Digital Sketch Book (High Bandwidth)

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Man, your proportions are so much better than even a week ago.
I think you still need to work on rigid-ness of the body, but they all look good. (Picture 2 is entirely rigid and number 3 in the legs is too rigid. I think)

Now start detailing them so they're more than sketches.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Really looking good now - I haven't seen any of these save for a couple!

I particularly like the blue guy with the huge machine gun and the two guys with magnums (reminds me of Boondock Saints, actually). Oh, and the guy with the big gun above the two magnum tards - really cool angle and style.

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-- midkay

Reminds me of Necrons :smile:

You need more confidence with your linework, man! Try drawing with 100% opacity and 100% flow for a while, so you rely less on pen pressure as a crutch.

Crono: Thanks man. I'm hesitant to detail before I can get rid of the stiffness. I want to be able to draw loose and quick and get some really natural looking figure sketches before I start detailing.

Midkay: Thanks. The first and last three were photo referenced.

FT: I'm not familiar with necrons... I was channeling starcraft instead :smile:

CJ: 100% Flow? I'll try drawing with max opacity. I guess it'd be more like pen sketches then pencil sketches.

I'm surprised by the feedback! I thought this art forum was dead :smile:

That's cool, can I see the ref pic for the two guys with magnums or whatever? :smile:

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-- midkay

You're gonna laugh:


:kitty:

Hah, that's hilarious :biggrin:

Necrons are a race from Warhammer 40k:



It's a bad image, my internet is mad slow.

I don't think it's a bad thing to sketch with low opacity or pressure sensitivity. When I draw with a pencil, I usually start with very light lines as I try to 'find' the form. Then, when I feel like I've hit it, I go in with strong lines. You should try the same approach with your digital sketching.

You should also try defining shapes with values, as well as lines. Digital is perfect for this kind of practice, as it is so forgiving. Take a picture and just try to nail the values in black and white. If you are using photoshop, you can sketch out the lineart on one layer, throw it to the top of the stack, set the blending mode to 'multiply'. Now, create a layer below that and use it to paint the values. With this method you can see the lineart and you won't mess it up.

btw... what kind of tablet did you get?

All this stuff is making me want to dig up my Graphire 3 again and start learning again. :razz: Good job and keep up the good work.

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''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
Dystopia - Empires

Well yes, drawing with low opacity is fine - heck, any technique that gets you results is fine. I just think that drawing with full opacity forces you to think about your lines a bit more and should result in less scribbling. I know it's also an especially good exercise for digital painting, to make you think about colors and light more before setting (digital) paint to (digital) paper.

Graphire4, 6x8. The only problem I've had with it so far is that when I'm sketching quickly, I find the lines aren't smooth. I have to slow it down if I want a truly smooth oval for a head, for example.

If you are using photoshop, there is an option in your brush menu called 'smoothing'. If this isn't checked off for each brush you use, you will geometric circles, instead of nice smooth ones.

What program do you use to draw?

I'm using photoshop 6. The tablet came with Corel Painter Essentials 2 but so far I prefer photoshop.

I can't seem to find the brush menu you're talking about.

Hmm... not sure about photoshop 6. DId you look under Window/brushes? It should be in the panel that lets you configure your brush size and pressure sensitivity options. Then again, it may have only been implemented in version 7 and CS.

Yeah... I can't seem to find it. I've had Photoshop 6 for something like 6 or 7 years now. Maybe I should have invested in a newer version :razz:

Edit: I can just use Corel Painter Essentials 2. I don't have the problem there.

Pencil and paper sketches of my left arm:

wow, did you have some old guys left arm grafted on? :biggrin:

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i eat paint

Haha, I may have overrendered it. But I am skinny and veiny.

Less sketchy: