My Unfinished Heavy Infantryman Portrait

major_sephiroth · Post by **major_sephiroth** » January 26th, 2007, 8:11 am

Hi all, I was bored today and drew a heavy infantryman portrait, I have made it Black and White, but I am not nearly good enough to finish him off, so I will give it to everybody, do with it as you please.

Post by **irrevenant** » January 26th, 2007, 11:17 am

I'm not sure if you're seeking critique, but here's a tip anyway.

It looks like you just freehanded the outline. Until you're very, very good (and generally even then) you don't want to do that. Sketch out the underlying body plan, then 'ink' the outer layer. The head is the same size as the torso.

I'd also suggest working on paper first. It looks to me like you're working at a scale on the PC that's making it hard to achieve precision.

All that said, I wouldn't be so quick to give up on yourself. This artwork is clearly nowhere near ready for Wesnoth, but it's a start. This is a decent concept-sketch, composition-wise.

I'm not going to say that you're a good artist at the moment, but IMO, you definitely could be if you worked at it. And posting this suggests you have the inclination.

P.S. Such a simple picture doesn't need to be so large. Official Wesnoth portraits are 205x205 and this pic is simpler.

Post by **zookeeper** » January 26th, 2007, 11:37 am

The sheer helpfulness of certain parts of our art community no matter what the circumstances overwhelms me once again.

Post by **Jetrel** » January 26th, 2007, 1:41 pm

To call a spade a spade, you're terrible at drawing.

But don't write yourself off - you may have a good deal of talent, waiting to get woken up*. Just because you're not presentable at doing art right now, and haven't been some prodigy in your earlier years, or something, doesn't mean you couldn't be a genius later (like Van Gogh, whose early works were about as good as this, and whose later works were masterpieces).

My best suggestion for you is to grab a copy of "Drawing on the right side of the brain", and go to town; it's the best book I've seen for someone at your skill level.

*even I had to start where you're currently at, and believe it or not, I started there less than three years ago.

Post by **Kestenvarn** » January 26th, 2007, 3:48 pm

I was tempted to put a joke here, but I'll abstain due to the above comments.

Yes, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is a good book. Helps break through the mental blocks people have built for themselves.

major_sephiroth · Post by **major_sephiroth** » January 27th, 2007, 12:33 am

Thanks for all the constructive critisim, and irrevenant, I did draw this on paper, I scanned it into the computer and just outlined it in black, and thats about it. I didn't take much time doing that (5~7 minutes) so I guess I could do better. Jetryl, yes I know I am terrible at drawing, and you are not the only one who says that either. Kestenvarn, I am amazed that you didn't put a joke there. I have another Picture, it is a lord of some sort, with (hopefully) Team Coloured Hair. It is mostly Cut and Paste, though I did do parts myself.

EDIT: He didn't Show up, he should now.

Post by **irrevenant** » January 27th, 2007, 12:49 am

major_sephiroth wrote:Thanks for all the constructive critisim, and irrevenant, I did draw this on paper, I scanned it into the computer and just outlined it in black, and thats about it.

In that case I suggest doing your digital 'inking' with a program that has an anti-aliased 'paintbrush' eg. "The GIMP". It makes the lines look less pixelated.

I assume you inked with mouse (as opposed to a graphics tablet)? You can often get smoother lines with a mouse by zooming out further to draw.

I'd suggest taking more time getting it right on paper before you ink, though.

major_sephiroth · Post by **major_sephiroth** » January 27th, 2007, 1:01 am

... I used Gimp, a mouse and was at 200% Zoom when I 'inked' and I used the hard edged Pencil. Spot on irrevenant.

charlieg · Post by **charlieg** » February 1st, 2007, 11:43 am

Please tell me this thread is a joke. Honestly. That drawing is too simple, too poor, too child-like to be a serious attempt.

Gorzan · Post by **Gorzan** » February 9th, 2007, 3:12 am

I was working on my own heavy infantry portrait, but I don't mean to intervene, but I think it would be pointless to make another topic of the same thing. Oh this is my first time trying to do this... well actually first time doing any kind of art in paint, so opinions/feeback are welcome.

Cuyo Quiz · Post by **Cuyo Quiz** » February 9th, 2007, 3:33 am

Hmmm... that makes me wonder if the HIs wear decors as marks that they are the retainers or champions of their commander/land/lord/army.

The Knights seem like they could wear various decorations on their helemts as their sigils, and their HIs could do so too... *aww crap, now i want to know what is the most fitting royal symbol for Wesnoth. They wouldn't dare to have something too different (after all they are equivalent to the highest knightly caste), and it would be in their best interest to have unifying AND distinctive elements (are the clerical Orders kingdom sponsored?).

*iDerail

major_sephiroth · Post by **major_sephiroth** » February 9th, 2007, 6:19 am

Gorzan, that is brilliant! And my portrait was half a joke, because it was so bad.

Post by **Sgt. Groovy** » February 9th, 2007, 10:17 am

On Gorzan's version: The biggest problem is inconsistent lighting, the shoulder patches and mace are lighted from above, while the cuirass and helmet are lighted from below/front. The linework could use more anti-aliasing, the thumb is completely wrong (mirror is your friend!) and the design of the armour is bit too cartoony to fit in with the general style. The red scarf is way too bright, it looks self-illuminating.

The pose is problematic in that it's "in the block", as Jetryl would say, meaning everything is aligned with the paper surface, which makes the pose static and dull. Usually the portrait position is not directly frontal, but in this case it might work, because, especially if you would make the lighting consistently from below, it would make the unit look as menacing as it's supposed to be. But some breakage from the block would make it look more dynamic. maybe have the body directed a bit away from the spectator.

Eru · Post by **Eru** » February 9th, 2007, 3:00 pm

@Gorzan : I suggest you try to look at ref instead of just imagining things and working on individual parts only , do the piece as a whole , avoi pillow shading , make a lightsource and light from it , fix the hand it's really wierd , and on my personal taste the weapon is really wierd , you should reshape it from scrath , and maybe add some more colour to the piece as a whole

Gorzan · Post by **Gorzan** » February 9th, 2007, 8:34 pm

Well this is my first time doing an art work, for the lighting and remake the mace i think i can do that but not to sure on how to make it less "cartoony" though. As for the hand... I never drew hands before so not to sure if i can improve it. But the feeback is what I need to improve.