[Master of the Blade]

So after about 5 years of not drawing anything bar my tattoo designs, I had a sudden urge to start drawing again.

I haven't sketched properly since I was about 15 years old, so please don't be too harsh on me.



Tis a sketch of Damon Baird from Gears of War, before the finishing effects are added to the 3d design.

[Master of the Blade]

You guys suck. It is official.

[Lady Goldylocks]

MotB, double posting isn't allowed and you know it. I get your frustration, I've experienced similar stuff here myself, but dude, calm down. This hardly makes people want to comment, and it does in no way contribute to neither a constructive nor positive environment here either.

I was actually thinking about commenting on this, but I have a lot of things to do so you'll have to wait. I do like this, it has some flaws, but there's something about the way you draw that almost seem like you sculpt the face or whatever. Anyways, I'll get into further details later.

Edit: How detailed to you want that crit to be?

This post has been edited by Lady Goldylocks: 23 May 2009 - 07:25 AM

[Master of the Blade]

As detailed as you can be.

Apologies fer the double post, but 24 hours, tens of views and not a single comment does lead to frustration.

I know there are a few flaws in there. I purposely haven't drawn the eyes, as I can't draw them lol, but yeah, there are flaws I haven't sketched like this since school which is almost 4-5 years now.


EDIT: Just so you have a point of reference and realise what I was trying to recreate -

This post has been edited by Master of the Blade: 23 May 2009 - 01:51 PM

[H.N]

That clears things up a bit.I'm more of a graphics person, I don't have vast collection about drawing but here are my thoughts on the peice, your way of drawing looks more like you are drawing without a plan on paper, imo you need to plan it out on paper before you do the drawing otherwise you let your pencil wander, distorting the perspective and such slightly, by plan I would say something like this, though maybe not so complicated: http://snigom.devian...torial-44290362.

This is most prominent on things such as the jaw where the jaw actually goes up and down, I can see what you tried to do from the shadow over the jaw in the stock, but the result would of looked better with a straighter jaw.

I like the piece, but as I said before drawing Isn't my main focus(though I wish I was better ) when compared to gfx, so don't expect this crit to be anything special.

MOTB used to be a mod so if anyone is going to know about x2 post and rules it would be him, I share and understand his frustration in this section a large portion of artist's never comment on other people's stuff even if others comment on their stuff, its just common courtesy which I feel some people may lack.

This post has been edited by H.N: 23 May 2009 - 04:23 PM

[Creme Fraiche]

This is pretty good, especially since you haven't drawn in a while.
Now my critique.
The chin area looks like there is a little mustache rather than a shaded part. The shading of the upper neck area looks like it's part of the chin, making it a bit weird.
Other than that nice job!

[Master of the Blade]

My thoughts exactly.

The chin and the orientation of the mouth are off, by quite a bit. Thank you for getting back to me.

And H.N. I love ye mate, hahaha

[Creme Fraiche]

The link you gave is genius H.N.! I needed something like that since forever!

This post has been edited by xBANannAx: 17 June 2009 - 09:22 AM

[Mythirion]

That's really good if you haven't draw for years. Iv'e been drawing my whole life and I'm the worst drawer that ever existed and forever will be in the whole darn universe including what's beyond! (I will demenstrate later...)

[Lady Goldylocks]

Okay, here we go, I think some of the stuff may already have been mentioned but I figured it'd be best to write down everything I thought about...

When I see your inspiration I definitely get why your drawing looks very sculpted, I think you did a great job at copying the texture and such in your inspiration, but it's lacking some detail and round edges so to speak. The shades are cut a little hurriedly off and marked too specifically. Try smudging the transitions between dark and light better, use a rubber or your finger. And also a lot of the face is empty, use your pencil more, try to darken the darkest of the shades and lighten with rubber on the lightest places, I'm missing contrast, life.

As for the eyes, I think it looks sort of like it's irises there even if you didn't try to draw them. When looking at pictures people tend to make motives like faces in their heads, so you have to be careful when drawing eyes like you did here and make sure the shades can't remind people of irises. Because now it looks all wrong. The right eye's pretty good though, but because the left one looks like it's got an iris the right one looks like that too, so it's probably just the left that needs a fix-up.

The mouth is a bit weird. I think part of the problem is that were most people draw the lines of the lips it's actually not lines, just color. I learnt this when I was doing portraits in sculpure, the lips look very differently from the way we usually draw it. Try to look at a picture of a mouth upside down and think of it as an abstract form, and try to study your own mouth in the mirror, the positive and the negative spaces. How does your lips meet and cover each other? How does the lip transist over to the face in all angles? And so on... I think some of the problem here is basically too little shading and a too visible line. At the same time the shade underneath the mouth is placed a bit wrong making it a little more akward.

What I really do like in this picture is the brow area over the right eye and the forehead. That sculpting feeling is definitely there and it looks really expressive and alive. The way you've made this look is seriously awesome. And your ear and nose is very good too, accurate and shaded well. And the neck looks pretty cool too, with the exception of the shading wich I think looks a bit sloppy to be honest. Same problem with shading and outlining as I've mentioned before. Try not to draw lines so much as planes and shapes. Use the shades to build the face more than the lines. This is off course a matter of taste and motive, but I think in this picture a more loose outlining would look good. The hair is pretty good, it looks a bit stern and stiff though, I would've considered trying to loosen it up a bit if I were you.

So, I hope that was helpful in some way, and that I didn't totally trash it. I actually quite like it as I've said before, and this is mostly me nitpicking I hope we'll see something else soon

This post has been edited by Lady Goldylocks: 03 June 2009 - 12:28 PM

[avid reader]

That's quite good. The chin and neck are a little awkward (like what basically everyone has said) and the ear looks weird to me... but I can't put a finger one why... I think it's too small... and, with this being a drawing and not a 3D graphic rendition... I would have liked the jaw line and brow line to be a little harder... but that's just my opinion. All in all, it's really nice. Keep it up, post more, and people will comment eventually.

[Iwasthenextrider]

Wow, that is really, really good. I don't feel comfortable saying anything bad about it 'cause your way better than I am.

[Hadhafang]

First of all...Baird is just plain awesome. Though personally, I prefer Cole

Anyway, very nice. I think your drawing really captured the essence of Baird, which is a bit hard to do. The only thing that looked off to me was the chin. It seems like part of it is missing. Other than that, I thought it was great.