Hellboy fanart - help me push something to as finished a look as i can.

[knokkelmanden]

Hello i'm making some hellboy for a birthday present for a friend and thought it would be a good chance to try and push myself to really finish something, but right now i'm just sort of stagnated, so i feel like hearing any tips would help me move one, so your words will be appreciated :)

[ChantalFournier]

That Hellboy looks a bit scrawny and his posture is a bit weird. Try standing around like he does, how often do you just bend both knees when you aren't preparing to jump or start running? I think you need references. Try taking pictures of yourself or a friend.

But first, sketch in your background. Do something very rough, but still figure out what your composition is. Right now, the guy is standing in the middle, not moving and there are some weird shapes in the back that aren't very interesting and that don't bring anything to the composition.

Don't get me wrong, there is good stuff going on in your image, but if you jump right into the rendering before having nailed your composition and without good references, you are just going to run into a wall very fast.

[knokkelmanden]

Hey thanks for commenting, i definitely see what you mean with jumping too fast into rendering, i think it's something i should think about a lot more, because that feeling of running into a wall, is very wellknown for me. Again thanks for the critique, and sorry i updated the picture, didn't think anyone had commented yet :)

[ChantalFournier]

There is already an improvement, he is no longer dead center...
As an exemple, I did a quick sketch. It's a little bit more than a thumbnail, but way less than a finished drawing. I didn't use references.

I'm just trying to see where the lights and darks would go. It's important to find out about that before starting to render. It's also obvious where the light source is. I went for a somewhat Mignola style, but could be adapted for any style.



You should do a handful of these before starting to render.

[Elmst]

Looks like you are having a great time with this piece.

The key to creating great fan-art is research. You need to know exactly what visual traits brand the character. Hellboy has some very distinctive traits, from his large rock hand with carvings on it to his classic trench coat and cigar. Hellboy also caries a large six shooter, his distinctive brow and large shaved horns finish the overall feel of Hellboy.

Pull some reverence material of Hellboy and keep it close to you as you draw.

Can't wait to see more.

[knokkelmanden]

trying to make the composition more interesting..