Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!

[Domochevsky]

Hm... ok, you are partially forgiven for failing us. You may keep your hat for now. This better be a daily occurence from here on out.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Late (as in evening) post! Sundays are either empty or wicked full. Today was not the former.

Day 42 - Hoooooddie test

Spoiler

Yesterday reminded me that I have no idea or real practice drawing folds in fabric! Here's me attempting to remedy that. As I type this, I realize that I should be compiling a definite list of things that I specifically want to practice/flesh out. Ah well, a task for lunch tomorrow. In the meanwhile, tackling some character design tomorrow! :D

[Capt. Ido Nos]

So it turns out that having never really drawn women in any realistic way before in my life makes it kind of difficult to draw ladytypes in any capacity! Now we know.

Day 43 - Drawing Ladytype Practice

Spoiler

I was initially going to take a stab at one of Thanqol's character designs tonight. I totally have a mental image going on in my brain places, but as soon as I set about doing it, I realized that there was no way it was happening without actually learning to draw women. Soooo, gonna hold off on that for a day or so and get my head wrapped around some concepts, with maybe a day for critique and consideration as well? Anyway...

So this is literally my first real attempt right here. It's rough, but that's kind of how I tend to treat first time objects. Got the frame, and more or less sculpting the form around it based vaguely off a finished image with a different pose. There are parts I am happy with, and parts I am not so much, though I can't really say which parts exactly I don't like. I honestly have only a slight idea of what's going on here to begin with, any pointers would be great.

Tomorrow, definitely not character design, but that is the end goal here. Taking this one step at a time.

[Thanqol]

#42: One of the biggest things to get your head around with clothing folds that I'm starting to realise is that you can't draw the picture and then add lines over the top of it. Looks dumb, doesn't work. You've got to make the lines change the shape of the picture. Draw the outline of the figure, and then draw the fold lines on a different layer, but have them cross the outline and change it's shape. That's what my process at the moment is, anyway.

#43: I don't get this either, you're on your own.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Originally Posted by Thanqol

#42: One of the biggest things to get your head around with clothing folds that I'm starting to realise is that you can't draw the picture and then add lines over the top of it. Looks dumb, doesn't work. You've got to make the lines change the shape of the picture. Draw the outline of the figure, and then draw the fold lines on a different layer, but have them cross the outline and change it's shape. That's what my process at the moment is, anyway.

#43: I don't get this either, you're on your own.

#42: Yeah, I totally hear you. I actually did more of the folds as I drew the *checks* left sleeve, and more post folds on the right sleeve, and you're right, as I'm looking at it, post is pretty bad... Something else to work on then!
#43: Oh nooooo

Hey, on that subject, time for some TAKE TWO action!
Day 44 - Fashion lol

Spoiler

Here we have the perfect storm of everything I can't draw: women, clothes, hands, faces, and even a little hair for good measure! Found this source courtesy a friend who directed me to clothing websites, which are actually way WAY better than GIS for pictures as it turns out

I... I don't know. It's better than yesterday, but still feels awkward. There's so much to handle here, it's kinda frustrating... I took it out by drawing weird faces on her before posting this, and also giving the layer-by-layer breakdown because... why not?

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Executive decision: daily drawing practice is good, but so is sleep. I have an ongoing weekly D&D engagement that takes up my entire evening. I can and have still done my drawings in the past after I've gotten back, but this has gotten to be too much for me. I'm a wreck the next day, and I just can't keep that up anymore. I love art, I love drawing, this has been such a great move, but if it's at the cost of my health that's probably not the best call.

So! My adjusted goal is now this: daily drawing is required per usual, with the exception my once-weekly session. This equates to six required daily works, with a bonus seventh to fill in the gap. On the honor system, I'll say when that night is when/if it happens (as schedules can change). I, Ido Nos, promise to be honest and not use this as an excuse to not draw one night - if I have no engagement, I must practice. I hope that if I abuse this new adjustment or otherwise fail to draw, that I will have unspeakable shame and internet humiliation thrust upon me like the garbage I will have become.

And now to balance out the overall serious tone of this post so far: butts lol

(this was a D&D night, expect a drawing tomorrow)

[Thanqol]

I've had them kinda flat out days before. My advice is just lower your standards. Grab a pen and paper and do a five minute crap sketch before bed; it's better than losing momentum. There's no minimum for quality.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Originally Posted by Thanqol

I've had them kinda flat out days before. My advice is just lower your standards. Grab a pen and paper and do a five minute crap sketch before bed; it's better than losing momentum. There's no minimum for quality.

