OotS Style Art/Fanart Showcase V

[Kurien]

Since the sun is directly behind her, more realistic shadows would be cast over her entire front, not just her left side, and be quite dark. Just her outer edges would be lit. The cliff face, which also faces away from the sun, should also be deep in shadow.

Her eyes seem a bit high, like a male stick figure. I'd do away with the blurred lighting and stick with a more cel-shaded look.

Hope that helps.

[Gnomish Wanderer]

Yeah, I know she should be silhouetted, but I didn't want to ruin the details. Would it help if you imagine the stylized sun as a magic effect?

As for the cliff face, it's the color of the board so it'll look like a cliff face jutting out of the avatar space. I agree with you about the eyes, I ended up raising them up a bit to fit the mask and couldn't get it to look quite right.

Are the light effects too messy? How would one make an OotS-drawing more cell-shaded?

I should also work on the staff, probably, the lighting didn't work on such a thin space.

[Kurien]

Yeah, I know she should be silhouetted, but I didn't want to ruin the details. Would it help if you imagine the stylized sun as a magic effect?

I would say light dynamics stay the same regardless of the source. I don't know how to explain this, but sometimes suggesting details with simple highlights achieves a good aesthetic effect.

As for the cliff face, it's the color of the board so it'll look like a cliff face jutting out of the avatar space. I agree with you about the eyes, I ended up raising them up a bit to fit the mask and couldn't get it to look quite right.

Ah, I see what you were going for now.

Are the light effects too messy? How would one make an OotS-drawing more cell-shaded?

I should also work on the staff, probably, the lighting didn't work on such a thin space.

The cel shaded look consists of shades in discrete blocks of colour. Simply reduce the blurred effect of the yellow light on the char's right side.

[Kurien]

Aya Shameimaru:





A somewhat rushed piece. I experimented a bit, particularly with the hair and the pose. This is my first attempt at drawing a stick figure from a posterior angle. I'm not sure how well it worked. Any opinions on what could be been done differently?

Hmm, I think Aya's head is turned at a rather uncomfortable angle in this piece.

Gnomish: This is just personal preference, but I would at least move the linework of High Priestess Gnomish above the yellow blurry light. I think that is what is making the piece appear a bit messy.

[Gnomish Wanderer]

It's very good! Maybe try shifting the eyes and mouth right a bit, that might detract from the 'head on wrong' type look. Also for some reason the legs confuse me but I do not know why. Regardless, very nice job.

In regards to the High Priestess/Shaman/Whatevz, I tried working on it last night and I think my problem was in part too judicial use of the blur effect altogether. Thanks for the great advice.

[Cuthalion]

I must say it looks fantastic, my dear Gnomish, but try shading the left side of her face a little less, perhaps? I really like the rest, especially the sun. Also, I'm so glad you're back!

[Zefir]

Yuyuko Saigyouji:
*snip*

*snip*
Something feels off about this one...

It's wonderfull I think.

The only thing that would count as beeing off woulf be the body. It feels like it's to small for the big head and the long feets.

[Elder Tsofu]

Kurien:
I'd say that I feel her legs position is at least as painful as the position of her head.
To be frank I don't mind the head, it looks fine as it is more or less.

From what I see she is flying/leaping into the hole in the air (I assume some sort of portal) while looking back over her shoulder at the ones she is leaving back in the dust. (Could be falling out of it too, but the scarf indicates a movement into the picture)
...
...
Well I think the best and easiest way to explain it is that if I look only at her from waist down it looks like she is jumping out of the hole (or rather jumping by it horizontally since we see her shoes directly from the side), and if I look at her from waist up she is obviously jumping into the hole. It is when I try to look at the whole picture it gets awkward since it makes me feel her hips were sewn on back-to-front.

If you changed the position of the feet slightly so that the one at the bottom (with the shorter leg) is above the other one I think it would flow better with the rest of the body. Just a minor edit by drawing the longer leg beneath the shorter legs shoe, and perhaps altering the longer legs shoe slightly so the shorter legs shoe covers it.
***
If you'd like to stay with the crossed legs I'd say that you probably have to redraw one of the shoes so we at least see a bit of the sole on the long legs shoe and thus have the heel pointing toward the viewer.
Done right I think this would make the better picture.

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Really nice work on both of the pieces though, especially Yuyuko Saigyouji which I can't imagine what you feel is of with.
GW:s drawing is really nice too, especially since you reduced the blurr. Why not reduce it even further (like all together) and go for a more ...stylized... look since you already have a very stylized background and sun?

