OotS Style Art/Fanart Showcase IV

[Tiffanie Lirle]

I mainly use the 'Rate the Avatar' thread which is probably not the best place for improving my artistic talent.

I would agree with you there. I see the rate the avatar thread as a load of crock. It's basically a "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" affair. Harsh or valid criticisms on an avatar are often avoided entirely out of the sake of friendship, fear of retribution or just not wanting to be "that guy".

But maybe I'm just a killjoy.

People have said the colour transitions were rather harsh but I had really no way of fixing them that I liked. What do you all think? Any advice to how better do colour transitions like this in the future?

The easiest solutions that comes to mind for the upper/lower body transition would be to either use a gradient, add a black line or cheat and cover the transition area with an object or clothing, like a belt for example.

On a related note, you could make the arms a little longer.

Annnnyways-

[Cuthalion]

Nice job. The shading is good, but the feet are weird(is she on tip-toes?) and a face might help. Clothes look great.

[Crimmy]

Pinkie pointed me to this thread, I don't know why I never thought to post here before. I mainly use the 'Rate the Avatar' thread which is probably not the best place for improving my artistic talent.

It seems I'm always That Guy when it comes to that thread. I am a natural critic with OotS Style.

This is the Gnome Cecaelia avatar I'm wearing for Aquatic week. People have said the colour transitions were rather harsh but I had really no way of fixing them that I liked. What do you all think? Any advice to how better do colour transitions like this in the future?

I'd say: Give the hair more "lone" strands. It's underwater, but it doesn't react in the same way that wet hair does while on dry land. Imagine the hair is "blowing in the wind" only, instead of wind being the main fluid, it's water. The hair will react the same, it will have some strands move one way, and some another. Check my own avvie for that, you'll see that the hair goes in one general direction, but it splits in different directions.

The hair shading, I suggest you go for something specific. My hair shading usually comes as some lines acting like "dark strands" of hair, and some shaded sections, acting like "hair under shadow". It's quite nice, and with some thinking of your own, you'll find your own style for hair shading.
(Also, I use a tablet for drawing in Paint, so that is kinda cheating from my part.)

@Cuthalion Ah, the hair colouring is purposefully Paintish. I was emulating Crimmy's style with that

Thanks. =)

I would agree with you there. I see the rate the avatar thread as a load of crock. It's basically a "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" affair. Harsh or valid criticisms on an avatar are often avoided entirely out of the sake of friendship, fear of retribution or just not wanting to be "that guy".

This guy.

But maybe I'm just a killjoy.

You're not.

Annnnyways-

Remember that other time I suggested the shadow mimicking the shape of the hair? Try that, and you're aces.

Also, the feet could do with some work, as Cuth pointed out. Though I'm not sure if the tip-toeing works with stick feet.

Maybe add a little more "weight" to the right side (our left) of the dress she's lifting. Those clothes are always heavy, so the cloth naturally drops, like in her left side (our right).

@Cuth: No face, you should have noticed the idea precisely is that the character shouldn't show her face, just her somewhat devilish smile.

@Gulaghar: I know, the idea was that it should creep people up about Aquatic week, specially because of my own experiences with the sea (I almost drowned twice in the same beach at different points in time, not with seaweed, I was simply too weak to swim when a tide pulled me in-sea-de (badum-tss).

[Gullara]

You know, I should start posting here more than once every couple weeks or whatnot. It would make my life so much easier. Flood of avis incoming after a couple comments.

@Crimmy: Yikes. Well you definitely accomplished your goal as far as I'm concerned.

@Tiff: I like this one. The clothing is very well done, and you manage to make curtsying look good. *Has had trouble with it in the past* I think hving most of the legs concealed helps with that. *nodnod* I quite like the half shadowned face + smirk expression too.

And here we go. Hopefully these dumps will be more spread out in the future. <.<

Hekta:

She was fun to draw. I'm so glad I was able to draw the wings spread, because I hate drawing folded wings. >.<

Admer:

Pretty simple picture for the first one. The later was more difficult since pixies are so tiny. The pixie is his fiancee, Tinseltwig. (You've seen a proper picture of her before.)

Prism and Scylla:

Two part starspawn twin girls. Aren't they adorable? (Creepy is an acceptable substitute.)

Pavati:

A mer-like interpretation of a selkie. As a note, those lines above her eyes are whisker-like hairs.

Trisha:

Fanservice! D= A mildly silly request.

Jezebel:

Another request by the same person. I'd call this fanservice as well, but apparently this is pretty tame for her. <.<

Irena:

An update of an old avi since she got an appearance change and my art has improved since then. She's a naiad, which explains the last picture.

Nadia:

Made a new version of her as well as updating the hair on the old one. The hair is supposed to be made up of a red liquid.

Lisa:

This is actually the same character. Her skin tone and hair colour change with the seasons. *nodnod*

Sophie:

You know, every other attempt I've had to make pistols turns out badly. I'm happy with this one, however.

