The VG Resource

Hey... I highly doubt anyone remembers me, but I used to make a splash on the Models Resource.

To give the short answer of what I'm up to, DeviantART and Full Sail has tied me up. On top of that, I think there are some people on here that hate my guts.

In any case, I thought it would be a good idea to rebuild a good reputation here. I may not be much of a modeler anymore in favor of the less stressful 2-D artwork, but I think what I can do now would delight a few people. I know you would just ignore my artwork because I'm in the shadows of the more popular spriters and I might have a bit of a bad reputation, but if you could take a look at what I have to offer, I would like that a lot.







http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/0...5z84hx.png

(Note: I had to link that one because it stretches out the page too much.)





This is all the artwork that I feel is the best. I do have more on another web site, but I'm not sure if you'll actually like the bulk of it.

If you have any questions, just ask.

Interesting art style!

(05-27-2013, 08:11 PM)A.J. Nitro Wrote: [ -> ]Interesting art style!

I'm flattered that you decided to check my art thread out!

Anyway, since this is a fun style to draw in, I'll be uploading a lot more art work here from my DA account! Also, I'm thinking about giving the Don't Starve more of a Paper Mario style if you know what I mean.

How does that sound?

Hey, please forgive me for the double post, but since this thread has been still for a while, I decided to break the ice with a new pic I just cooked up recently.

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/1...676ig5.png
(Note: I had to just leave a link because the image stretches too much.)

Also, I'm thinking about doing some drawings of several of the users on this site. If anyone has a request, I'll lend you an ear and see what I can do.

well, first of all, interesting stuff you got there

Though as you already know, there are a lot of places you could be better on, such as lines and stuff. I'll get the pic that stands out the most for me,



which has everything you should work on (and therefore applies to all your other words listed in the post). I'll treat every issue in topics:

1-Color. Perhaps your worst problem in all your stuff. The colors are dull, really boring and really pale-looking, and you can't really sense depth with the shading you've applied to it. Coloring isn't about picking a color and gradually increasing brightness/darkness to shade. There's a lot of cool things you can achieve with colors. A quick research on google brings me up this example:



See how the shading is achieved not by simple color darkening, like you did. The artist has a very dynamic choice of colors: notice how the woman face goes from a yellow tint to a blue shadow, and how defined the lights/shadows are. This difference of light/dark is called contrast, and it helps hus perceive volume in a flat, 2D screen.
Dealing with colors is quite difficult as there are no fixed rules for the colors you pick (nothing in art does), but experiment. See color theory for more pointers.

2-Texturing. When you shade or color things, you must consider the texture of the object you are trying to portray. In this case, flesh or skin shading is quite homogeneous, but fabrics, fur and any other surface has its own texture, which you must portray.



This is how wool looks like. Notice its texture, and its coloring (it's not exactly white, it's a dirty white that becomes 'brown' when shaded). Pick references when painting or drawing textures, and you're good to go.

3-Volume. This is also related to the first three. When drawing, you need to imagine the thing you are drawing in 3D. How would it look like? How will the lights interact with it? Since your drawing has virtually no contrast, no volume can be perceived. It looks like it's all in the same plane, and therefore it looks really flat. The only thing that I can really see the shading are the tentacles behind the character, but even then they aren't great either. The way you shaded them makes them look like beveled surfaces, instead of a cylindrical tentacle with a pointy top, if you know what I mean.
It's important to 'view' the character in 3D while sketching, as this will be the starting base for all your work. If you fail to do so, the whole piece will end up looking flat (as is the case with this one).

4-Anatomy. This is also something really hard to master, but if you stick to it, you'll be able to do prettier stuff. There are a lot of proportion tips you can discover by analyzing the human body.



This is pretty common, you can find variations of this easily in google. Notice the muscle groups, their formations, and sizes. The arms' length end near the thigh; the legs are longer than the upper portion of the body; the foot is as long as the forearm; thighs/calves and arms/forearms have the same length. The more you analyze and study it, the more familiar it gets, so even if this looks hard, you have no choice other than try it.

There are many anatomy tutorials scattered over the internet so don't be lazy or shy and look them. They are pretty nice and having a solid knowledge in anatomy will give you a better result even in more cartoony styles, as they also follow the basic principles.

5-Posing. Also a part of the anatomy, posing is how you want to place the body in a situation. It's an important part of characterization so don't think on it AFTER sketching. It's one of the very first things you gotta think on.
If you aren't sure of the pose, try doing the same pose yourself. Use your body. If you feel that the pose is uncomfortable, you may want to change the pose.
Also keep an eye on balancing. Some of the characters you drew look like they're going to fall. A good way to notice this is to flip the pic horizontally. It helps a lot when trying to make a balanced pose.

6-Style. This one is subjective, but try a lot of different styles. Realistic, cartoon, anime, anything. The more you practice, the better. Don't just draw anime just because you like it. Art is about mastering everything, not just one thing (that would be boring as hell). Don't be afraid to experiment, try different media, coloring, characters or even landscapes. Anything goes.

I'll end here for now. Drawing is not easy, but if you work on it regularly, you'll get better at it.

(05-31-2013, 02:27 PM)Gorsalami Wrote: [ -> ]well, first of all, interesting stuff you got there

Though as you already know, there are a lot of places you could be better on, such as lines and stuff. I'll get the pic that stands out the most for me,

Spoiler

which has everything you should work on (and therefore applies to all your other words listed in the post). I'll treat every issue in topics:

(Your critique)

I'll end here for now. Drawing is not easy, but if you work on it regularly, you'll get better at it.

You must be the friend Mighty Jitters told me about. She said you would point out my flaws, so that was expected.

I thought for sure that I worked out all the kinks in my art style and created a style that anyone can like, but I guess I still have a few bugs to work out before I even think about being among the best. Thank you for the tips.

Now, when you said that I should use cool colors to show shading for now on, does that have anything to do with the complementary colors? I can imagine that blue and purple would work just fine, but green? Also, how can one shade anything that is already blue without using black? I think the way I shade could work in nearly any situation, but this shading style you brought up might be worth investigating.

That's funny... I thought I was doing a good job on the texturing. Did you notice the fur and hair on some of the pics? What else does that lack? More blue by any chance? *Chuckles*

*Scratches head* My artwork looks beveled? I don't know what to tell you about that. My only guess is to either make the areas of shading wider, or make them darker. As it is now, the shading in the more smaller areas look fine to me.

Ah, anatomy... It is the bane of every artist out there. No matter how good your artwork looks, if there is at least one flaw in the anatomy, the piece is labeled as trash. I can wholesomely agree that it is one of my weaknesses. I tried to get around that by employing construction shapes and using the line of action more often, but I think I need to apply more detail if I wish to truly perfect it. If only I could really understand those muscles in a way that would please everyone...

I thought I nailed posing, too. I tend to act out the poses and see if they work, so I can hardly imagine what I'm doing wrong there. As for the part about falling over, I can imagine that. I used to flip my drawings to see if they lean, but I guess I'm slacking a little on that...

As for my style, I just roll with anything I am currently dealing with. I can do anime, semi-realism, cartoon, creepy sketch, and anything else. The only thing that stays constant is how I shade.


I thought for sure that I only had one or two things that need to be changed, but with a total of six, I'm not sure how I would even rise from this seemingly low tier of artistic talent.

Anyway, I gotta hand it to you. You certainly take your artwork seriously enough. By your advice, I have the right to assume that you're the best one on this site.

Quote: By your advice, I have the right to assume that you're the best one on this site.

no shit

stop that, no one is 'better' than anyone here, especially in this case. Our job here is to give criticism, you came here for that, and I just delivered it. I am not the best just because of it. That's sounding pretentious. Like anyone here, I am still learning things and I am just making your path easier, as I faced all those before you. There is no 'being better' here.

Also, there are many other people that can guide you, so don't go pointing people out like that. you'll face through many people like me, and what matters the most is whether if you'll accept the criticism and apply what you learned, or not.

---

by cool, I mean 'nice, interesting colors', not literal 'blue-ish tones'

it highly depends on where you are, the lightsource and the likes. If you are outside under a blue sky, the shadows will tend to be blue, and the highlights yellow (because that's the sunlight's 'color'). Its light is not perfectly white, as you find in those phosphorescent lightbulbs. If you are in a lit green room, the shadows will tend to green because of light reflexing in the wall, and sunsets give objects a red/orange tone and a really black shadow. It really depends on the situation. Just the lightsource position isn't enough.
It's important to place it in a way it makes the object in question more appealing. Use everything for your advantage.

as for anatomy, it is not entirely necessary. I doubt some cartoonists out there know how to do it. BUT I would highly reccomend it, even if it's a simplified study of the muscle groups. This way you will stop representing the body as a flat shape and more like something that you can feel the depth. I'm just saying that like every piece that forms the art, anatomy isn't the most difficult or the highest thing you'll learn; I'd place each element as equally important in order to compose a piece.

(05-31-2013, 03:59 PM)Gorsalami Wrote: [ -> ]

Quote: By your advice, I have the right to assume that you're the best one on this site.

no shit

stop that, no one is 'better' than anyone here, especially in this case. Our job here is to give criticism, you came here for that, and I just delivered it. I am not the best just because of it. That's sounding pretentious. Like anyone here, I am still learning things and I am just making your path easier, as I faced all those before you. There is no 'being better' here.

Also, there are many other people that can guide you, so don't go pointing people out like that. you'll face through many people like me, and what matters the most is whether if you'll accept the criticism and apply what you learned, or not.

I'm very sorry that I made you upset with what I said. When I said that I assumed that you are the best artist on the site, I meant that as a compliment. I'll certainly apply the advice you gave me. It's only a matter of how I would make it work for me.

he's not upset, sounding rough is just his way of getting the message through to guide you in the right direction.
but yes, we've got plenty of skilled artists here, and Gors is just one of them. he is very good at what he does but we've all got things to learn and there's always room for improvement for everyone.

(05-31-2013, 05:08 PM)Axle the Red Wrote: [ -> ]he's not upset, sounding rough is just his way of getting the message through to guide you in the right direction.
but yes, we've got plenty of skilled artists here, and Gors is just one of them. he is very good at what he does but we've all got things to learn and there's always room for improvement for everyone.

Oh, for a second there I thought I might have said something offensive to him. I'm glad he's a cool guy like that.

I was thinking that I could never get a style that most people would look up to, which is why I sound a little frustrated with myself. I can respect that I have a lot to learn and I am willing to see about fixing it up a little.

Finally! After a long time, I decided to update this topic! I'm finally back with more artwork to share that I'm certain some of you might actually enjoy!





Sure, it's far from being the best artwork on this site, but who knows? Maybe there's a least one person out there who actually likes this style as it currently is.

Also, I forgot to mention it, but I have a DA account. Do stop by if you you are feeling curious.

http://e-man276.deviantart.com/

Your colors come across as kind of blurry and lack contrast. ...I don't really know how to be more detailed than that because I don't know how to color, but maybe you'll get some ideas if you check out how other artists you like do it?

Stop using the blur/smudge tool. It's mucking your colours up too much. It's really obvious that this is where you're going wrong. I'd offer a suggestion on how to fix this, but I don't know how to colour either.

Hey um... I don't want to sound mean here, but... I feel I should mention this now.
I know you're aware that you still have much to learn about art (all of us do, mind), and I don't want to discourage you in any way, but I think it'd be better if you sort of dropped the mindset that your skills in certain areas are "really good" or "near-flawless" because it becomes kind of noticable that you seem surprised by what people are saying here and to be blunt for a moment it kind of makes you come off as... a bit pompous.

Now bear in mind it's good to be confident in your abilities and feel good about what you are doing but I'm just saying it'd benefit you to not uh... act high and mighty about them. Please don't be offended by this as I tried to word it the nicest way I could but I'm just saying this to help you out. We're glad to help you but I'm just asking you to not be surprised by the criticisms you recieve because, even hearing things that you don't agree with are part of becoming a better artist.

We appreciate that you're at least trying to be active in art though, so don't be discouraged or feel bad by this, don't give up, and do your best.

(07-07-2013, 02:26 PM)Axle the Red Wrote: [ -> ]Hey um... I don't want to sound mean here, but... I feel I should mention this now.
I know you're aware that you still have much to learn about art (all of us do, mind), and I don't want to discourage you in any way, but I think it'd be better if you sort of dropped the mindset that your skills in certain areas are "really good" or "near-flawless" because it becomes kind of noticable that you seem surprised by what people are saying here and to be blunt for a moment it kind of makes you come off as... a bit pompous.

Now bear in mind it's good to be confident in your abilities and feel good about what you are doing but I'm just saying it'd benefit you to not uh... act high and mighty about them. Please don't be offended by this as I tried to word it the nicest way I could but I'm just saying this to help you out. We're glad to help you but I'm just asking you to not be surprised by the criticisms you recieve because, even hearing things that you don't agree with are part of becoming a better artist.

We appreciate that you're at least trying to be active in art though, so don't be discouraged or feel bad by this, don't give up, and do your best.

Yes... I just thought I got it right this time around and there was one person on here that likes my style the way it is...... I didn't think it would receive this much bashing to be honest.

I really do appreciate the help you give me. I'm just frustrated that I'm not getting the kind of answers I'm looking for that would boost my artwork to the next level.