Pyr's Arts Dump thread
polycounter lvl 12
Latest STUFF.
Original Post
Thanks for all the feedback I have received. I'm going to focus on improving my skills. A general thread will be a better solution than project-based thread. Cleaner forum :P ?
Would appreciate any help to improve.
At this point, I'm focusing on the drawing and the anatomy. I draw from pictures, and I sometimes draw from my mind, just to test myself.
At the moment, I'm mostly concerned about upper body and hips... Or lack thereof hip bones...
These next two I drew from my mind. Starting from stick figures, adding muscles and form on top.
http://gyazo.com/fe3c9168e0230a60323f915e7f638323.png
http://gyazo.com/3b1af01b9dffb3f46507bd7f08ecf7e1.png
These three I drew from pictures.
http://gyazo.com/3fc7f18baa0f6a96de849501ac5da9a4.png
http://gyazo.com/3d1694490a96a93c2f915195e12cc547.png
http://gyazo.com/c01c2f32e8a7217a5e6135769f9b70cd.png
Original Post
Thanks for all the feedback I have received. I'm going to focus on improving my skills. A general thread will be a better solution than project-based thread. Cleaner forum :P ?
Would appreciate any help to improve.
At this point, I'm focusing on the drawing and the anatomy. I draw from pictures, and I sometimes draw from my mind, just to test myself.
At the moment, I'm mostly concerned about upper body and hips... Or lack thereof hip bones...
These next two I drew from my mind. Starting from stick figures, adding muscles and form on top.
http://gyazo.com/fe3c9168e0230a60323f915e7f638323.png
http://gyazo.com/3b1af01b9dffb3f46507bd7f08ecf7e1.png
These three I drew from pictures.
http://gyazo.com/3fc7f18baa0f6a96de849501ac5da9a4.png
http://gyazo.com/3d1694490a96a93c2f915195e12cc547.png
http://gyazo.com/c01c2f32e8a7217a5e6135769f9b70cd.png
Replies
Fixed her cranium line.
I would recommend that you draw the face and a rough indication of hair, as well. Right now, the heads seem really placeholder. You're not really drawing what you see in the photo. Instead, you put in a standard anime base head, with the typical pointy chin and shallow eye sockets. You will make much better progress if you study the person in the photo more, and try to capture their unique features.
It can be hard to identify such style habits, because they have gotten so ingrained in you and seem so normal to you. You may think you are drawing a person's actual features, but an outsider could readily tell you are drawing the same anime or cartoon face that you've always drawn.
However, here's a little trick that may help to break this habit:
-First, find a photo you would like to draw and print it out (or find something that's already on paper).
-Make a drawing based on the photo. Try to keep it more or less at the same size as the original photo.
-Then, take a new sheet of paper, and trace the photo. If it's hard to see and you don't have a light box, you can put it against the window to trace (provided that there is daylight).
-Put your initial drawing and the traced version side by side. The simplicity of the traced version allows you to see much more easily in which areas you are reverting to your style habits, rather than actually drawing what you see. You may be surprised to find how thick or thin the limbs really are, or what angles they really have, or where exactly certain muscles sit. It can be quite shocking and eye-opening at times!
-After identifying your problem areas, make a new drawing based on the photo (without looking at the traced version or your previous drawing).
-Once you've done that, you can compare your first drawing with your last one to see how you've improved.
-After that, you can make one final drawing, from the top of your head, to see how well you remember everything.
On a side note, I would like to mention that it's much better to draw from life than from a photo. A photo is already a 2D representation. It won't change perspective if you move your head a little. It's conveniently framed by the edges of the photo, and you can put it side by side with your drawing, making it much easier to just copy without really thinking.
You will learn much more drawing simple objects around your house, and draw yourself using a mirror. Draw your pet if you have one. Draw your friends! It may seem a little mundane, but it will super-power your skills!
I have been using this as makeshift lightbox for awhile now, it works :P Just put LED lights inside and face it upward. Done. and Cheap.
http://i00.i.aliimg.com/photo/v0/413256508/DOCUMENT_BOX.jpg
Not sure I could get life model to draw, but I will try. I live by myself.
I will try this again. <_<"
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c248/ASNZern/Drawing4.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1421113_10151961310100115_302874481_o.jpg
More than anything though you need to draw from life. You should take a figure drawing class with an instructor or find places in your area that do drawing salons. Its hard to learn how to draw the figure if you never get to see one in front of you.
Note, though, there was volume drafting in my sketch, but I erased them after all is done. Should I have kept those volume lines instead ?
