Alice the Ork

[Squinky]

I like this pic okay, but was looking for any tips. I need work on women I know, so any tips there would be goodness....

Also, I am currently coloring this, but I think it would be neat to work on a black and white vectorized style. I've heard you can do this with Adobe Illustrator (I think Penny arcade does this), anybody here know anything about this? I am mostly wanting to have cleaner lines, a more professional look.

And I mostly posted this pic because I have recently kinda injured my hand, and it was nice to see I could still, slowly draw.

[Domino]

Squinky, looking good. You mentioned you are currently coloring this drawing. This will be a kick-ass image when full of color, to bring some life into it.

You have a certain drawing style which pleases me, and that makes me happy.

Happy Drawing. 

Shawn

[Kinoko]

It's a good pic! I cant really find anything specific that leaps out at me to crit.

Overall though, I would say that it just needs a little more oomph. Try to make the pose a tad more dynamic, keeping in mind the silhouette of the character (one of the greatest tips I ever heard was making the silhouette look cool and well defined). Of course, it's not like she's posing, and I'm guessing she's not meant to be "cool", but still.

I'm not sure if this is a problem or not  but Im slightly worried about how "busy" the picture is. I know it's obviously supposed to be that way but I think if you make say, the details on the arm a little tighter and left a few other lines out here and there, it might be an improvement. I'm... really not sure on that point though, just a feeling I get.

[Squinky]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

A quick question for Kinoko:

I'm not sure if this is a problem or not  but Im slightly worried about how "busy" the picture is. I know it's obviously supposed to be that way but I think if you make say, the details on the arm a little tighter and left a few other lines out here and there, it might be an improvement. I'm... really not sure on that point though, just a feeling I get.

Are you saying I need to simplify the picture, lose the scattered shading/cross lines, or differentiate with thicker and lighter lines in different areas?

I appreciate the feedback, just didn't quite wrap my head around what you were saying.

I agree on the posing, it's nothing spectacular. Didn't really turn out as I would have liked.

Also, here is my quick colorization (base colors, for now) complete with crappy gradient backdrop...

[Kinoko]

a-HA! Thats what I was trying to think of but I couldn't figure it out. The pic would look MUCH better if you varied the line thicknesses.

[Squinky]

Thats what I have been thinking lately, I thought I might be able to do it more polished with a vector type program like adobe illustrator....But I'm not sure of it's capabilitys...

I guess I'll just have to start practicing doing it by hand then, although I am a little leary of messing it up...

[MrColossal]

photocopy the pencils or trace it onto another sheet of paper with a light box or against a window. Then practice practice practice.

I think you have to figure out how the line variation works in real life then you can apply it to vectors, because so much just happens when using a brush or pen and it's so much quicker tha tweaking nodes in Illustrator.

[Kinoko]

Yep, agreed. I never do things like that with vector, just with a pen. It's GREAT fun once you get started.

[Igor]

Very nice pic!
I think you already got all the best advices on how to improve it..
I'm interested- how do you plan poses? Do you first draw a quick sketch and later add details.. or do you start drawing details right away? If later, that explains a bit stiff look. Try to plan poses first and when you are happy with them, start adding facial features, clothes, ornaments..
The biggest problem here is, it's not completely clear what she is doing.. Is she resting/relaxed (that suggests her right hand) or is she in "action"?

[Wretched]

Nice, a cyborc, wish I'd thought of that.

[Squinky]

I took some advice and read some hard to find tutorials....I'm still not sure what the formula is....but I am trying some stuff out, see below...It is pretty fun, but I ganked my hand up good, so it kinda hurts heh...

Igor: I tend to sketch out an idea of what I want on scratch paper, then I commit it to a new clean sheet. Draw the head first, then I start the framework and usaully detail the head next, unless I feel there are more defining things to do first...

She was supposed to be looking ahead toward a possible confrontation, leaning casually on a destroyed rock wall. And the fact that I have to explain it means I have failed, heh...



