Arts and CraftsThe place to talk about stick figure avatars, graphic design, fan art, or any application of the visual arts and creative writing--or just to show off your latest masterwork!
Don't forget that skulls are made up of multiple bones, not a single dome. For line-art, drawing the cranial sutures can add curvature and provide the illusion of three dimensionality.
</talking out of my hat advice>
__________________ Avatars: Ponified Othar Tryggvassen by Madcrafter; "Fetlock Equinari, Ponytrician of Flanhk-Marepork, featuring Bank Chairman Mr Fusspot" by Dirtytabs; "Dexam with April from CRFH!!!" by Maritza Campos.
Don't forget that skulls are made up of multiple bones, not a single dome. For line-art, drawing the cranial sutures can add curvature and provide the illusion of three dimensionality.
</talking out of my hat advice>
Try googling for a good 3/4 reference of a skull rear view, and then tell me what it looks like
You're right, though, I do need to figure out a way to do that better.
Day 295: Beefcake
Quick redline sketch. Male musculature isn't super difficult; I should be able to get this down with some more practise.
Hmm, the arms seem large compared to the torso. If they're going to be that thick, I think the chest needs to be somewhat larger, otherwise it looks off-balance. Also, the deltoids seem large and don't quite flow into the shoulder in the right place. The torso looks pretty good, however; it's mostly an issue of relative proportion.
__________________ I never saw an ugly thing in my life - John Constable
Hmm, the arms seem large compared to the torso. If they're going to be that thick, I think the chest needs to be somewhat larger, otherwise it looks off-balance. Also, the deltoids seem large and don't quite flow into the shoulder in the right place. The torso looks pretty good, however; it's mostly an issue of relative proportion.
*Nod* I'll pay more attention.
Day 296: Missed Opportunities
Oh Jayden. You should have just kissed the girl.
This is a WIP; trying a thing where I take a picture slow and work it all out step by step and don't rush to completion in the first sitting. Also because of time constraints. Let me know of anything that needs changing.
Day 290: I really like the shading you've done on the iris here, and I like that you've used lots of different shades. It makes it look a lot more realistic. The only criticism I have for it is that generally, the area around the outside edge of the iris is slightly darker. Though, this is a pony iris (I think?), so maybe it's different with ponies.
Day 292: Now that is cool. I've always loved pieces with dark, dramatic, colored lighting, and you did a good job on the shading. I also like the purple lines around the person, which hint a bit at other light sources and makes the piece look less monochromatic than it might have otherwise.
Day 295: I agree with a lot of what The Druid Droid said about proportions. I also think that the heads are a bit too small, mainly in proportion to the wideness of the shoulders. You did get the shape of the muscles down very well, though.
Day 296: I like the start of this, and I'm glad that you're working on some multi-day projects. The poses and proportions look pretty good, but some of the shapes and lines look a little off:
-The left arm of the red girl (I'm just going to call them the red girl and the purple girl) is too straight and too even in width. It should bend just a bit at the elbow, and it also should taper off a bit until it gets to the elbow, and then get wider, and then taper off towards the wrist. You should also do slight curves for muscles, if she's supposed to be more muscular. You should probably find a good reference picture, since the shape of arms is actually pretty hard to do without reference until you get used to it.
-The right hand of the purple girl looks odd. Is it supposed to be palm up on the table? That seems like it would be pretty uncomfortable.
-The purple girls leg seems to be curving slightly downwards, given where her skirt meets the rest of her dress. Do you draw out your figures before putting clothes on them? It looks here like you drew the figures and the clothes at the same time, which can lead to little inconsistencies and weirdness like that. I'd advise getting in the habit of drawing the figure first, and then drawing the clothes over them. It's an extra step, but it's worth it.
-The purple girl is either wearing a seriously amazing bra, or her chest is at slightly too high an angle. If you make her back tilted a little bit further, it would work.
