BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
Like the design, not sure if the colours have really added anything to it yet though. The muddy redness on the kneepad things is a little distracting, and the shading on those hands makes them seem kinda... thick and wooden? Really the arms themselves seem a little out of place with the figure.
Thanks for the crits. the colors are basically a base, just a few color and overlay layers on the grayscale. I want to do alot more refining, if I have a chance. I agree about the arms but other than try to add some detail I'm not sure what to do about it.
How about tattoos, cloth wraps, or over sized gloves?
Just kidding. I love this design though. The proportions, variation in materials, the buttons on the hood, the squared off metal rings... awesome stuff!
Haven't been able to put much in on that figure. But last night I was doing some logo makin'
The initial sketches. The company is Manticore games, Manticores are lion man things with scorpion tails:
Picked out three we liked and just inked them in PS
Now I'm onto the next phase, illustrator. Im getting a better handle on the program day by day, but I haven't really figured out how to make line weight. Can I change weight within the same stroke?
So this isn't quite polished yet, I still haven't really decided on the font/its placement, and some of the spacing isn't really perfect. any input would be great. I also kinda wanted to fade out the color on the tail with a half tone, but It doesn't seem like theres a standard tool for that, is there?
BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
edited May 2011
you can control line weight a little bit by using a "brush" stroke, but it's annoying because it distributes line thickness along the entire path. it lacks a lot of fine control, especially if you're using filled objects and not just paths
the other way to do it is to draw out your own path in vectors, which means zooming in and making a shape for every 'stroke'
it gives you a lot more control but is very time consuming
Lovin the logo. My only gripe is the stinger on the tail is a little... frumpy looking. I think a nice sharp curve would be much more identifiable as a sting, and tie back into the curve of the tail. Sorta like whats going on with his little mane curly.
The outine ones are a little busy, but I love the red spot colour. Try doing the black siliouette, with red tail? Or if the white is a thing, make it a while siloutette in a black box.
rolo, It sounds time consuming, but if its the best way to get results, I guess thats what Ill do. I wish there was a way to say "Make the line X thick at this anchor then X thick at this anchor"
Gibs, Word, I'll play the stinger. Maybe I wont need to tweak the lines as much if I just do solid logos.
You and me both.... I have no Idea if the pen tools differ at all, but if I can find her old tutorial I'll look into it. I think instead of putting hours of labor into the lines I'll try out gibs suggestions and see if they will do. If Im not doing the outlines, I think its looking ok (I hope?).
Honestly, for painting I use photoshop CS2 still, I love some of the updates of photoshop, but CS5 PS does not agree with my computer for prolonged periods of work, and I still prefer the old UI. But So far its really been helping me learn illustrator, seems way more intuitive than previous versions.
Thanks for all the tips hyde/rolo/nib, though, I'll be sure to play with them and post some results.
I used to just freehand the drawing in Flash, then export to AI to clean up... but that has issues of it's own, being buggy and whatnot. nowadays, I usually convert the lines to fills... or pen tool it. it's easier to work with for me.
David Lanham has some interesting videos on how he makes his amazing vector artworks using the brush tool and the warp tool. video linkage
Iruka, as just a general statement looking over this thread, you've improved immensely. Nice work with the ball renderings and texture renderings. Very convincing. Keep it up.
So I'm messing around, I like the solid red on the solid black lion. Messing with the line weights is alittle weird, and I dont think its going to work out on this logo, but I have another one I need to do, so I'm going to keep playing with the tools.
I like the white on the black BG too, but I need to work with the spacing so that edges don't get smushed like that when it sizes down. I Think I might put it in a triangle or octagon or something.
Have you tried the Blob brush in illustrator? You can double click it and set the size of the stroke to vary with your pen pressure. It's a much more natural way to draw in illustrator.
I actually prefer the sharper more geometric angles, personally, but I do think the little bit of extra curve in the tail barb, and bringing the leg shape to follow the curve of the tail again is a good call.
I hadn't figured out the pen sensitivity on the blob brush, and when I first tried it I had't figured out that you can subtract shapes from other shapes, so that tool will be more useful now! Thanks Moss
The fonts don't really jive with the boldness of the blacks of the manticore. I like the simplicity of the second font, but the letters aren't meaty enough.
I'd go with something like the dark ones here. Maybe Bebas Neue or Harabara? They're simple and bold in ways that would match the logo, but still classy on their own.
The fonts don't really jive with the boldness of the blacks of the manticore. I like the simplicity of the second font, but the letters aren't meaty enough.
The first one looks a little too sci-fi, which doesn't really fit with the more ancient, mythological implications of the logo/company name. I can't think of any noncommercial fonts that would suit this off the top of my head, but I'll see if I can find any.
Also, make sure you don't make those thin lines too thin, else the black ink will run and cover them up. It should be fine at the size it is, but if you reduced it to, say, 30% of the current size those details might get lost.
The first reminds me of Mobile brand gas with the trapeoid or whatever. The second is great I think, good show, especially the right-aligned type, I think it works well.
I like the bottom left one the most. The text looks better when its stacked like that. I would play with it should be justified left or right though. Also maybe even some colors in the text.
Very powerful image, definitely something more identifiable than simplistic typography.
I'm having trouble telling where the thing's eyes would be, although that isn't a major problem really.
