Verom's stash: Meatboy painting

Verom

I've been "seriously" drawing for about 2 or 3 years now, but over the past 5 or 6 months I've definitely seen the most significant improvement in myself. I've gotten to the point where I'm happy with what I can do but I know I can learn a lot more, I've gone to a lot of places looking for advice, I get some but for the most part any critiques I can get are few and far between. Lurking around here I've seen a lot of useful advice.

(click the spoilers for larger views)
An entry for a character of the week competition
"It's like the merchant from Resident Evil 4 and a shyguy had a baby"

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/057/b/c/A_shy_one_by_Veromorte.png

A weekly character design challenge that went incredibly well, I love how it turned out, experimented with lighting and I think I got the mood I was going for.

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/050/4/9/Eddie_Morrows_by_Veromorte.png

Probably one of my favorite images I've done, an inside joke with friends that took on a life of it's own, tonka

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/048/2/6/TONKA_TOUGH_by_Veromorte.png

A comical modern revamp of good ol' duck hunt.

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/033/b/4/Duck_Hunt__Apocalypse_by_Veromorte.png

A tribute to McBess, had a lot of fun with this one, biggest I've ever worked.

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/072/d/9/McBess_Tribute_by_Veromorte.png

Koffing and Weezing gajinkas

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/098/9/4/Koffing_until_you__re_Weezing_by_Veromorte.png

Probably the highlight of my work, a project I took on back in november, 50 characters total and over 100 hours poured into the project I couldn't have been happier with the result.
Caricatures of people from another forum I go to using there names, actual pictures of them, or characters they use to make each one.

winter_combat_knight

Really good stuff so far.
the last one with all the designs thrown together is the most successful

I think your characters are great but your backgrounds are a little iffy. I think you're over complicating the bavckgrounds, adding tooi much texture/gradients/brush variation etc.
You characters are simple colours and tones, which is what makes them so good.

Thats my only beef so far.

Hope you stick around

NibCrom

Verom wrote: »

A weekly character design challenge that went incredibly well, I love how it turned out, experimented with lighting and I think I got the mood I was going for.

I really dislike the background color. Light blue is a calm and refreshing color. It doesn't fit with a bloody butcher.

Verom

winter_combat_knight wrote: »

I think your characters are great but your backgrounds are a little iffy. I think you're over complicating the bavckgrounds, adding tooi much texture/gradients/brush variation etc.
You characters are simple colours and tones, which is what makes them so good.

I hate backgrounds I really do, I can never tell what's simple enough that it works, too simple, or over complicated, thanks.

NibCrom wrote: »

I really dislike the background color. Light blue is a calm and refreshing color. It doesn't fit with a bloody butcher.

I see what you mean and totally agree, these are things I don't think about when doing these, I chose more of a contrasting color and lightened it over a color that made sense.

Paradise

I think the problem is that your backgrounds are imposing on your characters. You have very cool content and character experimentation here, but your backgrounds are quashing your characters' charisma instead of enhancing it.

Like--in some pieces--the textures and values of your backgrounds and characters run into each other. The subjects and the settings are too similar in appearance. It's good to have some similarities between your subject and background, but it's also good to have strong contrasts.

In some other pieces, the shapes of your backgrounds are overwhelming your character silhouettes. You seem to have a habit of shooting harsh background lines through visually busy areas on your characters. You shouldn't do that anymore.

One more thing: your backgrounds seem flat, and most of them are a little dark. It's like they're squishing your characters up against the computer monitor.

I just want to say again that you have cool characters here. There's just a few common problems you should address. For practice, try drawing simple, monochromatic compositions. Emphasize depth, transitions, and relative values.

Sorry I wrote so much. I just like the potential I see in your work. Your art should evolve and look totally amazing.

NibCrom

Verom wrote: »

A comical modern revamp of good ol' duck hunt.

This is an interesting idea. But I think you could execute it better.

If you hadn't said it was Duck Hunt, I would have had no idea. There's a duck there, but there's really nothing to me that says Duck Hunt.

I'm assuming that guy is the hunter? What tells the audience he is a hunter? He's got armor on, that makes me think he is a warrior. Are the ducks an aggressive species this time around? The way the guy and the duck are positioned made me think he was a warrior and the duck was his sidekick.

Also, you're missing an iconic piece of the duck hunt puzzle: the dog. Remember that the original Duck Hunt was a POV game. The only things the viewer saw was the dog, ducks and the Zapper in their own hand.

Do a bunch of rough drafts, I think you could come up with a much better layout with a cohesive message. You can grab your audience so much better if they look at it and go, "hmmm... that's interesting... wait... It's Duck Hunt! In the future!" If they can figure it out for themselves without looking at a caption it will resonate with them more.

You went way too crazy with Photoshop effects. The key is to be subtle, or not use them at all. Even if they weren't effects, you made it look too muddy/fuzzy.

Keep working hard!

Verom

Paradise wrote: »

Sorry I wrote so much. I just like the potential I see in your work. Your art should evolve and look totally amazing.

No no, not at all, this is exactly the kind of long thought out posts I enjoy getting. Though more specific on which backgrounds are too squished would be nice, I know the duck hunt one is kinda botched, but I'm rather fond of the shyguy.

NibCrom wrote: »

Keep working hard!

Composition is something I also need to work on, I didn't mention that.
Just out of pure laziness I tend not to go back in fix things in my older pieces, but instead use what I learn the next time. But again, the duck hunt one, I've noticed glaring problems that I don't know why I put in, I could have made the area bigger, more obvious he's a hunter, and actually had a duck and the dog, but instead I went for a parody and only people who knew about it would know what the parody is.

Thanks for the posts so far.

Paradise

Verom, let's look at this one.



To me, the setting looks flat. The background is too dark (which washes out the dark characters), and you've overcomplicated it with strong, harsh lines all over the place. The sky is comparatively very light, and that stark contrast in particular is unnecessary.

Here's a few quick mockups to illustrate some points:



In this one, I blurred some of the harsh background lines I keep talking about. This is supposed to emulate atmospheric perspective (or even depth of field). I also used some gentle color gradients for a related effect. Also, I darkened the sky a little bit. That part was more my personal taste than anything. It could have easily stayed a bit lighter.



Ok, this one is pretty exaggerated. Kind of an extreme light-to-dark contrast-oriented take on the piece. I separated your characters from their background in photoshop, blurred the harsh lines like before, and threw on some heavy gradients to emulate a light source. I also used the burn and dodge tools on your characters to adjust the shadows on their bodies to their new light source.



This one is basically the same as the first mockup, except its two orange triangles replace some boring parts in the composition. (Not that your signature is boring. You can always find a new place for it.) As a rule, an oblique or abstract frame should direct your eye a bit, and it should work well with the rest of the picture. Also, the orange frame color here picks up the color of those lit cigarettes.

Verom, you can do whatever you want with your art. That's what makes it fun. These are just a few possible mutations of one of your existing pieces. For the future, experiment with all kinds of new stuff, and never be afraid to go back and work on the basics.

Good luck!

desperaterobots

It seems like you've got a good handle on lines but your colours are either cluttering things up, or flattening things out. Focusing on the Butcher since you see it as your most successful work I think there's a lack of contrast that makes your shapes difficult to read. If you squint and look at it, almost all the figure is black.

The butchers pants, for instance. The three bands of grey you've used? I'd try making the mid-tone the biggest colour and use the shadow to indicate the leg shadow through the pants, or as a thinner band to indicate cloth folds. Because the mid-tone is quite dark already and the darker tint flattens the leg so bad, and washes out your nice outlines.

Alternatively, using a lighter tint of those colours or a different/menacing colour as a 'reflected light source' could have helped you build on the three-dimensional forms that your lines imply - the form of the nose, thickness of the neck, bloodstains on the shirt etc.

I'd demonstrate with a paintover but I'm at work, hope it makes sense otherwise.

Verom

Made some edits to Eddie up there. Changed the lighting a bit, the backdrop, and "fixed" some shading.


http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/113/8/f/Eddie_Morrows_by_Veromorte.pnghttp://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/050/4/9/Eddie_Morrows_by_Veromorte.png

NibCrom

Looks much better!

Verom

Some other works, not as refined but still good.

Original concepts for the "prelims" of the character design

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/047/2/1/Shape_Challenge_Week_3_by_Veromorte.png

Turn around

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/050/4/2/D_A_C__3_part_2_by_Veromorte.png

Attempt at some tribalesque stuff, drawing an octopus is a great way to kill time. Drawn in ink, colored digitally

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs50/f/2009/302/8/0/Bubbly_Octopus_by_Veromorte.png

o2 from kirby64, for a collab, 3 solid colors only.

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs51/f/2009/303/6/0/Zero2_by_Veromorte.png

Spy vsspy and team fortress crossover.

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/050/7/c/Ze_Spy_vs_Ze_Spy_by_Veromorte.png

First thing I drew this year

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/008/a/e/Twennyten_Mofos_by_Veromorte.png

Sonic

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/040/e/b/Adorableness_Incarnate_by_Veromorte.png

Probably my only successful digital painting with no lines used.

Verom

Wanted to get a bit more pieces done before I posted some more.

Koffing, done in watercolors on roughly 13x18 watercolor paper.

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/119/1/0/Koffing_by_Veromorte.png

Done for a Character of the week contest, the theme was one of the users, the mask and headband is part of the character so they were a staple in everyones entries.

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/134/7/e/Cap__n_Jonny_by_Veromorte.pngParody of Captain Morgan because Captain Morgan is awesome and so is this guy.

Also took a crack at some comicery
...I need work, I know.

I've recently found out that this joke is from family, did not know that at the time

This was for Kevin Bolk's turning 30 contest
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/114/e/3/K_Bo__s___LONGEST_BIRTHDAY_EVER___by_Veromorte.png

The next 2 are for an image battle, the comics are kinda half-assed, but for the most part the line art is how I would usually go about it.
I faulty rocket was fired at me.

http://art.ngfiles.com/images/77/m-vero_ng-battle-royal-3.jpg

Decided to team up with a buddy and gave me the idea to be a huge gurren nerd. My jaw had also been punched off

http://art.ngfiles.com/images/77/m-vero_combine.png

Verom

More! More! More!~~
How d'ya like it(how d'ya like it)

Little parody of team fortress and tankmen from newgrounds.

http://art.ngfiles.com/images/79/m-vero_team-tankmen.png

A little silliness in between projects that actually turned out quite well

http://art.ngfiles.com/images/79/m-vero_muthafuckin-hulkgloves.png

Lines from a current collab project(big because image shack sucks and doesn't have a reasonable thumbnail size)
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/8281/tankz.png

Verom

I need to post more...

Finished the WIP from above, lines and a few colors by me, most colors by Mabelma

http://art.ngfiles.com/images/81/m-vero_big-and-small.png

4 quadrants still life I did a month or 2 ago
Top left is charcoal and oil pastels.
Top right is watercolors and pencil (I should use watercolors more)
Bottom left is regular Crayola markers and colored pencils
Bottom right is acrylic and pastels
Estimated time, I'd say.......6 or 7 hours

http://art.ngfiles.com/images/70/m-vero_quadrant-still-life.png

Little doodle I made in class one time based off of concept art from Ventastic


Joke that I can't spell that I decided to draw, that I put too much effort into

http://art.ngfiles.com/images/74/m-vero_emphosous.png

And I have recently started doing an ms paint adventure parody, but done in photoshop, I do not have the patience to do it in ms paint, thread for it can be found here
Black space with white text in between panels are the suggestions given

http://art.ngfiles.com/images/81/m-vero_sapience-comic-1.png

And something I'm working on right as I type this, a little homage to good ol hsu and chan

Verom

Putting a stop on the hsu and chan pic for now, I don't like how it's looking and not sure how I can fix it yet.
So until then, pokemons

Was streaming this with some friends and got a complaint that pokemon wasn't manly enough
I fixed that
Grouchos for all and added manliness for those who need it

And slightly more serious one
Groucho mask still on the lapras cause I accidentally deleted the layer it was on before sketching it, and got to far along sketching before realizing this

Fugitive

Yes Ventastic is such a cool dude

I really like(d) the inks on the Hsu homage so far. Very clean and simple but expressive.

In regards to the unead mashup, this is something I learned the hard way, but when you draw all of the elements of the piece separately without really planning the layout, it shows. The individual drawings are nice, but when it's all put together it loses almost all of it's energy.

I would suggest next time you do a piece like that you do a rough sketch of the full-size composition, and then separate out the individuals before working on them. It shouldn't be too hard since it seems like you do almost all digital anyway, so you could even just ink each character on a separate layer in the same file.

Drezz

Verom wrote: »

Putting a stop on the hsu and chan pic for now, I don't like how it's looking and not sure how I can fix it yet.

You should finish it - it looks great!

I also really like your character style with the big head/little bodies...
There's some good stuff in here. Your color work needs a bit of improvement, but your character design is really cool!

Verom

Oh, I'm still gonna finish it, it's just been put on the back burner for now.

Yesterday, I did a "whore for a day" request marathon.
Took any and all requests I received for 6 hours and this is the outcome.
I kinda wish people took this a bit more seriously, I mean this is free art after all, but it was a ton of fun for all involved, and throughout which whore me was dubbed Veronica


Requests group 1

Sharks wrestling
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21258000/ngbbs4c0a7f3894035.jpg

Character request, still couldn't do to much with this one
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21258000/ngbbs4c0a83c08fc20.jpg

Friend got modded, than they took away the reason he wanted to be that kind of mod, but still had the duties that came with it
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21258000/ngbbs4c0a88460fc50.jpg

Cowboy with a magnum
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21260000/ngbbs4c0afa6b8e5a2.jpg

Cheney punching a nuke for some reason.
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21260000/ngbbs4c0afe7a922b6.jpg

Dinotard with oven mits, socks, and briefs on his head.
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21260000/ngbbs4c0b03787a29a.jpg

Requests group 2

Maniacal cleaver with a human as a weapon
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21253000/ngbbs4c095726b1b6e.jpg

Pots and pans robot
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21253000/ngbbs4c095ffbc6d16.jpg

Pickle zilla with face lasers and meow face
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21253000/ngbbs4c0969e6277e6.jpg

An armadillo with an inside-out face, snail eyes and intestines for limbs, sitting on a beanbag chair on top of the sun.
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21254000/ngbbs4c0979b95325c.jpg

I didn't know what the requester was talking about, but involved me and my whore day get up, and Marcellus Wallace
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21254000/ngbbs4c098a31ef751.jpg

A car putting his front bumper into another car's trunk
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21254000/ngbbs4c0998c2d45d8.jpg

A summer girl on a bench, my anatomy is terrible
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21255000/ngbbs4c099ce16fc85.jpg

A turtle working up a sweat, i call him speedy
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21255000/ngbbs4c09a92617a75.jpg

Requests group 3

A background with mountains in it
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21255000/ngbbs4c09a3b944eae.jpg

A tortoise with cannons on it's back (I have made confirmation that they did not mean blastoise but it still works)
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21255000/ngbbs4c09b215e9f06.jpg

Pirate versus a ninja on a tightrope over a volcano
(was debating not doing this one cause it's just one of those things that idiots think up and think it's funny for like 30 seconds, but what fun would that be?)
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21255000/ngbbs4c09bd3f8fba0.jpg

A man and a woman who love eachother
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21255000/ngbbs4c09c646eb341.jpg

A cucumber cutting up a French chef
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21255000/ngbbs4c09cda20ffa8.jpg

An armored pickle in a horse (he meant on a horse and I knew, but you gotta spell check this stuff)
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/21256000/ngbbs4c09d44dc88c2.jpg

Verom

I love when inks turn out exactly how I want them.
Team awesome

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/158/2/8/Team_Awesome_inks_by_Veromorte.jpg

Paradise

This thread destroys my computer. Do the thread a favor and link out to your high-res pictures (they still load if you hide them in spoilers).

Fugitive

Just curious, have you got any life-studies kicking around? It would be nice to see some of your fundamentals, just to get a better idea of where you're at.

m3nace

I can't wait to see that colored.

Verom

Paradise wrote: »

This thread destroys my computer. Do the thread a favor and link out to your high-res pictures (they still load if you hide them in spoilers).

Ahh, didn't know that, alright I'll get right on it.
Alright, that should do it

Fugitive wrote: »

Just curious, have you got any life-studies kicking around? It would be nice to see some of your fundamentals, just to get a better idea of where you're at.

For the most part cartooning is pretty much all I do at the moment, I have some older still lifes and anatomy studies from last year, and a few from this year still at school.
I'll post some of those probably when I get them back

Pico

This whole thread is win, nicely done.

Fugitive

Do more practical studies in between cartooning. It's pretty standard advice, but it will help loads with honing your style.

Your stuff is good, but you still have issues. It's clear you lean on stylistic conventions in regards to anatomy, but you don't seem to have the underlying knowledge to really back it up. It's especially clear when you compare pieces like Dick Cheney punching a nuke - which has a lot of energy and character - to stuff like the girl on the bench - which, well, doesn't. You'll need to do a lot of boring as hell life-studies if you want to be able to do work of a consistent quality.

Here is a good resource for some online and offline resources. In addition, just grab your sketchbook, go outside, and draw some trees and buildings, people in the park, on the bus, etc. You'll notice the improvement pretty damn quickly.

Arden Canelo

I have to agree with fugitive on this. Please post life studies. It helps you grow as an artist and we get more of a good thing. The good thing being your art.

