Few sketches for portraits
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Sgt. Groovy
- Art Contributor
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Few sketches for portraits
Hi everyone. I'm new to Wesnoth, I came upon it when I was looking for open source games for Linux. My first thought was "Nah, strategy games are boring", but I decided to give it a shot anyway. That was few weeks ago, now I'm busy making my own campaign.
I like to draw, and I thought I might as well do some art for Wesnoth while I'm at it. Here are some sketches for portraits, first there is a very quick attempt at dwarvish guardsman, then a duelist and a fencer (master at arms is also on its way). I would appreciate suggestions/criticism before I start to ink and colour them.
I like to draw, and I thought I might as well do some art for Wesnoth while I'm at it. Here are some sketches for portraits, first there is a very quick attempt at dwarvish guardsman, then a duelist and a fencer (master at arms is also on its way). I would appreciate suggestions/criticism before I start to ink and colour them.
- Attachments
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- Fencer
- fencer2.png (39.06 KiB) Viewed 7420 times
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- Duelist
- duelist.png (37.68 KiB) Viewed 7417 times
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- Dwarvish Guardsman
- dwarfguard.png (51.5 KiB) Viewed 7420 times
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Elvish_Pillager
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Pretty cool portraits. 
That, and by a new user who acts like he actually drew what he posted (we get fakers around here every so often) and will follow up on it. 
The Dwarf is totally side on, it makes him look weird; maybe you could munge the perspective in a few places.
The Fencer is quite out of keeping with the sprite, although I suppose this isn't a great problem either.
That, and by a new user who acts like he actually drew what he posted (we get fakers around here every so often) and will follow up on it. The Dwarf is totally side on, it makes him look weird; maybe you could munge the perspective in a few places.
The Fencer is quite out of keeping with the sprite, although I suppose this isn't a great problem either.
It's all fun and games until someone loses a lawsuit. Oh, and by the way, sending me private messages won't work. :/ If you must contact me, there's an e-mail address listed on the website in my profile.
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Flametrooper
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Elvish_Pillager
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Because it isn't a sword. It's a poniard.Flametrooper wrote:why's the fencer's left sword so short?
(and it's not his left - it's his right - I think that must mean he's left handed?
)It's all fun and games until someone loses a lawsuit. Oh, and by the way, sending me private messages won't work. :/ If you must contact me, there's an e-mail address listed on the website in my profile.
I think the fencer is the best one. The swords look like that because they're are pointed at you. He bears a resemblance to Tom Cruise.Flametrooper wrote:[nit-pick]
The duelist looks female, and why's the fencer's left sword so short? It looks like a shard.
[/nit-pick]
Other than that, they are pretty good, much better than what I could do.
The duelist has a weird ear and big neck, but I like the detail.
Hope springs eternal.
Wesnoth acronym guide.
Wesnoth acronym guide.
If those are just quick sketches then I'd say you'll be able to get quite a few portraits in. Those look like they'll only need minor corrections to go in already. (And correct coloring / shading of course.)
WesCamp-i18n - Translations for User Campaigns:
http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/WesCamp
Translators for all languages required: contact me. No geek skills required!
http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/WesCamp
Translators for all languages required: contact me. No geek skills required!
Not bad. Not bad at all.
There are a few things I'd want to run over with you - some issues that I see with these drawings, but you have some serious, serious potential here. And I really want to get you up to speed with drawing things that will fit the style of the game.
Foremost, we'll need to have the final versions cell-shaded or better - whatever you do has to be matted onto a black background, and pencil is generally not the most conducive to doing so. You could use pencil as a guide for digital painting, though I suspect that cell-shading is the easiest way to go. If you don't have any experience with this, I'm happy to help you out - I've been working with Thrawn, and have prepared at least one of his portraits for use in-game. This cell-shading stuff can be done with a program like the Gimp, or Photoshop.
As a word of warning - I will edit your works. I'm happy to give you the authority over whether or not you approve of my edits, and I won't put anything in game that you don't like; I think you have a right to that as the creator. It's simply that - doing this is the easiest way to do critiques and such - as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Not only can I save myself tons of typing, by just posting an edit, but in fact, posting only words often fails to get the point across. I hope you're cool with this - I'll respect your rights as an artist, and give you all the credit for the work, but open source has a strong collaborative element to it, and it really helps to get the work done fast.
Issues:
• Mostly it's foreshortening problems with the limbs. The dwarf has a bit of this with his rear arm, and legs, and the fencer has this with the elbows. Part of this some foreshortening problems with general elliptical shapes. This is something I've had to struggle with as well, and I hope I can you with this.
• The fencer's hairline is inconsistent with the way his head is turned. It should be further forward. The line delineating the back of his neck is also a bit too far back.
• The dwarf's foot is turned the wrong way; in fact something in the direction of his lower legs and head is out of agreement. I'm not quite sure what it is, right now.
Strong points:
• Nice costuming ideas. And also decent execution, especially on some aspects, such as the folds in fabric (esp. on duelist's pants).
• Nice poses.
• Good characterization.
We're gonna have to work with this a bit, but I do believe we can solve those issues, and hammer these into a style that will mesh with the work that's in the game.
I'm looking forward to more of your work.
There are a few things I'd want to run over with you - some issues that I see with these drawings, but you have some serious, serious potential here. And I really want to get you up to speed with drawing things that will fit the style of the game.
Foremost, we'll need to have the final versions cell-shaded or better - whatever you do has to be matted onto a black background, and pencil is generally not the most conducive to doing so. You could use pencil as a guide for digital painting, though I suspect that cell-shading is the easiest way to go. If you don't have any experience with this, I'm happy to help you out - I've been working with Thrawn, and have prepared at least one of his portraits for use in-game. This cell-shading stuff can be done with a program like the Gimp, or Photoshop.
As a word of warning - I will edit your works. I'm happy to give you the authority over whether or not you approve of my edits, and I won't put anything in game that you don't like; I think you have a right to that as the creator. It's simply that - doing this is the easiest way to do critiques and such - as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Not only can I save myself tons of typing, by just posting an edit, but in fact, posting only words often fails to get the point across. I hope you're cool with this - I'll respect your rights as an artist, and give you all the credit for the work, but open source has a strong collaborative element to it, and it really helps to get the work done fast.
Issues:
• Mostly it's foreshortening problems with the limbs. The dwarf has a bit of this with his rear arm, and legs, and the fencer has this with the elbows. Part of this some foreshortening problems with general elliptical shapes. This is something I've had to struggle with as well, and I hope I can you with this.
• The fencer's hairline is inconsistent with the way his head is turned. It should be further forward. The line delineating the back of his neck is also a bit too far back.
• The dwarf's foot is turned the wrong way; in fact something in the direction of his lower legs and head is out of agreement. I'm not quite sure what it is, right now.
Strong points:
• Nice costuming ideas. And also decent execution, especially on some aspects, such as the folds in fabric (esp. on duelist's pants).
• Nice poses.
• Good characterization.
We're gonna have to work with this a bit, but I do believe we can solve those issues, and hammer these into a style that will mesh with the work that's in the game.
I'm looking forward to more of your work.
Probably meaning to be the duelist, right?Jetryl wrote: • The fencer's hairline is inconsistent with the way his head is turned. It should be further forward. The line delineating the back of his neck is also a bit too far back.
"It is time people learned about their failures and my successes."
Uhh.... yeah. Shame on me. 
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Kestenvarn
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These look very nice. I like the fencer best, although the dwarven guard is good as well. The duelist has some odd symbolism going on in the face, though.
Skip the nitpick when you don't know what you are talking about, please.
Flametrooper wrote:[nit-pick]
and why's the fencer's left sword so short? It looks like a shard.
[/nit-pick]
Skip the nitpick when you don't know what you are talking about, please.
The fencer is definitely first-rate! Once it's properly colored, I hope it can go right in. And the costuming on all of them is excellent.
With the duelist, though, in addition to the points that Jetryl made, it seems like his head is slightly out of proportion to his body--slightly too big, to be precise. It's close enough to proportionate that he looks more emaciated than distorted--but I don't think that was the effect you were going for.
The dwarf...needs work. Most notably, the feet (as Jetryl mentioned) and the hand on the shield. But overall, compared to the others, it looks like a rough sketch, not a finished one. Stylisticly, I would also make the shoulders much broader. Dwarves should, IMO, be short, broad and stocky. This guy is just short.
