One problem i see atm is that your character is holding a 2 handed weapon as if it was made of plastic there no problem with it if it made out of a special light weight material but it helpful to give weight to object to ground the design into reality.It important to gather posing reference when your not sure about a pose.For example here i used google and wrote soldier holding gun.I choose to delete her back pack and change the pose i added a hand gun on her side to give more interest to the silouette .I think what important is that every line of the silhouette read as distinctive element.Since i changed the pose i deleted the back pack to help the arm read more and i choose to transform the backpack into a sidekick transport bot.Silhouette are really important to think about because they help the character pop out of the background and be recognizable around other character you don't want you silhouette to be to similar to an other character you also want them to be as clear as possible because sometime the character will be really small that where it really important to have strong silhouette in my opinion.
(01-30-2019, 09:08 PM)Gliger Wrote: your silhouettes could say a lot more than they do, clean them up more, make the angles feel more angular and the curves feel more curved, focus on creating contrasts in the silhouette that make the design clearer
thanks Gliger yes will definitely try and push them further and keep this in mind as I move forward :)
(01-31-2019, 05:47 AM)darktiste Wrote: One problem i see atm is that your character is holding a 2 handed weapon as if it was made of plastic there no problem with it if it made out of a special light weight material but it helpful to give weight to object to ground the design into reality.It important to gather posing reference when your not sure about a pose.For example here i used google and wrote soldier holding gun.I choose to delete her back pack and change the pose i added a hand gun on her side to give more interest to the silouette .I think what important is that every line of the silhouette read as one object or the an other.Since i changed the pose i deleted the back pack to help the arm read more and i choose to transform the backpack into a sidekick transport bot.Silhouette are really important to think about because they help the character pop out of the background and be recognizable around other character you don't want you silhouette to be to similar to an other character you also want them to be as clear as possible because sometime the character will be really small that where it really important to have strong silhouette in my opinion.
hey thanks darktiste yea was thinking of cutting the backpack out, not sure at this point as I didnt really spend to much time on it last night, Ill have another look at it tonight.
was also pondering whether I was going to go with one arm holding the weapon and as you say lightweight material or two arms as you have done it.... you've def done a good job on the idea so I will play around with it tonight and see how I go.... cheers
been mucking around with this today.... didnt really have a plan for it just tried different things.... bit empty in foreground, sort got lost in that area
Just refine those in 3 tone for the second sketch of post 46.You did good on the first one.But try to put atleat 3 tone instead of one or 2 solid value to describe an object or else you flaten the drawing.For the mech iteration i recommend throwing value in the background to help the shape stick out of the page because of the white background it willl register it as a if it was drawn on a paper making it automatic read as 3d but also 2d.I also added a cast shadow to anchor the shape down as being inside a 3d space.
(02-06-2019, 06:33 PM)darktiste Wrote: Just refine those in 3 tone for the second sketch of post 46.You did good on the first one.But try to put atleat 3 tone instead of one or 2 solid value to describe an object or else you flaten the drawing.For the mech iteration i recommend throwing value in the background to help the shape stick out of the page because of the white background it willl register it as a if it was drawn on a paper making it automatic read as 3d but also 2d.I also added a cast shadow to anchor the shape down as being inside a 3d space.
hey thanks darktiste.... was manly trying to keep everything as simple as posible but I hear what your saying and will take that on board
the one I took further was mainly to see what would happen to one of the thumbs if I threw a few values on, I didnt really spend much time on it and wasnt thinking of it as a whole but just as a quick sketch the little guy and the monitor was just a after thought to give it scale.... but I definitely see your point I think what you have done just adding background and darkening the bot has made it more metal like almost like 1930s industrial Germany steelworks look which I like so will try to imitate that style next time.... cheers bud
(02-06-2019, 09:31 PM)Artloader Wrote: Nice shapes Slashrazor :) your silhouettes really look like convincing representations of 3D forms to me.
You've got some good stuff going on in here, no useful crits from me, just keep going!
hey thanks Artloader appreciate it.... Ive popped in and had a nosey in your sketchbook a few times... your definitely been doing the hard yards yourself.... keep pumping them out mate
I feel like you need to explore outside your confort zone that seem to be silhouette of a magicien inside foggy scene.You did not draw a single tree so far and it take away the realism you could inject in your scene.So far you been really fix inside some skyrim type scene.
Hey Razor. Great to see you filling up your sketchbook with a variety of things :) If you haven't already, I'd recommend picking up Andrew Loomis' book Creative Illustration. It has a great section about different kinds of compositions that I think will help
(02-12-2019, 07:54 AM)darktiste Wrote: I feel like you need to explore outside your confort zone that seem to be silhouette of a magicien inside foggy scene.You did not draw a single tree so far and it take away the realism you could inject in your scene.So far you been really fix inside some skyrim type scene.
lol no trees in that scene its in a cave... but I do agree I have to get out of my comfort zone and maybe put trees on the study list broaden my landscapes
but to be honest mate I like drawing deep dark foggy caverns with dwarfs elves, dragons, trolls that conjure up magic its my thing its what I like to draw.... you not goin to deny me that are ya ;) also not so much skyrim but more LotRs...
I do appreciate your advice darkeste might start up a tree ref folder as we speak..... cheers
(02-12-2019, 09:45 AM)chubby_cat Wrote: Hey Razor. Great to see you filling up your sketchbook with a variety of things :) If you haven't already, I'd recommend picking up Andrew Loomis' book Creative Illustration. It has a great section about different kinds of compositions that I think will help
thanks chubby_cat I actually have the book... but to be honest I havent looked at it for years it probably was way to advanced for me at the time, thinking back it reminds me of this lol but I did love flicking thru his artwork and dreaming if only I was that good
but I will definitely have a look at it tonight love Loomis started out on his figure drawing for all its worth
Hey dude. Picture This by Molly Bang is all about composition if you want probably the best book on it, though the best way to 'learn' composition is to do many of them. That said yours aren't bad...just keep pushing those boundaries every now and then. Using flat shapes is great but it is too easy to flatten perspectives like a telephoto lens unless you keep perspective in mind while creating shapes.
Also you're a kiwi right...in Welly, I forget? If so there's a local studio that has classes that you might be interested in that I'm going to..trad focused but huge fundamentals gains and for serious people not dabblers. Let me know if you want to know more.
(02-12-2019, 06:18 PM)Amit Dutta Wrote: Hey dude. Picture This by Molly Bang is all about composition if you want probably the best book on it, though the best way to 'learn' composition is to do many of them. That said yours aren't bad...just keep pushing those boundaries every now and then. Using flat shapes is great but it is too easy to flatten perspectives like a telephoto lens unless you keep perspective in mind while creating shapes.
Also you're a kiwi right...in Welly, I forget? If so there's a local studio that has classes that you might be interested in that I'm going to..trad focused but huge fundamentals gains and for serious people not dabblers. Let me know if you want to know more.
hey thanks Amit never heard of this book before just googled got some good reviews... will definitely check it out
yep a Kiwi.... sounds like a cool class wish we had something like that here sadly I live in Tauranga and all we got is retiree painting togethers but no serious hardcore study groups they do have a life nude figure drawing class every fridays but during the day while Im at work which sucks.... been to a few but again more for the amateur retiree who only draws on a friday with no knowledge of anatomy.... gotta take more fridays off I think
basically Im stuck in online groups lol but Im glad to be back here and trying to post as much as posible... keeps me motivated
You're good at creating depth with atmosphere, and your lighting isn't bad at all- but environment designers need a lot of perspective knowledge, and have to be able to picture, or at least fake it reall well, the entire scene. It seems to me like you're drawing up to the midground and saying 'I give up here!' It's hard for mme to picture a background beyond the immediate setting, too, and that's something I have to work on, but with you it feels like you could put more in but you decide that after you get the main point across- a sword floating between stones or figures under a big rock- it's time to go on to the next idea. Or graphic shapes as a background, but I'm not criticizing that as long as it's not a physical part of your scene.
That said, I like your work. I read on Darkiste's thread that you're deciding between pursuing environment or character design? As far as I know, those are completely different paths, unless your skills in both are balanced, but that's hard to do if you want to be a professional environment designer. They have to have so much spatial awareness and perspective knowledge that it usually ends up inhibiting their character design and figure ability I would choose one to pursue and level up my skills in the other one while keeping the primary focus, just because those two are so at odds. <-(This may not be good advice, I'm not sure, but think about it for yourself)
1. Use the biggest brush possible for a given passage. 2. Paint large shapes first, followed by small shapes. 3. Save your tonal and chromatic accents until the last. 4. Try to soften any edge that doesn’t need to be sharp. 5. Take time to get the center of interest right.
Or, the briefer version: (B.L.A.S.T.) Big brushes. Large to small. Accents last. Soften edges. Take your time.
cheers beau appreciate your post....
I have to agree I get to a point which I might be happy with but then I give up or I'll leave it in the to hard basket.
I definitely like the enviro sketching process and looking for good comps/ shapes but when I get to a stage like the 1st pic in post 51 that Im fairly happy with, thats when I start finding out that my painting skills lack and unless I get lucky with some colour and lighting scheme I'll usually abandon it... not to say I wont go back and give it another crack in say 6mnths I actually like the comp in that one and I do have folders with a lot of abandoned comps/paintings.
also my fore/ backgrounds are a major weakness as I often just focus on the main point i.e the glowing sword between the rocks as you pointed out, not saying I dont spend a lot of time on fore/ background elements I do... but if nothing is working I usually just fall back to my main focus or main point as you said and am content with the outcome... in other words I've had enough and given up....next lol
I did spend a good year or so on perspective and thumbnail compositions etc but looking back, even though it helped a lot I really should have done more landscape master painting studies just to help in my painting area.....
But this year my main goal is to focus on character design its basically why I started drawing in the first place just love fantasy LotRs type lore.... also Im not really looking for or striving for a job in the industry at this stage I just want to get better so I can put my ideas out there....
