Monster Workshop - full sketch due tonight (Monday)!

[dactylopus]

OK, I've taken a look at some faces, and I think I've pieced together a good idea of where I'm going to take this furry monster.



Still evaluating poses and doing various rough sketches (mostly on paper).

Everyone in here is doing such a great job so far!

Selmiak, the ambiance in your image is already fantastic.

Miguel, wow, that's a lot of scales.

[cat]

seems a bit undynamic but also somehow fitting for this surprised looking blob...

I like the overall atmosphere a lot. What makes it feel undynamic is the tail I think. There is a lot of tension in the face and arms but the tail seems to be relaxed. Maybe you can change it to a more alert position?

[loominous]

Main thread




Reworked the char a bit, his neck in particular, giving it more of a straight line to his back, and fleshed out the backdrop with diagonal shapes n arcs.

Been thinking about ditching the ladder, and instead just make him this hugely tall guy, which could be cooler as well as avoid the whole ladder readability mess.

After I saw the cute creature in dactylopus' montage, and probably due to the fact that I've been periodically accompanied by a yawning kitten for the last few days, I tried adding one to his long neck. I initially thought it could be holding a candle, as I had some issues with the current lighting setup, and a candle behind him could help, but then I started fleshing out the background, and it seemed to work without it. I't s quite generic atm, so like with the char I'm gonna push it further.

The backdrop is working okish atm, wanna get a sense of scale and the windows might detract a bit too much, might end up hiding them and just have light haze be visible, we'll see. Also considering flipping the whole thing, as it would make things flow a bit better. (also, when I flipped it, way too late as usual, I noticed a lot of tilting issues, which I'm gonna have to deal with, along with the severely flawed perspective (I tend to be very loose with perspective when I sketch, just winging it, hate straight lines).

[Cuiki]

I wanted to make him look like he's in great pain (that thing in his hand is supposed to be his own chopped-off arm), whereas now he just looks like he's doing some sort of a gay dance move.

I like your monster! I just didn't recognize the pain, probably because of the pose - I thought he copped his arm off to use it as a weapon which makes the picture even more creepy 
Maybe you could draw some blood dripping from the cut arm and his wound?

Hey, thanks! Yeah, the arm would definitely serve as a weapon, and I was planning to add dripping blood and all sorts of other open wounds in one of the following steps. Glad you find it creepy though. I suppose it's a good thing in a thread that's all about monsters.

[Mordalles]

Week 1 Step 2: continuing playing around with monster details and thinking about surroundings....

[cat]

Water dragon, week 1, step 4 - Thinking about composition

I want a setting where the dragon is in its territory and the viewer is an intruder. I tried several poses, not sure yet which one I'm going to use. Any suggestions?


Link to first post: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=48175.msg636453462#msg636453462

[nihilyst]

@cat: I really dig the first one. The dragon making his way through a bunch of trees, coming out of a forest on his way to the viewer who dared to set foot on his territory. Could make a dynamic illustration.

[Misj']

Intermission: just wingin' it.
Some musing on angel-anatomy and wings on human figures.

[cat]

@nihilyst: Actually, the whole scene should be underwater, the 'trees' are supposed to be kelp. Also in picture 3, which is seen from bottom up.

[nihilyst]

Well, it's a forest of kelp then. I like it best nonetheless ^^

[waheela]

@cat
I really like the bottom, left one. Especially if you lit it from the top like this...



...and made the dragon looking down at the viewer.

It adds mystery and ominousness to your monster, and makes you feel like it could descend upon you at any moment!

The first one could also be cool if you had the kelp strands obscuring parts of the dragon, keeping that mysterious, predatory feeling.




