First Timer

[MechaMechanica]

Hi, I've been thinking of joining this site for a while but couldn't muster the courage until now. I really want to improve my mechanical design and I thought this is a good place as any to start.

Lets see, first we got an good ol´space nazi. I tried to give It a bit more classical feel with the modernized trenchcoat.
Followed by a simple practice piece, generally happy with the shapes and especially the abdomen section.
Then we got my Werker belonging to the same setting as the nazi. I tried to make It as small as possible and ended up with the idea that the pilot pretty much have to sit on his knees to fit in It.
The jet transformer-ish robot is supposed to be a magi-tech style machine powered by all he green crystals all over Its body. Also the first transforming robot I've ever done where the transformation doesn't look all that bad.
And finally my most recent one, the Cryne Absolu. It belongs in the same world as the Jet, but while the jet is ancient super tech the Cryne uses the same crystals for power but It is instead based on modern techniques and systems. (I tried to take inspiration from Hajime Katoki for this one)

Any critique and feedback would be much appreciated. : )

[DAMJAN]

You definitely need to work on the anatomy. The last piece is the strongest one you got here. That jet robot, why does he have retarded legs? Fix that. Last, you need to work on rendering surfaces. When it comes to robot design, I can't help you there.

[Renzowolf]

I agree with Damjan about the anatomy and rendering. I suggest that you also try to study perspective which helps almost any mechanical object appear more real. Try doing some material studies, like rendering primitives with highlights and all of that stuff.

[MechaMechanica]

Ok, redid the nazi completely for the anatomy. Think It is alittle bit better.
DAJAM: I´ll agree on the surface rendering, but the jet robot is kind of complicated because I needed to "break up" the really long legs a bit. But If I just started adding parts It probably wouldn't make as good the front for the jet mode.
Renzowolf: Totally agree with your points I'll make time to try working with materials and perspective

[G@m]

the last piece is a nice step in the right direction, but he looks like a giant tube, the combination of long legs / torso and the plain flat coat doesn't help either, try to add a break where the torso and pelvis meet, even a simple belt and a couple of folds would do wonder. The arms looked better on the first attempt, by better i mean they look more natural and proportionated. I'd suggest starting the drawing with a simple stick figure / marionette, it should help you in getting the proportions right.

[MechaMechanica]

Thanks, now when you say It he really looks like a giant tube with T-rex arms xD I'll rework the arms and his waist as quickly I can.

[MechaMechanica]

Reworked the arms and added some more definition to the waist. Thanks for the tips G@M
Also worked on a simple resting pose for the grunt without his heavy space coat on. Realized that making his "undersuit" almost black with a tint of green was a problem when trying to line It. So I simply copied the lineart so you can get a better look at It.

[G@m]

the major problem i can see now is that the head is kinda squashed on it, he doesn't seem to have a neck. The other problems are minor, he's leaning against a wall but the angle of his lower body and the upper body dont work really well together, try to take a photo of yourself leaning against a wall in the same position, and compare the two or think about what parts of your body touch the wall and try to insert that knowledge into the drawing. About colors, to give the idea that something is dark you dont really need to use pure black, try to observe some images of your favourite artists, use the color picker and check the dark areas and see what colours they use in it.

[MechaMechanica]

Tried to practice on a bit of digital painting on the grunt design. At least the self shading turned out better than I thought It would. : )

[Marcky Marq]

All of your poses are very boring. They need to be more dynamic or have better silhouettes.

http://characterdesignnotes.blogspot...pt-design.html

Checkout some books by Tom Bancroft they really help in character design and placement in a composition.

[MechaMechanica]

Finally got around to working a little bit more with perspective. The result is the GoriLifter Construction Unit

While Its not 100% complete (needs more mechanical detailing a right arm and a sort of counter-weight/engine backpack unit. Any ideas on improving the Shin mounted threads would be very much appreciated because as they are now they really don't hold the same quality/feel as the rest of the design.
@Marcky Marq Im sorry If I come off as biting back at you with some dissagreement with you.

I decided to only focus on the ones belonging in the same universe. I really think they got quite different and unique silhouettes. The Ciel got It's massive shoulder/wings going out to the sides and the "semi-reversed" legs along with Its head fins/horns.
The Cryne is mostly focused on the torso/arm area while the legs are pretty simple just for the sake of having legs. If you include the wing pack (used about 9/10 times) It got the main characteristics in the form of the Gemma Drivers and the sweptback wings making It to me almost look like a fighter jet. And without the backpack It got the batman ears and smooth shoulders/thin waist to give It a typical superhero upper body-focused build.
Just for comparison I included the MassProductionModel Gull. Think of It as a WW2 era flying box to the Ciel's space fighter and the Cryne's slightly futuristic jet fighter.
For the other ones, The Zaga(orange one) I´ll mostly agree on, all It really got is Its toes and elbow protrusions. The Werker Mk2 still is pretty unique because of Its sub-arms and potato shape. The Grunt is a case where I really didn't want It to stand out to much. It really is on the same level as old propaganda posters, and only meant to be gunned down by the dozens while the job of standing out is more for the classical flyer/heavy/commander type enemies. For posing I´ll agree but I always find that more expressive poses works a lot better when showing "characters" more than pure designs. The grunt got a simple at attention pose that I think fits quite well with the entire "face-less horde" idea for them. The others is kind of hard because they are just machines and It sort of feels like asking to pose a tank to show personality. When designing roles more than tools I agree that giving It a pose and expression can really make It stand out and increase the belief in It. I got some character design sketches that I´ll probably work further on at some point, and then I´ll be sure to try to work in as much character as possible in them =P
Sorry If I come of sounding butt-hurt but I really would like to know If you think the designs does indeed not read that well what more specifically you don't like. And thanks for the link to the books. They look quite interesting

[Stoat]

You've got some good stuff going on here. You're polished, you've worked hard and approached these pieces in a professional way. You're developing a self-consistent universe that you clearly are very into (that's both a liability and an asset!).

I'm not going to disagree with previous commenters, though -- you'd benefit from some more anatomy work (who wouldn't?) and your poses could be more dynamic. People hardly ever get good feedback in this section when they post a bunch of work. I'd suggest you pick one, post it by itself, explain what you're trying to achieve and see what you get in feedback.

[fireblade]

Are the exhaust pipes on the construction lifter supposed to be the same. If they are then you've messed up the perspective on them, you have a guideline there and you are not following it. The rear one looks like it's taller.

[MechaMechanica]

A quick update on the lifter, added the right arm and decided to skip the backpack idea. Also added some simple headlights, were originally going for the classical round spotlights but It ended up looking a bit to cartoony. Made some slight changes to the Saturation/lightness and went over a few spots with a pair of rock/foliage brushes I had to give It a bit more used look. Still got no ideas how to fix the threads or If It would be better to remove them altogether. :/

[MechaMechanica]

After a few attempts I'm somewhat happy with the threads. Also added a few color variations for fun.
@fireblade: Thanks, no idea how I managed to miss that xD
@Stoat: Yeah, I'm starting to see that. But If feels like such a waste of space to just post thread after thread. Is there anyway to move a topic? Because In that case turning It into a sketchbook might be a lot better.

[Stoat]

I think a mod could move it for you. Or you could just go start from scratch in the sketchbook forum. You're right -- this is more like a sketchbook. On the other hand, people often have difficulty getting responses on sketchbooks, so you might still want to consider posting a single example here and asking for feedback.