Maidens of the Kaleidoscope
~Hakurei Shrine~ => Alice's Art Atelier => Topic started by: SealedDarkness on July 04, 2012, 07:32:30 PM
-
Ahahaa...I'm new...I couldn't think of what to name it at all... Forgive me.
Basically I'm starting an Art Thread because...well, art is mostly what I do. I don't really know where else to start. :blush:
More or less...I do two styles... Painting and Line-heavy work. I'm still learning, so critique is greatly needed.
Paint:
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d4sbrw5
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d4vdl21
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d4x3ojp
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d550f7h
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d55itr4
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d563bt0
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d4uktcx
Line:
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d4nn3b6
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d4nn3ax
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d4nn3b0
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d4r3ju7
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d50wiou
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d50wi6t
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d550efa
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d563cji
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/gallery/35868105#/d563cbe
Ahh... If someone could tell me how to format these posts a little better...that would be appreciated too. It's been too many years since I did anything in code...
-
lines
I have found a kindred spirit! Is that ink you're using? Some of the colors seem too blurry for me, especially on your line-styled art.
You could always use the url tags if copy-pasting urls is too tedious.
-
Oh hey! welcome to MoTK~ I think i have a bunch of your stuff in my 2hu folders
-
Well welcome to the well of MotK
And your pics all look very hostile to their viewers for some reason
-
Thank you for all the welcomes, I really appreciate it. I've never been to a forum that was quite so friendly before, I confess.
As for what I use...I draw in Paint tool Sai, though I do indeed use the pen tool set to a big brush, so I guess it's like inking. I'd upload more stuff from hand, but my scanner went kaput and I need to get a new one...
The colors are fuzzy because I'm not very good with coloring >> Also I tend to use the brush tool in sai to color, so there's basically no hard lines to define anything. I would work on that, but I'm a little skittish about messing with color much because I'm very unfamiliar with it.
As for the hostile look...I suppose I go more for majesty and otherwordliness more than approachability. Plus I'm just...generally bad at making kindly faces, haha... I suppose there are a lot of people drawing cute, friendly touhous, I might as well go for the other end of the spectrum to balance it a little.
Here's the art for today, by the way... (http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/#/d567qm2)
-
Here's the art for today, by the way... (http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/#/d567qm2)
I nearly screamed the moment I saw the tails and all the shading. Nice job! or is it ran because ran is really easy to color and shade and all
Her hat... something's off about it. I'm not sure. Size? Brim?
-
It's probably that it's not sitting right on her head >>
I never really got the hang of hats, haha...
Tried to draw a Mystia looking all angryscary like an owl, but I forgot that bird expressions don't translate well into human ones, so I hastily turned it into singing.
http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/#/d56elgb
Mmm, should I be posting previews or something? Somehow it feels redundant to upload stuff on DA then run back and post it here. Or is that how it's done?
-
(http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad338/BeastieMaker/th_Scarletdevillaunch.png) (http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad338/BeastieMaker/Scarletdevillaunch.png)
I don't always draw stupid pictures at three am, but when I do, it's generally about the SDM.
I cleared IN with Remilia the other day, so this is inspired by the ending where Remilia, Sakuya and Patchy are theorizing about how to get into space and agree the best way to do it is with a rocket that runs on blood.
-
(http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad338/BeastieMaker/th_Scarletdevillaunch.png) (http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad338/BeastieMaker/Scarletdevillaunch.png)
I don't always draw stupid pictures at three am, but when I do, it's generally about the SDM.
I cleared IN with Remilia the other day, so this is inspired by the ending where Remilia, Sakuya and Patchy are theorizing about how to get into space and agree the best way to do it is with a rocket that runs on blood.
I love this and everything it stands for.
I really like the way you use lines. It looks like you'd be really good at making logos that use few colors but still look fairly intricate/elegant, like your Yukari pic.
-
Ahaha, art was stalled because Steam had a huge sale and I've been playing Portal 2 a lot.
(http://=http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad338/BeastieMaker/th_FacePracticeTouhouandKillMebaby.png) (http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad338/BeastieMaker/FacePracticeTouhouandKillMebaby.png)
Just trying to practice smaller lines and faces. Also, that DJ MIKO joke will never cease to crack me up. Sadly my computer is going in for repairs, so the larger projects I'm working on will be on hold. Ho-hum.
-
Well, my computer got repaired, only it came home broken with yet another problem, so I had to send it back. One way or another, time got eaten and here we are... I hope this Meiling (http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/art/Rainbow-Meiling-320142285) and Yuuka (http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/art/Sunflower-Magic-320142773) make up for it.
-
Ahh, I worked a lot and really hard last night. I decided to try a little realism, but I think I fudged the head, and I'm not too familiar with working like this in general but...Here's a realistic Remilia!
The Eternally Young Scarlet Moon (http://sealeddarkness.deviantart.com/#/d5anf72)
Critique would be greatly appreciated on this one... I really can't figure out what's wrong with that nose, haha.
