Well I can't really answer your questions but I will say for someone who hasn't put pen to paper in 10 years this is AWESOME! I say keep them coming!
Also wanted to add, I'm very jealous of you now! Not only are you better at making costumes than me but you're a million times better at art than me.
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Heya, Henri welcome aboard. |
Originally Posted by Henri
Hi guys. Well, after seeing all the fantastic art here i've been quite inspired to get back into sketching, just never seem to have the time. Finally managed today to have a go at drawing one of my characters, British Hero. I've literally not put pencil to paper for over 10 years and didn't really feel confident enough to try an original piece so i've just drawn a screen capture to start with. I'd really appreciate any critisism and guidance as i want to improve as much as i can, but in words of one syllabal please, i've never had any art tuition so don't really know any technical jargon and stuff
 I'll post the pic, then there's a few questions i wanted to ask. k, as you can see it's just a basic pencil on paper sketch and I've attempted to shade the darker colours. 1. if i wanted to try and add colour, digitally that is, is it normal to do so with a shaded sketch, or should i have not shaded. how does that all work? 2. is Gimp2 up to the job? Because expensive software is, well... expensive.  k, there it is, hopefully i can put some time aside to do more as i do really enjoy it. cheers ps: looking at it now, i feel i should explain the mis-shapen helmet. I original filled the upper background with BRITISH HERO in big letters, which worked in my head, looked naff in reality, so i rubbed them out again, unfortunately the head took a few knocks, lol. |
1. Yes, you can certainly digitally color over pencil if you have very clean work. Personally, I like seeing alot of pencils inked before the piece actually gets colored.
2. I've never used GIMP2 but all the artists I've ever worked with use Photoshop. Which yes, is pricey.
That is an AWESOME sketch, Henri!! I love the details and the shading! I hope you plan on sharing more of your work with us!
And welcome to our section of the boards! 
~*~VexXxa~*~
The City Scoop Art Correspondent/Writer "ART IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER"//"Don't hate because VexXxa is HOT and you're NOT." - JOHNNYKAT
cheers for the comments so far guys, i'm stoked that you like it . Personally i'm disappointed it's not what i used to be able to do, but i guess that's what you get for not keeping at it. Saying that, I am satisfied with the leather arms and the guns, and maybe some of the jacket, the bit around the buttons and seam. The rest, not so happy, the helm is rubbish, the pants almost an after-thought and the shoulder pads i'd hoped to make look shiney but failed there too. Heh, i am my own worst critic maybe, but i'd still like more critique, even if it's bad.
One thing i'd like to ask is about inking. I know the why, but it's the how i'm not sure on. do you do it manually on a sketch, with a pen, or digitally? or does it matter? or do you need to do it at all?
I've got an idea for a next sketch, but it's a leap from copying a screen capture. It'll be BH looking into a car showroom at an AC Cobra sprayed in a United Flag paint job. (my other love, other than my wife, pubs, superheroes, cider, whiskey, fantasy, mmo's... is 60/70's cars ) I'll let you see how it goes. I feel tmw is the day
Very very nice work on your pic!
As far as color goes if you take a look Here, you can see some of the black and whites i have colored. Might give ya a better idea of what shows tho the colors and what you can cover up all togather.
Agent Goat - CoX Global @Goat's
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Well, there's inking and then there's digital inking. They're two different processes. Personally, I think inking manually by hand over the original sketch with crowquills or brushes is the way to go. Digital inking processes typically darken the original pencil lines either by using Photoshop features or using a computer tablet and pressure sensitive stylus to simulate inking. A good inker takes the original piece and enhances/ elaborates areas such as weight, space, and depth.|
Originally Posted by Henri
One thing i'd like to ask is about inking. I know the why, but it's the how i'm not sure on. do you do it manually on a sketch, with a pen, or digitally? or does it matter? or do you need to do it at all?
|
Some of my closest artist friends are inkers in the comic book industry. One of them, Bob Almond heads a non-profit organization called the Inkwell Awards. The site has more information about the craft.
website: http://www.inkwellawards.com/
The pieces I commission are inked by hand. As an example of pencils and inks, here's a commission I got of Bayani's sidekick, Mae-Day. Original image was by Brandon McKinney. Bob Almond inked the second image. It's not a super-complicated piece, but there are some differences between the two images. One difference is that inks really bring out the contrast. The blacks are really black now. Bob added more depth and refinement to the goggles on the headshot. The varying line weights give the image a greater sense of space and add more energy to the piece (added more "bounce and flow to the hair and Mae-Day's curves) in what is otherwise a rather boring and static pose.
