~ Creatures/Characters/Miscellaneous +1

[mital]

Welp...I've finally decided to get off my ass and start putting stuff together for a portfolio of some sort. Here's the start of it.
I wasn't sure if this would be something I'd put in sketchbooks...since it's not my sketchbook stuff...and I definitely wouldn't consider these good enough for finished. My apologies if I posted this in the wrong place.

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12. - For eatpoo's draw my character thread, this is Pangaea's character.


13. - For eatpoo's draw my character thread, this is J.'s character. It's kinda fun to cartoon once in a while!

[madster]

Hiya Mital! Nice to see you posting some of your stuff...Gonna do a 24 Hour comic for Thanksgiving this year? We might be able to get a group going over here as a Challenge-type thing...I might try to finish mine from last year, this year...lol!

Don't worry, you've posted these in the right place, as this is basically a large WIP, as you try to refine and select works to go into a portfolio...
Some interesting pieces...Here's my take on them, for what it's worth to you.

#1 - His head looks too small, and his hands too big for his body. The light souces on his legs seem a bit extreme (but it's still WIP, I know).
#2 - Again, his head is too small for his body.
General Rule of Thumb: The foot = 1 head length, the hand from fingertip to bottom of wrist = 1 head length. I have no idea how in the hell he can lift that shield, much less wander around with it, but it still looks cool. You will need to readdress your light source in this one. It's all over the place, and not in a good way.

I would suggest that you consider tossing each of these first two into a separate thread here in SWIPs as you continue refining these two pieces, if you want more indepth attention/suggestions on them. They are two powerful pieces, and I think they would be great in a portfolio.

#s 3 through 11 - All show nice rendering, nice shading, but lousy consistency in light sources...
#3 is very imaginative, but the perspective is somewhat off, expecially noticeable in the rear of the fishfly...there is no bend in the spine, but the rear fins and legs are not correctly visible. A "definite possible" for your portfolio.
#4 - I like the leg hydraulics/structure, but the majority of this is overshadowed by the visual confusion of the upper "shale rock" torso, which distracts the eye too much. I would also make the eyes more prominent. I wouldn't consider this one a portfolio piece.
#5 - Another wild one, but your light source/shading is inconsistent...I also keep wondering how his upper arms don't just snap off from the mass of the lower arms...lol! Personally, I'd say "no" for the portfolio.
#6 - This guy is amazingly kinda cute, but his eyes need to be bigger and bulge more from the head. Not a lot, mind you, but enough to give him more personality...bring them just a bit more forward, humanoid-style...Definite portfolio piece.
#7 - The centipede thing makes this a bit confusing to the eye, mainly because of values/shading. This one just doesn't do anything for me, and I wouldn't include it in a portfolio.
#8 - The head and teeth are interesting, but it doesn't really look like any of these "pieces parts" go together in this one. Again, light sources are your enemy in this piece, and it looks like he's resting on the seabottom, instead of floating through the whatever...This piece also looks odd with the values/shading, in addition to the inconsistent light sources. Not a good portfolio piece.
#9 - This makes me think of South Park, and Dr. Mephisto's "monkey with 3 asses!"...Interesting concept, but awful loosely rendered, still needing some detailing, especially the perspective on the feet. (de-tailing....hahahah!) A "maybe" keeper.
#10 - This one is entertaining, but again, the head is too small, with the hands (even though they are "feathered") too large. If you work on this one, I'd call it a definite keeper, although I think I'd get rid of the odd head horns/antennae, and try to make it just a lordly looking crane or swan or something...
#11 - Nice rendering, but the head is too indistinct from the rest of the creature, and the feet are too underdetailed and lacking in depth to make this piece cohesive.

Side note: #s 3,5,6,8 and 9 have you trailing off...on the RH side as viewed. That's a bad habit, mital...gotta draw 'em all.

