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Offline pepokish

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Re: Lesson 1: An Introduction https://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php?topic=17021.msg226082#msg226082
« Reply #48 on: December 16, 2010, 08:15:29 pm »
Ah, don't worry about that, wizel.  You're doing fine.  c:  We can't give too much work, after all -- we're busy people, too!  I think 5x the work is a bit of an exaggeration.  (At least, I'm hoping it is, for my own sake!)

Let's see, here...

ShadyGreens - Nice sketch you've got started, there!  I like.  I see some wobbly shapes, though -- especially in the neck area.  I know it's hard to see the 3-dimensional forms for the lines that define them, it's something I have trouble with a lot.  But it's important to think about your drawings as 3-dimensional things.  Try to visualize what you're drawing as something with weight and form.  What really helps me, is to define the basic 3-dimensional shapes within the figure -- a sphere makes up the better part of the skull, a cylinder for the neck, etc.  That's something we'll definitely help you with, later on -- and there will be plenty of examples and practice available, if you'd like.

Wizel - I just wanted to say that the folds in the cloth are looking good.  The shading definitely has room for improvement, but we will help you with that later on -- like vrt and I have both said before, this is really just a casual 'see-what-we-can-do-right-now' kind of thing, no pressure.  C:  But it's nice to see that you've got a general handle on the way cloth drapes and folds.  Very nice proportions to your figure, as well!

Assymetry - Just... awesome.  :D  That looks great!  I like the way you put everything together as a walkthrough, too.  Don't be shy to deviate from more traditional methods, if you'd like -- layer styles really seem to work well with you, so don't be afraid to utilize that in your art!  What I'd really like to see with the example you posted, is bolder strokes.  Don't be afraid to use a big brush with high opacity!  Go with big chunks of value first, and work on refining and texture later on.  As for depth, vrt had an excellent suggestion with overlapping.  You also said yourself that a bit of atmospheric fog would go far for suggesting distance.   

Kael - Very interesting!  I'm seeing a lot of uncertainty in your lines -- clean lines can often be obtained via fewer, longer strokes, rather than many shorter strokes.  It takes some confidence to make long strokes -- don't be shy about moving slowly and really focusing on your lines as you create them.  Sometimes when I'm doing linework, I suddenly realize that my nose is practically touching the screen/paper, because I'm so absorbed in focusing on drawing nice, long, clean lines.  :P

Krava - I definitely agree with vrt in terms of composition... but for a first entry to the class, I think it's looking really great!  Nice job, and keep up the hard work!  I don't really have a lot to say, at this point -- other than to perhaps read over what I said to ShadyGreens about trying to see the basic 3-D shapes within your figures.  (:

Bored_Ninja - Hey, great job adding in the perspective, there!  C:  This angle is way more interesting than flat-on, don't you agree?  My only critique here is that the two 'feet' of the mirror are identical in size.  This isn't easy to explain right now in so few words, but basically as things move off into the distance, they appear smaller and closer to the horizon line.  If I were you, I'd just nudge that far 'foot' up a bit, and make it a tiny bit smaller, to enhance the perspective.  Right now, the mirror is at a great angle, but the feet are still on the same plane.

Wardead - Very cool sketches.  For some reason, the first image isn't loading for me at all, though.  ):  I think it's just my silly computer, no worries -- I'll take a look tomorrow again, see if it wants to cooperate.  For now, I'll go off your other sketches, if that's alright?  c:

I love the shapes and curves of that cutlass/sword...  The only problem I really am seeing right now is wavy/uncertain lines.  They say you don't need to be able to draw a straight line to be an artist -- and that's certainly true (thank god for me), but only to an extent!  It's okay to use rulers and such, to help get things straight and even.  I do it all the time, and so does vrt (though we typically use the digital straight-line feature of photoshop, it's the same principal).  Something that really, really helps to spot unevenness in your drawings, is to hold it up to a mirror.  Seeing it reversed like that really helps you see things with a fresh eye, and you can easily spot where things are off.  (:

Offline bored_ninja777

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Re: Lesson 1: An Introduction https://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php?topic=17021.msg226094#msg226094
« Reply #49 on: December 16, 2010, 08:50:04 pm »
thanks vrt & pepokish

here is my newest hopefully near last version b4 i add the color.. im thinking a silver for the outside edge, horns and the claws. the rest is shadows.

(http://imageplay.net/)
i knew right away what u meant pepokish.. i also did the same concept to the horns.
i switched the shadow direction and made it lower to hopefully give it more of the hovering look.
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Re: Lesson 1: An Introduction https://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php?topic=17021.msg226463#msg226463
« Reply #50 on: December 17, 2010, 09:14:47 am »
Okay... After getting through various personal issues and distractions via chat and games, I've gotten to this:
When I envision changling, I think of a robed humanoid with an unstable form, hence the hourglass body and fahrenheit arm. I also think of red eyes peering under a hood, although I haven't decided on the color for the pupils... I've got marks for the center of the picture (center of the hourglass) and the face (along with a grid over it), although I'll also need to work on the legs... and I'm not very good with hands...

Sorry I've got this in so late, I procrastinated a week hoping my laptop would be fixed by then and... well, it isn't. (Being able to manipulate the anchors for lines would have been very helpful here, and was something I had come to take for granted >.<)


Most of the other stuff I've drawn has been either messing around with MSPaint, or trying to develop stuff for a video game I've thought up, or for a book series I've been thinking about.
For my game, most of it's only tentative and will be reworked... eventually... although I've pretty much shelved that for now...
The book stuff, though, I'm working on... although slowly atm... ideas have been scarce lately :[

Offline 991woot119

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Re: Lesson 1: An Introduction https://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php?topic=17021.msg227239#msg227239
« Reply #51 on: December 18, 2010, 10:51:51 am »
its getting pretty late and I didnt wanna do a drawing and take a pic then upload then transfer then upload so I just did this in paint

About me: I don't know much about art I'm TERRIBLE at drawing but I am EPIC at colouring

This is what I INSTANTLY came up with when I saw it (well kinda like this its hard in paint)


Enjoy my colourful cowboy! :))

Mod edit: Please don't do that.

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Re: Lesson 1: An Introduction https://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php?topic=17021.msg227913#msg227913
« Reply #52 on: December 19, 2010, 03:21:51 am »
Well, I thought we had until Monday to finish assignment 1, but seeing as assignment 2 is already up I guess I will post the progress I made on 1 and move on to 2. I was mostly just playing around and figuring out how to work the program. I posted an image without the sketch lines I showed in my first post and with only some basic colors for most of the image. I was trying to make the black ooze the creature was rising from first, using light reflection to give it shape. I think I was starting to get the hang of it by the end, but I am still not entirely happy with the result.

Offline Kamietsu

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Re: Lesson 1: An Introduction https://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php?topic=17021.msg228113#msg228113
« Reply #53 on: December 19, 2010, 09:36:31 am »

This is what I came up with. "What does this have to do with the changling card idea?" you might be asking yourself, and I will tell you! To me, a Changling in it's default state is a weaker creature. Vulnerable, without strength yet. But instead, it has the potential to be something more, something great. So this small beast is a vulnerable pinkish shade, almost like a new born animal. It's appearance might be weak, but hidden potential lies within. The alchemy circles on its back are what give it the power to change into any form it wishes, forming into a more powerful being. We see here now that this particular Changling is about to change as it's alchemy circles are radiating with energy.


A little about myself now. I've always been interested in drawing since I could hold a pencil. I'd always doodle random things in class all through school, but I didn't really start getting into it until high school. Freshman year is when my passion for it picked up some, and in my sophomore year I started to develop my skills more. I found that I had a knack for copying an image by eye, and have done several images that way. I used to draw the covers of a few different mangas I owned, and I was impressed with myself with how they came out. They were only line art though. I hadn't done any shading/coloring type of work yet. I would draw on and off through the years until i graduated and moved on to a graphic design college where I learned about color theory and shading more so than small classes back in middle school.

And that's the extent of drawing and me. Nowadays I work with photoshop a lot after being taught how to use it basically in college and believe I have picked it up very nicely.
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Offline vrtTopic starter

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Re: Lesson 1: An Introduction https://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php?topic=17021.msg228271#msg228271
« Reply #54 on: December 19, 2010, 02:44:50 pm »
Lesson 2 has started. This topic will be locked when Lesson 3 begins. However, feel free to finish this lesson if you wish, pepokish and myself will still provide feedback!


bored_ninja777: Now that's getting there! The foot in the back could be made even smaller, but it's come a long way from your first sketch!

