[N00b] Lil Robot sketchie~

[JenJen]

Heyya! ^__^/ This is my first post in this forum The name's Jennie. I've just discovered the beauty of concept art and really wanna try drawing it since I've been stuck with the anime/manga style for too long. I simply wanna try something new.

This is my very first robot sketch! Compared to your art it looks so bad XD How do I continue with it? I've noticed that almost all of you use Photoshop or some other program, but I'm really not familiar with those kind of programs.. Think I gotta learn some more x_x; Anyways! Should I ink it (like I always do with my drawings) and then just color it? Or try something new?

And btw.. HOW do you color metallic surfaces? To make it shimmer etc~ Really hard.. ._.

[silverslash]

nice work, i especially like the central part , it makes for a very interesting focal point,

now the legs on the other hand seem to lack the energy that the rest of the robot(mech?) has. the leg on the left in particular has a wonky perspective,

as to how to proceed with it check this out it might help, i just stumbled on it and am amazed at the result attained with out the phoshop painter involvement

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...threadid=19655

gl and make sure u post any progress!
cya
--------------------------
el coros my new hero nuff said

[JenJen]

Thanks ^__^

Yeah, I know about the legs and the perspective. Gotta work on that. I didnt think about the fact that they may be too weak tho. Thanks for pointing that out!

I'll check the link right away~

[JenJen]

Here's the ink version Now I dunno how to continue XD

[JenJen]

Hihihi~ I keep on posting my progress XD


Still need to learn how to color proper METAL

[RETEP]

hey jenjen,
cool robot!!! its come a long way since the initial sketch.
just wondering how you colored it?? i am trying to learn how to draw/color robots too

[Drevay]

Woh, you sure are hyper. O_o

Anyway, good stuff - nice clean line-art and whatnot. You still may want to beef up that joint connecting the leg to the torso of the bot.

Again, good stuff!

[JenJen]

Originally posted by dingoegret
hey jenjen,
cool robot!!! its come a long way since the initial sketch.
just wondering how you colored it?? i am trying to learn how to draw/color robots too

Thankies! ^_^ Well.. It's my first time trying to color metal in photoshop.. So I looked at some art on the mainpage www.conceptart.org by Nathan Campbell (I love his artwork )
I've noticed that I cant use layers properly when I color. Gotta work on that. ANYWAYS~
When I colored it I first gave it a basic color. Something very neutral. Then I worked from light to dark. So I colored the highlighted areas first and gave the robot shadows and stuff later~
Dunno how to explain it, XD

Originally posted by Drevay
Woh, you sure are hyper. O_o

Anyway, good stuff - nice clean line-art and whatnot. You still may want to beef up that joint connecting the leg to the torso of the bot.

Again, good stuff!

Hyper? yeah. People tell me that XD

*nod* I know about the leg x_x It was screwed up right from the beginning, but I'll learn from that :o Right now it looks like the leg is gonna come off or something XD

[House Gaijin Hokage]

I like the refined version, good work.

[Joey-b]

very clean very nice!

[silverslash]

comin along comon along

[Max4d]

Looking good

Max4d

[Swoop]

Kinda awsome there
I love the coloring.. very subtle and yet powerfull effect

Anyways only crit i have is the "body" and legs look out of alignment. Like the body is pointing towards another vanishing point than the legs
But othe rthan that its awsome.. especially like the inks and color show us more !

[JenJen]

Thanks everyone! ^__^V *victory sign*

Swoop: you like the coloring? Wow~ Thanks I still think it looks way too flat and.. I dunno.. not metallic at all. It feels like that robot is made of fabric or something ¬_¬

And I know about the whole perspective thing XD The legs are kinda pointing to the wrong direction x_x


Yesterday I decided to experiment a lil. First I saved the original version so I wouldnt ruin it Then I added a dark backgroundcolor and some light coming out of the robots lil eye But I messed up. Dunno how to use photoshop properly yet... But I'll show you my lil failure~

[Chris Beatrice]

JenJen
I really like your line work. I don't know what final result you're trying to achieve in your colored work. If I take a guess, I don't think you're yet achieving what you are after (i.e. the metal). Tell me if I'm wrong...

The way metal reflects light is very difficult to explain, if you want to understand it in detail. But one simple thing to understand about very shiny metal is, it acts like a mirror, so, what you see on its surface is similar to what you see in the entire scene, i.e. areas of very dark darks right next to areas of bright light, etc. Most artists when they begin are afraid to do this, so they end up with a timid, dull look which, with all due respect, is what I see here. So ask yourself, if the metal object you're looking at were a perfect mirror, what would you see reflected in it on each point of its surface? Then, modify that based on how reflective the surface really is.

I also don't know if you mean to gradually move away from the "colored line drawing" look, since you seemed to be asking about it. I generally start with a colored sketch, then move it to a "lineless" painting. If you're intersted in looking at a progression that shows this, see my WIP post here:

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...threadid=20624

and the finished piece here:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...threadid=21119

Good luck!!

[Swoop]

I think the light looks pretty good .. not bad.

Anyways the look i think it has now is white metallic surface. Like it's coated with white. Somehow reminds me of Ghost in the Shell dunno why

[JenJen]

Originally posted by Chris Beatrice
JenJen
I really like your line work. I don't know what final result you're trying to achieve in your colored work. If I take a guess, I don't think you're yet achieving what you are after (i.e. the metal). Tell me if I'm wrong...

You're absolutely right I'm still a beginner with photoshop so it's really hard for me to get the result I want. I know that if I keep on practicing I'll get better and if I get good tips I'll improve alot faster

The way metal reflects light is very difficult to explain, if you want to understand it in detail. But one simple thing to understand about very shiny metal is, it acts like a mirror, so, what you see on its surface is similar to what you see in the entire scene, i.e. areas of very dark darks right next to areas of bright light, etc.

I studied some artwork done by real pros and I saw just what you're explaining here The ability to draw darksurfaces next to bright lights. I hafta work on that I guess

Most artists when they begin are afraid to do this, so they end up with a timid, dull look which, with all due respect, is what I see here. So ask yourself, if the metal object you're looking at were a perfect mirror, what would you see reflected in it on each point of its surface? Then, modify that based on how reflective the surface really is.

I also don't know if you mean to gradually move away from the "colored line drawing" look, since you seemed to be asking about it. I generally start with a colored sketch, then move it to a "lineless" painting. If you're intersted in looking at a progression that shows this, see my WIP post here:

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...threadid=20624

and the finished piece here:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...threadid=21119

Good luck!!

Thanks for all your advice Chris! I dunno know if I want to move away from the "colored line drawing" look, since I've been working with it for so long. But I guess I'll try sometime Always fun to experiment with new styles.

[hoopa]

wow, thats come a long way from the original sketch. very smooth feel to it.

[cartoonfox]

nice work jen, great for your first robot. theire are a few perspective problems. i think mainly witht the head peice. a trick you could try is when sketching it out. if you flip the paper over and put it up against a light sorce (like a light box or lamp etc) you can see the image in reverse. this helps to see what mistakes your eyes missed. as the human brain starts to get 'lazy' when spending time on one peice, and it doest notice miastakes in perspective and proportions etc. so flipping it will show it in a new way, and you'll instantly see your mistkes.
i constantley flip my paper around to try and allways catch the mistakes that my eyes might miss.

hope that helps. and good luck on your art, it seems you will do very well if you keep it up.
i'm afraid i cant help you on the colouring side if things, as i have little experience in colouring shiny materials. just remember that its important to give your peice a light direction, and imagine what envioment its in, so that it will be frelected properley onto the robot.

hope that helps you





peace

[Blackwell]

Heya JenJen -- good stuff. Nice progress from the original sketch.

Check out this link to Burn Comics' progress slider on how he creates a robot:

http://www.burncomics.com/process/boltflamethrower/

Keep up the great work!