The Irregulars -- An Art Improvement Group

[stark]

Roran Hawkins said
Ooh, I like this. Can I be signed up again so I can bug you with my horrible anatomy once more? :3

Absolutely you can. I'll add you to the list right now. ^_^

[Roran Hawkins]

I shall immediately commence by psting one of my latest works here, my character's future looks in the Naruto Rise of the New Generation RP on this forum. Disregard the guy on the left, I didn't put enough effort into him and his anatomy and perspective are an abomination. The middle guy is also a tad too thin, and I didn't fix these issues because scanning and uploading is such a hassle ^^;

Drawing

[Rare]

It looks better than when I try to draw a body xD

Anyways, I wouldn't be active in this topic until I get my drawing pad (on the fifth of August).

[enkas]

Woop, I'd like to tag along with this again.

And here's one of the newer things that I dare to show in this thread.
http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/133/f/8/samurai_by_enkas-d7iam5j.png

[stark]

Roran Hawkins said
I shall immediately commence by psting one of my latest works here, my character's future looks in the Naruto Rise of the New Generation RP on this forum. Disregard the guy on the left, I didn't put enough effort into him and his anatomy and perspective are an abomination. The middle guy is also a tad too thin, and I didn't fix these issues because scanning and uploading is such a hassle ^^;

Well, your figure work has definitely improved since I last saw something from you. These guys aren't feeling like they're way too thin to carry the weight of their armor, which is a definite step up. I think the only thing I'd suggest doing some studies on right now is the jawline/neck area -- where the two connect. Your jawlines are scooping a bit too long/high under the ear, which is making it feel like the skull connects a bit oddly to the neck -- if you look at some references in similar poses you'll see what I mean. Otherwise, your proportions are looking pretty good. Nice improvement!

[nichinichisou]

I want to sign up for this. I'm actually trying to do some animations and some other things as well as drawing all of the time in my spare time.

[stark]

enkas said
Woop, I'd like to tag along with this again.And here's one of the newer things that I dare to show in this thread.

Awesome -- I'll add you to the roster!

paintover

You need to do some anatomy studies -- not only will it help you create less stiff feeling poses, it'll also help you to know how to render your lighting and correctly drape your clothing. By knowing how the shoulders sit, I can then hang my fabric accordingly -- notice how the shoulders on yours feel almost puffy compared to mine? It's because you're not sure where the muscles are sitting. (As an example.) By understanding how the facial planes sit, I can then add in lighting and shadow in a more convincing way. Take where you have the nose, for instance -- you don't know how to construct the underside of a nose -- I can tell that you're guessing. And that's ok; it just means that you need to do some studies to beef up your knowledge. (NBD. I still have to do anatomy studies, too. It's a never-ending thing because the body is so complex!)

Values. Your piece needs more contrast to help define lighting directions and the shapes you're trying to render. Don't be afraid to pick brighter brights and darker darks -- they can only help you! Notice how when I start adding in darker shadows and a few more highlights you can now definitively tell the direction the light is going. (Even though it's a cloudy/subtle lighting.) You should do some still life work to help you become more comfortable with painting ranges of value. (Still life works are wicked helpful for improving at rendering lighting. Seriously. Can't recommend them enough.)

Now, this last bit has to do with storytelling elements and atmosphere. I think you meant the white bits to be falling snow? (At first I thought it was a pattern on his kimono/robe thing, but then I noticed some of it against the greenish mountains in the background and figured it had to be snow.) Let me ask you this -- if it's cold enough to be snowing on the ground level, wouldn't those hills/mountains behind him have snow on them? It always snows at higher elevations first because it's much colder up there. So, I'd either make the mountains snowcapped or ditch the snow in the foreground -- you can't have both, really. Secondly, your guy is standing on flat ground in front of the viewer -- so why are the clouds slanting down to the lower left side of the picture? If he's standing on flat ground, the clouds should mirror that. (They always line up with the horizon.) If you meant for the piece to be drawn at a more dynamic Dutch angle (a.k.a. when a piece is slanted for drama), then you still have to paint the clouds to mimic whatever horizon line you choose. (Meaning the guy would have to be tilted as well.)

