StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Victory at Daron!
Militant forces defeated and captured, USE colony liberated



-written by IBN (Interstellar Broadcasting Network) journalist Willian D. Johnson

-drawing contributed by the USMC's Lieutenant John Baylor

A battered, grimy and dirt covered marine plants the flag of the United Sovereignty of Earth on the rim of a crater where the Gamma-Sigma's headquarters once stood. After hours of intensive combat against the Gamma-Sigma's fanatical soldiers clad in teal Bragulan battle suits, after withstanding storms of K-bolts and rocket propelled grenades, the Sovereign's marines prevails and punctuates their unquestionable victory by the planting of the good 'ol Red, White and Blue.

Click here for more

I just wrote the article for some atmosphere.

Constructive criticism: art isn't easy, and drawing people is one of the hardest things to do. The problem is making them lifelike. Your happy marine looks... well, like a stick figure.

BUT that just means you have to DRAW SOME MORE! So get on that paper and draw an entire legion of marines, then you'll get better.

(just pointing this out, that flag is really small. It looks like a flag that you'll take to a football match, or put on your car. Does your marine have a rifle?)

Stofsk wrote:Constructive criticism: art isn't easy, and drawing people is one of the hardest things to do. The problem is making them lifelike. Your happy marine looks... well, like a stick figure.

What's wrong with his pose? Too little detail? What? Aside from the detail and the coloring and the shadowing and whatnot, it's just like the storm troopers in the Neo-Empire thread. Except not as high quality or cool or good.

BUT that just means you have to DRAW SOME MORE! So get on that paper and draw an entire legion of marines, then you'll get better.

How is that supposed to help? -_-

(just pointing this out, that flag is really small. It looks like a flag that you'll take to a football match, or put on your car. Does your marine have a rifle?)

Well, drawing big flags is really hard. The marine's rifle is somewhere else. The fighting's ended so he can put the flag without having to lug his gun around. And I'm lazy.

Shroom Man 777 wrote:

Stofsk wrote:Constructive criticism: art isn't easy, and drawing people is one of the hardest things to do. The problem is making them lifelike. Your happy marine looks... well, like a stick figure.

What's wrong with his pose? Too little detail? What? Aside from the detail and the coloring and the shadowing and whatnot, it's just like the storm troopers in the Neo-Empire thread. Except not as high quality or cool or good.

it´s not the detail. it´s his woodiness. you don´t need any detail to get rid of woodiness. you need the right proportions and correct angles of the arms and legs and all that crap.
the human body´s muscular and sekelletal system doesn´t consist of a whole bunch of autarc systems but is one system.
try it yourself. stand upright. extend your arm like on the picture. you will notice that not only does your arm move but that also your hips shift slightly to the right in order to get your body´s center of mass back to the right place.

but i´m just babbling. i can´t draw half as good as you can. i second Stofsk though. draw a legion.

Shroom Man 777 wrote:What's wrong with his pose? Too little detail? What?

He's too regid. Too stick like. He's too flat. It's hard to describe.

How is that supposed to help? -_-

Sorry, I was trying to encourage you to draw. You only get better if you keep on doing it.

Well, drawing big flags is really hard. The marine's rifle is somewhere else. The fighting's ended so he can put the flag without having to lug his gun around. And I'm lazy.

Uh, ok.

Mmm...so if his left hand extends, his body shifts slightly towards the right? Well, he is a bit inclined to the right...or so I think...but meh.

What's wrong with the proportions?

Maybe I should give him a more human position? Less straight and more...slouchy or something?

It is better than my last drawing, right?

What was your last drawing?

I posted it in this forum, but they're now dead.

Basic problem is the two-dimensionality of the pictures. Proportions and angles are lacking, as Salm said. This isn't something you can wave a wand over; you need to essentially keep drawing to improve.

I never learnt how to draw, I taught myself. As such I can't really advise you on a step-by-step basis. Just keep on drawing. (and in answer to your question your new pic is better)

Stofsk wrote:Basic problem is the two-dimensionality of the pictures. Proportions and angles are lacking, as Salm said. This isn't something you can wave a wand over; you need to essentially keep drawing to improve.

Damn! Well, I can get the proportionality, but what's up with the angles/

I never learnt how to draw, I taught myself. As such I can't really advise you on a step-by-step basis. Just keep on drawing. (and in answer to your question your new pic is better)

Damn! Well, okay then. I might start drawing Baylor while kneeling and shooting at some shit.

Shroom Man 777 wrote:

Stofsk wrote:Basic problem is the two-dimensionality of the pictures. Proportions and angles are lacking, as Salm said. This isn't something you can wave a wand over; you need to essentially keep drawing to improve.

