Workflow Improvement Thread
Alrighty then, the Dominance War just finsihed for me, and now i'm gonna start out what i felt was neccessary since halfway through the War.
Its a long post, if u don't want to read it all, just hop down to the "how its gonna work", and "what i want" sections, and please do 'participate'
Why am i doing this?
Well, it occurred to me, during the War, that there is at least one thing wrong in every stage of my workflow:
a) concepting: I rush... "marry my first girlfriend" in the words of Gauss. I've only just been introduced to the idea of 'thumbnailing' so i was fairly ineffective with it. I don't plan... i don't 'enjoy' concepting... and therefore, im unable to come up wait an exciting idea.
b) modelling: geez....... anatomy is incorrect mostly, my meshflow always needs improvement... my high poly was looking really 'muddy'... countless stuff here, cuz the modelling can _always_ improve in my point of view.
c) texturing: don't even get me started. I guess i rush textures aswell, not enough colour variation, i dont spend time to plan out everything's look (which would be done at the concepting stage i think?) and i don't really nkow how each texture sheet should compliment each other (spec vs. normals vs diffuse etc)
The point of this thread
To improve all aspects of my workflow, from concept to completion, so that i can feel like i've accomplished something when i stare my completed model in the eye and say 'i lub you'
How its Gonna Work
Alright, so this is where u guys come in. I don't want my own idea. I dont want to say "im gonna make a generic soldier and that's that, and this is what he's gonna look like." Instead, i want the community, u guys, to give me a topic/theme. What do i mean?
Well, i want u to pretend that ur my boss, and ur making whatever game. And im a character artist. I want u to tell me:
"Make a monkey soldier!"
and ill make any type of monkey soldier: from "gorilla with shotgun" to "chimp banana launcher". I wanna go through the silhouettes, the concept, the model etc.
or u could say "I need a Strogg right now"
And i'll make my own Quake 5 (heehee) strogg, all the way from silhouettes to completion.
or maybe "Fantasy Action adventure boss"
and i'll make a character that fist that requirement.
What i want
Basically, i want u guys to give me a theme (like mentioned above) that will give me some freedom, but also some restraints. I don't want deadlines lol, i just want topics. I want something thrown at me (like the Dominance War topic was thrown at us... "shadows! bam! now make 'em!!!") and i want to adapt.
So please, people, post up some topic suggestions, i'll pick a random one and make it. Then in the future, i'll pick another and make that one too! and on and on like this!
thanks guys. This thread will die without u!
Its a long post, if u don't want to read it all, just hop down to the "how its gonna work", and "what i want" sections, and please do 'participate'
Why am i doing this?
Well, it occurred to me, during the War, that there is at least one thing wrong in every stage of my workflow:
a) concepting: I rush... "marry my first girlfriend" in the words of Gauss. I've only just been introduced to the idea of 'thumbnailing' so i was fairly ineffective with it. I don't plan... i don't 'enjoy' concepting... and therefore, im unable to come up wait an exciting idea.
b) modelling: geez....... anatomy is incorrect mostly, my meshflow always needs improvement... my high poly was looking really 'muddy'... countless stuff here, cuz the modelling can _always_ improve in my point of view.
c) texturing: don't even get me started. I guess i rush textures aswell, not enough colour variation, i dont spend time to plan out everything's look (which would be done at the concepting stage i think?) and i don't really nkow how each texture sheet should compliment each other (spec vs. normals vs diffuse etc)
The point of this thread
To improve all aspects of my workflow, from concept to completion, so that i can feel like i've accomplished something when i stare my completed model in the eye and say 'i lub you'
How its Gonna Work
Alright, so this is where u guys come in. I don't want my own idea. I dont want to say "im gonna make a generic soldier and that's that, and this is what he's gonna look like." Instead, i want the community, u guys, to give me a topic/theme. What do i mean?
Well, i want u to pretend that ur my boss, and ur making whatever game. And im a character artist. I want u to tell me:
"Make a monkey soldier!"
and ill make any type of monkey soldier: from "gorilla with shotgun" to "chimp banana launcher". I wanna go through the silhouettes, the concept, the model etc.
or u could say "I need a Strogg right now"
And i'll make my own Quake 5 (heehee) strogg, all the way from silhouettes to completion.
or maybe "Fantasy Action adventure boss"
and i'll make a character that fist that requirement.
