Thanqol Learns To Draw!

[Thanqol]

I know what you mean. You know they're trying to create meat without the animal? Just growing muscle by itself? Everyone but me thinks that's creepy.

So what's Kobold society like?

You know how communism doesn't work because human beings are flawed and greedy? Kobold society is functional communism because a sixth of their number are telepaths who are constantly brainwashing inspiring the rest to be the best they can be. Everyone is perfectly moral as a result. If you work hard, you can go out and take a car out of a store because you know you've earned it. If you didn't earn it, the thought of taking it wouldn't occur to you. This effect applies to other races who live for more than a few months on a Kobold world.

Some people say that surrendering your ability to make terrible decisions that hurt others to help yourself is a bad thing. I'd say that the people who'd argue that are exactly the sort of people who shouldn't be making the decisions.

[Thanqol]

Day 150: Pony's Head In Your Bed

Another coloured SiuiS sketch. I love working with SiuiS' drawings! He's got mad compositional skills which I can then colour in my slapdash way.

Had to actually make a few tweaks to this one. The tie didn't look right and the cane was jabbing his chest rather than tucked under his arm. But that's good! I'd have made a few tweaks anyway because as some guy on the internet once said, 'what's the value of a perfect replica?'.

Original: (SiuiS)

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Finished:

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Time: 1.5 Hours
Music: Be Patient

[Thanqol]

Day 151: Nostalgia p3: Sozite

Dechs deServil, or Sozite as he later became, had the Worst Day Ever. I can't even begin to summarise how much his life sucked. He was a character who survived having his identity erased, fighting his own god, an invincible demon tiger, and so much other stuff that it hurts to remember. He even survived a power mad fool being elected moderator by an impersonal bureaucracy and kicking off a demented dictatorship which ended with the total implosion of the entire forum. Sozite's story crossed over to another board and just kept going.

He wound up saving the cosmos, hearing about a followup threat to the cosmos, and turning his back and walking away. "Today I killed a man named Synar the Godkiller," said Sozite, "The least thing the multiverse owes me is a break."

He became the first character of mine to ever truly reach retirement and a happy ending. He had a three year journey through all kinds of hell and psychological torment and he's done. If I try to bring him out of retirement, he'll straight up murder me.

Artistically, I'm mildly annoyed at this piece but my attempts to fix it fizzled, I ran out of time and I just band-aided the problems rather than really dealing with them. OH WELL.

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Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Music: Sway

[Domochevsky]

Sketch:

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Do it again; see what changes! o/

(Also, decent work on the challenge. More to come. )

[Thanqol]

Sketch:

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Do it again; see what changes! o/

(Also, decent work on the challenge. More to come. )

Heh, yeah, I got to the end and was like "Head's too small isn't it? Darn." and I couldn't be stuffed redoing the entire thing at the time. A redo's on the list.

[Domochevsky]

No, the head size is fine. The legs are too big. (But i guess that might depend on perspective, really.)

[Thanqol]

No, the head size is fine. The legs are too big. (But i guess that might depend on perspective, really.)

Ohhh. That would have been much easier to fix.

Day 152: Resurrected

Welcome back, Hugh.

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Time: 50 Mins
Music: Scratching Harmony

[SiuiS]

I know what you mean. You know they're trying to create meat without the animal? Just growing muscle by itself? Everyone but me thinks that's creepy.

So what's Kobold society like?

It is creepy, silly! Unless it's delicious.

Ohhh. That would have been much easier to fix.

it's funny, because I just wrote myself a spiel about how your philosophy views have helped me avoid situations like this XD

good call on the Dogfather by the bye; I had quite the internal (and somewhat external, and probably forumial somewhere about here) on going with a bow tie instead.

And mister first retired character, there... Sozite. That's an interesting piece of equipment in his hand. Is if truly that old? you also make it too triangular; it would have to be rounder by virtue of fitting a human face.

[Thanqol]

it's funny, because I just wrote myself a spiel about how your philosophy views have helped me avoid situations like this XD

Hahaha, even I have off days

good call on the Dogfather by the bye; I had quite the internal (and somewhat external, and probably forumial somewhere about here) on going with a bow tie instead.

Ties have their place, but I felt like it dominated the torso too much in that one. A few sketches at different sizes didn't look right either.

And mister first retired character, there... Sozite. That's an interesting piece of equipment in his hand. Is if truly that old? you also make it too triangular; it would have to be rounder by virtue of fitting a human face.[/color]

I've had that mask since... what, 2004? The nightmare has been around for longer than that. That's the year it took form.