I'm okay with this, if people don't mind :<

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Capt. Ido Nos

Hey, on that subject, time for some TAKE TWO action!
Day 44 - Fashion lol

Spoiler

Here we have the perfect storm of everything I can't draw: women, clothes, hands, faces, and even a little hair for good measure! Found this source courtesy a friend who directed me to clothing websites, which are actually way WAY better than GIS for pictures as it turns out

I... I don't know. It's better than yesterday, but still feels awkward. There's so much to handle here, it's kinda frustrating... I took it out by drawing weird faces on her before posting this, and also giving the layer-by-layer breakdown because... why not?

Tips from a psychotic body-reader; you picked the wrong chixxor for working on a ladytype.

Models do things that normal people don't do. This particular one is lifting one knee to lower the edge of her pelvis, while simultaneously twisting her trunk. This presents a chest-waist-hip ratio that is more athletically pleasing, but which reminds me of an explanation for ballet; contorting your body into unnatural positions and making it look elegant.

There is a specific visual hip-to-waist ratio that the human mind finds most pleasing. Women, due to a fluke o bone structure and center of gravity, can cat their pelvis in ways men cannot. This allows hem to present the visual of that ratio by emphasizing certain parts o the body— and yet in your skeleton, the pelvis line is almost completely horizontal.

Looking at her spine, she is compressing her lower back, the lumbar. She has a bit of swayback going on, pushing out her rump and pulling back her shoulders. It makes the Hiney appreciatively round, and destroys her posture in the process. I see this partially reflected in your skeleton, but. I can't tell how integral that line is.

Her feet are arched the wrong way; if you look at the picture, the inside arch of her foot traces a half-circle, which emanates from the ground. It is, literally, an arch. Think of it like an organic spring plate that is a half-circle. The foot "flattens" when it hits the ground, but springs back to it's curved shape when not forced flat.
I only go into this because your illustrated foot curves exactly the right way, in exactly the wrong direction.

Breasts should not be accounted for in the design of the torso; you should instead draw their Ribcage, and "attach" breasts to the outside. Otherwise the torso will be blocky, and it will show through.

I suppose that exhausts my immediate supply of relevant commentary ^^"
sorry, but I love the human body, and having an eye for doodling, I have found all sorts of tidbits that get me looked at strangely at dinner parties.
But I'm only half as perverted as I seem! I swear!

Originally Posted by Thanqol

I've had them kinda flat out days before. My advice is just lower your standards. Grab a pen and paper and do a five minute crap sketch before bed; it's better than losing momentum. There's no minimum for quality.

Yes, this. So long as you feel you've learned something, you're good.
And heck, ballpoint will teach you feel, going with the grain, and "oh $%*& I can't erase can I?", which is a hard skill to learn.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Siuis! Thank you so much for your sweet sweet constructive criticism! It makes me very happy to see, and I'll give a proper response in the morning after I get some sleep *looks at the time* and presumably some coffee as well Thanks so much!

PREVIOUSLY, ON IDO'S DRAWTHREAD

Originally Posted by Thanqol

1: Apprentices
Bycatch: Female Obrimos
Magical Tradition: Greenpeace
The Hero

Bycatch is a student protester completely devoted to the idea of ethics taking priority over political expedience. Saving the whales, freeing the refugees, banning nuclear power, outlawing fur, eating organic and ending inequality. Her political leanings are extremely towards the left; not quite communist, but definitely not capitalist. The duality in her personality is that despite her strong political beliefs and very strong emotional connections to her topics, she finds her magic in researching those beliefs. In this sense, she's championing more ideals than she can really hope to accomplish because it's the touching on and exploration of the ideals that enhances her personal power. If she picked one and put all her effort towards it, she might be able to make more real steps towards achieving it. Selfishness has crept up on Bycatch without her noticing.

Personality wise, Bycatch is loud, rebellious and impulsive, completely fine with breaking laws or taking things to extremes. She believes her own moral compass trumps the laws of society and is prepared to act to bring the two into closer alignment.

Day 45 - You wanted a Hippiemancer, right?

Spoiler

After a couple of days of practice drawing women, I finally felt comfortable enough to give a shot at what I could see in my head. This one might be interesting to come back to once I start playing with color. Let's see how I feel about this picture in the morning, haha. Going to be honest, and I'm not totally sure how to convey "this is a magic person", but I gave it the best I could do :)

To note Thanqol: that's her staff she's holding. She has a special latch that released four segments from the side, to which she uses to attach her protest signs. She was also supposed to have a messenger bag full of spellbooks and the like, but that got too busy for my liking, so she left it at home today.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Tips from a psychotic body-reader; you picked the wrong chixxor for working on a ladytype.

