Kiana

Haileen Mesi · 2026-07-11T13:35:36.851Z

Hi all, I’m struggling with shape design and the looks of the character. I’m trying to get closer in style to the top reference but the painting looks completely different from it. Also she’s supposed to be pretty but I’m not sure I’m succeeding at that either.

@mireysHace 2 meses

Hi! I really love how you captured the vibe of the reference style. I had a couple of small suggestions that might help bring the piece even closer to the reference. The shading: On the reference, the hair has very smooth transitions with multiple subtle gradients of shadow. Right now, the shading on the hair uses about three distinct colors, which creates a bit of a high-contrast look. Adding a few transitional mid-tones would help soften the contrast and match that smooth reference style beautifully. The linework: In the reference, the outlines are incredibly soft, invisible in some places. On the drawing, the contour is quite prominent. If the outlines are made to match the neighboring colors more closely, it will instantly give the artwork that same delicate, seamless feel. What do you think?

@raniiHace 2 meses

Thank you so much for the critique AND the paintover. I definitely see what you mean with the contrast and the lineart; I’m definitely going to pay more attention to that the next time I paint. Lineart and shape design are two struggles that I plan to study until I have more confidence and competence to paint them properly, but I think I’m going to try and push the semi realistic more cause I have a feeling that that sorta-posterized style isn’t exactly meant for manga-leaning artworks. On a more personal note I can’t get over how pretty she looks in your paintover TuT <3 thank you for that, too!

@redvelvett22Hace 2 meses

The style in the top reference has a lot of strong hard shapes that are gradually darkened in certain parts. The original had too many smaller bits of hair and strands of shadow, when they should be very thick and shapely. I also changed a bit about her face. Her teeth had a bit too much detail, and I gave her a bit of a stronger smile. With the eyes, they were a bit too close together. I really didnt change too much in that department honestly, its just hitting those last few details, and sitting back for a bit, and looking back at your work with more scrutiny, but not anger. I hope this was helpful!

@raniiHace 2 meses

Wow, thank you for the thorough critique! I see that your paint over helped a lot with the overall readability too, so thank you so much for that too! I’m going to implement much of what you reported. Thanks!

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