#12 - Nice rendering, but flat at present. Value shading and/or hatching is badly needed on this one. Great foreshortening of the arm, though!
#13 - This one really doesn't do much for me, one way or t'other. Light sources (yeah, yeah, we know...), the anatomy of the legs, and the somewhat oversimplified facial features (at least her head isn't too small!) make this one a definite non-portfolio piece in my opinion.

So there's my POV on your stuff.
A portfolio should theoretically contain anything from 8-15 or 20 of your best pieces, and should display a variety of techniques, subject matter, and be a combination of Observational and Imaginative works.

Your works are all imaginative, with some bits of representational work mixed in. While this would be a portion of your portfolio, you really should flesh it out so as to better display your versatility in rendering traditional subjects, and traditional backgrounds (you show no real backgrounds...you should try to have at least one decent piece, to show that you can do more than just main subject matter, real or fantastical).

The biggest issue I see in your stuff is establishing a consistent light source, and striving for better balance in your values when shading works, both of which are very related issues.

Hope this was of some help to you, post more of your stuff here!

~M

[DSillustration]

great stuff mital!

i love em all,
but my 2 least favorite are the first two.
the paintly style just hides your fantastic linework.
i'd try to find a way to simplify the color.

[mital]

Madster - I guess I should have explained a bit more. This is just quick stuff that I can do in 1-3 hrs. None of it would be submitted as standalone portfolio pieces (I'd rather do illustrations for those). Basically with the creatures (once I have enough good ones) I'll put 3-4 per page + a page or two of turn arounds of some of the creatures. In all honesty I should've probably left those creatures as pure line drawings...and a lot looser...but I got carried away.
The last two pieces were for a drawing activity, not even portfolio material since they're not my characters. I'll be coloring the octopus helmet girl...which should help with the flatness. The cigar girl...yeah...it's not anything I'd ever come up with (especially since I dislike that hairstyle)...but it was kinda fun working on someone else's character in a different style + I got to draw a monkey...
I'll be cycling through different categories: Environments (interior/exterior), props, vehicles, etc. And working on some illustrations on the side.
I'm not working at the moment...so I'm using this time to get as much stuff together as I can. Ideally I'd like to find work where I get to draw...but it looks like I'm probably going to have to go back to doing office/engineering work again.
I do appreciate the time and advice, especially on proportions and lighting. I'll definitely pay more attention to those on my future works.
As for the 24 hr comic...I'm not planning on it...those two in the last year kinda took their toll...and I haven't recharged yet. I can't even say it sounds like fun at the moment...but who knows how I'll feel in another month. If there's an event I'll probably get enthused again...but I don't think I'll be the one to suggest it
Thanks again

DS - Thank you! I agree...The lines on those first two were much better than the rushed paintjobs. I am still kinda happy with how the armor on the first one turned out but the second one looks more garish than I'd remembered...Looking back now...I should've left those out...ah well.

[JERI]

Sounds like they're not WIP. Though no one really bothers with that anyway so don't worry about it.

I actually like that first colored one. The fact that it's so clean and tidy just serve to show you had a well-structure lineart to work on.

[Liquidspider]

those are sweet Mital, some really original concepts there. but ya, your lighting is inconsistant, and well... u know..

I'd sure like to see more

Keep it up!

[mital]

Jeri: Thanks! I'm kindov a noob painter so I try to solve as many problems with my lines as I can. Saves me headaches later.

Liquidspider: Thank you! I'll put new stuff up as soon as I get it done...hopefully I'll have more stuff by this weekend....but it'll be a while before I get back to creatures again.

for eatpoo's 100th weekly...I started this like four weeks ago...had to set it aside and just finished it up.

[stoph]

gosh.. that last piece is beautiful! i really dig the idea, but maybe it would have worked a little better to not have such a round number like 100? looks a little too staged, if you get me other than that youve got a lot of promise here. i really enjoy #7 (the centi-centaur), very unusual mix, which makes it so effective. look forward to seeing the refined finals for you folio