So I've been loitering on the Star Wars TOR forums, for want of actual money to play MMO's and I got to doing these characters for people, mainly out of a need to engratiate myself with a forum full of Geeks like me but also to practice full page character drawing and to a lesser extent, photoshop skils, both of which I normally avoid.
Heres what I've done so far and I was curious to get some real critical feedback.
I like most of the designs, for some reason they remind me of the original Heavy Metal movie.
What few things my untrained eye can pick up seems to be the same across all the illustrations.
That is the subtle anatomy problems and disproportioned body parts.
I'm sure what desperaterobots was referring to with his comment was that you would probably benefit
from drawing from life more to get those proportions just right, maybe read some books etc. there are a lot of links in the stickies on this forum that have all that info.
Yeah, your line width makes the drawing look like the old cell animations (like Heavy Metal). I kind of like the look but you might want to try thicker, more varied contour lines and see if improves the drawings.
Also try pushing up the values because right now there seems to be a lot of midtones without any highlights or shadows. Hint: If you desaturated an image and it is all the same greyish tone, you need to get some brighter brights and darker darks.
Still, your proportions seems to be pretty good, so you definitely have that going for you, even if your coloring leaves some of them feeling unfinished.
NappuccinoSurveyor of Things and StuffRegistered Userregular
edited September 2009
On of the main problems I notice right off the bat, is that most of the positions they are in a very awkward and are not dynamic. While mostly solid drawings they aren't that particularly interesting yet.
Nicolas Cage? Maybe I see things. And personally I think the guy with pale skin/blonde hair looks more like Tim Roth. Though I can see your point too.
Best suggestion I can make is to vary line width, I think has been said. Your proportions are pretty good, and I think varying lines would add more to defining the shape of the characters. Alternatively, you could focus on the coloring instead to diminish the flat feel most of the characters have.
I like the detail you put into most of the faces, by the way. Totally digging the old ewok too.
EVeryones pretty much bang on, even Tim Roth (which wasnt intentional by the way, now that all I can see) I'll keep them all in mind when I do more.
The anatomy issues I have is that I have to use either me (in a dance of drawing and standing) or I use my 5ft girlfreind, who plays havoc when she's meant to be an elderly black man.
AND is this a step in the right direction? I tried harder with proportions, and the line width varies more (not alot though, now that its on the screen). I did a little extra shading and highlighting too, the problem is I'm really impatient, if it takes longer than 10-20 minutes I get bored.
Your technique shows a lot of confidence in where you're placing your marks.
*Thumbs-up*
Just keep practicing. Try some landscape and evironment studies. Learning to draw environments in perspective will also influence and help the outcome of your characters.
Um dude Heavy Metal is pretty awesome and you should watch it sometime.
The new image is pretty okay but it exhibits most of the problems previously discussed in the thread. The coloring is leaving it very flat looking, the pose is not dynamic and there is no range of shadows or highlights.
Also the head strikes me as not being big enough on the top half. It seems like his forehead could be a bit bigger, at least to me.
Hey, don't knock the original Heavy Metal. They did a great job on a small budget and there wasn't anything else like it at the time. If you want to ridicule something take a look at the sequel that was made probably 20 years later and was a total mess.
I think I missed the Heavy Metal movie craze, I'm guessing you needed to see it while your going through puberty to REALLY appreciate it, normally with a box of tissues? :winky:
Thanks for these great comments, heres one I was halfway through, so the pose is'nt really dynamic, and the colouring's still shit (I think I'm destined to be a shitty colourist *shrug*) but I thought I'd share anyway.
his left leg looked ok when I drew it, but now it looks too small.
Lets see if I can get some dynamic poses happening, thanks again to all critiqers, youv helped loads!
AND is this a step in the right direction? I tried harder with proportions, and the line width varies more (not alot though, now that its on the screen). I did a little extra shading and highlighting too, the problem is I'm really impatient, if it takes longer than 10-20 minutes I get bored.
I like what you have here--the proportions are better. But I think there are still a couple problems. One, I think his head is turned too far (looks uncomfortable), given that he isn't rotating his body very much overall. Second, I think there's something wrong either with the positioning of his left arm/hand, or with the staff on the left side. It just seems a little off to me. I could be seeing it the wrong way but that's how it appears to me.
I can see that you played with the coloring a little bit, and threw in some darker tones. I would suggest trying to work with those more, as the colors still seem a little flat. It's definitely a step forward though.
I'm loving all the little details that you draw in very well. Keep up the good work!
[edit] holy crap that bounty hunter drawing is sexy! I'll think about critting it once I get over my wow-that's-awesome reaction. Nice job working with the colors to make them less flat on his armor.
I like the style that you are going for but everything is looking a little stiff. I'm going to mention a book that I came across by accident and really impressed me. I was never a big Frank Frazetta fan until I saw a copy of "Rough Works". It has copies of his original sketches and studies and is incredible. He used no references and his dynamic studies are so fluid and powerful. If you ever get a chance you should grab a copy.
does anyone have any good photoshop colouring tutorials they could link me, every time I google for one I always come up with nothing useful.
as colouring goes, I've been using this guy http://artbytravis.deviantart.com/gallery/ as a kind of target to compare my stuff too, both line work and colour....he's still winning.
this is my most recent, does this guy still look stiff? I tried to make it more relaxed, but I didnt choose the pose. My lack of colouring ability is really starting to piss me off.
for some reason this image reminds me of winnie the pooh.
Actually, I think your style is more distinct than the work on the link you provided. Not knocking the link, but it looks like a lot of comic art. The reason people keep saying your stuff looks Heavy Metal is because that's the way some of the French comic artists render their drawings. Google Moebius art or Druillet. And Charles Burns always had a continuous line width also.
You have definitely improved. Your work is pretty good, but you need to take some figure drawing classes. Faces are obviously your strong point while natural poses and anatomy are your weak points.
Once you get a year or two of figure drawing your art will be a ....... force to be reckoned with.
Definitely some awesome stuff here. I have to agree that your faces always look very life-like.
I have noticed that a lot of times you have some issues with arm / leg length and wrist / ankle / shoulder adjustment. When you put a character into a pose, try to look at yourself in the mirror, or someone else, doing that pose. It can help to see how the human body can actually bend in the real world.
On the very last update, it looks like the person's left foot is on the right and vice-verse.
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Is that a Morgan Freeman Jedi?
(... Is there a 'draw from life, draw all the time, try different things, read these books' .txt file i could copy from and post here?)
BUSTED!
What few things my untrained eye can pick up seems to be the same across all the illustrations.
That is the subtle anatomy problems and disproportioned body parts.
I'm sure what desperaterobots was referring to with his comment was that you would probably benefit
from drawing from life more to get those proportions just right, maybe read some books etc. there are a lot of links in the stickies on this forum that have all that info.
I also saw Morgan Freeman in that last one
Still, your proportions seems to be pretty good, so you definitely have that going for you, even if your coloring leaves some of them feeling unfinished.
INSTAGRAM
Also this one:
is totally Tim Roth.
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Nicolas Cage? Maybe I see things. And personally I think the guy with pale skin/blonde hair looks more like Tim Roth. Though I can see your point too.
Best suggestion I can make is to vary line width, I think has been said. Your proportions are pretty good, and I think varying lines would add more to defining the shape of the characters. Alternatively, you could focus on the coloring instead to diminish the flat feel most of the characters have.
I like the detail you put into most of the faces, by the way. Totally digging the old ewok too.
The anatomy issues I have is that I have to use either me (in a dance of drawing and standing) or I use my 5ft girlfreind, who plays havoc when she's meant to be an elderly black man.
"Junk in a cup"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECkH8UTIdoo&feature=related
I'd like to think I was at least a few points ahead of this :winky:
*Thumbs-up*
Just keep practicing. Try some landscape and evironment studies. Learning to draw environments in perspective will also influence and help the outcome of your characters.
The new image is pretty okay but it exhibits most of the problems previously discussed in the thread. The coloring is leaving it very flat looking, the pose is not dynamic and there is no range of shadows or highlights.
Also the head strikes me as not being big enough on the top half. It seems like his forehead could be a bit bigger, at least to me.
INSTAGRAM
There are some jerkiness to it, but it overall looks amazing and most importantly consistent.
Yes, quite a bit of artistic merit.
Thanks for these great comments, heres one I was halfway through, so the pose is'nt really dynamic, and the colouring's still shit (I think I'm destined to be a shitty colourist *shrug*) but I thought I'd share anyway.
his left leg looked ok when I drew it, but now it looks too small.
Lets see if I can get some dynamic poses happening, thanks again to all critiqers, youv helped loads!
I like what you have here--the proportions are better. But I think there are still a couple problems. One, I think his head is turned too far (looks uncomfortable), given that he isn't rotating his body very much overall. Second, I think there's something wrong either with the positioning of his left arm/hand, or with the staff on the left side. It just seems a little off to me. I could be seeing it the wrong way but that's how it appears to me.
I can see that you played with the coloring a little bit, and threw in some darker tones. I would suggest trying to work with those more, as the colors still seem a little flat. It's definitely a step forward though.
I'm loving all the little details that you draw in very well. Keep up the good work!
[edit] holy crap that bounty hunter drawing is sexy! I'll think about critting it once I get over my wow-that's-awesome reaction. Nice job working with the colors to make them less flat on his armor.
as colouring goes, I've been using this guy http://artbytravis.deviantart.com/gallery/ as a kind of target to compare my stuff too, both line work and colour....he's still winning.
this is my most recent, does this guy still look stiff? I tried to make it more relaxed, but I didnt choose the pose. My lack of colouring ability is really starting to piss me off.
for some reason this image reminds me of winnie the pooh.
Crits would be great!
Once you get a year or two of figure drawing your art will be a ....... force to be reckoned with.
I have noticed that a lot of times you have some issues with arm / leg length and wrist / ankle / shoulder adjustment. When you put a character into a pose, try to look at yourself in the mirror, or someone else, doing that pose. It can help to see how the human body can actually bend in the real world.
On the very last update, it looks like the person's left foot is on the right and vice-verse.
Keep up the good work. Very awesome stuff.
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