Jefferies:

Her hair was interesting. It's half shaved off, so it took a little fiddling to make it look right.

Mimi (new dress):

This was a bit of a challenge. I actually had to edit it after doing it once since the pattern on the dress was too fine for avi size.

Misha:

A new version of an old avi. Mostly because she has clothes now. Kinda, barely.

Sequoia:

Yet another dryad. This one attached to a redwood tree. The hair promised to be a lot more difficult, but I think I managed not bad.

You may also note the new style of eyebrows in a couple of the pictures. I decided to abandon the usual oots unibrow style. I think I prefer this.


There, that's it. You may all flee before the towering wall of avis now.

[Abscondcrow]

I would agree with you there. I see the rate the avatar thread as a load of crock. It's basically a "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" affair. Harsh or valid criticisms on an avatar are often avoided entirely out of the sake of friendship, fear of retribution or just not wanting to be "that guy".

But maybe I'm just a killjoy.

The easiest solutions that comes to mind for the upper/lower body transition would be to either use a gradient, add a black line or cheat and cover the transition area with an object or clothing, like a belt for example.

On a related note, you could make the arms a little longer.

Annnnyways-
*snip*

This is the cutest, yet creepiest avatar I've seen so far. The only problem I can see is that the feet. I can't put my finger on it, but they look "wrong" some how. I think perhaps you should flip the curve of the foot part? /2cent comment.

On a side note.. I really need to make more avatars.. But I'm feeling ill

[AsteriskAmp]

One starts to wonder why you're bothering to stick with OotS style. You're clearly trying to progress beyond it. At this point it seems like all it's doing is holding you back.

I've been doing out of OoTS ventures. Just returning and experimenting with styles I've gone over.

You mean Grave Augustina?

My name is revealed. I must now fled to the basement of an Opera House!

I would agree with you there. I see the rate the avatar thread as a load of crock. It's basically a "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" affair. Harsh or valid criticisms on an avatar are often avoided entirely out of the sake of friendship, fear of retribution or just not wanting to be "that guy".

But maybe I'm just a killjoy.

I have prove of that, my avatar was rated there. How one can rate abstract art is beyond me, much less when it is produced by a mix of me throwing paint to a canvas and twirling brushes randomly, then scanning it and applying random photoshop filters.

The easiest solutions that comes to mind for the upper/lower body transition would be to either use a gradient, add a black line or cheat and cover the transition area with an object or clothing, like a belt for example.

Gradients are tricky, they seem out of place with counted exceptions. Solid line or cheating with a belt seem the best options.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The final member of the party, and probably the most important component of any game... the DM

Spoiler

Show

[Tiffanie Lirle]

Thanks for the tips everyone. Just a quick note since it's been asked a lot, she's not tip-toeing.

The avatar was supposed to be curtsying. So the foot on the right is supposed to be on the toes, bending slightly down while the left one stays flat on the ground. Spent some time trying to fix the feet, but couldn't get anywhere without drastically changing the pose. *Shrugs* A lot of other stances I tried drawing made it look like she was just standing there lifting her dress. Open for suggestions.

I did fix the shading on the face though and am working on making the dress hanging down properly.

Spoiler

Show

Currently

[Crimmy]

Thanks for the tips everyone. Just a quick note since it's been asked a lot, she's not tip-toeing.

The avatar was supposed to be curtsying. So the foot on the right is supposed to be on the toes, bending slightly down while the left one stays flat on the ground. Spent some time trying to fix the feet, but couldn't get anywhere without drastically changing the pose. *Shrugs* A lot of other stances I tried drawing made it look like she was just standing there lifting her dress. Open for suggestions.

I did fix the shading on the face though and am working on making the dress hanging down properly.

Yay!

The curtsying... hmm...

[smuchmuch]

You could enlarge the line for the foot that's not standing on it's toes ?

[Kymme]

I feel as if I should post some of my work, and see if anyone has any advice.

Spoiler

Show

Griiass.

Kuja.

And an Updated Kyuss.

[Cuthalion]

I'm planning to make some LOTR avvys soon. Maybe one or two today.

Like this:

Spoiler

Show

[Crimmy]

Body is too wide for such a small head. Arms are too long.
The hair looks odd with those straight lines all over the place. Feet look awkward.
Pose looks awkward as well, you should try to add more "movement" to make it more dynamic.

Also, try to keep the lines (outlines, arms and legs) consistent with one line width.

EDIT: Also, try to keep the doubleposting to the minimum. There is an Edit button for that.

EDIT EDIT:
MMMMMMMMPPHHHHH!!!

[Derjuin]

Just finished a request:



Based off of this. I've been told it's something Dragon Agey, but I've never played it so I dunno!

Bigger version:

Spoiler

Show

[Doorhandle]

Evidence I shouldn't be given too much free time or vacations...

My Pbp party done in LO-HD style.


And now to finish taken requests...

...Mor take me, it's beautiful!

[Cuthalion]

Just finished a request by Lateral a bit ago.