Sozite's sister decided to betray him and put an Arcani mask on him. A friend of Sozite's committed the ultimate, uh, faux pas, and wrote a name on his mask. That started a cascade of memories that eventually lead to him breaking free from the curse and becoming a sort of free willed Arcani-human-hybrid thing. That was how his day started.

And it doesn't so much fit human faces as it eats them.

[Thanqol]

Day 153: Enhhh

Today... well. I'm not gonna whine. I can do better than that. The result, though, is you get a crappy sketch. On the upshot, I filled my first sketchbook!

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Time: 15 mins
Music: Traffic noise.

[Thanqol]

Day 154: Pure+Honest

This was much more difficult to do than it was in my head and I'm not completely happy with how it turned out. But it was broadly educational so net win.

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Time: 2 Hours
Music: Twilight Sparkle's Mind is a Curious Place

[Zorg]

Day 149a: Nostalgia p2: Athi

The body is very good proportion and shape wise. The only niggling part is her right hand, which looks like she might be about to ask me to turn my head and cough... left hand is spot on though
Possibly the oddest thing about her face, besides the obvious, is that is is a very cartoony style (exaggerated eyes etc) while the rest is done in a more realistic way.
Still, very good overall.

Day 151: Nostalgia p3: Sozite

Others have pointed out that he left his head in the wash, but for some minor nitpicks I'll chime in
His left hand, the knuckles are out of whack - they should be in a line, or the index lower than the middle, but the same as the ring. Getting his head to angle forward like that when he turns is good, a lot of people forget that.
Aside from the proportion issue, the pose is well done, though cutting off the feet like that only accentuates the oddness - but that's a composition thing.

Day 152: Resurrected

,A few crazy perspective things going on here - the balcony (?) in the top right of frame is either angled over, or else the viewer shouldn't be able to see the top of it like that. Similarly if the floor isn't on an incline the door should start around the figure's knees, and unless it's really far away (or small) be much bigger.

The figure himself is fine, though a little flat (and you cut off his feet - don't avoid them!). A few simple things would add to his sense of mass. First would be to make his hand not flat to the viewer, and second would be to add some depth to the cloak, especially about his shoulders. But for 15 minutes work, you've it's a good piece - his face is tres bon

[Domochevsky]

Hm... shouldn't their hind legs bend down due to gravity? They're held by the tail (Which i imagine hurts quite a bit) not the legs, after all.

[Thanqol]

The body is very good proportion and shape wise. The only niggling part is her right hand, which looks like she might be about to ask me to turn my head and cough... left hand is spot on though
Possibly the oddest thing about her face, besides the obvious, is that is is a very cartoony style (exaggerated eyes etc) while the rest is done in a more realistic way.
Still, very good overall.

Others have pointed out that he left his head in the wash, but for some minor nitpicks I'll chime in
His left hand, the knuckles are out of whack - they should be in a line, or the index lower than the middle, but the same as the ring. Getting his head to angle forward like that when he turns is good, a lot of people forget that.
Aside from the proportion issue, the pose is well done, though cutting off the feet like that only accentuates the oddness - but that's a composition thing.

,A few crazy perspective things going on here - the balcony (?) in the top right of frame is either angled over, or else the viewer shouldn't be able to see the top of it like that. Similarly if the floor isn't on an incline the door should start around the figure's knees, and unless it's really far away (or small) be much bigger.

The figure himself is fine, though a little flat (and you cut off his feet - don't avoid them!). A few simple things would add to his sense of mass. First would be to make his hand not flat to the viewer, and second would be to add some depth to the cloak, especially about his shoulders. But for 15 minutes work, you've it's a good piece - his face is tres bon

*Nod nod, takes notes* Thank you! The feet thing is an ongoing problem I'm finally starting to notice. It's not laziness, it's just accidentally making the sketch so large that the character drops off the edge of the frame. I've been working on it.

Otherwise I'll practise everything you pointed out, thank you!

Hm... shouldn't their hind legs bend down due to gravity? They're held by the tail (Which i imagine hurts quite a bit) not the legs, after all.

Ponies get dangled by the tail/tailbitten all the time

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(You're right, though, shoulda thought of that)

[Thanqol]

Day 155: Weapons Test

I'm trying the trial version of SAI Paint, and so far I'm actually really liking it. It's got a lot of what I thought was missing from Corel while still having a pretty user friendly interface and giving access to features I didn't even know I was missing, like line density. I'll keep using it for a few more days and, if all goes well, I might end up buying it for ticket price.