Verom

Got more stuff.
Some quick pose sketches from around the same time last year in art class.(this is the best I got right now, plan to do some in the next few days, for a comparison)

10 second pose sketches



1 minute sketches


5(I think) minute sketches


10 minute sketch


ON TO NEW STUFF
Finished the pokemon picture(don't know if this'll work on here, but if it does, click image for bigger view)


Made a yoshi puppet as our final project this year in school
I suck at sewing, in every use of it.
Glue is coming off of the fabric where the mouth is, seems are unraveling.
Overall it was pretty good compared to others in the class, but it's still pretty much a green trainwreck
Hand painted.
about 12 or so hours (same as pokemon, click for bigger)


And a little animation of a little robot, based off Marvin

Verom

finally got around to doing posemaniacs sketches, I do not like posemaiacs, the angles are awkward and all the muscles instead of skin makes it difficult to see whats going where


More anatomy practice, a lot more stylized, but practice nonetheless.

Click image for bigger.

Animations. linked for filesize

Octopus on a pogostick, I am aware the way it's bouncing doesnt make too much sense, but it was quick and I don't really know how to draw an octopus on a pogostick very accurately.


Do the wave, also technically a little anatomy practice.


link being bugged by navi

Fugitive

Yeah, I personally don't really prefer posemaniacs. Even if you just want to study musculature, there are better anatomy resources out there.

www.gettyimages.com has a good pool of people in a variety of poses. Most of the images require purchase, but if you go here and click on "view gallery" on the right, there are some good references. It'd be worth it to navigate the site a bit and build up some bookmarks.

Also, as much as it may make you self-conscious, getting out and doing gesture drawings at a coffee shop somewhere can be excellent practice. Just remember that for awhile you aren't going to end up with more than irregular blobs, but exercises like that are great for helping you observe the entire body as a unit.

Verom

So after a 2 month period of drawing nothing of particular substance, drawing today I noticed the way I draw has been totally overhauled. My lack of drawing coupled with watching OTHER people draw instead of doing myself seems to have had some sort of effect on how I draw.
And it's not particularly a bad change IMO

About a month ago
Bloom skeleton ghost thing made of bloom and messing around in photoshop

http://art.ngfiles.com/images/90/m-vero_skeleton-ghost-thing.png
Space singer

http://art.ngfiles.com/images/90/m-vero_no-one-can-hear-you-suck.png
Drawn today.
Lot more......meatier then from about 2 months ago, something, honestly, I really needed to do.
also most accurate self portrait to date.

Fugitive

Pretty sweet skeleton, and the astronaut has a really nice energy to his pose.

I guess since you found a new drawing groove that you like you should probably start drawing more frequently!!

Mabelma

Woooho!!!I helped you with this http://art.ngfiles.com/medium_views/81/m-vero_big-and-small.png
Everywhere I go you seem to be there V... Anyways, I love your style and your inks are amazing, keep up the great work. The only thing that bothers my on the plaid image is that you also added plaid to the converse star but the star looks squished and messy and the plaid attracts your eye toward and actually takes away from the image but if either fix the star or took away the plaid on it I'll be ok.

Verom

Fugitive wrote: »

I guess since you found a new drawing groove that you like you should probably start drawing more frequently!!

I hope to, especially since school is coming up and I have art classes a plenty.
Oh hey mabelma

Verom

Edited a bit, fixed the hand, got rid of the plaid on the shoe, added some shading.
Messing around the gradients, not sure if I like them.

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/233/5/b/Yo_by_Veromorte.png

and a little painting....thing

http://art.ngfiles.com/images/94/m-vero_georaffe.png

Mabelma

Yes!!! V that looks ten times better. I like that you're going out of your comfort zone, keep up the great work. The gradients look hot.

Verom

This is more like peeking outside, seeing what's outside my comfort zone.
When I start doing paintings that aren't fuzzy cubes, that' when I'll be lost in the proverbial forest.

Mabelma

Hehe, well be I must say you are going in the right direction.

Verom

Sketch I'm working on for the 2011 calender contest over on newgrounds.
Parody of "the diner," but with tankmen, cause it's newgrounds and whatnot.

Only sketching right now, but any advice you could give me will help so much.

Fugitive

You could probably stand to bump the window size down a little bit. If you look at the original, the windows are already pretty massive, and they're maybe twice as tall as the guy sitting at the table? Yours are just a bit taller, and it makes them seem just too huge. I understand you've got a super-deformed style going, but the rest of the world should also be proportioned appropriately to make it feel really solid.

The top perspective line on that building is also almost perfectly parallel to the picture plane, when you really should be sloping down gently to the right.

Verom

Commission sketches, from left to right
Retro, competitive, japanophile, casual, fantasy, and "neckbeard" gamers
Don't like japanophile or fantasy, need to work on those.
Bigger
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/9382/cgamers.png
warning, size is ridonculous
Looking for any tips on making these better, especially the 3rd and 5th ones, couldn't think of much for them