#and then when I started try to figure out the shadows I redid him 2 more times | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

pioneeroverc-my-5000th-sideblog · 3 years

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plan from July:

-Drawabox lessons 4-5 (two weeks each - 2 pages of insects per day) ✗ finished lesson 4 except for the very last insect drawing

-finish 100 heads ✓

-studies for Shepard: textures, hands, draw mass relay, red/blue lighting ✓ (kinda - mostly focussed on hands though)

-study people interacting with everyday objects (hands) ✓

ACTIONABLES: use more references✓, plan out multiple light sources better✓, clean up lineart✗, reference faces/necks/hands in particular✓, figure out a less cartoony way of drawing eyebrows✗, try to define edges on faces more when painting✓, keep going with composition✗, try to do background in two sittings (?), study textures more (ongoing)✓, more figure drawing mannequinising stuff✓

Overview of August:

finished 100 heads challenge, nearly finished lesson 4 of DAB. Drawing all the insects has helped me analyse stuff better and also has improved my sense of 3D->2D space. Redid a few of them until they made more sense, which I think is probably a very important thing to keep doing at this stage of development.

Figure drawing improving. Need to keep trying to mannequinise them instead of falling back on ~the intuitive way~. Path of great resistance but great reward. Gave self permission to focus on interesting bits and not worry about finishing each figure. Thinking about 3D and hip/torso orientation is helping my unreferenced sketches too, which is nice.

Drew a bunch of hands but they were kinda too sketchy to actually help go to something more precise. Quality of hands in my finished art varied WILDLY this month, although they mostly look 'ok'.

Put the stuff I learned about head structure into practice with a painting - was good to actually try out defining nose/eye/lip planes. Need to keep practicing this, though, and not sure how much focus I'll be able to give it. aaaaa

During the painting, I also used lots of references (although my ability to use the information was pretty limited), tried to represent texture and learned how to blend in a more smooth way. Even though I'm not super happy with the way the finished thing turned out, I did get presented with a lot of new information - hopefully I'll retain some of that.

September plan:

finish DAB Lesson 5 (multiple pages per day if possible so I don't lose momentum)

study whatever the next step in the Radiorunner curriculum is

do 30min figure drawing/other studies at least 15/30 days

finish that damn comic

sketch out/thumbnail every prompt fill for October prompt lists

probably a busy month, but I got this!!

notes and improvements from finished stuff:

orochimaru: hands SUPER off and ended up being 'eh, kinda looks like a hand, whatever', forearm connection is kinda fucked, lines too messy/pointy to look graceful, hands don't really look like they're interacting enough

good points: tried several iterations on a difficult pose, arm movement is relatively clear, sense of energy

kylo: values WAY off & look washed out (I THINK because the background has more contrast??), hand is completely fucked up (too wide and lighting doesn't make sense on it), glove doesn't look like leather, mouth too low, cutout effect isn't done well (+ it isn't obvious whether it is a flat graphic effect or a physical sheet in front of him - drawing a thin shadow on his face didn't help here), level of messiness in foreground/background and kylo is uncomfortably different

good points: I really do like the colours (hues) even though the values are messed up, nice sense of energy from brushstrokes, the detail fadeoff in the shadows looks intentional (I mean, it was)

femshep: shadow values went too dark too quickly bc I wasn't sure how to handle multiple light sources, sunk-cost fallacy w/ left eye and/or nose (facial features are in different perspectives), overall shapes not interesting, neck connection to body is wrong, near shoulder looks dislocated even though I took a photo reference (possibly related to the neck being wrong - or maybe the strap going across her chest is oriented wrong too & flattened out), background looks messy, composition is boring, clothing folds aren't realistic, shading is too soft

good points: at least there IS some texture to everything, I LEARNED HOW TO BLEND, facial features are overall painted pretty well, nice transition between lightsources on face, hair texture and placement of texture looks really good, somehow the hand came out looking 3D with minimal effort, tried to do a lot of things I had 0 experience with and learned a lot

ACTIONABLES: CLEAN UP LINEART, reference/learn about neck-body connection & shoulders, mannequinise figures, take own clothing reference photos for exact pose instead of trying to abstract existing images (not skilled enough to do this yet), draw hands, study leather texture in particular (since it's a common material), start drawing in greyscale again

#end of month #spiders #insects

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handofvictory · 6 years

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Hi I redid Allen's questionnaire but did better this time.

What is your characters name? Does the character have a nickname?:

Allen Cooper. He lacks a nickname, though he has the title of Shadowblade.

What is your characters hair color? Eye color?:

His hair is black, and his eyes are now purple since he's become a shadow ascendent.

What kind of distinguishing facial features does your character have?:

… I’m not sure how to answer the question, honestly.

Does your character have a birthmark? Where is it? What about scars? How did he get them?:

He doesn’t have a birthmark, but boy does he have scars. He has been whipped for his crimes more than once, and in some universes that’s not all that happened to him. The scars of his beatings are large and ugly, and will never truly fade. He has scars on his hands from various incidents, many he can’t even remember. He has managed to avoid receiving any scars on his face.

He also has scars on his soul from his torture from the Legion, as well as from being thrown into the Void. He has suffered immensely and has the marks to show it.

Who are your characters friends and family? Who does he surround himself with? Who are the people your character is closest to? Who does he wish he were closest to?:

Allen's family would have to be Ellisse, Devon, and Malkhaz, whether or not he fully acknowledges any one of them. His friends would be Dar'nul and Althrich, more probably pending. Hand of Victory is in general a family to him, which he sort of accepts.

Allen honestly considers himself close to just about everyone he bonds with (due to how few he really bonds to), though to Devon moreso than others. There's a common bond between the two of them, and Devon is a father figure to him who has guided him through a lot of his problems and continues to help him to this day.

Ellisse and Malkhaz are sibling figures to him, and he has specific feelings regarding the two of them.

Ellisse he viewed as a savior for a long time, much as he knew it was unfair to her. To him, she was his chance to seek redemption, which he had no clue how to find or even how to start to look. He latched onto her and assumed that by following her, he might find change. He has since let go of that a lot thanks to serious amounts of recovery, but he still cares for her deeply as a sister.

With Malkhaz, he has chronically worried about failing him, and that fear is still there. Memories of his old teacher still haunt him, and he worries that the example he'll impart to Malkhaz will be the same one his teacher gave him. He didn't think of Mal positively initially, but he still did his best for him and tried to encourage his growth, and as a result he grew on him.

Allen doesn't actively seek relationships, but he does wish to mend his relationship to other guild members.

Where was your character born? Where has he lived since then? Where does he call home?:

He was born in some obscure kingdom I have yet to name that's based off of Latin America. Nowadays he's an adventurer, but the guild's home base counts as a consistent place he can call home.

Where does your character go when hes angry?:

Allen is chronically angry, so he doesn’t really “go” anywhere. He does try to go somewhere quiet and secluded to calm down when it gets to be too much for him, but that’s frequently unsuccessful and he becomes angrier as a result.

What is his biggest fear? Who has he told this to? Who would he never tell this to? Why?:

He fears losing all the progress he has made in his recovery and his redemption. He fears going back to the way he was, at which point he'd rather just kill himself because that is not a life he wants to live again. He hasn't said this to anyone, but the most likely one to hear about it would be Devon (followed by Dar'nul, oddly, then his two siblings maybe).

Does he have a secret?:

Not really. He doesn't tell everyone everything, but he's not really secretive either.

What makes your character laugh out loud?:

I have no clue how to describe his sense of humor but it's considerably easier to get him to laugh nowadays, even with dumb jokes.

When has your character been in love? Had a broken heart?:

He's never been in love, although he's been heartbroken by various traumatic events in his life. Losing his family twice comes to mind.

Then dig deeper by asking more unconventional questions:

What is in your characters refrigerator right now? On his bedroom floor? On his nightstand? In his garbage can?:

His room is a mess, but not a COMPLETE mess. Papers are on the floor, a book is on the nightstand, candy wrappers in the trash, along with other forms of garbage. He also has several books on the floor, and his room is completely disorganized.

Look at your characters feet. Describe what you see there. Does he wear dress shoes, gym shoes, or none at all? Is he in socks that are ratty and full of holes? Or is he wearing a pair of blue and gold slippers knitted by his grandmother?:

He wears leather boots that tend to be worn, but are still completely functional. Whenever they start losing their function, he makes new ones. His pants tend to be tucked into his boots.

When your character thinks of his childhood kitchen, what smell does he associate with it? Sauerkraut? Oatmeal cookies? Paint? Why is that smell so resonant for him?:

Allen doesn’t remember much of the kitchen from his childhood, but if he were to try hard enough, the smell of tomatoes would come to mind, and he has no clue why.

Your character is doing intense spring cleaning. What is easy for him to throw out? What is difficult for him to part with? Why?:

Allen finds it difficult to do any serious cleaning. If it isn't garbage, he finds it near impossible to throw out. He also has a difficult time motivatinf himself to clean. This is caused by his depression, but also he has spent his entire life only owning what he could carry, and so he tends to try to keep whatever he can.

Its Saturday at noon. What is your character doing? Give details. If hes eating breakfast, what exactly does he eat? If hes stretching out in his backyard to sun, what kind of blanket or towel does he lie on?:

Assuming he has nothing to do (which is not often the case), Allen is probably reading some historical fiction with some kind of food on the highest spire of either Dalaran or Silvermoon. The food is likely a candy or a sweet (coffee cake, for example). He may also have tea with him.

What is one strong memory that has stuck with your character from childhood? Why is it so powerful and lasting?:

The second time he lost his family sticks out to him, primarily because he tried to keep them together, and ended up badly beaten as a result. He remembers the aftermath, wherein his life was saved by Wolfgang. He then insisted that Allen owed him, and he suffered horribly under his tutelage for years without ever fully recovering from his loss.

Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where is he going? What does he wear? Who will he be with?:

If it's a night out, he's probably being dragged out by someone else. He himself has no ideas in mind as to where he would go, and would probably let Devon dress him up, because otherwise he would just show up in the blandest clothing imaginable.

Character Questionnaire 2 These questions are frequently used in interviews so you may want to pretend you’re interviewing your characters.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?:

"I’m not proud of what I’ve done."

What is your idea of perfect happiness?:

"General peace, I guess...?"

What is your current state of mind?:

“Tired.”

What is your favorite occupation?:

"Being a monk was... nice. I don't think I'll properly go back to it, but it was a good change of pace that I shouldn't have abandoned."

What is your most treasured possession?:

“... nothing, at the moment. I just enjoy having things, to be honest...”

What or who is the greatest love of your life?:

"I'm not answering this."

What is your favorite journey?:

“… I don’t think I could pick a favorite, I’m usually just here for the ride.”

What is your most marked characteristic?:

“Uh. I used to say it's my eyes, but I'm not sure anymore.”

When and where were you the happiest?:

“I'm not answering this.”

What is it that you most dislike?:

“... hm. I despise loud, sudden noises, and I hate [cotton] fabrics. Itches like hell.”

What is your greatest fear?:

"I don't know anymore. I think I've seen too much."

What is your greatest extravagance?:

“I suppose any time I buy myself something to eat, otherwise I try to spend only when I have to.”

{

Which living person do you most despise?:

Sigh. "I don't have the energy to hate anyone specifically. Catahecas comes closest, I suppose, but even then, I'm just too... tired to make note of him when he's not in proximity to me, or when I'm not joking about how loathesome he is to guildmates."

What is your greatest regret?:

"Everything. Just... everything. Let's leave it at that."

Which talent would you most like to have?:

“I don't think I can think of anything. Maybe be a good speaker.”

Where would you like to live?:

"I think where I currently live is fine."

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?:

Allen looks to the side and seems to become lost in thought. His expression becomes somber, and he's unresponsive for a bit. The question is never answered.

What is the quality you most like in a man?:

His cheeks darken, and he clears his throat. "Next question."

What is the quality you most like in a woman?:

His cheeks darken a little further. “Next question!"

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?:

Gestures to his entire self.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?:

"It's hard to think of one, seeing as I have a hard time actively hating people. I suppose I avoid people who would take advantage of me or my loved ones the most."

What do you most value in your friends?:

“… kindness, compassion, a willingness to listen, that sort of thing...”

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?:

"I can’t say I have one."

Whose are your heroes in real life?:

"I suppose there are people in my life who count, but I... don't really see them as heroes per se. They're extremely important to me, but not... heroes."

Which living person do you most admire?:

“Shut up.”

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?:

“I don’t see how any of them could be overrated, they’re virtues for a reason.”

On what occasions do you lie?:

"When necessary. I don't like doing it, though. I then have to go along with the lie and it becomes a chore I don't want to do. I'd rather be honest if I can."

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?:

“Any time I talk about my past. 'In my lifetime' I should really just tell myself to shut up.”

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?:

“I'm working on changing what I can, but I would make myself less judgemental.”

What are your favorite names?:

“… names for what? You need to be more specific here, because I don’t think about peoples names all too much.”

How would you like to die?:

“Painlessly. Just... painlessly."

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?:

Allen sighs. "I've never been given the choice, to tell you the truth. I don't think many people do. I think I'd rather just play the hand I'm dealt rather than imagine what could have been."

What is your motto?:

“Mottos are overrated.”

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