Do you think this is a bad sketch or awful artwork (not mine)?

[MCheetah]

https://imgur.com/hL4smZ0

I commissioned someone to draw someone I know. She's a 5'9" 26 year old long silky hair with blue eyes and 34DD bust who wears blue denim jeans and a pink shirt. I paid the artist and she showed me this as a sketch. Compared to the artists' usual work and level of quality, I hate it, however. I think it looks like dogsh*t. I paid $40 for the drawing and the final version looks like this. Disgustingly bad. I was so upset by the waste of time and money. I paid someone else to draw her instead, and while not as "experienced" at drawing, the second artist only charged me $15 for what they came up for my friend.

How do you think this sketch looks? Or the final version.

Updates

+1 y

I'm referring to the anatomy, her "beauty", and things like that of my friend. I'm not stupid; I KNOW it's a rough sketch. It just looks like trash in comparison to how well this artist usually draws. It's like the artist half-assed my commission because of time constraints or something. Look at the final version too, if need be.

[dangerDoge]

I don’t think it looks horrible, but I’m also not wildly impressed by either. I think the rough sketch was honestly decent, but the translation into the final product didn’t turn out so perfect. The first has arguably more difficult shading than the second + more detail, but the style is a little more cartoonified on the second which I think works a little better.

To be fair, I also think $40 / $15 isn’t a ton for commissioning a piece. The $15 one was also likely faster to make than the $40 one done, so it makes sense it was cheaper that way too.

[MCheetah]

They both took the same amount of time, 7 days.

[dangerDoge]

That’s the delivery time, though it’s not necessarily reflective of the total time spent working on the piece. It’s tough to compare delivery times too strictly, because people have different circumstances (maintaining a second side job, dealing with other commissions/business, etc.)

[TurboKid]

I much prefer the second version.

Besides anatomy/perspective, I never cared for that airbrushed look of the first that uses a lot of soft edges but keeps very hard lines/contours.

[TurboKid]

Also, I think if it's going to be stylized this way, the second one just seems far more dynamic and interesting... I don't know the personality of the subject but the second one at least seems to convey a character.

[TurboKid]

The only thing that's bugging me a little bit about the second is that she seems slightly off-balance and floating a bit. I think I would like it more if her foot on the right moves further right a bit with the weight shifted to one foot, and maybe a little hint of a shadow to suggest contact with the floor. But I much prefer it over the first.

[MCheetah]

I think the second picture has a creepy face. I don't exactly like the second one either, but with this artist, I wasn't expecting a whole lot.

[TurboKid]

Same, and also much cheaper.

[TurboKid]

Do you prefer this kind of anime style? I think it is often tricky for anime artists to balance capturing real-life subjects but maintaining that sort of style. I think for a cartoon style, a caricature artist might capture a whole lot more of her personality and you might suggest they just tone it down with the exaggeration a bit.

[TurboKid]

Like so:
https://youtu.be/qxKe6klFiE0
They tend to work super fast, no sketching, just bold marker... and I find so many talented ones just on the street that do their work for cheap. You could probably ask them to make a more flattering, less exaggerated version.

[MCheetah]

I didn't want a caricature artist. I didn't need it to be anime, but wasn't against it, either. I wanted to "try it out," but for realistic figures, I normally wouldn't do anime. I've had two good experiences with it, though. Like these; the first one being an ex girlfriend of mine. The second one is a yoga instructor and model from Los Angeles.

[TurboKid]

I see -- those are quite nice.

[JosyJosy]

Is it bad that I liked the sketch more than the end product?
I don't know how commissions go but I'd look at their previous works. And you did compare it to their work, which sucks :/ if the different is really that bad

I bought a painting for like 5 or 10 bucks, and I could spectate and watch how he made it, beautiful fantasy themed staircase. .

If I'd pay 40 for art, I'm expecting the artist to be blown away by the end result. This artist in your question, failed, I would be upset too

[hahahmm]

I don't really like either drawing.

#1 Always look at the artist's portoflio (existing work) to see if they do the style/quality you like.
#2 Make sure it's really their work and not someone else's - I would believe a portfolio I'm shown in person that includes hand drawn stuff over one that's only on the Internet.
#3 Find out how much they usually charge before you tell them how much you have. If they usually do $100-$1,000 jobs then don't offer them $40. They probably won't do as good a job.

With the guy who did a better job, maybe what you paid him was an impressive number to him.

[crazyish]

I wouldn't say it is worth $40 but it looks more realistic than the second one. Sorry but the arms on the 2nd one are not proportional to the rest of the body. It just doesn't look right to me. But then again I can't draw and not any kind of expert on art.

[JDavid25]

I agree that's definitely not worth $40.. LOL.. The second artist is good and humble which means he's probably a bit harder on his work than he should be, and a bit of a perfectionist.. Whereas the first artist has a bit more confidence in her skill than she should.. LOL.. I don't think it's terrible but not worth $10 let alone $40..

[karaspara]

To me it's not a bad drawing in itself but it's not professional looking anyone who likes drawing could probably do similar quality so I can understand why you are annoyed paying for that especially when you know it's not up to the standard they would normally deliver.

[kidvid80]

its ok, not worth 40 dollars. communicate that you are not happy with it, if you have not already and point out reasons why. a true artist would wanna know why you aren't happy with it etc. i sculpt in my free time and sell my stuff- if anyone was unhappy i would def wanna know and why.

[_no_one_]

Honestly i know much better and cheaper digital artists than this, even hand drawn ones too. They both shouldn't charge more than 10 to 15 dollars i guess.

[MCheetah]

If they've got a portfolio, maybe you can hook me up with them and see if we can do business.

[_no_one_]

I don't know about their portfolio, but i'll ask

[The_Maphio]

Clearly not yours as you already showed your style and it is not based on manga drawing style.
This one is. It's a simple sketch, anything could come from it in terms of quality.
Still you can understand what the final work will be, so it's not a bad sketch at all.
I've seen sketches which seemed to be in "code" by the artist. Seeing art come from those really amazed me.

[KrakenAttackin]

Looks pretty good to me. I had a painting done of my daughter a year ago using instapainting (I think that was the site). And they did a great job. The artists are overseas and are good about communication. My 12x12 acrylic painting cost about 100 US dollars, no frame.

[TheSpaceGnome]

it's decent sketch wise for practicing proportions, but thats not a finished piece, and as an artist, i can tell you right now thats not worth 40 bucks. thats a framework for them to use as an outline to finish the commision, nothing more.

[jeremy554]

I like it, then again this is monalisa compared to my art. You need to get your money back, this is not worth 40 bucks.

[TommyMountainFigure]

I consider anything better than I can do to be good. It's better than i can do, therefore yes I think it's good.

[BCA6010]

Better than I can do, but doesn't seem like $40 worth, in my opinion.

[Amoebaaa]

Both artworks are similar, I don't see any skill difference. You are exeggerating, first one is pretty good too.

[MCheetah]

There's a huge price difference. And experience difference. The second artist is a newbie and he's like, 17. The first one charged me almost three times as much and she's been doing this for years and normally would be leaps and bounds better than the second artist.

[Amoebaaa]

The pricing is not okay, I agree but the first drawing is not bad at all.
Also out of context- I draw a bit better than those people but my most expensive artwork is like...20 bucks? Wtf tho. People have never wanted to buy my drawings anyways. :/

[hellionthesagereborn]

Looks good to me but I don't have a frame of reference to judge.

[FunkyMonkee]

Except for it being a bit too anime, it looks pretty good to me!

[Anonymous]

It's good but that chick has a sexy, thick body and the face of a skinny chick.
To me her face would be a little rounder if she had that body.

[SeanshterMonster]

It's called a rough sketch for a reason. It's not supposed to look pretty

[BUNroaster]

Can you 3D print that in cylicone? Asking for a friend.

[lanadelrey25]

Not worth 40 bucks I'll tell you that.