/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

>>3948628
You know, from experience. For me, I'm ready to start rendering when I have enough landmarks to establish the form, and refine/adjust from there. I only do detailed renderings in pencil for roughs, or to create my own reference to work from once the paint is laid down, covering my reference points.

You have to find your own comfort zone here. If you're doing cartooning, then you need to work the line art out to a high degree of polish, but for painting, most people only need major landmarks to work off of.

Here's a good example of one way an artist works:
http://www.cgarena.com/freestuff/tutorials/photoshop/judith/judith.html

She's experienced enough, and confident enough, that she can refine the form from vague shapes, and work from there - she has years of experience in anatomy and rendering to wing it. But, not everyone works that way. Pro level illustrators like James Gurney and Michael Whelan would have more detailed drawings to start with. (See attached)
There's no right or wrong way, or a universal way. It's why you study, and experiment, to discover what works for you.

Bets advice, start simple, over a series of images, over time. Block in flat color. Start adding basic lighting and volume. Refine, adjust, refine. In later pieces, start adding texture and more complex light. Slow down, be patient, pay attention to what's happening to your image as you add too it, and learn what works, and what doesn't. That's the art process. Don't worry about failing, or if it's too simple, or not what your end goal is. Baby steps, to bigger steps, to confident steps, to running.