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Tessie works on fundamentals


Tessie Spoon
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So, this will mostly be a mirror of sorts of what I post in the forums on this website, but I would like to see perspectives on my current practices. Maybe some feedback and suggestions I can fit into my current training regimen.

So, yeah. Don't expect anything glamorous, like the typical art topic would have ^^;

So, I did a pose practice from posemaniacs (not shown here, because artistic nudity), as well as practices with line. Recently started including motor control exercises in my sessions. Did a still life to fill some extra time, and practice my perceptual abilities some more. Been keeping this up for quite a while... this marks my 15th finished session. So, the results:

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Posemaniacs is useful but I wish they had more poses.

The drawing of the smartphone is nice. Can't tell what the others are supposed to be though.

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  • 2 weeks later...

There's some good stuff here, and your faces are getting better. I will point out a few thing however:

In this image, the way you've shaded in the hair looks rather messy. It might just stick out more because of the lack of shading on the actual face, but I'd recommend you keep the strokes more consistent.

As for this image, it's a rather great effort, and it's better than my drawings of woman in pencil. The chest however, looks really broad and unfeminine. I think it might be the case of the chest and hips being oddly proportioned. I will say that the hair shading here is much easier on the eyes than in the previous one.

I hope some of these suggestions will help.

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Yeah, I figured the shading in the hair on that first one was simply bad. I was trying to use a certain method, but I went overboard with a 2B pencil and messed it up before I could progress further. Next time I'll look up a tut on drawing real hair; if that fails, I'll stick to my usual anime style of hair shading.

By "chest", do you mean the shoulders? if not, I think it's because I didn't properly make it look like it was fluttering in the wind, like I intended. Do you have any advice for making it so that the dress flows properly?

Thanks for the feedback ^^

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I'll see if I can be more specific. The chest looks too square and blocky, and the hips look too think by comparison. It might just be cause of the shirt, but it's also evident from the upper left part of the torso, where the breast goes into the shoulder. The female form is typically more curved and slender. I think it might be useful for you to use some nude models for reference.

I'm afraid I'm not that good with clothes myself. I would be interesting in knowing the process you use to draw figures. It might help me give some other advice,

My apologies if I'm not explaining things correctly.

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I used the method described in this video. If you want to see the step-by-step I did, you can look at this post. I would have made the chest less jagged, but I didn't since I was blocking in clothes.

I hope that helps. I think I know how slender and curved the female body more-or-less is, as well as the general proportions. Though that knowledge admittedly doesn't go far beyond some very basic nude poses ^^;

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  • 3 weeks later...

Been a while since I last posted something here.

Anyway, a WIP of Ike I started several weeks back! I applied shading much like one would apply base colors in digital; when I get back to it, I'll add detail to it.

...now that I look at it again, I think the blade part of the Ragnell is a bit crooked. It wasn't until it was too late that I got an idea on making it less crooked while not messing up the body in front of it. There are also quite a few asymmetries here and there, and as I did spend time trying to fix them, I stopped due to frustration. Though in future drawings, I will put at least some effort in fixing asymmetries before moving onto something else, so don't worry if you see a bunch of asymmetries in my work! Eventually I'll be able to fix them without having to tear my hair out..though I don't mind you pointing out their existence, all the same!

So, that's my self-critique for this WIP xD

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  • 2 weeks later...

Been a while since I last posted something here.

So, I did some pose practice using one of the stock pics from here, and the result of that is attached. The initial bodily sketch didn't have the arms and torso as thin as they are in the result; adhering to anime style, I thinned them intentionally.

My self-critique:

I didn't properly capture the outlines of the feet. Her right hand (from her view) has the ring and pinky fingers as if the palm is facing directly towards the chest, as opposed to at a more diagonal angle like in the reference. I intended to make her look middleweight (despite thinning the arms and torso compared to the ref), but I wonder if the anime head shape made the torso look too wide. "Broad shoulders", was it? I've made that mistake many times, yet I might have done it yet again despite trying to avoid it :/

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Edited by Tessie Spoon
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Wowza! Your art really shows all the effort you put in, so great work! I hope I can help you out with what you've already pointed out as problem areas so you can make your art even more impressive than it already is

So, the girl in the dress. You mentioned that you thought you maybe made her shoulders too wide but in actuality, the thing that I see that makes her torso look a little off is actually the dress itself more than her shoulders (which in my opinion look A+).

  • What I personally am seeing is that her dress doesn't quite match up with her intended (I HOPE) body shape due to the way it comes off her person. I made this as an attempt to explain what I'm seeing here, so please bear with me.
  • The way the dress falls off of her body just below the bent right (her right) arm suggests to the viewer that her torso is much wider than it really is. Think of it as one of those situations where you try on a super cute dress at the store, only to find that the cut and style of it doesn't look right on you.
  • How I personally (This is only a suggestion, so go with what you feel works best for you!) would remedy this is let the dress follow the contour of her hips juuuust a teensy bit before billowing/flowing/whatever it's called out from her person so it is more easily suggested to the viewer what her body shape is.

The only other thing I'm seeing that you might want to work on is the length of her right arm (the bent one). The width of it is a-okay stylistically (I'm actually really proud and a bit jealous of the fact that you managed to make the arms look thin because I always seem to make them too wide in my own artwork) but it looks a pinch too short for her body, which could very well just be a result of the pose. The elbow is a little high and slightly too close to her body (which could also help with suggesting her shape more clearly now that i look closer) from what I'm seeing posing in the bathroom mirror, but fixing that sort of thing is all a matter of practice and you'll most definitely be able to improve upon it!

I hope to see more work from you soon!!

