Hi, all, <3

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I`m going to be rather vulnerable/honest, but I simply need all the advice/feedback/tips I can get. Recently, I think I figured out my style and the way I wanted to do art. However, I feel like there is a ton I could still improve on; I simply do not know how to or what needs improvement. My recent pieces have been consistent in style and appearance which I love, but they are not at the.. quality (?) I want them to be. I also, understandably, wish for my art to go for more, mostly because it takes me ages to get one piece done. I want to improve, but haven`t been seeing the improvement I want to see. I feel as if something is missing from my pieces, if that makes sense, xd I find myself not really liking the end results, :`)

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I use MediBang, which I believe very few use here. I only use it because I have been using it ever since.. 2018, roughly. I wonder if I switched programs I could improve more? I just absolutely fear switching and not being able to create art that is of equal quality as it is now; I did that with Krita and dreaded it. I used Krita, did not like it (I use it for making cuts though, lol). I do have Photoshop and, thanks to a college course, understand it very well. I have not tried to do a manip on it, but.. maybe I should? Regarding equipment, I use a Kamvas 19 Pro (if I recollect correctly). I know everyone uses Ibis, but as I said before- I fear not liking it and it ends up being a waste of time.

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I have a lot of techniques down that I enjoy, but maybe it`s not the best or right way for me personally? I use Zomb`s tutorial for body prep, occasionally I repaint the whole horse using a multiply layer (I could be wrong since my memory is terrible, but I believe that was advice from Gem?). For hair, I honestly wing it. I get a base color, do three colors lighter than darker of the original, and use that. For lighting and shadows, I use a soft airbrush.

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I did not realize how long this was getting (whoops, xd), but any and all tips or feedback would be great, :) I could also just genuinely be hating on my own art, xd I have a few recents below (none are repainting, only body prep).

If you do end up going for Photoshop, feel free to message me if you get stuck or have questions! I also have an old art tutorial written (thank you Tangle for reminding me it still exists lol), if you want, you can check it out to see how I use it.

And I can relate to that feeling so much! Just this weekend I decided to give manips a spin again and I definitely feel the rust. So I'd like to offer an outside perspective on your recents, but at the same time, I also don't feel "worthy" of giving advice in my current state xD Treat these as technical suggestions^^

Anyway! The first thing I noticed was that grounding is generally missing, or only consists of some drop shadows, which don't always align with the direction of light. For example, in the third piece, the light is angled towards the bottom right corner, yet the shadow of the horse is coming straight at us. This can lift the horse out of the image.

Secondly, I see little shadow on the mane and tail as one "object". While the individual hairs are well placed, they feel a bit "flat". Tryto treat the tails and manes as a single object and see where the general shadows would fall onto them. For example in the second image the tail is very bright right next to the horse's bum, but in real life that would be the one place where the horse's body would cast a shadow onto the tail. Or the last image, the mane has one brightness level throughout the whole, but if the parts close to the neck were darker, it would look more realistic.

And the last thing that I can point out is that sometimes the backgrounds and horses do not share the same hue. This is especially seen in the shadows. Shadows are rarely pure black, just as lights are rarely pure white. To blend the horses in to the scenery, try to use slightly colored shadows and lights, and pick these colors from the background image itself - or mix one up that you feel fits. Or you could simply make the whole horse blend in better by adding some of the background's color onto it. (Or combine the two even.) For example the first image, the scenery is dominated by blue, but the horse itself has black and white lighting only. I usually slap either a photo filter or a color layer set to whichever layer type looks best (usually either soft light, overlay or color) onto the horse, and decrease opacity until the picture comes together. This is not necessary and may not apply to every image, because when the scenery has similar lighting than the stock horse, it might not need any adjustment.

Sagebrush said:

Ok I have a lot of advice on this whole subject but I may not get around to writing it and posting it for a few days.

Stormsong Manor and Coldwater (you're probably too "young" to know their arts) but I'm pretty sure both used Photoshop, and honestly since that's kinda "built" for photo editing I'd imagine it would be incredible once you learn it. I was using pages before I took a break and made the switch to procreate, and that helped me progress. And then buying specific brushes upped my hair to the next level. Practice is also your best friend! Don't be afraid to create something cuz you're worried it won't look good, just make it first and it can get good later.

Second, I feel you. I was in that rut before I took a 2+ year break and had a random breakthrough in skill. I spent those 2 years practicing regular art (digital drawings mostly) and that's honestly helped a ton somehow. I also feel myself falling into a phase right now where none of my pieces look right, so I'll be following this for advice for myself too lol.

I'll come back to give some general tips for your art if you'd like, and a few other things!

Jericho Stables said:

If you ever want help with Photoshop, my mailbox is always open. I'm more than happy to do any tutorials as well.