Strange Behavior (Illustration) Entry: Michael Dashow

#141

Thanks, folks! Well, in a pleasnt coincidence, instead of people liking all different sketches, everyone seems to be settled on one or two favorites… which also happen to be my favorites on this page too! Unfortunately, noen of them work all that well when inserted into the entire scene (I’ll post it soon, I promise!) #9 was close, but needed his mouth open to really work with the fist raised pose (which I really like) - It just needed him to be yelling something, lke “C’mon, 20!” or “Boo-yeah!” Anyhow, I did a sketch or 2 last night that I really like - but the iron test will be to scan it in and see how it looks in the whole scene. And as I said, I was never in love with any of the faces on that last sheet.

I do have a new sketch of Noïdal (the Dungeon Master) that’s really working well, and a good one of Normiel (the geeky innocent guy) too. Evewrything’s starting to come together. I appreciate some of you still staying tuned - with all of the other color comps out there, my sketch image thumbnails currently don’t grab peoples’ eyes in the main forum thread… so I apprecaite those of you who still manage to pop your heads in to peek! But like you said, Rico, there’s no rush. Four months should be plenty of time to sketch everything out and calmly work our way into color.

Catch you all soon…!

#142

just popping in for a peek :slight_smile: I can’t really pick any fav sketch I like them all, I hope you get the problems sorted and they fit in ok. Looking forward to your next batch of sketches Mike.

#143

Hi mike, sorry i haven’t post until now but your thread is somthing big to read in one sitting!

I know your pain… more or less, i have only one girl to deal with for this competition and she’s making me nuts, the more options you draw the harder it is to pic one… but here is my little imput:

I think you have the girls landed, the one in the middle makes perfect sense and the other two are so sassy. Maybe the front one could be buffer, you know, more of a tomboy…

for aggrolas i’d go with No.6, but you are right, he should have a more open mouth and show more exitement… i mean, he is the most dynamic of all.

For Noïdal (i had to cut and paste that):slight_smile: what if you try a more sneaky expresion, rising the visible eyebrow, big smile, like he’s has great plans for his friend’s puny characters…

And one question? are this the real sheets the way you scan them? if so, i have to bow before you:bowdown:, my sketches are so damn messy i would never show them on internet the way they are…

BTW, the “farewell kiss” was what brought me to the GC Society for the first time, and seeing you in my thread was the coolest part of the competition for me so far, Thanks a big lot Mike!

#144

7,8,14 and 17 in order of preference… i like them all but they some look too mean…

#145

Linda - Thanks, as always, for popping by to see what’s new.

George - Ditto: glad you consistantly keep coming by to offer your opinions on varios heads and designs. Thanks!

Gabriel - Thanks for the long post! I’m so flattered that “Farewell Kiss” is what brought you here, and now your entering yourself. Thanks!

As for my sheets, yes, most of them are just direct scans with a little bit of Adjust Levels and some Dodging to clean them up. The alst page of Aggrolas heads and the maidens beofre that are direct scans, with very little touch up. By contrast, THIS page is a lot of touch-up - it’s everything that I’ve scanned so far brought in, cleaned up, sketched on top of, free-transformed, etcetera. For example, compare the Maidens her to the sketch in post #117 and you’ll see all the places so far that I’ve adjusted - moved them further apart, added some hair, cut and pasted in faces from other skethces, redrew the eyes, and so on.

I’ve now got Noïdal (Far left. Yes, I have to cut and paste his name, too!) looking like the brain of the bunch, which was the goal. Here he’s just pinting out some rule, but I do like your idea, SteevieWoo, about making him grin about some plans he has - I’ll see how it looks.

Tastatura commented back a few posts that Aggrolas (rolling the dice) was looking a bit evil. It’s a fine line- making him look… well, aggro and into what he’s doing without making him look psycho. I think I finally managed to walk the line.

For Normiel (3rd from left) I’m going for dweeby but cute. Another fine line to walk. Did I hit it yet? (My wife thinks so… But then, she likes geeky guys.)

And as for Beliobir, I’m really happy with this head - he looks so harmless and somewhat socially inept - but obviously, his body isn’t done yet. I’ll doodle over it or draw some new bodies seperately.

And as for the girls - Gotuel, Aloriel, and Nosindier - Their bodies and faces are mostly done. I’m okay with their legs being similar, but I may have to change one of the weapon-holding arms to be more varied from the other. Now I’m just trying to work out what they’ll wear. I’ve been looking at ‘Seventten’ magazine, believe it or not. And clothing ads in the Sunday paper.

