Traditional Some of my Art

[Solekii]

Hey, I really love to draw digitally, and I've decided to post some of my art here. I might take requests for characters when I get to know this site better (I'm brand-new) but for now I'll take feedback and thoughts. There are plenty of mistakes and believe me, I see them amplified times twenty... but here's some art anyway.


Some sketches:


(This one is a character I made named "Alec")

(This one is named "Nellelune" or "Nells")

(A drawing of an android character named "Iden" and a creature I call a Wolfdragon. Yes, I know I need to shade more)

(Another Iden drawing... not as happy with this one. The fingers turned out horrible. Bad me. Same with the hair, I don't know what I was thinking with that limited texture)

(Here's Alec in colour and in the snow. Older drawing, like the Iden one. Little off, but I think it's alright)

(Alec headshot)

(This one is my character Nova as a little kid. I can't find a decent drawing of her normally... I'll have to do another one.)

(This one is Fey. I finally drew a background. Huzzah!)

That's what I'll post for now... any thoughts? Think I could do character drawings? These characters are for various ideas I had, by the way. How's the art? I know it can be improved...

 

[Skari-dono]

These are awesome. You're right about there being some minor mistakes, but overall they are very good

 

[Solekii]

Thank you very much.

 

[The Dark Wizard]

I agree with @Skari\-dono.


These are in fact awesome !

 

[Solekii]

Thank you.

 

[Wolf Rawrrr]

Nice! Wolf approves *bark*

 

[RiderontheStorm]

Wow, these are awesome. Nice work!

 

[Captain Hesperus]

You have a good sense of scale and proportion when it comes to the anatomy of your figures. Beyond the wireframes you've used in the first two, do you also you use other modelling tools? By that I mean, images of life models, poseable mannequins or the like. Your coloring is vibrant and your use of lighting and shadow effects are naturally subtle but still noticeable without being blatantly obvious.


As to the 'finger problem', don't sweat it. If Walt Disney drew all his characters wearing gloves because he hated drawing hands, I think you can be let off with a few errors!


Captain Hesperus

 

[Solekii]

[QUOTE="Captain Hesperus]You have a good sense of scale and proportion when it comes to the anatomy of your figures. Beyond the wireframes you've used in the first two, do you also you use other modelling tools? By that I mean, images of life models, poseable mannequins or the like. Your coloring is vibrant and your use of lighting and shadow effects are naturally subtle but still noticeable without being blatantly obvious.
As to the 'finger problem', don't sweat it. If Walt Disney drew all his characters wearing gloves because he hated drawing hands, I think you can be let off with a few errors!


Captain Hesperus

[/QUOTE]
I used to have one of those wooden mannequins but to be perfectly honest, those things are terrible. Real life works better, or just finding basic anatomy pictures/rules on google (like figures and such). I use resources less now unless I need a specific position. Sometimes I even take pictures of myself as reference for positioning, but after practice I think I've got basic anatomy pretty much down. At least for my style, that is.


Also, that is good to know. xP Hands are my downfall. So many bones....

 

[RiderontheStorm]

Ugh. I hate drawing hands so much. I avoid it as much as I can. :L

 

[KyoDemer]

You are your own worst critic, or something like that.


What software do you use?

 

[Solekii]

You are your own worst critic, or something like that.
What software do you use?

Manga Studio 4 and a cheap free program for blending the shading. I'd get Manga Studio 5, but it was a tad expensive.

 

[PixelWitch]

Woo! A Fellow Artist!


If you're looking for a little bit of advice and feedback, then here's some stuff I learned along my way~


1. Do life drawing! Soooo much life drawing! I cannot stress it enough. Stalk family members if you have to. I spent many a night sketching my parents and siblings while they watched TV, and random strangers on the bus. You're very much on the right track with the grid-lines, but life poses will help you with perspective and depth of field. It might seem boring or a pain in the butt, but learning to draw just what you see and not what you think you should put on a page cos it looks right is a big skill to have.


2. Mess with mediums. You'd be stunned which ones you're good at that you've never tried before. Manga Studio is pretty great, but limited in its creative capacity. Try to get your hands on Paint Tool SAI. It's a godsend. Some good old Google-fu can get you a free endless trial version. Play about in it. Photoshop is good too. More clean cut and precise.


3. Different styles. That doesn't mean to change your own personal style. It'll mold with time, with experimentation. I adore anime/manga style but creatively it's a trap for complacency and becomes boring and samey. Do drawing challenges. Try drawing Adventure Time, Warner Brothers, Disney, Tim Burton, Panty and Stocking, Dr.Suess, surrealism or hyper realism. Mixing it up stops your drawings from looking flat and your characters from looking like clones.


4. You mentioned finding drawing hands being a pain. Well, avoiding drawing them isn't going to make you any better at them either! Fill pages and pages with hands. HAAANDS. Doesn't matter if they suck, you're learning. You'll find which ones work and which wont. Another thing I should probably mention, keep practicing on faces as well. It's the most important characteristic of anything you make. Which brings me to my next point.


5. Please, please don't take it too harshly, but you're placing the eyes too high on the skull. The forehead is too small and the bridge of the nose is too long. I've learned in my various scribbles, that if you draw out a face, and draw a line horizontally right through the centre, that's where the eyes should be~! And the ears run parallel from the top of the eyes, and stop at the mouth! And your feet = size of your head = length of wrist to forearm. Also length of heel to knee/knee to butt/butt to shoulder is all the same length. Your arms are always the length that your elbow fits snuggly onto your hip bone. Measure the width of your neck, your shoulders should be the same width either side of it, so that's where your arms start. And if you're measuring a standing figure, draw the height mark and floor mark and cut it in perfect half sideways. Top half is body, bottom half is legs. Seriously, measure yourself if you don't believe me!


6. I'm almost done, don't worry! Last is lighting. You've got a good grasp of the basics for providing depth to a body, but you could push it sooooo much more. Try to shade something only using monochrome. It'll make you think about where to place a light source and to stick with it, rather than just a plain overall matt light. How you light something completely changes how it's viewed and the tone it takes. So be bolder! Try harsher lights and darker shadows. Try stuff that glows and reflects off shiny things. Try silhouettes or profiles. Try one source or multiple in the one picture! Go maaaaaad!


... Wow I talk too much.


But yeah, just the first few things that immediately came to mind when I looked at them. I don't consider myself an expert and I never will be, but I hope the advice that was given to me should be helpful to you! I hope it didn't sound preachy or pedantic, but you're on the right track, and it's always good to see fellow artists about!


Keep up the good work!

 

[aizo]

A great start! The best way to get better in all respects is to practice as much as you can, every day. As has been said above, try drawing as much from reality as possible, it will help you with visualizing your own unique, realistic looking perspectives and worlds. Again, very nice!