Your drawings look good, but i think the way you approach them or rather, theoretically think about them could be different. For instance, you're always indicating every little anatomy part you can remember, which is good I mean, if that's what you're going for, but I'd challenge you to consider like how you can depict a limb with just C curves for example. Some people's bodies are quite formless, or skinny, fat etc.
Basically distill all that knowledge into simplified and iconic shapes that read as attractive and graphically pleasing, it's always something I'm after a least :3 Oh and try studying from artists you like who aren't necessarily gods at anatomy, you can definitely pick up some practical tools from how they simplify!
Fedodika Thanks for the long reply man :D yeah I have the problem of trying to squeeze my knowledge about everything in and i alwso feel it helps me repeat drawing the muscles. But you are right I need to work on my bigger forms. Will try to simplify more!
Today I worked a bit on the WIP and it looks like crap. Not gonna post it right now. And i did a quick life painting in between...lazy as fuck:/
Soo today I focussed on painting and color. Gonna do that more from now on cause i suck so much at it. Some color studies and trying to apply it afterwards. Then a little doodle and an armor study. Need to try to apply that too!
Hey.
First off, awesome work so far. Your drawing is really improving.
Here are a few tid bits that may help you with colour, in no particular order.
Try your hand at some traditional paints. It will improve your eye for colour. I adore Oils, but they can be a bit intimidating at first, and clean up is a pain. Gouache is wonderful, but the colours will dry a slightly different colour.
Complimentary colours will neutralize when mixed. (mix brown/orange to blue to reduce its value/saturation)
Think about values first, colour second; values are what makes an image read, not colour.
Colours are relative. A colour may look different depending on what it's placed next to. For instance, a neutral grey can look warm when surrounded by cool blues. When surrounded by oranges and reds, it can look cold.
Try to avoid colour picking. If you have to, take not of the hue and saturation, then select it yourself. Adjust your other colours relative.
With landscapes, I find it very helpful to separate planes by layer. Sky on one layer, background on another, midground, foreground etc.
Look at the masters. If you're not sure where to start, https://master-painters.tumblr.com/
Focus on learning one thing at a time.
As elements recede into the picture plane, atmospheric perspective makes things become less saturated, higher in value, and shift towards blue.
Things in shadow tend to be more saturated, even if its the same material.
On a sunny day, shadows will tend towards blue.
Try some different brushes in photoshop; there are lots of free brushpacks online
If you're struggling to pick a colour by eye, look at it in isolation. Zoom in until you can see only it. I'll often paint a colour onto the reference to see how close I am. Think value, hue, saturation.
Watch your edges.
You may find that allot of colours are less saturated than you originally thought.
Also, for your anatomy work, take a look at George Bridgman
Best of luck and have fun
Matthew M Wow thank you so much for the long critique <3 I will try to incorporate your tips tomorrow right away! Thanks again for the tip with the values. I just get so frustrated with color cause i have just absolutely no grasp of it that i am always neglecting values >.< I need to study both more. Oh man I have so much i wanna say to you right now in terms of thanking but Im so tired and my brain is kinda dead right now so im just gonna leave it at that.
Hmmm today I was feeling super tired after work. I got home late cause I had to make some plannings for next week since Im gonna move to a friend for two months yay! Then my way to work is only 20 min long instead of 1,5 hours :D
So after coming home I basically procrastinated a bit and then some more and now I only got those 2 things done...
I started trying a tip Dave reccomended on an old stream of just trying matte painting and it helped so much! Basically just get two photos of landscapes or whatver, and play with the opacity and layer modes until you see something interesting, then try to sculpt shapes and values using whats already there. It forces you to think critically about what you're doing and might make painting and values seem less cryptic and mysterious ;)
I finally moved yay! Now that i got everything set up again im ready to go. Here is some stuff that i did today. Some doodles, and a not finished yet knight.
Nice rendering hehe; I'd reccomend being focused on how the character is standing and making sure it's comfortable, even trying taking the pose yourself before you commit to a gesture. Also watch out for baby hands, you nailed the dwarfs hands but the knight and your tribal figure have one about right hand and one tiny one ;)
Those traditional sketches look amazing, I wish I had that much control with a pen. And great job on the knight, it has a solid silhouette and has some nice prop design. Adding on to what Fedodika said, I saw a few things that might help:
Sorry if it's not much of an improvement, I did a pretty sloppy job, but I hope it can give you some ideas. These are just a few things I've learned by doing dozens of master copies. Regardless, keep up the fantastic characters, can't wait to see more
Thanks bebz :P Now that you say it I can totally see what you mean with the hands. I will pay extra attention to it from now on!
ubem Thank you so much for the overpainting. You made my boring thing actually look like something *.* I will try to implement that in my next character
Well today an orc face thing some traditional stuff and a study.
Oh and btw i started a community challenge called supersunday. The name sucks i know but i am really bad with finding names for anything. Its basically a thread where you post a finished piece every sunday. Im always so lazy when it comes to finishing stuff so i thought that way i stay motivated and have a deadline i can focus on. If you wanna join please do :D
(08-05-2017, 09:39 AM)NoodleInBox Wrote: Thanks Fedo! (Sorry for the nickname)
I finally moved yay! Now that i got everything set up again im ready to go. Here is some stuff that i did today. Some doodles, and a not finished yet knight.
wowww, come here to congrats you bro! Nice work, loved the knight and the skull knee guy!!! keep posting and get the job done =D
Stuff from today. No traditional stuff cause too lazy to scan and nothing is really finished :O Still experimenting with colors. Just wanna get more comfortable at using them, then some studies and a midnight doodle >.< need to get up for work in 4 hours shit xd
Did a little paintover for ya hehe, used a big softbrush, angle that neck, more attention to collarbones, soft brush on the eyes, dont forget the upper eyelid cast a shadow, make those stray hairs clumpy cuz if you don't they look sickly, smooth those brush strokes out on pretty girls because nothings worse than a gal witha rough face :O!
Waahhh thanks so much for the overpainting. My girls faces suck so bad (not that my male ones are any better...)
I will kepp your tips in mind when i do the next one <3
Started a bigger painting on which i am planning on dedicating a bit more time that usually to. We will see how it goes :D
:O Whoa that new sketch has an interesting composition. The one thing I would change would be that one creature, the third one from the left, I would make them stare at the guy's face or chest instead of knees unless creature is like a zombie who's just diving in for the kill. Diggin the updates, especially the pen drawings. Might join that supersunday, I rarely have any finished works. Great job, keep rockin :)
Arteriorrhexis tahnks for the critiques :3 I need to learn more about composition since i know nothing about it.
You are right those things are supposed to be zombies haha im going for a kind of trashy look like rambo or something. Im excited how it will turn out. Yeah join!!! Man my pen drawings need so much more work though
So today a bit anatomy and a finished character :D also posted on supersunday *hint* *hint*
Whoooohoooo! Congrats on your supersunday piece! I like it a lot! Oh man I totally flopped and wasn't able to post on the supersunday thread but I will try next week. Rambo and zombies sounds badass, the finished piece will be mind blowing. Keep studying and working, glad to see some feet studies. :)
