My First WIP: A bass and a girl.

[Helenlyn]

Welcome... for a first time the texture is looking all right.

Unfortuneately I'm distracted by the anatomical errors. I suggest taking care of those before you go farther.
If a picture has huge mistakes in simple things like anatomy, then the amount of time you put into other aspects of the picture is useless, since people will be too bothered with the simple mistakes to appreciate all the work you put into the rest of it.

The main issues I see in anatomy are the arm and curvy legs. And the lack of underwear is disturbing. (but that's just me)

Double basses are large... but not that large. I know girls who play the double bass, and they aren't exceptionally tall or large, and can in fact carry their own instrument. Also, they would never sit on their instrument. :p
In other words... the scale is way off.

An octobass could conceivably be that large, however, octobasses only have 3 strings... which amongst people who aren't all that into music would just confuse. You'd never hear the end of "Cellos have four strings!"

...

Several issues with the bass itself, other than the excessive size...

In most stringed instruments (exceptions being of the harp, harpsichord, and perhaps the electric guitar), there is:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n238/Liriel_Baenre/art/violin.jpg

I don't see one of those in your picture.

Also, if the bottom part of it is broken off, the tail would not just hang there. The tail would fly up because of the tension caused by the strings, the bridge would fall, and the strings would probably be askew.

I suppose you may have done this only to learn how to color and blend. However, I strongly suggest correcting the errors in her anatomy... Those sort of errors are generally only excepted in cartoon characters, and cartoons aren't big on shading and blending and whatnot.

Once you get to shading, you're going to want to experiment to see what methods and brushes work for you. I only got painter last Thursday... so I can't really help you there.

With colors, you'll want to figure out what the mood of the picture is. The colors you've put on the girl, as well as the outfit... and pose for that matter, give me the feeling of a beach. I'd expect to see her sitting in a lifeguard tower with sunglasses, not lounging on a broken instrument.
Double basses are usually either jazzy or moody. Jazzy being fun colors like blue and such, moody being the red and brown tones found in classical instruments. Having played many different stringed instruments, I can tell you that the color of the varnish has a huge effect on the way the instrument looks, and as the instrument is quite noticeable in the composition of this piece, you'll want the color of the instrument and the colors you use on the girl to go together nicely.

If you choose a jazzy colored instrument, the overall colors of the piece should be cool, like blues, purples, greens. If you choose a classically colored instrument, you'd want many more reds, yellows, and browns.

Also I suggest giving her underwear.

[Ukanef]

Thank you Helenlyn for your long and -amazingly- quick response. The setup of the image was not my idea, a friend asked me to draw this girl sitting on a bass wearing a bikini and , in lack of a better subject, I decided to go with it and see if I could colour it. Most of my focus goes on the girl,and although your advice on the bass part was really good and detailed,I will give priority to the girl for the time and on that I have 2 questions.
1)Would the lower half of the bikini show from that angle?
2) Could you give me a little bit more on the anatomical errors?

I ll call it for today but I ll get back to it tommorow.
Will update.

Thanx again and Good Night.

[Helenlyn]

1. Well I suppose if it were really skimpy you wouldn't see a lot... but since a sliver of thigh is showing on the other side of the instrument's neck, a string or tie sticking out would ease the doubt some people might have. The hip is a convenient place.

2. The main anatomical errors are the arm and legs. The arm is slightly too thin: people with wide hips and thighs usually have a bit of muscle in the arms. It doesn't need to be too much thicker, just a little to bump it into a realistic range. Once you thicken the arm, it may look like it's a little short. If this happens, bend the elbow a little more. This will also help her look more relaxed and carefree.

The biggest problem is from the knees down. The leg on the left of the canvas would be alright if you have a distinct hilight running down her shin to emphasize the fact that her leg is turned toward the viewer. The leg closest to the neck of the bass is worse. I suggest drawing a straight line from knee to ankle (doing it to both legs won't hurt), and then drawing the leg around that line. This will simulate the bone that females tend to have in their legs. Maybe having the toe without the shoe jutting out a little more would also help with the structure of her legs.

Another, rather minor thing is the position of her face. I don't know if you've ever played a double bass, but... modern basses have metal "pegs" running along the side and sticking out at the back of the pegbox/scroll. (this is because double basses would be incredibly hard to tune and regular wooden pegs would be easier to break, harder to replace, and more likely to damage the peg box if used incorrectly.)
In your picture this means she'd have a metal object sticking RIGHT in her eye.

Even if she doesn't have her face up against the scroll, who would be looking RIGHT into a metal object at that proximity?
I recommend moving her head so that it's either resting against the scroll or she's looking out to the left of the canvas. The second option isn't so good since people would follow where she's looking right off the canvas! (unless you have something there, ofc)

[I suppose that last wasn't really an anatomical error]

Hope it helps.

[Ukanef]

Update:
I did not get to spend as much time as I would like but here are the changes I made.
1) Made her left arm a bit fatter, just a tad. It did not seem to me too short so I did not move it in any way.
2) Turned her head upwards. This was the initial pose I had in mind for her, just lying there basking in the sun. I m not sure I m happy with it but I d like an extra opinion.
3) Tried to fix her left leg, made it a bit less curvy. Did not change anything on her right leg, but I intended to highlight it so it seems less curvy as well.
4) Added a bit of background color, nothing serious, just the colors that seemed "fitting" in my mind.
5) Cleared any doubts that she is actually wearing underwear, just a minor tie at her hip.


A small note: I know the setup is ridiculous with the bass and all, but as this is nothing more than a coloring exercise I ll be extremely happy to end up with a nicely colored and nicely drawn girl , without worrying -at the same degree- about the correct display of the bass.

Thanks in advance for any advice or comments.

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.