Models do things that normal people don't do. This particular one is lifting one knee to lower the edge of her pelvis, while simultaneously twisting her trunk. This presents a chest-waist-hip ratio that is more athletically pleasing, but which reminds me of an explanation for ballet; contorting your body into unnatural positions and making it look elegant.

Fair enough!

Just going to be up front about this, I didn't really know where to find references to draw from, and my friend suggesting a clothing site catalog's women section. I totally know that models aren't the best for this, but I haven't drawn any women, not since drawthread began, so I figured this was better than nothing, and less awkward than giving google image search a spin .__. I gladly welcome any links or suggestions on resources!

Originally Posted by SiuiS

There is a specific visual hip-to-waist ratio that the human mind finds most pleasing. Women, due to a fluke o bone structure and center of gravity, can cat their pelvis in ways men cannot. This allows hem to present the visual of that ratio by emphasizing certain parts o the body— and yet in your skeleton, the pelvis line is almost completely horizontal.

Looking at her spine, she is compressing her lower back, the lumbar. She has a bit of swayback going on, pushing out her rump and pulling back her shoulders. It makes the Hiney appreciatively round, and destroys her posture in the process. I see this partially reflected in your skeleton, but. I can't tell how integral that line is.

Boy, girls sure are weird! Good advice though, thanks. All this sort of stuff is great for me to chew on and internalize, it really does help :)

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Her feet are arched the wrong way; if you look at the picture, the inside arch of her foot traces a half-circle, which emanates from the ground. It is, literally, an arch. Think of it like an organic spring plate that is a half-circle. The foot "flattens" when it hits the ground, but springs back to it's curved shape when not forced flat.
I only go into this because your illustrated foot curves exactly the right way, in exactly the wrong direction.

*derpygasp* You're right D=

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Breasts should not be accounted for in the design of the torso; you should instead draw their Ribcage, and "attach" breasts to the outside. Otherwise the torso will be blocky, and it will show through.

I will actually interject here, saying that I know about this from reading Thanq's experiences with this earlier, however, I ran into a sort of weird problem. Normally, I would draw the torso (which for both genders I give a slight slant to anyway) and then add them from there, but when I sat down to add them in, with the ruffle thing she has on her shirt, and the lighting, I literally could not tell where they were. So, just kinda winged it instead. I tried better for yesterday's post, did that look any better?

Originally Posted by SiuiS

I suppose that exhausts my immediate supply of relevant commentary ^^"
sorry, but I love the human body, and having an eye for doodling, I have found all sorts of tidbits that get me looked at strangely at dinner parties.
But I'm only half as perverted as I seem! I swear!

Psh, whatever, this was great! I know I started this thread saying that I don't mind if people don't give input, but turns out I didn't know anything about that either, and everything everyone says is incredibly welcome and helpful :'D

PLEASE CONTINUE 0:)

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Yes, this. So long as you feel you've learned something, you're good.
And heck, ballpoint will teach you feel, going with the grain, and "oh $%*& I can't erase can I?", which is a hard skill to learn.

If anything, there isn't anything wrong with practicing loose form, faster sketches, and straighter lines. I'm sold, messy sketches on D&D nights it is then!

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Technically, this is still practice drawing the female form :)

Day 46 - Blatant Abuse of Semantics

Spoiler

[Thanqol]

Originally Posted by Capt. Ido Nos

Day 45 - You wanted a Hippiemancer, right?

Spoiler

After a couple of days of practice drawing women, I finally felt comfortable enough to give a shot at what I could see in my head. This one might be interesting to come back to once I start playing with color. Let's see how I feel about this picture in the morning, haha. Going to be honest, and I'm not totally sure how to convey "this is a magic person", but I gave it the best I could do :)

To note Thanqol: that's her staff she's holding. She has a special latch that released four segments from the side, to which she uses to attach her protest signs. She was also supposed to have a messenger bag full of spellbooks and the like, but that got too busy for my liking, so she left it at home today.

