Great job everyone with using the skeletons before fleshing out the figure! (: You guys are all doing great!
bored_ninja - Indeed, the skeleton for this sketch is a lot better! C: It's much easier to see, and the shapes are looking a lot more organic, as well. Right now, the tail kind of resembles a scythe. I wasn't sure if that was what you were going for. If you were going more for something natural, remember that the tail is a natural extension of the spine. It should flow right from the spine without any 'connecting' pieces at all. In fact, it
is the spine, with some fat and muscle over the top.
As for the angle.. I think perhaps you're having difficulty visualizing the pose he's in? It seems that he's stuck between a side-view and a back-view, and the various components of his body disagree with each other in communicating his body position. For instance, all four of his legs indicate that his body is turned to the side, because they are all facing the same direction on the same side of the body, suggesting that he is laying/standing sideways. However, his hips and shoulders seem to be straight-on to the viewer, which gives a conflicting read.
I apologize to Sarah Louise Winch for nabbing this off of google (sorry vrt... lol), but I wanted to show a good example of a skeleton in mostly-top/back view with a head in profile:
Anyway, great job with defining the skeleton and working on more organic structure. (: Keep trying to define the skeleton more -- don't be afraid to mark things such as the pelvis and ribcage, as well.
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wizelsnarf - You pointed out most of the flaws on your own, but I did have a few more things I wanted to add. (:
As I told ninja, remember that the tail is a natural extension of the spine. There is no difference in spine and tail -- they are the same. The spine should naturally follow the general contour of the back -- the line you have drawn through the body is more like a midline, indicating the centerline along the belly/front torso. I see that the midline connects the tail to the body, but not the spine. In red, I indicated a (fairly sloppy) general flow of how the spine of your creature would go, and fixed up the tail accordingly.
I wanted to say that those hind legs look excellent. You don't seem too happy with them, but I'm really impressed. I think what went wrong was the muscle structure around the calves, and how that connects with the ankles. Don't be afraid to use references! Google dog feet, lizard feet, whatever you'd like to be your inspiration -- and look at how things look in that area, then try to replicate it. Don't copy your reference directly, just try to get a feel for how things work, and keep that in mind while drawing.
One last point, is that the forelegs give off a very poor read. Consider the sillhouette of your creature -- it will seem that it has two arms sprouting from the same shoulder. I would definitely suggest trying to get those front legs to overlap more, to make it obvious that one leg is behind the other. Also, don't foreget about foreshortening -- same as what I said to bored_ninja, having both legs come out the same side isn't very usual for a pose that's mostly from behind.
Anyway, you're doing really well! All I had to critique were anatomical details, you are doing great with the sketch technique. (:
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krahhl - I noticed that you had put in some effort to add some shading to your sketch. I did a little paintover showing roughly how I would do things, bearing in mind the same lightsource. You were definitely on the right track, I just think you could go further with it. (: (Though obviously, at this stage, it's not a great idea to go too far with shading).
Shadow is obviously an excellent tool for defining shape and muscle structure. Don't be afraid to define that muscle and irregularities in the creature's build.
Now, for the sketch itself, you did a great job this time of defining the skeleton -- but I'd like to see you push a bit further. The one thing you're really missing here is a spine. The spine is near the very top of the creature's build, not through the center. In addition, spines don't usually dip so sharply between the shoulder and hip area, and in fact tend to be fairly flat in most creatures. I made a little paintover for you, showing a more viable-looking torso build.
Remember that everything is connected -- the neck to the shoulders, the shoulders to the hips -- nothing is separate. It's all part of one body.
Anyway, nice improvement from the last sketch -- keep it up! C:
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Okay, now I apologize to the remaining three of you, but I am absolutely exhausted and need to head to bed. Vrt has told me that he will be coming around shortly to give the rest of you critiques. (:
