Furthering my character and creature design

[Jonah Godsend]

Any tips on how should go about improving my characters and creatures. I believe my designs are decent but I really want to learn how to make them stand out and capture the viewer.

[Star Eater]

Buy a copy of Imaginative Realism by James Gurney. I personally
think every aspiring concept artist should check that book out.

Now, with that out the way, remember to focus on functionality
before aesthetics. Base your designs on real shapes, machinery
animals, it will lend them credibility.

This is of course just advice I would give for conceptual designs
alone. If you want to improve your rendering ability itself, the
tried and tested method of pencil and paper and observational
life drawing still stands firm. (Which is something you should
never stop doing anyway)

One more book I would recommend (though its big and becoming
rarer) is the Winston Effect: The Art and History of Stan Winston
Studios. The information shared by the incredible conceptual artists
there regarding the how and why of their drawings is worth its weight
in gold.

Focus on building up an imaginative inventory which you can apply
to your designs and as always put them up on the boards for critique.
My two cents anyway.

[dpaint]

Any tips on how should go about improving my characters and creatures. I believe my designs are decent but I really want to learn how to make them stand out and capture the viewer.

I just looked at your sketchbook. Really? Because I think you need to learn the basics of drawing first. Start with learning how to render simple geometric shapes realistically first. Then learn how to group objects. Work from life as much as possible. Learn perspective. Then you will be ready to tackle figures and creatures. No sense putting the cart before the horse.
There is an ordered way to approach drawing and you are starting in the middle. It will be hard for you to make any progress after a certain level if you continue this way. Better to go back to the beginning now and save yourself time and heartache, it will be faster in the long run and you will get farther.

[Jonah Godsend]

I just looked at your sketchbook. Really? Because I think you need to learn the basics of drawing first. Start with learning how to render simple geometric shapes realistically first. Then learn how to group objects. Work from life as much as possible. Learn perspective. Then you will be ready to tackle figures and creatures. No sense putting the cart before the horse.
There is an ordered way to approach drawing and you are starting in the middle. It will be hard for you to make any progress after a certain level if you continue this way. Better to go back to the beginning now and save yourself time and heartache, it will be faster in the long run and you will get farther.

Sorry you feel that way, but trust me be I've studied the fundamentals and continue to every day ,except the sketchbook page all of that is really out dated stuff form my deviant art. I probably should of stated that in my sketch book. The only reason i posted most of those is because I'm redoing them and applying the knowledge I've gained over the past years.

Thanks for the feedback though.

[kev ferrara]

One's works always speak louder than one's mouth. And your works are saying to all of us, "work on the fundamentals... work on the fundamentals" in a disembodied ghost voice.

It is possible you weren't looking for opinions from professional artists. So you may have come to the wrong url. It happens.

best wishes and good luck
kev

[Jonah Godsend]

One's works always speak louder than one's mouth. And your works are saying to all of us, "work on the fundamentals... work on the fundamentals" in a disembodied ghost voice.

It is possible you weren't looking for opinions from professional artists. So you may have come to the wrong url. It happens.

best wishes and good luck
kev

Trust me I'm defiantly looking to for ways to improve my art and I'm not here to be Mr. Troll or offend anyone, and I agree, we should be friends, it would be and horror if you guys would check my sketchbook, just give me about a week before I can start updating it everyday. Also send me a friend request so we can talk about art and stuff.

[Steamhat]

-it would be and horror-

sorry what?

If you want to improve anything art-wise, naturally work out that muscle.

if you want more stunning characters, present a great idea with simple rules... so really being a master of the fundamentals is a good thing not because you can over-complicate with your additional knowledge, but rather balance and limit fundamentals for maximum enjoyment.

you wouldn't believe how spectacular my designs got in comparison to the old stuff when i finally took Colour theory a lot more seriously. it meant the colour schemes were as simple as hell... but made the end results completely beautiful

[bish0p2004]

sorry what?

He meant 'honor' not 'horror.'

[Steamhat]

lol, sorry for the confusion