RavingRabbid - Nice sketches! c: My biggest critique here right now is that your creature is very flat looking. Notice how the eye and mouth of your creature make no difference to the creature's silhouette, even though the creature is in profile. It's almost as if they are simply painted onto the creature, rather than actual features. If this was your intention, then of course it's fine! (:
But if it was actual face you were intending to portray, don't be afraid to alter the creature's shape based on the features you give it -- utilize indents, bumps, and overlapping lines to show that the features are indeed incorporated into the creature's build. Click here
to see a little example of what I mean. Overlapping lines work well to show how the eye and mouth are actual features implemented into the face, rather than flat markings.
Anyway, I can't wait to see your next sketch(es)! Keep up the great work! (:
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Thalas - Ooh, very interesting! Great idea for a creature, and very nicely done speedpainting. There are just two small things I'd like to point out, here.
First, is your brush size. You used a very small brush to work this painting, which gives the serpent an unintended furry texture. Of course you're absolutely free to use this technique if you like it -- this is the sketch phase, so you should feel as free as possible during this phase! But I find that using a much larger brush often saves a lot of time, as well as avoids the scribbly/fuzzy texture which results from using a very small brush.
Secondly, and more importantly, I'd love to see you experiment a little bit with light and shadows. We haven't taught anything about this yet, but you've got a great basic speedpaint here, and something which could really kick it up a notch would be to utilize more interesting shadows and highlights. I see some highlights on the faces, but for the most part the shading seems pretty uniform throughout. It seems that you've decided on a light source directing from the top-left corner. Remember that light moves only in straight lines, and try to imagine which parts of the serpent are going to be touched by that light, and which parts will be in shadow.
I really like how you curled the tail around behind the serpent. This gives great depth to your image! I also like how each head is at a different angle, adding a lot of interest to the piece. You did a great job, keep up the hard work! C:
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Krahl - What a lovely Tiger... (: If you find yourself running out of poses, just go hit up your old friend google, and gather some ideas.
But yeah, I'd really love to see you work with a skeleton structure and flesh out from there. I think you did very nicely with this sketch, though. One thing to watch out for is symmetry around the face. Humans tend to be very drawn toward faces, and will tell right away if something about the face just seems off. Do you hold your work up to a mirror, occasionally? It's a great way to see if anything in your artwork looks a bit off.
Very well done, I hope to see more sketches from you!
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Great job so far, everyone! C: I love seeing all these sketches... Don't forget, if anyone has
any question at all whatsoever,
please don't be afraid to ask. There's no such thing as a stupid question (relatively speaking -- don't be a smart alec.. lol.) -- and if you're too embarrassed/nervous to ask here in class, don't hold back and feel free to PM either vrt or myself. We're here to help
you, after all. :3
