Official OT-Creativity Thread 2

[Chalk]

you should check out www.stencilrevolution.com

my user name there is kchalk.

[infinity+1]

yeah, i've been checking out that site for a long time, although i've never registered.
until today, that is. unfortunately the image uploader is down??

i like what i've seen there. there are some amazing artists on that site.

[HMC]

I painted my picture from the previous page:

[Faktablad]

Ooh, looks like you know your way around a set of paints.  Could use work on the facial anatomy, especially the eye-natomy.

I just finished this long-in-the-making song.

The Knowing Place

It's meant to be calming and introspective, like a prayer.

[Locrian]

cool scenes junkboy.

heres a self portrait:

and heres some guy:

[Helm]

we've all drawn the second guy at some point I guess, not that it isn't a good study, it is.. But portrait, sharp rendering, charged atmosphere, good work.

[vedsten]

woo, first finished non-vector, non-pixel piece

[ptoing]

I think it could have a bit more mixing of the colours, not like GREEN HERE, BROWN HERE, GREY HERE. And that grassbrush is way unsubtle and lets it down. Otherwise very nice.

[Lawrence]

Just done some funny editing here.
Warning: strong language.

[Larwick]

I decided i'd be brave and post this here, heheh. >_<



I really wanna turn this into some kind of finished piece. My colouring skills are severely lacking atm though, i just can't seem to get it right. I probs need more practice. Although i'm not sure if this even needs colour, now i've been sketching it a bit more. At any rate i like what i've done so far..

Edit: More specifically, with what i need help with; I'm unsure of where or how to place the older girl's right arm around the little girl. I probably just need someone to pose for me, but if any of you guys have any ideas that'd be cool.

[BG]

I'd move up the hand and put it on her shoulder. Feels most natural to me, since that's how I usually held my little sister when comforting her back in the day.

[Opacus]

Well since Larwick got his guts together to post something OT, I think I should too
Here's a pen sketch I made at school, bout 4 hours work with 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 mm black fineliners.
(Hope the size is acceptable?) TEXT IS HALF ASSED.

A4 paper.

[miascugh]

I'm not dead yet I don't have much time lately and haven't done any digital work in a while, so I'll just post a sketch I like. My brother told me to make a high-riser that is a crocodile when I asked him what to draw the other night . Yeah, I intended to make several version, ones that aren't as silly and literal... I kinda didn't pay attention to symmetry, especially noticeable at the legs.

junkboy: love those pictures, great atmosphere!

vedsten: very nice for a first the bark is a bit fuzzy, and the whole scene a bit artificial, but again, pretty for your first non-pixel/vector piece.

locrian: love that portrait

opacus: I would prefer a smaller version. My max resolution is 1280x800, so I have to scroll down one whole screen to see the bottom half. I don't think it would lose a lot of information if it was halved in size. Anyway, it's the first analogue work I see from you so I have no reference point, but all in all keep it up. You know, draw from life and stuff, use contrast to improve readability (lighting doesn't always have to 100%-ly accurate, moderate use of fake-shadows can help distinguish a lot where needed). Also, if you're going to make a character, be sure to play around with poses as well. It's an essential part of a character, the way how it moves and presents itself, and you'll learn a lot about weight and balance. (I realize that this isn't a refined concept, that's just a little advice to keep in mind for work with intention).

larwick: I know it's stylized, but watch your eyes. Not only are they important to distinguish between male and female, but the eyes of the women almost touch in the middle, way too close I'd say. What also may add to this is the one curve that makes up the head's contour. Add a little resolution to the line, at least hint at jaw, eye-socket and forehead. And on the whole it looks a bit like an arrangement of snippets with all straight limbs, don't be afraid to try your hand at foreshortening more. Or am I mistaken here... what is she doing with the hand at her skirt?

[Sherman Gill]

Hello, Miascugh.

The idea is brilliant, so props to your brother.
The sketch is also very good, but something, and I have no idea what, feels like it's missing. I'm tempted to say it's something to do with the shoulder.

Also, that sketchbook looks familiar. What is it? A moleskin?

[surt]

Larwick: As to hand placement, I would think cupping the little girls should would look most natural. Also elder's right arm looks somewhat longish.

miascugh: Croc is brilliant.

