Ex draws stuff!

[ExMachina]

Haven't been too active art-wise lately but... here are a few things I've churned out.

I was so psyched by the new art/writing team on Runaways that I decided to make some fanart. It's the character Victor Mancha being a nerd. Most of the junk in the pic was drawn from reference using stuff I actually own. Ignore the fact that the computer tower opens up on the wrong side (heh, I guess they mount motherboards on the opposite side of the case in Marvel-land), yeah?

Progress pics:



The entire piece so far:

And some Street Fighter 4 MS Paint doodles~ I like the limited color palettes on these... even if my anatomy is fail, lol.

So yep, s'about it.

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

I fail to see the fail anatomy in the Street Fighter pics, but Victor's foot does seem to be twisted the wrong way. D:

Other than that, looking great! I love the shading/highlighting on his pants and skin. What kind of brush settings do you use?

 

[Strangelove]

I also don't see anatomy fail (Except maybe Cammy's right foot kind of disappearing? Not that I'm really one to be giving advice on anatomy/perspective )

I actually like the flat colours on the background contrasting with the main figure in the first picture. The screwdriver behind his ear kind of looks like it's floating there to me, though.

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

Yeah the screwdriver should probably be pushed down behind his ear a bit.

 

[Teva]

Yeah so other than the fact that Victor's leg is twisted in an odd angle (it should be inward as opposed to outward because his other leg would have to follow this) and the fact that his screwdriver should be tucked behind his ear, there's not much else wrong with it.

Constructive criticism aside, your pieces are very unique and I like the cartoony style of it, it's very cute and accessible.

Your other SF pieces don't have any anatomy!fail aspects actually, they're all very well proportioned tbph. Um honestly I wish there were more colors in the pics other than the limited palette you chose but that's just my opinion and preference. They still came out very well.

Okay I'm shutting up now . . .

 

[ExMachina]

Thanks for the feedback - it always helps to get some fresh eyes on works-in-progress. When you've been staring at something for so long, it's hard to evaluate anything.


Hitoshura: You totally called me out on the disappearing foot; I like to hide appendages behind other masses when I can't fudge it well enough. ^^; I may run with just having flats for all the background objects if I get tired of shading, though perhaps I'll try and make the colors clash less.


Ravynne: I just use the default solid round brushes in Photoshop at 60-70% opacity + tablet pressure controlling the size. Whenever I want to 'blend' between two colors, I use the Alt key (for Eyedropper tool) to pick up intermediary shades and keep putting down more in-between colors until sufficiently blended. It gives things a painterly look without taking too much processing power. That's how I rendered the skin.

The pants were a little different though - I still used the same brush settings, but I put down some Reflected Gradients for the highlights and then erased bits according to the folds. Shadows were still manually brushed in though.


Lawliet: Vic's left leg has been bugging me as well, though I actually sat down and tried the pose before sketching it (even broke out one of my pairs of Chucks, lol)... If you're bending your knee at that angle, your foot will sit flat on its side like that. I think the issue is that there's nothing indicating that the middle of his leg is off the ground (only points of contact should be upper thigh/butt and ankle/side of foot). I tried to do it with a bit of drop shadow and narrowing the sole on his shoe but... I think I'm too deep into rendering to completely redo that leg, unfortunately. =/

Thankfully the floating screwdriver that you all pointed out is an easy fix at least... So, huzzah? xD

I'll be sure to touch base again with everyone once I've made some more significant progress on this one.

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

The pants were a little different though - I still used the same brush settings, but I put down some Reflected Gradients for the highlights and then erased bits according to the folds.

Explain?

And I think the issue with the foot is more that it looks like the heel is off the ground but the toes are touching it, like someone grabbed his foot and twisted it clockwise in an incredibly uncomfortable, bonesnapping manner.

 

[ExMachina]

And I think the issue with the foot is more that it looks like the heel is off the ground but the toes are touching it, like someone grabbed his foot and twisted it clockwise in an incredibly uncomfortable, bonesnapping manner.

Ahh, gotcha. The thing is, I angled it like that because I guess his toe is kind of pointing downwards instead of having the foot perpendicular to the lower leg... I'll try rotating it so the heel is lower and see if that helps.

RE: Coloring. Haha, sorry, I suck at explaining things. >.< Let me post some pics to illustrate more clearly -

01 - flat

02 - reflected gradients (highlight color-to-transparent)

03 - erased portions of highlight gradient

04 - painted in shadows

05 - combined highlights + shadows + drop-shadows + extra highlights

06 - white-to-black reflected gradients

07 - B&W gradients set to 40% opacity + multiply (finished!)