Anyway, I think you have a really good start to this drawing, and the flaws are relatively minor. Like I said earlier, the poses are good and don't feel too stiff, and the proportions are pretty good. I look forward to seeing this when you finish it.
Day 290: I really like the shading you've done on the iris here, and I like that you've used lots of different shades. It makes it look a lot more realistic. The only criticism I have for it is that generally, the area around the outside edge of the iris is slightly darker. Though, this is a pony iris (I think?), so maybe it's different with ponies.
Not particularly, just my derpage.
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Day 292: Now that is cool. I've always loved pieces with dark, dramatic, colored lighting, and you did a good job on the shading. I also like the purple lines around the person, which hint a bit at other light sources and makes the piece look less monochromatic than it might have otherwise.
Thank you. It's remarkable how complicated a relatively simple industrial setpiece is.
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Day 295: I agree with a lot of what The Druid Droid said about proportions. I also think that the heads are a bit too small, mainly in proportion to the wideness of the shoulders. You did get the shape of the muscles down very well, though.
*Nod nod* The heads were an afterthought because I wanted to try some stupid hairstyles TBH
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Day 296: I like the start of this, and I'm glad that you're working on some multi-day projects. The poses and proportions look pretty good, but some of the shapes and lines look a little off:
...
Anyway, I think you have a really good start to this drawing, and the flaws are relatively minor. Like I said earlier, the poses are good and don't feel too stiff, and the proportions are pretty good. I look forward to seeing this when you finish it.
Did my best to adjust and correct for the inking layer. Still some flaws but I've spent longer on this than I should have tonight. Thanks very much for the help!
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I'd advise getting in the habit of drawing the figure first, and then drawing the clothes over them. It's an extra step, but it's worth it.
*Facepalm* Knew I forgot something.
Day 297: Return in Daydreams
I was not efficient in going about this piece, and now looking back at how much time it took I'm starting to wonder if I spent too much time being picky (or if I'm too used to rushing things? Hmm). Things that immediately jump out as needing fixing is a slight ear repositioning, an embiggening of Jayden's hand, and something to break up the long flat shape of that coat (though I dunno what). In general, I'm not unhappy with how this is going; there's a lot of complex stuff I'm handling passably.
As often seems to be the case, you've been somewhat generous with the bewbie, Dom. Not enought to be unrealistic, mind. Also, if it's a character who's already established to be bigger busted (I dip in and out, my memory for the specifics is poor) then well... hey-ho. Such folk are out there, after all. [shrugs]
The faces/heads in Thanq's sketch could use a little bit more dimension too, they look a bit like flat shapes as is. The mood and atmosphere of this piece is very strong though. And you've been so good at keeping up with posting something every day for this project, Thanqol: yeah, I'm pretty sure you've missed the odd day here or there, but you generally make up for it by posting extra later, and the thread hasn't gone into a slump for more than a week or so, has it? I'm pretty envious about that.
__________________
Current avatar by Zefir
Thanks to Teutonic Knight, Kasanip, Oblivion, Dogmantra, Elder Tsofu, araveugnitsuga and Alarra
I learned about this relationship of bodyparts in GenGame. Everything plugs into something else; nothing overlaps.
I blame anime (I swear, the day I'm able to remember every lesson I've committed to learning rather than just some of them will be the day I'm a good artist). Fixes shall be forthcoming, thank you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eleanor_Rigby
As often seems to be the case, you've been somewhat generous with the bewbie, Dom. Not enought to be unrealistic, mind. Also, if it's a character who's already established to be bigger busted (I dip in and out, my memory for the specifics is poor) then well... hey-ho. Such folk are out there, after all. [shrugs]
The faces/heads in Thanq's sketch could use a little bit more dimension too, they look a bit like flat shapes as is. The mood and atmosphere of this piece is very strong though.
Ink sketches will always look flat, I think; I'm intending to try and add depth when I get to colouring. That's just my own perception; if you've got a method that'd let me add depth at the ink sketch level I'd love to hear it.