What i want
Basically, i want u guys to give me a theme (like mentioned above) that will give me some freedom, but also some restraints. I don't want deadlines lol, i just want topics. I want something thrown at me (like the Dominance War topic was thrown at us... "shadows! bam! now make 'em!!!") and i want to adapt.
So please, people, post up some topic suggestions, i'll pick a random one and make it. Then in the future, i'll pick another and make that one too! and on and on like this!
thanks guys. This thread will die without u!
Replies
Whoaaa
http://boards.polycount.net/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=194426&an=0&page=0#Post194426
But that's unlikely so just go make us a ninja pirate.
Domo arrrrrrrigato.
- 3 Characters: Skeloton, Oragans/viens/Muscule Structure, Nude Model
- 5,000 triangle limit each (try for less)
- Self-made textures
- One week gathering referance materail. Books, only pics (http://3D.sk is a good site) and drawing from reference. Though you can use the reference pictures for rotoscoping/image planing drawing them out will help with the texturing and sculpting.
- 3 weeks per model (this will help with speed. One Week modeling(base model), a week Mudboxing, another texturing/simple 3 point lighting.)
Suggestion for any one you choose: Get some type of sulpting clay of some sort be it sculpty, plastersene what ever get some. Take some time to practise modeling your characters body parts out of your sulpting material. If you have a wire -character mecket that will be great too. Practising 3D other than on a computer helps greatly. Remember to always have reference be it your own drawings or pictures. Reference is key when your doing art.
You've got a good idea for yourself. Hope it works out for you.
Game-
Sci-fi shooter , Neerdy scientist dude has to save the world from a crazed cult following of resistance scientist, hell bent on turning human brains into energy for their own bidding.
System-
Ps 2
Specs-
1600 Triangles, 1- 128x128 head texture, 1 512x512 body texture. Only do diffuse for both.
Project
Lab experiemented human body
The character must be a generic nude male model, that is able to have swappable heads. Do two variations on the heads texture so that we can have different looking people in the game.
This body should look like a basic nude body, but also include some type of wiring and or hook ups on the body resembling the fact that he has been experimented on in a lab. The body has not yet been decayed and may or may not yet be dead.
Give me 3 finished concepts for different variations of the body, and use 1 of them to complete your model. (basically use real pictures and paint over your hook up/wiring pieces.
All textures should be hand painted, because our game is going for a slightly less realistic look. Think , Rockstar's Bully, when making textures...
Also, keep your textures slightly darker than normal because our engine increases brightness by about 10%. Make sure that all textures and 3d files are named in a clear, logical, and concise way, with corrisponding model/texture names.
Deadline is up you, as you have stated, Thanks and I look foward to seeing your work
so, my mode of choosing was:
open this page's source, delete the lines uptill:
"title="Member # 5252">dj snyder</a></b>"
and then keep tapping the down button till I wanted to look up at the screen. When I did, I had reached acc's "ninja pirate".
SO! This rounds project is the ninja pirate, and I will name the project: Watashi, Kaizoku! (which means I, Pirate in japanese... oh btw "arigato guzeimas" urself acc
A cleaner "formal" post is gonna come next. That'll be where I'll place all the updates for this project in 'blog' format.
Thanks for all ur suggestions. They were great, and already I've got ideas on how to improve my skills (like the clay modelling, ideas about the switchable heads, and a link!)
I'm look forward to all the advice I can get (as soon as I get a chance to start working... got 2 weddings to attend this month
thanks again!
Topic Suggested: Ninja Pirate
Topic Interpretation: The suggested idea asks me to make a Ninja Pirate. This implies that the character is/may be from Japan. So, topic can be considered as Japanese Pirate. Since there is no time-period specification, it is open to choice. Hence, I may be making a futuristic Pirate from Japan, with all sci-fi implements etc. or a alternate history/fantasy style pirate, or a normal pirate!
PROJECT TITLE: WATSHI KAIZOKU!
