[Xyster21]

Alright here is a quick little sketch (under 5 minutes not including the after erasing :P what little there was anyhow) just to get an image from my mind onto paper... alot of scribbling was done here and there that I tried to erase later so as to not interfere with what I wanted you all to see.

It is a knight with a beavered up wooden shield. He is in the swinging process already (about to deliver a side blow to an opponent). I keep looking at it... and the more I do... the more I see that something is wrong/missing/shouldn't be there/???. Any help is very welcome! Paintovers as well. I want to have it be pleasing to my eye before I go and work on it in photoshop. The final image is going to have sort of a "Knight's Tale" look to it where they fight (arena or what not) or maybe even in the woods with some light poking in through the trees. His shield may need to be shortened (width wise) so it doesn't give him that look like he has a midget arm (no offense if any) and a regular arm. As for the helmet looking trojan ish, I like it like that and was thinking of making the bristles on it blue. Ok ok enuf talk for me... start commenting



[ October 03, 2002: Message edited by: Xyster21 ]

[Jezebel]

Right now his pose seems too awkward to be delivering a blow to an opponent. He is not firmly grounded. He is almost tipping backwards and it seems like when he does swing he will either fumble with his sword or fall over. The way his arm is twisted also makes it look like he is about to drop his blade, he doesn't have a firm grip on it.

I would recommend redrawing the pose (I know... you want to kill me). Stand in your bedroom with something in your hand as though you are going to swing it. Determine which foot is forward, which one holds most of your body weight, how is your arm twisted, which way does your palm face... consider all these things when you redraw it.

Make him have weight. He needs to be planted on the ground or else he's toast.

[Xyster21]

Thanks for the suggestions I knew there was something wrong but that is what I have a hard time with is figuring out what exactly is wrong with MY own drawings... I will redraw the pose again since it was just a little quick sketch and not all detailed or anything. thanks

[Gort]

Hi

The planar nature of the figure's mass is what I feel could use some work. The figure has a very flat, 2 dimensional look - the legs especially.

Hope that helps you some.

-tc

[B0b]

you say wooden shield.. don't look 2 wooden 2 me, most wooden shields had metal rims to hold them 2gether.. just my 2p

[Xyster21]

Tom: As you can tell I haven't had much instruction in drawing other than a book or two (blah), and maybe one painting class for a semester which just taught about color and different styles of painting etc... :) So any information to help better myself is useful :) I am in the process of re-working the whole thing over so I will keep your words in mind when working on it :) I hope this would be my final sketch, and if it sucks well it isn't the end of the world... just trying something new hehe.

B0b: Bah I just made it wooden... wasn't interested in making anything really authentic (just as the helm he is wearing :p). Also thanks for bringing that to my attention. As you can see it isn't really finished either (I haven't even added the woodgrain on it etc but it doesn't matter because it isn't my final peice).
I will scan it soon enough when I get a chance to work on it once more :)

[ October 04, 2002: Message edited by: Xyster21 ]

[Gort]

Hey ho
Aahhh - we're all learning. Even the wisest and very talented will admit to still learning.

My own personal reflections as far as human figure drawing (and any drawing really) is effectively conveying the 3 dimensional world on a 2 dimensional surface. It's a bit arduos but can be mastered (as some of the members of the forum have so amazingly illustrated). The body can easily be "built" by assessing the mass as a whole and it's relational proportions. Often that's established by gesture drawing, and then each area of mass may then be brought out by focusing on its shape and relative volumetric nature. Parts of the arm may be interpreted as cylindrical; some interpret them as elongated boxes (which may prove better when addressing the reaction of light on the subject). The volume is usually brought out by the relationship of the light source to the object. Now drawing from life is tricky, because although we may initially interpret humans (and a large diverse range of animals) as a collection of "boxes" and shapes, there are subtle transitions beytween the shapes. Therein lies a challenge in itself - bringing those subtleties out (or pushing back).

Building the overall mass and shape is important. In the case of your Knight, the volumetrics of the mass can be very exaggerated, because the knight is wearing armor which is typically volumetric in nature.

A useful link to better demonstrate my comments:
Vilppu

[Xyster21]

Tom: Thanks alot that was very very helpful to me in trying to develop a character on paper... ANY character. I had a different method of just using lines and a square for the head and then later determining the mass overall for it (which was difficult I suppose, for me). Btw thx for the link too That's another reason I just love these forums

[Gort]

Hey - your very welcome! Actually the link I sent will suffice, but Vilppu's actual site is here:

Glenn Vilppu Studio

I wasn't really familiar with Vilppu until I came to this forum; his web site has a great deal of useful information.

Enjoy!

[crazybread]

I give you props for A GOOD START!

my suggestions would be exactly what Jezebel said!

consoder those! Looking at yourself in the mirror is a really good way to determine lots of details that you want to convey in this pose. Even better if you have adigital camera first look in the mirror and set your self up similairly to what you have on paper so far but imagine yourself giving that blow and think how you would stand if you were the character. Photograph it and take it to photoshop and overlay what you have here and see where you were wrong. There are placess where you are right but there are definitely areas that will stand out and show you where you need to improve. You could learn a lot!

As for the armour and his gear I suggest looking on the internet for some reference.

Good luck Xyster.

[ October 04, 2002: Message edited by: crazybread ]