Open Figure Drawing Workshop 019 - The Awakening of the Underground Giant

#221

argh I know, but I really like the concept coz it has a message… I’ve banned the thought of having to finish in one month rather quickly to be honest. Apart from the deadline, it’s not an unrealistic goal.

I so much want his books :scream: but I’ve spend my seasons budget on a tablet and academy subscription :smiley: Life’s full of interesting choices isn’t it?

Thanks for the help, I’ll dig in as many refs from sites like The Web Gallery of Art

PureGhostGR
don’t worry, just dive into it and let yourself flow with the stream :smiley:
see it as a learning trip, forget about the deadline… what you’ll have when it passes will be totally not what you expected at the time you entered :wink:
have fun!

Update for today…
playing a bit painting clouds. Not really happy with those
Ah crap they just need a lot more work :smiley:

I should concentrate on the anatomy of my characters first…

#222

Spirit - I haven’t even had time to work my primary business. I only have the wee hours of the night after everone is in bed to play with this machine. I think I will do a pear or banana to get used to the medium. They are the closest to human form without the detail.

Pure Ghost - I like you sketch work so far. I can kinda see your dawn experiment. Cannot wait to see some depth to it.

Shyam - oh these guys post when they make a hen scratch to their artwork. Just kidding guys having fun! We get the most from other’s input during the project. I know that is true with me. Keep posting and post often as Rebecca would say!

#223

I had time today to squeeze in some work. I decided to make the giant a little more demon like with the red skin. I may add a knife or whip in his left hand. I’ll start playing with a wound or open gash on the torso in my next update. Not exactly sure what the hero will be holding in the final image… I was thinking of throwing some kind of protective vest over torso and maybe putting a cool emblem in the back of it.

Overall, I kinda feel like I lost a little bit of the flow and its starting to feel a little overworked but Im still playing with it. -J

  • BTW, Ive been using a set of absolutely wonderful PS brushes for this image that were made available by Mathias Verhasselt. They can be found here.
#224

A few comments, I really appreciate all the people who have commented on others’ work ~ please continue to do so! :slight_smile:

architectus,

I’ll be getting to the PO soon ~ my apologies for the delay. :slight_smile:

Mecha,

I really like the interplay so far between the two characters / the contrasting twists. One thing that I think is not yet working is the red figure’s left arm ~ it seems too straight / wooden, and the foreshortening seems a bit off. I also think the head of the giant would be more foreshortened, the neck possibly shorter / larger and the head possibly larger.

Looking good all, I will do my best to comment further tomorrow. :slight_smile: I promise I am not trying to ignore anyone ~ my life right now is just a bit busy and I’m relying on you guys to provide one another with support. :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

#225

Architectus, ohhh I like your giant and warrior drawing, reminds me of those cool game images. Hehe I wish I worked fast like you :smiley:

NR43, hehe they’re not so bad, I think it’s the blending…

Mecha, I like the skin tones!

…what else can I say…You guys are really good at digital painting…I have so much to learn…

Well here’s an update on my giant ,the torso is so hard to shade ( help D: ) :

#226

Hi…PureGhoust GR…:thumbsup:

Really like the way you decribe your concept…brings to mind a great vision of color and beauty.:thumbsup:
You might try a method that I use once in awhile…I have a Barbe type of doll, that a friends
kid was tired of and gave me…makes a great little model…torso, arms, and legs all twist, and bend, so you can pose it , to do light and shadow studies…with a spotlight in the dark. You can
also drape it with cloth, to creat folds, and study the way the light and shadow plays on them.
This metod of study might be useful to you with the type of concept you are going for…along
with looking for other resources, such as master works of art, photo’s of sunrises’ womans pose, and of course doing color studies of the real sunrise.
Once you get the colors down…get cloth of those colors…drape the doll…spotlight it…might even put a fan by it , to see how the cloth reactes in the wind.
Just a thought, that might help you with your concepts color ,…lights and shadows…:slight_smile:
Looking forward to seeing you develope this GREAT vision of yours FURTHER…:thumbsup:

TAKE CARE
Glenn

#227

OPB Talaria:

[left]

Talaria, nice work so far! I think the areas I would recommend tweaking a bit are the neck, which seems slightly stiff and large relative to the arms. I like your thinking with respect to his being entwined; perhaps you can carry this more into the background as well. :slight_smile:

OPB NR43:
[center]

NR43, I like your thinking with this, and it was quite an interesting read! With respect to your figures, I think that some of them, particularly the one on the far left, need to be elongated ~ let your figures breathe more, and ‘complete your thoughts’ in terms of the way that the figures are sketched ~ let a line drift a bit further than you might initially draw it, and make the figures more elegant and heroic by giving them more elongated proportions. Nice start so far, I might also recommend not placing the figures squarely in the center…perhaps expanding the canvas on the left or right can decentralize your figures. :slight_smile:
[/left]
[/center]

OPB PureGhostGR:

PureGhostGR, I like your thinking with this and hope to see your updates soon ~ what are your thoughts with respect to the background?

OPB Shyam:
[left]

Shyam, nice to see your progress here, would love to see you introduce more subtle tones into your work, perhaps some silvery grays and muted tones to offset the highly saturated areas ~ having a high degree of saturation everywhere sort of wears out your receptors and you need to give the eye places to rest / and a way to find a balance in terms of the color scheme. Use the most saturated color where you want your eye to go, and manipulate the viewer’s eye throughout the rest of the piece. Looking forward to seeing more! :slight_smile:

I will do my best to give crits to the pieces I have not already tomorrow! :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak
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#228

Hi…Talaria…:slight_smile:

You might go to the library, and check out some books on old chinese paintings done on silk
with ink…there landscapes are all narlly looking…rocks, trees ect,…and a lot of them have waterfalls…Also their perpective from bottom to top in thier lanscapes, might be usefull in the type of composition you have created, and might work great with your figure…I can almost see your figure in that kind of chinese mountain scape already, as I look at it…full of atmosphere, which the old chinese masters of ink, were so great at achieving…just a thought as I am admirering your piece…:slight_smile:
TAKE CARE
Glenn

#229

architectus,

My apologies for the promised PO being delayed…here are a few minor suggestions, to elongate the figure and make it more dynamic:

Architectus.gif688x707

[left]Hope this helps! :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak
[/left]

#230

Hi architectus,

I think in one of your posts you made an open invitation for a paintover. Since I have a few minutes, I decided to do one. It’s rough, but I think it illustrates a point.

