Worked perfectly, thank you! I knew it was something simple... oof

Awesome ! Eh, "simple" applies to a lot of things after you learn how something is done.

Username --- Link to the overlay(s) --- https://imgur.com/a/DHiifzx (sorry, url tags are just making it disappear for some reason)

What do you need help with --- I’m struggling to see the issues with the denial and need a fresh pair of eyes.

Was there a denial --- OVERLAY: Anatomy or perspective issues NOTES: It took me a bit to figure out how to articulate what is wrong with this! Things seem to be on multiple planes, even within the hockey rink - the ice is at a different angle from the wall, like there are different horizon points.

Optional Can we take a look at the PSD files --- No, only because I can’t get to my laptop at the mo as it’s covered with junk because I’m tidying lol Can we redline --- Yes

The idea is that the rink is at the top of a hill, the bank slopes down so you can’t see it behind the boards, then the trees on the next hill are dark because there’s no light there (I could do a tad bit of highlights on the edges maybe? But not sure how that will help the perspective) and then the trees in the distance are lighter because of the town in the next valley that then goes up the hill. I’m really struggling to explain how my brain works it out lol But hopefully you get the idea.

Ooh, this looks awesome ! This one is a bit difficult because perspective in real life and photographs can be wonky and don't translate well in paintings/art. So we often need to Make It Work here. The sand line/rink line/ice line are all in different angles and the sand/ice lines seem to be at higher angles that don't translate well for HA art often. It's just really angled stuff can be a pain in such a small scale. You can probably get away without touching the trees much/at all. Green = back line. Pink = front line Orange = ice angle line Blue = Ice center line (I assume that's what your red line through the ice is) Basically, none match up. They don't have to be perfect, especially the back line and the front rink boarder; but the ice angle and the center line need to (which is freaking difficult !). This is a quick edit I did and it's by no means The Way It MUST Be, and by no means perfect. I changed the angles of both the front and back lines (more the front) to even them out a bit more and to make them more flat looking. You lose some of that awesome angle you wanted, but it will give less trouble. You could experiment with changing the back angle more to fit the front. I just don't have the time to test it out. This changed the ice angle; and the center rink line needs to go with it, which isn't easy. Trust yourself. If you want that angle, work the back to make it be on the same playing field.

Aaah that looks so much better! I knew a fresh pair of eyes would help, thank you so much!!

No problem, I look forward to seeing the finished piece !

Hello! I was looking for someone to help me with a question concerning line-art. Below under the spoiler is a sketch of a CW I am looking to design. What I wanted to know is do I still apply a line-art to the CW? The CW itself has pretty thin lines and I wasn't sure if it still needs a black outline.

For example, if I do a pink-ombre should I still apply an outline? Or is it recommended that I increase the size of the CW outline? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

SPOILER (click to toggle)

(For further reference, I plan to adjust the sketch to have more dimensions/shading, however, I wanted to confirm this issue before I proceed.)

hello !

If it is a halo-type of item, you do not need to have lineart, although it's usually best to have "darker" colors to help define the shape, especially if you have some sort of "glow"!

Here are some examples:

The keypoint is to have a coherent "idea" throughout the overlay, custom icon item and name. If all of them depict a halo, then you won't need to have black lineart.

I hope this helps!

Yes, thank you this did help. :)

Username --- Link to the CI ---

large version

What do you need help with --- Understanding why this was denied, especially for pillow shading? I'm really perplexed by that part. edit: to clarify, the light source is meant to be in the top left.

Was there a denial --- denied with the following notes: Item: Thin or weak lineart Item: Colored lineart and/or lineart so thin it appears colored Item: Pillow shading

note : I'm new to CWs so this is my first denial, I'm assuming the "Item" part of the denial means it's referring to the item art and not the overlay.

CWHELP

First of all, happy birthday! 🎉

Secondly, what an awesome CI! You're almost there. :) Hopefully I can help!

My rough edits on the left > Original

Weak/colored lineart is the easiest to figure out, you just need to thicken up your outer lineart. If you find your black outer lines look too pixellated or sharp, try using a slightly softer brush to do lineart. Also, you may be working too large - at a large size, the lineart looks fine, but when shrunk it looks too thin. Depending on your art program, you might be able to have a "working window" open at the large size, and a duplicate window of the art open zoomed down to the "final size" so you can see how the art will look later. Let me know if you want a better explanation of this lol.

The pillow shading, I think, partially because you're coloring with a lot of fine details (also a problem with working on a much larger canvas than the final size), so when the art is shrunk you lose that shading. The big problem is you need darker/more defined areas of shadow where the light would be blocked. In my edited version, I splorched on some shadow on the right side of the face and tail to give more volume to those shapes, and then made the areas behind the head, behind/beneath the tail in the chest area, the bottom of the thigh, and the base of the tail darkest of all, because the least light would be reaching them (assuming our light source is in the top left).