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And you've been so good at keeping up with posting something every day for this project, Thanqol: yeah, I'm pretty sure you've missed the odd day here or there, but you generally make up for it by posting extra later, and the thread hasn't gone into a slump for more than a week or so, has it? I'm pretty envious about that.
I'm offended . I have not missed a single day, not one. I'm only two and a half months off having gone for an entire year with a picture every single day, rain or shine, with absolutely no excuses.
And I've had excuses; there were plenty of days when I did not want to draw at all, or had other stuff, or work, or was tired or on fire or whatever. Did it anyway.
__________________
"sit against your tower now
and let your hair cascade
deep into the turmoil you made"
And onto some colouring. It's ai'ight, but I'm in a complete nonstarter state as far as art goes tonight; this much only happened due to willpower and habit. Stressing over bills and payments and resumes and other nonsense left me feeling drained but, gods, am I glad that rubbish is dealt with for now.
I feel like the colouring/shading method I've got here is very quick and efficient and it looks okay; if I want to do a quick piece I think I'll stay with this technique (such as, for a webcomic). There's more potential in paints, and I'll get around to trying to paint up some skintones sometime, but this is a decent compromise.
EDIT: Still a few touches of shading will be needed on this one, that shoulder in particular.
Ink sketches will always look flat, I think; I'm intending to try and add depth when I get to colouring. That's just my own perception; if you've got a method that'd let me add depth at the ink sketch level I'd love to hear it.
I'd love to help you but I'm overstretching myself as it is. To try to be more specific I'll say that it was, and still is, the character on the viewer's left whose head/face I was having some issues with. One of the main observations I made was that the line weight seemed to be a bit timorous at that stage of production. It's quite thin and all about the same, you might want to look into doing Saeyan's line weight tutorial (from the Art Upgrade thread) or if you've already done it, revising it. That said, there is a marked improvement in step two of the same piece so... Obviously it's all up to you. I take issue with the statement that ink sketches will always look flat though, try telling that to EH Shepherd, Chris Riddell, Quentin Blake or Leonardo Da Vinci (at least two of those guys are dead, so that might be a bit of an ask...)
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I'm offended . I have not missed a single day, not one. I'm only two and a half months off having gone for an entire year with a picture every single day, rain or shine, with absolutely no excuses.
And I've had excuses; there were plenty of days when I did not want to draw at all, or had other stuff, or work, or was tired or on fire or whatever. Did it anyway.
I'm a bit mortified at having accidentally offended you: I lurk on this board a lot and with a thread as prolific as this one it's quite easy to get mixed up if you're only following it casually like I do. I should have got my facts straight before saying anything though - I was trying to cover myself by using qualifiers like 'I think' and 'I'm pretty sure'. I implied that you'd missed days because I remembered there were days when you'd almost missed days and then put things up the very next day, usually two things. I wasn't trying to rain on your parade with what I was saying, I just worried that if I was 100% complementary it would sound sycophantic and insincere. Personally I don't know how to take a compliment, or a criticism for that matter, and I guess I was just assuming you think the same way I do, which is always a rather dangerous thing for me to do.
A picture is said to say a thousand words, my pictures aren't very good but I did one for you last night as an attempt at an apology. I couldn't spend very long on it so it's scruffy. (:/)
Spoiler
Sorry about the state of my handwriting it should read: "Sorry for mixing the threads up, Thanqol, I think your project's really good. I couldn't do that." I won't bother transcribing the stuff in lime, it's just notes on things I stuffed up with the sketch. And it doesn't even mention half of the issues
I meant it when I said I was envious.