Damn! Well, I can get the proportionality, but what's up with the angles/

that´s a thing you can try out yourself. get naked and stand infront of a mirror. hold something in your hand with about the size and weight as the flag in your picture.
extend your arm and you´ll see imediately what i mean with angles. the as your arm extends your pelvis shifts to the opposite direction.
i´ll try googling a picture which demonstrates what i mean.

ok, here it comes. the guy on this picture is doing basicly the same thing as the guy in your drawing. he´s extending his arm and his pelvis shifts to the other side in order to balance out the center of mass.
not how head and feet remain on the same axis. only his pelvis and his dick shift over to the other side.
think about the fact that you soldier is carrying a flag which means weight. it will put the center of mass even more out of place, so the change in angle of your soldier will probably be even grater.

Arty nekkid man

salm, you might want to have that pic as a link, as it's not exactly SFW.

SM777 - everyone so far seems to be hitting right on.

As well, with the arm holding the flag (and it may just be me), it looks like his arm is twisting backward.

Ah! Well, I understood what you said in your previous post, but I just didn't get what you meant by the angles, which was just the same thing.

So basically, his positioning should be more human, less stiff, more...slobby and lazy.

And if the arm is extending forward, it should be bigger than the other arm since the flag-arm is nearer to the viewer too, right?

Ver: Well, if you had an elbow pad and extended your arm sidewards and gave a thumbs up, methinks the elbow pad's pad would still show. Baylor is just rotating his wrist. But then again, I could've made another mistake.

God, you people are quite good at this. Thanks a lot!

Mmm...did I make a lot of progress from my old pic to this one?

Shroom Man 777 wrote:Ver: Well, if you had an elbow pad and extended your arm sidewards and gave a thumbs up, methinks the elbow pad's pad would still show. Baylor is just rotating his wrist. But then again, I could've made another mistake.

Well, if you'd had that flag tilted a bit more forward, it'd look more real with that particular angle. And I'm not saying that it wouldn't show.. just that the way he's holding it looks like his arm is tilting backward.

And yes, good progress between the former and the more current.

Shroom Man 777 wrote:Mmm...did I make a lot of progress from my old pic to this one?

I think the geometry is better and the pic is generally clearer - I still think it needs some more shading.

verilon wrote:Well, if you'd had that flag tilted a bit more forward, it'd look more real with that particular angle. And I'm not saying that it wouldn't show.. just that the way he's holding it looks like his arm is tilting backward.

And yes, good progress between the former and the more current.

Mmmm...how do I tilt it forward? That's one of my bigger problems. I have a lousy sense of 3d.

EDIT:

Peregrine: Shading is another of my boo-boos

Shroom Man 777 wrote:Peregrine: Shading is another of my boo-boos

...While shading's the part I enjoy the most.

Erasing shading is very pissy, I mean, normal erasure is already pissy, how much more shading (which I never really do)?

And besides, my pic is in noon, no shadows, no shit

as already covered, the figure is stiff, youneed more flow in you art. It's not as you put it making him more "lazy" or "slobby", you just need some dynamics. The way you drew it makes it looksl like a model you snapped into a pose. Here's an example of a flowing pose, but yet, still simple and not "lazy" or "slouching"

http://polykarbon.com/tutorials/body/male/final.htm

jairyn_1 wrote:salm, you might want to have that pic as a link, as it's not exactly SFW.

SM777 - everyone so far seems to be hitting right on.

As well, with the arm holding the flag (and it may just be me), it looks like his arm is twisting backward.

i honestly didn´t see that comming. it´s art. it´s supposed to be naked.,
but... whatever, not the evil, naked link is dressed. fine with me.

Shroom Man 777 wrote:So basically, his positioning should be more human, less stiff, more...slobby and lazy.

nope, that´s not what i meant. even if you´re not slobby and lazy you will still shift your pelvis if you extend your arm. even well trained soldiers will do that. even anuld teh governator does that.

have you tried it in front of a mirror yet?

and i think anime jets tutorial is something you should look at.

salm wrote:

jairyn_1 wrote:salm, you might want to have that pic as a link, as it's not exactly SFW.

SM777 - everyone so far seems to be hitting right on.

As well, with the arm holding the flag (and it may just be me), it looks like his arm is twisting backward.

i honestly didn´t see that comming. it´s art. it´s supposed to be naked.,
but... whatever, not the evil, naked link is dressed. fine with me.

I know, but it's just precaution. -shrugs-

@Shroom - try practising with objects like that in different positions in the hand, first, then add the arm. Try to make it look as natural as possible. It'll take some time, but you're making progress.

Something that strikes me is that it seems so flat and 2D. There is a good way to fix this. One of the rules of science fictiony comics is to avoid straight on shots is at all possible. It makes the drawing seem flat. To add drama, think like a movie camera. Take angles from above or below. I'd make that drawing from a worms eye view. Not an extreme one, but enough that the viewer is looking up at the soldier. Shots from below make the subject look larger than life and give the impression of greatness.

Also, one a more technical note, the hands are a bit small compared to the body.

BTW - I recall having seen that flag somewhere else....


HERE!


(okay, it's not exactly the same flag... but the similarity's there!)

Like the others said, it currently looks too much like a stick figure. Needs more curves, so to speak.