Official OT-Creativity Thread 2

[JJ Naas]

tried my hand at teeny-tiny iso, worked well enough for the time spent but it still isn't colored or anything so idk.

Points made entirely from a practical point of view:

If the portcullis is meant to be raised, it doesn't have much space to move vertically. The lack of defensive structures on the southern corner make those of the northern side a bit pointless. The cloth banner certainly fits where it is in terms of composition, but if I were the commander of this garrison, I'd put it on top of the highest tower.

(Sorry about the completely pragmatic approach to matters of visual design)

[AdamAtomic]

I like that a lot Nathan, I think JJ has some points but that overall you've made the right choices and compromises.  It's a fun detailed structure that is easy to read.  I want to stomp on it with action figures!

[Larwick]

That's wonderful NDc, for a split second i thought it was a little sculpture.

That heavily lit wall in the centre of the drawing really glares at me, probs too much for my liking.

I want to stomp on it with action figures!

Agreed! 

[HMC]

Still some lighting-related things to fix, and some slight anatomical errors, etc., but here's some characters I'm working on as part of a larger image:




The girl character took all day yesterday to finish. 5 hours in I had something resembling Liza Minnelli with down syndrome, and I had to redo a bunch of it, especially the hair. Girls are hard. 

[Ian]

HMC: the bone structure in the female head should be less evident then in the male.  currently the cheeks are pulled in very ridgedly while they should be round (particularly the line formed by the edge of her face on our right is very bony and awkward).  also her neck is given more definition then her male counterpart (the highlight at the bottom center of the neck could even be misread as an adam's apple).   eyelashes typically are more pronounced on the outer edges of the eye away from the nose and here they are almost entirely absent.  i understand you're trying to give a sense of the angle they're facing with this but i still feel adding more could give your character a more feminine touch.  the folds of her cheeks seem way too apparent and awkwardly shaped for a near expressionless face.  overall i love the stylization, exaggeration, and lighting on these, they look great. 

[HMC]

Thanks, Ian! I guess more errors had fallen into my blind spot than I'd realized. 

[JJ Naas]

These are five out of approximately 450 storyboard panels I did for a movie that ended up being the most successful domestic movie last year here in Finland. Done in a great hurry, as all of them were.
 

[Willows]

Whoa, HMC. Awesome stuff, especially the third portrait.

If you're open to some criticism, though, I'd suggest building the entire face in a consistent perspective rather than building the main features (eyes, mouth, nose) with their own vanishing points. To an extent, it's giving it some intrigue, but mostly it's making it look wierd. What I'm talking about is most evident in the chick's portrait, and I drew some lines in as visual aid for what I'm about to say.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y73/SaboteurGreg/Portrait.jpg

Take a look at the two long blue lines I drew. They're more or less paralell and you've used them (or imaginary versions of 'em) to create your cheeks and decide where the centres of your eyes and lips are. In terms of perspective, the paralell-ness works (I think?)... if everything else in the face follows the same paralells. That blue line under the nose shows how twisted that perspective is, which came about because you sent the eyes to a vanishing point that defied the perspective you'd set up, and then followed it with the nostrils, but when it came to the lips you reverted to your original perspective for the centreline, but sent the top and bottom of the lips to a vanishing point of their own, thus twisting the face further.

I think they're awesome anyhow. What you've done with lighting and colours (Especially on the chick, you nailed the colours there) is fantastic, I'd (and helm might, too) fuck a goat if you started constructing your faces with even more SCIENCE.

 

[HMC]

Heh, I've gone nearly my entire life without learning to draw any guidelines whatsoever. So many bad habits. :\ I guess I'm still getting used to the whole concept. Thanks for the tips!

[Helm]

Heh, I've gone nearly my entire life without learning to draw any guidelines whatsoever. So many bad habits. :\ I guess I'm still getting used to the whole concept. Thanks for the tips!

Which is why the art I've seen from you is very soft and roundy and without edges I guess? It will really help your art to unlearn bad habits.