[Kurien]

Elder Tsofu: Haha, I did say I rushed it somewhat. Here I see the difference in artist intent and viewer interpretation. What you think is a portal is simply supposed to be a "3D" comic panel of her surroundings, in attempt to imitate the same kind of panels artists like you and Kid Kris use. I suppose it would be clearer if the frame was black and crossed like normal OotS. Aya is simply swooping through the sky.


I didn't stop to scrutinize the correctness of the piece until it was finished. Now that I look at it though, I can see that the lower body and upper body are twisted in very different directions, which looks weird. I've redone some sketching of Aya, and I think I'd prefer the lower body more congruously oriented to the upper. That means the underside of the skirt shouldn't be visible, the legs should point away to the right. I also changed how she holds the tengu camera...

Here, I'll edit this post to include a photo of the sketch, as soon as I have time.

Edit:

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Zefir: Thank you kind sir. I think the body seems a bit short due to my unskilled attempt at foreshortening.

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Gnomish: I like to think that the object behind her is some sort of solar elemental, or magic construct powered by the elemental plane of Light. Super effective against vampires

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Next OotS style pieces I will make will feature characters from IN and PoFV. Oh, and the nameless ophidimorph.

[Kurien]

Fujiwara No Mokou:


Okay, maybe in this avatar the nature of the comic frame behind her is evident.
I got lazy with the fire. >.>

I should probably put my unused Touhoutars up for adoption, but it seems the Avatar Adoption thread is dead.

Edit: My next piece I have planned turned out to be a scene instead of an avatar. But before I dive into rendering it in colour, I want to run the rough work past you Playgrounders with keen eyes for visual "plot holes,"—anything I might have missed which looks wrong.

Here it is:



I apologize for the bad quality, since I don't have a scanner available. However, is it obvious from this what the image is trying to depict? Is the image too busy?

[asdflove]

[Kurien]

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Since I was unsure about the Komachi piece, I went ahead and made another thing I had sketched out previously. I think it turned out pretty good. Although I was too lazy to make it a proper border.

It's the same Child of Opheliel as my avatar. She might be a bit miffed that you are interrupting her nap. These reptile hybrids tend to feel languorous like cats at times, especially after eating.

@^: Yay, Link! Is... that Saria? Edit: Silly me, that couldn't be Saria, The Kokiri are stuck in child bodies.

[Gullara]

Wow, that's awesome, Kurien. I just love it. *applauds*


@asdflove, nice to see some Zelda avis. They look nice.

[Elder Tsofu]

I haven't checked this thread for a fortnight? Gosh.

Kurien, I have no problem with the position in the new sketch - certainly an improvement overall. But now it is the legs creeping me out since they are, in fact, leg-shaped.
And now that I know what you're after with the panel its more obvious. Personally I'm so used to Kid Kris versions that I didn't reflect that they could be "simply" a nicely framed background.

The sketch Komachi is certainly something I'd like to see, its perhaps not an avatar-format piece but I think as you say that it would work wonderfully as a small picture. I don't see any anatomical problems to complain about.
And damn you for sketching much nicer than me.

Perhaps a new avatar adoption thread is needed? For thoise still active it wouldn't be hard to repost their posts in a new thread (unless it is locked). Or perhaps the old thread just needs posts.
If you're unsure about either alternative I'd suggest talking to a moderator.

Your latest piece is also gorgeous, I'd say that it zooms up to my personal favourite of yours. Just enough details to make the mind fill in more details on its own accord. Don't know what to say really.

[asdflove]

@^: Yay, Link! Is... that Saria? Edit: Silly me, that couldn't be Saria, The Kokiri are stuck in child bodies.

@asdflove, nice to see some Zelda avis. They look nice.

Only the first one has anything to do with Legend of Zelda. The 2nd one is just a character, but thanks.

Also, this.

[Gnomish Wanderer]

-snip-
-snip-

Nice Link and Navi. I'm surprised I haven't tried my hand at drawing Link ever.

-snip-

Since I was unsure about the Komachi piece, I went ahead and made another thing I had sketched out previously. I think it turned out pretty good. Although I was too lazy to make it a proper border.

It's the same Child of Opheliel as my avatar. She might be a bit miffed that you are interrupting her nap. These reptile hybrids tend to feel languorous like cats at times, especially after eating.