[Larwick]

Update:


BG: Yeah that seems like the most logical place. I haven't changed that yet, i did try but failed miserably. I'm probs just too tired. Atm i imagine her hand to be behind the little girls back.
Opacus: Looks cool, i like drawing in fineliner, although i do find it quite hard to come up with anything worthwhile. His left hand looks a bit lame, just being spikey joints n such. Also his right foot is oddly placed.
miascugh: Yeah, i was told of the eye problem and tried to fix it (only very slightly) mainly by moving her pupil, but i'm not sure if it's enough. With the headshape, i've added a little eye-ridge bit, but i didn't realise the problem as well when i did it, so i've done no more than that. I'll see what i can come up with there, i now realise she needs a proper forehead, heheh. Oh and yeah.. she's meant to be holding her skirt down from the wind >_> I'm thinking i may have to change her hand though. Thanks for all the crits! That 'croc castle' looks awesome.
surt: Yeah i know what you mean with the arm length, was because of how i placed her hand-lump i think.

Thanks guys. 

[BG]

the only thing that bugged me about the arm was the difference in length of the parts. Though I'm no expert at anatomy, I think this looks a bit wierd.

[Aelyrin]

What bugs me the most about that picture is that the older 'girl' looks like a man. @__@

[junkboy]

Good job on the folds there, Larwick. As for the older sisters eyes, I made a small edit. Basically just a cut and resize. She doesn't look as pissed off now though. 

[Opacus]

Miascugh: Thanks alot for the advice mate, I'll keep it in mind. Yeah, I really need to work on my volumetric knowledge
I sized it down to 50%.

Larwick: Yeah i kinda got lazy the lower I got. But I didn't sketch the pose first or anything since it was just a sketch, I didn't feel like it.
So I just did everything a bit as I went. And therefore screwed up at several places. Including the feet and the hand. Hard to erase fineliner :C.

[ndchristie]

your style clearly has a number of conventions I don't know much about, so i won't try to work to it, but here's a quick alteration:


I've kept her in your pose, but i wouldn't necessarily suggest this.  Something more dynamic might not go amiss.  Right now it's stiff a bit.  One other thing is that the direction of the wind is making her look more hefty the way the clothes billow, it might be better to set the wind opposite.

finally, most importantly, gravity is the first force to act on a womans hair.  if you have it popping out strong then curving down, it's going to look shaggy, stiff, and otherwise masculine.  let it gently fall and then be pushed up by air rather than stuck up and pulled down.

[Faktablad]

Larwicked Witch of the West: Those eyes are still pretty huge, though.  If you draw the whole eyeball in as a sphere, it'll turn out to be almost the size of a tennis ball.  Of course, I don't know if it's a stylistic choice.  Check out this reference (though don't rely on it, haha).

Opachyderm:  Nice character, but the pose is very stiff, like Miascugh said.  You should make a LEGENDARY pose!

[Larwick]

Crikey, long post;

BG: So true, i seem to have missed her shoulder when calculating since it was covered by her sleeve. Sort of an illusion i guess. Anyway i'll plan on fixing that.
Aelyrin: I really don't see that... :/ Even when i crop her face and take away her hair i can't see how she would look more like a man than a woman, but perhaps it's just because in my imagination i 'believe' it's a girl, so my opinion is biased. When taking into account the crits below i'll try and work on it.
junkyboy: Thanks man. I've always liked this way of draw folds in clothes (loops) but i've never really been able to do it, until now i guess I understand your edit, she looks alot more realistic and easy on the eye there. Made me realise how pointy her chin is (anime's fault) and shortening the gap between her nose and lips helps (although one thing i don't really want to do is to lose the personality i kinda see for her the way she looks atm, and that could change that significantly). I also like what you did with the nose, as subtle as it is. Shows how big i've drawn her eyes, but i still quite like them >_< I'll play around a bit though.
Adarias: Your edit seems to show a much older woman with a much more built up body. I'm unsure how much i'll actually use it. How you've drawn the hair really does show how puffy i've drawn mine, problem is, i really like messy hair Also, at the time of the image the two girls would have been travelling in a forest for a few days, and i need to show that somehow (of course you wouldn't have known so no probs). Of course i'll always try it out though, and will probs end up calming down the hair on the left of her face. I didn't notice that about the wind and her clothes but it seems to be true around her waist (or am i looking in the wrong place?) The direction of the wind is kinda important in relation to strengthening the feeling that what they're looking at is quite ominous, to me at least it helps bring that feeling across... right?
I'm probs being defensive because i dislike changing a drawing greatly after first drawing it, which is a problem more than anything i think - as i feel this way even though i know i can save a backup of the older version.
Faktablad: Haha i see what you mean. It's definetely a stylistic choice, since this is more of a comic drawing than a 'realistic' one. Thanks for the ref, i'll see what i can do to make them a comfy size.

