Help with footballer painting

[scrt_AgentMan]

I started this last night (early this morning). Its suppose to be a dramatic view of a soccer/football player kicking the ball. The ball then flies past the camera. I couldn't find a good reference for the player so I guessed on what his kicking leg should look like. Any advice on the composition would be appreciated. Also I think it would look cool to show the ball spinning, any advice on how I could do that?

[Jason Ross]

Get a tripod for a digital camera and take some pictures of yourself in that pose. I can tell just by the rough that you do not quite have the mental library to create that pose with out reference. You'll be happier with the results.

[LightandDark]

Depending on what style you are shooting for here you can put "motion-blur" on the ball or stretch it out to give it direction as well as using some suggestive lines of movement trail as they tend to do in some comics.

Won't comment on the anatomy since you didn't ask me to.

I don't know you very well so forgive me if you are pro and I ask trivial stuff but Did you do some quick perspective thumbnails?
Composition-wise you might want to do a horizon line and a vanishing point and exaggerate the perspective because right now it looks a little flat when you consider the size and placement of the player and the football..

[scrt_AgentMan]

Thanks for the crits guys. In regards to the motion blur, is there a way to blur something around an axis? I was hoping to show that there was swerve on the ball.

Jason Ross- I thought about that but I don't think I could capture the movement or energy from standing. I would have to find somebody to take a picture of me while I actually kick a ball.

LightandDark- I'm not a professional by any stretch of the imagination. Definitely crit the anatomy, I added the vanishing point, hopefully it gives it more depth.

Heres an updated wip

[Giacomo]

...I thought about that but I don't think I could capture the movement or energy from standing. I would have to find somebody to take a picture of me while I actually kick a ball.

Well, you need to find some kind of reference, because right now you're so far off in terms of gesture and proportion that there's not really any point in trying to offer fixes.

[LightandDark]

LightandDark- I'm not a professional by any stretch of the imagination. Definitely crit the anatomy, I added the vanishing point, hopefully it gives it more depth.

Perspective
Yes the Perspective looks better now though if you place the crowd this close to him you'll have to detail them some so keep that also in mind and keep in mind that you need to have a sound perspective of detail.

Also you are probably aware, perspective doesn't only work horizontally, it works vertically as well and if you compare the crowd to your football-player he is something of a hulk now.
So in a composition with multiple elements you need to mindful of scale, Not so easy especially when dealing with huge constructs because the size of something is usually measured against the smallest figure in the picture.

Anatomy
There are other things wrong with the anatomy but what jumped straight off is the fact that the kicking leg's foreshortening is bad and it makes it look like he has no Gastrocnemius muscle(or cuff muscle however you want to call it)

Each limb seems to be one head long or even 3/4 a head when it comes to his arm limbs... do an orthographic study of proportions before you begin so you can at least tell when something looks wrong:
For reference I offer you a classic drawing by michael angelo that may help you get a better idea of proportions :


Keep in mind that there are no hard rules about proportions aside from them being roughly symmetrical and uniform on the body, still even if you decide to fuck all that and draw a midget character, you still need to know what you are doing.

Next is the fact that there seem to be no proportion between his hands/feet and the limbs , regardless of the foreshortening the feet look too big and slightly mash-potatoed.

Most of these things happen, the solution is to get some base knowledge of proportion and try to sketch real life figures.

Either way IMO if you want to improve on drawing from imagination, never copy the reference, even if it is harder that way, the less crutches you lean on the better you learn.
if you look at reference only look at it and analyze its shape and structure, never trace or copy it because then you learn nothing.
(I know some people think its totally legitimate to 3dsculpt or photograph stuff and paint over it in photoshop to make very polished pieces but in the end, even if its time-saving, I think that becomes something confining.)

You could easily download a rig and setup the reference you need in a 3d software but remember not to copy or trace what you see, the struggle is important in case you get stuck on an island with no computers and need to do cave paintings!

[scrt_AgentMan]

Thanks guys for taking the time to critique this. This paintings getting frustrating and I can't find a good reference picture. I'm thinking I'll set this one aside until I get a better handle on the anatomy. It'll probably be a few months

[sone_one]

I can't find a good reference picture.

are you serious? o.0

google

youtube

[scrt_AgentMan]

are you serious? o.0

google

youtube

Well I'm sure if I looked for more then 5 minutes I would find one but, I just moved on. This was just a spur of the moment idea I didn't plan out well and ended up getting burned out. I'll use this as a learning experience and move on.

[sone_one]

google search posted above, 9th row from the top... took like <1 min rather.

im completely fine if you want to ditch your effort, but regarding reference, this painting is as good as the next or the one/many after, to start incorporating it in your workflow.

you will not magically end up drawing convincing poses one day... you either observe how it works and looks like and incorporate this knowledge, or your inventions will lack.

especially if you want to do this for a living, you better learn how to use reference, because you could hardly afford waiting for the ingenious moment it all just falls in the right place.