Updating to include the final colors.
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Hey there Henri, think I said it already in another thread but if not welcome to the best part of the forums! |
Originally Posted by Henri
Hi guys. Well, after seeing all the fantastic art here i've been quite inspired to get back into sketching, just never seem to have the time. Finally managed today to have a go at drawing one of my characters, British Hero. I've literally not put pencil to paper for over 10 years and didn't really feel confident enough to try an original piece so i've just drawn a screen capture to start with. I'd really appreciate any critisism and guidance as i want to improve as much as i can, but in words of one syllabal please, i've never had any art tuition so don't really know any technical jargon and stuff
I'll post the pic, then there's a few questions i wanted to ask.  k, as you can see it's just a basic pencil on paper sketch and I've attempted to shade the darker colours. 1. if i wanted to try and add colour, digitally that is, is it normal to do so with a shaded sketch, or should i have not shaded. how does that all work? 2. is Gimp2 up to the job? Because expensive software is, well... expensive. k, there it is, hopefully i can put some time aside to do more as i do really enjoy it. cheers ps: looking at it now, i feel i should explain the mis-shapen helmet. I original filled the upper background with BRITISH HERO in big letters, which worked in my head, looked naff in reality, so i rubbed them out again, unfortunately the head took a few knocks, lol. |
Man this sounds a lot like my own story almost 8 years no art then I found my way here and got inspired to start drawing again. Jan 1st I challenged myself to kick it into high gear and spend some time every day drawing even if it was just 20 minutes... (you can click the word "here" in my sig to read more about it or click the shiny button to see the art that resulted) so yeah I know where you are coming from man.
1. The short answer is yes a piece can go from pencils to color or pencil to ink to color and the ink can be pen, brush or digital... all are different methods with their own pro's and con's and all are viable.
2. Expensive software is expensive... lol yep. If you're a student or know someone who is though there is a decent sale on photoshop atm... 80% or so off here.
As for your sketch... it's very good actually for not having draw in so long. All the costume pieces (even the retro belt) are immediately recognizable and there is some good detail work done in several areas. What I would say is amiss would be, the helmet is a bit misshapen as are the fingers/knuckles.
The biggest thing I see though is there is no real continuity to your lighting scheme. To look at the helmet I would guess the main light is coming from the front and off to the left a bit but then I look at the hands and they are shaded at the top and bottom and the middle knuckles are lit which doesn't match the helm. Same thing goes for the forearm blades given the lighting source the left one should have almost no shading on it at all and the right one should be darker etc etc. Finally I would like to see more contrast to the image (i.e.there should be more difference between your lightest lights and your darkest darks and not so much middle gray area).
So yeah hope this helps and again welcome aboard man, good to have you.
Thanks for the inking info Bayani, will be giving it a go on my next sketches i reckon.
And thanks for the crit CR, that's exactly the sort of thing i was after. I see what you mean about my light source, will watch that in future, as well as trying to contrast my shading a bit more.
I've got another sketch of British Hero to submit here, just finished it. This time it's an original piece rather than a copy of a screen capture, the idea being BH at a car showroom dreaming he could afford his perfect but totally unobtainable car. But i think prehaps i'm trying to run before i can walk as there's so many bits i'm not happy with in this piece, ie: the helmet under his arm hasn't really worked, the other arm that's supposed to be leaning on the window looks more like he's waving at the car, lol, and it's just too busy in the centre of the pic i think. It's just i had the idea for the scene and wanted to give it a go
I'll post it anyway and would love to hear your comments, but i think i'll try sketching some simple posed shots for a bit until i've got some basic techniques down. cheers.
