Griffin - Photoshop

[Kaio]

Hey .
It's kinda hard to get constructive criticism at deviantART, when people don't know you (and you don't do some 13-year-old-pseudo-manga-drawings).
But I always got good c&c here, so I hope you won't disappoint me .



This was started as a test with some nice new brushes I found. It took me maybe 1.5 hours - 2 hours. It's supposed to be the head of a bald eagle, I plan to add a lions body...or something fancy. Most detail-work was spend on the eye and the face...the rest of the head is still kinda sketchy, because I was lazy.
Photo-reference of course, just goolge for bald eagle and you'll see.

Leave some c&c, if you want! Thanks!

[Khris]

Wow, exceptional work!
The only thing I'd mention is the lighting of the beak's point; it looks like it doesn't point straight down but a bit "towards us". Just darkening it a bit should do it.

[S]

Technically it's pretty much spot ono, but taste-wise it's a bit wolf-moon t-shirt. I'd love to see it with a different background.

[Andail]

I wouldn't call it exceptional, but it's a good solid study of an eagle's head, and that's pretty much it.

I agree with S that the motif is a bit tacky, especially since - with the backdrop and the signature - it appears to be a finished picture

[abstauber]

wolf-moon t-shirt

Or a dolphin-waterfall shirt? 

Though I like it very much, how the attention is dragged to the eye of this bird. As for the composition, I think the motive is a bit too centered.

But anyway, well done!
(and sorry that I couldn't add anything constructive )

[Kaio]

xD Thanks everyone! And sorry for my "tacky" taste  .
btw, here's my newest creation:



...

nah, just kidding

[Dervish]

I can really tell you spent a lot of detail time on the face and eye and I hope you finish the rest of the detailing becuase it does look like a bad mesh of to different styles.  Since you used a photo reference I am probably wrong but the head seems a little vertically squished.  But overall very good.

[Matti]

The eye and the area between eye and beak are really good, almost photorealistic! I agree with Khris on the beaks lighting though.

[Kaio]

I'll finish the rest, don't worry Dervis . And you're right, I stretched the head a bit...dunno why. I took the reference, streched it and started painting. So it was intentional...kinda.
Anyway, here's the plan for this creature:



Nothing original, I know. And the pose is kinda boring, too. You know, just standing and not in action, ripping some Orcs apart. It's for training anyway .
And I hope there will be a day when I don't need that much references I need now.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

References aren't a bad thing at all, and I think you've done a brilliant job with the face.  Let's see how the rest turns out!

[Geratuza]

Hey kaio. I think it's a nice copy of the reference. Having a look at the works you've posted here (and on deviantart) I wonder what your point about drawing is. Is it just being able to copy something you see? I think that won't help much in creating games. If your point is to learn how to draw athmospheric backgrounds and realistic creatures and people, you should try to copy less and create more by yourself. I also copied pictures before and became quite good (I think) in it (just using the basic round brush though). However, since I stopped that and tried to create more scenery by myself instead, I have learned a lot about all the important basic stuff like lighting, perspective/plasticity and composition. It's a feeling and understanding of those basic topics that I did not get while I was just copying from references. Just my two cents. (It looks good however ;-) )

[Matti]

Geratuza, Kaio already mentioned that:

Nothing original
[...]
And I hope there will be a day when I don't need that much references I need now.

I agree that copying photos shouldn't be the purpose of drawing, but as a start, to get used to Photoshop, brushes, lighting, shading etc... it's useful. Also, who says that this drawing should be related to a game? Many people post stuff here that has nothing to do with game making.

Oh, just read your last sentences. Well, for me it works quite well to learn about these things when copying from photos or other reference pictures..

[Kaio]

Well, my problem is, that when I draw without ANY reference, lighting and scaling sucks. I thought it would help me first to copy stuff, to get a feel to how things work. I'm not just copying them, the most time I spend staring at my picture, staring at the reference... does it look ok? where's the light source? and stuff like that.
You know, you can't build a palace if you can't even build a shack.  8)
And since I'm not a huge talent by nature, I have to go all the long way and learn it all from the beginning .

[markbilly]

And since I'm not a huge talent by nature, I have to go all the long way and learn it all from the beginning .

Even people with huge talent have to learn from the beginning... I could start a debate here and now about whether "natural talent" even exists, or whether some people just have a personality more suited to learning a certain skill... I don't know if many people are just born with a perfect understanding of composition and lighting, for example!

So I think, therefore, you have pretty substantial talent!

[Jens]

Talent means to practice so hard and so long until others assume that you are talented. ;-)

[Geratuza]

I get your point, kaioshin. It's just that I believe that the theoretic approach as you describe it is not very productive. Personally, I did not learn of it as much as I believed I would.
Instead, if you want to learn to draw an eagle, google for 5 or 10 pictures of eagles. Look carefully at them and try to create an own one that comes close to the others, but is no exact copy of any of those. (Also, there might be tricks that other people discovered while trying to draw eagles.)
Or if you want to learn drawing sunsets, pick like 10 pictures of sunsets and create an own one in the spirit of the references.
Of course, the first pictures will not look as professional as the copied ones you are doing now. But it's a learning process, you will get better! Dare more freedom. Allow yourself to create (a lot of) less good-looking pictures, discover the flaws, practice new techniques and approaches, experiment with light and perspective, ask others for their perception of your picture... To me, this way was much more of a help than what I did before (what was similar to your approach). I just wanted to share this experience, because when looking back now, I see this time as a time of stagnancy from the point of getting skilled in drawing.

[loominous]

Think in the end it doesn't matter what route you take when drawing/painting, as long as you keep at it. Reference routes tend to give you a good insight into details, while keeping you back in areas such as volume, which is the basis for other areas such as lighting/shading.

One risk you run when taking the reference route is that you and your "audience", such as friends, get used to a relatively very high quality in this stage, which can make reference free attempts discouraging, as they seem very inferior in comparison, and you end up sort of stuck in a constraining reference mode.

I think it's like learning another language: in the reference route you start without any real grammar insight, merely copying phrases. After a couple of years you'll be able to converse quite well, and you know all the local phrases and expressions, but you'll still probably commit quite basic grammar errors and will have trouble formulating more complex sentences.

The construction route is quite opposite, where you focus on the grammar and develop a solid foundation, but your conversations get quite stiff, and you'll lack the local flavor.

Course, there's nothing that says that you have to stick to any of the extremes, and most follow a course along the middle, which seems reasonable.

Anyway, looks nice!

[Andail]

Very good points, Loomy

[Kaio]

Indeed. thank you all for your advices

edit: update. I tried not to stick as much on the references for the body as I did for the head. Still sketchy .

[Kaio]

Mhh, I continued and ask myself if the wings might be a bit too small? What do you think?