It looks like a good start. The hands are definitely small and out of proportion, but looking at your reference, I see it may just be stylization. If not though, definitely take a second look at the hands.
Symmetry modifier auto welds, it's your best friend. not a bad start but for that animeish feel you need to bring that waist in a lot more like it is on your concept.
Thanks for the comments. The arms and hands originally looked a bit too large so I shrunk them down a bit. Might have overdone it... And the ankles do need a little more work.
As the waist, it is too wide at this point. I've been working off a generic female reference to get the anatomy solid (and because all my drawings of my character have her in a dress). Once I'm happy with it, I'll go back and adjust the proportions better fit the stylized look I'm going for.
Body looks alright. It’s in good proportions. The only problem I have is the face. All the face is seriously out of proportion. You have to study the human face and draw it a few times if you don’t understand it. Here is a human female face.
Think about how your artwork would look if it were a real world character. Here’s the difference between a human female and what you have now.
Your character has an incredibly pointy chin. Although female chins are generally more thin and curvy, they don’t come to a point like that. Think of chins as a very subtle extrusion of the face Everyone’s chin has a flat bottom and comes out of the face. It will be noticeable in a side silhouette or even a ¾ view silhouette. Your character also has no real jawline. You have a very subtle curve. From the chin to the ear. It’s almost a straight line. The jaw changes direction then extends to the ear. It’s more subtle in women but it still happens.
The nose is way too small and doesn’t cover enough of the face. It’s too far from the nose and too far from the eyes. You also drew a triangle, not a nose. A nose has nostrils, distinct curves and extrusions. The nose is what separates the eyes before expanding into the forehead. There are all sorts of different noses and they all work with the face in so many different ways. I would use this for reference in order to understand the different types.
http://www.drawspace.com/images/lessons/p08.jpg
The eyes need a lot of work. They are very boxy and have way too much surface area. The eyes don’t get much wider than the lips. You go way past it. The shape is way off. Eyes get thin, then wide, then thin again. Think of the top line as a hill and the bottom as a subtle valley. The aspect ratio favors the length much more than the width unless they have a particular type of expression. Also don’t forget that the eyes are halfway between the head. Yours are too high. The forehead and cheeks come forward beyond the eyes. Think of the area in between the cheeks and forehead as a wedge shape curving into the face. This is so distinct, that most models have topology that conforms to just that part.
I also recommend finding your favorite actress or movie star, and drawing her eyes 20 times, shading included. Do this for 5 different actresses. I would also recommend Paul’s facial expression class.
EDIT: This is a really good tutorial for drawing eyes.
Wow, thanks for the links and in-depth advice. You really know your stuff.
Though I should probably clarify a couple things...
1. This character was created as part of a game project of mine. While I created the basic design, the actual art was done by Brad Waropay. Since I'm auditing this class and have a limited amount of time to spend on it, I decided to save some times and use pre-existing artwork instead of redrawing everything myself. So Brad gets full credit for the drawing.
2. I fully realize that the face doesn't use realistic proportions. You're right about everything you mentioned, the shape and sizes of the eyes, chin, nose, etc... I've done realistic faces before and they look nothing like this. Thing is, all of that was an intentional stylistic choice. The game this character was designed for is a Japanese style strategy RPG and, as such, uses a manga / anime inspired art style. In that style, pointed chins, large eyes, and small noses are quite common.
Looks good so far. The pose seems a little unnatural though, so see if you can't fix that.
ReplyDeleteThe arms and hands seem to beging to disappear into nothingness. Quite tiny even if the character is meat to be cartoony, I dunno, maybe just me.
ReplyDeleteThe ankle area seems to look kind of funky as well.
However, it is a good start, just keep putting those hours into it.
The arms are too thin even if the model will be stylized. I think the hands are too small also.
ReplyDeleteGood start, looking forward to how the head looks.
It looks like a good start. The hands are definitely small and out of proportion, but looking at your reference, I see it may just be stylization. If not though, definitely take a second look at the hands.
ReplyDeleteSymmetry modifier auto welds, it's your best friend.
ReplyDeletenot a bad start but for that animeish feel you need to bring that waist in a lot more like it is on your concept.
Thanks for the comments. The arms and hands originally looked a bit too large so I shrunk them down a bit. Might have overdone it... And the ankles do need a little more work.
ReplyDeleteAs the waist, it is too wide at this point. I've been working off a generic female reference to get the anatomy solid (and because all my drawings of my character have her in a dress). Once I'm happy with it, I'll go back and adjust the proportions better fit the stylized look I'm going for.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBody looks alright. It’s in good proportions. The only problem I have is the face. All the face is seriously out of proportion. You have to study the human face and draw it a few times if you don’t understand it. Here is a human female face.
ReplyDeleteThink about how your artwork would look if it were a real world character. Here’s the difference between a human female and what you have now.
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/1647/41286734.jpg
http://imageshack.us/m/692/6213/42021783.jpg
Your character has an incredibly pointy chin. Although female chins are generally more thin and curvy, they don’t come to a point like that. Think of chins as a very subtle extrusion of the face Everyone’s chin has a flat bottom and comes out of the face. It will be noticeable in a side silhouette or even a ¾ view silhouette. Your character also has no real jawline. You have a very subtle curve. From the chin to the ear. It’s almost a straight line. The jaw changes direction then extends to the ear. It’s more subtle in women but it still happens.
The nose is way too small and doesn’t cover enough of the face. It’s too far from the nose and too far from the eyes. You also drew a triangle, not a nose. A nose has nostrils, distinct curves and extrusions. The nose is what separates the eyes before expanding into the forehead. There are all sorts of different noses and they all work with the face in so many different ways. I would use this for reference in order to understand the different types.
http://www.drawspace.com/images/lessons/p08.jpg
The eyes need a lot of work. They are very boxy and have way too much surface area. The eyes don’t get much wider than the lips. You go way past it. The shape is way off. Eyes get thin, then wide, then thin again. Think of the top line as a hill and the bottom as a subtle valley. The aspect ratio favors the length much more than the width unless they have a particular type of expression. Also don’t forget that the eyes are halfway between the head. Yours are too high. The forehead and cheeks come forward beyond the eyes. Think of the area in between the cheeks and forehead as a wedge shape curving into the face. This is so distinct, that most models have topology that conforms to just that part.
I also recommend finding your favorite actress or movie star, and drawing her eyes 20 times, shading included. Do this for 5 different actresses. I would also recommend Paul’s facial expression class.
EDIT: This is a really good tutorial for drawing eyes.
http://www.ratemydrawings.com/tutorials/portrait/178-Drawing_different_kinds_of_Eyes.html
Wow, thanks for the links and in-depth advice. You really know your stuff.
ReplyDeleteThough I should probably clarify a couple things...
1. This character was created as part of a game project of mine. While I created the basic design, the actual art was done by Brad Waropay. Since I'm auditing this class and have a limited amount of time to spend on it, I decided to save some times and use pre-existing artwork instead of redrawing everything myself. So Brad gets full credit for the drawing.
2. I fully realize that the face doesn't use realistic proportions. You're right about everything you mentioned, the shape and sizes of the eyes, chin, nose, etc... I've done realistic faces before and they look nothing like this. Thing is, all of that was an intentional stylistic choice. The game this character was designed for is a Japanese style strategy RPG and, as such, uses a manga / anime inspired art style. In that style, pointed chins, large eyes, and small noses are quite common.