Elements the Game Forum - Free Online Fantasy Card Game

Other Topics => Forum Archive => Art Class => Topic started by: vrt on December 18, 2010, 02:22:32 pm

Title: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: vrt on December 18, 2010, 02:22:32 pm
In Lesson 1, we wanted to see where you were at. There was a lot of variety in skill level, but overall, I have to say it's better than I had expected. One area of interest, though, is sketching. Sketching is an art of its own.. And that's exactly what we'll be doing.


Lesson 2: Example:

For this lesson, I created 2 sketches of a creature I thought up. I used a different technique for each sketch, as you can see.

(http://www.vrt-designs.com/stuff/artclass/l2_example.png)

On the left, we have my first sketch. It's a linesketch; no values are assigned. In about 5-10 minutes, I tried to show the general outline of the creature, by giving him armor, a weapon, and a 'look'. You can tell what it is quite well, despite it being far from finished. I marked 3 points in the sketch, let's have a closer look at them.

At point 1, you see a blatant anatomical flaw in the wrist and hand. This can be fixed easily in the final piece, so I left it in. Don't need to put in much effort when the fix doesn't mean much for a final piece. Point 2 highlights something else: It's not finished. The amount of detail in the tail and legs is minimal, but it doesn't matter much; you can still get a read from them; you can clearly see what it's supposed to be. Remember that term, it's going to matter. Point 3 shows how it can help to leave in 'wrong' lines. When I was sketching this guy, I had his arm level, originally. When I made a bad line for one of the spikes, I saw how I could make him draw an arrow - hence he's holding a bow now.

On the right is my second sketch. This one was created in around 10 minutes, possible 15. It's more of a speedpaint style, and it shows values very well. None of the transitions are smooth, but they don't need to be. Please do note how I used a variation on the original character; his bodytype, armor, weapon and pose have changed. This makes him look quite different, while he essentially isn't. Small changes like this are important, so that the final piece can have the best combination of elements. Now, to the 3 points!

Point 1 shows a very powerful tool of speedpainting: The suggestion of detail. 10 little dots is enough to make you believe he's wearing a big studded belt. Little effort, great result. It's a good example of how to get a good read out of an image. Point 2 makes it even more obvious; all of the lines and shapes are unfinished, but by glancing at it, you can fill it in for yourself. This means the effort is saved; you have time for more sketches! Finally, at point 3, I left out the sword/axe/toothpick altogether, so I didn't have to spend time on it. You can tell he's holding a powerful weapon by his body and pose, why would I bother painting it in when it's not needed?

I hope these examples help a bit; pepokish will have more examples in a post below this one soon!



Lesson 2: Assignment:

For this Lesson, which will also be the final lesson of 2010, we'll be looking at the very start of your piece: The sketches. When you have something to create, you need to start out with an idea, and develop that. For this purpose, you will be creating three sketches of a creature of your choice. This creature may come from a Card Idea, but you can think up a creature of your own, if you'd so like. I'd really appreciate it if you explained what creature you picked, and why, too!

Guide for this assignment:

If you've completed the three sketches, and have some time to spare: Make more! Sketching is an incredibly strong tool, and allows you to experiment and practice all you want. The more time you invest in it, the better at it you'll get, and let's face it: You can't expect to build a house without a foundation, in the same way you can't expect to paint a masterpiece if you can't sketch!


This assignment will run for 2 weeks. On Monday, January 3rd, Lesson 3 will start.





Good luck!
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: pepokish on December 18, 2010, 02:40:19 pm
Alright, Lesson 2 is underway!  :D

I put together a few examples for you guys as well, using the two basic techniques as described by vrt.  These are the two most common ways to sketch, and it's up to you to decide which technique works best for you.  Personally, I tend to lean more toward linework-style sketching, while Vrt heavily prefers speedpainting as a base for his art.  However, we both incorporate elements from both techniques, for the best results. 

--

Example A: Sketching with Lines

The basic idea with this type of sketching is to define the edges of an object, as well as the edges of shapes within that object. 

I've compiled two quick sketches using the linework technique.  On the left is a Gryphon-type creature, and on the right is a more humanoid Ork/barbarian/thing.

(http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/6724/pepolines1.jpg)

As you can see from both examples, I've done a bit of defining the inner basic shapes of both figures.  Take a look at the right-sided figure, and notice the circular shape indicating a knee cap.  Obviously, when this painting is finished, he won't have circles marking his kneecaps -- but right now, that's a great indication for me to remember how legs joint together and move.  You can also see crosshairs on both faces of the figures -- this helps me keep the faces symmetrical and centered, and will be painted over or erased later.  At this stage, guidelines like these are perfectly acceptable to leave in!  Sketches are not meant to be pretty or presentable -- they're the basic root for your final product.


Example B: Sketching via Speedpainting

This style of sketching is all about defining the value -- meaning how much light touches any particular part of a figure.  It can be a great way to suggest weight, shape, and even environment.  It's all about shadows and highlights (we won't worry too much about colour right now, as it's really not easy to combine value and colour). 

For those of you using digital media, try to use a big brush to lay down big chunks of value, then go in with smaller, more refined areas.  For those with traditional means, the basic idea is to define shapes through shadows and highlights -- the challenge is to do this without using edge definition as shown in the previous example.  It is challenging for many, but definitely possible!

Here, I carried over my Gryphon creature from my first example, to whip up a quick speedpainting example.

(http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2924/16871694.jpg)

Obviously, it's not very detailed -- it's hardly much more than a basic silhouette.  But you still (hopefully) get the basic idea of what I'm going for. 

Notice that the hind legs and tail are almost completely untouched.  This is perfectly okay -- I know there isn't much to be done in these areas, and fiddling around too much in those areas is just going to waste precious time.  My focus here was the facial area, specifically the eyes -- so that's what I paid most attention to in the speedpaint. 

A few quick short strokes of light grey around the neck area form a basic suggestion of a fur texture without going too much into detail.  Later on as I work on this painting, I will go in and make a more refined fur texture -- but for now, these rudimentary clumps of "fur" will help define the texture.  As Vrt pointed out, a little can go a long way!

Finally, I wanted to point out that bits of detail are okay!  I get a little creeped out when the eyes of a figure aren't very well defined, so that's something I always make sure to flesh out a bit.  I took a very small brush and quickly defined the eye shape, beak shape, and claws on the front feet -- these are important details that I want to pay special attention to later on in the progression, and it's okay to make a little "note" of that now by enhancing the detail around those areas a bit.  That said, I still spent probably less than 30 seconds defining those areas in total -- don't get caught up with detailing specific areas before you're ready!

--

Okay, that's all for now!  Good luck with your sketches, I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!  :D
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Glitch on December 18, 2010, 06:36:32 pm
Omigosh I am so sorry I didn't manage to get in artwork last lesson =(.

I love what you guys are doing here though, so I guess I'll whip up something pretty quickly in paint or photoshop or something.

Here's what I've got so far.

(http://i.imgur.com/L62Nj.png)(http://i.imgur.com/ckMmR.jpg)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: vrt on December 18, 2010, 07:35:05 pm
Omigosh I am so sorry I didn't manage to get in artwork last lesson =(.

I love what you guys are doing here though, so I guess I'll whip up something pretty quickly in paint or photoshop or something.

Here's what I've got so far.
"So far" makes it sound like you're planning to work on it more! Remember, if you've spent more than 30 minutes on a sketch, you should probably scrap it!


As for Lesson 1; the topic will remain open until Lesson 3 begins. :)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Krahhl on December 18, 2010, 08:32:16 pm
I haven't done lesson 1 yet, but here's a rough sketch I did for this lesson. It's rather messy.

(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd111590/tiger.jpg)

I didn't really choose a tiger for any particular reason; I just picked an animal and tiger is what popped up into my head.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: wizelsnarf on December 18, 2010, 09:00:32 pm
Sketch 1: Lineart
(http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/2757/gilamonster.png)

Wow. Not a fan. Drawing with a mouse makes lineart near impossible. I think my latter two will be speedpaint versions. It is just too hard to get the jitters out of the mouse...

PS I wanted to make a simple creature without armor or a weapon, so I went with a Gila Monster. Maybe in latter sketches I will explore armor/clothing/other things.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: 991woot119 on December 18, 2010, 09:20:51 pm
I posted on the lesson 1 last night a little bit before it finished and u didnt reply (can u please?) and I'll get to work

EDIT:Heres my first one

(http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l486/991woot119/P1010383.jpg)

that thing on his face is his beak :(

I'm leaving at Xmas so I can't be there at the start of the third lesson

PS this is meant to be a baby penguin for one of my old card ideas
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Wardead on December 19, 2010, 12:32:47 am
Spent 15 minutes on it....Would work on it further if having too....

(http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/1526/monsterfd.jpg)

Its a Goddamn Creature Who Breathes And Controls Fire From Hell. And It's A Snake-Dragon-Human-Flying-I-Have-Know-Idea-What-It-Is Creature.

Few things: Those are two arms if you look really closely, the second's other half is blocked by the first's. In total, that thing has 4 wings, not 2. The smaller one is NOT the back one, it's an "addition"  :D.

Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: bored_ninja777 on December 19, 2010, 01:26:50 am
reserving my spot i guess...
so how exactly do i do the line art in ms paint? i couldnt draw a smiley face with my touchpad let alone my crappy wireless mouse..
also.. speedpainting? what do u use? just a brush in mspaint and pick a color? maybe could vrt or pepokish post a video or something showing us/ me? otherwise im kind of lost as far as using computers for art.. i dont know what half the things are in mspaint or pixlr.com
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: wizelsnarf on December 19, 2010, 01:29:01 am
Ninja, just to give you some ideas, I used Gimp.

Speedpainting would be easy if you just use a bunch of different shades of gray and the paintbrush. You can set to like 50% opacity or even less if you like and just paint away.

Just use a big brush and paint around and come back and makes strokes that are over the top of one another... If that makes sense.

 I don't know how to use pixle but probably the same thing.

Paint doesn't cut it because you won't be able to have soft edges you need to make things look good.

Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Krahhl on December 19, 2010, 01:58:25 am
Second tiger picture.

(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd111671/tigerb.jpg)

Edit: Realized I forgot to add in the pupils. Fixed.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: ArtCrusade on December 19, 2010, 09:01:26 am
SKETCH #1:

(http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/4953/knightspeedpaint.png)
First sketch of a knight who's weilding a mighty sword. The dark thing on the place where the mouth should normally be is some sort of mask as protection. Not sure whether I should pay more attention on the legs, since I didn't put in many details there, but hopefully you are :P


SKETCH #2:

(http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/5088/knightsketch.png)
Second sketch. Lizard-knight with leather-armor. You can guess he has scales already so I didn't draw them.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Krava on December 19, 2010, 01:03:10 pm
Ok this is my favorite part, tinkering with features, oh all the possibilities.....
Finishing is hard part :(

Anyway since i am doing elemental knights for bored ninja. I can use this as part of that process also. so next one i was thinking to do is earth knight. I was thinking several concepts and this one calls to me the most. Some kind of armored earth golem also having massive upper body and rhino features. I think krogans from mass effect little influenced me on this, but this is what i find most compelling. So my first sketch in exploring this concept, lineart:

SKETCH #1

(http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c281/Chromat/sketch1.jpg)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: vrt on December 19, 2010, 01:34:50 pm
Glitch: It's okay to spend a little more time defining features! Think of it as concept art: If you give the sketch to someone else, he/she should be able to make it into a final piece. A good amount of detail, especially that which characterizes the creature, should be visible or suggested.

Krahhl: That's not bad at all! I'd heavily suggest, though, to use a 'skeleton'. It'll make it a lot easier to give a sense of volume to your tiger. Look at the example at this link (http://www.vrt-designs.com/stuff/elements/crit3_progress.png) for an example; especially the first 3 steps could be helpful to you!

The same applies to your second sketch. For your third one, I'd really like to see another value sketch, but try and use all values: From black to white. Pay attention to the direction of the lighting!

wizelsnarf: If you want to really continue with digital artwork, you should be able to get yourself a decent tablet for a low price. Until that times, traditional media might be better suited for linework sketches, they allow you to do more work in less time. I'd suggest the same thing to you as I did to Krahhl; build up the creature layer by layer, and don't erase those lines - they'll help with adding detail.

wootnumbers: Spend a little more time on the details! You went over those lines up to 12 times in places; you probably had it right the second already. Right now, if I were to take your sketch and make it into a final piece, the only thing I could make out of it would be a vector image. Add some more detail!

