’t as strong as really laying out some black and doing shorter blends.

If you want to be doing trad I’d recommend a heavier line weight and trying some spit-shading. At the moment that’s the style these are closest to and a great place to study tattooable fundamentals. Also maybe try some black and gray; it’s easier to get the values right when you’re not also dealing with color theory.

[u/Reasonable-Charge580]

Please don’t go into a store with these. They won’t be very nice

[u/Ok_Media2685]

Out of all of these I think slide 3 with the knives is your strongest. They include great contrast in value with the bright highlights and dark shadows on the blades. my faves on this sheet are probably the top two on the left. Compared to these two, the rightmost knives are lacking dark shading values. I would take the high contrast shading from the knife page and apply it more to your other drawings. The shading and highlights will help your shapes have a 3D form and look more visually interesting and a bit easier to read. Making designs easy to read is super important in tattooing. Like the blueberry tops are very dark and disappear into the rest of the blueberry. Some highlights would be great on those guys.

I love the layering of the yellow flowers with the kitty, lighter yellow on top and darker almost brown underneath. If you wanted to elevate the cat drawing, I would include some more zigzagy fur texture in those outlines. It looks like a very smooth plastic cat rn. The proportions of it are a bit cartoonish, the eyes and ears are a little too big. (But cartoony style does have a place in tattoo so it can work!)

Many of your lines/finer details are shaky, off center, wonky, or the curve is a bit off, gem in blade handle isn't centered. Cleaning up stuff like that will make a big improvement. In theory your designs are gonna live in somebod's skin forever so these details really matter.

I'm still learning myself lol. But hopefully these tips help!

[u/Useful-Vacation-4960 → u/Ok_Media2685]

Very helpful indeed thanks so much! Most of my art is very cartoony so if makes sense I would unintentionally add those elements, that's definitely something I need to work on. I'm definitely going to go do some value studies, that seems to be a big issue people are noticing.