[WIP] Pixel Joint Challenge: Copy Helm!

[NaCl]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I have been hacking away at it:



Rosse: Thanks for making that gif. Kind of makes the processes clearer, and on my next realistic styled face I will try it out more, and really give it a shot. However, I don't want to just throw an expression in at the end, I was trying to make the whole thing with the expression in mind (angle of the face, eyes closed, etc...), even though the expression is fairly subtle and close to a neutral face. I can sort of visualize and sculpt the forms, but what I was having trouble with was imagining them as polygonal planes. I'm sure working on this skill will tighten up my work and make it less mushy, like my first attempt. Thanks for the tip on the book, I'll check it out.

32: Changed the hair up, hope it falls more naturally down now. The cheek I am alright with, I like it's angularity, but if you still think it's a big issue let me know. I redid the neck, and rotated and shifted around the mouth and chin to get on on the same plane as the rest of the face. Better?

Jeremy: I straightened the nose bridge, and shortened the nose somewhat. Great idea on the angular jawline and chin, I made the jaw a perfect line, I think it helps the piece overall.

[Helm]

This has been a very weird thread to read (I was on vacation for a week, just got back, I might have posted earlier if I had the chance) for various reasons. Mostly that I didn't realize I had left such a sizable impression (or more unflatteringly, psychological footprint) in you with my various pieces of half-art.

I'm not sure if, on the abstract, trying to emulate my stylistics is a worthy endeavor because a) I'm not very accomplished as an artist and 2) they are based on reflex much more than on theory so you should be honing your *own* theories before mirroring someone else's reflexes, I think. This is to say it'd be very much more worth your time to spend the time you're spending on me by just doing life drawing and going through an actual master's artbook and doing all the examples over and over. Trust me, their approach will pan out better in the end. I still can't draw women or mess up on anatomy often and I'm 25 years old. I know 20 year olds that went to some good art classes and followed master guides/workshops that confidently can draw pretty much anything human-emotion related from memory now without making the same stupid mistakes I keep making.

Having said that, the progress of this thread makes me feel it's not a waste, seeing how you've gotten better at what you should have been doing anyway (: fundamentals of construction and consideration of mood) instead of what is merely surface (: throwing straight lines in there somewhere or just putting an electric neon highlight somewhere). This seems to inform my general notion that whenever someone sits down to draw with a high mission, they'll always arrive to certain considerations and approaches that make their art better (and more distinctive) even if the high mission is 'copy someone I think highly of'. That isn't to say that some missions aren't a better than others as far as skillbuilding goes. The last picture of yours for example, seems very NaCl to me, instead of very Helmy. If you consider that a failure, know that I don't 

I won't be giving you an edit because that defeats the purpose of the thread, just keep in mind that the highlights on the hair do not obey any theory I've used for shading hair and probably are 'wrong' (as wrong as a stylization can be at least) considering most lightsources. It would be an effect I'd personally underplay. Smaller shine, less bright, more an emotional tool than a rendering artifact.

The facial construction is pleasing, I enjoy her expression also. I think this is the sort of piece that would benefit from having more of a bust instead of 'goes to vague neck then disappears'. This is because her facial emotion right now could be attributed to a lot of things, momentary sadness or something more significant. I think you should use more of her body language and/or props to deliberate a little on why this girl is sad/skeptical. For example here's an old and unfinished piece of mine that if you just crop the head has no emotion whatsoever, but if you consider the whole scene (the woman is about to pierce her own arm on the luminescent wood, blood will flow inside the clear reflective pool below her) the effect is more specific and 'colored' for lack of a better term when discussing something so monochrome.




Finally, if I wanted to upset your concepts of how I draw I probably could. For example here's an unfinished and unpublished work that doesn't obey any of your observations.



What do we do about this? We stop trying to imitate surfaces of some guy and get down to why we want to draw ourselves, probably, right? 

Hum, I think I'll finish the piece above now.


P.S. keep in mind that I might appear somewhat negative because I have a lot of problems with receiving complements, even inadvertently. When confronted with that I've had an influence in other people's lives I struggle very much with whether that influence appears to be positive, on my own, not alien, terms. I am still undecided if influencing anyone's art style is a positive one, still. I know that's pretty retarded by a guy that's been giving artistic critique for over 6 years online, but there you go.

[Photocopier]

that is probably the best thing I've seen in my entire life
please do finish it helm. 

[Gil]

I find it really interesting how parts of yourself keep appearing in your drawings Helm. The long black hair thing is obvious, but the strong jawline the girl has for example might be subconsciously be referring to yourself. The puzzling fact here would be why? I can see it happening for people with a strong narcissistic personality (such as myself, is that why we never get along?), but I'm pretty damn sure there isn't a narcissistic side of Helm in any way, except maybe a justified proudness here or there.

Sorry for the slightly off-topic psycho-babble

[Helm]

Sorry for OT:

People subconsciously draw their face because it's the face they've spent the most time studying and/or the one they have to live with.
People consciously draw their face because they learn more about themselves when they try to capture aspects of it, see Klimt and others.

[NaCl]

Interesting thoughts Helm, thanks for sharing.

I felt it was worthwhile to try and emulate you, firstly because it was fun, second because I learned a good amount. Unfortunatly I'm not a robot, so I can't persue the most efficient path all the time, I have to take those human byroads and do stuff I find fun (while keeping in mind the things that will make me better). I agree that life drawing and master studies are important, I've been working on the basics a lot in the last year. I took an art class recently, and was trying to copy that "Wishbone" painting you did a pixel art version of. I've really had to start ripping down my wrong ways of doing things, and starting over to make any progress.

As for the critique on the piece, I'll work on it more when I get home. I've got a good idea what I want to do with the body, but I kept cutting the neck off more and more when I couldn't get it to look right, and I know it still doesn't. The hair... still clueless on creating hair texture. No matter how much I look at successful attempts by others, I still struggle to produce something that doesn't look gelatinous.

Anyway, on the topic of whether or not it is good to influence a persons style, I wouldn't worry too much about it personally. There are bits of style I hope to be influenced by from many artists, you are one of them. If I like someones style then I think it will eventually be apparent in my own work, to different degrees. I'm not trying to revolutionize art, just create the things I think of in a way that is pleasing to me, and if part of that is going to come from your style, then so be it you can't stop me 

[Zweckform]

Hello,

... just create the things I think of in a way that is pleasing to me

 

+1, any time i can afford it. I think thats one of the sources of art, too (not the only one though).

[Stefano]

It's clear to me that in the pursuit to emulate Helm, you ended up making your own thing with a Helmish influence and consistently improve your art along the way. I don't know if it was on purpose, but as you chose this specific type of head tilt, nose length and facial features ratio, it holds a remarkable resemblance to Byzantine iconographic art. Very cool!

[Chris2balls]

[ot]Helm, there may be 20 year olds who draw better human-related things than you, but I somehow doubt there are many who can find such trippy colours to use in their art like the example given underneath, or deliver it with such technique. Words of another fan :p[/ot]
I think what's missing in your piece for now NaCl is perhaps contrast, and I'm not happy with that dark blue, I'll think about what you could do about it. The nostril seems low, you might need to push it up a few pixels. I'd also suggest some hue variations in the hair.
This being said, it's extremely hard copy a style rather than a piece, because we tend to have a cliché of what our reference draws, and we create a stylistic cliché linked to the artist (at least that's how I feel about it, and how I felt about it when doing my Dex pastiche). However I do think that trying to imitate a style is interesting, even if it doesn't up like we intended it to.