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<u>WORK UPDATES:</u>
________________________
<u>1-4-07________Concept Work</u>
Seeing snowfly's work made be wanna strip my concept of colours and just go back to the lines. I want this to be 'cool' so i thought that i needed to spend more time on the basics. This guy is a bit more 'classical' as opposed to futuristic or fantasy-ic(?). He has a wineskin filled with Sake, and his right hand has a missing ring-finger so that his retractable blade can come out from there. Also, he has a Skull-and-Crossbones tat and a little neck-chain thingy too. His peg is gonna be made ornate, im thinking of making this guy look..... successful?
________________________
<u>1-4-07________Concept Work</u>
did some shading and took the advice about posing a model and using that as a guide. So this update includes the guide aswell as the 'new' concept. We've begun packing the cargo etc. so i've been busy. In other words, that's my excuse for not having _alot_ done
________________________
<u>30-3-07________Concept Work</u>
alrighty, picked a silhouette i liked and moved forward. i won't say i've abandoned the silhouetting entirely, just thought i'd pick 1 and see what i could do with it. This is real rough, and quick work. Hard brush only, nothing 'soft and fuzzy', and yes i know lines don't exist in real life, but still
________________________
<u>30-3-07________Silhouettes</u>
another set of thumbnails. well, okay, its the same set, with a few more added
________________________________________________________
________________________
<u>29-3-07________Silhouettes</u>
my first set of silhouettes for this project. I personally like "number 5" so far, with the weird back thing i got going on "number 3". I know some of these have more detail than there should be, but sometimes i get too focussed on a particular silhouette.
feel free to suggest or comment as u please
_____________
Which style are you going to do it in?
Realistic or cartoony?
and slaught, good question:
i figured that i wanted to practice making a realistic looking diffuse map for this one. Now i don't know if its possible to make a character cartoony, yet realistic... so i think i'll go with plain realistic this time around.
updated the post to include a few silhouettes, tell me what u think!
http://www.benregimbal.com/
Along with more new ones (on the same page, yes), on the lines of 'funny' i made a small midget-type character in the silhouettes,. tell me what u guys think!
any advice/comments etc. are welcome!
As far as being able to show your parents, really, you are going to have to grow up, It really comes down to becoming a better artist...Are you more worried about being able to show your parents, or making a living at this stuff?
I say do what you want, but everyone could use a good anatomy study...The nude man could be only mostly nude, and have bandages on the waist area...
Anyway, I think its kinda funny that you didn't choose a topic that was more on point with your goal, instead of one that someone threw out at you as a joke.
Dave
But... if you are still hyped up on doing the pirate then I would go with #5 it has the stronger pose. I suggest googling pics of pirates, ninjas and other japanese warriors and use them as reference, and pose some of your reference so that we can see what you are using. Referenece is key when starting a new model.
I think the suggested anatomy study model would help greatly. Surely your family wouldn't disapprove of a nude model if there's no err... reproductional organs?
as for anatomy studies, yes. Point. All of you: topless japanese pirate: coming up!!!
i'd like to stick with this topic for now (no... not cuz im lazy and i just wanna get on with it). but yes, next "round" will be one of the more 'mature' / anatomy study types. i guess i won't take more suggestions next time round, and just stick with ones that are already given?
as for traditional arts, yes, i bought a few kilos of clay, and i have enough pencils and paper at home, so i could obviously keep doing that.
hmm.... now i feel like i should "hurry" through this one. Should i go along the lines of #5 then? i liked that one and cridder likes it too. so thats 2 out of 2 "votes" lol...
alright... so another part of my workflow to improve: making the right choices!
further advice is always welome.
thanks guys for the advice: always helpful.
any advice is great!
i'm working on a school project currently (have to spend 80 hrs on a topic and study it and then do a presentation about it, i've been busy with it all year) and my mom found something very usefull yesterday. It's called mind mapping.
i tried it out and i think it is perfect for you
here is a link to the youtube little video about it.
then you can download the 30 day trial of a program that makes it easier at www.imindmap.com or you can just go with pencils and paper.
Good luck! hope it helps!
There is a world of difference between the shots on 3d.sk and sunnybabez.com - but you'd still learn from both.
A good book that may help you is Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. If you go through the books leasons like 3 times over you will clearly notice that your drawing skill has improved greatly.