As far as the atmosphere goes, do some studies of cloudy days. You get a lot of atmospheric fading as things recede into the background. Take a look at this picture I took the other day from the top of Rockefeller Center.

atmospheric perspective

Look at the way things in the distance fade out. All the moisture and particles in the air on a cloudy day (and sometimes even on sunny days if there's enough moisture and dust in the air) obscure things as they get further away from the viewer. The more distance there is between you and an object, the more atmospheric perspective there is between you and the objects. Keep this in mind when doing backgrounds to help establish depth in your paintings. When you fade that mountain out a bit and darken the Samurai in the foreground, he starts to pop out a bit against the further away background. The more you exaggerate that, the further the background will feel from the foreground. I'd suggest looking at pictures (and while walking around in life) and trying to pick out how things look in the distance to you, versus how your foreground elements. When you start seeing/understanding how atmosphere works, it'll really help to bump your pieces ahead.

LowKey123 said
I want to sign up for this. I'm actually trying to do some animations and some other things as well as drawing in my spare time.

Sure thing. I'll add you to the list, too.

[nichinichisou]

nooooooooo it came out with terrible quality
oh well, my first animation uploaded. 20 minutes went by too fast with this.


I am going to try full body animation a week or two from now, so maybe it'll look better!

EDIT: now have a more accurate representation of my drawing style


EDIT2: NOW HERE'S AN ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF MY 1 MINUTE OR LESS SKETCHES

[stark]

@LowKey123: Not bad for a first attempt at animation. I don't really know much about animation, so I can't really offer you any help in that area.

As far as the drawings go, it's interesting to see quick sketches, but I'd be curious to see something that you've maybe put more effort into so that I can gauge where your skill level is really at.

[Mecha]

Count me in. Wasn't able to join up on this before the Guild went down.

[stark]

Mecha said
Count me in. Wasn't able to join up on this before the Guild went down.

I'll add you to the roster!

[nichinichisou]

ignore the picture, I was practicing something
but I did something too

[sheeplon]

i'm not quite sure how i'd join this, but i'm interested o:

[stark]

No problem, Sheep. I'll add you to the roster and then you can just start posting your work up whenever you're set. ^_^

@Lowkey -- what were you practicing that necessitated the other piece of artwork? (And who does it belong to?) Again, with the sketch, it's difficult to gauge where your skill level is at because it's so messy. Do you always sketch this haphazardly? If so, try doing your rough sketch on one layer, then use another layer for the draw-over. (That way you can delete all the messy sketch marks afterwards and be left with the cleaner drawing.)

[Totts]

I'm new to art.

Like completley new.

My grade in art hasn't improved since i was 4 years old, and I'm in my teens now, could anyone teach me the bare basics of drawing or how to manipulate a pencil properly?

I know I seem stupid making this post, but any help at all is apprciated.

[Vordak]

Try out drawing real life stuff. That is the most important thing one can ever suggest - gaining expirience in drawing real stuff. First of all, try something geometricaly simple and prefferably of white color, so that you can easily see the shadow. A paper cube, pyramind, a marble (sphere) - EVERYTHING can be simplified as a construction made out of such figures, and when you understand how these objects appear to the eye, you can simplify and understand the form of nearly any other object. For example, you see a head, but start off with drawing a sphere, instead of a contour. With the help of this simplification, you can procede to create a 3 dimensional form, drawing the head as a whole, not seperate pieces of flat contour.

Combining the understanding of form with raw experience, you soon will be able to draw what you want to, as it is understanding you need to create art and not just copy real life. If you just draw what you see, you wont be able to draw what you imagine.

[sheeplon]

cool, thanks man! i have something that i recently drew but it's pretty stylized, i'll have some of my observational sketches up later hopefully

img

@Totts
the references that sherlock put on the front page are some good resources, but really, you just need to draw, the more you draw the better you get
observational drawing is, in my own experience, the best way to get better. even if you aren't going for realism learning how things work will improve your art in general
of course if you want to do something specific, like hand studies, you can always google these things and get a million resources for you to use
if you have something specific youre interested in drawing though, i could try and help you find more on that o:

[Totts]

my start in art

looks like that's not working, here's the link: http://imgur.com/pouCyZo

What should I try next?

[Vordak]

The same, but with perspective applied. Read about how constructing those figures in perspective is done, and that will help you a lot in actualy making them look proper. Also, try drawing from some photos: people, animals, houses, vases - whatever appeals you.

[Mixtape Ghost N]

I'm interested in this, I have been trying to learn how to draw since the start of the new year, and I believe that I have improved a bit. But, what I draw tends to be trace over art I see on tumblr, I'm not sure if it's cool if I post it here. I'm not claiming it as my own.

So, I'd like to join.