Aremah's Irregular Sketchbook and Dump

[Aremah]

Hiya, folks.

New at CA.org but eager to improve, especially after some of the fantastic stuff I've seen here. Hence this sketchbook. Weekly, because I have finals coming up, and not a whole lot of time to draw, and because I don't draw as much as I should anyway. This might change in the future. I realise this thread will probably get flooded by all the other, so much cooler and better ones, but I'm persistent... or stubborn. As you will.

C&C much needed and more than welcome.

First off, some old finished stuff:

Abandon All Hope
Warcraft fanart contest. Pencils, pen, Photoshop.



Point Blank (2004)
Calo Nord from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Pen, Photoshop.


Young Blademaster (2004)
Warcraft fanart. Pencil, pen, Photoshop.


Say Cheese! (2004)
Warcraft Halloween fanart contest. Pencil, pen, Photoshop.



(23.05.2005)

[Aremah]

Some sketches in color:

Death knight
For the Illustration Activity - (Newbie Friendly) thread.



Monster redesigns
Frankenstein and Dracula; for the Re-Design Activity thread.



(23.05.2005)

[Aremah]

First referenced picture in a long while. Hadn't aimed for a perfect likeness, just for getting the basics down:

Reference photo



Sketch
Pencil, pen.



Colors
Stabilo softcolor (colored pencils).



(23.05.2005)

[Aremah]

And finally, some pen sketches:

Samurai (2004)



Random doodles



(23.05.2005)

[Aremah]

Anyone? I need my dose of C&C (otherwise known as bashing)!

[Aremah]

*copy pastes from Rick Hershey's Redesign Activity*

I knew I was going to do characters rather than anything else right away. But which characters? After a bit of thinking, I decided to redesign the 'generic' Jedi and Sith concepts (if there is a generic Sith, anyway). Two sabers were supposed to be standard issue for each; moreover, one of them would have a protruding thingy, and the other a hole thingy, so that they could be joined together to form a double blade or separated at will. I didn't really like these much, so I went wacky (curved the hilts; if there were blades visible, they'd have the shape of a katana - after all, why not? ). Here are the visualisation sketches (quickly added some value only for the puproses of showing here, something like 15 minutes maximum):



But I didn't really like any of these, so I started thinking more, and then it hit me: the original Stormtroopers always seemed way too wishy-washy for me. Nothing stormy about them... and not a whole lot of troopery, either. They missed everyone, even with all those shots fired (I know, I know, plot devices), etc. The clones were a bit better, but they lacked the simplicity of the original troopers, on the other hand. So here it is, my menacing () Stormtrooper redesign (a sniper rifle and a heavy blaster attached to the backpack):



Enjoy. Or don't. But please do comment (and on the earlier pics, if you so choose)! I really need the crits!

(29.05.2005)

[rick_hershey]

hey man-stopped by to show some love, your work is really getting better- you can see improvement on your anatomy a lot, and your design are getting better. Stormtrooper is great. I'll check back often, keep it up, and I never say it again thanks for playing in my activities.

[jayne]

i agree! as you post more, you're improvin' . love it

[glikster]

nice pieces. I love the flowers. I'd say you have a pretty good grasp of the fundamentals, now keep exercising them to get them better! Do some more realistic pics, your samurai's head is a little... off

[Aremah]

Thanks, guys.

Yes, the samurai's head is off. It was initially a doodle in class, but then I figured it's good enough to stand alone. The low forehead was on purpose, the rest wasn't

Just you wait till my finals are over and the summer holidays start. I'll then start working on anatomy like other folks here, on life drawing... I just don't have the time now, so for now, it'll be Rick's activities (excluding the current illustration one) and doodles. But come July, I should really start cracking.

[IanE]

Just you wait till my finals are over and the summer holidays start. I'll then start working on anatomy like other folks here, on life drawing... I just don't have the time now, so for now, it'll be Rick's activities (excluding the current illustration one) and doodles. But come July, I should really start cracking.

You and me both, man! Ha!

You've got some really nice work, like the flowers, and some of your characters. It feels like you went into the color on some of these too soon before you got the poses and compositions down, makes the characters seem rigid and almost emotionless, you know?

Very good work. I'd like to see more so keep posting!

Ian

[JERI]

I think your anatomy's great, and it is improving.

About your coloring: I don't really know if this is good advice, but personally, I think your art will look better if you make you colors thicker and more discrete.
You know, sorta like comic art with simpler color blocks. I think you're going for that realistic feel with complexity and details, but I don't think that suit your style too well.

I think your colors will look much cooler when it's like this:


Don't take my opinion too seriously though, because I'm really partial to comic art so I guess I'm sorta wired to prefer simple colors to complex colors.

Still, the bottom line is I love the kinda stuff you draw. Are you into WC the RTS or the MMORPG?