Thanks so much for the help guys. I'm really glad i posted the pic now.

[ndchristie]

the thing is, there's not a woman on earth that doesn't follow the same basic shapes (though they become smaller, tighter, looser, or more obscured with situation).  if you look, too, the edit is significantly smaller of frame (except in the legs, because I am Scottish and enjoy short, powerful legs).  Where she is more powerful is the hips, i kinda feel like yours are small and boyish (though this is also an age thing, i read this girl to be in her late teens or early twenties based on the height difference).  Also, the majority of those outlines are diagrammatic and not actual recesses, so if you work from the edit at all you can (should!!) smooth things out, but the structural changes IMO are pretty important along with some adjustments to the breasts. 

The whole thing right now is a teenage boy!  Form, stance, and face.  I didn't say it because aelyrin did, but now that you've dismissed it I feel the need to restate.

ragged, tossed hair should follow the same principals as clean hair, with more mess.  your hair, it isn't really natural hair, regardless of time in the woods.  you would need some crazy gel to get that shape you currently have.

As far as wind, remember that being sucked into a place you don't want to is actually more ominous than being blown away from it.

[Faktablad]

When I look at Adarias' edit, I have to admit that I've never seen hips like that on a woman.  Her whole pelvic area seems unnaturally huge, and her butt definitely looks kind of saggy from the small chunk of it we can see now.  I think all that's necessary is to alter her FACE, and maybe widen her HIPS a little bit. 

Along those lines, EDITZZZ!!!!1:

I just used the selection tool in Paint to move things around to where I thought they should go.

I took out part of the jaw line so that it doesn't extend all the way to the back of her neck; this does a lot to reduce manliness/age.  When something is younger, it is softer and smoother, which means it makes less harsh shadows (generally).  I also pulled up the chin towards the mouth.  That did a lot too.  I also resized the eyes, just so you can see what they look like...I know it's a "stylistic thing", but you could change, you never know...

Another thing I did was take out the part of her schnoz that connected with her brow, again to reduce manliness/age.  Younger people have smaller noses (generally).  I also reduced the size of the cranium. 

To make her body more womanly, I subtly increased the width of the hips, the size of the legs, the size of the arms, the width of the waist, the height of the breast, and the height of the collarbone.  All of the widening is because women have a higher fat-to-muscle ratio than men (generally).  All this combined makes her look more female.

[Larwick]

Haha touché to the max.
Yeah she's meant to be around 17 years old. I did just make some changes to her torso which should help lessen her boyishness, i'm actually quite surprised how boyish i seemed to have made her - it could be me trying to get away from the OTT girls i used to draw. I'm gunna try my best to make her look more feminine, more research will probs help.
So okidoke, i'll take all that into consideration. Thanks!

PS. I just realised the little girl has really long legs.. perhaps. >_>

After reading Faktas post:

Ahah! She needs a butt. I apologise for missing that pointer in Adarias' edit, so i better get on and make that biggar.
Cranium size - step ahead of ya, changed that a few minutes ago
With the jawline etc that's a pretty good tip, and i'm gunna deff look into that.
I don't really want to squish her head too much, i think at the moment it helps convey the age difference between the two girls (yanow, apart from the fact shes twice the size as the other). Plus i guess i kinda like long faces and big noses lol >_>
What you've done with her chest is almost exactly what i've already done, which is great to see.

Anyway thanks alot!

[Faktablad]

Nice job working so hard on this.  I totally understand that you want to make sure that people notice the age difference (her being the strong rock of the pair), but if you look closely, even at my edit (I don't want to toot my own horn too much), you can tell alot from the facial proportions.  You've already done a great job making the kid look like a kid, and it's not because her head is squished too much.  The way the nose is shaped does make a difference: smaller children have more turned-up noses with less of a bridge.  The chin line makes a difference: the kid's jaw is more pointy and diminuitive.  The size of the eyes in comparison to the head makes a difference: remember that eyeballs barely grow at all from childhood to adulthood.  The placement of the facial features make a difference: kids have big ol' brains, with the eyes, nose and mouth more squished to the bottom of the face.  Also the way you've done the mouth on the child is very subtle and nice, whereas the teen has fuller, more womanly lips.  So even without giving her a large nose or a long face, you can make someone look older through the placement of facial features, size of the eyes, shape of the head, and shape of the mouth.

These are all suggestions of course, I'm just warning you not to be afraid of change. 

[Larwick]

Thanks, i have high hopes for this piece! 

