Uncle K.

Thanks to the other members who replied. Thanks, this was one of my daily sketches I've start started doing to get back into drawing and improve my linework. A lot of color theory goes into them as well, because that's something I love playing around in. I based it off the one I used to have, as that's the clearest memory I have of a Hau, since I don't actually have anything I could use for reference. And no, life's been steadily getting better and better-- I'm even becoming more domesticated every day, and I love it.

Well, you always did kill us with your art.Hurm. I'll try to say things not already said here. There's things I love, there's things I don't so much. This isn't my favorite piece from you (nothing beats the Dragonborn) but it's definately a rare one in that it's fun to look at for great lengths of time. There's always something to draw my eye away from what I was looking at and entertain me further with some little surprise or whatnot.The texturing, and by extension rendering, is top notch. The different layering was done very well. From the tree, to the different types of armor, the spikes in the pit, even the foliage. The walls of the pit are exeptional, great to look at with the light and shadow creating that kind of webby texture. The actual painting itself is phenomenal, the brushed graphite look and soft angles on the main character are probably the highlights of this peice. While not too realistic, there's a kind of asthetic about it that is just complete. I think someone above mentioned Batman, and yes, it does look a lot like Batman's suit from 05 and 08. However, it has its own flow and integration with the form, blending into actual body parts and armor- it's great. Especially the shiny bits. The collar bone (salivate) is the perfect accent, breaking up the black and drawing more attention to the head that the neck chords lead in even further- this is probably the best compositioning in here, even if it wasn't thought out, it is severely appreciated.The armor shaping also, I can see you're evolving and testing new things- who doesn't love innovation? I can see parts of your standard fallbacks getting refined into a kind of natural style. Little bits stick out, like Kapura's closer upper arm, the leuitenant's thighs and waist, etc etc. The thighs are actually probably the best part of the armor design, plated, yet flowy and functional, though I would have loved to see some textural reference to their leaf pattern maybe on the shoulder parts right above the collar, as it's evident in the waist, but his top half is relatively smooth and simpler.I do like how you didn't go overboard on the eyes and lights, the Rahkshi's light up the side plating beautifully but everything else is kind of low key and natural. Some people tend to overboard with that, and it's nice you exercised contraint- though I'll admit, you normally don't have issues with it...Your composition looks to be accidentally spot-on. It doesn't follow traditional rules of alignment or focus areas, but somehow it still flows quite nicely. From the Rahkshi all by himself getting more "face time" versus the one in the cramped, shadowy position, to the main character's position relative to Kapura and the viewer, it's all quite organic, natural, and I can easily envision the scene as if I had chosen an ill-suited hiding spot to participate in some voyeuristic scheme, or had even fallen in the pit as well and it's just not my turn for an interrogation yet- basically your choice for positioning the character, 'camera' and world is a very strong aspect of the picture.There are a few things that are iffy I guess, but again, and as always, pay little heed to them as they pale in comparison to the grand scheme of things- that scheme being how good your art is.I get what you're trying to do with the grain, integration and variation mostly, right? While yes, it unifies most of the elements in the picture, it also stands out to me, I can easily tell it's a nearly universal application of screen fuzz, the noise just detracts from parts of the picture that should be a lot clearer- mainly the orange Rahkshi and Kapura's eyes/hands (though most of that can be attributed to the shadow that I assume is acting as handcuffs(?) that excessively darkens that part.) And while it does help create more intrinsic colors and depth, it would be better suited to only be as severe as it is on the background, like the walls of the pit and the greenery, as those naturally are going to have more variations in tone than metallic armor.The orange Rahkshi's top hand is too wide where the fingers are- hands are relatively square, not trapezoidal or triangular. It would be as simple as moving the fingers closer together for him, since there are only three and it's not so hard to fit them all in, but you did it very successfully with Heuani's hand, and I applaud you for that. (There's also no shame in hiding the other one, it didn't need to be in the picture so it wasn't, perfectly fine and reasonable.) As you know I jump immediately to the hands, as those are some of the harder things to draw and it shows better who can draw verses just rendering in tones/details.Those spikes seem to come out of nowhere- am I correct in thinking they are wooden? Because they seem to grow out of the ground, with only a tiny fraction of earth to lodge them in to stay, or even create any kind of threat/obstacle. But, who cares I guess. I overthought that a little too much I suppose.Also, Kapura looks to be a bit pudgy... actually quite a bit wide in the middle. His uniformly/flat plating looks wide and strong, but then his hip attaches too far out and mades it look like he is a lot 'bigger' than intended. I don't know, you can tell how big he is supposed to be, so it's probably not nearly as big (lol?) an issue I made it out to be. I digress.One last thing, you're foliage is great. The smaller leaves on the left side are painted well, and the fact that you did not shy away from them anywhere else speaks loads to your skill and work ethic.so um Good job 7/10 bro?NO! Just kidding. I love it. It makes me want to do more paintings of robots (I've mostly stopped, dunno why) and also join the RPG. I have time now I guess.But keep on trucking, it's obvious you've learned a lot and are always growing, and that's one of the best signs of an artist you can ever find.

You should take Flowers's comments to heart, as he quite right. (All but Gasara's are correct, though I wouldn't expect much less from Laura) Even if you're drawing something sci-fi like robots, it's still best to have a grasp on proportions- and then play around with them. I do recommend, like Flowers, that you take some time and peruse as many tutorials and guides on anatomy and learn basics first. Then when you draw robots it will seem fluid and natural, even if the proportions aren't strictly human, they will come across as much more believable.In this case the head, hands, legs, and torso all stick out as things that could be resized and reshaped to give a better presentation. While I think I recognize the hands as the new hand pieces, for the sake of the character they are pretty much unfunctional. Think about what your character needs to do, if he ever has to hold something, or interact with any touch-related object then he's pretty much done for. His legs are also ridiculously small: one, for supporting the kind of weight his upper torso and head suggest, and two, for pure functionality they look like they would not even work in the normal fashion of legs. The parts that connect the waist to the leg look laughably breakable, and that cannot bode well for your titan. The head does give a little feasibility to the bulkiness of the rest of his body, but it still looks odd and completely disproportionate to the rest of him- even if you're just taking the scale of his upper body into account.There is a lot of room for improvement, but that said, you have quite a lot of potential for some wickedly cool robots in the future; your eye for textural detail is quite good, with refinement I look foreward to some very awesome characters from you.If you do want a closer, hands-on look at anatomy (I recommend this for everyone, not just you, or people interesting in drawing people) the Atlas of Human Anatomy by Frank Netter is one of the best books to study from. It's not strictly an art guide, but it's been the most informative resource on human anatomy and structure I have seen. If you can, go with the 4th edition, as the others are way more focused on actual clinical practice, and less on the function and look of the body.Also, just noted, wouldn't this be easier if it was in the same topic as the lineart? Or at least linked back and forth for better comparison and reference..

Hey look it's Pohatu and the advent of the Geometric Shoulder Series Oh hi again BZPBeen busy w/ lifeSo here's some lens flareBecause I get asked every timehere are some "always asked Qs"How?- I used photoshop to make itWhen?- Tahu: About 2-3 minutes- Lewa: About 7 or 8 minutes (had to redo the mask twice) -Pohatu: About half an hour (I had no idea what to do for about 20 minutes of lines)Why?- I love the olden days? I want to reblog this on tumblr or something please don't

...I guess I have time... It's like a compulsion, yet I have no idea what I want to do. Are non-aggressive confrontations fine too? Eh, I'll cave and draw a fight I guess.