Memorystick: For MSPaint, that's pretty good! And that'd include the rest of your work. It's amazing to see there's people that are willing to use that program - and that they even can use it well. However, since this is art meant for use in Elements.. It's not very fitting. The obvious flaws are in the shading and perspective, but that'd be incredibly time-consuming in MSPaint. That's why I suggested to use http://www.splashup.com/ in chat.

woot: I'm not sure at all what I'm looking at, here. It's very.. Colourful, I suppose, but there's no coherency, no clear overall figure. I honestly don't know what it is, or what it is supposed to be. I'd work on defining it a bit more.

SunnyGreens: Brilliant work! I like where you're going with this, the shading is done quite well. Be sure not to let the pure black overpower it, though! Also, you can still finish this piece, the topic will remain open until early January.

Kamietsu: Great effort. I like it, but it kind of reminds me of a show we had when I was little, called "Dinobabies". I have to say that the level of finish on this one is pretty good. However, there's still a few things I'd change. You work a lot with lines in the face, I think shading would work much better to define features - especially the eye. If you've seen pictures of foetuses - human or otherwise - you know how creepy those eyes could look. I also think the contrast on the creature itself could stand to be increased, to define it's shape a bit more. Finally; the square fingertips are rather.. Square. If you were planning a fin-like look, I'd enhance that a bit more, possibly by making them a bit transparent looking. Still, you're off to a great start!
So long and thanks for all the fish!

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Re: Lesson 1: An Introduction https://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php?topic=17021.msg228288#msg228288
« Reply #55 on: December 19, 2010, 03:06:30 pm »
Yeah, it's a massive pain to deal with shading and whatnot. Plan was to get the main stuff done in MSPain then do the more detailed stuff in Pixlr. Most of my other work was done in school, during video game design class (which, sadly, was a dismal failure due to school incompetence) and so didn't have access to the internet (in other words, had to make due with what I had) Fortunately, I've got my laptop back now, so I'll be able to get the harder stuff done easier now :)

Offline bored_ninja777

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Re: Lesson 1: An Introduction https://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php?topic=17021.msg228661#msg228661
« Reply #56 on: December 19, 2010, 09:58:22 pm »
i think the only thing i have to fix is that back claw and i should rotate it as well, a frontal view of the claw doesnt make sense if its turned for this perspective.. ill add color as i do the newest one. unfortunately i dont think i can get it drawn on my computer and will still be a drawing on paper. the next one is gonna be rough for me too..
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Re: Lesson 1: An Introduction https://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php?topic=17021.msg228808#msg228808
« Reply #57 on: December 20, 2010, 12:31:47 am »
Just wanted to post some of the changes I made after feedback:
-I shrank the left (his/her left) tusk a little. I wanted the critter to look lumpy/mishapen but it wasn't balancing well. Balance still isn't perfect, but the image would need cropped to work in a card anyway. . .

-I fixed some of the lighting issues by adding shadow to the top of the head. Good catch.

(http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd112013/Mimic002)

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Re: Lesson 1: An Introduction https://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php?topic=17021.msg231977#msg231977
« Reply #58 on: December 24, 2010, 03:46:15 am »
my first try at using splashup as suggested by vrt for the next one.. wanted to give it a shot with my first idea.

(http://imageplay.net/)
i used webcam capture option from paper and pencil to give me an outline and then i painted from there.. i have only a touchpad so its not the best... but a start.
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Re: Lesson 1: An Introduction https://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php?topic=17021.msg231989#msg231989
« Reply #59 on: December 24, 2010, 04:21:20 am »
I gave up, scrapped my old idea, made a lot of mistakes with this new idea, and used some photoshop effects to try and hide those mistakes.

About me:
I'm pretty young compared to the majority of you.
I'm very immature. Like mentally-five-years-old type immature.
I give up a lot, am very lazy, and am a tad amotivational.
I don't think I should even take part in this class, because I'm very bad at putting effort into something and I can't from the top of my head think of a time where I've actually followed through with anything.
But maybe I'm just in one of my depressing moods.

 

blarg: