Pirate character

[GCharb]

Hello all.

I think I have shown that character in a post to demonstrate colored contour lines but I would like to know what peoples think of the design, so here it is.



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[Gametrog]

I like it! Sometimes I like a slightly thicker line on the outside (even when it goes to thinner on the inside) but thats individual preference obviously. I like the character a lot, good art. Give him a Tattoo!

[Gametrog]

And maybe a bit of hair on the chest!

[J. Baker]

ARG! He looks like my scallywag aunt. Except she's a little hairier and drools when she talks. LOL!
Nice work GCharb! The hands look good too.

[lwaxana]

I love the character design. I think giving him some punchier colors would make it perfect. Hope you don't mind, I put together some color ideas:

[GCharb]

I like the tatoo idea, the chest hair I might have a go at it, thanks for the ideas.

The outer line looks good on many characters, on this one I did not like, but the suggestion was pretty good

I had an ex mother in law in mind when I made him! LOL, joke!

lwaxana, nice color setup, thanks for the suggestions and thanks to all of you three for the good reviews!

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[fracturedray]

I like the character a lot however, I did see some minor issues with the anatomy.

His back should come out more to the right.

His left shoulder is great but his right shoulder doesn't mirror it. If you like the right shoulder more the try and mirror the curvature and height.

The chest could come in a bit.

The right arm is complicated because there are two different possible poses for it. If you intended for the right arm to be bent like the left then the fore shorting is about right except the forearm is a little short. The main thing I recommend is that you move the right shoulder to the right a bit so that it is more behind his chest (red ball).

If you intended for the right arm to be straight (not bent) then the upper arm and forearm are both a little short.

[GCharb]

Hello all.

fractureday, I agree on the proportion, was trying to give a little style to him, yours looks too fat for what I had in mind, but you are absolutlly right, thanks man!

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[bleep]

Hello all.

fractureday, I agree on the proportion, was trying to give a little style to him, yours looks too fat for what I had in mind, but you are absolutlly right, thanks man!

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Stop barking and let us see what u're made off -

[Paul Mesken]

I agree with the solid drawing comments of FractureDay. Although solid drawing can be sacrificed for expression, it will come at the cost of the illusion of depth (especially when things will start to move).

What will this pirate be doing? You have opted to show elements of his face from, more or less, a side view in his 3/4 face. This is something that is done a lot (I guess Hanna-Barbera started with this) but you'll get into trouble with that with things like head turns.

One thing I'd like to draw attention to is his right eye (left to us). The inside corner of that eye coincides with the line of the nose. Such things (along with things like parallel lines and "twins") have a tendency to creep in unintentionally. This is known as a "suspicious coincidence" and should be avoided like the plague. Looking with one eye, there is only one, and one only, viewpoint where that corner would coincide with the nose line (hence, it's "suspicious"). But when looking with both eyes it is downright impossible. Draw it either well clear from the nose line or hide it behind the nose line but don't draw it on the nose line.

As for his tricorne, you have made it circular. Tricornes are, of course, triangular (seen from the top). This might sound like nitpicking but consider the benefits of drawing it triangular. Its orientation, its perspective and its actions will read much better. On top of that : it's much easier to draw a triangle in perspective whereas drawing circles in perspective has a special chapter of its own and they don't "read" that well.

I would also draw the light colored rim around the tricorne. Tricornes often have that (white or yellow) and it will make it read better.

I feel you're still undecided about a lot of this pirate. I miss the strong statements. For example : he has this big jaw but you've drawn a little chin under his lower lip (which would mean that the area underneath is actually a double chin). There are more of such examples.

I don't know how many sketches you have made of this pirate. I know it takes me easily a hundred and more to flesh out a character though. During this process, the character will become stronger and stronger. It's fun to compare the first ones with the final ones. What starts out as (in hindsight, at first it looks great) generic and tentative will become strongly stated. It's a lot of fun to do and will generate lots of ideas.

[GCharb]

Hello again!

I have not spent alot of time on this, mostly in search of a style here, no real intention to animate it, more like pushing AS drawing tools to get a decent quality of drawing.

I must admit I am a bit overwhelm by all the insights.

Many thanks and keep them coming!

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[fracturedray]

GCharb, the main reason I made the comments is because the character and quality of your work is so good that I can definitely see you being capable of going far with your talent.

Keep up the great work GCharb.

[GCharb]

hello fractureday

No offense taken here.

Thanks for the praises.

I really apreciate the critisism and pointers.

The fact is that I do not get enough time to work on AS Pro and doodle from time to time to keep the flame burning.

I did a quick drawing of the character then traced it in AS, not really put much thought into it.

I am still in the process of learning AS Pro as it is, but intend to go full time with it in about 2 weeks, as soon as I am done with current work.

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[neeters_guy]

Wow, these are some great insights. Great thread, everyone.