And thanks for the link of the book ! Looks great so def gonna check it out. Price tag, though
Anyway,
So I pick one of my basemesh. Smooth-destroyed everything, then dynamesh it once. After an hour of sculpting in the muscle structure, this is what I get. Also just start using drawing tablet
Gonna work lots more on her abdominal for sure.
Her head is a bit off proportion, but I will work even more on it.
The head looks a bit small on this right now.
Also I put up a placeholder for her hair.
I hope I am getting better.
Also, ref I use. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/463448617875613061/G]
I think I got the end of his left sleeve wrong. Wrinkles look totally off.
But this dude does have quite small head.
Retop his hat. Add more details to shoes and the cane. Mermaid next. Then back to his left sleeve.
A few hours in so far.
Also gonna try this for bandages. http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?178522-Mummy-Wraps-Bandages-Technique-with-SliceCurve-amp-Panel-Loops
Armwraps look a little off from the concept. Legwraps look sloppy, lol. Torsowraps could use some more work, obviously ;P Will also retopo her torso garment.
Edit: Oh, maybe because I had portions of the basemesh hidden...
Mhmmm, how to best upload a turntable vid/gif.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152074739595115&l=2868889457820179907
Did a first pass on her hair. Gonna have to look up samurai's hair flow for this.
Don't take this the wrong way cause it's probably going to come off as really harsh. But you got to learn to walk before you can run.
You've got a huge issue with anatomy in general. The best thing you could do for yourself is to go checkout a bunch of medical anatomy books from the library or anatomy for artists books. If you have the money buy an ecorche off anatomytools.com.
Then spend the next year studying and memorizing human anatomy. Sculpt it, draw it, say the names of muscles aloud as you do so. Learn the shapes and volumes of muscle groups and how they interlock into each other.
If you do this and put enough time and effort into really learning it I promise you will see huge leaps and bounds in your artistic ability. If you learn the fundamentals of human anatomy you can then move on to character design, shape language etc. Even if you design a monster the anatomy has to be based in reality, if it doesn't it won't look right. It's one of the main differences between an amateur and professional artist.
Bottom line is that no matter how cool a character idea is it will fall apart and look like shit if the anatomy underneath doesn't support the design structure. But a weak character idea will still hold up strong if the underlying anatomy supports it.
Stop doing full characters, focus on male and female naked forms.
Good luck.
You are right about anatomy, as many times I have no idea if what I make is right or is off proportion or not. I just trying my best to match the concept art and the references, but surely having the knowledge and understanding is gonna be better.
I will do more of anatomy practice, but I can't just stop making characters. It's how I learn technique and approach to sculpting. And Monthly Noob Char Challenges and GameArtisans' ComiCon Challenge will start on the 1st as well. That's gonna be great learning experience.
I have been doing box modeling for 1-2 yrs. Maybe a few months with ZBrush. Each piece I make usually take 2-4 weeks, some only sculpt, some are full game-res models.
I agree with not hiding the face with a mask though. I will see if I can make the mask half hanging, maybe wind blows it open or something, to show the face underneath. Or she pulls the mask down under her chin.
Added:
Right, I have yet to show her face underneath. I was pushing her face in a little bit when I was making the tight face wraps. So, now I'm fixing that
I went ahead and did a paint over on your face because there are a lot of problems that need addressing.
Here is a gif with my suggested changes.
Notes:
You should find a lot of good reference for facial proportions and use it while sculpting. Your face in general is elongated vertically more than it should be. The mouth / nose area feels like it's melting off her head. The ears are placed too far back and too low on her skull. The jaw area feels like there's no jaw bone underneath the skin. The lips and mouth are feeling very small in comparison with the rest of her face. The nose is very long vertically and in extrusion from the face giving a mannish feel from the side / perspective view. The ridge above the eye should make a smoother transition to the forhead and the shapes of the eyes are not feeling human. The neck is too long and narrow and the way you've sculpted the sternocleidomastoideus muscle feels like it's not going to connect to the collar bone.
Always use anatomy reference whenever you are sculpting. If you're free balling it without looking at reference you're either not learning anything or feel you're better than Michelangelo level as far as anatomy mastery :P.
Keep at it, good luck.
Some ref I use are...
Anyway, I'm now slightly concerned if my perception of beauty is twisted or warped or not.
I fixed some immediate issues at hands before crashing for the night. She looks like a totally different person now ! (I can't tell if for better or worse) She looks more... generic ? I would love to one day be able to go for unique face and still anatomically correct. I mean, there must be a reason why most pretty female chars in videogames have very similar faces. (now I am more concerned than earlier about my perception)
See you all when I wake up, and I will take a look at all this again with fresh eyes.