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Aaron's Sketchbook - Feedback Appreciated!

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Hello everyone!

I wanted to create a single thread just dedicated to posting my work.

Feedback is appreciated and I look forward to hearing from anyone who would like to throw input my way! 

Thanks!


'Star Guardian, Aurora'
2015
Photoshop CC

Replies

  • Eric Chadwick
    Hey this is a great start. I would suggest making your images 500kb or less. Some hints here:
    http://polycount.com/discussion/63361/information-about-polycount-new-member-introductions/p1#make
  • Aaron Barnett

    'Star Reaper'
    2016
    Photoshop CC

    I was wanting to create a reaper type character that seemed as if she could wisp through the air, all the while summoning magical scythe blades rather than tangible traditional weapons. I was experimenting with clear gradient effects for the magical scythe, hoping to create a different effect than anything I had done that accompanied previous characters.
  • Aaron Barnett

    'Blood Wretch'
    2016
    Photoshop CC

    With This Character I wanted to make a very MOBA type of styled character who seemed erratic, agile and as if he might snap at any moment. Using all four of his arms to wield bone blades, I think he'd be an intimidating presence coming toward you in the lane.

    Let me know what you guys think!
  • Aaron Barnett

    'Cerberus, Demon God of Mercury'
    2016
    Photoshop CC

    With this character I wanted to convey a type of mythical creature feel. One who could summon magical orbs on which he could jump from and take himself anywhere he needed to be. Foxes and wolves were my primary source of references for this piece and the antlers I felt added a more mythical component to him.
  • Aaron Barnett

    'Vile Lich King, of Dungeon Planet'
    2016
    Photoshop CC

    Being a fan of all things RPG and the lore that's typically involved with them, a common RPG character type is the Lich, so I really wanted to try my hand at this type of villainous creature. The Vile Lich King rules over his very own dungeon planet, using powerful sorcery and curses, keeping many unfortunate souls forever bound to his kingdom of imprisonment.
  • Aaron Barnett
    I was nearing the end of Dark Souls 3 recently and so badly wanted to create a dark looking knight character. So this is the result!

    I have posted my process here to display how my vector style begins and finishes.


    First I start with just a traditional drawing in my sketchbook. I may end up drawing a character a few different ways before I ultimately settle on one particular design.

    Then I take that sketch into Photoshop and start to essentially trace over the sketch with a 5px wide Pen Tool stroke.

    From there I start to do several color tests until I decide upon the best color scheme for the character.

     Once the color scheme is set in stone, I start to redo the colors using the Gradient Tool, set to radial as to not make the colors feel flat.

     Then I block in the shading with closed paths filled with black and reduced opacity to 40%, to give the character even more depth.

    I then add highlight and shine on top of these layers with a white filled path set to 40% opacity to really make the character pop as much as it can without them being too shiny. Lastly I duplicate the lines layer and add a 10px external stroke to it and move that layer to the very bottom underlying layer of the character so that it has a very pronounced border. And there you have it!

    'Sigma, Reviled Knight of the Dark Matter Templar'
    2016
    Photoshop CC

    I hope seeing my process gives some insight into how I handle the vector styled pieces.

    Let me know what you guys think!
  • lotet
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    lotet hero character
    nice! I havnt seen your paper sketches before, you have nice pencil work.

    some overall thoughts about your work:
    I really like your stuff, have been for a while, there is definitely something there, it has a nice old school Japanese 80s touch mixed with modern cartoons like adventure time, steven universe and gravity falls. there is something missing though, I cant really put my finger on it but I feel like it can be pushed further.

    some things I think you could experiment with. different line weight, colored lines, backgrounds, less "childish" colors, more dramatic/interesting light.
  • lotet
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    lotet hero character
    So I made a quick experiment, hope you dont mind.

     Its in the shape of a paintover/coloring. I completely butchered your clean lines as i just had your jpgs to go with, and I didnt wanna spent to much time re-tracing all your lines. anyways, I made a version with a bit more unified and "adult" color palette and with a non-white background. I dont know if you want to go in this direction at all, but I had fun doing it at least =P

  • iRoller
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    iRoller vertex
    Lotet's version is a nice improvement. The colors seem to fit more with a 'grim' character. Just my opinion, not sure if that's the theme you were going for Aaron.
  • Aaron Barnett
    Hey @Lotet, Amazing feedback as always! I appreciate you always pushing me and much of your feedback as helped me take my art in a better direction. I am really into the style and more dramatic lighting in your paint over here! I think it better matches the feel of the character. I have been wanting to try my hand at a more "adult" rendering for some time now and I think you better understood what I had in mind. Some examples of style that I've been trying to achieve: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/4Ev5n My only dilemma is I'm having a hard time pinpointing the brush/brush presets to use for a style such as this. Any suggestions? Again, thank you, the paint over is great!
  • Aaron Barnett
    I agree @iRoller, It is an improvement and better suits the overall feel of the character! I'm going to be attempting something closer to what his paint over features. Thank you for your feedback!
  • lotet
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    lotet hero character
    oh, I absolutly love artur mukhametov, you should also check out Guille garcia. some of his latest work is really awesome.

    as for branching out and doing other styles, try doing a study of a piece you like. and make a WIP thread too, so people can follow along and maybe help out. :)
  • Aaron Barnett
    @Lotet, glad to hear we have similar taste! Guille Garcia is awesome. I love everything from his brush strokes, to his silhouettes.

    I'm gonna sit down and do a study of some of their pieces and see what I can crank out. I'll be sure to post all my progress on it too!

    Thanks again. :)
  • Aaron Barnett
    Currently working on this Orc King character. I intend on rendering this guy slightly different from my previous vector styled characters.

    Here is the initial drawing in my sketchbook. I try to have the line work completely done before it enters Photoshop so I have a solid foundation to build on top of digitally.

    And here is where the character currently stands in Photoshop.

    Now, where the piece currently sits. All line work completely gone over in Photoshop with my current favorite Kyle T Webster pencil, Ultimate 2B Pencil 10px.

    I'll continue to post updates to this character as I make more progress and mess around with more brush styles.

    Hope you guys enjoy!
  • lotet
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    lotet hero character
    Looking good so far!  interested to see where your taking this. :)
  • Aaron Barnett
    Thanks @lotet! I am really wanting to try something different in terms of line work and rendering here.

    Here's the character with his base colors added.



    I'll be experimenting all day today with brushes to see what I can get.
  • Aaron Barnett
    Hey there!

    Back with another update, this time with some of the rendering I've put into place. I am working with some more dynamic lighting here and am hoping to get some feedback on anything you guys think I could change because I know there's room for improvement.

    Next I want to start putting small details into the materials like chips and indents of some kind.

    Thanks for any feedback you can provide!

  • lotet
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    lotet hero character
    Its very bright, I would suggest darkening the whole thing before getting heavy on the rendering.

    secondly if your gonna render and use things like rim light I would suggest a non-white background, makes it much easier :)

    my final point is you have to remember light is always lighter then the source its hitting, which is the case with your top blue/white light but not the pink one. in some places its actually the same value  or darker as the object its hitting.

    keep it up though! really interested in where you end up with this. :)
  • Aaron Barnett
    Thanks @lotet! :)

    I will try and brighten up the pink light some more to get higher contrast from the character itself.

    I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out exactly what was missing here. I think you nailed it in saying that the whole piece is too bright. I will mess with the levels and contrast of the character's base colors and see if I can't make the rendering seem more natural on top of it.

    I'll post my fixes soon!
  • Aaron Barnett
    Okay, I messed around with this a bit more today and I think it's coming together now.

    @lotet you were right, I had to darken him up using curves. I also gave his colors a higher contrast so he didn't get muted out by the curve adjustment. The gray background helped a lot too as it made me realize he was way too bright!

    As for the pink light I made sure that it set itself apart from the characters colors by brightening it up slightly.

    I also got in there and added some small chips into the stone and ax to give it more character.

    I hope these teaks show through as improvements!


  • Aaron Barnett
    I've done a little more work on this guy.

    I've fixed some of the inconsistencies with the rendering here and there that were bothering me. I'm pretty happy with it now, I think.

    Anybody think it still needs work on anything in particular?

    Thanks for any feedback you might have!
  • lotet
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    lotet hero character
    One thing you might wanna play around with is material definition. 
    for example your skin and your metals are shaded the same.

    do you have any specific references on what shading style you are aiming at? it might help a lot with what and how to critique the piece.
  • lotet
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    lotet hero character
    hey, I just found this on Art Station. made me think about you :) 
    Illustration
    Illustration
    maybe take a look at these two illustrations and see if there is anything you can learn from them. they remind me of your style a lot. but in a more (no intention to offend here) professional and refined way.
  • Aaron Barnett
    Hey @lotet! You know I actually didn't use a material reference to base the lighting off of when I probably should have to help make the material variations stand apart a bit better. I'll see if I can't find anything to go off of that might help.

    As for those illustrations that you sent me I really dig them! I totally understand what you mean about them being more refined, and no offense taken! I am striving to achieve  a more uniformed aesthetic in my work. Hopefully I'll get there soon!
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