Jumpin on the DR asspat train a little late, but major <3s for that painting dude. I normally don't even consider buying artwork, especially really stylized stuff, but if I had boatloads of expendable income I would definitely invest in something of yours.
More HS doodles (troll lexxy!), but there might be a non-HS piece in the pipeline if the damn client would make up their mind already.
I do love Homestuck, and would recommend that anyone at least give it a shot, but I also recognize that it's not a for-everyone comic so w/e. It also starts out pretty slow--after a while, he gravitates away from such large volumes of user-suggested actions and focuses more on the story.
In other news, client finally made up their mind! Done as a favor for a friend, who--in spite of essentially getting four billable hours' worth of time for the price of one--claims I charge a "mechanic's price" for my work and spent a great deal of time debating whether or not the investment would be worth it to him. Really the only reason I took the project is because it was something different and I felt it a challenge worthy of undertaking for personal benefit. Had I not been in such a mood I think I would have told him to go fuck himself for how particular he tried to be about work he was barely paying for >:[
Anyway, he wanted a shirt designed for him and his friends to wear to some sort of viking festival. I was the fallback, as he initially wanted to give it ago himself.
I don't know about anybody else, but to me, the knight guy seems slanted like he's falling over, and kind of on a different perspective to the rest of the piece.
I don't know about anybody else, but to me, the knight guy seems slanted like he's falling over, and kind of on a different perspective to the rest of the piece.
I agree, I think you need to rotate him to the right and move him slightly to the left to balance him out.
I didnt notice lexxy's viking thing. That is really different from your style lexxy!
Sam: the perspective is off on the ground plane, it's like his feet dont match the floor. It doesnt seem like you are working in layers. Put the ground beneath him.
I don't know about anybody else, but to me, the knight guy seems slanted like he's falling over, and kind of on a different perspective to the rest of the piece.
i was about to post the same thing
He would be well on his way of falling over at that angle
You need to get into some figure drawing classes immediately. Stop imagining figures because it's really becoming a pain to look at all these static, flat and board-like people you draw. Even just doing some gesture drawings from photos or posemaniacs would help a lot. You need to draw more from life though, that's the main hurdle you need to jump. For me, I know you're going for a comic book/cartoony style but you're figures are just so life-less and sterile I've never really seen something of yours that has really caught my eye.
I mean, look at this armature I'm able to draw for this last drawing. It is literally as boring as it could possibly be. It also shows a lack of fundamental drawing and anatomy skills. It is physically impossible to stand like that, it is a very uncomfortable pose and the human/ape body is not meant to work like that.
This is more like what the human body does in motion and at rest. Everything is on a counter balance; the top of the body is balanced by the bottom, ribcage by pelvis, femur by tibia/fibula. It creates a serpentine "S" shape in the spine that allows us to stand upright. It has nothing to do with standing perfectly straight up, but rather the movement of our anatomy keeps us upright. Does that make sense?
Please please please go do some nude figure drawing as soon as possible and be sure to share the results with us!
PS: Hope I don't come across as mean or anything, I just think you're capable of so much more.
You need to get into some figure drawing classes immediately. Stop imagining figures because it's really becoming a pain to look at all these static, flat and board-like people you draw. Even just doing some gesture drawings from photos or posemaniacs would help a lot. You need to draw more from life though, that's the main hurdle you need to jump. For me, I know you're going for a comic book/cartoony style but you're figures are just so life-less and sterile I've never really seen something of yours that has really caught my eye.
I mean, look at this armature I'm able to draw for this last drawing. It is literally as boring as it could possibly be. It also shows a lack of fundamental drawing and anatomy skills. It is physically impossible to stand like that, it is a very uncomfortable pose and the human/ape body is not meant to work like that.
This is more like what the human body does in motion and at rest. Everything is on a counter balance; the top of the body is balanced by the bottom, ribcage by pelvis, femur by tibia/fibula. It creates a serpentine "S" shape in the spine that allows us to stand upright. It has nothing to do with standing perfectly straight up, but rather the movement of our anatomy keeps us upright. Does that make sense?
Please please please go do some nude figure drawing as soon as possible and be sure to share the results with us!
PS: Hope I don't come across as mean or anything, I just think you're capable of so much more.
Dee, your post seems a little harsh, but I totally agree with it anyway.
Figure drawing classes can have many differnt things they focus on depending on the insturctor, so I would suggest you go for that book first. Once youve got your mind wrapped around the concept then figure drawing sessions or just drawing people at coffee shops will really reinforce it. I am assuming youd be taking a figure drawing course with an instructor. IF its uninstructed.. defintely get the book.
Also I agree with dee. Your drawings a stiff- boring
This is the problem I'm faced with. My local college's art department it, from my brief brush with it, staffed primarily with people who don't really care about teaching as much as they do turning on the radio, letting students work by themselves, and giving half-hearted comments. And from what I saw of the art displayed by fourth year art majors, it seemed like that kind of instruction didn't bear much fruit. The $1,800 dollars I'm now repaying for a semester of life drawing and basic art classes would have been better spent by throwing it into a pit, setting it ablaze, and warming myself by it. But I added that book to my shopping list, so I'll definitely check that out.
@DeeLock: I have to say, I think "It's lifeless," is such a strange critique when I'm drawing someone standing still, in the position I want them to be in. "It's lifeless," is a good critique when I'm drawing someone doing something besides standing still with their legs locked and their arms at their sides. I mean, you drew the armature where I drew it as I was sketching out the figure, so it's not like I was trying to draw him leaping through the air and it just came out that way. As for the arm and toes; the arm's meant to be slightly bent at the elbow, and so hidden behind his girth. It originally looked like this, but I changed it after standing in front of a mirror and re-examining the drawing. Maybe I fucked up, but it looked right to me at the time.
If you think it's boring, that's fine. I think a lot of artist's stuff looks boring. If you think it's flat, also fine. I think a lot of black and white stuff looks flat, when it's not colored, cross-hatched like crazy, or using vast swathes of black to denote form.
I hope I'm not coming off as defensive, as I do always appreciate it when someone takes the time to give me a crit. But, when you say that I lack fundamental drawing skills, I really don't know where to go from there. I'll draw some balls with gradient pencil shading and come back in a year?
from the lifeless aspect, I'd have to agree with Deelock. It is very stiff and unnatural a pose. Especially for an apeman, but for any man. It looks about as natural as a posed action figure or something along the lines.
I'd really try to loosen up a lot with your stuff. Some gestural work really would help what you've got going on, and I've seen some looser stuff from you before that has more life to it.
There is an awkward charm to your stiff images that appeals to me, as I've said before, but you've made it clear that it's not your desire for the images to have that stiff quality, so really working hard to get past it would do you a lot of good.
Munch- the pose isn't bad. The "dynamic figure" is very useful at times and for certain people, but you are right- you are allowed to draw a simple standing pose. And wasser, people stand like that, nothing is unnatural about it. And lifeless is a failed critique here as well, because there are few things more injecting of life to a pose than having it stare directly at the viewer.
The figure here is standing at attention, looking right at the viewer. This is fair game, and works for the image. I do agree in taking some issues with the right arm (our left) situation; his girth ought to get a little more form, or come back a little bit to show more arm.
Now i do have issues with the rest of the composition. All of the clutter in the room seems to be placed arbitrarily, and with a mixture of true and isometric perspective. I'd encourage some more exploration in the early stages of layouts- considering both the picture plane and the room itself as two independent beings that need to work in concert to make a a space that is tangible and communicates the kind of design you want. Does that make sense? Yes, you get to make any kind of scene/image you want to, but you need to make sure that you are aware of all the moving parts. Its easy to tell if an image was made with this awareness, and right now it doesn't show.
even standing at attention, the stiff board-like quality in the legs, torso, and arms are still unnatural.
A good point nation has about the picture plane. I for one find composing an interesting design on the picture plane level, taking into consideration position and location of all of your elements from a purely 2-dimensional aspect is far more important than the ability to convincingly portray a realistic illusion of depth.
also, dammit. munch. make a thread, and stop making me pester you about it.
It is entirely possible to be full of life while standing completely still. In fact, it's sort of impossible not to. Even standing at attention, there are little cues throughout the body indicating some sort of gesture. The problem with the ape-man is that he is board-stiff (hurh hurh). Spine and legs are locked into place forming boring, somewhat uncomfortable looking straight lines. While it is technically possible for people to stand something like that, refusing to curve your spine at all and locking your knees so there's no curve in your legs, either, is impossible, if not uncomfortable for more than a few seconds.
Actually, now that I think about it, "bored stiff" may be the actual pun. Hmm.
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There was something important here. It's gone now.
Its not the case here. I disagree with the armature Dee made, I dont think its accurate to the drawing (fully recognizing munch said he drew the same one, i'd reckon there off in some key places). The contours around the form indicate a naturally allocation of weight, as do the position of the head and shoulders. Again, I think alot is thrown off by the mass of the torso. I think this discussion represents well the bias that the comic/videogame/movie/concept art community has towards these kinds of things (too much stress on figure dynamics, where good design and work just as well), and also indicates a little of "it cannot be unseen" speaking to the effect of that armature Dee made.
Look! His legs curve to put his feet where they need to be to naturally support his weight.
eh, I'm not saying he needs to be dynamically standing there. I'm just saying that even without Deelock's crude stick figure drawn over it, the positioning is stiffer that what I believe would be possible. Then again, we are talking about a fantasy animal, a Gorilla-man of some sorts, and each person is going to have differing opinions on the posture that one would have. I think a lot could be gained by looking at the way a gorilla actually distributes its weight and positions its legs to stand upright. (which I think is why the pigeon-toed look actually helps the image)
a lot of what may be harming it as well is his treatment of cloth, especially in the shorts. The harsh straight, purely vertical lines with the stippling texture gives the impression of concrete pipes more than cargo shorts.
What Mano, they don't have concrete pipe pants where you come from? Also, you win, I'll make a thread.
Thanks for the crits and comments everyone, they're all appreciated and considered. Don't think I don't beat myself up over my art-related failings every day, and try to be better at it, because I do.
I agree, I think the clothes aren't the best, but again though- thats not an accurate description. At the risk of seeming overly semantic, those lines arent purely vertical. Look at them! They do slope when they need to. It's tough to see an image one way, through a certain lense or context, then try to look at it fresh- but really, the descriptions here arent accurate. Its not the pose that is leading us to a "stiff" conclusion- it's the picture. And I think thats the important discussion here, Munch says-
I really don't know where to go from there. I'll draw some balls with gradient pencil shading and come back in a year?
We ought to be able to provide some clear critique with some clear direction. So again, Munch- I'm urging you to focus on your images as complete images. For figures won't appear stiff in the right context. Think about your compositions as both an abstract arrangement of masses as well as a "setting".
I love how a Google image search for "gorilla man" gave me the kind of image I was hoping for.
I agree that the pose is stiff. While I also agree that one should consider compositions and setting - as Greatnation suggested - I completely disagree that this same figure would appear "less stiff in a different context".
The picture I posted above - hilariously enough, another take on a "gorilla man" - is one method to draw a standing pose with much more dynamism, and less stiffness. Although this character is slouching a bit (and yours has much more of a stiff back), you can still take a lot from the general rhythm of the pose, and throw it into the gorilla man you've done, to make it more dynamic.
Sorry Greatnation but I really don't understand where you would see this sort of pose in real life.
There is so much more subtleties going on in the human/ape body, Munch is vastly over simplifying the shapes and gesture of the anatomy. This isn't a question of doing big sweeping movements but rather the subtlety and the small movements of the bones and muscles.
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I was initially going for the "he is tripping" pose but maybe it is better like this.
More HS doodles (troll lexxy!), but there might be a non-HS piece in the pipeline if the damn client would make up their mind already.
In other news, client finally made up their mind! Done as a favor for a friend, who--in spite of essentially getting four billable hours' worth of time for the price of one--claims I charge a "mechanic's price" for my work and spent a great deal of time debating whether or not the investment would be worth it to him. Really the only reason I took the project is because it was something different and I felt it a challenge worthy of undertaking for personal benefit. Had I not been in such a mood I think I would have told him to go fuck himself for how particular he tried to be about work he was barely paying for >:[
Anyway, he wanted a shirt designed for him and his friends to wear to some sort of viking festival. I was the fallback, as he initially wanted to give it ago himself.
His sketch:
My take:
I bet he frequently has to scratch his axehole
progress:
okay I admit, its a little slanted.
Steam handle: Buckwolfe
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Nice, very cute. It's reminiscent of Beavotron's Valentines for Valve.
Beavotron did those?!? I didn't know that! DDD:
I wanted those cards so badly...
(thanks paradise, you always have nice things to say!)
Steam handle: Buckwolfe
shhhh, I cant know everything!
get off my baaaaacckkkk ; _ ;
artistjeffc.tumblr.com http://www.etsy.com/shop/artistjeffc
progress:
update:
I agree, I think you need to rotate him to the right and move him slightly to the left to balance him out.
Sam: the perspective is off on the ground plane, it's like his feet dont match the floor. It doesnt seem like you are working in layers. Put the ground beneath him.
artistjeffc.tumblr.com http://www.etsy.com/shop/artistjeffc
i was about to post the same thing
He would be well on his way of falling over at that angle
WIP
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Oh dear lord please stop with the madness!
You need to get into some figure drawing classes immediately. Stop imagining figures because it's really becoming a pain to look at all these static, flat and board-like people you draw. Even just doing some gesture drawings from photos or posemaniacs would help a lot. You need to draw more from life though, that's the main hurdle you need to jump. For me, I know you're going for a comic book/cartoony style but you're figures are just so life-less and sterile I've never really seen something of yours that has really caught my eye.
I mean, look at this armature I'm able to draw for this last drawing. It is literally as boring as it could possibly be. It also shows a lack of fundamental drawing and anatomy skills. It is physically impossible to stand like that, it is a very uncomfortable pose and the human/ape body is not meant to work like that.