I didn't want to do this here, but since I've forgotten my DA password (which appears to be a habit of mine, after five or so times) I shall, I suppose.I wont write a super long review, because I'm tired and I need to sleep, so you can just supply your own fillers I guess. I just kept writing and couldn't stopAfter analyzing this piece quite some time you get four categories.Things I personally don't like:- The pose could have been better, mostly to reveal her right arm and to prevent awkward balancing. It helps a bit with the dynamics of the picture, but realistically she will fall on her bum in a few seconds (unless there's some feature to her legs not evident in the picture). I suppose if the hand was weighed so heavily it could possibly counter-balance her posture, but then it would be a feat of fantasy just for her to hold it up with the complete lack of muscle or even framing of the arm.- The fascination with her own arm is kind of confusing me, since I don't know your character's story at all. She seems to be enamored with it, like it has just mutated, or it is a weird phenomena with her hand. Did she just sprout feathers? Because then the asymmetry on her breastplate goes against reason. But in the event it's caused by an action (like "oh no, a Matoran was killed in the Charred Forest by my hand") I can totally retract my statements.- Background is all on one plane. I understand you wanted a sharp contrast for focal matter and I assume to help accent a distant-type-character, but the blurring is all completely uniform which makes it look like it's just a flat painting (pun) but I didn't want to say it was actually wrong, because if it really is that extreme then some amount of comprehensive blur could take place [hypothetically]. I think there would still be some local blurring that wasn't as strong, but no examples come to mind.- No scratches or signs of wear. I understand if she's just out of the factory/armory/womb, but most metal breaks down in time, even if it's just at the edges and pieces in contact. It just seems too pristine to be natural.Things kind of actually wrong:- The lack of specular highlighting. We always seem to fall in the rut of matte finishes on metal, and if that's what you were going for then it's great, but with all the different textures like on her arm and feathers, I think light reflections would bleed into the category of texture here. The actual surfaces themselves beg for more splotches of light if their edges are picking up that much on two sides.- The green cast light is inconsistent, but not very noticeable. In places like the top of her head it's fine, and it's shining through and on the edges of the feathers just nicely, but it's kind of missed out on the metal. You pulled a fast stop and the gradient fades too quickly, so either she's standing far in front of a foresty backdrop or green light is being shone at her from a directional beam. If you want better synthesis with subject/background relationships the light needs to encompass more space. I think the white panels would be less opaque white and have a higher green tint, since it's a bright material, and the blue would have more green tones throughout. Also, the more reflective the material, the more light it will reflect, duh, but it means the metal suit, neck piston & cord, and claws will throw back (show) more green in this instance than the under-weave or arm. (Feathers are a little different since they are thin enough to be slightly transparent and not always sheer.)She basically just is operating under cool colors while the background is warm, it doesn't just separate her, it alienates her from the picture somewhat. - Some of the armor shaping is inconsistent and not symmetrical. I don't mind this so much as I know the painting process you use is quite organic, but some shapes are a little more obvious than others, either too round compared to their twin or not centered on the body. It was a difficult position with the varied legs turned and the body already in 3/4ths.- A few armor bits are off proportionally. This can slide however as it's only on 3 edges and so minuscule in their deviations.- Unless huge cotton balls (or marshmallows) are floating around in the forest, dust particles won't get that big in a photograph. I suppose they'd make sense as pollen since they show up equally bright in the light (where dust particles would only be largely visible) so that can slide.Things technically sound:- Those feathers. While maybe the mid-range would have more tones, and some of the individual lines (hairs, fibers, wires, dunno) could have snippets of highlighting, this way is uniform and done well. The green coming through the edges as well as the glow on the ends is spot on. Also the single feather sticking out of the chest seam was perfect to fit a motif in, tying it in with the wrist ones as well.- The textures on the arm are a wonder to look at. The silvering veins in the porous gray are great. I tried identifying the brush, but I couldn't tell if you used one from PS or downloaded one. I'm not too familiar with cs4.- Your edge highlighting for the most part all makes sense. There are some places in which it wouldn't really shine as much as you made it, but you'd have to be a freak to care and also considering this is pure fantasy you get huge leeway. I mean, I never exercise any restraint with highlights, so I don't know why I expect you to. (insert eye-roll) But 95% of it just works. It helps pop out some of the armor sections where it has the same values and gives amazing dimension on that breastplate.- The inner weave pattern follows her body's contours perfectly, this seems familiar... almost like I've seen a game with armor like this... The size differences were genius, with the upper thigh area having smaller stitching and the abdominal section with a different variation.Things I love: Most of the things about this that are great are the parts that are done well, so I covered some of them already.- But I did want to drop in and say your armor sculpting skills are beautiful to behold. That chest piece cut at an angle is the best here, but also the waist section and the collar construction.- The ventilation under her pits also draw my eye (pattern/texture repetition helps loads) and I love it.- The little screws in strategic places are wonderful. They aren't obtrusive in the slightest, and while keeping the suit/armor streamlined and less constructed as it is livable, maintain the realism. Props for that. I love screws.- Those chrome bits. Man. I love shiny metal. I think it's actually an obsession, so you'll have to pardon me if get a bit distracted here. More! More chrome! Your shading, especially on the neck chord is a beauty.- Your presentation is good, I love the suggestions of a photo, with the cropped edge and the faint scanner line on the right. It's so minimal that it's almost subliminal.The anticipation for the next one is destroying me, but I'll spend a good deal more time eating this up slower when I don't have to think of things to say. That said, did I ever say how much I love your Skyrim piece?So sorry for all the negative stuff, but you should know by now that it is vastly outweighed by the positives. I nitpick because you're good enough that you improve every time and I love it when you do. How come it is only you who can procure such abnormally long and sickly lengthy posts from me? Should I get more frequent and just dole out as much commentary as I can for everyone who posts a picture ever so this doesn't feel so personal every time I attackpost~ Much love and one of these http://www.bzpower.com/board/public/style_emoticons/default/alien2.gif because I can't seem to find any logical application for half of the smilies on this board.Down with Argonians!

Member name: Uncle K.Entry name: At The End of the TunnelEntry URL: Pg. One / Pg. Two / Pg. ThreeThumbnail URL:(I guess you can copy the image url)Entry topic: Hereluls mystery

the jokes on me guys

I'm really considering just posting the two finished and four unfinished pages, it's just gotten ridiculous.Everyone in my household got sick and I've been too busy studying/working to be able to focus on anything else. Good grief this contest I don't even...

I think the issue was if we can judge sprite comics on the same merit as hand drawn entries.* An entry completely scripted and drawn by a single member is vastly different than a comic using art made by other people assembled by another. It's still a comic, and it's still art, but it's also collaborative, and the spriters wont be the ones jointly winning the contest though they've done quite a lot of the workload.*That's just what I was reading it as, however.

I think the big bang to this is: "Hey, we can judge hand-drawn entries based on the art, layout, and story, while we should only really judge sprite comics on the story and layout." That's one more category to count for or against any non-sprite comic. I'm not saying sprite comics are wrong, or should be considered any less of a comic, but there is quite a large difference between a comic that has been plotted and drawn by a single artist, than a comic that had characters drawn by one person, backgrounds sometimes done by another, and arranged/plotted by yet another person who then gets all the credit.Course, doing a hand drawn entry myself, I am a bit partial, but I can confidently say (having made a few sprite comics waaay back) it takes a lot more work.

As much as I love a good resolution (with tantalizing questions as well, of course) these still are quite adequately falling under the mystery guidelines. I'll just highlight a part of the text you already quoted: While you may not like an unresolved (or... un-expounded...) mystery, it's still a mystery. And the author can choose to dish it out however they like. Just don't vote if you don't like it, but they certainly shouldn't be disqualified or made any less legitimate.

Thanks! For the actual project I've backed down on the outlines. They are much less prominent to blend better with the backgrounds that I don't have time to do more than lay down blocks of color for. Everything's more modeled now, probable less relate-able, but alas. Thanks for the honest feedback, although I would like to point out the original Tohungas' torsos, as they were quite literally rectangles with the tiniest bit of trapezoidal shaping on the sides. I wanted to really exaggerate it and make it clear these are not the Matoran from 03, since the legs, arms, and light-gray heads all suggest that) The waist was rounded out to give contrast with the square above, as well as a tribute to the slight rounding right at the bottom of the sets.The arms were originally going to be ribbon-like, with the fat hands, but I needed them to be able to do more (such as swim) so I eventually gave them my favorite type, largely influenced from the Mask of Light. I tried to be practical when I designed them, but also consider my limited time and create something easy to draw multiple times.But thanks again despite my stupid excuses

AUGHTime for sloppy pages

After accomplishing 90% of what I set out to do, I'll definitely make a new character when I have time- I'm just not sure how fun it will be to do some of the more menial things again. It was nice not being scared of everything that moved, at least bandits were a one-hit kill deal.I prefer just running through most of the locations, mountains especially, looking around me. The last video game I played was Halo PC many years ago, graphics like this kind of blew my mind, and still do. Soule's music definitely helps, Wind Guide You has to be one of the most inspiring songs I've heard, game related or otherwise. (Though Sovngarde gets a lot of repetition in my playlists during worknights too)I have to say I like the look of ebony armor the most. (Deadric and Dragons were cool too, but I got tired of looking at them) I spent 10 levels or so getting my smithing and enchanting skills high enough to make a useful Deadric suit with two enchantments and then I realized I liked my ebony set better so sadface. At least the experience was fun.

A friend got me to start reading them after I watched the second and third movies (I saw the first long ago but don't remember it at all).Admittedly, I got a bit sucked into the second after Jacob was introduced, simply because he was a good friend for Bella and obviously the better of the two for her. The first book was just kind of meh, and so was New Moon, the ending was virtually the same as the first: Bella running across some form of landmass right before the climax. Isn't that the one thing she should be avoiding? She manages to do it twice in a row. Yes, I snorted several of the times in the book that she got scared from walking on forest paths and beaches. After her screaming in New Moon it was a little easier to watch. Mindlessly entertaining while reading and watching, but it's not like I'll devote anymore time to it after I finish the series.

