Help...

[Gangrel]

Please help...my art work is childish and crap. I don't get it as i can copy pictures almost to an exact likeness. I can never use the same technique from a picture i have copied to create a picture of my own. Any advice. If you want to see a picture i have copied go to the art thread. If you want to see one of my pictures to see how bad or to give me advice just ask and i shall post. Also beware...i can only take pictures with a web cam as i dont have a scanner so expect poor quality pictures.

PS. I don't mind constructive/ positive critisism. If you just make fun of my art with out offering any help that's just mean and i will tell my mummy.

PPS. I like compliments so feel free to say nice things about the drawings. I will, of course, tell my mummy about the nice thing you say and you will get a cookie from her.

[SilverBack Novelist]

Alright. I'll be honest in saying that they could be better. The last drawing you posted had a photo reference. For all artists, this is essential and so you're on the right track! The thing you that you lack might be the knowledge as to how to translate the original picture to another piece of paper. It ends up warped, disfigured and what ever harsh words you want to think about.

My advice to you is to print out the reference to a reasonable size. Do this in color as well as black and white. The black and white copy is your tone gradience for which you will use to shade your work. The colored copy is your true reference. Create a grid patter with a ruler, lines being a half an inch to an inch appart. Next, create a grid on a fresh piece of paper and then draw from the squares the image you are attempting to illustrate.

It doesn't have to be perfect, but please try this excercise, because it will help you with your proportions problem. Honestly, at what ever age you are at, your work is not bad at all. For what you're trying make, I suggest that you not focus too much on making line drawings, rather focus on shading, or toneing, as I like to call it.
Try another cool image you like and post it here, having tried this idea. Only then will I be able to help you with what you want to do, creating an image from you mind. Consider it a test, but in all honesty it's the only way I can tell where you're really coming from and what you need, just by that one drawing you'll make.

[Gangrel]

Thanks for the advice. My mother saw your kind words and is mow making a cookie for you. One a side note...could you see my drawing clearly? As I don't have a scanner the pictures may by unclear or distorted in some way. I shall try what you said and I shall post a picture shortly.

[SilverBack Novelist]

I saw the drawing of "Legacy of Kain." In fact, that's where I got most of my opinions. Skewing a camera will alter the perspective and shape of any drawing. However, I saw the drawing as clear as you could have gotten it. Using a grayscale is difficult to at first, but it will make your image pop, allowing it to be more 3-dimensional. You kind of have that in some place, but in others you don't. Take for example, the eyes and right side of the face. It shows depth in a way, but on the left side it appears to be pealing off on that side, from the camera angle or otherwise. Other parts, such as the clothing is faded out, but the interesting thing is that you improvised, giving him cloths.

Here is something that you might want to try when it comes to "improvising." It's called the modeling theory and it's been around since the greats like Leonardo Da Vinci. It supports that anything far away or deep is darker than something that is closer. This is basic...very basic in the theory of light and shadow. Try working with that if you absolutely have to improvise and can't find a reference. Establishing the light source on your page is very important. This will come later into play as you seek creating something purely from the mind....
:closedgrin:

[Gangrel]

you improvised, giving him cloths.

actually there was a strap on his left shoulder. I didn't fade anything out I just didn't finish it.