You are all colors of amazing and for that I give you tiny gnomish applause *claps*

A couple of new projects to share for analysis/your viewing enjoyment/spiteful remarks/etc.:

[Kymme]

GW. Kurien.
Ermahgerd. Just.
ER
MAH
GERD
All of those avies look incredible. Freakin' fantastic. You two can put so much detail into your avatars. I am in awe. Seriously.
sorry if that came off as sarcastic, i'm bad at ELOQUENCE


On another note, I have just finished group photos for the guys I DM for, and I would like to see what you all think of them!
Lenna, the Berzerker

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Cry, the Inquisitor

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Tyr, the Priestess

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Axel, the Grenadier

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[AsteriskAmp]

After a long absence mostly devoted by developing other avenues of art and trying to further develop certain abilities, I dabbled briefly while making tokens for my party.

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Still nothing even vaguely resembling Tsofu or Kurien's level though.

[Gnomish Wanderer]

Gnomish. Kurien.
Ermahgerd. Just.
ER
MAH
GERD
All of those avies look incredible. Freakin' fantastic. You two can put so much detail into your avatars. I am in awe. Seriously.
sorry if that came off as sarcastic, i'm bad at ELOQUENCE


On another note, I have just finished group photos for the guys I DM for, and I would like to see what you all think of them!
-snip-

First off, thank you for your compliment. I am often left with a feeling of wonder when looking at some of the better artists to frequent the forums, I never imagined I might be able to inspire the same feelings in others.

As for the collection of avatars there, nice work! There's something about your style I find appealing but I can't put my finger on it. It's almost...cartoon-y? Comparitively, that is. Like in a good way. *shrug* Anyway...

The crossbow in Cry's avatar looks amazing. Very excellent work on that. I do like the dynamism of your outfits, it feels like you have more outfit options presented there than what I showed (in all three of my 'long coat' avatars above).

The two pieces of advice I'd give is, firstly, to use less straight lines. That is to say, I basically curve every single line I mess around with. The straightness to some of the pieces (like Lenna's clothing) makes it feel static and unreal.

Secondly, I'd try to fit the colored eyes a little more into OotS style. they just look so big comparatively. When I first started OotS I gave my avatars big coloured eyes as well, but it took me literally years to figure out what people were talking about when they said my eyes were too big even for the already large-looking gnomish head.

Still, good work!

After a long absence mostly devoted by developing other avenues of art and trying to further develop certain abilities, I dabbled briefly while making tokens for my party.
-snip-

Still nothing even vaguely resembling Tsofu or Kurien's level though.

Nice stuff, Pinky. You put so much life into the character's outfits, its almost real. I don't think I could even picture an outfit as detailed in my head, let alone have it find its way to my avataring. I also like how somehow it reminds me of an Adventure's Greeting/Christmas Card in the posing.

*gives thumbs up!*

[Kymme]

Thank you very much, GW. For the advice and the complements.

Since I last posted, I've been working on some avatars for people in a PBP over on the Rule of Cool boards. Here are a few of them.

Fred

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Tucker

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Leon

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Can you guess which one is mine?

[Kurien]

After a long absence mostly devoted by developing other avenues of art and trying to further develop certain abilities, I dabbled briefly while making tokens for my party.

Still nothing even vaguely resembling Tsofu or Kurien's level though.

What are you talking about, August? These D&D portraits definitely impress me... Their bodies, their clothes and armour, are incredibly detailed, and I especially like Gallahad's.

My only suggestion would be that the sheer difference in detail between their faces and bodies seems strange. I have a feeling people have said this to you before, but I think you have the skill to bring your avvies to a higher level of quality; you could "graduate" from OotS Style anytime now. Continuing to stick to the spherical heads and simple faces seems like it only limits your art.

@Kymme: Thank you for complimenting my stuff. With your last batch of avvies, I can see you improving ever more rapidly. I think you are Tucker?

[Kymme]

@Kymme: Thank you for complimenting my stuff. With your last batch of avvies, I can see you improving ever more rapidly. I think you are Tucker?

Oh my goodness, how did you know? You must be psychic or something.

In other news, I just finished one more of the characters from our new PbP.

Valborg

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[asdflove]

My Avi for next month. Screw valentines day.

[Tawmis]

I have tried my hand at this - and failed miserably. (Who thought drawing circles and squares could be so hard?) I just want to applaud the AMAZING freaking talent I see in this thread. I admire those who can do what I can not - and I see so much of that in this thread. Definitely very awesome stuff in here.

[Gullara]

You know, I think it's been too long since one of my patented Avi Dumps^TM. Clearly I should rectify this. But maybe a full out dump is too much. I will pick and choose.

First off, I am being contrary to asdflove. I'll be making a picture for every couple I RP with someone over in the FFRP section of the forum before Valentines Day. I've got one done already!

*totally forgot that was exported so large*

I'd decided that last Christmas would be dubbed "Sexy Christmas". And in the spirit of giving, rather than making avis of my own characters, I made them of other peoples'.