Anyhow, that’s all I have time for now. Hope you like…! :slight_smile:

#146

That’s just great Mike :bounce:. I love your images because they are always full of detail. You look a character after another and everyone of them has his own personality. You have a winner here. Congrats Mike . I hate you.

#147

the characters work great together… i really like the romance implied by the looks between the two characters… I still find the marching of the girls strange though… keep it up Michael…

#148

The all seven character at the picture seen very impressive for behaviors, and when I see it, I can visualise in my mind. Good luck!!:thumbsup:

#149

Hello Mike,
The gathering of sketches are great and work together. I think you will have to take care to add a strong perspective lines to draw the table and background.
Result look good and interresting.

#150

Hmm, in a way, Normiel and Aloriel have a lot of similar lines in their faces (even their names look alike) … almost as if they’re brother and sister. :shrug:

Beliobir reminds me of an old class mate, so makes me smile a lot. :wink:

#151

Rico - That’s a really good point about Normiel. I don’t think his face is final yet… he may look too normiel, er, normal. I think he might need to look a little geekier, like someone you would expect to play a role-playing game… kind of like what you said about Beliobir. I’m also concerned that the first three male faces are all tending towards a similar shape and would like to avoid that.

David - Yep, still have to do a lot with the background. They’re going to be on a balcony, so there will be a railing behind the girls and a panorama overlooking trees and elf-“buildings” and a pretty landscape.

Smik - Thanks!

icedeyes - Thanks. I know you don’t like their legs, and I even tried to mix them up a bit after your last comment. It didn’t work, though: I like these better. Sorry!

Ramitxon - :stuck_out_tongue:

coming up soon - some silly costume sketches for the girls, new tries at Normiel’s head, and a lot more work on Aggrolas.

#152

…And as promised, some costume design sketches of the female Elves’ outfits. They won’t be red, and blue, of course, I just happened to have those col-erase pencils on me. I’ll probably tend towards browns and greens. I’ve tried to add some hint of elfiness with the hints at swirly decorations, some of the necklines, layers, etcetera. But I dunno, do you think they might still be too contemporary and not fantasy enough? Which ones, if any, work for you? Keep in mind, some of them are only parts of outfits. In fact, I only just realized that there isn’t even an A9 at all. I’ll be curious to see how many people vote for that one…! :slight_smile:

#153

hey michael, your work is always a treat to follow. thanks for sharing.

#154

A9
B5
C2
:scream:

hehe seriously I guess those are my favs:
A6
B10
C8

Really nice sketches buddy! Looking out for more!

#155

My favourites are:
A8
B7/1
C5

I’d wear those ones. :smiley:

#156

hehe goro^^

very nice sketches, my fav’s are…

A6 (A2 looks also rly interesting)
I think B needs a Cheerleader look like B8 (or B2 without trousers)
C4, C6 looks good, she looks like the rebel in the girl group, and for me that wear reflect this rebel (pirat) look. C3 have a nice top.

Ah not eazy man, all looks rly nice and thx for post this, i had a lot of fun with combinate this wears. good job.

#157

Thanks for the opinions! I can see why you like B7 and B10 (they’re pretty much the same outfit) - they are really cute, aren’t they? But after I thought about it for a bit, I realized something: Given that I’ve established in the face that the middle one is the “cute, likeable” elf, the baby-doll halter-top over the tee-shirt seems TOO cute, like it’s hammering the “cute” thing home too heavily. I think she needs something less obvious.

My wife and I went through them all last night and even ended up cutting and pasting from all different outfits - these arms, this neckline - and might be getting closer… but I love hearing which ones resonate with folks. :slight_smile:

#158

For the new ones B1, A2, C4, C6 and B9 are my favorites… As for the feet, i am sure it will blend in very nicelly in the end and i am sure that if you think it will work, then it will (you do have a lot more experience in illustration and composition than me)… It wasn’t that i thought it was bad, it just felt akward to me at this stage… keep us posted Michael…:thumbsup:

#159

What’s wrong with making her wear supercute outfits? I know I remember a LOT of girls from high school who were into that whole cute thing and dressed accordingly (over the school uniform, of course. :smiley: )

I’m just saying, it’s something actual girls wear to solidify their image to the outer world…

#160

I just prefer to let the face do the talking. Also, I want to give the impression - in part with her clothes - that she could, potentially, be as sneering as the other two. But somehow, she finds one of these guys somewhat cute. Maybe hers is the image’s strange behavior, didja ever think of that? Huh, huh? Did you? :smiley: