First sketches (now also digital!)

[sxp 404]

Got my pencils today. And somebody from other forum asked me to draw Sebastian and Ciel from Kuroshitsuji. Only half of the work, but...

It looks weird, that's what I can say.

 

 

[Mr. Jaguar 1,403]

I really like what you're doing with the shading, but something's off overall. It's hard to say you're doing it wrong because maybe you could have your own style that looks something like that, so I don't wanna be like "you're doing this and that wrong" because maybe it's just how you like drawing. Hmm....ya, weird is what it looks like to me, somethings off but I can't figure out what. I would just say work on making the shapes look nicer, and avoid awkward angles to place the character's you draw in (though this one's angle is fine IMO).

 

Ya......not much to criticize objectively, just keep trying to make it look nicer basically, maybe that's all it is. Again, that shading technique you got going on? Fucking nice

Edited April 19, 2013 by Mr. Jaguar

[sxp 404]

Took me over 5 hours, but it was totally worth it:

Caleb from the game Blood. "Red is definitely your color" is his actual quote

[Mr. Jaguar 1,403]

My only complaint with this one is the face, the mouth points up a little too high, the eyes aren't proportionate, and they lack the shine effect. When you have the face tilted at an angle like in your drawing, the eye that's on the angled side needs to be skinnier than the eye on the other side, basically, like this:

 

 

In the case of your drawing, the one on the angled side is bigger than the other one. So ya, just use this image (or one similar to it) as a reference for the face at such an angle. Other than that, the image looks pretty good, proportions, shading, lines, etc are pretty much flawless. Just fix the face/eye issues and then it's basically just trying to make it look as polished as possible.

[sxp 404]

This one took me like an hour:

I had no idea what should I do with his second hind leg, so it's not there (don't kill me). And it looks more like a dog than a pony to me.

 

I bought a graphics tablet today (bamboo pen) so you can expect some digital works soon

[Jupiter Skylight 19]

I like your drawings! Keep up the good work. The surprised Fluttershy is my favorite. I want to draw some ponies too. I am very out of practice. I want to see your digital stuff when you get some done!

[Mr. Jaguar 1,403]

This one took me like an hour:

IMG_20130421_193704.jpg

I had no idea what should I do with his second hind leg, so it's not there (don't kill me). And it looks more like a dog than a pony to me.

 

I bought a graphics tablet today (bamboo pen) so you can expect some digital works soon

 

 

The eyes are an improvement, the mouth however looks like a beak. I would say that you should stop trying to do non-reference pictures and work on perfecting full-reference art from the show, like try to draw the characters from different angles, because I think you need to learn and memorize how to draw ponies from MLP, in order to be able to move on to non-reference art of ponies. It personally took me many many drawings to get where I am now, like 20-30 (see the thread I made titled "My Art" and the thread the Pinkamena Drawn In My New Style thread).

 

Unless you're already a good artist with your own art style that you can draw the characters in, it's not a good idea to start drawing the characters with no reference whatsoever until you've memorized how to draw the characters, as well as, since proportions and how certain body parts should look at certain angles are still a bit of a problem for you.

 

So ya, work on perfecting (or at least, borderline perfecting) full reference pictures, then, if you feel you've memorized how to draw the characters, move on to either pictures where you used references for the designs of the characters but no reference for how you posed them in the drawing, or zero-reference drawings.

 

If you want to improve fast, I'd say just go on a drawing binge right now, just draw one after the other till you hit that golden nugget, but don't force yourself to draw if you aren't in the mood, that could negatively affect the quality of your work.

[sxp 404]

@@Mr. Jaguar, Thank you Mr. Jaguar, your advice, as always, is very useful.

Today's work, very rough sketch of yet another Castlevania character, Shanoa: (damn, I love those games )

I'll try to finish it tomorrow. It still needs a lot of work, but I think that this time I got the proportions and perspective about right. Any suggestions? Inspired by this picture:

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2013 by Tenebris

[Mr. Jaguar 1,403]

@@Mr. Jaguar, Thank you Mr. Jaguar, your advice, as always, is very useful.

