anatomy is a key element in art, but you're still young, don't worry about that stuff yet. Just keep drawing!

Annalee N. Giesbrecht replies: "But if I don't worry about it, I'll never get any better ^_^. Thanks for commenting!"

Aha! Updates!!!!!! Wheee!!!!!!!!

That's good. I like updates. They're crunchy. So are comments for that matter....

Annalee N. Giesbrecht replies: "Yay for the crunchy updates ^^. I agree, comments are tasty..."

At the bottom of your page by the info on elfwood and such it say you are visitor _____ to visit this page since such and such date.

Annalee N. Giesbrecht replies: "Ah... thank you!"

Oh yes, please, it would be so great if you worked on your anatomy! You clearly have loads of talent and it shows in your characters' expressions, the colouring, flowing materials, lots of places! ...except anatomy, haha. THe hands on Fleur were particularily... unique. O_o

I'm not telling you this because I don't think you realize, I'm just begging and pleading for you to do a pic with an anatomical reference because I know it would kick butt and just be gorgeous!

Parvati in particular has an absolutely stunning face, but her body takes away from teh overall effect. Please, please please, for your fans? and once you try a few pics with looking at a reference, you start to burn it into your brain and soon you make pics that don't take much time either, but are a lot better. Ok i'll shut up now.

oh and prizoner of azkaban DEFINITELY the best one so far.

Annalee N. Giesbrecht replies: "Wow, thank you so much for that lovely comment! I know, I work too much on the things I like and not enough on the things I know I'm bad at ^^ I've done a hand study already, but I will definitely take your advice about anatomy- it's a major stumbling block O_o Thank you again for the comment, I greatly papreciate it ^_^"

Really nice pics in all, you have your own style. Keep up the good wrok! P.s. thanks for commenting on my fanq gallery

pshhhhh anatomy... annalee ur ma hero!! lol... your gonna be an awseome arteeeeeeest ! rock on! keep those kick bum () lol pix comin

Yes,i also think anatomy would improve your work. I love the pictures and the colors in the pictures. I really think you should draw a picture about me. I can pose for you anytime. We can work on your anatomy problem together. We can draw things throughtout the night. (.)(.)(.)(.)
(.)(.)

Annalee N. Giesbrecht replies: "Sure, Riley, anytime..."

Okay, here are your major problems:

Your characters have grossly undersized ears!! The top of the ear will be in line with the corner of the eye or even the level of the eyebrow. The bottom of the lobe is aligned with the mouth line. See that you change this!!

The heads generally do not have enough depth, so you need to put more skull behind the face. The neck will not go directly into the back of the skull: there’s a bulge. You’ll notice that not giving the proper shape/depth will lend an ‘ET’ look to the character. ‘Lala the Chaser’ is a relatively strong example of head/skull… awareness. Again though, her neck goes directly into the end of the skull. I think I can see a line that you had drawn for the back of her neck before, then erased. Unfortunately, the anatomy would have been better if you had stuck with that line. The neck placement that I prefer, would be at the gonial angle (I think that’s the proper term)… it’s that sharp angle in the lower jaw, coming down from the ear before curving down into the chin. The neck may look thin, but I prefer it to look like that when I’m drawing.

There is a consistent size/depth problem with your character’s jaws. Typically, you don’t allow your characters to have enough face, especially in the cheek/jaw area. Often, you appear to forget to include the aforementioned jaw angle, though I’ve noticed that you correctly accentuate the area in male portraits and downplay the sharpness in female pictures. In ‘Marauders Photo Booth (2)’, Sirius serves as an excellent example of proper facial shape and Remus is quite good too.

Additional notes; the characters hands are usually hidden (I know the feeling of not being able to draw hands [I never drew both of them if I thought I could get away with it]) or misshapen… practice doesn’t make perfect, but it does make you better!! Eyes are occasionally too far apart (the correct distance being one eye width apart).


I hope this information has helped and not offended you. Your art holds a lot of promise for a fourteen year old and I’d be horrified to see you quite just because you’ve gotten a few negative criticisms. Okay, post’s getting too long, gotta stop!! Drop me a line next time you update and I’d be happy to check up on your progress!


“Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban” (book and movie as of yesterday) rocks my socks and shakes the cakes baby!!!

Annalee N. Giesbrecht replies: "Oh, wow! That was a very thorough critique! Thank you very much ^_^ Some of the problems I've fixed, and some I still need to work on... as I'm almost sixteen now, most of these pictures are a tad on the old side ^_^ But thank you very much, I love getting comments like that I should have a couple new pics up in a two weeks or so, I'd love it if you took a look!"

When my mother was moved out of her home to go and live with other elderly, slightly confused people, my brother found a scrap of paper with the word "Remember me with laughter, not with tears or remember me not at all". The search engine brought me to your site. How you influenced my mother I am not sure, but they have inspired me. Thank you.

With Love and Light

I love the artwork for all of them!!!!!! :")