-
That's a nice Yuuka by the way.
As for the Remilia, well here're my thoughts
You yourself said it but, yes, the nose is a bit off. And I think it's because you tried not to hide her right eye, which is to say that you kind of bent the nose in a way to avoid overlapping with the eye.
First off, the nose does not bend inward in such a way, which is why it feels off. Here (http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs15/f/2007/081/7/2/Face_Angles_Guide_by_n00b3h.png) are (http://i3.squidoocdn.com/resize/squidoo_images/590/draft_lens18275164module152102461photo_1312510559Imagem_1.png) some (http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs36/f/2008/286/4/f/Head_Face__Angles_by_SomniumAngel.jpg) exam (http://www.stanprokopenko.com/blog/images/headanyangle/different-head-angles.jpg) ples. (http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/25-Jan-2011/198962-2011-01-25.jpg)
If you can imagine drawing a line right down the middle of the skull from the forehead to the chin following the curves of the face, then the nose naturally follows that curve. Which also means that the nose points in whatever direction you're looking at. You'll also notice how the nose starts to cover one eye the more you turn the head.
The dress looks wonderful. However, I can't help but feel that the bottom white skirt part of the dress contrasts just a bit too sharply with the level of detail of the pink/upper part of the dress. Although this may or may not just be me.
Next is where you decided to cut off the lower part of the image, or you could say the bottom 'edge' or the 'camera'. Although perfectly feasible, it just cuts too cleanly right where the next layer of the skirt starts. Since the edges of the bat wings also stop right at the bottom edge, I can't help but have my focus directed there. It also has the additional side effect of making it look like she's just an upper body on a cone with a skirt on it (ie: no feet/lower torso).
I might be getting a bit nitpicky by this point, but the stem and foot of the glass she's holding kind of blends in with the ruffles of her dress making it just a bit hard to discern.
The last thing is kind of optional but will help bring 'life' into the drawing. You did quite the job with this one, but I personally feel that the line of action is a bit too straight, especially the bottom half of the body which is facing right at the viewer and also perfectly perpendicular to the ground (Google it if you're not sure, there's a ton of examples). The angle of the face and expression of the face is quite good. But there's facial expressions and also body language. If you can make the body 'lean' into a pose that expresses the same kind of condescension, it'll make the impression stronger. Not to mention straight lines of action in general aren't that good.
Ah, I just noticed some other small things. The armpits are a bit high. And is it just me or is there just the slightest feeling that the 'age' of the face and the 'age' of the body is a bit conflicting? I think the head is just the slightest bit too big for the body too.
Still, pretty good job, and especially on the ruffles of the dress. And the background, though simple, helps to naturally draw the target of attention to the center - Remilia. It's also neat that the spot where your attention is drawn to by both the perspective and the background is around here neck, which nicely emphases the feeling that she's looking down on you. In more ways than one, I'm sure.
The last thought I just wanted to interject here before I end this is my problem with conspicuously drawn lips, but I'll shut up about that.
-
Thank you very much! I didn't quite realize I was pushing back the nose. As I was drawing, I had this rather silly fear of making her nose too big, which is a problem I face quite a bit. Facial proportions have never been my strong point, though oddly expressions are. Also the arms had to be nearly constantly redrawn as I struggled to find a good position, I'm afraid, and I drew it from the top of her head to the bottom of her skirt, so that's probably why things turned out more shoddy towards the bottom.
Tell me, what would you have recommended for the line of action? I suppose it would have to bend more to the right, following the line of her neck and perhaps curving a little to indicate sort of slanted hips? Or is that wrong? Also, I have a very real problem of not knowing how to get a good indication of legs in a dress or skirt. Do you know any tips for that?
As for the body/age difference...I think that comes from the fact that yes, her head is a bit too big for her body and also that I didn't really know how to draw curves under that dress. So while she looks like a young lady in the face, her body looks like that of a particularly large ten year old. Not even flat-chested, just young.
Also, I'm not overly fond of emphasized lips either, but I wanted to try to make it look like she had lipstick on, but couldn't figure out another way to do it besides this. I had a friend say she looked like a sassy black woman, and that's just flat out embarrassing...Also I can't get the mental image of Remilia as Aunt Jemima out of my head since then.
-
Tell me, what would you have recommended for the line of action? I suppose it would have to bend more to the right, following the line of her neck and perhaps curving a little to indicate sort of slanted hips? Or is that wrong?
I can't really tell you what's right and what's wrong, but I think you mean something like this?:
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd511/EdibleGhost/th_RemiRealHisIdea.jpg) (http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd511/EdibleGhost/RemiRealHisIdea.jpg)
I played around a bit.
The best way to see if your ideas will work is to see if your ideas work. Which is to say, if you know something is off, don't be stubborn and unwilling to change it because of all the effort you put in it to that point (although I'm very guilty of this as well). Basically, work towards your idea and impression, but adjust and play around to see if something will work better if you're having a hard time.
Also, I have a very real problem of not knowing how to get a good indication of legs in a dress or skirt. Do you know any tips for that?
If that's the case, you're doing things backwards. Well, I guess it's kind of a personal preference, but I would strongly recommend doing things the other way around. What do I mean? Instead of trying to guess how the legs are under the skirt, you should know where the legs are, and then draw the skirt over it. What I do is sketch out the body first in the position and pose I want it to be in. Then I dress the body with pieces of clothes. I might be wrong but I assume that you don't approach your drawings with a... 'helpful' idea in mind. It doesn't have to be a solid idea - I use vague ideas all the time. I get the feeling that you like impromptu-ing your drawings. So I would suggest undersketching things and see how that works. That's not to say you can't imagine how the skirt or a cape will flow, since in some pics it's a very important part of the impression. Just draw a few lines to loosely visualize your ideas. Better yet, having the idea of the flow of the skirt in mind, imagine a pose that would go along well with it, draw the pose first, and then your skirt idea on top of it. If you delve into detail too quickly, then you become reluctant to erase it and try another way. This is why pre-drawing sketches are handy, because they're easy to come up (even if you have no solid ideas) with and easy to toss away if you're displeased or you find that you can't work with it.
Also, I'm not overly fond of emphasized lips either, but I wanted to try to make it look like she had lipstick on, but couldn't figure out another way to do it besides this. I had a friend say she looked like a sassy black woman, and that's just flat out embarrassing...Also I can't get the mental image of Remilia as Aunt Jemima out of my head since then.
Realism doesn't necessarily have to sacrifice subtlety. Most men like women with soft features, or you could say that most of their features are not too blunt. I'll also mention that there's a difference between emphasis and bringing out details (as is generally necessary with realism).
Since I was bored, I kind of played around with your picture. Hope this doesn't offend you.
(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd511/EdibleGhost/th_RemiReal.jpg) (http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd511/EdibleGhost/RemiReal.jpg)
I also have to mention that I love those eyes
-
Oh no, I'm not offended at all. You've given me some very helpful advice. Plus, I must admit, seeing the way you've edited it helps me see just how flat the original is. Plus I think her face looks quite cute the way you did it.
You've given me a bit of insight as to some of the scenes I'm doing, and for that I thank you.
On an off note, I'm having a little bit of trouble with...I believe it's the angling, the "camera" position on this one.
(http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad338/BeastieMaker/th_Ilikemytown.png) (http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad338/BeastieMaker/Ilikemytown.png)
Ahh, I suppose it's hard to see when it's just a concept sketch, but the idea is Miss Medicine sprinkling (a rather poorly and loosely drawn, jesus I should have more closely looked at that reference) suzuran flower's pollen into a city. I want to get a nice looming feel for Medicine, without making the town itself seem...small? I want it to seem a bit like a real city, but I know that something is wrong with the perspective...
Also, before you ask, yes, I do have "Little Drop of Poison" on repeat.
-
Maybe you could put things in the city for scale; perhaps an airplane, some cars, a bird or two, some little people looking up [at their doooom?]
That might just make it look more like it's just a minature city... perhaps changing the perspective of the city so there are some larger, closer buildings in the foreground will make it look like the city has depth and such.
You could make it look like it's from the perspective of someone level with the city, which, in addition to allowing you to put some more defining details in the foreground, will then make it seem much more dramatic that a Medicine is looming over them, ready to poison them... or, since I don't know what the suzuran flower does, at least give them a terrible case of seasonal allergies. ;)
Very cool idea, by the way! Medicine attacking a city... Sounds like a good tokusatsu...!
-
You could make it look like it's from the perspective of someone level with the city, which, in addition to allowing you to put some more defining details in the foreground, will then make it seem much more dramatic that a Medicine is looming over them, ready to poison them... or, since I don't know what the suzuran flower does, at least give them a terrible case of seasonal allergies. ;)
Although I don't really like butting in on individual creativity and originality of thought, I'll just say that my idea kind of resembles the above
In that if it were me trying to do what you were trying to draw (looming Medicine without making the city look small), then I would put the 'camera' on the streets of the city, and then tilt it up at the sky. Because the the city is much closer to the camera, it'll appear bigger. Then you just add a huge Medicine looming over the camera/city, and the effect is more exaggerated because of several visual cues. One being that she should be far away yet still is big, so she seems bigger, and the other is that this way, the camera is already underneath Medicine, making the 'looming' part a bit easier to achieve
Now since I said that, I want to cheat and say that it'd be better if you could find a different way of expressing your idea, for practice and also to open your mind to several different approaches to the same idea
-
Thanks for the input. I think putting it from a streetside view might be a little difficult for me right now, so I'll probably just put the picture on the backburner and come back to it. Life has gotten fairly stressful and rushed for me lately anyway...
I did manage to churn out a Ness, however.
](http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad338/BeastieMaker/th_TanetaneNess.png) (http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad338/BeastieMaker/TanetaneNess.png)
-
Did someone say Miss Medicine
What's Little Drop of Poison? Also what is she leaning on? :v