Hmm, it doesn't match up with my own visualisation (this is a modern setting, for one). Artistically, I'm not sure about the shape of the head (too tall) or the arrangement of features. But I do like the idea behind the staff and I'm stealing that for one of the character's tools.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Originally Posted by Thanqol

Hmm, it doesn't match up with my own visualisation (this is a modern setting, for one). Artistically, I'm not sure about the shape of the head (too tall) or the arrangement of features. But I do like the idea behind the staff and I'm stealing that for one of the character's tools.

Yeah, I figured I had a very small chance of getting the actual setting of the character right, I'm not at all familiar with what you're using her for But I'm glad you at least liked the staff idea! And I'm pretty glad with the overall lack of failure this represents for me, haha. Question though: you say you're not so sure about the "arrangement of features", but I don't think I follow. Are her facial features in the wrong places?

Since apparently I only posted yesterday in my mind, today is two days in one! Lots of experimenting and newness going on here folks. Today marks the first day in the drawchallenge where I used not only different brushes, but also... well you'll see I guess.
Day 47 - Waterfall

Spoiler

Thought I'd mix it up a bit, tried some white on black. It felt more natural to "paint" the water as a pure white color with a slightly soft, slightly transparent brush over black. It's not perfect, but I'm not sure what else to say about it...

Moving right along:

Day 48 - Kurai
(big warning)

Spoiler

This one is almost a shape and shadow study above all else. I swear it's not Metal Mask >_> I am interested to see what anyone thinks about today's drawing.

[Thanqol]

Originally Posted by Capt. Ido Nos

Yeah, I figured I had a very small chance of getting the actual setting of the character right, I'm not at all familiar with what you're using her for But I'm glad you at least liked the staff idea! And I'm pretty glad with the overall lack of failure this represents for me, haha. Question though: you say you're not so sure about the "arrangement of features", but I don't think I follow. Are her facial features in the wrong places?

Mage is basically the real world with secret wizards. There are very few of them who actually look like wizards, wear robes, or carry spellbooks.

And I don't know, the face just doesn't look right to me. The shape of the head is almost a pure oval, with no concessions to the shape of cheekbones or eyes. Someone better qualified than I should probably cover this.

Since apparently I only posted yesterday in my mind, today is two days in one! Lots of experimenting and newness going on here folks. Today marks the first day in the drawchallenge where I used not only different brushes, but also... well you'll see I guess.
Day 47 - Waterfall

Spoiler

Thought I'd mix it up a bit, tried some white on black. It felt more natural to "paint" the water as a pure white color with a slightly soft, slightly transparent brush over black. It's not perfect, but I'm not sure what else to say about it...

The water looks good, the rock formation needs work.

Day 48 - Kurai
(big warning)

Spoiler

This one is almost a shape and shadow study above all else. I swear it's not Metal Mask >_> I am interested to see what anyone thinks about today's drawing.

It's not? It looks exactly like the Arcani. Great work on this, by the way. Silhouettes always look great.

[Domochevsky]

I call shenanigans on the big one. There was no reason whatsoever to have it be this big. Just small and focused on the figure would have been sufficient, since the rest of the scene is black. Condense scenes down to what is needed. Don't have filler spaces.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Originally Posted by Domochevsky

I call shenanigans on the big one. There was no reason whatsoever to have it be this big. Just small and focused on the figure would have been sufficient, since the rest of the scene is black. Condense scenes down to what is needed. Don't have filler spaces.

Shenanigans acknowledged and accepted. I really should have lowered the resolution down another tick before I posted it. I forgot how big that really ends up being.

On the subject of filler space, I was going more in the "negative space" angle, I guess it didn't work out so well?

[Domochevsky]

Negative space? It's just black, with a little face figure in the bottom right. You could have cropped that down by about 90%.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

My entire point of this was to have the shadowy figure in the bottom corner of the image. I'm thinking, that the answer to this is less "kill all the empty space" but instead something more along the lines of fill the space in... an empty fashion.

The focus is on the shadowy figure, it's easy enough to draw attention to it with the contrast of its eyes on the blacks and greys. Putting him in the corner gives him more visual weight than centering him, and since there is a lack of visual interest elsewhere, and a line given by the slanted road/surface/thing the eye is more or less forced to focus on him. I guess it's just boiled down too far, having nothing be in the black fog. It is varied, by the way, but I may need to reduce the brightness on my home monitor, at work it looks a lot more uniform than what I was looking at last night. What it needs is... a setting of some sort. Nothing too visually exciting, I want attention on that corner. Hm...