Today's work, very rough sketch of yet another Castlevania character, Shanoa: (damn, I love those games )

IMG_20130422_215616.jpg

I'll try to finish it tomorrow. It still needs a lot of work, but I think that this time I got the proportions and perspective about right. Any suggestions? Inspired by this picture:

 

 

 

It's quite proportionate, but looks pretty messy. Don't forget to clean your lines and darken them with a 2B pencil, other than that, I'd say to follow my advice from my last post.

[sxp 404]

Made the lines today:

This picture takes a lot of time... all what I'm doing after work recently is drawing.

I really like her... mane? What do you guys think? The only reference I used is in my previous post. To be honest I really like where it's going... I'll try to do the shading tomorrow.

[Mr. Jaguar 1,403]

Made the lines today:

IMG_20130424_224950.jpg

This picture takes a lot of time... all what I'm doing after work recently is drawing.

I really like her... mane? What do you guys think? The only reference I used is in my previous post. To be honest I really like where it's going... I'll try to do the shading tomorrow.

 

Much better, it's much clearer and stands out from the page more, which is what you want. Darken the pupils till their black with a 2B (I've just today learned of 4B and 6B pencils, which are even darker than 2B, 6 being the darkest, so 6B is best for darkening). Also try shading in the iris, since the character you used as a reference has dark green eyes, make the iris dark medium grey in color, with dark grey at the top part of the iris, giving it a look of shading from the hair. Also, the white circles that give a shiny look (but don't forget to not give them any lines around them so as to make them look more shiny)

 

 

^ Like this, notice how it's darker at the top and lighter at the bottom? But I wouldn't bother with the triangular lighting in the iris, it's not necessary and it could be pretty difficult if your iris is really small. I would also suggest darkening his hair black and his clothing different shades of grey as you see fit (like the dark blue I would make really dark grey, and the dark grey I would make a lighter shade of dark grey). I'd keep his body white thought. If you can pull all this off than this drawing should look pretty damn good.

 

 

So far thought? Great job, I got no complaints about proportions, honestly, you're just missing some detail, as I described above. You sir, have earned a brohoof, just add that detail and you should be golden.

Edited April 25, 2013 by Mr. Jaguar

[WingMcCallister 368]

I'm completely unqualified to discuss the quality of art, but I did want to take the time to point out that this thread is a quintessential example as to why I think this community rocks.

 

A completely fresh artist makes noticeable improvement in a matter of days thanks to lots of encouraged practice and pointers from other people. 

 

Keep it up, Tenebris. 

[sxp 404]

It's finally done:

Slightly different lighting:

 

 

Any critique?

I used HB, 2B and 4B, HB for initial sketch and lighter shading, 4B for really dark things (like pupils), and 2B for everything else. (And the darkest pencil I've got is 8B). I think today is exactly 3 weeks since I started drawing...

I got that tablet today. It's really difficult to actually draw something when you're not looking at your hand... It's going to take some time to get used to it. Brace yourself, digital pictures are coming. Yeah, I'd suggest getting some sunglasses cos they're going to be so bad that they will probably burn your eyes out.

Thank you all (especially Mr. Jaguar) for all those words of wisdom, it's really nice to see that somebody actually cares.

[WingMcCallister 368]

I used HB, 2B and 4B, HB for initial sketch and lighter shading, 4B for really dark things (like pupils), and 2B for everything else. (And the darkest pencil I've got is 8B). I think today is exactly 3 weeks since I started drawing...

I got that tablet today. It's really difficult to actually draw something when you're not looking at your hand... It's going to take some time to get used to it. Brace yourself, digital pictures are coming. Yeah, I'd suggest getting some sunglasses cos they're going to be so bad that they will probably burn your eyes out.

Thank you all (especially Mr. Jaguar) for all those words of wisdom, it's really nice to see that somebody actually cares.

Wow Tenebris, that looks really nice to me. Your skills have totes improved in those three weeks. Epic panda. You should be proud.

[Mr. Jaguar 1,403]

It's finally done:

IMG_20130425_232833.jpg

Slightly different lighting:

 

IMG_20130425_232343.jpg

 

Any critique?

I used HB, 2B and 4B, HB for initial sketch and lighter shading, 4B for really dark things (like pupils), and 2B for everything else. (And the darkest pencil I've got is 8B). I think today is exactly 3 weeks since I started drawing...

