Larp ranger showing of her modern shoes

I almost feel bad about criticizing this one. It is a promotional photo from my absolute favourite soleplaying convention in Finland. This might be a person I have actually met, but probably not. Remember folks that this is nothing personal, just business.

Mistakes:

1. The positioning of the wrist like this is the exact reason you need that leather bracer to protect your arm when the bowstring hits it every single time you shoot. Keeping the arm and wrist more straigh of bending slightly outwards, not inwards like here, keeps the arm out of harms way and the bracer is not even needed.

2. There is way too much of this arrow on this side of the bow, meaning that the draw is not full. Why wouldn't you shoot with full force, wasting the power of the arrow like this makes it fly less than it could.

3. Arrows on the back in a quiver that looks more like a sleeping blanket rolled and tied onto a backpack or something.

This is by no means the worst I've seen, but better luck next time still!

10+2+3−12 commandments of skeletal archery

They couldn't invent just ten commandments of dungeon delwing, so they had to add two more and call it a ten+. Ok, let's add three more, so we have fifteen commandments, of which three last ones are mistakes:

1. This is a huge fistmele. The fistmele in recurve bows is sometimes bigger than in longbows but this is just too big. It makes the bow ineffective.

2. Back quiver, as usual. It is also on the wrong side...

3. ...on the other hand the skeleton archer is left handed. Is it a mistake, or is the image mirrored (which would still make it a mistake)?

How not to (Corel) draw a bow

If this really is an official Disney image, and not just some random fan picture, I'm really surprised. This looks so badly Photoshopped and fake that I have almost no words.

Now that may have been an over-exaggeration, I do have words, but not very nice ones. Here they come, the mistakes:

1. This picture is so obviously fake that it hurts my eyes. I can see that the woman, the horse and the background are all composited together in an editors basement, and not captured in Scottish highlands as they should be. But the worst thing is that I think they computer generated the bow. It looks like she hadn't had a real bow, if anything, in her hands, since the positioning of the bow is unrealistic and the arms of the woman don't look like they would be doing any activity that require muscle tension, like drawing a bow. If she had a bow in hand, she didn't draw it, somebody else drew it in the computer later. I cannot figure out why would they do this instead of giving her a real bow. If they really are Disney, there should be no problem of getting a real bow.
A real bow would bend like I have drawn in the picture, this bow doesn't, so it probably doesn't exist. It's also way too thick for her.

2. I already said that the arms don't look like they would really be drawing the bow. This arms elbow is pointing too low. The arrow is also too low for this style of (European) shooting, but it is done so that it wouldn't obstruct the viewers view to her face. Beauty is more important than practicality it seems.

3. The arrow has fallen off from the top of the bowhand here, or if the arrow didn't exist when they took the photo of the woman, then it is Photoshopped too low.

4. Now there actually is a hip quiver, which in itself is a good thing. But it is way too loosely attached on the hips with that belt so that it can jump all around while riding and possibly dropping the arrows. It also looks like that the quiver terminates somewhere inside the flowing dress way before it shouls stop (the arrows are too short then, this seems like another Photoshop mistake).

The lesson learned today: do everything you can before the camera takes the pictures, not in the editing phase with a computer. Photoshopped photos look always edited and fake.

This is a curved stick, not a bow.

This seems like a princess cosplay of sorts. But with a bow. Or rather a stick with a string. It looks sad, sorry to say.

Mistakes:

1. This looks horrible, the elbow of the string arm should point backwards, not sideways like here. This is especially bad technique which results when a person doesn't know she should use more her back muscles for the draw and not just the arms. It would matter if she would have a real bow, with this toy she's not going to break herself, but it's still bad technique.

2. The bending of the elbow of the bow arm is also wrong. Bending it inward like this is a good way to get the arm bruised with the bowstring. It would matter if she had a real bow with actual poundage, not so much with this cosplay prop.

3. Mediterranean grip is done with three fingers, not four.

4. The arrow only has two flethcings, it should have three. They also seem to be too far back since they touch the fingers.

5. And now the bow. This isn't one. This is a stick with something hot glued on it for decorations. Then there's some string hastily tied to it. It wouldn't shoot, it's a curved stick, not a bow. Get a real bow next time please, this is fooling nobody.