<.< >.>

And how about Halloween? (Has it really been so long?)


And lastly, here's an avi I made on request for a friend. I'm very proud of how this one came out.

[Tawmis]

I am nowhere near the calibur of folks here, but tinkered with it - and almost instantly was learning things (like the body lines are too thick, etc) - I find that drawing larger, then reducing size also allows for finer details.

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[Teutonic Knight]

August, I must ask, where do you get the inspiration to draw your armor designs from?

[AsteriskAmp]

Nice stuff, Pinky. You put so much life into the character's outfits, its almost real. I don't think I could even picture an outfit as detailed in my head, let alone have it find its way to my avataring. I also like how somehow it reminds me of an Adventure's Greeting/Christmas Card in the posing.

*gives thumbs up!*

Thanks.

I really like the idea of costume design and my addiction to all things anime, VN and manga related normally ends up with me having a massive number of sources and references so when I have a general idea in mind I check over similar references and pick and match the elements I like from them.

What are you talking about, August? These D&D portraits definitely impress me... Their bodies, their clothes and armour, are incredibly detailed, and I especially like Gallahad's.

Thanks. Incidentally that's my character, probably subconscious stuff making me put more effort into him.

My only suggestion would be that the sheer difference in detail between their faces and bodies seems strange. I have a feeling people have said this to you before, but I think you have the skill to bring your avvies to a higher level of quality; you could "graduate" from OotS Style anytime now. Continuing to stick to the spherical heads and simple faces seems like it only limits your art.

I've actually gone somewhat beyond OotS, started drawing more elaborate stuff but my group likes OotS style so I draw to please.

I am however trying to simplify when doing OotS art to get to the point of just the correct number of detailing like you manage to do and that sense of awesomeness that the image gives without being overcrowded.

August, I must ask, where do you get the inspiration to draw your armor designs from?

For this set I mostly took from the actual DnD books and using concept art books as reference; mainly from Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Extra. Saber (Arturia) for Galahad, Archer (Robin Hood) for Fen, and some Incan art books on top of the Warblade image from ToB for Cain, can't remember where I got most of Fen from though.

[Gnomish Wanderer]

First off, here is the gnewest Gnomish creation, comments appreciated.

-snip-
My Avi for next month. Screw valentines day.

Nice, ha, and funny too. I like.

You know, I think it's been too long since one of my patented Avi Dumps^TM. Clearly I should rectify this. But maybe a full out dump is too much. I will pick and choose.

First off, I am being contrary to asdflove. I'll be making a picture for every couple I RP with someone over in the FFRP section of the forum before Valentines Day. I've got one done already!
-snip-
*totally forgot that was exported so large*

I'd decided that last Christmas would be dubbed "Sexy Christmas". And in the spirit of giving, rather than making avis of my own characters, I made them of other peoples'.
-snip-
<.< >.>

And how about Halloween? (Has it really been so long?)
-snip-

And lastly, here's an avi I made on request for a friend. I'm very proud of how this one came out.
-snip-

Very good set, thanks for dumping! I like your artwork, especially seeing it in bulk where the tricks and tips become obvious. Nice work.

I am nowhere near the calibur of folks here, but tinkered with it - and almost instantly was learning things (like the body lines are too thick, etc) - I find that drawing larger, then reducing size also allows for finer details.

Drawing large is nearly universal in art. Pretty good attempt here, though it could use some refinement. Main thing I'd work on is putting the eyes closer together, eyes are pretty important or the integrity of the whole piece. Still, hope to see you posting more around here!

[Gullara]

Thanks Gnomish!

As for your latest arts, I really like them. It's cool how you're doing the avi/sig split thing. I sense there's a story behind it as well.

As for some others I never had a chance to reply to, once again Gnomish, nice work you've got up there. Always like to see your stuff.

And Kymme, I'm liking what you're making. Improving all the time.*nodnod* Little rough around the edges, but I can tell you're not using Inkscape, so you don't get some of that inherent smoothness. What program is that?

August, I suppose what I wanted to say has already been said. The armour and stuff is cool... but the difference between the heads and the rest really detract from the overall picture a lot.

asdflove, you've got some good stuff too. I still can't help but be bothered a bit by the part of the hair on the far side of the head. It makes it look like there's suddenly a big lump of hair on the side of their head, rather than the hair wrapping around the head properly. Otherwise, though, good stuff.

Tawmis, that's a pretty nice first try, actually. One things I'd recommend is trying a heavier line weight for the legs and arms, and making the line weight more consistent overall.