Edu's house of: "Cyborgs? Naaaah just witches." 2/20/10

[iEdu]

Hello there! So my name is iEdu, I'm 18 and a lit major in my first year of college. I'm trying to get a book series published, and art is something I like to do to relieve stress and get my characters designs finalized. A lot of what you will see here will probably be character sketches/concepts and sometimes things from Gaia <33 I am ALWAYS open for critique on anything that is posted here in this at any time, including older works that have already been commented on. I love redlines! (When it comes to art I am an extremely visual learner).


So here is my dilema:

I'm working on an image of one of my OC's--more appropriately my other half--and am having issues with the posing. I used this image as a Reference and to get the proportions on the body/the body posing in general down I went over it so I got to this point There's only one problem, her left leg (left on the screen). Because of the boots I would be having her wear that foot and leg would not be able to be positioned as such. decent ref for the kind of boots I'd want her to wear I'm considering bringing her leg up like this: redlined my own pic whut? Only I'm quite sure my proportions, and the positioning itself is probably off. I know her calf is wonky, and so is her upper thigh near her buttocks and groin (in the redline), so any help with this would be absolutely lovely. I aore redlining (please use the non red-lined version obviously) as it's much easier for me to visualise proportions that way. I'm open to any and all crit on the image itself past the leg as well, as I want to get the body down before I start adding clothing and such to her body and then eventually coloring.

**edit**

I added a rough sketch of what the clothing would be like, and realised that the leg definitely is wonky with the heel I'd have on that boot.

Sketchy lime green clothing oh my!

So I did an Edited version for possible leg positioning, but I think the leg looks a little long, but I'm not too sure.

Most recent work:
Linked since it's sorta large.

 

[Griffonage]

The thigh is a little bit long on the alternate leg position, but otherwise nothing is glaringly wrong to me. Your second version of the leg positioning conveys much more strength than the initial photograph, which makes sense since your character is being much more forceful in movement than the model.  

[iEdu]

Thank you~<3 I'll try to shorten the thigh.  

[iEdu]

okay so I fixed the leg 83 Thanks a lot Pomato~<3

Finished lines:



As I encounter more problems--as I undoubtedly will since I've started the massacre known as coloring--I'll ask for more info.  

[iEdu]

So I have begun the coloring fase, (Which included fixing her eye twice, lowering her hairline, and adjusting the shadowing on her face slightly Before and After) and I have a few questions/need a few tips.

1.) The scene is supposed to be taking place in a nightclub I've invented, as such there are a few things that need to be in here. The lighting should be dim, but there are also strobe lights of sorts so she'd have at least two or three colored lights on her at once, and there is supposed to be fog on the dance floor--where she's crouched. So I wondered if anyone had any good tips on doing lighting that isn't clear on someone's skin. I haven't done this before in my drawings, and can't really find any satisfactory explainations on DA, so any help in this would be great. And any tips on how to do fog/wispy clouds.

2.) I wanted to know if anyone had any tips to make the shadowing on her face mor pronounced without murdering all of the lighting on her face/going overboard.

3.) There are mirrors in the background that are cracked, if anyone has good tips on doing relfective glass, that would also be a big help.

As always, any and all crit/commentary on this picture past what I've asked is openly invited and encouraged~<3 Thank you in advance!  

[iEdu]

Most recent work:

Linked for bra and panties

Of my valentines day avi.

Critique welcomed. The lineart is purposely sketchy, I prefer it that way than to straight and even lines for one reason or another. (I've always preferred sketches to precise linearts) Her left hip looks wonky because of how the ribbon from her bow is positioned.... I might change that in the future.  

[keiiii]

Hmm, with the V-day picture, she has extremely broad shoulders. Was that intentional? (Did you try flipping the pic?)

redlines
bonus

I pulled the fan-holding hand out because it was making her left arm (which has become her right arm in my redlines) too thin. It didn't look right because her right forearm is quite thick.

