A General Art Thread!, My thread of all goodies! Options

[MagitekElite]

A GENERAL art thread.

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This post has been edited by MagitekElite: Dec 23 2012, 04:58 PM

[lyla2284]

Hmm... a bit more detail wouldn't go amiss. You know, like adding scales, and maybe adding a slit for that dragonish-eye effect. Some shading would
help flesh it out as well. Remember, the more detail you add to your work, the more professional it will appear.

Hope that little bit of info helped.

[MagitekElite]

Yea, I was gonna add them, but I was hoping someone could help me figure out if my dragon's body looks okay. Any deformities, anything wrong with the basic form...

I didn't want to waste detail when the anatomy of the dragon was wrong, ya know?

Thank you so much for postin'! ^.^

[lyla2284]

The thing is, Karina, you can draw just about anything if you simplify it into basic shapes. For example, the dragon's head and body would probably take the shape of a trapezoid, and the front and hind legs would be elongated rectangles or cylinders. You should never let the overall look of a drawing intimidate you. And that goes for drawing anything.

And yeah, I think dragons are quite hard to do, especially when doing it on a tablet.

[MagitekElite]

If the eyes or nose, for example, are wrong or uneven, what would I do then with all the detail on?

Okay, I'll work on the detail for it. Though I can't seem to do scales right (can't find a good tutorial >.>)

I probably draw them much better on pencil, but this was my first try sketching something on my tablet and I really wanted to use my tablet xD

[leongon]

On paper you can't do ctrl-z. Tablet is 10 times easier.

How you want to improve if you don't practice? Just do the whole thing and we can tell you what and how can be improved.


Good luck, friend.

[MagitekElite]

Preparing to add detail. Did a lineart...first time actually doing that. I'm use to hand drawing the sketch, getting a new piece of paper and tracing it so it looks cleaner and than scanner it. This PC software seems a bit easier xD


This post has been edited by MagitekElite: Dec 23 2012, 04:58 PM

[X-M-O]

I haven't seen very many examples of line-art where the image was inverted. 0.o

I think your overall drawing is probably close to what you're going for, but it looks very much like a horse's head versus a dragon's.
(Just move the mouth to the front and you have a horse line-art.)

It needs to appear more like a reptile and less equinely. =]

[MagitekElite]

What do you mean its inverted? Oh, I drew cleaner lines on a new layer...is there another way of doing line art? (:

Well, horses' shapes are pretty great for dragons 'cause they are almost basically the same in overall shape, or at least that's how all the artists on DA do it and in my dragon books >.>

How could I go about making it look more reptile then?

[leongon]

I can't say horses and dragon's shapes are similar.

[MagitekElite]

In modeling, they are basically the same; neck, back, legs, head. You draw that basic model and then work off of it and change it. But it really depends on what type of dragon you are making, so my bad xD

@X-M-O:
Oh! Do you mean the black and green/gray colors? If so, the black is used as a background so I could see my lines

[X-M-O]

In modeling, they are basically the same; neck, back, legs, head. You draw that basic model and then work off of it and change it. But it really depends on what type of dragon you are making, so my bad xD

@X-M-O:
Oh! Do you mean the black and green/gray colors? If so, the black is used as a background so I could see my lines

Yeah, most people use a white background and draw black lines on top, so it kind of confused me.


You're correct, there are a great deal of artists who draw dragons with horse features, however I was just mentioning it in case you were unaware of how to make it appear more like a dragon and less like a horse. Because even if the basic structures are based on a horse's anatomy, you want the end result to appear as a dragon rather than a horse, to be sure.

You can start by looking at the anatomy of a Komodo Dragon or Monitor Lizard; the facial structure and the way the feet appear.
This, of course, depends on the style of dragon you are working on.

Anyway, I'm not an expert artist, I'm just pointing things out as I see them in hopes of helping you out, so long as you don't mind.

[Homunculus]

Pick up that pencil and keep on drawing!!! lol sorry, I'm just the forums local art fanatic and like to get up in people grill to draw, especially if they have the gift and talent to do so

I couldn't help but notice your comment on how you draw on paper. Instead of drawing with pencil, then getting a new sheet of paper to trace over it, draw over it with a pen then erase the pencil underneath it after a couple minutes of letting the ink dry.

And I am so staying out of this whole dragon business as dragons are far from my abilities lol. But something was said about basic shapes, which I can vouch for. If you start with simple shapes, like maybe a circle for the head, smaller circle for the nose and connect them together and then add details and curves to the shape, it just really helps build a foundation and guideline. I never recommend just drawing a picture as a whole, always start with just circles and lines, and then build on them from there. Afterall, if you go over the good lines with a pen later who cares how messy the pencil sketch looks lol I always say if the pencil sketch doesn't look like an incoherent jumble of lines that only the artist can understand and interpret, then the sketch could use a little more work haha. Like this is just me, but personally, my pencil sketch has at least... 3-4 layers minimum. Basic shapes, then the outline/naked body, then add the clothes, and then add the details on the clothes. Looks like a eyesore of a mess, but once the ink is thrown on top and the pencil's erased it looks clean and sensible and I'm rambling holy crap

[MagitekElite]

@X-M-0:
Yea, usually drawing in all black seems a bit wrong for me. I usually use dark grays or darkish browns for outlines. Because to me, black sticks out way too much and makes it look weird, but that's just me xD

Good thing I saved this as PSD, easy to edit! lol

Thank you much for the picture reference!

@Homunculus:

I definitely want to keep drawing, I forgot how much I love it

That's a good idea!

This post has been edited by MagitekElite: Dec 23 2012, 04:59 PM

[Homunculus]

Honestly? I prefer pen and paper over computer too. I find you have a lot more control. When it comes to the lineart with the pen, then you gotta be extra careful not to mess up, but it's so much easier I find and pencil DOES make a HUGE mess lol. Especially when you drag your hand over it and it smuges all over the hand and page, oh man.

And kudos to you for the dark brown lines instead of black, they look a lot classier when people use a gray or dark brown

[MagitekElite]

My hand always rubs over it, it gets annoying! lol but I find it better 'cause my tablet pen sucks (meant for colouring, not sketching/drawing)...

So you use those colors to draw as well?



This post has been edited by MagitekElite: Dec 23 2012, 04:59 PM

[X-M-O]

Oh, just wanted to mention that the Horned Lizards and Horned Toads do have a great dragon-esque structure; I'd go for it. =]

[MagitekElite]

With what I have now, I decided on just trying out different details. I will start this over again, but I'd like to get a little practice on my detail while I have a dummy to test it on xD

This is what I have so far. Following a basic design of a Desert Horned Lizard.



This post has been edited by MagitekElite: Dec 23 2012, 04:59 PM

[leongon]

A suggestion:

This forum skin is all white, you know. Is a matter of contrast... if you post pictures in dark colors we can't see anything without forcing our vision.

[MagitekElite]

I figured it was a bit too light. I just edited my post with a darker lined version. If that's too dark or still wrong, what color should I use? White?

EDIT:
Added a white version

This post has been edited by MagitekElite: Feb 9 2011, 06:12 PM