General "Art Update" Thread

[ThisEmptySoul]

I was actually going to sketch out a tutorial relating to this subject. Not sure when I'll actually get that done, though... so I'll just touch on this particular look in words:

There are a few ways you can express "evil" in art. With the face you can:
Draw the eyes with a slanted shape.
Make the eyebrows either very very thin or rather thick {depending on which suits the character's personality better}
Place the eyebrows generally close to the eye.
Give the character small irises.
Use a sharp, angular facial structure.
Smaller eyes.
"Long"ish, thin face shape

With coloring:
Lots of contrast, meaning highlights very light and shadows very dark.
Muted colors. Lower the saturation level.
Use blues, purples, and greens. If the character doesn't wear those particular colors, you can still use them for shadows.

You don't have to include all of those, but you could try experimenting with the different things to get the right look.  

[Kairanha]

luz but I want to draw everything pretty desu desu style emo drawing different types of characters is something I need to work on.  

[lady leko-chan]

I don't want to be looking like my other now!
Leko is evil I say evil!! twisted
You much capture the evilness!
I'm having a weird day - I'm going over here now.
*wanders off*  

[Kairanha]

Something more to my taste... plenty of desu... wouldn't hurt to have a touch more moe though.

 

[ThisEmptySoul]

MW Angels initial sketch. It's not quite what I originally had in mind and I'm not really satisfied with how any of the ladies came out, except for Leko. Liada turned out especially bad stressed I might try something else if I can think of another arrangement. Suggestions and feedback would be greatly appreciated.  

[Kits Rose]

I think you might be grouping them a little too close together. My first impression of it was that there's a lot of hair competing for attention. It's covering up some of the ladies' other features. It also seems a little awkward to have Leko and dame facing together, then Icy and Katana looking opposite directions. I think it might look better to have them all facing the center, or all facing out. Liada's ears are also a little too large. I know fox ears are big, but they're bigger than her head.

I don't know if that's what you're looking for, but I hope it helps some. sweatdrop  

[ThisEmptySoul]

Ears, both fox and cat ears, are certainly not my forté. I'll be sure to keep size in mind either for the next composition or if I decide to just tweak this one.

As for the hair, I can't say I didn't do that on purpose just to avoid having to draw further than the head ninja Six ladies is a lot for a single image sweatdrop Additionally, Leko and katana both have long, flowing hair. I can't really just get rid of that since it's part of who they are, but I don't want the ladies too spaced either since it's a group shot {and I've only got so much space on a sheet of paper...} Having them face different ways was also a means to compact the image while allowing everyone's faces to remain showing, and also bringing the most attention to the ladies in front since they're the top three in the "chain of command".

If it was a top-down perspective image like I originally planned, it would be a lot easier to draw them all facing center without anyone being covered by hair or other props, but as it is, they're facing different ways so I can have them all fit in minimal space. The top-down image similarly would not have shown many other features.

If I was doing this all digitally and had practically unlimited space to work with {since I could just continue to expand my canvas if I needed more room}, I would definitely pick something that shows more of their bodies. However, being that I can't draw so well with a mouse and I don't have a tablet, I have to make it fit on a piece of paper.  

[Kits Rose]

For ears, I try not to go any larger than the person's face or it tends to look odd and overwhelm the picture.

Six ladies is a lot for one picture. I think it would look best if they were all facing the same direction. All of them looking outward might be the best way to go. Another thing I thought of was having someone in the center instead of on top. Maybe you could try bringing dame down to the middle of the picture and have Liada and Leko on top.

I understand all too well about limited space. I also make my initial drawings on paper so I have better control. So I know how you feel there. sweatdrop  

[katana68]

Hm, what if you grouped by height? Since Liada and Leko are the tallest, why not put them side by side in the back? Then you could have Kat, Icy and dame be the middle row, with Psy in the front. That way, Icy's taller height doesn't dwarf us shorter ladies. xd  

[Liada Trovaras]

For references I like to go with something this to help. Took me awhile to get the ear thing right and I still am picky about it.

http://www.mangatutorials.net/anatomy/eartype1.jpg

But overall I like where you're going with this. *feels her ears wondering if they really are that big* crying  

[ThisEmptySoul]

I did group by height, in a way: shorter girls on the right, taller on the left. When arranging by rank, Leko is a bit more above Liada to end up side by side with her. The fact that Liada is also the tallest makes her standing in the back the most logical place for her regardless of rank. dame is just barely above Liada in ranking, so she would be more in the back, but since she has been one of the MW Ladies for a while, that gives her a little more pull.... and being in the very back at her height would make her hard to see.

As you can see, I actually put some thought into arranging them the way I did.  

[katana68]

ThisEmptySoul

I did group by height, in a way: shorter girls on the right, taller on the left. When arranging by rank, Leko is a bit more above Liada to end up side by side with her. The fact that Liada is also the tallest makes her standing in the back the most logical place for her regardless of rank. dame is just barely above Liada in ranking, so she would be more in the back, but since she has been one of the MW Ladies for a while, that gives her a little more pull.... and being in the very back at her height would make her hard to see.

As you can see, I actually put some thought into arranging them the way I did.

Oh, I know you did. 3nodding I just thought I'd suggest a different arrangement to see if that would help, space-wise. Looking forward to what you do next. biggrin  

[Kits Rose]

Thought I'd share the picture I did of Icy...  

[ThisEmptySoul]

That looks like the outfit she's wearing now, which means you must have done that quickly.... or she amazingly kept the same or similar outfit for more than a couple of hours.  

[Kits Rose]

Actually, that's what she was wearing a couple of days ago. What she's wearing now is similar, though. I had to go look cause the last time I saw her avi it was in red. lol