This isn't really a reason for extending a deadline though. Schedules, however, are, and since there is going to be a pitiful amount of entries, I cannot see why pushing it back would be a bad thing.I have to drive back and forth from preschool daily, which is not a short trip; attend rigorous classes that steal away the soul; work so that I do not end up in welfare in under five years, therefore the time I get to myself is limited to the wee hours of the morning. You may be able to see why I would love more time... Drawing is something I enjoy, and I gladly sacrifice [sleep] to do it, but I, and others as well, need a some more leeway in order to actually accomplish something. (Edit: Other people have school, jobs, etc, too, this is not only a plea on my behalf)Plus, the longer time the contest runs, the more likelihood someone will see it who otherwise, would have been just a little bit too late.

Livetrace?Or did you trace it by hand?Regardless, if you cleaned up the edges, the indentation on the left side of his mask, and the harsh light over his eye, it would look a lot better. The colors are nice and bold, but I can't tell if you did that purposefully or not. Some of the shadows look a bit iffy, you can probably nudge them around a bit so they are aligned better. Even if it doesn't match the original 100%, it might look better on this project.

You're seriously going to end the contest if you end up with only two entries?....It would be wonderful to extend the deadline to those of us with precious little spare time.

I think if you spend less time with the background effects and more time on the characters they would look less like blobs and be easier to identify. Also, the text lines that have the gradient spread through both does not look nearly as good as the single lines. This is as easy to fix as just typing each line separately and then adding the gradient.I am honestly sort of jaded when it comes to comic characters talking about their own comic that they are already in, because almost every series in this forum starts the same way, but as it were, don't let that stop you. I enjoy these, I have a weakness for non-pixel comics.The "other" comics were also amusing.

I was only slightly disappointed by the movie, which was surprising since I hold the book to such high pedestals.Granted, the supplemental backstory was what made it monumental- an entire comic universe in a handful of books.

Sketched out all my page layouts, so I suppose I have to follow through with this...But is there a reason why the general art contest is so close to this one? This month is extremely busy for me, I would love if they weren't back to back or heaven forbid, overlapping.

Maybe you shouldn't base it mostly off of Optimus Prime from the new movies? :shrugs:I know I would prefer to see your originality come out; show us what your imagination can get up to in one drawing. If you're more creatively attached to in, then generally, so we shall be also.I agree with VF one hundred percent, don't follow transformers for proportions, I mean, the originals were boxes and the new ones were not made to be realistic- if they were really made of metal their arms would have sheared right off their torsos from the weight, for one example. The only real thing that Bionicle characters can easily get away with proportion-wise is head size, since the Toa started things off with large heads it's generally accepted. However: the bigger you go with the overall body size, the smaller the head should get. Not overly small, but it will not have the same ratio of head-to-body size as a Matoran would, if you will.His pose is a little iffy, like his lower half decided to go for a swim but neglected to inform the rest of him. For the straight-on approach of the top, it would be better to match it with the feet, including placing them on level ground, and keeping the toe/claws the same size: perspective is flipped on the left one.I don't have too much of a beef with his construction, except the inclusion of the overly transformer bits- I looked long and hard for any wheels, which just come out of nowhere. His arms are especially at odds, the flame decals should probably go, mostly to save yourself the temptation of coloring him red and blue. But at least there are no windshields!I took the liberty of looking up your profile for him, and I lament the lack of any weapons. The flame axe and triple-barrel-blast-rod come to mind as being pretty interesting, and I would like to see what you envision the latter to look like. I also don't know why the knuckles weren't already present... simple attachments that would make his hands much more proportioned. If he really is only slightly bigger than a Toa they would be the size of maybe two fingers. Don't work on a large robot scale if the end product should be something drastically smaller.Okay, lastly, I just want to say, his personality in your bio is extraordinarily similar to the Bay Optimus, I implore you explore other stories than Transformers. Please, for your sake.

...I think we can safely say he probably did not use Paint.You were correct with Photoshop. I think it's CS4, but my memory is negligible. Also a Cintiq. I remember this because of jealousy.I also wanted to say, I looked again and yes, I can see the other horn's base, it just is too short for that exact perspective (in lieu of the other side)Some of the lighting discrepancies are immediately noticeable, but they don't seem to distract from the piece. I would probably just call it a mystic ambiance, since when did the Charred Forest ever have a real lightsource on characters to begin with anyway? Lastly, this awesome related thing: :phone:And, man am I excited for the others.