Other then that stuff, I suggest still to never stop looking for referneces to draw from. Keep it up lets see an update
@ Rick_Stirling: hehe. lol yeah i know. but u need to see where i'm coming from (no not "India".) i don't wanna be like "oh damn! ALT TAB PPL!" when some1 walks into the room. But yeah, i could model "around" the sensitive parts. using bandages and stuff like the 'lab experiment' idea. oh and thanks for the name of that site!!! what? im talking about 3d.sk dammit!
@ Cridder: thanks for the heads up man. i took ur advice, and posted my ref up aswell as the 'new' concept. kinda' busy packing, so i can't ask any1 to pose for me, so decided to pose Arshs basemesh (thanks arsh). I'll c if i can get that book here. Sounds like it could be a good read if ur advice is influenced by it! As for refs, i have a few. Mainly just 'google' stuff. But i'll post them up and use them more and more as i go deeper into the concept. So far i've only seen pics of 'ninjas,' 'sakabatos' (thats a sword), 'katanas' and 'kodachis'. Just real "basic" stuff lol.
==
thnks for all the tips and advice guys. Updated the post, and... yeah that's about it.
look forward to more! thanks again!
PS: as in 'i am looking forward for more' not 'look forward for more updates...' but i mean... u should 'look forward for more updates.' i mean.... meh, i hope u understand. im not good with words, and don't necessarily need to be that gerat with them cuz I ANAL!
I told indian boy I might join in this thread to brush up on 3D, but I'm swamped with work plus a personal project deadline (whut? unheards of...) Thought I'd throw this up, even if it isn't complete. Up for grabs when it's done...
mind if i derive some inspiration?
i went back and redid the concept (somewhat). A more classical type Pirate. Tell me what u guys think. I'm working on cool-ifying this guy. Any tid-bits and tips are great!
Pound out some roughs one after another until you get the feeling of your characters structure. Once happy with one that looks correct then start drawing cloths, tinkets and other sorts of stuff. Not only that my do those even rough and make different mock ups and post them to see what other people think.
Another suggestion to when you start your cloths and stuff is to watch Pirates of the Caribbean, Sinbad and for futuristic watch Treasure Planet. Those should give you some great inspiration and ideas on the pirate side of things.
Keep up the hard work.
wow, great suggestions all around. love the detail some of the ideas went to! Its just unfortunate that most of them involve nudity... something I'm not willing to make as I prefer my pieces to be stuff I can show my parents /
[/ QUOTE ]
which sugestions involved nudity?
i'll come back on this project with full focus some time in May [from a whole new country hehe].
sorry guys. but not to worry, i haven't given up yet!
Sit down and try to look at how the mass of a human being compiles together. That way he explained to me you will be able to construct drawings, which read better.
He recommended to me these books though I am not sure if you may be interested in them or not but hey here they are.
George B. Bridgman, Constructive Anatomy, Heads Features + Faces, The Human Machine.
George B Bridgman is very good with anatomy and a lot of artists use his work to pool information and source references from.
Also try taking some life drawing classes, here you will have to draw or paint what you actually see, which is always good practice.
Though if you can't afford to go to the sessions grab a mirror and draw yourself or a friend or family member.
That way you will have to draw what you see making it look exactly or very similar to what your subject looks like in real life. This could help with your accuracy issues though there are probably better people, more experienced that could give you more relevant advice.
Those are my two cents though they arent worth much.
EDIT: why can't i edit that post?
UPDATE {10/05/07}
pencil sketch of the guy on plain A4 paper. I'll be honest and say i did use the eraser a few times... but i kept it as minimal as i could! Let's see... okay so i got most of my ideas on already, but i didn't complete the legs [cuz i suck at drawing them] cuz i couldn't think of anything 'clever' for them yet. At the right side are 2 other drawings. One is the symbol "Ka" [also on the gauntlet
so.... fire away!
ps: sorry for bad image quality. I don't have my scanner with me atm. so i had to use my digital camera in "not-so-good" lighting conditions.
UPDATE {09/05/07}:
weapons... there will be 2 swords [similar in looks] and one "modified" pirate gun, with like a silver dragon head type muzzle and whatnot. still rough ideas.
