Mizugorou

Hm. I could have sworn I commented this earlier. I guess I forgot to submit it.

I like this piece. It's calming, and I really like that look she's giving me The button details on her cap are fun, too That background picture is also really nice (very calming), where did you find it? The pose is interesting, and I like how you’ve substituted tufts of her hair for Mudkip’s side fins.

You probably could have done very, very well, had you managed to get this piece submitted before the contest ended. Good luck with your next entry!

I really like this piece. I have a list of critiques for it, though, if you don't mind me sharing them. It took me a long while to write this all, so I hope you appreciate it.

All mentions of right and left are in regards to Misty. For example, her left hand is the hand cradling her chin.

-Anatomy
The back of her rib cage is protruding too far from her back. It’s causing her upper body to appear squashed. Bringing it farther back will also allow her left shoulder to stand out more. It appears very flatly pressed against her body, like an empty sleeve. The fin on her back appears bent to the left. It should point away from the camera more, and probably be bent to the right towards the top, since her upper body would need to twist to match the shoulder and hip directions.

Her right arm seems to by lying over top of her chest. It should be beside it, probably squeezing her breast in somewhat. The curve on her arm makes it seem as though she has a huge right bicep. The elbow of her right arm should probably be either just above her right knee, or lying on it. As it is, her elbow doesn’t even appear connected. From the shoulder, the elbow would be behind her leg, since her arm doesn’t appear foreshortened. From her wrist, her elbow would probably wind up either just in front of or partly inside of her right leg.

Her upper-left arm is far too stretched. At the angle that it is, it should only be able to move halfway across the front of her body. Her fingers lack any sort of definition to their joints. Her fingertips are also too pointed on the ends, especially on her left hand. Too much of the back of her left hand is visible, too. If it’s just cradling the chin, the side of the hand should be seen, with a little bit of the top in front of her chin.

Her mouth is just a bit too high. The chin protrudes too far downward, forcing its way through her wrist. Her cheekbone also sticks out too much; round it off somewhat and smoothen the curve to her chin. The right side of her head appears bulged outward; the right side of the cap wouldn’t be visible. The lower right portion of her neck should be visible beneath her chin. The fin on her cap doesn’t curve around her head. The ends of the fin’s “ribs” should contour with the shape of her head. Her ears seem to have gone missing, since they should be visible either in front or behind where the sprouts of hair are. The center tuft of hair between her eyes should look pressed down along the brim of the cap, and fluff outward. Lastly, her eyebrows should be lowered or drawn over top of the cap; it is difficult to tell exactly what facial expression she has.

Misty’s right leg is too thin, especially down at the ankle and calf muscle. Her “shoes” (they look like puffy cotton slippers to me :3 ) also seem to disregard the feet underneath them. Her right foot appears detached. When the foot is pointed as far forward as possible, the leg goes straight into the top of the foot; only subtle bulges from the top of the foot and ankle joint are visible. Her heels are also too tall, even with the shoes. The top of her right leg appears detached from her body. The upper body slants at the base of the leg, as your abdomen continues down towards the crotch.

-Pose
Her left elbow isn’t resting on anything. A natural chin-cradling pose requires an object to sit one’s elbow on. Holding it as it is makes Misty’s pose feel forced, rather than having sitting comfortably and naturally as you most likely intended. However, it seems as though she’s leaning over and bending to one side. Given the position that her left leg is in, her left arm would be pressed very tightly to her chest.

Her right hand curls around her left leg oddly. It looks as though her wrist is held up and away from her leg. For a proper relaxed pose, very little or none of the wrist should be visible, and only a small portion of the top of the hand should be seen. Since her hand is placed with her knuckles lying on the curve of the leg, the thumb should continue out straight in the direction the palm is facing. This is because the thumb can’t bend sideways to wrap around objects.

Her right leg is curled up too much. I don’t even know if it’s possible to curl the leg that much when sitting down. When one sits and puts up their feet, their legs will slide until they lie flat on the ground, unless there is sufficient traction for it to stay in place. Since her right leg is sitting sideways, there isn’t enough downward pressure for her leg to be held in place; it would slide until it met the back of her other foot. Also, her left leg seems placed too far to the right to be comfortable.

-Shading
The shadows in the scene are very inconsistent. The direction of Misty’s shadow doesn’t match the direction that most of the shadows are going in the scene, which is sideways. Her shadow also has odd dark and light blotches in it. Her shadow should be lengthened, since it appears as though the sun is somewhat lower on the horizon, unless there’s some sort of framework above the pool. However, there doesn’t appear to be any reflections of beams of any sort in the water.

The shadows on Misty are, well, almost nonexistent. Her right hand should be casting a sharp shadow on her left leg. Her head and left hand should cast shadows down onto her shoulders. Her body should be casting shadows on the fin on her back. Her left leg should be casting a shadows onto itself and her right leg. The right leg needs to cast a shadow on the ground, as well, even if just a sliver. Lastly, the shadow from the fin on the cap is far too soft for the intensity of the light.

The color of the shadows that Misty is casting is wrong. Misty’s shadow seems to be straight blue, with little variation. The shadows in the background appear to have hints of lavender in the center of the shadow, and hints of a creamy off-white towards the edges. Her shadow also becomes oversaturated as it passes over top of the hatch on the ground.

Overall, the shading is very blotted and imprecise. There are no hard edges in the shading. Harder edges should be put along sharper creases, such as on the backs of her knees.

-Personal Comments
I would suggest removing that hatch on the ground. It distracts from the piece overall. It doesn’t provide a suitable “pedestal” for her, because it is too small. They’re also not very much fun to sit on

I think the shading on her eyes is very strange. Since all the bits of the eye are round, the color should also continue up the sides of the eye, either disappearing into the glossy highlight, or wrapping around the top and back down the opposite side. Right now, they sort of seem a bit “void-y,” almost as if she were possessed. o.o

Vary your line weights! Properly weighted lines to exaggerate features can bring so much life to a piece. At the very least, thicken her upper eyelids to make them a little bolder. At least you’ve colored some of your lineart.

Please, try not to take any of this at negative. Regardless of the errors, I still really, really like this picture! Believe me, I could probably write a list three times longer about my own artwork! Also, I'm honored to receive critiques of any kind.