You're definetely right there, there are alot of things that go into showing someones age. Even though i said about it being a defining-the-age problem it's actually probably more to do with how i want the character portrayed, in terms of personality and generally how she looks. 

Here's an update now, since i've changed quite a few things. I think i'm getting there... 
She has too much of a pout now perhaps, may just be the hair lines though.



And an anim showing the head editingness:


I feel quite invasive with all these pics >_<

[ndchristie]

hair is still not her own.

my hips and rear are a little larger than they should be (heh, got away trying to make a point), but the point is more the shapes.  right now shes' nearly a straight line down armpit to ankle with only a little shape for the hips even in the newer versions.

fak - you say that edit of the face looks LESS like a man?  perhaps less like a boy, but certainly not at all like a woman.

[Larwick]

Goddamn, you're right. Looks like a wig now i look again.
And hips, gotchya. About the armpit to ankle thing, i'm seeing a problem with the position of her high shoulder, how it's too flattened or pushed back. Hopefully i can solve some of it by fixing that. I'm gunna have to work on this more tomorow. Thanks for all the help again.

[ndchristie]

it's hard to get things right when the arm obscures form.  i had trouble enough imagining it without an arm


 might be a bit closer

goddamned computer not recognizing scanner.....this would be so much faster by hand

[Faktablad]

fak - you say that edit of the face looks LESS like a man?  perhaps less like a boy, but certainly not at all like a woman.

Sorry?  Perhaps it would be more helpful for both me and Larwick if you elaborated.  I'm no real facial anatomy expert, I just tried to make it look more like the teenage girls that I know.

I'm still having trouble connecting your edit with real women that I've seen.  The legs/pelvis bother me especially on that last one.  When I cut off the top half and just look at the legs, I feel like I'm looking at Leonidas from the movie 300.  They seem rather muscularly out of proportion with her top half.  Did you mean to draw it as a representation of the muscles alone?  Because I feel like there should be more fat; she just seems way too jacked for a teenage girl.  (In general in your drawings I get this Classical vibe...I'm reminded of some of the great drawings and statues by Leonardo and Michaelangelo, etc.)

[Sohashu]

MEh. 

This is a bunch of sketchy things i made out of the good parts of assassin's creed.  Just me messin' around with mouse jockeying. 

I know the anatomy is pretty off, but its all in good fun. 

[Chalk]

live free or die harder!


water color and ink

[ndchristie]

Perhaps it would be more helpful for both me and Larwick if you elaborated.  I'm no real facial anatomy expert

I'm not one either, which is where it's really breaking down for me.  All i can say is that the feeling i get when looking at it is that I am seeing a man in his twenties or thirties

Did you mean to draw it as a representation of the muscles alone?

Yes!  I was trying to say this earlier but the words were not coming.


Chalk: That's fantastic, particularly the non-traditional handling of the grass texture

random, and not art, but i had an epiphany today while looking at people's faces without glasses.  the nose is the brightest form regardless of skin tone! i was baffled, until i considered angles...:


most of you probably consider this old hat, but it was revelation for me....

[Doppleganger]

I've yet to ever post something here but I figured it was time. Some enemy concepts for an upcoming game.

Petrifried Chicken
Fox Drop
Lack-a-Daisy
Flying Pig
Toast Cat?

I used to hate vector with a passion but, it has its quirks. These'll all function piece by piece in a skeletal animation system.

[Larwick]

Nice observation Adarias, and good sketch!
Doppleganger, those look really great, the pig looks like it could have sommor volume but the rest are wonderful imo.
Chalk, wicked.
Sohashu, sketching stuff like that with a mouse is freaking hard, neigh on impossible i think. I'd avoid it, especially on paint!

I made an update with my pic: Here. Took away the red background so it's easier to see.
I think (hope) i've fixed alot of problems. Her head looks a bit big now i've lessened her shoulder breadth, but does it look ok as a style choice?

[Doppleganger]

I dig the expression on the older sister's face. It really gives off the impression that she's looking over her little sis' very protectively.

Her head might be a little big but, for me, it's hard to say.

I feel that there is something that is making the face look disjointed from the head. Perhaps it's the fact that the eyes are shaded so distinctly and deliberately. They really stand out and I can see that this is probably a style choice. They are indeed full of emotion and certainly tell the story of the picture themselves but, I think that they would still carry that weight if they were slightly more subtle. You might even find that it'd address some head issues and bring the picture together.