[edit] Pillow shading is basically just shading without a clear defined light source. You don't have enough contrasting highlight and shading to create a defined shape, instead the whole thing is just the same dimension, like a pillow. <--hopefully that makes sense haha

Even though my shading was just big messy shapes, you can see when the image is shrunk that it helps retain a feeling of depth and volume with the shape.

Also, yes, you're right! Item = CI or Custom Item :)

thank you so much! and thank you very much for the large in depth explanation and edit :o So basically, my takeaway from this is that (and this may be wrong) my shadows on the cat aren't dark enough therefore not defined enough so it's not clear. You helped me a lot with the lighting on the jacket, it looks better and I will try to improve that part. I agree with the lines being too thin on mine.

Do you know or recommend a canvas size to work on before it's shrunk? I was doing it at 208x208 but it sounds like it may be too big?

You're welcome! I'm glad it was helpful. And yes, I think if you deepen the darkest shadow color on the cat, it will make a big difference there! The jacket detailing is really nice and very leathery looking, just needs a little less detail/more darkness in a couple of places

Lineart is just difficult at times, it's something I still struggle occasionally too (though usually mine are at the opposite end, and too thick haha). I generally work at just double the final size, so at 128x128px . This can be pretty challenging if I need to fit in certain details, but also forces me to keep shading simple and work in big shapes of color. There's no right or wrong answer - if you like working at 208px, then you may just need to adjust your work process a little bit (like using a slightly larger brush for the inks.)

@ Tartelette 128! :o That'll be a challenge indeed but I may try that for something else and see how it turns out.

Normally outside of CWs I also have really thick lineart, a hard 5px for everything.. but I noticed a lot of art on site lately has thinner art so I tried to change and went too far the other way!

It turns out that I did try to shade this darkly at first, but I was worried about it being too dark and contrasting so I ended up backing off it.

some images including the new version

^ a wip that I saved

I have now made adjustments. New version: Looks better than ever thanks to your help and I think the lines are thick enough now :) What do you think of it, if I can ask? I'm willing to make it even darker if it's still too light

I think the new version looks great! The lineart looks much better and the shapes definitely have a better sense of form/volume. I hope it gets accepted this time!

It can be a bit of a trial and error thing, but you're doing fine! Since the queue is managed twice a week, at the very least if you get a denial, you know you (usually) won't have to wait more than a few days to try again.

Honestly, because the CW queue is run by an real person and we humans are fallible creatures, there's no 100% perfect formula for what is acceptable, and what will be denied. You've noticed how much variation there is between the accepted art for both CIs and Overlays, so the trick is finding a groove that works for your personal aesthetic and tweaking it until the queue supervisor also thinks it works for the site.

Thank you! And thank you for all the help <3

Username --- Lezluv

Link to the overlay and items --- https://imgur.com/a/Rkzsd9p (in order of submission attempts, left to right. has not been submitted) (it's not erotic idk why imgur says it may be)

What do you need help with --- Lineart and shading

Was there a denial --- Denial 1 ITEM AND OVERLAY: Shaky, rough, or inconsistent lineart ITEM: Sharp and/or pixelated lineart OVERLAY: Pillow shading OVERLAY: Ambiguous shading/light source unclear

NOTES: The lineart on both the item and overlay need some work; with the item, there are a few parts where it gets very thin, and on the overlay it gets inconsistent/thick in places. The shading is not quite Subeta standard and does seem to not follow a single light source (the light source comes from the upper left on our HAs)

Denial 2 OVERLAY: Issues from previous denial were not sufficiently addressed ITEM AND OVERLAY: Shaky, rough, or inconsistent lineart ITEM AND OVERLAY: Thick or heavy lineart

NOTES: You have unfortunately overcompensated for the thin lineart by making it too thick; it is also now on the jagged side and not smooth looking. Because you are newer to CWs, I recommend checking out the following thread to get some advice from experienced CW artists - it can really come in handy: https://subeta.net/forums.php/read/858111/-CW-Denial-Help-Thread-

Can we redline --- Yes

Thanks for reading!

I think the unsubmitted attempt 3 is almost there! The shading is much improved. :) The lineart around the tip of the muzzle, and the pointiest bits of mane still look a bit pixellated. Can I ask how large you're drawing? Sometimes drawing at a larger size (I draw at double size, 500 px tall for the overlay 128x128 px for the CI, for example), then shrinking to the final size can help.

Thank you! Yeah I regret drawing at the avatar’s resolutions instead of making it twice as large first. Debating changing this one’s resolution and then shrinking it back for adjusting the lineart.

Hello friends! Hoping to get some clarity on this denial. ^_^ Thank you for the help!

Username --- Link to the overlay(s) --- Original + examples

What do you need help with ---

Just trying to better understand the denial, the wording has me a little confused. As shown by the extra examples given, I can't really move entire wig DOWN, or the forehead completely disappears. :p Right now I'm thinking that the perspective issue is with the left (our left) side needing to be closer to the head (indicated by the red arrow), but I could use a second opinion.

Ref image, if that's helpful: here!

Was there a denial ---

Optional Can we take a look at the PSD files --- no Can we redline --- yes