Spoiler

Show

[Gnomish Wanderer]

@Cuthalion Whoa, the arms and legs are crooked! Somebody get those people a doctor! No, you really should try to make them curved instead of bent like that, OotS has noodle arms and legs.

Lateral himself, I like the suit he's wearing and the invisible effect is pretty well-done. You did make the arms too long again. His shoes look blob-ish and the cap is pointy, you should smooth it out.

Also there's something wrong with the eyes in this one. Lateral's are too small and the people in the back only have 1! To clarify you can almost always make out two eyes or zero eyes (back of the head), showing just one is awkward.

The line weight is pretty good, though I'm terrible at line weight, but you did capture that closer things are thicker and all that.

Last point, the other background details should have been expanded on. The two people just have coloured bodies, you should have given them simple clothing. I like all three sets of hair, those are alright. The table and chairs are alright, the chairs look really flat but they're passable for the style. I love the fork but hate the knife. Lastly, I'd redo the flowers.

Hope this review is helpful!

[CrimsonAngel]

To add something about what Gnomish said about the clothing, even just pants and sleeves would make them look better/more unique. Brighter colored shirts would be good too.

Also, if you look in a comic like this one: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0384.html you can see that having the characters sit at an angle is more visually pleasing than having them facing the side. @_@

__________________________________________________


I made a new avatar for myself, here's a bigger, more spread out version:

Spoiler

Show

She's an illusionist. u_u She's also, once again, from the video game Guild Wars 2. I have a habit of getting attached to characters I make in video games.

Spoiler

Show

[Gnomish Wanderer]

@CrimsonAngel Nice, I like it. The outfit is really cute, great work. Only thing I don't really like is the short hair (or is that shading?) on the side of the head, it just looks too wavy.

My Newest Avatar:

Spoiler

Show

[Cuthalion]

Two alternatives:
Didn't quite finish this one, but added a de-glow.

Settled on this for now.

[Crimmy]

My Newest Avatar:

Spoiler

Show

[IMG]

Nice lighting on the hat. Enough pockets, nice line thickness. The only thing I want to point out is the hair/head. It feels as though the head is flattened in the back. The hair in the back of the head falls naturally, but only if the head was flat behind (which shouldn't be in OotS Style). Maybe give it a bit more volume.

Also... maybe do something about the jacket. I think that kind of clothing doesn't show too much of the body shape, yet in here you can see her breasts shape quite easily.

[Tiffanie Lirle]

My Newest Avatar:

I just have one nitpick that hasn't been brought up yet. The hat has some minor shading/gloss going on. It just bugs me that the rest of the avatar doesn't. I've always seen shading as an all or nothing deal for the most part. But that's personal preference I suppose.

Settled on this for now.]

I was gonna make some long detailed critique on this one, but then I saw Gnomish did it before me. So just go read her post.

[Gnomish Wanderer]

Advice Taken. Any better?

Spoiler

Show

[Tiffanie Lirle]

Advice Taken. Any better? :smallbiggrin

Definitely, putting the two side by side in my browser I can see there are quite a few subtle changes between the new and the old version.

The small things, whether in art or life, make all the difference.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Hey, in Inkscape, how do you make the fingertips rounded?

[Derjuin]

Hey, in Inkscape, how do you make the fingertips rounded?

If you hit Shift+Ctrl+F, it'll bring up a sidebar on the right. With the hand you want to round selected, go into the third tab (Stroke Style), then select Round Cap.

[Elder Tsofu]

EDIT EDIT:
MMMMMMMMPPHHHHH!!!

My new personal favourite of your creations. Well done.

---

Dang you people making so much nice things, now I've got this itch to do something too!

[Crimmy]

My new personal favourite of your creations. Well done.

---

Dang you people making so much nice things, now I've got this itch to do something too!

Oh SHI---!

Brace for Epic, everyone!

[CrimsonAngel]

Advice Taken. Any better?

Spoiler

Show

Oh my gosh, she's so cute. And I love how detailed her outfit is!

@CrimsonAngel Nice, I like it. The outfit is really cute, great work. Only thing I don't really like is the short hair (or is that shading?) on the side of the head, it just looks too wavy.

The way her hair works in the game is that she has this sort of mohawk thing pulled back really tightly, uh, i'm not too good at describing it. But that shadowed bit is supposed to be where her hair is pulled back. I changed the style a bit because i'm not that good with mohawks. I'm probably gonna edit it.



Oh dear. Yeah, i'm definitely going to fix that.

[Cuthalion]

Something else I drew for Lateral, though not at his request:

Spoiler

Show

Small:

@VV:Yes, they are(the feet) and they do seem rather long but whatever. I edited the picture after Crimmy posted. Re-edited.

[Crimmy]

Once again, body is too long, head too small. Line thickness is not consistent, legs are way too long.

Also, why are his feet clawed, like a monster? Shouldn't they be normal "L's" like any other human?

The hair looks weird, I suggest making the spikyness of it more evident, in this way it looks like he has curly short hair.