Love the character in this one, you’ve done very well with it Looks super neat. Playable bards, when?
Also I LOVE THIS ONE by the way, I have it on my playlist and listen to it all the time. Have ever since it was introduced to me a long while ago. Has to be among my all time favorites.
Art-wise, I’ve started on my Discipline priest, these are my lines:
I think I’ll leave it be for now, and maybe start on a new piece. I do need to clean up around her lips a little bit. Those lines might not stay, as I’ll color and maybe not even have lines for lip ref. Not sure! Or at least, lighten the lines. I’m trying to go away from doing everything at once. I think I can learn better doing sketch and lines first, then returning later for color. As for what I’ll be doing next, I’m not sure. Also not sure if I’ll start a project tonight.
It’s hard to picture my bard right now because there are suppose to be some type of waves/circles blasting off of him in an outward manner. And he’s also suppose to have a kind of Super Saiyan FX with the wind/power blowing upward and that is why his hair is facing up right now. I’d also like to have enemies being knocked back and what not but we’ll see.
I really like your newest piece. I think it is your best piece. Simply amazing! I do see somethings that might not be obvious to you though.
Her torso seems a little long and her butt a little too big. Did I just say her butt was too big? I must be sick, as in coming down with something, since I like a curvy/chubby woman personally, lol. She reminds me of a centaur because of the appearance though not as long as one would actually be.
Her right arm is too small imo. Looks like she has a childs arm tbh. I would just make it slightly bigger. I think it looks more off then it really is because of her long torso.
Also noticed that the right side of the pic, her left, seems to be wider. I would just make her right side a little wider.
Hope you don’t mind, I did a quick alter to show you the kind of idea. It’s not great but I wanted you to see the difference even a little alteration can have.
These are the things I wish I could see! Yes you made it a lot better, thank you ^^ I will fix that when I return to the work soon. See, now you can see my problem! I keep making torsos a bit too long, I feel, and though I’m using references, something is always slightly off. I exaggerate in my brain, and I gotta bloody stop doing that. The art advice is helping a lot though, and I can be mindful later of what in the world I’m doing wrong.
If you have problems then until you can see it for yourself maybe cut and paste the reference and then outline it just as a rough approximation of where everything should be. Then you alter it after you know the basic area/shape. That is what I do on some of my pieces.
That Orc Bard is a human guitarist that was facing the way I wanted my Orc to face. I cut and pasted him in, reduced the opaqueness so I can see my line and then quick traced his outline. Then I drew in the Orc muscles and erased the outline. I think that is why his head and body are not proportional. I even made him almost double the width of the human reference, lol.
How my art projects go is like this. I find a reference, trace in a basic outline for shape/position, draw in what I want it to look like, erase outline, and then spend hours redrawing each piece and then find out I didn’t compensate for a piece I fixed so another piece is off so now have to fix that piece. Round and round, lol. It’s a learning curve that’s all. You don’t have to cut and paste for position but I do it on things I’m not use to.
My Ogres were all me without any references, at least for position/outlines. My vampire elf was part outline/position but anything I used as a reference doesn’t even resemble what it is now. We each have our techniques. This just happens to be mine on some projects.
Here you go, side by side.
`https://ibb.co/m41qQLr
I’ve always kind of been able to see things like that, though not in quite such detail. But actually drawing it is a whole nother beast. I feel like I have an unfair headstart that I’m wasting by not drawing.
Two things that really jump out about your work to me is how quickly you can finish them and your backgrounds. Very impressed.
I think I put in over 80 hours on my vampire elf, changed it at least 5 - 6 times and it is still not finished nor have I even started on the background. I am very critical of my work and even the slightest thing wrong in my eyes and I have to change it.
For instance: My update to my vampire elf, I had to change her ring finger nail on her left hand because it was to far forward and I changed her right shoulder because it was too low, or was it too high. Plus, her knuckles on her right hand were too flat so had to round those off. And the bat wings didn’t look right, they were too short and closed and I wanted them more open.
And a tip I would give to help with proportions is mirror your work or copy and flip it to see if it looks proportional from the other view. I draw mirrored and then alter each side separately so I can still keep it close to proportional. But I mainly draw head on and I want to draw some 3/4 view characters like you tend to draw.
I also cut and paste one side to the other and then, depending on the view/distance, I shrink/enlarge and rotate to get it close to the position I want to draw. Then I either alter it or trace over the parts I need and clean them up. My vampire elf’s right arm is just a rotation of the original/mirrored left arm. I just drew a new upturned hand.
If you have no desire to draw or only do it on occasions then it’s not really a waste. I think peoples talent is where they have a passion for something regardless of natural talent. Desire > talent in my mind.
If on the other hand you want to draw but just haven’t then I say do it. Be prepared for some people not to like your work though. Art is subjective so not all subjects are going to like the same thing. You could even post in this thread since most of us here are decent people that will hopefully give you constructive feedback to improve your work with. It ultimately comes down to you whether you want to change it or not.
Here’s my vampire elf from first sketch to current rendition. The first one sucked but I worked on it and now I am almost happy with it.
`https://ibb.co/JqQHdY0
Lost some quality cause I had to shrink current version but you can still get the idea.
I do like to create art, but it’s kind of like I enjoy the finished piece more than making it if that makes sense.
The biggest thing holding me back is lack of inspiration probably. Then the odd time I do get inspired, I’m so out of practice (haven’t really given it a fair shot in about 10 years or more) that it comes out not that great, and I get demotivated easily.
I hope I’m able to get around to devoting time to it at some point. Having a tablet that you can draw on as if it’s paper would make it easier for me, and that would probably help. But I might at some point get around to just using paper and a pencil again.
I’d love it if I could draw graphic novels some day.
On the note of line art, line thickness has always been one of my weaknesses, but that’s probably because I was not that far along on my art journey when I quit.
Coming from a pencil and paper background, tablet is a whole lot easier in some respects, at least for me.
The pros for me are the ability to layer and instant erase lines/layers without leaving eraser marks, which bugs me when I use paper. I like that I can use multiple layers for outline, color, shades, highlights, individual aspects, etc… My Orc bard has an individual layer for the Orc, guitar, strings, and armor. Very handy and can’t do that on paper.
The cons for me are I draw straighter on paper then with tablet so I have to either go really slow or draw thicker lines and erase to a thinner, straight line which is how I normally do it and probably why it takes longer for me to do art. But I only use the thick line technique maybe 1/4 of the time if that and only for lines I want straight.
As far as line thickness goes I use a 2 pixel line since 1 pixel seems to only show up half the time and it looks a little blurry/unclear. For the thick line technique I use a 5 pixel brush and erase down to about 2 pixels.
I use a cheapy one like the one below though mine is just a G430 without the S. $30 is a good price for anyone wanting to just get started imo, though Amazon is sometimes higher priced then you can find somewhere else so shop around if you’re on the fence.
[Amazon.com: XP-Pen G430S OSU Tablet Ultrathin Graphic Tablet 4 x 3 inch Digital Tablet Drawing Pen Tablet for OSU! (8192 Levels Pressure): Computers & Accessories](https://www.amazon.com/Ultrathin-Graphic-Digital-Drawing-Pressure/dp/B01BA6XQI0/ref=sr_1_13?dchild=1&keywords=xp-pen&qid=1611076323&sr=8-13)
And I use a free program called Krita. Others in this thread use other programs and there are even more not mentioned/used so you can look around for something that you feel comfortable with. I tend to go for free programs just because I don’t have all that much extra money laying around that I can just blow it on a program I may not like and regret wasting money on.
Hope some of that helps and hopefully doesn’t overwhelm you. Take it slow and develop your own style and techniques. I think you’ll enjoy it more if it is done your way and also feel more comfortable. Watch some videos for beginner digital artists, they helped me especially with the basic idea of layers.
Good luck if you give it a go! It took so much time for me, but still won’t ever beat the amount of time I put into the Greenfire questline for my warlock to get that darn title. Especially since I did it when it was current. What a nightmare, but I don’t regret it. Other content that took me forever was bear-druid mage tower, even with optimal legendaries. I just couldn’t get the playstyle to click in my mind or something, not sure. But I got it eventually.
This is actually a major disadvantage–I’m a very rushed person, ‘gogogoog’ (Guess it’s good I tank mythic +, though I’m a casual so only in low keys at the moment) and am extremely impatient, along with being entirely prone to distractions (thanks ADHD). So, put all of that together, and you get me hyperfixated on finishing something. I get bored soooo easily just drawing bits and parts, which is what normal artists do for practice. It’s an uphill battle with my mentality, unfortunately. But, practicing practically everything at once at least has led to improvement.
I guess it’s good that I’m doing the same character over and over again, though I have a ton of them. I should draw Falls more too. But there is progress, and while I’m very slow due to having a TON of things I’m working on irl, progress is progress.
Yeah I need to do this more, flip it anyway. I won’t ever mirror though, because I don’t want to become reliant on that. I was already too reliant on stabilization, which made my art look too static. I do like the 3/4 view more lately though because I practiced it so gosh darn much. And that’s because I HATED it and sucked so badly at first, but my art friend insisted I do it regardless of my whining. So here I am Liking it better.
Yeah you do some major changes I see! That’s where we’re different–I’m stubborn with positioning, and the art itself I’ll 100% fix and want to fix, but entirely changing a position, nope, I just start a new piece in my case.
Graphic novels are awesome ^^ I hope you find your muse again someday!
SAME HERE. You can see in mine that the line thickness is just not variant in my case at all. One of my favorite artists I get art from told me that thicker lines would be where there is less light. It’s just so hard to coordinate that in my mind.
Hehe same here with the pixels.
Clip Studio Paint for me! I know a lot of artists that use it, and it frequently goes on sale.
I love the personality you give this orc bard so much ^^
I think I started art for a few reasons, here they are:
I admire artists and their art so much. I want to be like them. I roleplay and write novels, so the ability to actually depict my characters in art is a boon I want. And I need to work for it. So I will.
This thread–yes, really. I’m tired of just being a figurehead. Qualia did an AMAZING job with those models, and that’s a can of worms I don’t feel like opening to learn. So… I figured I could start working on my art and actually show people what I’m talking about in terms of how the vampyr curse mutagen could work. It’s why I point out certain aspects of my drawings even if I’m just a beginner–so people can at least grasp my point as opposed to it being just words in a forum.
I could advance to graphic novels someday, but that’ll take 10-15 years of doing art in my case, I reckon. Slow progress, because I write too, and now I need to market for my novels, which takes a TON of work. I could just write the final 2 books of my series and take a break from writing, but that’s a big part of me.
I’m on day 88 of my art journey, but I started it in March 2020 (I only count days I do art.) As you can see–I don’t work on it as much as I should.
But I learned something recently. A tiny bit of patience. With that recent Ares piece, I did the sketch and lines after work. Then I left it. Next day, I finished it. Alice, my priest, and her lines, are still waiting for color. This is a good step for me–slowing down, or at least taking breaks between the steps. When, in a long while (LONG TIME) I do commissions, this is also a very good practice. Doing everything at once is just too much, and while I did that with the ‘art trade’ piece for my friend… yeah. I hyperfixate but can start relaxing that.
I’d like to draw attention to his ears. They are torn and rather bat-like. He’s a challenging character that Gyn actually got right on the first go. It’s because he wears jewlery, particularly rubies on his ears. He also has long blonde hair. It’s difficult to not make him look particularly feminine (which wouldn’t be an issue, but the thing is, he doesn’t. Jewelry + Men = / = being feminine no matter what some sticks-in-the-mud morons would like to say.) The artist here captured him extremely well. I’ll probably get a half-body piece of Rex by them. I’ll need to give Rex another go sometime myself, but I’m going to work on Salder, one of my other toons. He was the one got insulted on in this thread, but the people who have an issue can go take a walk and into a volcano for all I care.
Edit: Oh and one other problem: I don’t have the artist’s eye. As you can see, my brain translates things incorrectly. I exaggerate features. I see that with line length and angle when I’m drawing. And for some reason, I keep doing it. That’ll be fixed with practice I’m sure, but judging time/distance is something that I fail at hard core. The MOST frustrating thing is that I can see something wrong… but I don’t know what. I can see something looks off in my art and other people’s art. Sometimes I can get it, sometimes not. So, it’s a roller coaster of ‘yikes’.
The tank Mage Tower was the toughest one. I only did it on my pally. The healer one wasn’t quite as hard, but it was sooooo long. I also only did that one on my pally. Pally was the only class I got 3/3 on.
I love the unique mogs I got from the MT, but I sure do not miss it. Only available at certain times. Attempts limited by a currency you have to grind. Just ugh.
A big downfall for me is I’m kind of a hyper perfectionist. I can’t let myself get better because if it isn’t perfect right away, I go way to critical on myself and quit. This is something I need to overcome, somehow.
Thanks! I have real trouble starting anything, another weakness of mine. It took a ton of effort just to get myself to read Green Lantern, which is something I wanted to do anyway, both for inspiration and for enjoyment. When even enjoyment is difficult for me, it shows I have a real problem starting things haha.
Fallynn, I keep forgetting to ask you if you plan on doing any art for your books or if you already have?
EDIT: On a side note, WoWhead model viewer is a life saver. I am planning on making my goblin into an engineer/turret master but didn’t save any in game pics. but thanks to model viewer I was able to grab a bunch of angles.
When I improve in a few years, I will. For now, I just commission art for them. It’s expensive, but especially for covers, eye catching.
It still very much is. Discussing art and progress is entirely related to characters we play in the game because it highlights the features we would like to see on our characters. I even mentioned that in one of my very recent posts. Sharing art and advice in general enriches the community because it’s a creative medium. All of this is about customization & lore. So discussing that alongside relation to San’layn is good.
If things go slightly off topic, it’s still related to Warcraft and how to improve art related to WoW in general. Not only that, but the conversation will return to strictly San’layn depending on what’s found in the game.
Considering there isn’t any lore added for vampyr since BfA despite the theme clearly being appropriate, the conversation will stray to different but relevant topics.
Which I don’t mind as long as people are being civil. If you have anything to add relevant to San’layn, you’re more than welcome to. Sadly I have no new ideas right now, but I’ve contributed quite a few already through this thread.
It still is but Blizz decided not to add anything about them and instead have focused on the Venthyr. When the San’layn ideas/lore go dry this is a self contained forum with min to no drama.
We share our San’layn hopes and disappointments, our art, encourage others constructively, and basically get along quite well with the occasional troll trying to cause a ruckus. It’s a melding pot of ideas that get thrown around here sometimes about San’layn and sometimes not when no new San’layn lore or tidbits show up in a patch.
Side Note: Updated my Orc Bard.
`https://ibb.co/Q8rHhHK
His beard should be in front of the chain and not behind it.
The Draenei skull on his right shoulder needs its horn broken off so it doesn’t look weird and/or poke him, lol.
Was going to do a cross chain at the bottom but went with the single chain up the middle. I don’t like it much so might go back to cross chains.
Eyes on both skulls need action inside like skin or bone they are too plain and hollow right now.
Looks super neat. Playable bards, when?
Playable San’layn. 