This picture was based off an ags member also, although I tend to go my own way  when using photo reference so I'm sure it's unrecognizable...

[Kinoko]

Better! Line thickness variation makes a real difference...

This may be just me so I don't necessarilly recommend this method, but I go insane with line thicknesses ^_^ They're like a drug for me, I start and I can't stop. Lines get thicker all over the place!

[esper]

Does the character on his pauldron mean anything? It looks kinda like a double "yen" figure.

Anyway, I kinda like Alice better, as the second guy is really busy and there isn't much depth to the cigarette-lighting arm (it blends in with the shirt... can't really tell where one starts and the other begins. This is a big problem I have with my own art). Except for the fact that she looks more like she's sighing apathetically rather than "getting ready for a confrontation" as you said, she looks really well done. You mentioned professionalism, as well: take a look at the art in Steve Jackson's "GURPS" manual, or in the older manuals for FASA's ShadowRun... the art looks extremely similar.

[Igor]

I like the new one.. thickhin lines are certainly an improvement!

She was supposed to be looking ahead toward a possible confrontation, leaning casually on a destroyed rock wall.

i think it could have worked as part of comic, with next frame explaining what is going on.. but as a single illustration, it gives too little information.
My main complain is, that it looks like character is still moving and viewer has no idea what she will gonna end up doing. For example: if this would be animation, it'd be inbetween, not key-frame.. if that makes any sense
i did 2 quickies how you could pose her, so it would be more obvious what she is doing..

[2ma2]

Great improvements in the second pic. You gain much by bolding the outline around the 'silhouette', but you can adapt this to anything you which to define against a busy backdrop. For instance; the jaw/beard and his hand infront of his bod could also gain from bolding the outline. Ofcourse, you can tweak this with having even more bold outlines of the whole silhouette, semibold of objects within the silhouette to define, and tinier lines to make details of no "bigger importance".

Does this make any sense? It's hella hard to explain in writing!

[Squinky]

Whew, glad it's getting better then....

Esper: The character on his shoulder there is the character for "Nuyen" the currency the use in shadowrun...Which is funny really since you mentioned shadowrun...I've kinda always dug Shadowrun...

Igor: I get what you are saying. I think I will definately re-draw her in one, if not both of your poses, thank you for the help!

2ma2: I do get what you are saying (I think) and it was muchly needed. I will definately try to put that advice into play on the next pic...Thanks again all...

[Squinky]

Okay, heres my new try with Igors pose....I kinda had a rough time inking due to an unsteady hand. Was driving me nuts, so I don't really feel all the lines are as confident as they should have been...

[Barbarian]

Squinky, ya got some real natural talent there. Really, I like your work... and Alice is hot stuff.. heheh   

Anyways, perhaps I'm not one to to give art advice, but from what I see with your recent pic of Alice, to me it all looks great.

The only thing that jumps out at me that looks a little odd is mainly about the barrel of the gun she's holding... it almost looks wilted or sagging a bit, I mean, the barrel doesn't quite look straight, especially the bottom line of the barrel, and the overall thickness of the barrel to me looks like a little too thin.  Wilted and thin, perhaps Alice has been shooting off her gun a bit too often.     Anyways, really, keep up the great work... I envy your artistic skillz.

[Stefano]

This is a nice work! I like this medieval fantasy X cyber future idea. I confess that I cannot see "unsteady hand"s efects on your work. 
The only thig I would change is the shape of her head. Although she's an orc, she's looking a bit too masculine because of the jaw and chin line. Here's what I'm talking about.
(quick silly paintover)

She's a girl afer all, right? 

[Squinky]

Barbarian:
Thank you, man! I think the barrel is a good example of my unsteady hand, and I totally see what you are saying, thanks for the input.

Stefano:
Thanks for the compliment!
I have some issues with women's faces being a little too masculine, I think I can "get away with it" on this picture because of the Ork thing, but I know it's something I need to work on...I really have a hard time with this issue...