__________________
Current avatar by Zefir
Thanks to Teutonic Knight, Kasanip, Oblivion, Dogmantra, Elder Tsofu, araveugnitsuga and Alarra
I'd love to help you but I'm overstretching myself as it is. To try to be more specific I'll say that it was, and still is, the character on the viewer's left whose head/face I was having some issues with. One of the main observations I made was that the line weight seemed to be a bit timorous at that stage of production. It's quite thin and all about the same, you might want to look into doing Saeyan's line weight tutorial (from the Art Upgrade thread) or if you've already done it, revising it. That said, there is a marked improvement in step two of the same piece so... Obviously it's all up to you. I take issue with the statement that ink sketches will always look flat though, try telling that to EH Shepherd, Chris Riddell, Quentin Blake or Leonardo Da Vinci (at least two of those guys are dead, so that might be a bit of an ask...)
I've actually been deliberately experimenting with new line weights because I was getting a bit wedded to my px 6 2000x2000 canvas; I've rolled down to 3px on 1800x1200. I understand the concepts of line weight and such, I think, I'm just having a bit of difficulty working out the precise settings I need to use to get it right.
I've been staring at a fair bit of lineart recently trying to eyeball brush settings I can replicate in the future. That's really hard, though. I'm equally torn by the thought that settings don't matter as long as I master my existing ones... I don't really know.
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I'm a bit mortified at having accidentally offended you: I lurk on this board a lot and with a thread as prolific as this one it's quite easy to get mixed up if you're only following it casually like I do. I should have got my facts straight before saying anything though - I was trying to cover myself by using qualifiers like 'I think' and 'I'm pretty sure'. I implied that you'd missed days because I remembered there were days when you'd almost missed days and then put things up the very next day, usually two things. I wasn't trying to rain on your parade with what I was saying, I just worried that if I was 100% complementary it would sound sycophantic and insincere. Personally I don't know how to take a compliment, or a criticism for that matter, and I guess I was just assuming you think the same way I do, which is always a rather dangerous thing for me to do.
I'm sorry in return for being a touch more snippy than I meant to; no actual malice meant or offence was taken, I miscommunicated my hyperbolic pride. Again, I am sorry.
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A picture is said to say a thousand words, my pictures aren't very good but I did one for you last night as an attempt at an apology. I couldn't spend very long on it so it's scruffy. (:/)
Spoiler
Sorry about the state of my handwriting it should read: "Sorry for mixing the threads up, Thanqol, I think your project's really good. I couldn't do that." I won't bother transcribing the stuff in lime, it's just notes on things I stuffed up with the sketch. And it doesn't even mention half of the issues
I meant it when I said I was envious.
D'awwww, now I feel doubly bad for being snippy. Well, proportionate response time:
You can even have my hat. Ido's not using it. No hard feelings :)
__________________
"sit against your tower now
and let your hair cascade
deep into the turmoil you made"
I ship you/Anyone./Infernal Gardevoir from outside the playground, by Recaiden//ExtendedSig
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thanqol
It's not normal, of course, and what's actually happening in Comet Kicker's brain is that she's using regular murder as therapy for worse murder. There's a breakdown in the works and all it needs is one good, hard kick.
Familiarity breeds contempt.
I knew when you drew The Pone that you weren't bad at it, just in-practiced. The cognitive skills were there, the hands and eyes just had to be taught to obey. and then I watched your progress. It doesn't seem like much because it's been constant. But every now and again I see with eyes cleared of bias.
This is one of those times.
-
Seeing As this is now a Work of Art(tm) instead of a scribble, are you still up for resizing and letting somepony use it as an avatar?
Also, having wanted to light chronic liars on fire many a time, I too have to ask what Ms. Lorn has asked. It's not that you'd sell us straight; it's that you wear a lab coat, and have ideas. Chemistry ideas.
>Go to college
>Find skull in glass case
>????
>Profit!
No grave robbery? I am disappointed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SiuiS
Familiarity breeds contempt.
I knew when you drew The Pone that you weren't bad at it, just in-practiced. The cognitive skills were there, the hands and eyes just had to be taught to obey. and then I watched your progress. It doesn't seem like much because it's been constant. But every now and again I see with eyes cleared of bias.
This is one of those times.
-
Seeing As this is now a Work of Art(tm) instead of a scribble, are you still up for resizing and letting somepony use it as an avatar?