I also have a few other issues with the silhouette, though:
uneven lines through the mane- I'd make the lion a solid black shape and then run three lines of identical line weight through to make the mane contours.
tail- I can't tell what sort of weight it has. It looks a bit like a club, not a stinger, and doesn't taper properly from tush to tip. It actually seems thinner at the base due to the tight radius of the bend.
I think there should probably be some sort of line break between the red and black in the tail as well, perhaps also the ear?
I prefer the trapezoid, as it doesn't crowd the logo as much.
I'll try and play with it just a bit more. I can see what your saying about the base of the tail, but I don't think I want any white between the ear and the lion or the tail colors. I can reduce the bump of the stinger and see what that does (maybe thats more what gibs meant originally, I thought he was just talking about the hook).
I gotta start moving onto other stuff, and I'm pretty happy with it now, but I'll see if I can make just a few more changes. Thanks for the input.
BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
edited June 2011
some fucking sexy cowboys
i'd love to see these developed
color coding is always good to distingush the good guys from bad guys, but giving each side its own visual cues can help too - bad guys get a triangle-pattern motif and spiky boots, good guys get a circular pattern and bandoleers, that kind of thing
Posts
INSTAGRAM
The initial sketches. The company is Manticore games, Manticores are lion man things with scorpion tails:
Picked out three we liked and just inked them in PS
Now I'm onto the next phase, illustrator. Im getting a better handle on the program day by day, but I haven't really figured out how to make line weight. Can I change weight within the same stroke?
So this isn't quite polished yet, I still haven't really decided on the font/its placement, and some of the spacing isn't really perfect. any input would be great. I also kinda wanted to fade out the color on the tail with a half tone, but It doesn't seem like theres a standard tool for that, is there?
the other way to do it is to draw out your own path in vectors, which means zooming in and making a shape for every 'stroke'
it gives you a lot more control but is very time consuming
The outine ones are a little busy, but I love the red spot colour. Try doing the black siliouette, with red tail? Or if the white is a thing, make it a while siloutette in a black box.
Gibs, Word, I'll play the stinger. Maybe I wont need to tweak the lines as much if I just do solid logos.
http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/tools-tips/create-cs5-width-profile-brushes-in-any-version-of-adobe-illustrator-cs/
I've tried this method before, but found it even more time consuming and frustrating than drawing out the strokes manually.
edit: although the variable width stroke tool might work for you if you're on CS5:
http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/illustration/illustrator-cs5-variable-width-stroke-tool-perfect-for-making-tribal-designs/
http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/tools-tips/illustrator-cs5-variable-width-stroke-tool-gestural-sketches-and-digital-inking/
Sure thing. I'm jealous you have CS5! :P
Thanks for all the tips hyde/rolo/nib, though, I'll be sure to play with them and post some results.
David Lanham has some interesting videos on how he makes his amazing vector artworks using the brush tool and the warp tool. video linkage
Hope some of this helps!
So I'm messing around, I like the solid red on the solid black lion. Messing with the line weights is alittle weird, and I dont think its going to work out on this logo, but I have another one I need to do, so I'm going to keep playing with the tools.
I like the white on the black BG too, but I need to work with the spacing so that edges don't get smushed like that when it sizes down. I Think I might put it in a triangle or octagon or something.
as i live traced it lol.
I didnt do anything fab.
I hadn't figured out the pen sensitivity on the blob brush, and when I first tried it I had't figured out that you can subtract shapes from other shapes, so that tool will be more useful now! Thanks Moss
So #1 with color, perhaps #2 without but I'd have to see it.
INSTAGRAM
I'd go with something like the dark ones here. Maybe Bebas Neue or Harabara? They're simple and bold in ways that would match the logo, but still classy on their own.
The first one looks a little too sci-fi, which doesn't really fit with the more ancient, mythological implications of the logo/company name. I can't think of any noncommercial fonts that would suit this off the top of my head, but I'll see if I can find any.
Also, make sure you don't make those thin lines too thin, else the black ink will run and cover them up. It should be fine at the size it is, but if you reduced it to, say, 30% of the current size those details might get lost.
I figure if I need it tiny I can just increase the space between shit, ala:
I'm having trouble telling where the thing's eyes would be, although that isn't a major problem really.
I also have a few other issues with the silhouette, though:
uneven lines through the mane- I'd make the lion a solid black shape and then run three lines of identical line weight through to make the mane contours.
tail- I can't tell what sort of weight it has. It looks a bit like a club, not a stinger, and doesn't taper properly from tush to tip. It actually seems thinner at the base due to the tight radius of the bend.
I think there should probably be some sort of line break between the red and black in the tail as well, perhaps also the ear?
I prefer the trapezoid, as it doesn't crowd the logo as much.
EDIT: almost forgot- tablet pressure in illustrator
3DS: 0447-9966-6178
I gotta start moving onto other stuff, and I'm pretty happy with it now, but I'll see if I can make just a few more changes. Thanks for the input.
Now cowboys
evil
good
i'd love to see these developed
color coding is always good to distingush the good guys from bad guys, but giving each side its own visual cues can help too - bad guys get a triangle-pattern motif and spiky boots, good guys get a circular pattern and bandoleers, that kind of thing
and make sure to include some cowgirls!
(the cowboys is awesome dude)