This is more like what the human body does in motion and at rest. Everything is on a counter balance; the top of the body is balanced by the bottom, ribcage by pelvis, femur by tibia/fibula. It creates a serpentine "S" shape in the spine that allows us to stand upright. It has nothing to do with standing perfectly straight up, but rather the movement of our anatomy keeps us upright. Does that make sense?
Please please please go do some nude figure drawing as soon as possible and be sure to share the results with us!
PS: Hope I don't come across as mean or anything, I just think you're capable of so much more.
Some sort of face projection or something? I dunno. Working on a more painterly sorta style.
Dee, your post seems a little harsh, but I totally agree with it anyway.
Figure drawing classes can have many differnt things they focus on depending on the insturctor, so I would suggest you go for that book first. Once youve got your mind wrapped around the concept then figure drawing sessions or just drawing people at coffee shops will really reinforce it. I am assuming youd be taking a figure drawing course with an instructor. IF its uninstructed.. defintely get the book.
Also I agree with dee. Your drawings a stiff- boring
@DeeLock: I have to say, I think "It's lifeless," is such a strange critique when I'm drawing someone standing still, in the position I want them to be in. "It's lifeless," is a good critique when I'm drawing someone doing something besides standing still with their legs locked and their arms at their sides. I mean, you drew the armature where I drew it as I was sketching out the figure, so it's not like I was trying to draw him leaping through the air and it just came out that way. As for the arm and toes; the arm's meant to be slightly bent at the elbow, and so hidden behind his girth. It originally looked like this, but I changed it after standing in front of a mirror and re-examining the drawing. Maybe I fucked up, but it looked right to me at the time.
If you think it's boring, that's fine. I think a lot of artist's stuff looks boring. If you think it's flat, also fine. I think a lot of black and white stuff looks flat, when it's not colored, cross-hatched like crazy, or using vast swathes of black to denote form.
I hope I'm not coming off as defensive, as I do always appreciate it when someone takes the time to give me a crit. But, when you say that I lack fundamental drawing skills, I really don't know where to go from there. I'll draw some balls with gradient pencil shading and come back in a year?
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He means lifeless like a wardrobe.
I'd really try to loosen up a lot with your stuff. Some gestural work really would help what you've got going on, and I've seen some looser stuff from you before that has more life to it.
There is an awkward charm to your stiff images that appeals to me, as I've said before, but you've made it clear that it's not your desire for the images to have that stiff quality, so really working hard to get past it would do you a lot of good.
The figure here is standing at attention, looking right at the viewer. This is fair game, and works for the image. I do agree in taking some issues with the right arm (our left) situation; his girth ought to get a little more form, or come back a little bit to show more arm.
Now i do have issues with the rest of the composition. All of the clutter in the room seems to be placed arbitrarily, and with a mixture of true and isometric perspective. I'd encourage some more exploration in the early stages of layouts- considering both the picture plane and the room itself as two independent beings that need to work in concert to make a a space that is tangible and communicates the kind of design you want. Does that make sense? Yes, you get to make any kind of scene/image you want to, but you need to make sure that you are aware of all the moving parts. Its easy to tell if an image was made with this awareness, and right now it doesn't show.
A good point nation has about the picture plane. I for one find composing an interesting design on the picture plane level, taking into consideration position and location of all of your elements from a purely 2-dimensional aspect is far more important than the ability to convincingly portray a realistic illusion of depth.
also, dammit. munch. make a thread, and stop making me pester you about it.
Actually, now that I think about it, "bored stiff" may be the actual pun. Hmm.
Look! His legs curve to put his feet where they need to be to naturally support his weight.
a lot of what may be harming it as well is his treatment of cloth, especially in the shorts. The harsh straight, purely vertical lines with the stippling texture gives the impression of concrete pipes more than cargo shorts.
Thanks for the crits and comments everyone, they're all appreciated and considered. Don't think I don't beat myself up over my art-related failings every day, and try to be better at it, because I do.
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We ought to be able to provide some clear critique with some clear direction. So again, Munch- I'm urging you to focus on your images as complete images. For figures won't appear stiff in the right context. Think about your compositions as both an abstract arrangement of masses as well as a "setting".
I agree that the pose is stiff. While I also agree that one should consider compositions and setting - as Greatnation suggested - I completely disagree that this same figure would appear "less stiff in a different context".
The picture I posted above - hilariously enough, another take on a "gorilla man" - is one method to draw a standing pose with much more dynamism, and less stiffness. Although this character is slouching a bit (and yours has much more of a stiff back), you can still take a lot from the general rhythm of the pose, and throw it into the gorilla man you've done, to make it more dynamic.
There is so much more subtleties going on in the human/ape body, Munch is vastly over simplifying the shapes and gesture of the anatomy. This isn't a question of doing big sweeping movements but rather the subtlety and the small movements of the bones and muscles.