A portrait that needs constructive critics

martenzo · Post by **martenzo** » April 23rd, 2006, 3:23 pm

Here's a portrait I made. Just a skecth right now. Some comments about it too:
It's meant for Spacenoth, not wesnoth, I posted it here, because there are more artists here and this forum is more active.
Also, he has no left ear, it's not supposed to be there, so no comments about him not having a left ear. (It was shot off by a laser rifle)
It's also up on the spacenoth forum, but due to the low activity there, I mostly look here for tips and comments.

Dragon Master · Post by **Dragon Master** » April 23rd, 2006, 3:29 pm

errmm... well....it's a start..uhhh
1)Don't make a protrait on lined paper
2)Take a good look at anatomy of some faces

Ranger M · Post by **Ranger M** » April 23rd, 2006, 6:13 pm

Umm...

Look at Wesnoth's spearman portrait, see how the face is done there, and then try imitating that (not exactly, but in general shape).

If the problem is that you can't draw (I can't either) then so what I do and start on your laptop in whatever you are doing it in.

ps, I would comment in the Spacenoth forums, but I can't get onto it because of my school's firewall. It's also the reason why I can't see the Sacrcen images which Xan posted (it blocks arcune.org), but that's getting a bit OT.

SmokemJags · Post by **SmokemJags** » April 24th, 2006, 12:04 am

Silly thread is --------------->

JW · Post by JW » April 24th, 2006, 12:10 am

Absurdity is contagious.

Cuyo Quiz · Post by **Cuyo Quiz** » April 24th, 2006, 12:14 am

Wouldn't he need some sort of helmet. Not a closed one mind you, just something to protect the brain.

*feels the brainstrom tickle coming closer to the brain*

JW wrote:Absurdity is contagious.

That is it!. Eureka!.

Now i have to find a way to kill Jags and JW, damn.

martenzo · Post by **martenzo** » April 24th, 2006, 8:49 am

More notes:
He's meant to be an officer, so no helmet will come. This mainly meant as a dialogue portrait.
I used lined paper as I didn't have anything else avalible at the time.
I can't draw.

I think I'll redo it on paper, before I start mking it an 'inked' digital image.

Post by **freim** » April 24th, 2006, 9:02 am

martenzo wrote: I can't draw.

Then the only suitable comment would be "learn to draw" then I guess. To be perfectly honest that portrait is about as bad as it can get. You need to practice a lot before you should even think about scanning it and shade/color it. Look for the links jetryl has posted on the forum and wiki for learning to draw better.

The proportions are just way off, the whole thing is skewed. The nose looks like a hole in his head. Features aren't defined, ....

Sorry to be so harsh, but I fear the bottom line is you will need months before you can produce anything half-decent if this is the best you can do atm.

Post by **Kestenvarn** » April 24th, 2006, 9:54 am

It's true.

Ranger M · Post by **Ranger M** » April 24th, 2006, 9:55 am

martenzo wrote:I can't draw.

Ranger M wrote:If the problem is that you can't draw (I can't either) then so what I do and start on your laptop in whatever you are doing it in.

the slution to your problem, don't (as I said). Although my drawing is slightly better than yours (only just) that doesn't matter when I am doing portraits, etc, because I can get by just as well with a good sketch done in GIMP (even just a basic outline does it for me), and then the rest can all be added on my Laptop.

If you really want to learn how to draw with pencil and paper, then I would advise either getting a lot of practice, or getting a book on the subject (they do help a lot)

Post by **fmunoz** » April 24th, 2006, 12:24 pm

Constructive criticism:
1st step: Go to the wiki Art tutorial sections
2nd step: Search in the external ones and find one about general portrait drawing like :
http://www.anticz.com/heads.htm or better http://fineart.sk/index.php?cat=14 (Each image is a scanned page of a Loomis book)
3rd step: Read it carefully.
4th step: Try drawing again using what you learned.
5th step: Post it here and get to flammed by the forum evil people
6th step: Go back to step 3 until the only crits are about not really important things and you are happy with your drawings

...
nth step: Profit!!!

Post by **Jetrel** » April 24th, 2006, 11:44 pm

Most important thing:
Never give up.

Anyone who is serious about art, time and time again, will fear that they are doomed to mediocrity. If you really believe that, then it will be a "self-fullfilling prophecy". In order to get better, you will need to keep trying again and again, but you'll also need to do so intelligently - doing the exact same thing over and over again isn't going accomplish much.

As clichÃƒÂ© as it is, I'd try and grab a copy of "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" - it's actually quite a good book for beginners. You're drawing things symbolically, this book teaches you how to break that habit.

P.S - Welcome to the club.

Ranger M · Post by **Ranger M** » April 24th, 2006, 11:58 pm

Jetryl wrote:Most important thing:
Never give up.

Anyone who is serious about art, time and time again, will fear that they are doomed to mediocrity. If you really believe that, then it will be a "self-fullfilling prophecy". In order to get better, you will need to keep trying again and again, but you'll also need to do so intelligently - doing the exact same thing over and over again isn't going accomplish much.

Listen to the Truth and believe.

trust me, you will get those moments (particaullarly after seeing somebody make art twice as good, twice as fast) when you just look at what you are doing and think, bugger it, this'll never work, who was I kidding? but carry on anyway, and you will succede (eventually)

*crosses fingers and hopes that the last bit applies to self too*

martenzo · Post by **martenzo** » April 25th, 2006, 4:17 am

[sigh]

That about explains how I feel.

kshinji · Post by **kshinji** » April 25th, 2006, 3:31 pm

There are two possiblilities:

this topic was a joke: everybody excpet martenzo are, uhm, lets say silly
this topic wasnt a joke: martenzo is

Dont get abused.