UPDATE {08/05/07}:
New background to make it easier to read [that was priority, lol]. Now then. Added a ponytail to the guy, along with some facial features. And he's got a new tat of the crossbones. Also, i removed my earlier idea of 2 curved blades and a broadsword. Mainly cuz the curved blades looked to arab and the broadsword is toooo western. Replaced them with two, more elegant, Kodachis. They will be, by the way, modified greatly to look more fantasy-types. Still have to name them, but a friend of mine suggested "ura" [dream] and "setsu" [illusion] which sound a bit too "pretty" for a pirate?
any thoughts are welcome.
Thanks in advance
UPDATE {07/05/07}:
Just got a bit of colour on this guy. Still looking for some sort of approval on the direction i'm taking? I need to learn how to paint realistic stuff on Photoshop. Any particular tutorials that you guys have looked to in the past?
Any comments and crits are welcome
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UPDATE {06/05/07}:
I've decided to completely redo my concept art. Mainly cuz the old art is in the comp that's on a ship right now, but otherwise because i thought that it'd be nice to try this other idea that had creeped into my head.
Still in it's early staegs, but thought i'd post it up for some crits. I wanted him to look big and bulky, kinda disproportionately. His huge belt will have a sculpted Oni roaring on it with glowy eyes and mouth. His gauntlet will have the japanese symbol "KA" inscribed on it [KA is the symbol of power btw]. These are all rough ideas.
A friend of mine already said that he's a bit tooo muscly. I just wanted get some more suggestions about that.
Once again, sorry for such a long absence.... its time to pick up the pace once again. I look forward to all your help. The sooner i finish this to satisfaction, i WILL do an anatomy-study model.
Thank you all in advance.
________________________________
please do post any comments and crits that u may have. Open to all suggestions {well, except: "Make an anatomy study u idiot!" cuz that'll be next. bear with me for now
peace
Still looking for some sort of approval on the direction i'm taking?
[/ QUOTE ]
I wouldn't if I were you, just choose something you think is cool and make it as best you can
but just go with what rooster said, as long as you have (kindof) in your head where your going you should be fine!
@Japhir - glad u like it. hmm... about the background.... must be cuz of contrast settings of the monitor etc. so i just redid the background. hope its easier to see.
im still looking for some solid tutorials on painting concept art in photoshop? i've seen some great work, which i wish i could imitate [emulate? wats the right word?]
well. oh yeah. update up top!
first thing's first: you are hereby banned from using photoshop to color your concepts until further notice. color is important, but your linework and overall traditional skills are too weak and need attention first. everything you learn with traditional art carries over to digital, so don't think you're wasting time by not spending time with photoshop.
keep your focus on linework only, and work on describing your forms and characters using lines only. stay away from shading even, if you can help it. these are all useful techniques and tools in their place, but you are not in any position to command them with any authority. you must learn to use the line only with some efficacy before proceeding further--think of it as mastering the use of a bokken before moving onto a real katana. start using the katana before you're ready, and you're liable to cut a finger off or worse
but here, instead of losing a finger, you're just going to keep putting up amateurish drawings with no growth. so if you really want to move forward on your drawings, then pay attention! for examples, look at my sketchbook pages from the trip that i uploaded--all of the drawings are in ball point pen (no erasing!) and have minimal to no shading. i prefer ballpoint pen to pencil because it's just what works best for me--you may find pencil better for you personally. try different hardnesses pencils, variety of different pens and see what's a good fit for you.
another very important consideration while drawing figures: always draw them at at angle, never head-on or from the side. that is, not until it's time to do the ortho. you think that by drawing head-on it's going to be easier, right? that you're saving yourself some trouble? guys like snowfly make it look easy, but that's from a practiced hand at this sort of thing--concepting a character from dead-on any angle is a guaranteed way to suck the life out of the drawing. compare it to drawing buildings: what's more exciting, a straight-on front or side view of a building, or a two or three point perspective? the same rules hold true for characters. whenever you're drawing them, try and have them turned somewhere near three-quarters to the "camera"--it will help you develop the detail and form that you definitely need to be working on at this point.
my third thought for you is to spend less time talking, and more time drawing. this is a typical hallmark of developing artists, don't worry about it--but your threads are always filled with descriptions of your badass characters, but the work itself bears out few of those details. not that you should stop thinking of little details and items and clothing, etc that will make your character more badass, it's just that you need to translate those sensibly into the drawing itself. don't tell us how badass he is, show us .
so here are the bullet points, in summary:
-bokken before katana. linework only for now, color and shading can come later.