WarDead: Not bad, but there's a lot of room for improvement. In your second sketch, work on getting the image to read well; I needed your explanation to figure out what it was, and that's typically not a very good thing. Try putting it in a 3/4 perspective like the example I posted in the assignment post; this will give you much more room to define features!

bored_ninja777: I'd suggest http://www.splashup.com/ as a Photoshop alternative. If you feel you still can't work with it; grab pencil and paper! Despite certain suggestions, try not to go for a soft brush. You'll just get a big, blurry result, which makes it hard to see the detail.

ArtCrusade: No more cropping at the knees from now on! Sketches should almost always show a full character, you can alway choose to leave out parts in a final piece. For your value study, I feel you're not really showing anything. There's practically no contrast, and therefore very little definition. Try and change that around a bit!

Your linework sketch is better, but also could use a bit more definition. Where does the armor start, how will I tell the material it's made out of? I'd really like to see a second set of sketches from your, this time with a bit more time spent on them. Basically, anything under 30 minutes is good.

Krava: This is a great sketch! The details are readable and usable. I'd like to see your value study; I'd like it even more if it was a full figure.



To all: Remember that a sketch should always suggest details. I want to be able to take your sketch, give it to another person, and let him make a full painting. In order for the other person to make it look the way you intended it, he's going to need as much information as possible. Even little scribbles can suggest plenty of detail, so include them!
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: RavingRabbid on December 19, 2010, 07:10:56 pm
(http://localhostr.com/file/dWSJ46W/image201012190002.jpg)
(http://localhostr.com/file/vt2VRYk/image201012190001.jpg)
Here it is. (better scan coming when I manage to use the scanner.)

I drawed a strange thing, with an horn, a creepy smile. It also looks furry, and has something that resembles a bat wing. The wing is linked directly into the fur of the back of the body.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Thalas on December 19, 2010, 09:01:52 pm
First Sketching via Speedpainting
(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd111954/Untitled.png) (http://imageplay.net/)
Well I was watching the lotr and the nazghul appeared. I thought it would be good idea to paint three headed serpent, because i could draw three heads in three different positions.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Krahhl on December 19, 2010, 09:42:28 pm
Krahhl: That's not bad at all! I'd heavily suggest, though, to use a 'skeleton'. It'll make it a lot easier to give a sense of volume to your tiger. Look at the example at this link (http://www.vrt-designs.com/stuff/elements/crit3_progress.png) for an example; especially the first 3 steps could be helpful to you!

The same applies to your second sketch. For your third one, I'd really like to see another value sketch, but try and use all values: From black to white. Pay attention to the direction of the lighting!
Ahh, I didn't see this until now, and I already finished my third sketch. I'm going to try another one using a skeleton and working with more values though. Running out of poses :3.

(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd111981/tigerc.jpg)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: wizelsnarf on December 20, 2010, 12:43:56 am
I will simply say I love your latest sketch!
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: pepokish on December 20, 2010, 08:07:38 pm
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 (http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1198/overlay1.jpg) 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!  (:


--

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:

--

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.  :P

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!

--

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
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: ArtCrusade on December 20, 2010, 08:48:08 pm
Well, a step-by-step guide on how to create speedpaintings would be nice.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Krava on December 20, 2010, 09:37:41 pm
Ok, now i made him  crystal horn, and much more rhino features added chest armor, full figure and pole-tetsubo.  but lost some of his earth features. Maybe i shoulda made him broader (even more..). Kinda reminds me of rhox people from magic the gathering... Some of them were also armored  rhinos. Did a lot of research on rhinos, they have interesting feet and mouths :)

Anyway next will be done in photoshop using shades of gray, i already tried and it can be done with mouse.
 
SKETCH #2:
(http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c281/Chromat/sketch2.jpg)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: vrt on December 21, 2010, 09:51:49 am
ArtCrusade: Take a brush, start painting, do it quickly. Look for any digital painting tutorial - there's a million of them out there - and just do it quickly. There's really no definite guide on speedpainting.

Krava: Nice use of reference, but I feel he's lacking some body definition in his upper chest area. Try working from a skeleton to get that volume in there!
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: ArtCrusade on December 21, 2010, 01:40:04 pm
I still find it much easier to make sketches with traditional media..

(http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/355/8/0/mutating_by_artcrusade-d35byuw.png)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Malduk on December 21, 2010, 11:22:40 pm
Hi! I'm kinda late to the party  ;D
Today on chat, vrt kinda gave me the first inspiration to draw after... well years. And I loved to draw while I was a kid, so I gave it a shot here. I'm also considering getting a pad, as everything is easier on computer, and I've been working hard all year, I deserve a stupid gift for mysef  :P

Anyway, the only camera that had batteries sucks, and since visibility was meh, so I increased contrast on Photoshop so the lines are more visible.

Teh sketch:
(http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/6330/sketch1g.jpg)

I dont know if humans are a no-no here, hopefully not. I prefer humans, or at least humanoids to weird creatures.

Anyway, to the sketch. I realize she looks kinda... tall. The body seems longish. Now that I think of it, I could have reduced the height of the image in PS, so the issue wouldnt be as noticeable. The thing that irks me the most is the length between belly and umm... how do you say that in proper way... yeah. But I saw that only AFTER I was done with legs and scythe, so I wasnt sure how to fix it without erasing bottom half.
Also, I realized I cant draw hands haha. Or foot for that matter, so I avoided that. She looks naked as I wasnt sure yet what kind of dress/armor to put on her. Figured it doesnt matter since its still a sketch. At this point I'm more interested in drawing itself, than in making some uber creature that will find its way to the elements card.

Comments, ideas?
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Malduk on December 22, 2010, 01:52:34 am
And here's my scythe girl with a hood.  :)

(http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/6136/sketch2m.jpg)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Glitch on December 22, 2010, 02:02:03 am
NOoooo!!!

I had just finished my robot astronaut boxing dude when photoshop crashed!

(You probably think I'm joking ='C  Rest in peace, robot astronaut boxer)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Malduk on December 22, 2010, 03:01:30 am
Hah, I thought my Paintshop skillz are a tad bit better. Painting with a mouse is a source of all kind of frustration, so scythe is unfinished (seriously, how do you make largish precise lines with a mouse?).
Other than that, I'm happy with digital version of my hooded girl :)

(http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/2148/sketch3q.jpg)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: wizelsnarf on December 22, 2010, 04:03:04 am
I tried again to do a lineart sketch with a skeleton. The final product looks like I took way too much speed or something as it is shaky but that is a mouse problem. I did it more as an exercise to use a skeleton.

Next up is speedpainting, should I speed paint a skeleton and then speedpaint over that? Or just skip the skeleton in the speedpaint version?


Skeleton
(http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/8090/gila2skel.png)
Top layer:
(http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/2848/gila2.png)

Both layers:
(http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2402/gila2skellayered.png)

hmm just noticed I forgot about the left arm. Oh well I think I will just move on to the speed paint type of sketching.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: icecoldbro on December 22, 2010, 04:13:03 am
im not good at drawing but ill try anything to improve
(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd112858/PIC_0171_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd112858/PIC_0171)ill see what i can do with photoshop later
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: vrt on December 22, 2010, 12:46:10 pm
ArtCrusade: That's a much better sketch. The suggestion of texture is excellent; try to incorporate more depth through overlap/perspective in the next one, though!

Malduk: I'm glad I got you back to the paper! As for pen tablets, you know my recommendations. To the sketches, then. The first sketch shows a fairly huge flaw; you focused way too much on the scythe, while the figure should've really deserved some more attention. The anatomy is also slightly skewy in both sketches; I think it could help you a lot to start with a skeleton or frame. The value sketch is a good start, but I'd try and pay a bit more attention to where the light source is.

Gl1tch: The first sketch never is the best one, anyway. Keep going! Frustrating as it can be, doing the same thing twice will only make you better at it.

Wizelsnarf: Glad to see you followed the skeleton advice; there's already a much better sense of volume and proportion to the little guy! A quick linesketch for the skeleton would definitely help achieve a better value sketch, too - go for it!

icecoldbro: This class isn't about showing off, it's for learning. What I see in your current sketch, is that you need more blank paper. You also need to work on your time; you seem to try and cram detail in everywhere. Use suggestion; a few quick lines can easily make it look like he's wearing complex boots. This leaves you with more time to go back to the area's that should grab a viewer's attention, such as the chest and head in your piece. I'm looking forward to the next sketch!

Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: RavingRabbid on December 22, 2010, 03:44:10 pm
(http://localhostr.com/file/Vk6lpQD/Colorphantomcopia.jpg)

Gah, second sketch.

I drew it facing right, instead of left. I also tried giving it more depth, and took out the "hand" part at the end of the wing. Instead, I gave him a proper pair of arms (the second is concealed by the first and by some sort of spell that the sketch is casting.)
I used colors, which is how I imagined that to be, (except the arms, that are also black).

Also, I used no shadowing, and tried to give him depth by shape and perspective.

I don't like him too much
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Glitch on December 22, 2010, 05:16:01 pm
(http://i.imgur.com/8WObs.jpg)

Robot space astronaut boxer!!!

One of the things I'd like to do is get into more detail with the joints between limbs, like they're made using overlapping plates, but I couldn't figure out how to make thinner more detailed lines without creating a sharp contrast between them and the rest of the work (oooo I sound artsy!)  I would have loved to make him have a breast plate... and maybe something cool like hydraulics, but I decided to stop here while I was ahead.  I might go back and do more work on it, this one was fun to draw.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Krava on December 22, 2010, 08:12:21 pm
Ok, I made it with MOUSE!!

and i think i could play with him for ages... improving little details, but i had to stop somewhere so this is it

Armored humanoid rhino with crystal horn and in action pose now! Like charging or bringing the door down...
SKETCH #3:
(http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c281/Chromat/sketch3.jpg)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: pepokish on December 22, 2010, 08:35:25 pm
RavingRabbid - Hey, I can tell you really took my advice!  :D  The face looks a lot better now, a lot less flat and 2-d.  Great job with that!  C:

My suggestion is to really try and experiment with different angles!  Try different poses and points-of-view.  Rather than simply holding his arms at his sides, what if he was getting ready to cast that fireball-spell-thing (cranking his arm back like a baseball pitcher)?  What if he was summoning it from the sky or ground?  Etc...?  And don't be afraid to turn him further toward or away from the camera, either. 

I'd also like to suggest maybe giving him a more complex body shape, and working from the skeleton up.  There's nothing wrong with this creature design at all -- but in the context of this lesson, I'd love to see you stretch your limits a bit more and try a more complex figure. 

Anyway, keep up the hard work!  C:  Great job, RR.

--

Gl1tch - And the robot space boxer lives on!  :D

More detail is definitely okay, in this case.  It seems that with this lesson, it's difficult to find a balance between too much detail and too little.  And that's just not really somehing we can teach you, it's something you have to feel out for yourself.  Obviously, you can't skip ahead and start detailing every little thing before you even have the basic foundations properly set, but at the same time giving too little detail to an image can be equally as detrimental for a piece.  But I think I'm preaching to the choir -- you already mentioned more detail here and in chat, so I know you've got it.  :P

I think the problem you're having with the details is that you used such a soft brush.  Now if you go in and make little details, it's going to look really odd because the rest of your character looks blurry and out of focus.  It's okay to use hard-edged brushes even for the big basic strokes.  You can blend everything in and make it look nice and smooth later.  (:

Very nice with the highlights, though... I like that you didn't put the highlights right on the edge, which is a big mistake a lot of people make, as it makes things look just flat.  I also like that you picked a clear light source (left side) and stuck to it.  Impressive!  C:

Well done, Gl1tch! 
And RIP robot space astronaut boxer #1.

--

Krava - I have to say... I'm really impressed!  This is a really excellent speedpaint, especially with a mouse.  I don't really have much to critique, in regards to the actual speedpaint itself.  You did a really great job.  (:

Now, I do want to say something about the painting itself, since the speedpaint looks spot-on.  Be careful about balance in your image -- right now, your creature looks like he might fall over to the left a bit.  Do you know about 'center of balance' and things like that?  I can give a quick run-down on it, if need be.  Otherwise, it looks like it's probably just a matter of making sure you flip the canvas now and then (just like holding a traditional drawing up to a mirror) to try and catch those asymmetrical errors and correct them as needed.

Again, excellent job!

PS - vrt says, don't crop at the knees!  :P  It can create a sense of real discomfort and awkwardness to the viewer, and you should especially avoid cropping at any joint points of the body (i.e. knees, elbows, ankles...).  That's something we'll cover later on with our 'compositioning' lesson.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: ratcharmer on December 23, 2010, 03:05:04 am
sketch 1:
(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd113204/Maiden001_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd113204/Maiden001)
sketch 2:
(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd113205/Maiden002_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd113205/Maiden002)
I went for a sort of traditional, vaguely anorexic maiden, both of these are ink sketches, I'll try a speedpaint once I can get my hands on a mouse.

The first one I'm pretty happy with, although the pose is pretty boring (basically right out of an anatomy text book . . .), and I think her head is too small.

For the second, I think I got over ambitious with putting the mirror in. It makes the image a bit confusing, especially since parts of the girl are transparent (I drew them in after drawing what was behind them).
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Malduk on December 23, 2010, 10:42:17 pm
Well, my first sketch was a disaster; it was the first one after years. So I gave it another shot now. This time fully dressed  :))

(http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/7718/sketch4.jpg)

Taking a centered photo of it, with a good light, is another pain. This is as good as it gets I'm afraid.

About the sketch: I was contemplating adding wings, to make an "angel of death" or something; an image that would maybe be usable in Elements too, after some work on it. I decided not to do that now; its getting late and I'm off to a vacation, so this is the last sketch in art class from me in this year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year guys. :)


Oh, and just because I already wasted some time on it, might as well post it:
(http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/73/lol2qd.jpg)
Not finished, cloth lines just refused to look like I wanted them to look, so meh. Maybe when I get more time. It looks way to plastic atm.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: bored_ninja777 on December 24, 2010, 04:07:17 am
well here is my sketch.. some kind of turtle /dinosaur idk thing
just random inspiration from something i randomly saw in my room.

(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd113413/artclass2.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/)

note to self.. make sure to reverse image next time b4 i want to post it...
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Krava on December 24, 2010, 09:57:06 am
@marduk if i may comment, but here it is. when i look at your picture first thing pops to my mind is her broad shoulders. she looks like rambo with tits :). Also upper arm is waaay thicker than lower arm and tiny fists. I like lower part of the dress, in your sketch it has nice and kinda natural texture. Also i think you have good feeling where shadows should go. And i know, for some reason clothing lines are easier to do when sketching with pen than when you start coloring...

Ukratko, samo tako nastavi majstore... :)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Malduk on December 24, 2010, 10:42:52 am
Aha, znaci iz ovih si krajeva i 'Krava' stvarno je krava, a ne neka slucajnost ka 'vrt'.  :)

About the shoulders and thickness of arms, I wanted to give impression of larger robes, and I guess I didnt pin that down just right  :)) I agree that her torso is a bit... strong, but I actually blame tiny hips. If I hide everything under her boobs, shoulder to head ratio seems okay to me.
And that right hand was a serious pain. The hand naturally should go a bit towards the viewer.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: ArtCrusade on December 25, 2010, 02:42:53 am
You asked me to post the sketch for the Minor Vampire, so here it is:

(http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/6660/vampiree.png)
Put in some background. Hope it's not too unserious, as the scene is so cliché it might already hurt, thus being funny in a way - and the suggested painting in the background sure looks a lot like a painting of Napoleon. But does the figure need more detail? Is the pose and the proportions alright?

Will post more, as I want to finish some of the requests I took ;)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: wizelsnarf on December 25, 2010, 03:59:19 am
On my way to Christmas. Uploading from the plane. I love technology.

Speaking of planes I made this while waiting for my plane to leave. I think I spent too long on it though (about an hour) and decided to stop once I realized how long I had spent. I started with a skeleton, then painted almost all black over it and then came back and shaded it. The shading was what took forever, that and doing a minor cleanup on the edges. Should I skip the cleanup part for the future?

3rd sketch, SpeedPaint #1
(http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/1976/gilamonsterspeedpaint.png)

I don't like how squirrel looking it came out as it is supposed to be a lizard. I guess I should have left the tail laying down.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: ArtCrusade on December 25, 2010, 04:17:43 pm
(http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/359/4/a/the_river_styx_by_artcrusade-d35mhws.png)
It first was a speedpainting, but I decided to finish it and this is the result. I still would like feedback to improve!
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Thalas on December 25, 2010, 05:29:40 pm
 :air Aquarius :air 2. sketch
(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd113729/Aquarius.png) (http://imageplay.net/)

Edit: I liked aquarius so much that made final version (tried as best as I could)         But it looked too flat and without shadow so I added some
(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd113747/Aquarius_painted.png) (http://imageplay.net/)                                                                    (http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd113825/Aquarius_painted_shadowed.png) (http://imageplay.net/)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: icecoldbro on December 26, 2010, 05:29:06 am
umm yeah so i worked about 4 and a half hours on this please dont mock me for being pathetic with PS (i worked for that long as i have a pathetic pulse and cant work worth a damn)


Final Art
(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd113819/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_1234567_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd113819/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_1234567)




breakdown by layers:


(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd113813/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_1_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd113813/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_1)

(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd113814/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_12_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd113814/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_12)

(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd113815/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_123_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd113815/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_123)

(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd113816/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_1234_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd113816/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_1234)

(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd113817/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_12345_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd113817/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_12345)

(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd113818/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_123456_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd113818/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_123456)

(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd113819/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_1234567_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd113819/Skeleton_Warrior_layer_1234567)

(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd113820/Skeleton_Warrior_Final_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd113820/Skeleton_Warrior_Final)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: wizelsnarf on December 26, 2010, 06:40:30 am
I have no credentials to critique but let me say this ICB. In the thumbnails, it looks pretty good, actually. However when I clicked it and brought up the full size pic, I felt like I needed glasses. Somehow the soft edges make it blurry. I think you did a good job otherwise - the thumbnails make it look less blurry.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: icecoldbro on December 26, 2010, 06:50:58 am
I have no credentials to critique but let me say this ICB. In the thumbnails, it looks pretty good, actually. However when I clicked it and brought up the full size pic, I felt like I needed glasses. Somehow the soft edges make it blurry. I think you did a good job otherwise - the thumbnails make it look less blurry.
yeah i decided to make them with 0% hardness as it felt to rough otherwise. then again im here to learn, nothing else
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: ArtCrusade on December 27, 2010, 06:59:58 pm
And another speedpainting. It took around 15 minutes and I used my girlfriend's picture as a reference.

(http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/361/8/0/emo_girl_by_artcrusade-d35s85g.png)
Making good line art gives me a hard time.. suggestions?
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: pepokish on December 27, 2010, 08:40:07 pm
Sorry for the delay, guys!  This is such a busy time of year... (: 

vrt and I will be coming around to do individual critique, but right now there's something I wanted to make clear to everyone.

Okay, I'm seeing a really big issue with almost everyone's lineart sketches.  I really want you guys to work on defining the shapes within the shapes.  This will help with a lot of trouble I see you guys having with symmetry and proportion.  I made a more in-depth walkthrough to sort of make things clearer, and hopefully it will help.  C:

(http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/6614/tut1r.jpg)

Traditional media users: make sure to sketch very, very lightly!

Obviously, it's not an actual skeleton.  But there's an indication of a head, and lines marking the spine, shoulders, hips, and ground plane (feet).  Sometimes, I also mark out two very small notches in the spine: one halfway between the shoulders and hips, and one halfway between the hips and feet.  These would indicate the waist/bellybutton/elbows (the human elbows generally match up to the waist) and knees.

In this example, I'll be doing just a simple, face-front standing pose -- but this basic skeleton works for all poses, as well as all objects and creatures (human or otherwise).  Think of it as a map marking out where you plan to go with the sketch.  It's so much easier to see how your proportions and balances are, during this phase. 

I'm just covering basic sketching here, but if you'd like to know more about human proportions in general, check out Andrew Loomis.  Here are a few general proportion guides from his books (mild nudity?): Proportions 1 (http://www.idrawdigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/prop_male.gif) - Proportions 2 (http://www.idrawdigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/prop_female.gif) - Proportions 3 (http://www.idrawdigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/prop_var.gif).  As you can see, these guides use the length of the head as a unit of measurement.  Once you learn the generalities of these guides, you can begin to stretch and play with them a bit.

(http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/6995/tut2r.jpg)

Traditional media users: keep it light!

Now we go into further detail, mapping out the different parts of our figure.  Circles mark the joints -- shoulders, knees, and wrists.  This is going to be a female, so there's a nice curvy figure going on.  As you practice, you begin to get a feel for the shapes of things, and how to break complex shapes such as the human form into simple shapes like circles and ovals. 

See how my shapes begin to define the figure, without getting distracted by so much detail?  Here I can see that my figure is leaning slightly off of my center balance line -- so that's something I need to fix.  If I had just jumped right into detailing, going from the head down, I would have missed it -- or if I did notice, it would have been far too late.  Here, I have ample time to fix things up before moving on with the sketch.

(http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/9319/tut3x.jpg)

Ah, there we go.. now we can start sketching in the real figure, clothing, hair, face, etc!  I still want to see those underlying shapes, beneath!  It may not look very pretty, but sketches aren't supposed to!  (:

Traditional media users: now is when you can go in with progressively darker lines.  (: 

--

Okay!  I hope that helped a little.  c:  As I said earlier, vrt and I will come around with individual critique in just a moment.  I just wanted to post this little tutorial, first.

Keep up the great work, guys!  I'm quite impressed by what I've seen, so far!  c:
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Pineapple on December 28, 2010, 12:19:18 am
(http://imgur.com/ZKV7W.pngTook around 20-30 minutes.)

"Speedpainting" this is being a pain...so I'll post this first and come back after I learn how to speedpaint. *poofs to youtube*

Plan:
sketch weird creature
do a value sketch of said weird creature
do a value sketch of a weird eggish creature.
Do a value sketch of the weird creature in a more dynamic pose
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: icecoldbro on December 28, 2010, 03:51:57 am
so ive been working on a fire skellie now

(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd114253/Skeleton_Warrior_Fire_Final_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd114253/Skeleton_Warrior_Fire_Final)
Layers
(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd114254/Skeleton_Warrior_Fire_Layers_1_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd114254/Skeleton_Warrior_Fire_Layers_1)
(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd114255/Skeleton_Warrior_Fire_Layers_1_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd114255/Skeleton_Warrior_Fire_Layers_1)
(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd114256/Skeleton_Warrior_Fire_Layers_1_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd114256/Skeleton_Warrior_Fire_Layers_1)
(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd114257/Skeleton_Warrior_Fire_Layers_1_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd114257/Skeleton_Warrior_Fire_Layers_1)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: ArtCrusade on December 28, 2010, 04:32:33 am
Can I request a lesson about drawing hands and feet? That's something really difficult..
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: icecoldbro on December 28, 2010, 04:48:43 am
Can I request a lesson about drawing hands and feet? That's something really difficult..
id liek to second this motion, im trying what i can to make it not look incomplete but they should both have hands and real feet
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Pineapple on December 28, 2010, 06:37:22 am
http://drawsketch.about.com/library/weekly/aa112402a.htm
http://drawsketch.about.com/od/animemanga/ss/mangahandsfeet.htm
i googled "how to draw hands/feet." If you wanted a personal tutorial from vrt/pepokish...just ignore this ^^
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: vrt on December 28, 2010, 01:34:28 pm
i googled
i googled
i googled
i googled
QFE.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: pepokish on December 28, 2010, 01:38:58 pm
Can I request a lesson about drawing hands and feet? That's something really difficult..
The tutorial I posted on the previous page isn't just applicable to the human form in general.  (:  Even the tutorials posted by patchx show exactly what I was talking about in the last page.  Look at your hand, break it down into basic shapes, and then go from there.  You can only improve with practice.  c:  If you want another more in-depth example, just let me know, and I will see what I can come up with.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: ArtCrusade on December 28, 2010, 01:49:23 pm
@pepper: The links provided by patchx94 were enough already. Thanks ;)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: icecoldbro on December 29, 2010, 03:38:57 am
i bought my own tablet today, using it right now(still need to work more for it to be any use for art), will there also be a tutorial for tablet, pen users?
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: vrt on December 30, 2010, 06:47:30 pm
Sorry we're taking so long to get back to everyone, we got caught up with the holidays. If you don't see a reply to your post in mine, pepokish will be along shortly. :)


ArtCrusade (or TurboTemplar, wasn't it?): If lineart is giving you problems, don't use it. Also, I'd strongly suggest you'd stick to the assignment, which was to draw the same creature over and over, with differences in pose, look, perspective, etcetera. You've drawn a million other things already.

When it comes to lineart, you have to learn how to use it to paint. You're afraid to paint over lines, and afraid to go crazy with color. As a practice, make your next speedpaint at a 1000x1000px canvas, with a brush that is no smaller than 50px, and a minimum opacity of 80%. You have to start learning it's okay to break out of the lineart. Personally, I advise against using lineart until you're comfortable working without it.

Thalas: The outcome of the Aquarius isn't that great-looking. Flip the canvas horizontally, and you'll see the mistakes - the figure is skewed, the colours are mismatched, the hair looks like dreadlocks.. I could go on. The basis for this is found in the sketch. You need to include much more information in it! Try working from a  wireframe, as explained by pepokish in this post (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,17823.msg250175#msg250175). You'll see that it's much easier to make the figure believable, so do use that to your advantage!

icecoldbro: When I say 'work from a skeleton', I don't mean it quite that literally. Look at this post (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,17823.msg250175#msg250175), it should help you a lot. Also, don't touch the layer effects, the filters, or anything like that for a sketch! Sketching is about working quickly, getting an image out (even with flaws!), just to establish a base for a final project. The best thing to do, is to grab a hard brush, and stick to the same brush for the entire painting. This will be much less time-consuming, and a lot more consistent in its look.

patchx94: Good sketch, lots of usable details, nothing too fancy. Keep it up. Don't forget the assignment though; stick to the same creature. ;D
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: pepokish on December 30, 2010, 07:15:54 pm
ratcharmer - I really like the experimentation with perspective in your second sketch especially -- but I think you could really benefit with starting out with the basic shapes of your figure, first (as demonstrated in my tutorial on page 4).  I made a little redline overlay showing the basic shapes of your second sketch, including a few minor corrections.

Redline critique (http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/6279/redline2.jpg)

It's really important to sketch the figure first, then worry about the clothing.  This makes it so much easier to know how the cloth with drape and fold -- because you'll know exactly what lies beneath.  (:  I also would highly suggest going with pencils when sketching, if you feel comfortable doing so.  Of course you're absolutely free to draw with whatever you want to draw with -- but I find that sketching with pencils usually makes things a lot easier, especially if you want to refine that sketch into a full-blown drawing, later on.

Some specific things I wanted to critique about your sketches: In sketch number 2 (the sitting post), the arms seem rather too long.  The elbow typically only reaches to the waist/bellybutton area, and the fingertips reach about the mid-thigh area.  The torso also seemed to be twisted rather oddly -- that's where midlines come in handy, while sketching.

In sketch number 1, the proportions actually all seem very nice.  (:  Again, I'd just like to see more defining of the basic shapes, especially beneath the clothing, before getting into lots of detail.

Great job, keep it up!

---

Malduk - First of all, I have to say, the scythe looks epic.  :D  Great job with that.  I like your idea as well, and the sketch in general is lovely.  I just wanted to point out a few anatomical flaws, and maybe help you fix those up a bit.  c:

Definitely work on defining the basic shapes, as I've been telling everyone.  Here's how they look at the moment. (http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3010/redline3a.jpg)  And here's my suggestion (http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/1765/redline3.jpg).

(^^ The legs are just a guess/not really important aside from length, as they're hidden by the cloth^^)

The problem with her chest looking so big definitely isn't that her chest is too big -- it's that her hips are much too small.  Generally speaking, women's hips tend to be roughly the same width as their shoulders -- even men have only marginally broader shoulders than hips, and then only in some cases.  Secondly, her waist is verrry, very low.  The waist should be just between the hips and shoulders, and the hips should be just a bit higher than half the body's total height (depending on how long the person's legs are -- with women, if you're going for sexy, it's better to make the hips higher and legs therefore longer.  The arms seem to be perfect in length, but pretty skinny -- especially the forearm on the right.  The breasts are a bit wide apart, as well.  Obviously they won't naturally be squished up together (which is apparantly the common belief... lol), but they generally don't fall that far to the sides,

Also, really make sure you get the basic figure planned out before going in for clothing.  And don't erase the lines, when you do!  This is the sketch phase, and that's what I want to see -- messy sketches.  (:

Anyway, awesome sketch!  c:  Great job, and keep working at it!

---

bored_ninja - Aw, how cute!  :D  Very cute sketch, not too terribly much to critique, here...  Again, I'd like to see the shapes within this figure, try and imagine how this guy would look in 3-dimensions, and try your best to translate that onto paper.  Don't worry about the details right now, just focus on getting the shapes right, and the basics covered.

Very cute concept!  I like this little guy... :3

---

ArtCrusade - Very cool!  I like that you added in a background, as well!  Really make sure you define those basic shapes before going in for detail.  His legs are pretty short -- but that's easily avoided if you plan out the figure beforehand, as in my tutorial on page 4.  (: 

If you want to experiment with more exciting poses, one thing you can do is to just sit down before you start drawing, and imagine a scene involving the character.  What is he doing?  Why?  The sky is the limit for your imagination -- try to figure out something interesting that he could be doing, and try to capture the essence of that.  You can make lots of quick 30-second little mini-sketches (called thumbnails), and then stop, take a look at what you have, and pick the one you like best to flesh out a bit more.  When I do this, I always like to find some suitable music to listen to as I sketch.

Make sure you sketch out the basic figure before adding clothes.  It's easy to forget that there is an actual body beneath the clothes, when you draw everything all at once.  Knowing what's there beneath the cloth actually helps you know how the clothing will fall, where the folds will be, etc. 

Keep it up, Art!  c:

---

Wizel - I take forever on speedpaints, too.  It drives vrt insane.  :P  I'm a bit of a perfectionist -- I have a reaaally hard time getting any art done in just 15 minutes.

Anyway, very cool speedpaint.  I like the creature a lot.  Excellent, excellent job with the shading -- that's really great.  I agree that the tail does look a little strange sticking straight up like that, but it's not really a major issue.  (:  Personally, I think it would be a bit more aesthetically pleasing if the head was turned just a little bit more toward the viewer, so that it wasn't in exact profile -- but that's at your own discretion, and definitely not a major fault.

Let's see... Yeah, I don't see much to critique; I think you've done a very nice job with this speedpaint.  :3

--

Okay, let us know if we missed anyone!  I hope everyone had nice holidays, and I hope every has a happy new year!  <3
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: RavingRabbid on December 30, 2010, 09:47:55 pm
(http://localhostr.com/file/khkuWsm/Scarafaggio%20in%20rigor%20mortis.jpg)

I tried giving it a shape, keeping what I gave him in both earlier sketches.

The horn is now made of a bone, and the fireball is casted there.
The mouth is somehow more detailed, and it should be more "menacing" and less "creepy"
The wings are now proper wings, and not a strange wing-like appendage. It sucks more, tho.
The legs are something I tried to drew, but I had no idea on how to draw a cockroach's legs.

Yup, it should be a cockroach.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: vrt on December 30, 2010, 10:09:47 pm
Amazing improvement, RavingRabbid. Keep it up, you're heading exactly in the right direction!
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: icecoldbro on December 31, 2010, 04:25:44 pm
(http://localhostr.com/file/khkuWsm/Scarafaggio%20in%20rigor%20mortis.jpg)

I tried giving it a shape, keeping what I gave him in both earlier sketches.

The horn is now made of a bone, and the fireball is casted there.
The mouth is somehow more detailed, and it should be more "menacing" and less "creepy"
The wings are now proper wings, and not a strange wing-like appendage. It sucks more, tho.
The legs are something I tried to drew, but I had no idea on how to draw a cockroach's legs.

Yup, it should be a cockroach.
Very quite interesting if i might say so myself, the legs look more scorpionish than anything but other than that it looks amazing
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: SunnyGreens on December 31, 2010, 10:12:13 pm
I started to do a Pegasus, but after some frustration tried a humanoid form. I wanted to make it more mythological than human and ended up making a mask-wearing gremlin of sorts. I think I need to layer the drawing more, I tend to just draw over the same section too many times trying to emphasize a feature, which ends up making everything look cramped (and small). Ill try again.


Sketch #1:
(http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/8159/gremlinsketch1.png)
Sketch #2:
(http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/8325/gremlinsketch2.png)

Also, on a side note: Could there perhaps be a thread dedicated to tutorials where people could post ones they found to be particularly useful? Maybe every so often the best of those could be collected and organized into the main post?
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: RavingRabbid on January 01, 2011, 05:10:58 pm
(http://localhostr.com/file/WRAiM6s/scarab.jpg)

I tried drawing again the cockroach.

This time, I got him some better legs, a frontal view, open wings, a sting at the end of his body. Eyes are the same, but smaller.
I dropped the fireball thing.

I don't know why it is biting a branch. (Oh, right, I also changed his teeths.)

I can't tell if it better or worse, but I can tell I didn't spend as much time as the other one on this.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: SunnyGreens on January 01, 2011, 07:40:14 pm
My attempt at a speedpaint. I guess its not quite done but my 15 minutes ran out. Ill try another.

Sketch #3:
(http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/6430/gremlinsketch3.png)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: ratcharmer on January 01, 2011, 07:42:28 pm
Alright, I tried my hand at speedpainting . . .

please forgive what's got to be some of the sloppiest brushwork anyone has ever tried to pass off as painting. I'd like to attribute it to the fact that I'm sick this week, but really my brushwork is kinda sloppy most of the time (though not quite this bad).

first here's my (very rough) skeleton etc.
(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd115464/maiden_3_skeleton_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd115464/maiden_3_skeleton)
and now for the maiden
(http://imageplay.net/m7Gbd115465/maiden_3_thumb.jpg) (http://imageplay.net/view/m7Gbd115465/maiden_3)

she looked skinny, so I thought she should have some food. The food took a lot longer to draw than I thought it would though, and the table still looks a little sparse compared to how I imagined it, but I was already way over 15 minutes.

I really struggled to get the hand holding the knife to look decent, my first attempts made it way to big. I think it's still a little out of proportion.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Thalas on January 02, 2011, 12:53:41 pm
Satyr 3 sketch
(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd115712/satyr.png) (http://imageplay.net/)
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Krahhl on January 03, 2011, 10:33:16 am
Ahh vacation is over and I can return to my sketches.. funny how I'm more busy during vacation, going places and all that.

Anyways, umm. Tiger. ..I'll get back to that. In the meantime, I did a dragon sketch.

(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd116069/dragonpandar.jpg)

I'll refine the sketchy lines and go into more detail later, but I wanted to allow people to point out any blatant anatomical flaws.

I think the head is either too big or just positioned weirdly. The claws seem off somehow, but I'm not sure how to fix them. Also, the front and back legs might be too close together and the front right shoulder should protrude forward more to lead better into the chest. And now that I look at it, the line running through the middle of the neck shouldn't curve up at the end, but connect to the bottom of the lower jaw. I missed that during one of my head-redrawings.

When I flipped the image, the far wing immediately made me go O_____O because the top-left flap of skin looks thin enough to be a spike thing and I was so used to seeing it curve the other direction. Hopefully it won't be a problem once I add some values and differentiate parts of the wing from the background.

The panda is just there. It looks very flat. Poor panda.

I feel like I spent too much time on this sketch, but I kept redoing parts that didn't look right. My original sketch looked like:

(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd116065/dragonpanda.jpg)

Ugly.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: icecoldbro on January 03, 2011, 05:27:56 pm
Im not sure if its just me going crazy as always but id redesign the tail, making it end more systematically and making it longer
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: ArtCrusade on January 03, 2011, 05:41:56 pm
Maybe you should redo the head as well. The snout should be thinner than the rest of its head or it looks a bit weird.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: Krahhl on January 03, 2011, 07:54:40 pm
Im not sure if its just me going crazy as always but id redesign the tail, making it end more systematically and making it longer
The dragon isn't perpendicular to your view, but off by about 30 degrees. Therefore, the tail is farther away and should be smaller. I didn't do a good job portraying this though.

Maybe you should redo the head as well. The snout should be thinner than the rest of its head or it looks a bit weird.
The snout is thinner than the rest of the head, or should be. It can kind of be seen in the lower jaw, but not so much in the top due to the point of view. Hmm..
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: vrt on January 03, 2011, 08:25:29 pm
SunnyGreens: That's what I wanted to see. Good use of skeletons, and proper application of detail. Very nice.


To the others; I'd strongly suggest moving on to the next lesson. I feel it'll only be harder to teach what we want to teach with this assignment; I suppose that's one of the falters of a beginning Art Class. The topic will be locked before Lesson 4 starts, most likely within the next few days.
Title: Re: Lesson 2: Getting Started
Post by: asymmetry on January 04, 2011, 06:18:55 am
So this is my cat. (i hope it's somewhat readable, lol) 10 minutes or so.

(http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/4291/imagenescaneada083.jpg)

linework w/ paper and pen. Value sketch soon :)
blarg: