[Gobbler]

I've tried to reduce that, but I couldn't get myself to carve out more of the shape of her head since I was afraid to ruin the picture... hope the solemn notion of it is sufficient... I'll make up for it in my next attempt.

This post has been edited by Gobbler: 15 February 2006 - 04:29 PM

[Gobbler]

Darn it, I couldn't make up for it this time either. But I stopped before I could ruin this one with some half-assedly made hairstyle by simply giving me only a very limited workspace.

Hmm, don't want to break the forum's tables... then let's just do it like this.

Say hello to the Twins.

As you can see, I've been busy studying last year's summer catalogue for bikinis and... umm... some other things. I really could do this kind of research for my whole life, yes indeed.
The hands still look a little odd, but that's because I was most of the time looking at my own weird and somewhat unfemale hands. But give me a chainsaw and maybe I'll have some better hands next time.

[Slade]

I think your eyes have come a long way. The third picture is by far the best in that area. The style is really neat. Do you draw it like that, or do thick black lines and polarize the image?

As far as criticism is concerned, I prefer a little more curve to women than you've been drawing - that's purely apocryphia - and maybe do some focus on legs and feet, as well as more varied body types?

[Sailor Abbey]

Not that I’m complaining…

…but why are twins groping each other’s buttocks’.

[SimeSublime]

Don't complain about that, just let it ride

[Dr Lecter]

Maybe they are lesbians that like the express their feelings openly.

[Gobbler]

Do you draw it like that, or do thick black lines and polarize the image?

I draw it like that. I'm not good enough at handdrawing or posing stuff so that it would look good after inverting the colours. The inverted ones all look quite... odd. Well, except for the Twins.

As far as criticism is concerned, I prefer a little more curve to women than you've been drawing - that's purely apocryphia - and maybe do some focus on legs and feet, as well as more varied body types?

I'm still not so sure about what "apocryphia" might mean... I've only got some weird association to inofficial bible-parts in my brain there...
As for the rest... well, Dawn's quite a lightweight, Jules was supposed to be approximately 16 years old and the Twins aren't older than 19, so I guess you've got a point, as their bodies are all rather slim. But fear not, for I will be sure to take your advice. Maybe.

Not that I’m complaining…

…but why are twins groping each other’s buttocks’.

Don't complain about that, just let it ride

Maybe they are lesbians that like the express their feelings openly.

Gee, I'm just happy that you didn't seem to notice that the twin on the right is actually bigger than her 'identical' sister, because I've misjudged the placement of the hand a little bit...

Alright, let's get on with it. I've got a new picture and you're once again free to criticise as much as you want, but I won't be able to change anything, as I've been stupid enough to delete the pointmap for this one... *sigh* I'm such a jerk...

Feast your eyes on Julia.

Ah yes, Julia. She's actually a real person, a classmate of mine. I happened to have the pleasure of carrying her all the way home yesterday when she had fainted after our exam. Bloody hell, I know some people with some pretty weird things going on in their mind, but I've never seen someone as practical as her. I mean, fainting only after she wrote the exam. Now that's awesome. Except if you're the guy who has to carry her home.
Well, I took the opportunity and asked her whether she'd be so kind and be my model for the next picture, as she seemed to have everything my friend Slade desired, what with her having legs and feet and being rather voluptuous and stuff...

And as you can see, she actually agreed - but only after a hand-shaped part of my cheek turned red. Oh, and she didn't really take all her clothes off (bugger), only her shoes and socks so I could study the lines of her feet. This was the cause for another slap, when she saw how I'd depicted her in the final picture. And another one for making her appear too fat (in her eyes) - but hey, I was only able to guess, what with all those thick clothes on her. And she didn't let me work on her face, since she said it looked fine that way. Well, I guess it pretty much resembles her, so it's fine with me.

[Sailor Abbey]

Nice!

[SimeSublime]

She looks a little sleepy there

But I noticed the curves on the feet before I read your description. They looked really good.

[Madam Corvax]

She definitely looks more real life than the other pictures, which were not that realistic when it came to the shapes of bodies. But gee, who draws or paint real life people anymore. Look at character sin computer games (KOTOR is a good example) where all females have hourglass figures with big boobs, tiny waists and flat stomachs. So kudos for drawing something more realistic.

[Otal Nimrodi]

I think it looks great. Thanks for enduring all those slaps for the sake of your artwork. You're a true art-hero.

[civilian_number_two]

That's really good stuff. I think Dawn is the most fully-developed as a piece of art; the others are fairly static. I agree with what others have said about the eyes; the eyes in "Dawn" look like a photographic negative, which I think is the wrong effect. As a technique for a comic, I think that monochromatic style could get overused and wind up distracting from your story. That or worse, it might be boring in the long run, while individual pieces here and there would really stand out.

At the risk of prejudicing your work, I'd say take a look at Frank Miller's "Sin City," particularly "A Dame to Kill For." The style is similar, but maybe you'll see what I mean about monotony. Maybe you've already seen it, and already agree or disagree with me.

[Slade]

Those are indeed very nicely rendered feet. Much kudos to you.

Editorium: Apocrypha is just a fancy word for silliness/off topic stuff/unauthentic/not meant to be taken seriously. (I think I have been spelling it with an I before. I apologize.) Technically, it's greek for "hidden"/"closed" but its meaning has evolved to include questionable sources.

This post has been edited by Slade: 25 February 2006 - 12:43 PM

[Gobbler]

Let's see, let's see... so many things to say today...

She looks a little sleepy there
But I noticed the curves on the feet before I read your description. They looked really good.

Yeah, that's Julia alright. I'm just glad that she didn't faint again. I think the number and width of the lines used for the feet made them look better than the rest of the picture, that's one of cons of this technique. The body curves all look rather dull after a picture or two, but I'm afraid I can't do anything about that, as I'm only trying to copy nature. And if I had added more lines, then it would have appeared as if the young lady had wrinkles... I don't even want to imagine that giant slap I would have gained from that... *shudders*

She definitely looks more real life than the other pictures, which were not that realistic when it came to the shapes of bodies.

Agreed.

But gee, who draws or paint real life people anymore.

Also agreed... well, I think I'd draw more pictures like this if I had some models... but since I'm not in such a fortunate position, I'll just have to use my lewd fantasy.

I think it looks great. Thanks for enduring all those slaps for the sake of your artwork. You're a true art-hero.

If only Julia had thought so, too...

I think Dawn is the most fully-developed as a piece of art; the others are fairly static.

Yes, there just wasn't enough life in the other pictures, while Dawn featured that special pose, clothing --which took me one hell of a lot time to design-- and wet hairs. I think I should include more things like that in the next pictures.

As a technique for a comic, I think that monochromatic style could get overused and wind up distracting from your story. That or worse, it might be boring in the long run, while individual pieces here and there would really stand out.
At the risk of prejudicing your work, I'd say take a look at Frank Miller's "Sin City," particularly "A Dame to Kill For." The style is similar, but maybe you'll see what I mean about monotony. Maybe you've already seen it, and already agree or disagree with me.

Oh, I totally agree with you. I think I got the whole idea some time ago from Sin City. As for the idea of the comic... well, I discharged that even before I had finished drawing Dawn. This style just isn't suited for creating whole sceneries filled with life and even though it only consists of black and white images, a film-noir-esque story would be near impossible to create. The focus is on curves and contours, not light and shadow. I'd go nuts if I had to calculate all those things affected by proper lighting for a figure like Dawn...

Alright, that's it for the fan-mail then ( ). And once again I have something new to present - just shout if it's getting boring, okay?

Oh my, this doesn't fit into the forum's table either... it's the biggest project until now.

At the Edge of Time

Hell, this took me even more time than Dawn... Alright, instead of the usual boring stuff I say about my pictures, I'll illustrate the creation-process of this picture this time, since Mirithorn had asked for a little enlightment in the Q & A Session.

Step 1: Getting some inspiration
This is the fun part. All I have to do is to look at... ahem... "nature". So I look for some hot... ahem... "natural" pictures. Like this one.

Step 2: Sketching
Once I've got the notion of an idea, then I draw some sketches to point out the vital parts, the lines of the body, the pose, the facial exp​ression, etc. etc. etc. Please do note at this point, that my handdrawing skills really do suck. So these sketches are turning out to be some very cryptic scribblings most of the time. Here's the sketch I made for At the Edge of Time.

As you can see, I've only pointed out the most basic lines, just to give me a feeling on how I should translate an idea to a picture that looks somewhat realistic. The young lady was supposed to represent a little contradiction, as she was reaching for something in the distance and drawn back by her origins at the same time. If I had drawn the picture like this, then it would have seemed as if she was just casually standing somewhere and... well... reminding people of a certain greeting, which would have been the cause for a certain disaster, as I'm of a certain nationality...
Anyways, I've pointed out that she should arch her back a little more to compensate this. Then I've made some more notes regarding her hips. If you compare this sketch to the final picture, then you can see that I've decided to make her stretch out the right leg a little more, while the lion's share of her bodyweight presses on her left leg. It's a part of her irresolution. If I could have been arsed to draw the lower parts of her legs and her feet aswell, then she'd only stand on her toes with the right foot.
Then I've made some more points to discuss the nature of her character, as can be seen on the right.

Step 3: Getting to work... meh
I usually start with drawing the torso, in order to set the dimensions. The right arm followed, as it was important for the direction of her head. I've had no model this time, so I had to look at my own hand again... *sigh*

I've made a photo to make things easier and tried to copy the important lines. Fingernails, the length of the fingers and the size of the whole hand were things that I had to manipulate another twothousand times in order to make it appear a little bit more feminine.

Now it was time for the hair and the contours of the face. I can't draw faces just like that into the open air, it just looks plain awful. It's always better for me to have the surrounding hairs and lines of the neck first.

Here you can see how I manipulate the lines to give them their specific look and twist.
Once that's done, the construction of the face starts. Two eyes, two eyebrows, a nose and lips. That's all there is, but I usually spend around 70% of the time just on those parts. Hell.

Here's a picture of the process. The helpine is still visible and she hasn't got a nose yet. Oh, and her breasts needed some fixing, too. And I must say that I'm rather proud of her hairstyle. It suits her character.

Finally, it's time for the last adjustments.

I really couldn't be arsed to draw more of her legs - the picture was already big enough. I've used about 210 lines to carve out all of her body.

Step 4: Special effects

Ah, this is were it all began to get really interesting. As you can see, I've used different images to represent different parts of her body. Starlight in her eyes and various pictures of nebulas for her hair, her body, her lips and fingernails and the little accessoires she's wearing. Now I'm afraid I can't explain that too much, as it all would get a little bit too theoretical.

Phew... I guess I could go on rambling like this for another few pages, but I don't want to torture you any more.

This post has been edited by Gobbler: 26 February 2006 - 08:20 AM

[SimeSublime]

The nebula's came out great, but something about the pose seems unnatural. I think her centre of weight seems to be a bit unstable, but I'm not really too sure.

edit: And seeing as you brought it up before on the news desk, I feel I should point out that the only people who associate modern Germany with those of a few decades ago are the people who were alive and of reasonable age during the war. Or at least that's my experience anyway.

This post has been edited by SimeSublime: 26 February 2006 - 10:25 AM