[Aremah]

I used to do that for a long time (even simpler, in fact). I am a huge comic fan myself, but I've always found something missing in the way most of the industry colors today (cut gradients with lively colors). I could post some older stuff which I've removed from my website that would show this (but the art really lacks a whole lot more than the pieces here).

I used to be into Warcraft III, but haven't played in close to a year now. Concerning art, however, I try not to follow it to the letter - like the blademaster, for example. Just whatever works. The thing is I still frequent a Warcraft site (the Fan Art section thereof), and most of my Warcraft pics were for contests there (they forced me to draw once in a while, which was a good thing considering my laziness).

Anyway... Yeah. Might as well dig up and post the older crap.

[Aremah]

Alright, this is a dump of virtually every piece I did since 2003, where I semi-seriously (seriously only starts this summer, that's why the sketchbook is here and I'm here ) started drawing and playing with digital colors. Tried to arrange it more or less chronologically (the pics above are mostly current, besides a few from the end of 2004 - you can figure it out by my sigs).

I've been too ashamed of these to post them, but I figure hey, this sketchbook is, among other things, to detail my improvement, so why not? Cropped them down from their original sizes and reduced quality to save bandwidth. Here goes nothing!

[Aremah]

2003

Last Stand
Warcraft fanart contest; theme: battle.



Clash of the Titans
Warcraft fanart contest; theme: duel of heroes.



A Parting of Ways
Warcraft fanart contest; theme: scene from the campaigns.



Ragnus Rex
A portrait of a friend as a Paladin from D2.



Bane Study
Main character study for a short comic I drew.



Embrace
Sketch inspired by Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri's Druuna comics.



(04.06.2005)

[Aremah]

2004

Zaknafein Do'Urden
D&D; father of Faerun's most reknown Drow; inspired by a short story (can't remember the author, title: The Fires of Narbondel or somesuch).



Takano Minoru
One of my Neverwinter Nights Thain PW characters.



Faeril Drothan
One of my Neverwinter Nights Thain PW characters.



Andras D'arkkon
A character from the Neverwinter Nights Thain PW.



Lia Kross
A character from the Neverwinter Nights Thain PW.



Suna Telmendara
A character from the Neverwinter Nights Thain PW.



Rarylduil E'tanis Damat'tre
A character from the Neverwinter Nights Thain PW.



They Came From Behind!
Warcraft fanart, no contest this time.



Sith Lords
Inspired by Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (the first one); no characters in particular, just random Sith duking it out.



A Long Time Ago, In a Reality Far, Far Away...
Something I've been playing with in my head. Still am, to tell the truth, but shh - it's a secret!



(04.06.2005)

[Aremah]

And this is it. Everything I had and was too ashamed of to post (see post above the 2003 and 2004 dumps). From now on, it's sketches, sketches, studies, sketches, studies, and the occasional finished piece. Well, beginning next month, really, once the holidays really start, but you get the point

Feel free to rip apart any (all) of these.

[Aremah]

And some sketches. All these are from my head, not studies yet, because of the many-times-metioned current lack of time. Not sure if I should post them bigger, and sorry for any quality-related issues - just digital cam available for now (and who knows how long still).

While watching Event Horizon



While watching Reign of Fire



Random quickies



Feel free to point any and all mistakes out, so that I know what too look out for when I get to the studies (and yes, I'm aware of quite a lot of things wrong, but I'm also sure I missed quite a few).

[glikster]

The first thing that jumped out at me is that almost all of your characters have really stiff poses. Try to make them more fluid and dynamic. I think the best so far is the They Came from Behind pic. Use thumbnails sketches to work out the figures' poses.
Always great to see more stuff though!! Keep posting!

[Aremah]

I do try. However, I really lack the basics of perspective and anatomy. A lot of it I know, but can't make it happen on paper, if you know what I mean. That's why I signed up here. Just a few weeks more before I seriously get cracking...

[Pixeldragoon]

I like your star wars redesigns alot, very neat. Your proportions seem pretty sweet, And you concept building is too. One thing is that I think your pics could use some more motion, like with the 2 sith duking it out, the light sabers could be moving, or sparks flying, you know, extra stuff like that.

[the_elder]

omg u are amazing(and there is alot of art out on this forum that is) ur stuff lokks like proper real! and the stormtrooper redesign( three thumbs up) although...y wud a sith have a blue lightsbare? naw im jus nitt picking keep it up dude

[Aremah]

Pixeldragoon - thanks. You don't think the shins are a wee bit short and the thighs a wee bit long in the recent sketches? It's a comment I got elsewhere, just curious (I find them just about right). And yes, if I drew the picture now, there would definitely be more than a faint light where the blades crossed, although therein lies a dilemma - the swords in the movies don't really spark against each other. the glow is more substantial, yes, but no sparks. Do I make the picture more compelling, or do I stick to the facts if it's fanart?

the_elder - thanks, I suppose. Can't really take that to heart, though, because compared to some of the amazing talent and professionals here I'm but a speck of dirt. I'll be working on that soonish. As for the swords, the picture was inspired by Knights of the Old Republic (yes, the Sith had red swords there, even if it took place a few thousand years before the movies, but there was also the tomb on Korriban which mentioned much, much older Sith - the beginnings of the Sith, in fact, and I believe red swords weren't always the rule). Plus I was playing off the blue/red contrast, also in the characters. So there.