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Day 49 - Components

Spoiler

A quick and dirty snapshot of my D&D session tonight. A five minute doodle turned into half an hour of fiddling, but this was fun to draw. (:

Incidentally, the dire wolf was not terribly amused by this. Just a heads up.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Day 50 - Ten minute Derp

Spoiler

Today, this really DID end up being a ten minute doodle. I probably all told spent about four hours in traffic across the whole day. Thanqol, I'll have you know that I could have been sleeping right now, but because of YOU and also Siuis I said NO, I will draw something and post it.

I am... almost disappointed at how smooth my lineart turned out

[Trazoi]

That's really nice for a ten minute doodle! Maybe too nice. The ponies have got you.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Originally Posted by Trazoi

That's really nice for a ten minute doodle! Maybe too nice. The ponies have got you.

Aw shucks

But seriously, I was legitimately confused when I finished, and wondered if I had misremembered what time I had started. My ten minute doodles look like a messy pile, even after cleanup ¯\(°_o)/¯

[the_druid_droid]

Originally Posted by Capt. Ido Nos

Day 50 - Ten minute Derp

Spoiler

Today, this really DID end up being a ten minute doodle. I probably all told spent about four hours in traffic across the whole day. Thanqol, I'll have you know that I could have been sleeping right now, but because of YOU and also Siuis I said NO, I will draw something and post it.

I am... almost disappointed at how smooth my lineart turned out

Your ability to draw Derpy so well in 10 minutes flat disgusts me! To the moon!

But seriously, that is an excellent pony for such a short amount of time. Also hi! I've been lurking the drawthreads for a while now...I should probably go post in Thanqol's thread too...

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Originally Posted by the_druid_droid

Your ability to draw Derpy so well in 10 minutes flat disgusts me! To the moon!

But seriously, that is an excellent pony for such a short amount of time. Also hi! I've been lurking the drawthreads for a while now...I should probably go post in Thanqol's thread too...

Haha, I was literally indignant when I was finished. I didn't expect anything remotely passable, let alone something people would like, including myself! Also: thanks for chiming in! The more the merrier ^^

Day 51 - 6.9

Spoiler

Yeah, I couldn't let yesterday sit without spending actual time on a pony. Hey whoa, decided to throw in a *background* as well. Sheez I'm living on the edge here, people.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Day 52 - IRC Requests

Spoiler

So, when asking the ponythread irc channel what I should draw, the lesson learned here is the answer is probably going be some combination of "ponies" and "barely even makes sense with context".

Turned out alright, I think. MLP:FiM is a nice and simple style, and I really like using that fat pen. Not a style for everything, but I'm starting to get the feel for this one, and that's a good thing I think. (I won't be drawing ponies every day, I promise!)

[TheAmishPirate]

Idoooooo, don't make me get out the good beatin' stick again!

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Thanksgiving + Family + Actually found this AMAZING cache of anatomy tutorials and studies that I have actually been reading and processing = A few days to relax from most commitments, but coming back strong tonight with a good handful of practice drawings.

Sometimes you just gotta do some booklearnin' instead of pencilwork. No worries, I'm back tonight and I will have something to show for it

*chases Amish with beatstick*

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Day 53 - Proportionally better

Spoiler

So, I spent the last several days digesting all seven of the amazing anatomy tutorials that Silviya linked to in Thanqol's drawthread. They were, in short, exactly the studies that I was looking for. I'm so thankful for these, they have been nothing if not eye-opening on all the stuff I haven't figured out on my own (read: pretty much everything).

So! Here is my second first attempt at putting what I've read and seen into practice. The first one looked similar, but as soon as I finished I realized I made the poor guy like 3 and a half heads wide instead of two and a half, and he looked like he had eaten a small volkswagon.

This guy is my first real attempt at proportions and some rough musculature while thinking I know what I'm doing. He is 8 heads tall, 2.5 heads wide. His arms and legs are their proper lengths and I FINALLY have a good point of reference on where to take the hands down (and finger length as well). He doesn't have a face and I only draw the shape of the feet, but I did give him modesty hulkpants, and I am really pretty happy with how this turned out.

Also as I side note, I've been pretty pleased with this brush thickness from the last few days. For some bizarre reason a 45px brush on a 300ppi A4 canvas just feels right.

Gonna try and get some poses and different angles out tomorrow, but this is has been a groundbreaking step for me today, I believe. (Of course this is an open invitation to tear it all down around me if I have just missed the point completely)

[Domochevsky]

Eh, just don't make the mistake of only thinking in heads and measurements. We'd rather not have everyone be of the same height and size.