My thought going in was "Yea, this kinda detail isn't really appropriate for an avatar. Gonna do it anyway".
Does make a pretty avatar, all said.
On that topic, I'm more than happy to colour more linework if you throw it out. It's so relaxing, colouring linework; all the fiddly detail is out of the way already and so it's just me and the paints.
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Also, having wanted to light chronic liars on fire many a time, I too have to ask what Ms. Lorn has asked. It's not that you'd sell us straight; it's that you wear a lab coat, and have ideas. Chemistry ideas.
"Ze fires of passion, my friend, are far hotter than ze mere burning of parasythenmol."
EDIT: Tec, haven't forgotten your request. Soonish.
__________________
"sit against your tower now
and let your hair cascade
deep into the turmoil you made"
I ship you/Anyone./Infernal Gardevoir from outside the playground, by Recaiden//ExtendedSig
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thanqol
It's not normal, of course, and what's actually happening in Comet Kicker's brain is that she's using regular murder as therapy for worse murder. There's a breakdown in the works and all it needs is one good, hard kick.
Ick. Have you ever tried grave robbery? Too much mess and squick and decay and BLEH.
On another note, would you be willing to draw a request for me? I've decided my Rainbow Dash costume needs a keyblade, but I'm at a loss as for how to design it. And the ones I've found on the internet either suck, or don't feel very "Rainbow Dash". (I tried making one myself, but it kiiiinda sucks.)
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Adopted li'l sis of Trobby.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thanqol
"You can't tell me you've never wondered what it would be like to -"
"I swear to Celestia, Caramel, I will stick a cupcake in your eye."
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheAmishPirate
Crew morale fares poorly under the effects of fiery death.
Spoiler
Is it can be hugs time now plz?
Last edited by Hawkflight : 03-12-2012 at 09:05 PM.
Don't worry, Thanqol, I can wait! Feel free to do your other awesome art stuff first.
Baller.
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Originally Posted by Lix Lorn
Hmm.
Pros: Thanqol, Shadow.
Cons: Certain Death.
Tough call. I'll get back to you.
Flatterer ^^
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Originally Posted by Hawkflight
Ick. Have you ever tried grave robbery? Too much mess and squick and decay and BLEH.
On another note, would you be willing to draw a request for me? I've decided my Rainbow Dash costume needs a keyblade, but I'm at a loss as for how to design it. And the ones I've found on the internet either suck, or don't feel very "Rainbow Dash". (I tried making one myself, but it kiiiinda sucks.)
How's this as a rough design?
Spoiler
Day 300: Pointless Revolution
Jayden got drunk for the first time ever! It was awful and she is no longer friends with Blue.
I ship you/Anyone./Infernal Gardevoir from outside the playground, by Recaiden//ExtendedSig
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thanqol
It's not normal, of course, and what's actually happening in Comet Kicker's brain is that she's using regular murder as therapy for worse murder. There's a breakdown in the works and all it needs is one good, hard kick.
Yeah, I should be honest with myself...
Where's the cheapest place to get one way tickets to australia?
The rule goes that anyone who can survive a trip with a planeload of Australians deserves to be a citizen.
Day 301: Freedom From Obligation
There are few better ways to learn about a character than exploring their evil opposite. Cyprus is essentially a ruthless, faithless Jayden Mavel. She opened her first session with knocking down a four storey hotel with a single vulgar Prime spell to kill three Guardians of the Veil inside.
It was so easy. I have a whole new level of respect for just how unbelievably restrained Jayden Mavel is now that I've seen what she could do if she just stopped caring.
Spoiler
Time: 30 mins Music: Smile, Smile, Smile (Euro Cheer)
__________________
"sit against your tower now
and let your hair cascade
deep into the turmoil you made"
So uh
Would it be okay if I requested an avatar? If yes, go to spoiler 1. If no, go to spoiler 4.
