Orc - Finished

[Hawks]

 

[spoiler=Orc WIP]

 

How should I go about shading this?

C/C appreciated!

 

 

Hound Archon WIP:

Ref:

[Skully]

I think it looks a bit too cartoony, if you know what I mean?

[Soa]

Go over the lines in a HB or F or other thin pencil in dark lines and try to clean up the image by erasing around the new lines. Then you can shade in the details using the same thin pencil if you want to include loads of detail, or you can use the pencil you originally drew your image with but have more control.

 

Basically:

 

Lineart -> Cleanup -> Shading.

 

WinWin

[Jeffwilson99]

Wow I think that's pretty cool. It reminds me of the Orcs from Morrowind. Although the legs look a bit out of proportion.

[Sam]

That's actually not too bad, Hawkxs - I'm liking the shading, but like Soa said, the linework needs some cleaning up.

[Shiny]

Surprisingly realistic. If anyone else noticed, the feet and lower legs are too wide and not long enough.

 

Clean up with dark and shade. Looks really good Hawk.

 

[Toad]

looks a little flat and lacking perspective but that'll come with practice try to make the face have a little emotion and be a focal point (the skull on his belt looks flat atm) I think a good tip is to avoid symmetry say if one side of the face has 2 teeth, do 1 on the otherside defining features, chipped tooth maybe, the ear ring is a nice touch.

 

Another tip for you, buy some new pencils when I was into drawing I had a big set of Derwent graphic pencils similar to this http://www.nationalartcraft.com/images/sub-1638-07.jpg, it's a great variety of textures and thicknesses to build upon you can always layer over with a darker shade and start with lighter ones but contrast really helps bring out an image play with pressure, I can see from that you're using a B2-HB roughly! (mechanical pencils are even better but take some adjusting to)

 

Lastly reference reference reference, draw at the computer with google images referencing if you need to it helps to reference, don't draw from memory :P

 

For 16 Years old it's good though just keep at it.

[Hawks]

I've almost finished it today, haven't had time to scan it though.

 

@Smellysocks: I've been referencing a pic out of a D&D book, save a couple of the details. Also, I use a generic 2HB .7mm mechanical pencil for pretty much everything, unless I'm inking it. I'll remember about adding interest by not having exact symmetry.

[rik]

Well it is a start in the right direction, but like soa already mentioned, you really need to clear up your lineworks. A good way to start out is by looking at the WIP's of some great drawings. Good old deviantart has some great drawing WIP's on it and you'll probably notice that it helps if you clear up the lines, since you get a lot of white space where youe can shade. Also a good rule to handle is to shade the drawing in parts. For example: first start on the axe handle until your satisfied with it. Then shade the next part and so on, it just keeps it kind of organised, and specific shading is pretty much more detailed then large scale shading.

 

Hope it helps in some way :blink: :lol:

[Bouwzie]

People seem to forget that orcs don't have a perfect body structure.

[Soa]

Do you know what would be cool? A drawing thread where you can ask questions, post sketches or other useful knowledge.

 

I've been taking drawing classes since september and I'm pretty sure I can help.

[Hawks]

Here is the finished Orc, I am quite happy with it save the axe; I think the angle's off a bit but I don't care at this point.

 

I've started on a Hound Archon (ref pic: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG18.jpg ) drawing, here's the first sketch:

[unknowz]

Also a good rule to handle is to shade the drawing in parts. For example: first start on the axe handle until your satisfied with it. Then shade the next part and so on, it just keeps it kind of organised, and specific shading is pretty much more detailed then large scale shading.

 

You could do that, but only if you already have a full sketch complete. Else you might spend a great deal of time detailing stuff only to find out that the general drawing just doesn't work.

 

As for the orc, my main critique is that I think you should plan things out before you shade. I can see that you wanted your light source to be somewhere around the top left, but the shading isn't consistent with that choice throughout the picture. Also, you've employed what I call the "gradient shading" technique. It might sound cool, but it's actually something you want to avoid. Basically, with some exceptions, what you've done is shade the orc like if it was a piece of cardboard. The best way to fix this is to break down the structure into simple shapes so you can figure out how to make them look 3D. For example, a nose is a bit like a half pyramid with a flat edge, an eye is a sphere, and so on. Once you start thinking like that, it gradually becomes easier to give depth to your drawings.

 

Your next piece looks promising, I like how the sword looks. You might want to fix his posture a bit though, he looks off balance.

 

Good luck.

[Hawks]

Can anyone give me some tutorials on using different hardnesses/whatevers of pencils? I've got a small set now, ranging from 6H to 2B I believe.