the undrowned turnabout's great revival - now with new pencil art

[the undrowned turnabout]

Looking back on my work, the last real pencil sketch I did was the AK-47 picture. It was reasonably well shaded, but the major problems were how it looked somewhat wonky and flat. Now if I know anything about guns, they most definitely AREN'T wonky or flat. When I made that picture(and at most times before that), I don't think I really knew what a "sketch artist" really was. But now, exactly 2 years after I first joined FESS, I have found that answer. By the end of this post, you will know what that answer is. Last week I focused on making Metroid Prime 2 themed sketch art, as focusing on one subject is far superior than sitting around all day thinking WHAT DO I DRAW???? One of my other reasons for doing this is I want to get a degree in 2D Animation. To get there, I'll need (among many things) a good portfolio. Otherwise, you'll probably see Shaolin Prowlies backgrounds and drawings show up from time-to-time but not as regular as this. Enough preface, here's some art.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/avast_ye_ninja/Sketch%20art/metroidprime2weekgrenchler2.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/avast_ye_ninja/Sketch%20art/metroidprime2week40minsketc.jpg

For this next one you'll see both the original lineart and the finished work, but I did some changes while shading it in.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/avast_ye_ninja/Sketch%20art/gfmctrooperlineart.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/avast_ye_ninja/Sketch%20art/gfmctrooperfinished.jpg

As a final note, I should state that I'll change topics every week so I can improve the diversity of my work. Also, I'm going to make another regular feature called "Off-topic sketch of the week", starting whenever I get around to it.

[RoyLover]

I can say this...you've come a long way. These are pretty good and it shows that you're getting the hang of lighting.  However, some of the shading seems bizarre.  Maybe it's because some of it it's so solid, it's hard to tell if it's part of the outline or just shading.  These objects are very metal-like and cubical so it's sensible how it's shaded, but the shading doesn't show quite enough depth.  As you know, shading on the flat object fades, and it doesn't seem like it's very present in the sketches.  Another thing, as for your guy holding the gun, his hand doesn't look dimensional.  The outline looked fine, but the shading still needs work.  Other than that, keep working hard!

As for personal experiences, it's best to stick to one thing at a time.  Doing too many things at once gets you unfocused and tired.  Also, I highly suggest drawing from life.  It's as good as a person can go when wanting to improve their observance skills.

[Sardine]

I know exactly why this lacks dimention Roy lover. The armor itself is drawn flat, and there is no underanatomy in the drawing that is respected. Therefore, dimentionality attempt in the shading doesn't work, because there wasn't any dimentionality to begin with.

Begin with simple shapes. boxes, cyclinders, spheres. To be honest, if i showed my professors this work, they would tell me to draw nothing but those untill the dimentionality is perfect.

Since you're not an art major, i'll just tell you this: use cylinders as your underanatomy. If your armor is angular, use planes that cover the same area of the arm/whatever area. If the dimentionality of your underanatomy is correct, the rest will fall in place.

[the undrowned turnabout]

Fibre Optic Scribble Cel
I know it's been a very long time since I posted here, and "unfortunately" I don't have any pencil art to show you at this time. This piece is what I should have been doing in the first place - animation! Annoyingly, Photobucket no longer lets free users upload swf files, so I've jumped to Imageshack for all my swf uploading needs. This piece uses the ancient animation technique called "scribble cel" which has been around for decades. It uses a black piece of card with holes punched in it over a lightbox and underneath it is a clear animation cel with a scribble drawn on it. You pass the cel between the lightbox and the card, and the holes will appear to fade in and out as the black scribble lines pass between them. This is an advancement of that old technique as I have added a new feature - a rotating colour wheel to give the effect of looking like the colours on a fibre optic christmas tree.

http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fibreopticscribblecelmm3.swf

[aznswordmaster1]

They flash pretty fast and isn't very consistent the way they flash too. In the beginning I noticed that mostly on the left side flashes a lot and there isn't that much as in the middle or the right side of it.

[the undrowned turnabout]

Here's a somewhat better one which is a revolving starfield (and a counter-revolving scribble cel) but yes, they flash very fast and don't properly cover the whole field. Well, I didn't expect to perfect the technique in my first attempt.

http://img227.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fibreopticscribblecel2qq1.swf

[aznswordmaster1]

Ok this what I would suggest. Slow everything down, its rotating a little too fast that if I look at it for an another minute I might feel a little more woozy. The blink speed I suggest have the speed of what you have.