No time to really go over the whole piece (got several things I'm working on atm) but I wanted to point out he has no left Biceps (it goes right from the shoulder pad to the forearm) and while the this area should be slightly smaller, due to the arm angling away from you, there is not enough foreshortening to account for it being that small/non-existent.
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You don't NEED to do it at all. It depends on what you are after.| One thing i'd like to ask is about inking. I know the why, but it's the how i'm not sure on. do you do it manually on a sketch, with a pen, or digitally? or does it matter? or do you need to do it at all? |
Inked linework is really central to comics. Part of the reason for that is you have a division of labor with different people doing pencils, inking, etc. If you want your stuff to look like professional comic book art ala Marvel or DC or something--yeah, get good at inking. Learn to ink oldschool with a brush, etc. on paper.
Other than that there is no reason that you HAVE to ink anything. And if you decide that you want more realism in your art, you will want to get away from inked linework. Take a look at the inked Mae-Day above, for instance. Look at the black shadow under her chin. If I wanted to do a more realistic treatment of color, I'd have to get rid of that shadow or change it to another color. It only really serves a purpose when the drawing is limited to two values--black and white. Beyond that it becomes a hindrance.
Blacklisted
"I'AM SATANS FAVORITE CHILD!!"
Good stuff Henri, I never could get the hang of shading well myself(I cheat, I cel shade >.>) but even with light source awry-ness, it looks pretty good for still dusting off the skills there
And like FD said, inking is just one way to go. Color matched outline or vector colors with no outline at all is also completely valid if you are going to color digitally. GIMP will work for it on the cheap, its pretty much the same as a slightly older version of Photoshop so maybe not all the bells and whistles but the basic tools are there.
Hi again. Thanks to everyone who's commented so far, some really good advice and some really great encouragement, appreciate it
Got my 3rd sketch here, 'Chance' my Ill/Kin troller, and i've tried to take a step back here to concentrate on some basics. Also I didn't what to shade this at all as i want a base white sketch to attempt some colour with, but i just can't stop myself, lol. Saying that, i have used a different style of shading on this one and really only shaded the areas that are in very deep shadow.
I've also posted my initial outline sketch so if i'm doing anything very wrong in the earlier stages you might be able to point it out cheers .
K, tomorrow, attempt some inking!
I am really liking the details of 'Chance'! I am also curious to see how you colorize him!
~*~VexXxa~*~
The City Scoop Art Correspondent/Writer "ART IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER"//"Don't hate because VexXxa is HOT and you're NOT." - JOHNNYKAT
k, here he is inked, i've removed the pinstrips as i reckon i'll do those when i start the colour. This is the first time i've attempted to ink a sketch, and to colour one for that matter, so as always, comments most welcome Got some stuff to do today though, so might not get a chance to start on colouring just yet.
Hi guys. Well, after seeing all the fantastic art here i've been quite inspired to get back into sketching, just never seem to have the time. Finally managed today to have a go at drawing one of my characters, British Hero. I've literally not put pencil to paper for over 10 years and didn't really feel confident enough to try an original piece so i've just drawn a screen capture to start with. I'd really appreciate any critisism and guidance as i want to improve as much as i can, but in words of one syllabal please, i've never had any art tuition so don't really know any technical jargon and stuff
I'll post the pic, then there's a few questions i wanted to ask.
k, as you can see it's just a basic pencil on paper sketch and I've attempted to shade the darker colours.
1. if i wanted to try and add colour, digitally that is, is it normal to do so with a shaded sketch, or should i have not shaded. how does that all work?
2. is Gimp2 up to the job? Because expensive software is, well... expensive.
k, there it is, hopefully i can put some time aside to do more as i do really enjoy it. cheers
ps: looking at it now, i feel i should explain the mis-shapen helmet. I original filled the upper background with BRITISH HERO in big letters, which worked in my head, looked naff in reality, so i rubbed them out again, unfortunately the head took a few knocks, lol.
My Mini-Comic
AE arc id: 464928