Pyritie's Artwork

[Naze]

well if it's a logo, then what you did is even worse Ha, don't get me wrong here dude, but a logo should be very clear and easy to read. Just look at the actual one: two colors standing side by side with 4 little clear pictographs illustrating the main shits of your school. Simple and effective. That's the key to logos man, they must be simple, easy to read and they must transmit their message very clearly.

You forgot to say that they must have very lazy-made draws, and that an out of imagination creator of the logo normaly makes them symetrical.

 

[Pyritie]

Yes I know his neck shading is all funny.

 

[TheDivineBoss]

It's cutew


I need a cookie, you need rep. Want to trade?

 

[Pyritie]

Bleh.

If you have any advice or crits please say them now before I work on this more. Because later it's harder to correct the mistakes.

And I know those circles on her chest are off. Just ignore them.

She will be having a fireball in between her hands.

Does she look too skinny?

 

[TheDivineBoss]

Yeah, around the neck and such.

Maybe a too short nose?

 

[Pyritie]

The nose is just short because of the perspective. Which I seem to have a lot of trouble on. :/

 

[Dr Super Good]

Face looks too ball like to be a dragon, also neck seems too long. Dragons tend to have a more pointy head than a ball like human one which it looks like. The neck is about half the body length, which I think is a bit much.

Also just because they are dragons does not mean they have to have less than 5 fingers. You currently have 3 claw like toes per foot and 4 claw like fingers per hand, many lizzard species (and dragons are like them) have 5 fingers / toes. Ofcourse the number is up to you as there is no real predefined way to draw dragons, but you should atleast make the number of fingers/toes equal to each other otherwise it just looks wierd. Also I recomend going with 5 as your dragons are meant to be smart and use their hands for more than just walking on so they would have evolved better controle over them like humans have but also kept their ability to walk on them.

Finally the last problem I notice is the tail seems very short, especially with the long necksand dragons usually have a very noticable tail making up nearly half their body length or more. It might be due to the way I interperate the perspectives, but I really thing you need to rethink the neck/tail length to make it appear more natural.

P.S. Yes she does seem a bit skinny, as dragons usually are well built and have a lot of musscle on them, especially by their chests and legs and on their backs (for the wings). Also the tail does not join smoothly with the legs, dragons and lizards I think are more rounded than a sudden thinining of the width.

Finally, you appear to have drawn something looking sort of like a belly button on it. Dragons do not have such a thing as they are reptiles. Infact only mamals have belly buttons as that is how the unbilical cord is attached when in the whome. Thus there is not even a slight cave in for reptiles where a bellybutton is on a mamal.

 

[Pyritie]

Also just because they are dragons does not mean they have to have less than 5 fingers. You currently have 3 claw like toes per foot and 4 claw like fingers per hand, many lizzard species (and dragons are like them) have 5 fingers / toes. Ofcourse the number is up to you as there is no real predefined way to draw dragons, but you should atleast make the number of fingers/toes equal to each other otherwise it just looks wierd.

I mainly just do 4 because 5 are harder to draw and make it look crowded. Lots of other artists (especially cartoon ones) stick with the 4. But yeah, I should add an extra toe.

Finally the last problem I notice is the tail seems very short, especially with the long necksand dragons usually have a very noticable tail making up nearly half their body length or more. It might be due to the way I interperate the perspectives, but I really thing you need to rethink the neck/tail length to make it appear more natural.

Whoops.

Finally, you appear to have drawn something looking sort of like a belly button on it. Dragons do not have such a thing as they are reptiles. Infact only mamals have belly buttons as that is how the unbilical cord is attached when in the whome. Thus there is not even a slight cave in for reptiles where a bellybutton is on a mamal.

I know, it's just a reference point, not a belly button. I know only mammals have them.

 

[Pyritie]

 

[Dr Super Good]

Looks much better.

The part joining the legs, tail and body still looks funny, unless it is because it is meant to be cloths covering the body and stopping as the tail begins (Why would a dragon wear full body cloths anyway as their scales are probably more protection than cloth can provide) or it is just the way your lines are and on the actual finished dragon it will look better.

