A few weeks ago, Blade from The Artistic Biker sent me an email asking if I’d be interested in participating in a critique session.  With the exception of the biking (he rides the motorized variety, while I stick with the pedal-your-tail-off kind — mainly because I know I’d do great damage to myself otherwise), we seem to be living parallel lives; so critiques notwithstanding, I thought it would be interesting just to have a chat.  And of course, I always like to get the kind of feedback that could help me improve.  Feel free to eavesdrop after the jump…

Jeff Knecht: what brought you back to drawing? I know you mentioned your wife suggested it; but that can only get you so far.

Jeff Knecht: were you doing other creative things, and switched to drawing?

Blade: I was planning other creative things and never following through. My mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Last year at this time, we were planning her funeral with her.

Blade: It turned out to not be pancreatic cancer, just a tumor and was completely operable.

Jeff Knecht: wow

Blade: But I took that as my wake up call that I should be doing something more enjoyable with my life than just planning for another day.

Blade: So in June of last year, I quit smoking. In August I began looking for creative places to hang out online. In December I began my weightloss program. And in January, I jumped back in to art with both feet and quite publicly.

Jeff Knecht: holy smokes

Jeff Knecht: that’s quite a year!

Blade: Yeah, big changes in Blade World for sure!

Blade: Well, you said earlier that you didn’t like your bike helmut. I like the colors and the composition. I can see you weren’t satisfied with it, but I think you were headed in the right direction before you quit.

Jeff Knecht: watercolors are just so unforgiving. at least with opaque paints, you can cover over your mistakes. with watercolor, you have to live with it

Blade: A lot of people have said that about watercolors and I find the exact opposite to be true. Because of their fluid nature, you can get away with so much more.

Jeff Knecht: hadn’t thought about it that way

Blade: Shall we post a few pics for critique, or run with what we have and do some actual critique next week?

Jeff Knecht: you have stuff other than what’s on your blog?

Jeff Knecht: (I don’t — everything I do gets posted)

Jeff Knecht: but sure, we can do a quick one

Blade: Not really, I have some stuff that I’m not willing to share and I have some stuff that is not finished. But for the most part, everything’s posted.

Blade: I’ve got the figure drawings of my lovely bride, but that’s not going online.

Jeff Knecht:

Blade: So which of your works are you most proud of this week?

Blade: and not necessarily done this week

Jeff Knecht: well, since I only did 3 things, that’s not a hard choice

Jeff Knecht: the top of my dryer is probably my favorite from the week, with the handheld basketball game coming in second

Jeff Knecht: though it’s a close one

Jeff Knecht: how about you? which one(s) should I take a look at?

Blade: See, and I did very little beyond the EDM. I like the Hierarchy of love, and the lightbulb

For Jeff’s critique of The Hierarchy of Love, click here!

Jeff Knecht: You nailed the shape of the glass part of the lightbulb. I would have liked to see a little more contrast on the metal part. Lights and darks on metal are extremely pronounced, and I think that would help set off the difference in materials.

Jeff Knecht: You did a real nice job with the weight of the line where the bulb meets the metal. I wonder if the shadow should be a little darker on the underside.

Jeff Knecht: With respect to the shading of the bulb, I like how you captured the highlights (this where I think a slight color adjustment on the scan would help me see that even better, as I’m sure it’s even more pronounced in real life). I wonder if varying the direction of the pencil line to better conform with the shape of the bulb would make it appear even rounder

Blade: On the hand held game, you were concerned about the color mix. I remember that game looking EXACTLY like that color scheme. Earlie 80′s faded plastic and grease from your hands look. It’s great! I really dig the way you’ve managed to define the edges without consciously drawing a line. Here you had no problems what-so-ever mixing shadows for form. The dark around the buttons really make them jump out at you. I know the thing is almost completely smooth plastic, but I would like to have seen a little more texture. Some reflection on the clear plastic cover of the viewing area, or some worn fingerprints on the buttons. It looks like you started this on the lower side of the viewing area trim. I think it would have added another layer of POP to the buttons as well.

Blade: This is exactly the kind of still life that I really love though, so of course I again like the composition and design.

Jeff Knecht: I see what you’re saying about the highlight on the screen. I need to spend more time looking at my subject and drawing what is really there, not just what I think i see

For Blade’s critique of the top of the dryer, click here!

Jeff Knecht: Well, cool. Thanks for the crit.

Blade: Now that wasn’t so hard was it?

Jeff Knecht: This was great! I really appreciate the feedback. So much of what I get on my blog is just “nice job”. This was much more helpful

Jeff Knecht: You’ve given me some good things to keep in mind for next time.

Jeff Knecht: I hope I have too — but it’s been so long since I’ve done a critique I’ve almost forgotten how

Blade: Oh yes! Constructive criticism is always appreciated!

Blade: You and I have so much in common it’s ridiculous.

Blade: all except for the running.

Jeff Knecht: you wait and see… I didn’t start running until after I lost 40 pounds

Jeff Knecht: (yet another thing we have in common)

Blade: Yesterday, at the zoo, I found myself running up the hills just to see if I could. And I did and wasn’t winded at the top.

Blade: I’m sure my running as recreation is one of the signs of the apocolypse

Jeff Knecht: yup – that’s how it starts. Next you’ll be going to the end of the block, then around the block, then down to the park, and before you know it, you’re registered to run a 5-K and you’ve spent money on shoes designated just for running.

Blade: One step at a time.

Jeff Knecht:

Blade: Shall we do this again in say, two weeks?

Jeff Knecht: checking the calendar…

Jeff Knecht: yep – that should work. but might need to be later in the day/evening

Blade: Is 8pm too late? That’s when Girl2 gets her bath.

Jeff Knecht: that’s perfect

Jeff Knecht: thanks so much for putting this together

Blade: No problem. I think because we are almost at the same place in our lives, this would make a great regular feature.

Jeff Knecht: Most excellent.

You can read more of the conversation over at The Artistic Biker.  Blade’s a very interesting guy, and he’s looking for more critique participants.  Pop on over to his blog and let him know if you’re interested.