Hello everybody,
I use Poser for a while now and I am no beginner at all, but I think that I can learn a lot and benefit from others. So I would like to improve myself but the truth is I do no know how...I never get any helpful critique on my pictures which would point out to things I could do better or things that would  be nice to learn.
I am open to all suggestions to improve. Please feel free to browse through my gallery and point out things I could do better (ignore the first four images, they are just showcase stuff and focus on my "artistic" renders) 

 It is so hard to get consistent constructive criticism over a period of time. I have asked for people to comment on what they like in images.. For a (short) while the critique is great.  But,   because there are so many images to look at as well as work to be done it does not take long to go back to "Nice pose"  or "Great light.." .   I have no idea what can be done..   If One sys "I am good at this but I want to be Better."  They are seen as competition.

On he other hand,  if One says "I want to learn!" the attitude is  "Don't waste My time,   go to an art class."

The stuff I upload now is better than what I uploaded in the beginning so I think I am progressing..

 Looking at Your gallery and I am getting ideas.   Your work is very good..

There is a critique forum which SamTherapy is pushing for more involvement.  And there is a critique gallery available.  I have started to check those areas on a regular basis.

Are you really sure you want to escape your safe bubble of 95 fans posting only non-helpful comments?

I understand it when people are in a rush and just write short comments, I am often myself too. That's why I ask here, when people may take/have more time :D.

What you say about people seen as competion makes me a bit sad though...competion can be good, but I have the feeling you mean it in a negative way.

I already was in an art class, which is by the way NOT the "key to artistic heaven"...

I just want the help to further progressing too and because I have no clue how, I need other opinions...

hborre: thank you for the suggestion, I will check it out

ShawnDriscoll: I think I am big enough to handle leaving the bubble ;)

Quote - There is a critique forum which SamTherapy is pushing for more involvement.  And there is a critique gallery available.  I have started to check those areas on a regular basis.

I have posted there  and received excellent advice,  But even there it can become tied down.

If only I was not a slowpoke on the keyboard.   I have friends and Favorite Artists I like to comment on.
It all takes so much time..

seto, don't worry about what they think.  the purpose of the gallery is to showcase marketplace
items, and for your peers to post supportive comments.  take risks, but do what you like and let
your style evolve.  the only problem I saw was that all the girls in your gallery had the same
dead facial expression, which is very bad psychologically IMVHO.  I ain't an artist, but I was
trained as an art critic.

Ideally, an artist knows what was intended and whether or not it has been accomplished. This is particularly true In attempts at realism. If you don't know what looks right, words won't help much. (This comment is not meant as an assessment of SetoKaiba's work, by the way.) 

People need to explain the intent of their images and what they seek to improve to get a useful critique. Otherwise critiques are liable to be subjective and worthless. Advice on how to achieve a better degree of realism isn't meaningful to an artist who isn't trying for realism, for example. 

I think the critique forum can be useful if it focuses on how to achieve what an artist is pursuing. Vague solicitations for 'help' seem to be just a cry for attention.

Quote - There is a critique forum which SamTherapy is pushing for more involvement.  And there is a critique gallery available.  I have started to check those areas on a regular basis.

Yeah, but it's mostly a waste of time!
dph

Do you seriously want my advice?

My advice is to stop trying to please the masses and do your art for yourself and for what pleases your eye and imagination.

You can't please everyone, and all you will do is drive yourself around the bend trying, because for everyone that likes something, someone else will come along that doesn't and tell you to change it.

Please yourself.  And if you are happy with the final result, that's all that matters.  After that anyone who looks at your art who like the same type/style/genre etc, will like your art.  

Miss Nancy: this is helpful, thank you very much.

Paloth: I dont "cry" for attention, I am satisfied with the attention I have. My problem is not that I do not know how to achieve this or that, if that WAS the case, I would prefer to use google for a tut because I am a very shy person. It is more that I think "okay, the pic is nice, but I still could do better" without knowing what to change at all.

Acadia: May I ask what brings you to the idea that I do something else? This is not about getting more comments, I want to become better for ME and not because I might (or not) get a virtual "pat on my back".

My gallery here is much more of a test environment/play area for an on going development of 3d skills based in a cheap 3d app, mostly geared at 'realism' (not an end in itself rather than a benchmark learning strategy).
It might be more useful for me to comment on how I developed core skills as a painter, as I think it transfers quite nicely across the range of artistic disciplines.

I learned about image making over the years largely through close observation and comparison of various artistic 'styles' and approaches - by physically re-creating them.
Way back when I was still in school I was copying & recreating elements from images made by my favourite fantasy artists (Vallejo, Ian Miller,Tim White). Later in art school I pretty much did the same, but now with the old and modern masters (Titian, Vermeer, Seurat, Richter). I've continued that approach into my professional career as a painter/illustrator/artworker.
Just as a reference, one of my latest renders here was a partial recreation in Poser of a painting by Gerhardt Richter called 'Betty' - I called mine, appropriately, 'After Betty'. Google the painting and compare with my render and you'll see the influence.

I think the thing that's really important about this approach (studying through recreating) is that you investigate what other artists were trying to convey and how they did it in the most direct way - not only reading about it and looking at the images, but re-making them. In this way you begin to build up a visual dialogue between yourself and other artists, and a vocabulary of technical and emotional devices. You can closely compare your work with an original and make critical decisions about what is and isn't working. Its a way for the artist to empower themselves rather than just relying on the critique of others, which can often be riddled with individual bias that isn't necessarily useful in terms of what is trying to be achieved. Some critique is very useful though - don't isolate yourself.
The knowledge gradually gleened from this approach is invaluable IMO in moving forward to create individual, original works. It's kind of how I see art as having developed over the centuries.

I'm not going to attempt to critique any of your renders, but my advice would be:

1. Assess from the start what you are attempting to achieve with your ideas and your technical approach.
2. Look for other artists from a variety of disciplines  who have similar concerns, study and even recreate them either partially or fully.
3. Observe and compare, Observe and compare - don't accept the details that are technically bugging you (stretched textures, shadow artifacts, bad lighting and shaders) - they will leap out of the image and destroy the illusions you are trying to create.
4. Be persistent, and take the time - I'd rather a single image take me a month to produce and be powrful and excellent than churn out dozens of images that fail at every level. Some ideas can be treated with less concern for technical detail, but they still require an approach that conveys their message effectively.

 Thank You carodan...  Your insight is very accurate and helpful..  To Me for sure..

I just re-read my post and wanted to add emphasis to something - history.

Some folk have this odd attitude toward looking at and referencing historical works, that somehow they have little or nothing to offer a 'modern' approach or style of image making.
I can't begin to express how wrong this attitude is, and I can't think of a single artist I've studied over the years who could be said to have no influnces in painting or art history in general.
Many of my favourite painters have frequently made direct visual references or 'nods' to those who have come before, and you can often see these influences in the various nuances of composition, lighting and subject matter in the works of obscure and popular artists alike.

We have a rich and varied art history - be aware of it and use it.

Thank you, Dan.  I agree with NoelCan, your thoughts have been very insightful.  A definite food for thought.

I'm not good enough to actually give out pointers that matter, but from my own personal quest to better the renders, I think...

1. observe - are you trying to capture reality, or to improve on it? Details can make your pic.
2. Lighting - can do amazing things with depth, contrast, and coloration, not to mention   cementing' backgrounds into the picture.  
3. Textures - my big weakness...if I ever get good enough with this, I threaten to deluge freestuff..;)
4. Know your tools - another big failure of mine. I'm not even sure where the cloth room is in P5...;) The
       more you know, the better your options are.
5. (Heresy alert...;) Postwork. It's like makeup (I presume) - just enough to make it look better,
       without making it obvious why that is...;)

Hope that helps. Now if I could just follow my own advice...;)

Quote - Hello everybody,
I use Poser for a while now and I am no beginner at all, but I think that I can learn a lot and benefit from others. So I would like to improve myself but the truth is I do no know how...I never get any helpful critique on my pictures which would point out to things I could do better or things that would  be nice to learn.
I am open to all suggestions to improve. Please feel free to browse through my gallery and point out things I could do better (ignore the first four images, they are just showcase stuff and focus on my "artistic" renders) 

The best way to improve your skills would probably to determine what you are trying to accomplish that way people will have a better idea of what to focus on.  Art is kind of funny because there's really no defined way to be "better" unless you are trying to accomplish a particular style. For example, When I sketch I have the habit of not completing it. All of my sketches are missing something.  It's either an ear, a foot, a hand.  It looks unfinished but in my eyes it's complete and doesn't need anything else.   Your art is the same way.  What you create may be the final work and doesn't require any improvement.

My digital art is different.  Sometimes I want to make my renders look like paintings and other times I want my art to look realistic, then there are times I want my art to look as if it was made by a computer.   If you tell people more about what you want to accomplish or trying to accomplish then you'll get better suggestions.

here's an example of what I'm talking about. This picture I state what I'm trying to accomplish.
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1929483&user_id=432884&np&np

On this image someone emailed me and said the grass was blowing the wrong way. That was the look that I was going for so even though they didn't like and said that I could improve the picture by making the grass blow the right way But for me it would have messed up my picture since my goal was to have it blow in the opposite direction.
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1678690&user_id=432884&np&np

 FightingWolf,   those are very good examples..   Well done..!

carodan: I love traditional art as well, looking through the paintings of different centuries is a great source for inspiration. I could sit hours in front of a Carravaggio and lose myself in its masterpieces...
I never tried to recapture this though, I think it is worth a try.

PS. you have a stunning gallery, I compliment you for your very natural renders.

FightingWolf: My general style is more or less aiming for a "video game" look. I do not know how to describe this any better. The CG images of games like SoulCalibur and FinalFantasy have a great influence on what I am trying to do.

To me it is often the opposite, I always think, that something is "missing" in my pictures without knowing what it is.

here's a list of things that you can do to improve -

study lighting - theatrical and photographic. there's volumes on this out there.
study photography - it's basically the same principals, again there's volumes on this.
study real life - how do ppl move?
study real life settings and how ppl fit into those settings.
and expressions. get a mirror and use it to study your own.

now that's a list that everyone should follow....