BV's Humble Corner (DUMP p10)

[ClockHand]

I was asking because on how you approach design. You basically focus a lot on clean lines and painting, which makes everything too look very plastic.

[BunnyVoid]

I was asking because on how you approach design. You basically focus a lot on clean lines and painting, which makes everything too look very plastic.

well it must be a bad habit of mine... but i dont know how to deal with it... hehe
it must be the way i was trained to sketch. my prof once corrected me on this when i drew a really good building sketch but then the landscape did not look too organic... he gave me some exercises but still couldnt get past it. lol

thanks for pointing it out tho. that issue has been lingering with me for about a year now... i didnt realize that it also showed in my personal draws

[ClockHand]

I don't see this as a problem (well it is in some parts of your paint work), its more like a gimmick you have. But if you want to change it or be able to "control" it (do it when you feel it works), try painting realism without lines. If you analyze how colors behave you are going to see how to take away that plastic coloring and line art.

[BunnyVoid]

okay clock, thanks for that. i guess i'll try that over the weekends. I'll check out some books for now.

this was really helpful, thanks :3


In the meantime, I update you guys with my entry for this week's theme. I was suppose to do a battle between Qayin and Havel but unfortunately Havel's design is not yet done... meehhhhhhhhh... this is becoming more and more frustrating...



A snapshot of one of my most long standing battles.
Frigging mosquitoes. Qayin will do the killing for me lol
This piece is for mangatutorials.com forum weekly challenge. Theme is battle.
Sketch took longer than expected. This took like an hour now... >.> meeehhh i should do more pose practices.
Plus I don't know how to spell.

Anyway. Like usual, I have new designs for Havel. I feel sorry for him now, since he cant participate in the supposed battle between him and Qayin.



what do you think?

please compare to the previous.

SPOILER! :

thaaaanks. hopefully i'll get these done soon. meeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhh so much homework aside from drawinggggggggggg. i really hope i get his design right so i could completely move on and develop Eira and the other SOTZ characters...
sorry for being a bit whiny.

[nisaren]

While I haven't done a whole lot of character design myself, I find myself gravitating to people who have functional designs. Since I have no clue about his back-story (or the story at all) it's difficult to really help you. There are some general things that I've read that professionals do to create compelling characters.

Silhouettes - Many professionals work initially from silhouettes. Creating a distinctive silhouette allows your character to be more recognizable regardless of the level of detail (how close or far from the "camera").

Focus - Many character designers choose 1 definable attribute to focus on and everything else around the character is built from that. For example, when someone says Cloud from Final Fantasy VII the first thing I think of is the enormous Buster Sword he carries - or Sephiroth, I think of the crazy long katana. So choose something about the character to define the character around.

Functionality - Crazy detailed costumes may seem cool, but if it's not functional what's the point? Making sure that everything is there for a reason and not just decoration can cut down on a lot of fluff. I always find it awesome seeing how certain outfits and armor are used by characters to aid them in their endeavors.

At any rate, hope this helps you when you're thinking about character designs.

[Gaff]

Just as an aside, I think the way you're drawing hair looks a lot better now that you aren't defining the individual strands so much. It did cross my mind to mention that before, but I wasn't sure if you were just determined to get the Takeshi Obata look.

[theAnimeRebel]

Hmm... ^^^^

Yes, while a detailed character design is awesome, it's going to be a pain in the butt to draw again, and again, and again...
So even though I really like your designs, you should consider cutting back. I know, it'll kill yah. (Kills me, anyway)

Unless these are just for fun, and not a manga/comic or anything like that, in which case... yeah whatever, go all out.

[Rubisko]

On the contrary to what AnimeRebel said, I think a detailed design is better for a comic. You can always play with light and other stuff to hide them when they are unnecessary, but it's hard to do the same thing to create detail when you need it.

As nisaren said, silhouette is important because you don't want to confuse the audience about which character they see. For example in many of your sketches Havel and Qayin have very similar collars, and that may be confusing.
The next second thing in my opinion is to have a nice mix of positive and negative space in your design, or in other words a good mix of light and dark. Use a pen or preferably a marker instead of a pencil and make series of thumbnails. I heard the expression "work form the outside and in" somewhere, and it seems to be a good rule =)

[Demonfyre]

I don't really have any critiques, I just wanted to express how awesome your sketches are

[BunnyVoid]

@Nisaren: Thanks for your suggestions and techniques. I happen to be in the middle of an argument with myself on whether I should pursue a more accessorized look (like finalfantasy designs) or a more functional design (which is supposed to be easier since I see it in real life). It also occurred to me that Havel really has to be distinct since he's main protagonist so the suggestion about silhouettes is really helpful. I'll pose some drawings with those applications soon but for now I'm still trying to understand its usage and practice. Really nisaren, your comments are golden. Its so nice to hear from you.

@Gaff: Thanks! I owe it to you guys. And yes I admit I was attempting Obata's style. Looking at his creations helped me overcome the grudge that i have against drawing hair. Back then, it was easier for me to do hair in clumps. Since I'm more familiar with how hair falls on the head now, i think i can handle it without that clumping style.

@tAR: Thanks! i think I'll conceptualize some more designs. I would like to achieve a design with details that is balanced in terms of functionality and aesthetics. I hope i can still improve on it.

@Rubisko: Thank you. I've seen some examples of the outside in drawing on your thread. They're are quite helpful. I still need to understand it some more before posting anything worth of critique. I will try to research on positive and negative spaces. i think I have heard of it but not yet in design terms but of photography. I will look up the things you guys said.

@Demonfyre: Thanks James, I still think your sketches are most awesome! They inspire me. Mine's still rush and fragmented...

Thanks Everyone. Those we're really helpful.

For now a quick 5 minute sketch of BTOOM!'s lead character Ryota Sakamoto. I really like this manga. He reminds me of myself.

Btooom is by Junya Inoue
Ryota is owned by Junya Inoue

This recently had an anime adaptation by madhouse. I already have copies but i won't watch it yet since I wanna read the manga first. I really like this manga, along with other battle mangas like Gintama and Gantz. I just recently finished available chapters of Gantz and yeahhh its an amazing experience.

To my surprise, my new hair styling is pretty similar to Junya Inoue so yay for that. I didn't realize that until now...

On the other hand, this is good practice for foreshortening and pose. I'm trying to explore more poses like my previous entry (Qayin and mosquito) in battle and this one. I hope it is better. Please critique those things specifically. Thanks in advance. Your comments are golden. Hope to incorporate more comments soon.