Blue-faced centauress

This centauress has many of the barbarian clichés on her, such as blue woad face paint and thick blond wild-flowing hair, as well as too skimpy clothing for winter environment. Her archery isn't flawless either.

Mistakes:

1. She is grabbing the bowstring with two fingers only. The Mediterranean grip she's using would be better with three.

2. Two arrow goes under the thumb here, this is a bad mistake, you cannot shoot like this.

3. The handle of the bow is obviously too thick, since she can't even reach her fingers around the bow for a good grip.

4. The bow looks like it's made of three portions, the limbs separate from the handle. This is okay, I have one bow made like this, so it can be packed in a smaller space. It's still perfectly functioning bow even though it's detachable. However the lembs of the bow in this picture make a deep angle in the middle of them, which is a bad thing. It would be a structural weakness and nobody would make a bow like this. If there's an angle in the limbs they should be either nearer the nocks or nearer the handle, and anyway not so angular.

5. The arrow is way too short, it wouldn't fly far. The tip also looks quite heavy, further diminishing the range of the weapon. Proper arrows should be longer than your arms, and this is certainly not.

6. Quiver on the back. It would be super wasy for a centaur to have her arrows at her hips (human hips, not horse hips), like a saddle bag, but no, sadly she has a back quiver. The quiver also terminates somewhere behind her (human) back, since it doesn't continue in the other side of her. It's obviously a continuation error made by the drawer, the arrows cannot be that short (they would be even shorter than the one she holds).

7. The arrows don't have any space behind their fletching for fingers to grasp, so they would be very difficult to shoot.

8. If this is an archery bracer, then it's the wrong side up, since there are big holes on the wrist side of the forearm, where the bowstring might hit. But I guess these are just standard fantasy leather bracers without a real function, since she has two of them.

Smurfvatar

This smurf is a parody of Avatar, which really could use more parodies, since it was so ridiculous. And not the least because of it's archery. Well, this cartoon continues the tradition of mistakes:

1. I know it is artictic licence and this is a cartoon with a smurf(!) but the arrowtip is still way too large and heavy for the arrow to fly properly. The arrowshaft is too narrow and would snap instantly when the arrow would hit anything. So it really would be an arrow for one time use only, and for a target at most five meters away.

2. Doesn't matter how many (or few) fingers you have, it is wrong to hold the arrow between the fingers of your bowhand.

3. The bow (which looks very crude) loses potential energy when the string is not attached to the ends of the arc. There is no point of making the bow longer than it's nocks.

4. The draughtsman didn't know how to draw a proper grip with smurf hands. Maybe I could forgive that, but no, let's give it a mistake point instead.

5. No other arrows, since why would you need more if your only arrow will fly perhaps five meters and break after that?

6. Left handedness. Left-handedness is as rare in smurfs as in humans. Although in Avatar they also shot left handed, hmm...

Wood-elf woman in the woods

I like the colours on this one, they are warm and nice. The form of the archer is not too bad either, obviously some reference has been used, I can tell. And that is only a good thing. Drawing people should use more reference from real life, it will make them better. I just wonder how the elves produce the green hairdye?

This isn't without its mistakes though:

1. She is only using two fingers to pull  the string in the Mediterranean style. Third finger would help.

2. I know this is supposed to be a magic arrow or something, since it's glowing, but the arrow should really lie on the thumb here, and not float in the air. This makes aiming so much harder. I've complained many times before that in the Mediterranean or European style the arrow should be on the left side of the bow. In fact there are some period illustrations from Europe that shows the arrow also on the right side of the bow. This is much rarer, but it makes the shooting quicker since the archer doesn't have to put the arrow on the left side of the bow and then change their string hand to the other side again.

3. The bow isn't the worst I've seen (much much worse are coming soon, I promise!), but it isn't the best either. It is shaped like it would be constructed in pieces, and even if these would just be carved in the one piece of wood they would make the bow structurally weaker, and more prone to snapping. Maybe the magic glowing elven symbols protect it or something, but I don't swallow that kind of excuses.

4. She could turn her head more towards the way she's shooting. I checked this with mirror myself, and I would want to look properly at the target. Not turning my head and only looking from the corner of my eyes I looked the same as in this picture (yes my hair is that long, no it's not green), but I couldn't see as well as I could just by turning my neck to where the arrow is pointing.

