L4D RP OC Larsson Spectre

monkey0506 · Tue 02/03/2010 08:20:50

This is an original character I created for use in a Left 4 Dead role play. I'm not really much of an RPer but a friend is and it's a fun way of killing some time..

Take 1:

Take 2:

I did this in MS Paint because although I know better tools exist and are free..simply using them wouldn't actually increase my artistic abilities..although having actual layers would have been nice.

I know the flaws in this image are vast and many so I'm not looking for stern/strict artistic/realistic critiquing on this, but I'd like to see what people think about it..and if there's anything that could be easily corrected no harm in pointing it out..such as colouring inside the lines which I failed at.

Oh and I've been told it looks like Guybrush..not intentional as the character doesn't look like him. I guess Guybrush is just the extent of my abilities haha.

P.S. I literally spent more time putting the writing on the poster than any other portion of the image.

CShelton · Tue 02/03/2010 08:51:12

I think I found the reference you used for this character.

Really tho, give him a nice five o'clock shadow. He's been running from the apocalypse for days or weeks even. And where's his gun? it is L4D after all, you're never without a gun in that game.

Props for using Paint. I can't paint with a program that gives you exactly 1 undo.

monkey0506 · Tue 02/03/2010 09:06:14

Hah interesting, but no I actually didn't use ANY reference. I just sort of thought of what I wanted him to look like and fought desperately with my mouse to try and get something that looked remotely similar to what was in my head..and in the end just gave up and accepted what I had.

The character always carries a chainsaw but I didn't draw it..

Chicky · Tue 02/03/2010 16:41:01

Role playing is beyond me, why not play the actual game rather than pretend to play it :/

But... this isn't the place for that conversation

The ace thing is that you're giving art a go, which is awesome! (Monkey awesome!) Use the paint bucket to fill in where the colour has overlapped the outlines and try to keep the outlines at an even width (for now).

You've got a fairly good understanding of the proportions of the character and the posture isn't half bad either! I think with some controlled line art this would make a perfectly good adventure game character. Not roleplay!

monkey0506 · Tue 02/03/2010 18:00:37

Part of the problem is since I insisted on doing this in MS Paint I was having to simulate layers. The selection tool does have the option of grabbing the area without the background color (whatever you have it set to be) which allows for simulated transparency. So what I did is I copied the outline, painted over it, and copied the outline back on top of it (there's actually some pixel doubling from a failed alignment as well).

I won't reject genuine artistic advise by claiming "artistic license" on this piece, but I will openly admit that I, not being an artist, am lazy.

Thanks for the comments though Chicky.

As for the role play issue, I don't own the game, and being broke and unemployed as I am, I don't plan on buying it anytime soon. Seeing as most of the people in the RP are teenage girls (including my friend who wanted me to join in) things get pretty interesting at times..if you know what I mean.

hahah

Mr Flibble · Tue 02/03/2010 20:56:57

I really wish I didn't know that about you, monkey.

monkey0506 · Tue 02/03/2010 21:04:10

Seeing as I figure it might be relevant..I have thus far failed to mention that this is not a live-action RP. :

It's actually online. Hence the need to draw the character.

Jim Reed · Wed 03/03/2010 00:19:54

No ears?
anyway...Your feet mismatched a bit, and he was leaning a bit to the back.

If you use only lines (curved and straight ones) in MsPaint, you can get nice flood-fillable areas easily, like I just did. This one was drawn using the thickest lines possible

Drawing is a lot about patience, don't rush on it.

Make a lot of copies of your character so if you make a mistake, you can start over (MsPaint has only three undos).

Avoid using the pencil and brush tools with the mouse.

monkey0506 · Wed 03/03/2010 03:19:39

Somehow I always forget that Paint has a curved line tool. It would also have helped vastly if I had a clear direction of where I was going with the thing which I didn't really.

I like how you were bothered by no ears but yet yours has no face at all.

I've actually been working a lot throughout the day cleaning up lines, replacing the black outlines with coloured ones, and trying generally to make the thing look less bad.

It's funny the way I started out doing this INTENDING to not care and not spend a lot of time worrying about it but am now very much bothered by the fact that it looks so poorly done.

Jim Reed · Wed 03/03/2010 03:58:35

Touche! =P

Must've forgoten to add it.

Patience, and a sturdy mouse can make almost anything look pretty decent.

You could draw with the pencil/brush tool 'off-hand', black and white (I use red) and then take the line tools and paint over the sketch, straightening the shapes. After that you delete the sketch underneath (RMB while using the eraser replaces the left colour with the right colour). So by doing the sketch in only one colour, you can delete it easily after you make the drawing more complete.

monkey0506 · Sat 06/03/2010 22:38:59

Despite Jim's excellent suggestion about using the line tools, I still did all the work in the above edit with the paintbrush and fill tools. I'm not entirely satisfied with it yet, but I think it's getting there. I'm much happier with it now than the original.