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Time: 20 minutes
Music: Misery Business

[Hawkflight]

Ponies get dangled by the tail/tailbitten all the time

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I wonder what it says that all of those pics are AppleDash....

[Thanqol]

I wonder what it says that all of those pics are AppleDash....

I'm not saying anything but Applejack sure does spend a lot of time with Rainbow's tail in her mouth! (God that sounds dirty)

156: Jeddar Monks

Still playing around with Paint Tool SAI. This was mostly done in the Linework layer. Played around with a whole bunch of features and buttons (buttons? I love buttons!). Have to relearn a bunch of stuff, but them's the breaks.

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Time: 45 mins
Music: Whisper

[Hawkflight]

Hey, question. Have you considered trying out a couple of short comics? Like, a page or two, to get a feel for drawing sequential pictures?

[Thanqol]

Hey, question. Have you considered trying out a couple of short comics? Like, a page or two, to get a feel for drawing sequential pictures?

I've done this once, and I've got another in mind for later, but I do remember it's an interesting challenge. ... Oh yes, I remember another experiment I was going to do! I'll do something like this once I'm comfortable in this new program.

[Hawkflight]

Awesome! And if you ever need ideas, you know where to find them.

[Thanqol]

Awesome! And if you ever need ideas, you know where to find them.

Please, give me ideas! Really, at the moment my drawings are determined more or less randomly or based on one-off comments about things I need to work on.

[Hawkflight]

Please, give me ideas! Really, at the moment my drawings are determined more or less randomly or based on one-off comments about things I need to work on.

Well, if you reeeeeeally need ideas ... I had this idea for a comic where my Dewott (the ninja otter pokemon) fights this giant purple wurm....

But actually, I would like to make a request. And it's a pony request. But I was wondering if you could draw little foal Heartflight tending her plushie shop? She's blue and has a golden mane like Odd Job's, and her cutie mark has something to do with tending to sick puppies. (Oh, and she sometimes wears a frilly dress, though I forget what color, if you wanna try that.)

[fizzybobnewt]

She has a mark of a sick puppy on her?

[Hawkflight]

No, like, something to do with taking care of sick pets.

[fizzybobnewt]

Oh, one of those "works better in person" things. I knew what you meant.

[SiuiS]

a challenge? Sequential comic making? Sounds like a plan.

The Story

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combination shot: wide shot of a camp, with a cliff and boot superimposed over it (looking over the cliff at the camp).

Close-up: Portrait shot of character who boot belongs to, angled so thu are looking down.

Medium shot, panning left to right: character jumping off/rung down cliff/hill towards camp, be sure the establish sense of motion.

Wide shot: multiple folks in said camp noticing and looking up, try to ge different sizes and perspectives.

The Suggestions

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Scene 1: focus on the boot. It should be clear, crisp; the camp itself could be vaguely shaped blobs of color, like an out of focus scene. Or reverse, but that seems weird to me.

Scene 2: try for a 3/4 profile, since full frontal and full profile are already strong points. I'm sure you could look at every anime ever for examples of the shot.

Scene 3: I suggest plotting out the body position first.

Scene 4: splash panel, wide enough to take up the entire bottom of the page. Do the background and lay the other panels over it, so some of scene shows between the other 4 panels.

That's page one of random stuff I'm going to throw at you. Sound up for it?

[Thanqol]

Day 157: MANLY

PURE. MANLINESS. Hawkflight, request complete. SiuiS, I'll take a gander at trying that sequence when schedule lets up a bit

Artistically, this worked out ai'ight, though it was mostly an exploration of the interface. LEARNING SPIRALS UPWARDS!

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Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Music: Marshmallow of Generosity

[Hawkflight]

Day 157: MANLY

PURE. MANLINESS. Hawkflight, request complete. SiuiS, I'll take a gander at trying that sequence when schedule lets up a bit

Artistically, this worked out ai'ight, though it was mostly an exploration of the interface. LEARNING SPIRALS UPWARDS!

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Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Music: Marshmallow of Generosity

CUUUUTE! Thanks!

(Though it is a bit weird seeing a pony standing on two legs. )

[Thanqol]

Day 158: Halloween Special!

Midnight and Metal Mask dressed to kill!

Very happy with this.

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Alt:

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Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Music: Time Is Running Out

[Domochevsky]

So in the first version the left one is wearing two masks?