Critics on pics

[Bror_Jon]

Here are some pics I've drawn (you might recognize some people). I just want some critics on them, and if you spot something I need to improve, please tell me.
Thanks in advance.

[TandyLion]

I was curious, were you intending on utilizing any type of shading?

Here is an example from pixeljoint, dithering to fool shades of gray, and textures.
http://www.pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/1bit.png

[gonzo29]

They look really good.

I noticed two things that could be improved.

In the second head from the left, the mouth is a bit strange, it looks like he's curling his lower lip over his teeth. Also, anyone with their upper lip high enough to reveal that much tooth will also have extremely noticeable creases from above the nostril to the corner of the mouth.

In the head on the far right , there is an akward lump of beard sticking out over the ear that I think should be made smaller, or erased completely.

[Jim Reed]

I'll try to draw you some pointers by tomorrow. In the meantime, get one of those cheap b&w comics and flip trough them a few times.

[Jim Reed]

Jon, you're using too much outlines IMO. I read a lot of b&w comics, and I learned a few things from them.
Try to draw only the shadows, and only the outlines that are necessary.

Here's my 2min MsPaint attempt at showing this. Notice how I didn't outline the right part of the nose, but you can still clearly *imagine* that it's there. So, you can look at it this way, draw the negeative part of the picture (shadows) and let the viewer imagine a bit



Here's my edit of your pic, corecting the nose and adding a bit to the mouth:



And here's a few links how the Itallian masters draw it:
http://www.lambiek.net/artists/r/raffaele_stefano/raffaele_fragile1.gif
http://i41.tinypic.com/2b8sgo.jpg
http://www.robertopieraccini.com/lazarusledd/page43.jpg

For your information, these are pics from an Itallian comic named Lazarus Ledd, which I read when I was younger. Try googling Nathan Never (SF), Dylan Dog (horror), Zagor (western), Alan Ford(Comedy) and Martin Mystere (Modern) to get some other reference material.