The sketch thread!

[Makasu]

Spoiler: So no?

I'm guessing it'll have to be Mordin. Just because whilst I REALLY like Kasumi. I do want people to be able to identify with the picture. :p So Maybe I'll just make different versions and ultimately submit the one that looks the best.

I was going to color Kasumi like half cloaked and whatnot.

 

[zchin]

I really like the hood on the person... Always hate drawing hoods...



trying to improve my sideview angle... any help on it?

Tyahand

 

[Venetia]

@makasu: i'm biased against kasumi b/c i never had the dlc. but i'm sure many people like her. in any case, i'd recommend nudging her over closer to shep. see how liara is mostly behind her? it looks weird that kasumi is so pulled away. like she's trying to hog the attention.

@zchin: i like the bandana! the line of her neck is too close to the chin, though. makes her look like she has a super thick stumpish neck :x.


hah, i just was going through my old things, and i found this sketch i did 3 years ago.

Spoiler: cori

the wings are implausibly big on such a tiny frame and her hand is a tad small etc but for some reason i'm rather attached to this :3.

also found this, which is just as old, but i think i may have shown it before. oh well, memories

Spoiler: neph

wish i still had time to draw ...

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

Ahhhhhh, Ven I love your sketches!!! <333 Especially the first one.

Seriously, you guys have inspired me to draw in realism recently with my characters. I drew something up real quick of the main female characters, but I haven't scanned it quite yet (one of them is kind of incorrect, lols.

I want to draw something totally badass with Aelina and her scythe, but I can't find any poses of a girl holding a pole or something (and with her body type). :X

But yeah, you and Makasu are my inspirations in art. ^^

 

[Jason]

To be honest, I'd love for either Ven or Makasu to have a bash at drawing Jesus Brist (My avatar duh...) in their styles, because I really do love their line work and stuff...

 

[Perihelion]

Nice sketches, Ven! You guys are making me want to draw! I really need to get better at drawing characters.

 

[Makasu]

Jbrist: challenge accepted!

V: trust me she's already been nudged since I drew everyone on one layer I draw them further apart and then she them over. I just know I should have finished the drawing ages ago. :p nonetheless like I've stated nothing is final so who knows how the end product well be!

Amazing drawings btw! Whatever happened to your game?

Strawberry: moi? An inspiration? I think not as you are the inspiration/motivation to make me want to draw! You're making amazing strides in your art and every piece you post shows the experimentation/learning that I've neglected. So you keep up the amazing work! you drawing keeps me drawing.

Zchin: I really like that brush! The piece as well but what is that protruding from the neck region??

 

[Venetia]

Amazing drawings btw! Whatever happened to your game?

I had to put it on hiatus until something magically happens that gives me tons of free time in my day. (;x)
The world and all its lore started as a novel though, so I've been trying to slowly revisit it as a novel. With a lot of changes. For one, the humanoid species of the world are getting a 100% redesign. No more giant batwings and catpaws. Originally designed the characters when I was 16, long before furries were a thing. I can do better now.

I was hoping to make the book into a semi-illustrated one. Figured that would be a neat angle. Not a full graphic novel but a heavily illustrated one. IDK.
At the very least I would like to finish writing the damn stories.




heh i just also found an avatar i had been working on a number of months back. was supposed to match my minecraft sprite. the one on the right was an older attempt at drawing my normal avatar (instead of having the pixelled one), but then i realized that it looked somewhat creepier when translated into a detailed drawing.

i know there are other old sketches floating about in the ether but i cant seem to find them. every single one horrifically incomplete. i think in my whole life, i've only finished like maybe 10 pieces. which i summarily began to loathe shortly after finishing so ... maybe that's why i dont ever seem to finish anything.

 

[Jason]

What program do you guys use for drawing by the way? I've been using Illustrator but maybe there's something better? I've not even tried using Photoshop for drawing properly lol... which reminds me, I should buy a new tablet so I can start drawing again, for some reason the one I have now doesn't like working with my monitor, it won't go all the way to the edges, it's weird... and it doesn't have a pressure sensitive nib either...

 

[mawk]

I've found that both Paint Tool SAI and Manga Studio are capable of much smoother lines than Photoshop -- I'm not sure what kind of vectorization or whatever is behind it, but I'm a fan. I use SAI mainly, though. I only touched Manga Studio long enough to conclude (wrongly) that it was mainly for panel cleanup, typesetting, and other final touches.

 

[Venetia]

What program do you guys use for drawing by the way? I've been using Illustrator but maybe there's something better?

i usually use photoshop. sometimes the paint tool in flash. illustrator only if i have to smooth curves or clean jaggedy things. illustrator is a pain in the ass for raw drawing. i really hate it sometimes but it's more precise than flash.