I got that tablet today. It's really difficult to actually draw something when you're not looking at your hand... It's going to take some time to get used to it. Brace yourself, digital pictures are coming. Yeah, I'd suggest getting some sunglasses cos they're going to be so bad that they will probably burn your eyes out.

Thank you all (especially Mr. Jaguar) for all those words of wisdom, it's really nice to see that somebody actually cares.

 

Excellent job, all you need to do now is just keep trying to be more polished with each future drawing (aka nicer looking), but that's it, really. Proportions, shading, etc, all excellent at this point. If you want to stand out as an artist, I'd suggest trying to form your own art style, it could be manga based, look similar to the show with minor alterations (like my style), whatever you want. It took 2 drawings only for me to find my style when I sat down and decided to make one, all I did was draw the characters how I would prefer them to be drawn, and that's how I got my style. Just do the same, if you want your own style.

 

Congratulations, you're now, officially, a good artist . My work here is done.

 

Edited April 25, 2013 by Mr. Jaguar

[sxp 404]

Congratulations, you're now, officially, a good artist smile.png. My work here is done.

That's really nice to hear from you. It wouldn't be possible without your valued advices. You really, really helped me a lot. Thanks again. There's still a lot to learn though...

Edited April 26, 2013 by Tenebris

[Mr. Jaguar 1,403]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLTZctTG6cE

That's really nice to hear from you. It wouldn't be possible without your valued advices. You really, really helped me a lot. Thanks again. There's still a lot to learn though...

No problem man , glad you managed to improve this much, but yes, you can still improve. Work on it, always try to make your art look as nice as you possibly can, always aim for the highest quality you can make when you draw. Good luck

[pawz9 7]

Ya, they fade, which is pretty damn lame (well I think 2b's fade a bit too, but not as much). I'd wait for the 2b till you start your next one. I think sunlight fades drawings, so keep them outta the sun. To my knowledge, artificial lights don't fade them.

I have that issue too but artificial lights don't fade them and that first sketch is better than what I am producing after a while and it just gets better from there just keep practicing and you could be a great artist

[sxp 404]

First digital thingy:

Nothing special, just getting used to my tablet and derping around (that mane ) Made with paint.net. No reference used at all.

First attempt at drawing a human: (I hope it's all right to post it here)

Falling over in 3... 2... 1... Hands are difficult to draw And I've got no idea how to make smooth lines.

[WingMcCallister 368]

Based on your quick ascent in the tradition drawing department, I'm sure that you'll bank some mad improvements here too. woot

[Mr. Jaguar 1,403]

First digital thingy:

kucyk.png

Nothing special, just getting used to my tablet and derping around (that mane ) Made with paint.net. No reference used at all.

 

First attempt at drawing a human: (I hope it's all right to post it here)

kolo.png

Falling over in 3... 2... 1... Hands are difficult to draw And I've got no idea how to make smooth lines.

 

You're keeping up with the great proportions, I have a feeling you're experienced in drawing humans and swords. Don't stop pencil drawing tho, you don't want to get rusty at it while you're still improving.

[WingMcCallister 368]

You're keeping up with the great proportions, I have a feeling you're experienced in drawing humans and swords. Don't stop pencil drawing tho, you don't want to get rusty at it while you're still improving.

Mr. Jaguar, I will again commend you on your awesome sauce comments towards artists. =^-^=. They are super helpful and encouraging.

[sxp 404]

Sad attempt at digitizing my Sombra:

Done with Paint tool SAI. Oh well.

 

 

 

 

I have a feeling you're experienced in drawing humans and swords.

Humans no, swords yes. I used to draw them on boring lessons

 

 

 

Don't stop pencil drawing tho, you don't want to get rusty at it while you're still improving.

Fear not! I shall not forsake the ancient art of pencil drawing.

 

I'm gonna try some vectoring next.

My first vector, as promised:

Long and tedious work. Eyes are just horrible. Everything is wrong in that picture . I think I'm gonna stick to normal drawing for some time...

 

By the way, I made a DA account: http://tenebris789.deviantart.com/

Edited April 28, 2013 by Tenebris