[boojiboy]

Hey Larwick.
Looks good. But I still think the face looks a bit strange. The eyes seem too close together and the chin is jutting at a strange (and sorry, masculine) angle.
The main thing that's throwing it off for is the height of the older girl. From torso up she doesn't seem too tall but her thighs are huge! If the her lower legs are the same size then she would come down much further than the little girl. Which would look weird considering she's so much higher than little girl as well.
Just looking at it now. Maybe the knees are hidden under the skirt. If that's the case then forget I mentioned it, but instead make the knees a bit more obvious.
I think you would benefit from drawing the entire bodies without the frame to get the proportions right and then frame it after.

[Sohashu]

@ Larwick - Hey.  I don't have a tablet, so i do a fair bit of sketching with a mouse.  I've become fairly decent at it.  As for doing it in paint, its just what i open when im bored. 

[Helm]

Larwick, your problem at this stage is not where you're focusing. Your poses are stiff and while the lengths of arms and legs whatever is okay, there is a lacking of actual anatomical knowledge in how a body operates, in what kind of positions it would be comfortable in, how weight affects muscle and balance. Right now you have a 'flyswatted strawman', there is no flow and no coherent structure. The arms are sticks, the back a straight line, the actual hands holding stuff are just stiff and expressionless. You're focusing on rendering the face while you should be doing ground-up studies on the whole human figure. I guarantee you that 10 hours of life studies, focused, will make you level up twice. Gosh, I read this and it sounds harsh, but I wish someone had told me the same 2 years ago when I was rendering whisps of hair and eyelashes and lips meticulously on lifeless wooden poses. Still struggling with it, and I am trying to give you a better focus.

If you need an edit I can do it, Adarias' is really good, but not extreme enough. The pose just doesn't work.

[Larwick]

Doppleganger: That's a good point actually, throughout the drawing i've been darkening certain parts without really thinking about the whole picture, since i've only thought of it as a sketch really. I've toned down the eyes and it really helps, so thanks!
boojiboy: I really am having trouble with the legs, and certainly the way the little girl is positioned makes it look like she has incredibly long legs. The older girl's knees would have been just cut off the pic. I've always had a problem with drawing long legs, so thanks for the pointer. :] I actually have a layer where i've only drawn the body, however it's pretty much terrible. After reading Helm's crits i'll probably restart the whole body anyway, taking everyone else's opinions into account too.
Sohashu: Alrighty then, i shouldn't be afraid of getting out a paper pad and pencil though. Although saying that you probs do anyway so i'll shutup. :3
Helm: Everytime i try to start a drawing of a person i think i skip the points that i should be concentrating at most, the whole 'stick-figure' drawings etc. So all your crits are really worthwhile at getting me to realise this. I'll take a breather and try and do some life studies like you suggested. I think an edit would really help me though, when i get back to the pic, if you have the time.  Thanks!

[shaheen]

Larwick: You should check out the "Figure Drawing for All it's Worth" book by Andrew Loomis here.

I looked at it sometime ago when I was in a rut and found it was really inspiring as far as creating a methodology for quickly plotting down action and poses.

And, uh. To make this post not so bare, here's a self-portrait I did in Inkscape randomly, without reference:

[Helm]

buh as you can see: this isn't very good, it also veers more and more towards unhelpful-land as there are so many alterations it's just telling you 'start over, lol!' but it might be of assistance in some concrete ways: hands. Hands. Hands. Why is she holding her skirt down? Who gives a shit about the skirt? She's instead touching her sibling to create some emotional connection between the two besides the sheltering body language. Either that or perhaps trying to hold her hair out of her face so she can pro-actively look around towards whatever's happening on the right. *Anything* but the cliche shit 'holding skirt down'. Who does this in a time of trouble? It's a bad stereotype. Sister's also looking towards her big sister for guidance and support. The other arm is holding her shoulder firmly. These things count.

Sister too low probably (in your version, amended in mine).

Never crop anatomy art at the knee. Draw the whole thing, and at the end crop wherever you feel the art needs to.


Take what is useful from the edit and disregard its faults.

[baccaman21]

for some reason everything helm posts (including his Avatar) is not being displayed... is it just me... everyone else is fine...

[The B.O.B.]

Tis you only, Captain Bacca'gamon, tis you...

[madPXL]

yep,

just one of my last draw on paper : made with watercolours.

This character come from of a one shot of Akira Toriyama named kajika^^




and some sketch of myself in the same style :

[ndchristie]

todays sketchings......:

[AlienQuark]

Faktableed: Great song, I really liked listening to it!

My only thing recent worth showing:

[Faktablad]

Faktableed: Great song, I really liked listening to it!

Cool, thanks!

Adarias: The statue of the woman on the right is really great.  These are really nice sketches.