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FreeMech — Olivia Blanc
Published: 2013-11-02 14:37:16 +0000 UTC; Views: 1298; Favourites: 36; Downloads: 0
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Description
Drew this a week ago and forgot to post. Olivia is probably one of my favorite characters to draw.
With this drawing, I decided to focus mainly on my line-art and honing my stroke(haha). Recently I've been submitting cleaned up sketches for the most part so this is very much needed.
There is a certain direction I'm trying to go in with my art and I've been observing styles that are helping me on this particular journey. Pretty sure none of them are immediately noticeable at this point.
And again, I lied about not posting any Dirty for a while.
May add some effects n shit later. This was done mostly in Sketchbook Pro, but color tones and stuff were added and changed in Photoshop. I'm trying to move most of the workload to SB Pro, because I prefer the brushes for this type of work.
Character belongs to and was drawn by
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Comments: 19
I love your characters and the details you give them. You put so much thought into each one and give each of them an edgy unique look.
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Thanks! I try to aim for practicality then mix it up a bit for their designs.
Most of the time it starts from an initial impression of the character's identity. For her I was thinking, 'vain beauty queen, seemingly dispassionate, and stylish but in a thrifted type of way since she lives in the poorer part of America on the edge of a vast Wasteland,' and this is what I came up with.
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I look forward to seeing her and your other characters in "Dirty"!
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Haha, so ironic. You're trying to clean up your lines, I've been trying to learn to make mine a bit more organic and dirty sometimes! Also likewise I've been trying to achieve my colours in SB, but I still find PS better for cel shaded style, especially when it comes to lighting and tone effects.
On a sidenote, the natural look to your line work has always been one of the traits in your work that really appeals to me. So by all means, refine, but don't overwork it. I've learnt that often the things we see as our weaknesses are the nuances that appeal to others. Just an asset of being a self analytical artist type I guess
Great work anyway dude
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Yeah. The PS is better for lighting and cell shading. But, I've found that I can do a lot with Multiply Layer in SBP for shading with a customized airbrush if I know what colors I need. Still haven't found a solid trick for lighting yet.
And I have no plans to completely change my style. The rough/clean-ish lines aren't so much the problem as the process to achieve them. Most of the work I post started as a rough sketch that (instead of doing my lines over the sketch) I start erasing and fixing to complete because I don't want to abandon the sketch. haha. That process consumes more time than it ought to. This process on the other hand, where I did my roughish sketch, then did lines on a separate layer saves me a lot of time because I'm not trying to perfect the exact thing that is suppose to be flawed. This way, I'm focusing on the flow of the sketch and then the flow of the lines and not trying to transform the former in to the latter. The results are slightly cleaner in my opinion, but I think my overall rough style is still apparent.
If you're having trouble achieving a rougher look it may be your brush choice or your brushstrokes. Try a a softer brush with a wider opacity range (I use customized airbrushes for everything) and try shorter strokes or less measured strokes. I'm sure there are better ways but that's how I do it. Also, I've always been a scratchy drawer and I'm just getting in to longer strokes in recent years so it just kind of happens naturally for me.
I think your infected bear is the best example of the shorter strokes thing even if it is because of his fur. It looks raw and rough and has a lot of energy to it. And I think your Angel is a great example of using short and longer strokes effectively.
And thanks for the comment!
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It's funny that you talk about your sketch becoming the final product, as that's exactly what I've been doing for a while now. I end up 'molding' the sketch rather than using it as a guide. Now I've been practicing the habit of really loose under sketches, almost just illegible squiggly lines, to use as a base for doing refined pencils/lines over. Whilst I'm working on making my lines less technical and more organic, I'm also working on achieving a finer stroke that's more suited to the cel shaded style I favor. Maybe a slight juxtaposition there hehe
I guess if you're serious about your art (as we clearly both are), then you spend a lot of time analysing what you do and don't like about your own work. I'm starting to accept that it's a constant ongoing process!
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I must say, your molded sketches come out very clean.
And yeah, there will always be something we can improve on.
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Haha, thanks, it's taken a lot of practice-only for the end result to feel a little sterile to me!
The problem is I need to be able to change an idea quickly, early on, for clients etc(for a career in art), which is why I'm trying to make looser rougher sketches and work from them. Rather than spending too long working on them.
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Yeah, I'm starting to learn not to get too attached to the sketch. It helps when it's time to make major changes. Makes the line art go much smoother.
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I wholeheartedly agree. That's why I think a very loose sketch is an advantage-it's harder to get attached to a squiggly mess that only you really understand the full potential of!
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nice work as always
I never really thought that your work was untidy, I have always admired your art and your character design
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Thanks! I don't think my work is necessarily untidy, but in some areas it could be a bit cleaner and this has to do with the process I use to draw out the lines. Also, a lot of what I'm trying to improve on has to do with clarity of the subtle flows of movement in certain things (clothes, folds, the little details, etc) I tend to lose when I'm cleaning up the lines. Things become a bit stiff.
It's kind of hard to explain, but I see it when viewing my work from start to finish.
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I understand what you mean
Lineart can make things look a bit stiff
(well in my case it does, I seem to have a bit of a trembly wrist, so to do my Lineart, I can't avoid doing quick flicks...)
I think you see those faults because you are the artist
I have never noticed anything unpleasing in your linework, finding it even quite dynamic!
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My wrist is the same. That's why I aim for smaller strokes. And yeah, I have to be critical of myself to improve. I don't have many people that I know personally that are as in to art as I am so it's a must.
And thanks again!
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I tried smaller strokes, but that just seemed to make my drawing seem... "heavy" with very thick lines
I do understand you on the fact that you find that you have to be critical, because I am also the same
Although what I think is brilliant with dA is that you have a community at your finger tip, and as you make friends of different art cpapability, you can maybe ask them for advice?
A person told me to rely on no one of the community once, but I don't think like that
I have improved so much thanks to dA
I wish i could help you improve by telling you some faults I see, but I never stumble accross any, and I also think that I am much less experienced, so I can't help you out much, there xD
And always a pleasure!
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Yeah, I agree. I wouldn't be half as good as I am now if it weren't for DA. No one really ever told me my work needed improving until I first started posting here. Then once my fellow Deviants opened my eyes I couldn't close them. haha.
And your comments, good or bad, help me out. They are what help keep me going. So thanks for that.
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haha, yes, sometimes when you open them, it is hard to close them again xD
I don't think i even want to close them, either
And as always, it is my pleasure
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