1
Spoiler
Yay! What I want, is me with a massively slasher smile and a laaarge hammer. Talking evil smile screaming 'oh god she's going to murderize me' and hammer bigger than I am. Ideally, the hammer is made of silver, and is as fanciful as you can be bothered to do. xD This, of course, comes from the recent post of mine in ponythread, and most of those pics will show what I want hammerwise.
Don't mind if it's Faith or Lixie, but the differences are minor. For Faith, go to spoiler 2. For Lixie, go to spoiler 3!
2
Spoiler
Faith could be in ponyform or humanform, either is fine. You've drawn humanFaith before, so I guess you know what she looks like, but I'd want reaaally long hair. Like, as long as Susan in EGS hair. Of course, Faith has purple hair! PonyFaith obviously is a blueypurple coat, but I'm sure you know the rest. For human, clothingwise, a skirt or a dress would be ideal, black or purple.
3
Spoiler
Lixie is my standard avatar! She looks... basically the same as humanFaith. Pretty, wearing a dress or a tank top and skirt. (Probably either black or purple clothes) I'd want reaaally long hair. Like, as long as Susan in EGS hair. Lixie's hair is the brown.
4
Spoiler
No problem. You've done more than enough arting for me and you're totally awesome.
I have no idea why I did CYOA style post. Thanks anyway!
I ship you/Anyone./Infernal Gardevoir from outside the playground, by Recaiden//ExtendedSig
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thanqol
It's not normal, of course, and what's actually happening in Comet Kicker's brain is that she's using regular murder as therapy for worse murder. There's a breakdown in the works and all it needs is one good, hard kick.
So uh
Would it be okay if I requested an avatar? If yes, go to spoiler 1. If no, go to spoiler 4.
1
Spoiler
Yay! What I want, is me with a massively slasher smile and a laaarge hammer. Talking evil smile screaming 'oh god she's going to murderize me' and hammer bigger than I am. Ideally, the hammer is made of silver, and is as fanciful as you can be bothered to do. xD This, of course, comes from the recent post of mine in ponythread, and most of those pics will show what I want hammerwise.
Don't mind if it's Faith or Lixie, but the differences are minor. For Faith, go to spoiler 2. For Lixie, go to spoiler 3!
2
Spoiler
Faith could be in ponyform or humanform, either is fine. You've drawn humanFaith before, so I guess you know what she looks like, but I'd want reaaally long hair. Like, as long as Susan in EGS hair. Of course, Faith has purple hair! PonyFaith obviously is a blueypurple coat, but I'm sure you know the rest. For human, clothingwise, a skirt or a dress would be ideal, black or purple.
3
Spoiler
Lixie is my standard avatar! She looks... basically the same as humanFaith. Pretty, wearing a dress or a tank top and skirt. (Probably either black or purple clothes) I'd want reaaally long hair. Like, as long as Susan in EGS hair. Lixie's hair is the brown.
4
Spoiler
No problem. You've done more than enough arting for me and you're totally awesome.
I have no idea why I did CYOA style post. Thanks anyway!
On the list
Day 302: For Whipping
Tec's request! I like the fire experiment I did here, but it didn't scale that well to avatar size. Sorry!
I ship you/Anyone./Infernal Gardevoir from outside the playground, by Recaiden//ExtendedSig
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thanqol
It's not normal, of course, and what's actually happening in Comet Kicker's brain is that she's using regular murder as therapy for worse murder. There's a breakdown in the works and all it needs is one good, hard kick.
You know what I was thinking about? If only we could gather all the tips and tricks and advises people give to thanqol in this thread. That would make an awesome 'GITP Art advice' collection or something in that line.
RSS Feeds: 
Re: Thanqol Learns To Draw!
Bleeeeh! Alfalfa Monster!
Not enought to be unrealistic, mind. Also, if it's a character who's already established to be bigger busted (I dip in and out, my memory for the specifics is poor) then well... hey-ho. Such folk are out there, after all. [shrugs]
by Recaiden//