Also, something that I didn't include in my redlines -- her choker seems to be going into her trapezius muscles. D: It should rest higher up on her neck, or at least go over her trapezius.

Sketchy styles are wonderful. I'm a big fan of Urasawa Naoki's art style (look up Billy Bat, or 20th Century Boys), and his inking has a sketchy quality to it. I think, though, you need to be careful not to make it seem like you went sketchy because of an inability to draw long strokes, rather than a deliberate choice.

The curls on the sides of her face look beautiful, and so does the fan. The lines in those areas seem very confident. The choppiness of the lines defining her shoulders and thighs, though, aren't working for me. But maybe that's just me -- I'm no expert on lineart. ^^;  

[iEdu]

The broad shoulders weren't necessarily intentional, but all of my drawings tend to have broad/strong shoulders. I dunno if it's a quirk or just something I need to work around xD

I didn't try flipping it--though I probably should have. I get what your saying about the arm, I did think it looked like either her boob was eating her arm or it was super small/squished. Your redlines made me realize just how large I make my women's breasts O 3 O;;

Yeah... the choker I almost didn't include (it was a bit of an after thought) and I made the mistake of lining her hair before doing the choker, otherwise I probably would have put it higher up so it's not killing her shoulders D8 //excusesexcuses//

I've always loved sketchy and slightly messy styles, and I can understand the need to tighten up/lengthen my lines I think I can fix that just by adjusting how closely I'm zoomed into the picture. The lines for her hair and the feather duster (It does really look like a fan doesn't it? xD) were done at around 200 or 250% zoom, where as most of the other ones were only done at 100% or even 75% for some of them. So I figure if I just adjust that it might help with the length and surety of the strokes I make.

Thank you so much for both the redlines and the bonus shading~<3 I was considering coloring this so the shading really helps 8D  

[keiiii]

XD Things like big boobs and broad shoulders aren't necessarily bad; it mostly depends on what you're trying to do. If you're trying to cater to a specific crowd that likes more normal-sized boobs, or if you're trying to capture a more frail, tender side of femininity, then it'd be a good idea to shrink them boobs and give the girls more slender frames. Either way, though, I think it's good to be able to draw a variety of body types.  

[iEdu]

Updated 2/20 with a picture that I need crits for. It'll be the linked one, since it's slightly large. It's a concept piece for my character Celeste. I would absolutely love tips on drawing plugs, computer screens, and such...  

[Vena]

I just did some slight anatomy redlines,

- the cyborg arm, though I assume it is supposed to be bulkier than a normal arm, is still a bit long in proportion to the body, the elbow should end along the ribcage when straight to the body. Since the hand is raised up away from the body there should be a bit of perspective and forshortening affecting the forearm and hand, I think I exaggerated the size of the hand a little too much but it should appear slightly larger.

-her abdomen appeared to be quite elongated, the bellybutton should be raised slightly. Even though it is a half body shot you should consider the form of the crotch/hip area when modeling your clothes over it.

- the ear should be a bit smaller (I actually made a mistake in the redline, it should be slightly higher up), for reference the top of the ear should start at the browline and the bottom from the bottom of the nose, but you need to remember to take into account the curve and angle of how the head is being viewed and adjust according to that! The head was seeming to go straight up from the forehead on the left side of the image, so I just put a little curve there to emphasize the frontal bone.

I'm not great with machinery but go check out different plugs and ports and try making some reference sketches! Hope the redline helps and good luck.  

[iEdu]

Thank you so much for the redlines, they really help. I know the arm is a bit disproportionate, and that was (slightly) my intention--but that is a personal thing with my character I drew and not something I'd expect people outside of my own head to assume xDD. This arm is supposed to be free-floating and able to stretch, bend, twist, come apart, and reform at my character's own will (I would go into more detail but I think that may bore most people >.>;; ). Then again, I could have misunderstand and it could just be that I screwed up the foreshortening affect which I had attempted at. I will try to go in and fix her ear, hips, etc when I get the chance <33