The VG Resource

woo-hoo

drawn in pencil, scanned. comments, critique, anything strongly appreciated

that's an awfully strange pose

but I can see if you were aiming for an awkward pose like that to give off a sense of monstrosity to this thing

Nice shading. It looks nice and shiny!

Sharpen.
Your.
Pencil.

Also it looks like you're only using one or maybe two pencils.
Use more for shading.

Sketch using a harder pencil, and then lay in some basic solid shading
then gradually work with softer and softer pencils to build up tone

I used a mechanical pencil with a 0.5 lead. i don't think I really have much more aside from it and a few number 2 type pencils, maaaaybe a charcoal or something somewhere, but that's just a maybe. ):

i'm also going to point out that part of the issue is the scanner, it doesn't look nearly as rough and jagged on paper. also the contrast is kind of wacked out.

I'll see what I can do in the future, though~

Apparently the US uses a different pencil grading system to the EU. What silliness.

Here is something from the internet:

Quote:By the beginning of the twentieth century, a combination letter-number system had been established and was in use by nearly all European pencil makers, and was also used for some American-made pencils. This system is still in use today, and provides for a wide range of grades, usually consisting of the series:

9H, 8H, ... , 2H, H, F, HB, B, 2B, ... , 8B, 9B
where 9H is the hardest, 9B is the softest

So this is what I mean when I talk about a range of pencil grades. I'm not sure if you can find them in the US, but I'd suggest trying to get the Derwent Graphic set of pencils; they range from 4B to 5H, iirc. They are pretty nice and less expensive than some other brands.
If not, I'm pretty sure Faber-Castell pencils are available in the US, and like Derwent they sell tins of differently graded pencils. A set of 12 (which I think ranges from 6B to 6H) is about $20.
I guess that's a bit on the expensive side, not sure if there are any good cheap brands about, least of all on your side of the pond.

You can buy this set of drawing pencils. I used them in all of my art classes. Best of all, the whole set is only 10 dollars.

http://www.utrechtart.com/dsp_view_produ...item=47163

i drew it again in a different pose and tried using more pencils (i found some pretty decent ones lying around, actually, including some charcoal, some wider ones, some thinner ones, some lighter ones, etc) and stuff and it looks a little better than the last one did, but
i've realized that a pretty big part of the problem is actually the scanner
its clarity (blur/sharp) and value (contrast) are kind of inconsistent



i've tried to circumvent it myself but it doesn't always work too well ):

That looks pretty miraculous to me, but I guess we should wait for Zeemort for sound advice.

in hindsight, the head is too big and the legs are too thin

The head looks pretty proportional to me, I can see where your saying the legs are to thin, it doesn't look by much though.

(05-19-2010, 03:41 PM)Profanisaurus Wrote: [ -> ]Apparently the US uses a different pencil grading system to the EU. What silliness.

Here is something from the internet:

Quote:By the beginning of the twentieth century, a combination letter-number system had been established and was in use by nearly all European pencil makers, and was also used for some American-made pencils. This system is still in use today, and provides for a wide range of grades, usually consisting of the series:

9H, 8H, ... , 2H, H, F, HB, B, 2B, ... , 8B, 9B
where 9H is the hardest, 9B is the softest

So this is what I mean when I talk about a range of pencil grades. I'm not sure if you can find them in the US, but I'd suggest trying to get the Derwent Graphic set of pencils; they range from 4B to 5H, iirc. They are pretty nice and less expensive than some other brands.
If not, I'm pretty sure Faber-Castell (These are TomGuycott's Favorite) pencils are available in the US, and like Derwent they sell tins of differently graded pencils. A set of 12 (which I think ranges from 6B to 6H) is about $20.
I guess that's a bit on the expensive side, not sure if there are any good cheap brands about, least of all on your side of the pond.

Come to NJ, Gizmonic, and I can sell you each one of those sets, for as little as 13-14 dollars.

Or find a bitchin' art store in your own area, but GOOD LUCK WITH THAT! Although I don't know why you'd even bother getting a pencil set when you seem to like mechanical pencils.. but I've got that too!

Seriously though, as far as the art, pretty cool, but... it's hard for me to describe, the arms seem awfully straight (the left arm in the first, the right in the second). I mean, an arm can go pretty straight, but it just seems so stoic. The arms also seem like they're a bit long.

On the new one, the right arm is not only longer than the left one, but too long- the wrist should not deviate much from being the same height as the crotch.

Both of the arms are too long, that was true in the original drawing, as well. I can probably attribute that to me misjudging lengths because of the shoulder pads.
The very slight difference in arm length can be explained by two simple facts; one, the left arm is closer to us and the right is slightly further away, slightly obscure. second, the right arm is more bent than the left arm.

it still doesn't add up

neither arm seems much bent, but the left one is even stiffer, so it should look longer

and regarding the profundity, maybe, but it still looks too large a difference.

But I like it, great use of pencils.