AuthorTopic: GR#158 - Donald Duck Dragon  (Read 6940 times)

Offline Tapsu

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GR#158 - Donald Duck Dragon

on: October 09, 2013, 08:29:53 pm
Trying to reuse a classic pose for a dragon.
Not exactly the same pose as in references, though, I might have messed it up.

(yes, it was the recent dragon thread that reminded me of the plan to try this)

Offline 9_6

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Re: Donald Duck Dragon

Reply #1 on: October 10, 2013, 04:21:51 am
It could use a bit more definition.
You are hiding most of the features in the shadows. Try to pull them out of there!

Does scaling an image blur it?
Opera fix Firefox fix

Offline Pix3M

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Re: Donald Duck Dragon

Reply #2 on: October 10, 2013, 05:19:02 am
You might want to get your monitor checked for its color accuracy. Even on my secondary monitor which I know has a problem with shadows, your darkest color so light it is visibly green and appears washed out.

If you're not aware of this site, it's worth looking at: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

Offline Tapsu

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Re: Donald Duck Dragon

Reply #3 on: October 10, 2013, 07:55:56 pm
Actually I was more worried about something else.
Like some people could say that I didn't get the point of the original image at all and  messed up the pose in some trivial and lame way.
Was using this Donald as the main reference:


I have noticed people try to create curves or lines, and then create other lines to break them, sometimes at at right angles (just my uneducated observation).
This time I tried to align things some more to the curves and lines that I saw in the picture (perhaps lowering the right elbow was a mistake, though):


As for the shading, there is still one darker color in the upper left corner (and I am free to change the palette as I wish). I would try to avoid detailing the shadows, though.
The intended light source is the yellow arrow (which I should better not change much). Some more highlight on the chest (like 9_6 did) and on the right arm seems necessary in the future.

Offline Tapsu

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Re: Donald Duck Dragon

Reply #4 on: January 25, 2014, 12:57:17 pm

Reduced size because I feel more comfortable at smaller sizes.
I wonder if the full shadow is dark enough now.

The shading should be OK now as far as I can tell, but somehow it doesn't feel quite right.
Light direction is like the yellow arrow in previous post.
Cast shadow is straight down, though (inconsistent, I know, but they do that in some places).

I am trying to learn how to draw with flat shadows, and concentrate more on the highlights. If you are wondering why, it is because there will be less details cluttering the image. I would like to understand what would be the minimum to define the form.
One of my inspirations is http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cat_walking_DSC08739.jpg.
Therefore I feel reluctant to use some light to define the full shadow parts explicitly, and I hope the brain will fill it in on its own, based on the expectations created by the highlights. That was a bit too big words for such simple purpose, but my English is not good enough to make it sound exactly how I intended.

That said, I would appreciate either advice that could help me become better in this direction, or else I hope you point out how I am mistaken and on an impossible or inferior quest. If someone knows where I could find examples of such thing having been done by other people, would also be helpful (because the only examples I have found myself so far are backgrounds in foggy distance, but they don't have much highlights either).

Gave it a cheekbone, changed the curve on the body highlight to more radical, and adjusted left hand palm a bit:


The highlight on the arm seemed overdone, reduced it and I like the result a bit more now.
Also, put it on dark background to remove some unnecessary details, I hope it still looks like a dragon to other people.
I am still not completely convinced by the palette or the shading, or maybe the anatomy looks unnatural.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2014, 08:08:10 am by Tapsu »