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That's actually a pretty solid crit! Thanks ^^ I'll keep that crit in mind when I try to draw a similar pose. Also, I edited my previous post to hyperlink the stock photo resource I used; apparently I forgot to do that xD

The next pic I pose will be a finished version of the Ike WIP I posted earlier, so I hope you'll like it ^^

Edited by Tessie Spoon
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I used the method described in this video. If you want to see the step-by-step I did, you can look at this post. I would have made the chest less jagged, but I didn't since I was blocking in clothes.

I hope that helps. I think I know how slender and curved the female body more-or-less is, as well as the general proportions. Though that knowledge admittedly doesn't go far beyond some very basic nude poses ^^;

Jesus, I kind of forgot about this. Sincerely, my bad. That said I did spend quite some time thinking about it. Sadly, I don't know if my thoughts can be of any use.

The problem, is that ther method there seems very different than the methods I've seen, and have been learning from. To my eyes, this seems like a very roundabout way of doing things. I'm not sure whether it's a good way to learn the actual proportions of the human figure. However, I'm certainly in no position to say what way is right, considering I can't draw people for shit, especially with clothes and such. That said, it might be worth at least looking at some other methods of figure drawning, but in the end I think it's best to use the method you're comfortable with.

My apologies for not having much useful to say.

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Perhaps it is a bit roundabout, but none of the other methods I've found (such as Loomis') fit me better. Perhaps its because I never had anyone to often keep me on the right track when I was learning those (not even books were enough), but yeah.

Though, the method he was describing wasn't so much about figure drawing as it was about drawing subjects in general. Birds, people, still lives... same Iteration method applies.

Also, I finished the Ike drawing! Clocked in at just 7 hours on this one. Other than the self-crit I gave myself earlier in this topic, I don't see what to improve besides the lack of shine on the whole drawing. I completely forgot that applying highlights was a thing in traditional drawing, so I think I can try that the next time I make an actual shaded drawing on paper.

edit: I just noticed that the shadow on the ground should have reflected some of Ike's cape. Can't believe I missed that when scanning where to put drop shadows xD

post-6005-0-69862000-1435978955_thumb.jpg

Edited by Tessie Spoon
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  • 2 weeks later...

One thing that strikes me about the Ike drawing is the lighting. The way his shadow is placed suggests to me that the light source is coming from directly above him, but I don't think the shading on his body matches that. I think what might is if you make a note of what direction the light is coming from. Even just putting some arrows on the paper might help you keep it in mind.

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Oh, I see. I should have kept that in mind instead of just copying the shadow in the reference...thanks!

Been working on a digital picture for a while, and here's a (admittedly outdated) lineart of it. I've gone pretty far in applying colors, but when I finish it entirely, I'll post it here.

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Edited by Tessie Spoon
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  • 1 month later...

My bad for not commenting sooner, it just sort of got shifted to the back of my mind.

I really like it, and it's a great effort considering this is the first coloured thing I've seen in this thread. I like the details you managed to work into the frills.

The shading shares the same issue as I mentioned before, in that it doesn't seem very defined. It's particularly noticable on the skirt. I also notice that compared to the orginal drawing, the lines in the digital version don't seem as smooth. On the right of the skirt, there's also some aliasing(if that's the right term) (the sort of jagged line, if I'm describing that rightly). I don't know what programs you're using, or what other tools, so I can't give much specific advice. Depending on what you're using, there might be options or brushes to help create smoother lines.

All that said, I think you've done brilliantly, and I hope to see if you make any more progress. Best of luck.

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No problem. Also, thanks for the feedback! I get what you mean about the lines and aliasing (my method of using sai is a bit messy), though could you elaborate on what you meant by "defined"?

...hm, it's been a while since I last uploaded something to this thread. Despite all the time that passed, I've been practicing art all the same, don't worry; I just haven't been making actual pics as much. Though you can expect me to upload a picture of Tiki I've been working on for 25+ hours sometime soon. I'm getting kinda fatigued on that one, so I feel obligated to get it out as much as my will will allow me. xD

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finally finished that pic! Took over 50 hours, though admittedly it's because several of those hours went into making alternative versions xD

Anyway, the pic's attached to this post.

Based on feedback I got from others and issues i noticed myself...

-The shading is somewhat inconsistent. I dunno how to fix this, though the light source is meant to hit Tiki pretty much everywhere that isn't behind her (since the tree's blocking light from that position)

-The tree leaves should look like they're being seen from below, with more of the branches showing. This because said leaves and branches are above the horizon line.

- The ribbon flowing to the viewer's right curves slightly off; one of the lines shouldn't be facing straight downward, due to the wind,

- I forgot the shade her left ear (right ear from the viewer's perspective).

- The forearms are a little too short, especially on the viewer's left.

- The shading colors on some parts (like the collar) are off. I'm not sure how to figure out what shading colors fit things like the red dress, white collar, and pink ribbon; I just know that I'm not supposed to use darker versions of the base colors.

- The calla lilies on the left should have more shading, specifically on the one lined up with the tree and the one that has light blocked from another of the lilies.

- Some of the shadows on the tree aren't soft enough.

- The right wing of the butterfly (from the viewer's perspective) shouldn't have that much shadow on it.

- I forgot to thin the torso after the initial sketch, so she looks a a little stocky.


Feel free to give your own opinions and feedback :)

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Edited by Tessie Spoon
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  • 1 month later...

Status update!

So, I've still been mostly working on drills. I have a couple art trade pics finished, though I won't upload them until my partners finish their halves.

I've also been using the sai file for my Tiki pic to experiment with stuff, like shading. Earlier today I tried to draw lips on her, using Orochi's My Room model as a reference. Mind giving opinions and advice?:

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Well, I must say that the coloring is very neatly done! I do have to say that the only thing increasing shading on Tiki's lips does negatively is highlight the position of the mouth as being slightly too high on her face. Hope that helps!

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