Point 1 - Your composition in regards to width and height is very square, rectangles are much more appealing. I cropped it and then added extra canvas and I think it functions a little better.

Point 2 - I eliminated the cliff with the figure on top. It seemed to distract from the focal point. I think without it, the message is clearer and thus more dramatic.

Point 3 - I enlarged the giant to fill up more space — that’s what giants do :slight_smile: Plus I didn’t like the tangent where the mountain dissected his waist. So, I added one leg crouching, as if it where propelling itself from the hell-ish pit. Also, I brought out the left arm and included it in the storyline. In fact, now it adds to the epicenter of action.

Point 4 - changed the stance of the figure and added a few strokes of complimentary red to enhance the focal point even more.

Please don’t consider my points as dogma, they are merely just thoughts to ponder as you develop your own piece. I hope this helps :slight_smile: Great work, by the way!

#231

ooops, Rebecca, I just now noticed you submitted one while I was writing my post. Sorry :slight_smile:

#232

danielh68,

Absolutely no need to be sorry! The more critique here, the better. :slight_smile: I’m sure architectus will enjoy hearing viewpoints from as many as possible. I’d love to see you participate in more OFDWs in fact…so if you have any ideas for themes for future ones, please suggest them ~ the same would go for everyone else. :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

#233

hello again
I worked on mine some yesterday. Bgr is about done I guess, now I need to come up with some foreground action (falling rocks, scared villagers…), detail and perhaps re-work my color scheme.

Honestly I´m not really happy about it right now, so any suggestions of improvement would help…

Btw, could anyone tell me what to do about the giant´s skin to make it look more natural,pls? It seems way too plastic at the moment…

#234

HladekStepan,

If you like, I am happy to do a paintover for you ~ but I won’t without your permission. :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

#235

Rebaccak

that would certainly be a great help,please do! :slight_smile:
If you don’t mind wasting your time on this, I’d really appreciate it.

I did a little more work on my background today, but I´m kinda clueless about the figure.

#236

[left]HladekStepan,

No problem. :slight_smile:

The main thing I really think that you need to do is to look at reference - have you done so? Reference is really key once you’ve gotten past the initial concepting stage. Google is your friend in this regard, as well as the reference links I posted to the first post of this thread - check out Ben / justmeina’s gallery, there are excellent male reference photos there.

Do you have any experience drawing from life? One thing I really recommend doing if you can is to attend life drawing sessions or classes and also to do master studies. Check out the Personal Sketchbook area of this Forum and create your own if you have not already to keep a record of your progress as you do life studies, master copies, and draw the figure from reference. It just takes a lot of time and dedicated practice to master the figure, but of course it is possible. Just check out others’ threads who are on the same road, and diligently studying the figure. :slight_smile:

Hope this paintover helps - the main thing is to elongate your forms, and to let them breathe. Take a picture of yourself in the same pose, or of a friend, or just use reference to get the details and the overall shape right. The gesture is the most important thing first, the overall sweeping line of the action of the pose.

In the PO I also extended the composition to make it more interesting. You want everything in your composition to reinforce the central subject, which is here the giant. Make the hills and mountains echo the movements of the giant and complement his form. All compositional elements should serve a purpose, and not simply ‘be there’.

You might want to make the roots of the hills above his head into his hair, sort of entwined around his head. This is just a suggestion. :slight_smile:
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HladekStepan_small.gif800x475

[left]
Here is a larger scale jpg of the PO:

[/left]
[left]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b380/rebeccak5/OFDW%20019/HladekStepan.jpg

Looking forward to seeing more of your progress! :slight_smile:

EDIT: More crits to come!

Cheers,

~Rebeccak
[/left]

#237

Rebeccak
yeah, I guess I should learn to walk before starting to run,right? :thumbsup:
I tried searching the web for reference, couldn´t find any to suit my purpose though… I´ll get my friend to pose for me.
About the compo: after checking your repaint I´m kinda surprised how flat my original concept actually looks:eek:
gonna get to work right away…

#238

HladekStepan,

Did you try here?

http://justmeina.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=0

Ben has a lot of shots that seem to be useful, (there are several pages in his gallery) but shooting your friend might be better. :slight_smile: Looking forward to seeing an update.

Cheers,

-Rebeccak

#239

Well, I gues I officially gave up on this OFDW. I did a ball painting last night. Got to start somewhere, huh? Here is the link for those interested. I need all the C&Cs I can get now. http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?p=3826854#post3826854

Talaria - I love you pencil work so far. Reb is right about the proportions but it was hardly noticible. Are you taking this into a digital painting? Just curious since I have virually gone head first into digital. I was going to see how you do.

#240

I’m having a lot of fun watching this go- plenty of interesting stuff developing! I particularly like danielh’s paintover of architectus’s painting talaria’s pencils and many more. Keep going, people!

Stepan: Crit for you, my friend: Put a hue/saturation adjustment layer on top of the stack, that way you can toggle it on and off and see how your values are doing. I think your colors are a little too unreal as well- have a good look at some landscape paintings and you’ll see what I mean!