I've not even tried using Photoshop for drawing properly lol... which reminds me, I should buy a new tablet so I can start drawing again, for some reason the one I have now doesn't like working with my monitor, it won't go all the way to the edges, it's weird... and it doesn't have a pressure sensitive nib either...

i've never seen a 16:10/16:9 tablet. i don't doubt that they make them. but most are 4:3. that means that, if you have a widescreen monitor, it will not line up properly. if your tablet has optimization software, you should be able to dictate what parts of the screen are devoted to your tablet.
if you buy a better tablet it will def come with the software.
a better tablet makes a massive world of difference. its not like the difference between a $.20 pencil and a fancy one, it's more like the difference between a shitty galopy pickup truck and a super souped-up luxury sportscar.

 

[Jason]

Does Photoshop have some sort of a smoothing tool for lines? Because that's the only reason I haven't tried it, I've done a little dabbing in it using my mouse, but the lines didn't come out too well, I like how both Illustrator and Flash smooth and curve your lines for you, it makes it look so much more... professional and clean

 

[Venetia]

that means you like vector lines. photoshop's tools only draw raster. you should learn the differences between raster and vector.

well, photoshop also has vector tools but they are more limited and not really worth it to use for drawing purposes. see the pen tool & freeform line tool if you care to draw vector lines in photoshop.

if you are worried about making extremely smooth lines in photoshop then you need:
1.) a really good tablet
2.) a really steady hand
3.) to pay careful attention to brush settings, and keep it at 100% hardness
4.) to work only in very large resolutions (>2000px)

vector drawings have limitations.
you can't "feint" linework. less exact. can't blend. you'll never see photoreal color work with vectors.
vector lines are sets of numbers of coordinates. if you have hundreds to thousands of lines in a document, it will cause your computer to hang and have difficulty responding, as it is constantly re-rendering all of these lines over and over again.
if you're not sure what i mean, export a vector drawing from Illustrator or Inkscape as an SVG. Open the SVG with Notepad++. You'll see that it's just thousands and thousands of lines of coordinate/attribute code.

 

[Jason]

Yeah I know what you mean about vectors making your computer hang, I've had it happen before lol... I'll try using Photoshop and whatever this raster thing is lol, is that how you get sort of sketchy lines like what Makasu has? (And your cori character)

 

[Venetia]

Everything of mine on this page was drawn raster with Photoshop.

But yes it's easier to achieve a sketchy look.

Most of all, move in broad strokes, and work only with very very large documents. I typically won't work with anything smaller than 2500px x 2500px. Avoid super fancy brushes. I work only with the most basic round brush, at 100% hardness, usually only at 3px-8px in diameter. Then for brush settings I do brush smoothing, and set the diameter based on pen pressure. Avoid the airbrush setting for final linework and go with 100% opacity.

 

[zchin]

Ugh... never going to understand vectos and such in photoshop or any other program using it... Although I might look into using manga studio...



Tried to edit the face a bit... still need a lot of help with sideviews...

Tyahand

 

[Makasu]

I use photoshop with default brush. Nothing to fancy. Every now and then I use like this weird texture brush (which I'm currently using on the ME drawing) Idk why I use it. It does basically the same thing a regular round brush would use. Every now and then I use SAI but very seldom will you find me using it. Every since I got a tablet that decides it likes photoshop's pressure sensitivity I've not looked back. But I have all sorts of programs. Sketchbook Pro, Photoshop CS5, SAI, Painter is somewhere on my laptop but I have so much stuff I can't even find it. And I'm too lazy to bother looking for it. :p

 

[dcbd]

Spoiler: cat girl concepts for future project

Spoiler: random character concepts done in about an hour

only male i drew for some reason, eye might be too high...

 

[bacon]

20 min warmup sketch

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

@Zchin - It's not bad for a first sideview, (if it is your first) but I'm still thinking the neck needs to be pushed back further. But to be honest, I can't draw sideviews to save my life. D=

@Bacon (your new name can't fool me!) - My favorite part are the branches on the head. Not sure why. XD I still want to learn how to use my tablet! ><

Ooooooohhhhh, that's because that site is now dead and was replaced. ;_;

Horrible drawings? Did I say that? XD Yeah, I'm not a good artist. >>

Here is a portrait of Rysen Dalargo - the main character of a comic I want to work on again with my fiance. He's the artist, and has been too busy. ;_; The comic takes place 450 years after Ghost Shards, but it will not spoil much. ^^

This is a portrait of his partner/self-proclaimed manager: Lyn Allura. She is Minikin, standing at about 3 feet tall. Her size does not reflect her age. :3

Set in the same universe of the comic and Ghost Shards, is a story I'm writing. This is the "cover" (I was bored). It take place 2 years before the comic, and tells certain events surrounding the Royal City of Launus in the kingdom of Ebion. This is the of the main character, Corinne Rautio and the prince Alyster.

Thanks for looking/reading. :3