Updates coming soon, I hope. Hang tight.

[Aremah]

Another one for Rick Hershey's Illustration Activity.

Assignment # 7 Alice in Wonderland character design
Type : sketches, black & white, greyscale
Subject: post-apocalyptic version of classic characters

Description: A game company is interested in creating a fighting game based on post-apocalyptic versions of the classic Alice in Wonderland characters, as a member of the design team you need to come up with kick ass versions of the characters ready to bust heads. Any characters can be used, please post all your work together if you do multiple characters.

Here's my entry. I thought I had more time, but something came up, so I had to go ahead and rush the shading. Went back to something I used to do a long time ago, and it was kinda fun, but yeah, it could use more attention. I'm very fond of the concepts I came up with, but that's about all I'm fond of in this picture. Anyway...



Still don't have as much time as I'd wish, but soon...

[deez]

hey looks great man, i like your outlining and solid lines
like the last one and damn you have alot going on in your pictures
keeep postin dude

[Aremah]

Felt bad for not posting all this time, but I still don't have the time I'd like to devote to drawing. Just to make up for the lack of posts, here are two old, old pictures I dug up from the deepest reaches of my hard-drive.

D2 Team



D2 Net Vikings



I'd say I'll post more and start cracking on Loomis soon, but I can only say I hope that to be the case. Time will tell, as always.

[Aremah]

Another one for Rick Hershey's Illustration Activity. Or rather, Dogfood's this one time around.

Task: Full page ad for a game (working title: Darn that Evil, Immortal Sorceror).

The key to this one is to create a tense scene and the "client" wants to see your progress. The first stage is to create six small thumbnails, which will serve as value studies for you for the rest of the project. Indicate which you prefer and the "client" will pick one for you to continue with.

Stage Two will be a full size sketch, with the characters fleshed out and the third will be the finished, gray scale piece.

The scene: Hero has caught up with the villain and there is about to be a huge conflict, the results of which look grim for our hero. Draw the viewer in, make him want to know what's going to happen and care about the outcome (and buy the game).

Hero: Male or female (chosen in game), outfitted from any time between 1900-1950, with a small dragon companion (no more than 5 ft long, but not too small). It should be obvious the dragon is on the hero's side. Any weapons from the era is OK, but the hero will also have a magical talisman.

Villain: Chinese Black Magician; go buck-wild. He can have minions, but make certain they don't overpower the scene.

Thumbs (number 6 was chosen, with the adnotation that the dragon is not to be a mount, but something like a familiar):



Sketch (before inking and/or going digital):

Note: the grey smudging is not pencil, it's the result of 'scanning' with a camera (which catches every single little bend or whatnot in the paper, and it has quite a few of them due to the reworking).

[Aremah]

Andrew Loomis, Figure Drawing For All It's Worth

Ideal Proportion, Male (p.26)

Not as bad as I thought it would be. The picture is slightly skewed on the photo, but the lines are all straight in reality.



Ideal Proportion, Female (p.27)

Far worse than I thought it would be. Comes from ages of drawing only superheroes. Also, this particular image in the Loomis book seems to have the shoulders too broad, I didn't like it from the start (but the rest of his female illustrations are simply astounding, so I don't know where this dissonance comes from). I realise the head is a tad too small, and the side view is all funky. The picture is considerably skewed on the photo, but the lines are all straight in reality.

[clutchyourideas]

Hey, this is looking cool, I checked out your sketchbook and your use of colors and variety of designs, style etc. are very nice. The only thing that strikes me is that alot your compositions lack depth as in a strong foreground, mid and background. All of the characters seem to be floating on the same plane as if they were in a 2 dimensional world. This isn't always the case, I'm posting two of your works to illustrate what I mean.
This one has good depth/composition:


while this one is very flat:


You should try and work on foreshortening, as well as figuring out how your characters are placed in an imagined 3 dimensional world. Maybe try doing some initial overhead placement layouts to help you visualize before you jump into the actual piece? Good luck, hope to see more of your stuff in the future

[Aremah]

Thanks for the kind words. Note that the two pieces are separated by almost two an a half years (well, you can only tell two from the years given alone, but it was two and a half or so).

That said, I do realise I lack in spacial composition, as well as many other things. That's why I'm here, and I'll be trying to work on it all.