The neck is ok in length but to make it look more natural, you may wish to bend it more and connect it with the head more at the back of it (as it is hard for dragons to walk like dragons and suddnly be able to put their heads in postures humans can. What I basically mean is make the neck more curvy and attach it more towards the back of the head not in the front to make it more dragon like and not human like. If you do this, the ammount you move it should be little, just to make it look slightly less human like and more dragon like but not totally change your idea and make it too hard to draw/paint. However it is ok like it is.

Consider adding armlets or bracelets to the arms. It would make the dragon seem less totally wild (like you want) as well as still keeping it dragon like and enhance the whole magic theme of the picture (with the fireball).

 

[Pyritie]

The clothy parts are just the hood-that-comes-down-to-the-top-half-of-the-torso thing and those weird... knee... things But yeah I can add some more decoration to the wrists too.

Also I usually have my dragons walk with their head sticking up (like a dog) instead of parallel (like a crocodile).

And that... area... between the legs will look better when I add the texture and stuff there. At the moment it does look weird, I agree.

 

[Elenai]

You need to sleek out your dragons a little...make them sharper and meaner looking.

Right now this pencil one looks like I could eat him.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Its mean enough, he does not want it to turn into a total beast like most mean ones are.

 

[Pyritie]

My dragons are more... civilized...

Those "meaner" dragons are to my dragons as cavemen are to modern humans.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Your dragons suffer from neck pains. . .

Well anyway, I look foward to seeing what a good picture this could become.

Sorry about bringing up the lower part in the chat room. . .

 

[Pyritie]

(Click on it for full size)

If this is good then I can start coloring.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Seems fine to me.

You might want to consider adding more jewlery to make it look more magical like. . .
A ring around the tail.
A neckless.
Some magical looking belt around the chest or waist.
Some golden or shiny strips attached to the wings.
A neckless of some sorts
More armlets/bracelets

However this is purly optional and at most 2 to 3 of the above otherwise it will cover too much of the dragon.

 

[Pyritie]

There already is a belty thing that the leg things are attached to. It's going to be more like a ribbon or something.
Things on the wings makes flying clumsier.
And the robe will be nicely decorated.
Things on the tail would just fall off. (No I am not doing any piercings.)

 

[Dr Super Good]

The things on wings would hardly hinder flying, they are basically not on the wing surface but on the wink skelton and are very loose (kind of clipped on) just to make the wings look more impressive.

The thing on the tail would basically be like a ring on a humans finger. Tight fitting so it can not easilly fall off but not too tight that it can not be taken off.

Make sure you do not cover too much of the body as otherwise it will ruin the overall dragon feeling of the picture.

 

[Pyritie]

Bleh. I'll see about the wing and tail thing.

Aside from that she's not getting any more clothing, so I think it's fine now.

 

[Dr Super Good]

I also say so. Now it is up to how well you colour it and shade it.

 

[Pyritie]

WIP 4.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Looks pretty good.

Even with normal block colouring (no shading) it is ok for something for a cartoon. Probably will look even better after shading it.

 

[Pyritie]

Bleh. The bad thing about the computer at school that I use for the tablet is that the screen is all up so when I view the picture on a normal screen the colors aren't as bright.

In other words the orange is not bright enough.

 

[TheDivineBoss]

Looks well, maybe brown+yellow should be something for you.

Keep it up!

Make it something g00d!

 

[Dr Super Good]

Depending on the software you use, you should be able to fix that as like I said, it is pretty much block colour. You simply have to replace the current orange for a much brighter one. This will ofcourse be even easier if your traces are in a separate layer, which I believe they are.

 

[Pyritie]

Photoshop CS1 on the computer with the tablet, CS3 on my laptop. And yeah, they're all on separate layers.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Thus if each colour is on a separate layer itis even easier, you just have to use the colour correction option and as that is the only colour, it will be the only one affected.

 

[Pyritie]

Another update.

Fixed the colors; erased some bits of the lines so you can see underneath them. (It's just erased for the WIP thingy, not in the actual psd file.)

 

[Dr Super Good]

Looks ok to me.

By the horns, the hood looks slightly messed up but this probably will be fixed by when you shade it ect so you can decifer how the hoods is fitted properly. As currently it seems like the hood behind the horns is missing and all you are seeing is it infront.

I recomend you think about putting some sort of decorative pattern on some of the clothing, as it makes little sense for things to look gold trimed yet be mostly blank cloth.

Maybe more comming tomorrow but I am too tired.

 

[TheDivineBoss]

Maybe you should try other colour than orange, I must say.

Maybe a yellow-orangy one, fits you.

 

[Pyritie]

By the horns, the hood looks slightly messed up but this probably will be fixed by when you shade it ect so you can decifer how the hoods is fitted properly. As currently it seems like the hood behind the horns is missing and all you are seeing is it infront.

Yes, I haven't added the frills yet. (A membrane between the horns)

I recomend you think about putting some sort of decorative pattern on some of the clothing, as it makes little sense for things to look gold trimed yet be mostly blank cloth.

Well of course I was going to do that.

Maybe you should try other colour than orange, I must say.

Maybe a yellow-orangy one, fits you.

This isn't Pyritie; this is Scorch. She is a reddish-orange.

 

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

The position is a bit akward... and the wing "finger" is too long. Long and skinny fingers are kindof "evil".

Other than that, I really can't comment. It looks like a very early WIP and I hope it is.

 

[Dr Super Good]

It looks fine to me, not evil at all.

 

[Naze]

Her dragons are not evil/spiky as most dragons do.




Pyritie, a hint about the perspective of his/her face:

Shading. I don't know if this was talked before, or if you know it, but I've seen you saying that you have problems with it....




Anyways, I really suggest you to see the attached image of my idea. It is like this:

Use red for light-shaded areas and dark red for heavily shaded areas. Thats simple. The perspective will work as wanted

I hope I helped ;D

 

[Pyritie]

Well of course I haven't started on the shading yet. But yeah, it's mainly perspective and lighting that I have problems with.

I'm going to do scales on her, unlike my others. It looks far more awesome, and it can hide some possible mistakes with lighting I might happen to make.

 

[Naze]

Hmm..... I noticed that the lightning wasn't started yet. Well, you can do as you did at your avatar, the lightning is good. You should only added some darker lighting at some spots, to make a bigger contrast and etc.

 

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

What I meant about the wing finger (the little thumb) is that it looks too long and spiky compared to the rest of the dragon. The whole dragon looks "cute", round and with small features. The long thumb thing doesn't really fit.

Very minor though.

 

[Pyritie]

I'm just trying out something with the wings; that's all.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Also remember that it is meant to be holding a fireball which gives off a lot of light so the lighting in the picture is slightly more complex than most normal pictures.

 

[Naze]

Complex lightining at draws aways looks good. The hint is to use darker shades where the lightning that comes from the fireball didn't get. So, almost the whole body of the dragon will be heavily shaded! Yes, but it is going to looks fine.

 

[Pyritie]

Well she's flying during the day time so there will be a bit of ambient light as well. So there'll be a bright and sharp light from the fireball and some soft light from the top-right corner.

 

[Pyritie]

http://www.deviantart.com/download/77721605/Scorch_WIP_6_by_Pyritie.jpg

Hmm... should I use my regular shading method or try out some cell-shading?

 

[Naze]

Hmmm.... I aways prefer the "real shading" method. I don't know if it has a name or whatever.

I think the tutorial I linked is for generic shading, with no lightning points included. Well, the dragon is holding a fireball in her/his hands, right? Then, you got a lightning point. But, meh, that's easy to do.

______________________

 

[Pyritie]

http://www.deviantart.com/download/77907274/Scorch_WIP_7_by_Pyritie.jpg

Added some more shading to the red. (Need to add darker shadows and brighter highlights as well as the light coming from the fireball)

Next up: The blue shading!

SHOULD I DO SCALES OR NOT BOTHER?

 

[Dr Super Good]

Not doing scales will make it look cartoony, so the choice is yours.

Scales obviously will make it look slightly more real (by quite a lot).

 

[Pyritie]

But they take sooooo looooonnngggg.......

 

[Naze]

I hate doing scales, thats boring...

I have no real technique, I just... draw...

 

[Dr Super Good]

Depends if you want real or not, as without them it looks more cartoony.

 

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

No scales. The shading is perfectly cartoony.