Maybe the thing that bugs me the most about the dwarf, though. is that I recognize most of its flaws from my own art--and I can tell from the other pictures that you can do much better, and that makes me jealous!
With the duelist, though, in addition to the points that Jetryl made, it seems like his head is slightly out of proportion to his body--slightly too big, to be precise. It's close enough to proportionate that he looks more emaciated than distorted--but I don't think that was the effect you were going for.
The dwarf...needs work. Most notably, the feet (as Jetryl mentioned) and the hand on the shield. But overall, compared to the others, it looks like a rough sketch, not a finished one. Stylisticly, I would also make the shoulders much broader. Dwarves should, IMO, be short, broad and stocky. This guy is just short.
Maybe the thing that bugs me the most about the dwarf, though. is that I recognize most of its flaws from my own art--and I can tell from the other pictures that you can do much better, and that makes me jealous!
"When a man is tired of Ankh-Morpork, he is tired of ankle-deep slurry" -- Catroaster
Legal, free live music: Surf Coasters at Double Down Saloon, Las Vegas on 2005-03-06. Tight, high-energy Japanese Surf-Rock.
Legal, free live music: Surf Coasters at Double Down Saloon, Las Vegas on 2005-03-06. Tight, high-energy Japanese Surf-Rock.
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Sgt. Groovy
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Thank y'all for the feedback, it is most helpful (it never ceases to suprise me how much easier it is to spot other people's mistakes than one's own). I will take it all into consideration before I'll process the pictures further.
Here's another take at the dwarvish guardsman. It seems I'll have more to practice before I get the hang of the dwarvish body proportions. One thing I noticed, which is crucial for the 'short broad and stocky' feel, is that they should have rather short neck (an observant viewer will notice that the head has been moved downwards after scanning, but it's maybe still a bit too high).
Here's another take at the dwarvish guardsman. It seems I'll have more to practice before I get the hang of the dwarvish body proportions. One thing I noticed, which is crucial for the 'short broad and stocky' feel, is that they should have rather short neck (an observant viewer will notice that the head has been moved downwards after scanning, but it's maybe still a bit too high).
- Attachments
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- Dwarvish Guardsman, 2nd try
- dwarfguard2.png (54.3 KiB) Viewed 7206 times
Wow, that's a major improvement. And quick too--it takes me a lot longer to do a sketch that detailed. The lowered neck does help--that's a neat trick I'm going to file away. I still think he seems a little too scrawny, but you're definitely on the right track, IMO.
"When a man is tired of Ankh-Morpork, he is tired of ankle-deep slurry" -- Catroaster
Legal, free live music: Surf Coasters at Double Down Saloon, Las Vegas on 2005-03-06. Tight, high-energy Japanese Surf-Rock.
Legal, free live music: Surf Coasters at Double Down Saloon, Las Vegas on 2005-03-06. Tight, high-energy Japanese Surf-Rock.
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Kestenvarn
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Sgt. Groovy
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- Joined: May 22nd, 2006, 9:15 pm
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Now that I compare them, the first dwarf looks more like a hobbit disguised as a dwarf.
Anyway, since the fencer was the unanimous favourite, I decided to finish that first, and here's what I got so far. I'm relatively new to computer shading, but I'm pretty happy with the clothes. What I'm not so happy with are the face and hair. The face has too little detail and the expression is not right; what should have been a mischievious grin turned out to be rather menacing grimace. The problem is that in the original drawing the face was only few centimetres, and that's too little to control the nuances well enough.I should probably draw the face in bigger size and then paste it in place.
And the hair, something bugs me in it, but I'm not sure what. Hair has always been my weak spot anyway.
Anyway, since the fencer was the unanimous favourite, I decided to finish that first, and here's what I got so far. I'm relatively new to computer shading, but I'm pretty happy with the clothes. What I'm not so happy with are the face and hair. The face has too little detail and the expression is not right; what should have been a mischievious grin turned out to be rather menacing grimace. The problem is that in the original drawing the face was only few centimetres, and that's too little to control the nuances well enough.I should probably draw the face in bigger size and then paste it in place.
And the hair, something bugs me in it, but I'm not sure what. Hair has always been my weak spot anyway.
- Attachments
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- Fencer shaded
- fencer.png (206.32 KiB) Viewed 7013 times