[the undrowned turnabout]

Here's a bunch of rough, unfinished sketches that I've done either recently, not-so-recently or ages ago and forgotten about. They were taken unfinished for the purpose of making a stage-by-stage process between my roughing out and lineart work to a finished sketch, to give a more detailed view on what is wrong with my drawing technique. Anyway, here's them.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/ava...rl-stage-1b.jpg
a drawing from the Phoenix Wright 2 instruction book, this is "special" because I haven't once used a rubber on it... yet.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/ava...re-stage-1b.jpg
a drawing from the front cover of Code of the Samurai, again without using a rubber. The next lot have all been done with more work to them than these first two.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/ava...pot-stage-1.jpg
a random pot of sunflowers off Google image search. I think it's from a shop site.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/ava...uh-stage-1b.jpg
A reference to the Spoony Experiment "FMV hell" review. The guy in the picture is memorable because he says "Wiseguy huh?".

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/ava...tch-stage-1.jpg
You can object to this sketch, on the account that it is Objectionable! Also, it seems very blurred so I might take the picture again. This is the oldest sketch, and arguably the best.

As a footnote, I should state that I know this stuff is rather shoddy compared to my usual work. As far as learning better anatomy goes, I've recently bought a course of anatomy teaching DVDs called The structure of man and I'll start watching them soon enough. There are about 200 lessons on the 5 disc set, so I'm assuming this will take maybe the best part of the next 3-6 months to complete. At least now my feeling of aimlessness will be alleviated somewhat.

[aznswordmaster1]

I've looked through your works and well, I seriously would consider 2 things, go back to the basics of human anatomy, or practice human figure drawing. I also would consider using guide lines cause they kind of look like they aren't balanced out so to say.

[the undrowned turnabout]

I've recently joined something called The Thirty Days Project where a whole group of artists post one piece per day onto the special website and by the end a huge collection of art should emerge. It's too late to join now though, as the project has already started. The website is http://www.thirtydaysproject.com/. I looked at earlier posts this thread an noticed that my Metroid Prime 2 sketch week was DECEMBER 10th! That was the last time I had ever finished any art before now. Since it has been so long, it's only natural that I am somewhat rough around the edges. This is a drawing of a katana. The thing I hate the most about drawing katanas is the fact they aren't quite curved enough to call curved, but aren't straight enough to call straight and exist in a strange curved/straight no-man's land. Enough preface, here's the (admittedly not the best) picture. I'll be posting one a day for the duration of the thirty days project.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/avast_ye_ninja/TDP-day-1-katana.jpg

[aznswordmaster1]

Not to bad, but, I think that the way that the shading and outer lines could be neater cause it kind of looks messy the way its done.

[the undrowned turnabout]

This is the day 3 entry (i missed day 2 due to time constraints) and I have tried to neaten up the shading technique and line quality. It's a drawing of the same toaster that featured in my "Gaunt's Ghosts Toastmaker" pun picture.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/avast_ye_ninja/TDP-day-3-toaster.jpg

[aznswordmaster1]

The way I see it, the shading looks kind of messy the way its shaded and not consistent. It looks kind of unbalanced a little, what could help is to draw a line that represents the floor so its easier to be able to balance the picture.

[the undrowned turnabout]

It has been far too long since I posted art here. However, at this moment I only have one piece to show you. I am working on more stuff however.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/avast_ye_ninja/Sketch%20art/Phoenix-Wright-Urk-2.jpg

[Popo]

Wow! It sure has been a while since we've seen you around, 'Turnabout. Welcome back. 

Now, regarding your latest drawing, the main issues that seem to hold the image back are Phoenix's tie and the curve of his chest. I was looking at the official art that you referenced for this, and the tie in the official drawing falls more or less straight against his torso. Your version angles the tie inward slightly, which takes away from the natural, outward curvature of Phoenix's chest. This alters the whole shape of his upper body so that frankly, it looks incorrect. Whether you're hunched over or not, the rib cage never really sags inward in the fashion that you've drawn it. So, to remedy this, I would suggest arranging his tie so that it pushes out a little more. This gives some shape to his chest. I would also change the lapels on his jacket to add back some curvature, as they appear to follow his tie.

Finally, one more piece of advice, which you can apply to all of your drawings--bold the defining lines so that you don't lose sense of shape. In this case, the lines separating Phoenix's chest and arms, the lines where his jacket lapels and shirt meet, where his neck and shirt meet, etc. One thing that all your drawings lack is contrast. Line weight can help fix that.

[the undrowned turnabout]

I wanted to make a brief update on what I've been doing since the forum ended, but I didn't think that it was worth making a whole new thread about so I just thought I would continue the old one. I now have my very own website made with the free weebly service, which hosts some of my illustrations and short animation tests, and links to my first ever full length flash animation which is on newgrounds. It is here http://tsninjapirate.weebly.com/

In other news, I am now at Uni studying a degree in animation (only done the first few months, but it seems good so far). I will be making a showreel of the earlier work from there, and if this forum is still going by then I will link to it on my youtube channel (note, my youtube channel so far only has a few youtube poops on it, nothing really worth your effort of finding it and watching).