Thanks! Yeah the shadowing is done pretty poorly in that first pic. That's about 2 years old.
My parents always told me to just be the very best I can possibly be. If I were you, I'd feel content with my artistic talents (unless I felt I hadn't reached my potential), which go beyond just the average artist. You're both an illustrator and a sculptor of the human physique!
I really wish I knew how to tap into my creative imagination in order to draw something similar to your fantasy drawings. What kind of state of mind do you enter? You must be in some kind of hypnotic state of creativity.
When confronted with a new experience, new sight or any potential new source of inspiration, what thoughts stimulate artistic inspiration? I'm trying to understand the thought processes of an artist who perceives inspiration in his/her own unique way.
Just add shadow and light gradually, the best way to understand light and shadow is to study how it interacts with simple objects. Try shining a soft light from one side of a tennis ball or a tin can, and draw it, when you get nice with that graduate to things such as fabric, bodies, etc..
A good way to study light and shadow is to look at black and white pictures of bodybuilders.
I can't say I'm content with my artwork, I definitely don't think I've reached my full potential by any means yet, I'm going to see what specific focus can create in this regard. I'm happy with my physique, I think that I have some more room to improve though.
I'm not exactly sure if I enter a state of mind, if its a state I'm in it most of the time, as I'm always analyzing, day dreaming etc..so it comes natural for me. Music can help the process though, if I'm creating something driven and energetic I little to driven music, something relaxing gets relaxing music.
A lot of artistic expression is developed in the subconscious, the more diverse your experiences the more info in your subconscious and the more you can create out of it. also creativity is like growing muscles the more you stress it the stronger it gets.