@Cuiki
I like your idea, super badass. I agree though, he doesn't really look like he's in pain. I think it's something in the eyebrows. Usually when I'm drawing someone in pain, I make their eyebrows turn up at the top and furrow the skin between the brows, like this:



I actually like your pose. I think it would be more evident that he cut off his own arm though if you put a counter in front of him with some crazy torture tools and his own blood splashed on top of it. Not only would this provide context, but the viewer could internally build a better, clearer story about who your character is. Also, if he's into self-mutilation, maybe some gross piercings/chains running along his face/body? I think that could look pretty cool.




@selmiak
It's simple, but I still like you composition! I think it works well. One thing I'd suggest though is adding something on the rock with him/her/it to give the viewer some idea of how big the monster is. For example, a coin, or skull if he's really small, or a tiny person if he's really big.

[loominous]

Main thread



Bit of refinement/modifications.

Thinking about adding a few of these kitten like creatures, perhaps giving his robe a hood where they would gather. Quickly sketched in two of them, and they do make the scene more interesting, particularly if they're not that easy to spot, adding some exploration. Overall gonna keep things in low contrast, with hopefully lots of nifty things to discover.

[Misj']

Cuiki's Butcher or Meatilator as he prefers to be called. Well, you know what they say: never approach a wounded animal. So imagine the threat of a monster in pain.

[Andail]

Alrightie, just posting to say that in order to stay in this workshop, you need to have a sketch ready by tomorrow. The sketch should have your monster and all key elements that you wish to include in your painting. It should also show roughly what kind of environment, perspective and composition you're aiming for. It doesn't need to be some kind of perfect pencil-drawing, but your final painting has to be at least vaguely based upon it (so you can't throw in a brand new, totally different painting the day before the final deadline - that's not how this workshop works).

[Mordalles]

Week 1 Step 3: (12/05/2013) further detailing and playing around with background...


Main thread

[cat]

Water dragon, week 1, step 5 - Basic sketch

Ok, I decided to do a combination of sketch 1 and 3: the monster attacking through kelp, but with a slightly lowered viewpoint.


Link to first post: Link

[Misj']

The sketch should have your monster and all key elements that you wish to include in your painting. It should also show roughly what kind of environment, perspective and composition you're aiming for. It doesn't need to be some kind of perfect pencil-drawing, but your final painting has to be at least vaguely based upon it (so you can't throw in a brand new, totally different painting the day before the final deadline - that's not how this workshop works).

Ok, so the final piece will probably be nothing like the image below. But the overall idea is to have her live in a cathedral/church kind of place, and have a big church-window behind her. That's all I know for certain right now...the rest will evolve as I continue working on it.

I want to have a (male) character to the front for her to attack, and maybe a small group of people in the back slightly in front of the window (this will also help us get a sense of scale). I would love to have a chandelier in there as well, but I don't think it will fit within the composition/framing. So basically...all key-elements are still missing; but that's the way I work best (even though it brakes some of Andails rules (read: guidelines))

I don't know anything about the way I'm going to render the piece (both in style and tone), the elements that are actually going to be in there (let alone their exact shape), etc. etc. I wanted to focus on the character during the first week, because everything else will either be an extension of her or contrast her (in case of her attackers).

Anyway...I still kept the flying attack-pose, and addressed some of the things that bothered me.




follow link here

[Kasander]

I had some computer related problems lately, so I wasn't particularly regular. All right, let's hope this time BSOD will wait until I finish writing this... (BTW, if anyone has a good advice on how to diagnose and get rid of BSOD, please PM me! )
---------------
Week 1, Step 3. Thumbnail sketches. Picking the right pose.

With the key words in mind (see my main thread), I did few thumbnail sketches of the monster.

I was trying to envision his towering presence. I've added a silhouette of human to make monster look bigger. Still everything was open at the thumbnail stage, so I could experiment with few poses, searching for the most dynamic one. I've also experimented with what was to become the most tricky and difficult thing to draw: THAT DAMN CARNIPARASES... Which are, as you may (or may not) know , the parasitic and carnivorous plants that my monster has on its arms. The flexible nature of carniparas has caused me some composition problems.

Let's have a look at these thumbnails.



Number 1.
The biggest problem with this composition is the attacking carniparas. Its part on the left takes too much space in comparison with the lower right part of the picture. This, along with the very static pose of the monster, makes it my least favourite of the four. I've painted it over to give it more expression - back-lighting the monster and trying to experiment a little with the environment. The monster's shadow could be helpful later in determining the atmosphere. The towering monster CASTING EVEN MORE TOWERING SHADOW... Sounds cool, eh? Well, it certainly sounds much better than it looks at this point

Number 2.
I've tried to capture the monster in three-quarter pose. It looks very static and not at all interested in killing the petty human. It doesn't even look towards the victim... It's like it was featuring in a 'spring fashion' catalogue, not in the monster workshop. It looks like a cowboy with his lasso overhead. The contrasting, defensive pose of human make it even less convincing.

Number 3.
Here, we're getting somewhere, at last. The carniparases seems to be more balanced. Also, both monster's and human's poses are dynamic. The attacking carniparas seems like its out of control - which is good.  This would make a decent illustration. A proper monster look, full of rage. Reminds me of my own feelings when I was having those BSODs lately.

No. 4.
I've tried to make it even more dynamic, so I made the monster run towards the human. Although I don't dig the twisted carniparas, and I'm still not sure whether the human should be on monster's right side or left, I like the pose. So let's build further on this one.

With and without opponent.





Read my main thread

[Ghost]

Week 1 - Final Sketch
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/Wp6vPox.png[/imgzoom]

* Camera as "point of view". Maybe corny, maybe hackneyd. But I think it works with the idea that a scientist records his work. Also allows for the idea that maybe, MAYBE there is someone else in the lab, doing the recording.
* Background shows the "telepod" from the movie. Needs a LOT of work.
* As I see it, black-and-white could work well. Would force me to make the shading really good 

Follow here: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=48175.msg636453646#msg636453646

[Kasander]

Week 1, Step 4. The final sketch: value painting. Lighting & environment.

After deciding on monster's pose, I imagined it in a jungle or a cave... I started to paint jungle environment in the background, but the silhouette of a monster was appearing more and more diminished (and less and less towering). Seemingly the trees weren't his thing. Oh yeah, and I forgot to save it before experiencing BSOD... Anyway, after deciding to abandon the jungle, I went classical, easier route and painted my monster in the habitat of a cosy cavern. I've imagined it walking into his home in a cave... Then suddenly it sees a human, shrieks a surprised greeting and starts running. Shaking hands couldn't be more painful to this monster's guest

This time, my main focus was lighting and environment. At this stage I'm concentrated on setting the painting's atmosphere. The shadow is exaggerated to make monster look bigger (TOWERING!) and the painting more expressive. I've also tried to do the 'Frazetta triangle' thing, but it didn't work. Perhaps it was too late in the process. I should have thought about triangles, circles and frazettas earlier, when I was doing thumbnails :/ Maybe I'll try that Frazetta approach later if I have time (and courage).

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/DUkQiKv.jpg[/imgzoom]

>Hmm, I'm still wondering if these hands with flesh-eating carniparas aren't too long. The shorter hands weren't that expressive though.

>> The lighting seems wrong on the attacking carniparas part. There are some bright spots that should be darkened, that monster has just run into a dark cave after all. I'll fix that later, probably at the proper painting stage.

>>> In general, the hands should be upgraded and better looking.

>>>> Lot's of environment details should be added. I still don't know what kind of cave is it and how should it differ (IF it shoud) from any other random cave.  Maybe the carniparas plants in their vegetative phase should grow in there.

>>>>> The monster's opponent/victim. I'll have to decide if I want him in the painting... He (or she?) would surely be a good excuse for the monster's pose. Otherwise the creature would just run, well, *somewhere*... towards the viewer... or towards the edge of screen... like in a FPP game or like in Joe Dever's or Choose Your Own Adventure book.

Yeah... and that concludes Week 1 for me.

*Read my main thread*