Bonus: She wears the standard fantasy leather bracers, but she should really turn the left one around so it would protect the inside of her wrist from the bowstring if she accidentally hit herself with it while shooting. Which sometimes happens.

Good: A hip quiver, yay! After all I consider this whole drawing as an example of good archery drawings, since the posture of the archer is done well and correctly. And that is a big thing. Although the bow is not completely ridiculous and the other mistakes are quite small comparing to some others I've seen.

Only thing flying is her hair

Another, more professional looking photoshoot. I could say something about La Roux wanting her hair back, and I already did, so let's get to mistakes then:

1. Gripping the bowstring with the whole fist is a clear mark of someone who has never held a bow in their life before and were not instructed at all how to use it. It is funny, did the photographer just ask for a model and someone to lend them the bow without anyone who actually knows how to shoot at present? Looks like it. Would they do the same with a gun? What about a car (lending it for a photoshoot, nobody actually knowing how to drive, and the end result looking comical)?

2. Another beginners mistake, holding the arrow with their index finger. Nope.

3. The arrow has a terrible fletching, looks more like fly fishing lure than fletching of an arrow.

4. The bow is also ugly. Is it covered in scales or something? It looks too bulky and stiff. On the other hand those tufts on the ends of the bow are okay, some indigenous archers in the Americas for example used those kind of decorations on their bows.

5. No other arrows or a quiver anywhere to be seen. But maybe she should get clothes first, and worry about a quiver after that.

Dismounted horse woman with an industrial bow

This must have been a nice photoshoot, but nobody has taught her proper archery. Shame.

Mistakes:

1. Please don't hold your bowhand's index finger on the arrow, it will hurt, and it is unnecessary. The arrow keeps there when you don't squeeze the nock of the arrow between your arrowhand's fingers. I mean that when you draw your bowstring in the Mediterranean style and the arrow nock is between your index and middle fingers, use those fingers to mainly pull the string and only squeeze the arrow enough so that it keeps nocked on the string. Some beginners without proper coaching start to pull the arrow and not the string, and then their arrowtip wanders around and doesn't point at the target.

2. Proper alignment for the arms would be on the same level and stringarm's elbow pointing backwards, and not sideways like here. She pulls the string with her arms' strength, when you should really deploy your back muscles (which are bigger), and that results in the elbow pointing back.

3. I think this is supposed to be a fantasy photoshoot, since there's a horse, a bow, and the woman is wearing fantasy leather corset and fantasy leather bracers. Well, what strikes to my eye is the bow, since it's obviously a modern bow with arrow shelf and ergonomic handle. Historical bows didn't have those, and well thought fantasy settings should use historical bows. It doesn't matter which culture they base their research on, as long as it is pre-industrial. This is an industrial bow which nobody ever used in war or hunting, only shooting targets on tracks for sport. It is also way too long to be effective as a horse bow. Maybe that's why she has dismounted to shoot?

Ms. Violet with a Plexiglass bow

Let's start the year 2019 with this digital drawing. Some could consider it quite nice even. At least the woman is beautiful. The bow she holds is instead ridiculous, so let's get to it.

Mistakes:

1. Is the bow made out of glass? Crystal? Ice? Plexiglass? I don't care, it is impossible. It wouldn't work. Plastic bows do exist, and maybe theoretically you could make one out of transparent plastic, but the shape of this bow is also wrong, so it wouldn't work. A plastic bow has to be flat, and this is not.

2. The bowstring seems to be permanently attached to the bow via a hole in the bow. This is not good, since bowstrings are intentionally removable, so you could easily replace them if they snap. The more common reason is that you should always take the string off the bow when not shooting, since if you always keep the bow with the string, there's tension which over time makes the bow weaker.

3. The fistmele in this bow is huge. Way too big for this to be an effective bow, even if it could otherwise work, which it doesn't.

4. Back quiver, always the back quiver. Now, if this would be an accurate depiction of some Asian style shooter, they often use a kind of back quiverish quiver, which really is a hip quiver but the arrows are at the side of the archer, and the quiver doesn't cover much of the arrows, and they are easier to get from there than from a traditional Hollywood back quiver.

5. The arrows don't have room for fingers behind the fletching, which makes them very difficult to shoot.