Gradients are awesome and I'm lazy! I mean, legs are just cylinders, so I can get away with it.

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

Oh, very interesting! =3 Thanks.

 

[Max Payne]

How much do you know about color theory and application ex?

 

[ExMachina]

Ravynne: No prob. Been too long since I've had the chance to talk 'Shop, as it were.

Dacon: Not much. I know color theory for general graphic design (complementary colors and all that bullshit). But using it for coloring/painting - the way light interacts via reflection, specularity, etc? I know nothing and make it up as I go or just collect as much reference as I can.

I mean, I can notice if something looks off or whatever, but I don't have the technical terms to explain exactly why.

 

[Max Payne]

Just asking, because I fail at properly choosing colors determined by environmental influences.

 

[Cookie Monster]

This is the kind of work that inspires me to start using a tablet more often.

 

[Strangelove]

Hitoshura: You totally called me out on the disappearing foot; I like to hide appendages behind other masses when I can't fudge it well enough. ^^;

I'm also not one to talk about hiding parts I can't/cba to draw I thought you might have done it on purpose/as a stylistic choice. I still think it looks good as it is.

 

[ExMachina]

Whew, I think I'm about done! I tried rotating the foot as per Ravynne's suggestion, but it still looked weird no matter what angle I tried. O.x Alas, I think that leg is beyond salvaging...

Drop shadows are fun! I could have probably done a lot more with reflected light, but I think I've done enough to at least give everything definition and depth... and I'm lazy.

Cookie Monster: Tablets rock, definitely mess around with one more if you get the chance. Digital medium + analog control = so much win.

hitoshura: Oh yeah, it was definitely on purpose... because I couldn't figure out how that foot would work. xD S'all good, half of art is making stuff look okay even if it actually isn't right, yeah?

Dacon: Sorry I can't be of more help. Lighting/color is damn hard. =/

 

[Max Payne]

Yeah, I know it's a bitch :/

Have you tried adding shadows to the wall and molding? It looks a little flat back dere.

 

[ExMachina]

Ah man, knew I forgot something! Thanks for pointing that out.

I edited the post with an updated version - added some shading to the molding, but unfortunately there's not much I can do about the bare wall. I'll just pretend that I want that negative space for the composition or some other bullshit.

 

[Splintered]

I have no constructive criticism. I'm only here to inform you your art is awesome.

 

[Max Payne]

Looks good. Hope I can catch you on msn sometime.

 

[ExMachina]

Splintered: That's my favorite kind of comment, lol. Thanks!

Dacon: Cool cool, I'll try to remember to log onto Trillian. If I don't appear online for a while, feel free to prod me with a PM, yeah?

Threw together a quick self-portrait for a dA ID:

It looks like I'm trying to pinch my nose. OH WELL.

No clue on what I want to do for my next piece. *ponders*

 

[Teva]

Love the stylization of the self-portrait.

It's very unique I can't really compare it to anything else which is great.

 

[Ravynne Nevyrmore]

Oh what's your DA? I haven't captured you and stuffed you into my little box of collected TLS members yet.

edit: nevermind. reading comprehension skills are AWESOME.

Duly found and duly stuffed into said box.

 

[Max Payne]

Splintered: That's my favorite kind of comment, lol. Thanks!

Dacon: Cool cool, I'll try to remember to log onto Trillian. If I don't appear online for a while, feel free to prod me with a PM, yeah?

Threw together a quick self-portrait for a dA ID:

It looks like I'm trying to pinch my nose. OH WELL.

No clue on what I want to do for my next piece. *ponders*

Do you still have my address?

 

[ExMachina]

Do you still have my address?

I should. haven't changed my contacts list in a long time. Just in case, check if mekino[at]hotmail.com is on yours.

Desux3: Thanks. =]

Ravynne: *pounds on sides of box* Glad you found me on dA, I need to be more active on there. ^^;

Anyhoo, this is a WIP shot of my next Photochoppery:

Yeah, it's Avatar. Who doesn't enjoy drawing random martial arts poses? I have no idea what the background will be - I think I'm gonna try for that Star Wars movie poster deal with random headshots and setting elements behind everyone.

Also, I know someone selling a Wacom Intuos4 Medium for $295... I'm so tempted to get it, especially since I've been planning on picking up a widescreen monitor soon. But even if it's kind of beat up/ghetto now, my Intuos2 still works fine... so I dunno if I can justify it.

ARGH.

 

[tangerine]

Love Avatar. ;D

Colour me impressed on all of your works! I'm looking forward to seeing you develop that last picture. (It's looking pretty slick for it's simplicity so far.) You're a very talented draftswoman in my opinion.