-save the ortho views only for doing orthos. orthos kill developing concepts.
-show us the character, don't tell us about him. keep thinking about all those awesome details, but if it isn't really in the drawing, it doesn't exist to the rest of us.
hope this helps. you've come a long way already, and there's only greater things ahead of you if you keep yourself focused and dedicated--you will improve!
plus, a few questions if i may:
1) should i be worried about being neat? personally i don't think so.. but its good to know what "reality" may be.
2) when i draw the character, should he be posed "fancily", or just standing in a 'normal' pose. U may say that "for beginners, keep it simple" which i'll interpret as "pros make it funky"
3) is any expression or mood needed?
4) what level of detail should i head to?
once again, thank you Gauss for the elaborately explained set of pointers. They really do help, as sarcastic as my remarks may seem, and now, i will leap to my good old notebook and try using a pen. {no eraser? :gulps:}
by the way. i've posted an update. The weapons are "up" [so to speak]. I made them early today mornin, before seeing Gauss' suggestions, hence, they are still photoshopped.
indian_boy: i like the sword! follow gauss' critiques and you'll be fine!
start loose, very loose. this is why some people get in trouble with thumbnails--they're called "thumbnails" because they're supposed to be only about as big as your thumbnail. so that's the loosest step, be good and quick when you're sketching little thumbnails of possible characters.
find interesting shapes; this is when you're full speed ahead, just jumping from one idea to another on a page full of little ideas. then, once you've got a little something that works, you can slow down a little. here line quality still isn't a big deal, but you should be slowing down more than thumbnails--take a thumbnail and draw it twice as big or a little bigger than before (still pretty small, though) and get a better idea of where you're going.
now for a "real" concept, you'd probably go through successive revisions, based on feedback from an art director. so you do say 6-10 thumbnails to start with, he tells you to develop A, B, F, and G, and then you redraw those selected ones with better detail. then he says "combine A and F" and then you're down to one drawing, that's more details than the two steps previous. once he signs off on that drawing, then you get to a nice final drawing, and from that you develop the orthographic. make sense?
each step you move, neatness/precision becomes more of a factor. there's an implicit trade-off: line quality for energy. typically, the faster you draw, the more likely you are to impart freshness and energy to the sketch. the slower you draw, the more precise it will be, but you also run the risk of losing gesture and energy. make sense?
2) take another look at the sketches i posted: my characters never get terribly funky or fancy with their posing.
so my advice is not to go crazy as far as any foreshortening or extreme angles (ie, extreme high or extreme low camera angle, fish-eye), but feel free to explore different poses. it's good practice.
you'll get all the detail clearly with the ortho, so the important thing with the pose isnt necessarily readability, but how much it expresses the character's personality. if he's a ninja, well then he ought to stand like a ninja. is he a warped mutant clinging to only a few shreds of remaining humanity? well then his pose ought not look like a normal, upright walking human.
3) this one's related to pose--expression or mood should be consistent with what you're trying to achieve. with most manly-man characters in videogames, you can usually get away with the typical stoneface type expression, but generally you want to have it fit the personality, to further what the character is about.
4.) this is related to the first point. neatness in my mind is tied up with detail--the slower i go, the more detailed i get. so don't worry about details on your first iterations, but as you develop a character and then draw him bigger on the page, you'll add more detail. your ortho should be the most detailed of all. now when you're doing the ortho just for yourself to model later, sometimes you can skimp on certain things, but it's best to capture the character as best you can, since it's the final stage before coming to life as a model.
you're welcome, i hope these help. like i said, now is the time to see what works for you--just go and get as many different pens and pencils and doodle with each of them. you'll naturally gravitate to one or two that just feel right.
@Gauss: thank you Gauss. It makes sense... that's possibly the reason why i hadn't thought of this stuff yet...
now as per ur suggestions, the current sketch might actually be too neat, and unexpressive of "pirate," but i'll fix that stuff up [after developing some kind of confidence with poses etc.]
Also, i'd tried ball-point pen. Felt comfy at first, but i didn't like how the drawing looked at the end... Tried a pilot pen [ink right?] and that was nice, but only till the outlining was done. ditto for the Gel pen. Then i went straight back to pencil. I tried some various degrees, and felt that HB was my favourite, followed by harder varieties. I never really like the soft, smudgy ones. Thanks for this bit of advice too.
feel free to comment on the new drawing. all crits and suggestions and comments and tips are welcome, as always.
peace
anyway, it's definitely an improvement. some of the best developed forms i've seen from you. his face needs features, even vaguely suggested features will do.
here's a tip: one of the easiest way to draw a face is draw in some blacks for the eye sockets, a dash of black for where the shadow falls under the nose, another dash of black for the upper lip, and then a spot of black underneath the lower lip (and maybe some for the neck). you're not really drawing the face, you're just drawing blobs of shadow as it falls, but voila, and you've got a face:
so even if you don't feel like concentrating on getting the face right in a particular drawing, you can still ghost something in there as a token. blank faces are kinda distracting.
the drawing is pretty decent, but the level of finish doesn't really match the level of development for your concept--you need to step back and hash out interesting details. when i describe thumbnailing in my previous post, this is what i want to see:
it doesn't take long, like 10 minutes or less for that batch. and yes, they kinda suck. that's the first drawing i did today and wasn't really warmed up--that happens
from that batch none of the thumbs really stand out to me, so if i were trying to develop something, i'd just do another batch. a good thumbnail will jump out at you, you'll have no trouble picking the right one.
so nice work on that drawing, but it's time to go back a few steps. get some thumbnails in and discover and explore some more interesting bits for this character. remember the DomWar bit about not marrying your first girlfriend... and more generally, avoid that weird nagging sense that a character or idea will be "lost," if you stop working on it and go with something else. that's not true. everything you do (especially if you keep your old drawings--keep a sketchbook!) you have access to for later. an artist's body of work accumulates like a stalagmite building up from tiny bits of limestone in drops of water.
on another note, glad u like the drawing. the compliments are a good confidence booster. And i'll try out the 'face' thing you demonstrated, seems simple and still good!
oh, and i'll make them sequential from now on. i thought 'blog-format' would kinda help show the development... but wheni started doubting that, i'd already started
PS: if it _does_ look like i'm thread watching: its just a sign of {over}enthusiasm!!
peace, and thank you once again.
teach me anymore, and i'll have to start calling u Guru Gauss.... hmm.... interesting.
peace!
yes, as i just said, i think you need to go back to thumbnails now. i posted my thumbnail example for a reason--compare them to your thumbnails from the first page of this thread. we're not talking silhouettes. silhouette thumbnailing is well and good, and people got into it during the Dominance War, but it's far from the only technique. thumbnailing as i've described and shown an example of in the previous post is what i want to see from you.
your "1-4-07________Concept Work" Watashi drawing is a good example of the sketchiness level you should be shooting for, nice and quick, but smaller.
do thumbnail drawings as roughly the size of your thumbnail and do a normal full-sized sheet of them. do them quickly, it should take no more than 10-20 minutes. NO SHADING! NO FILLING IN SILHOUETTES! you got me?
the only single consonant in Japanese is "n". Everything else is paired with a vowel. Except for vowels, of course
oh craps! i sees it! the "Project Title"!! damn. my bad! thanks for pointing that out
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@Gauss - yay at the consequences! okay, so i guess i misunderstood thumbnails to be 'silhouettes' in general. now i know
oh and just wondering. do u literally mean the size of my thumbnail? i mean... thats like a few millimetres across.. and i can't draw such minute lines [can any1 other than Thumbelina?]
thank you for the clarification
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UPDATE:
okay, some rough and quick sketches, 2 became unfortunately big at the end. 2 of them are the big and bulky ones with some little differences to try some stuff out. The little guy at the bottom of the right page is what i'm liking at the moment... oh and i can proudly say: less eraser usage!
now that i know more or less what i should do... i'll go ahead and do that!
peace