The Redline

If you're like me, plenty of work you do never sees the light of day until the moment it is finished and published on an art site (e.g. ConceptArt.org or DeviantArt.com). In short, THIS IS BAD. If you are the only one who looks at your work, you will never realize your mistakes until 10 years later you look back and say "Oh, this arm is out of place".

Show your work to other people even if it is an online community that takes weeks to critique your piece. You'll be glad when you receive one and you'll be even more ecstatic when you receive one of these:

Introducing the "Redline". When an Anonymous donor on one of my favorite critique sites plopped this on my lap, I was struck by lightning. "HOLY COW, MY DUDE IS IMBALANCED." I thought in my head. While I appreciate word-of-mouth (or typed) critiques, nothing is ever so satisfying than this online treat.

What is a Redline?

A redline is a drawing on top of an original drawing, usually done in the color red (hence the name). Someone was kind enough to save your work onto his desktop, open it up in Photoshop, and draw over-top of it while retaining your original idea. This is generally a good thing unless it is obvious the person doing it doesn't know what the hell he's drawing.

What a Redline DOES:

1. Brings attention to proportion issues - It makes a note of various lengths, widths, and volumes of whatever you are drawing.
   
2. Shows mistakes in anatomy - For example, it shows you the correct structure of the face, nose, eyes, mandible, etc.
   
3. Helps a character stand correctly so the center of balance is convincing
4. DEMANDS YOUR EFFORT - You can't just take a redline at face value. You have to recognize your mistakes and shortcomings and use the redline as a guide and not something to be traced or even copied.

What a Redline DOESN'T:

1. Draws your piece for you - Once again, don't take a redline at face value. You shouldn't trace over top of the redline blindly, but understand the structure and ideas the redliner try to convey to you.
   
2. Automatically teaches you every mistake in the original or any drawing you make - Be aware of your mistakes and recognize when you make the same one again in another drawing. That is how you learn from a redline.
   
3. Give you permission to ask for more redlines - Redlines are like unicorns in that they are a rare sight and are majestic. Treasure your one redline out of hundreds of drawings.
   
4. Guarantee the one who drew the redline is correct - Not everyone knows what they are drawing and just like to pretend they are helpful. Use your common sense to judge a good redline from a bad one.

So, where do I get a Redline?

Hell if I know. This one just popped out of the blue.

http://icrit.org
Post your image and - if you want to - ask politely. Don't expect a hasty response.

That is all.