Teaching myself how to do fantasy art: new version: older version: even older: embarrassing first version: It's an idea I had for a goblin fisherman, I'm not sure it's quite up to pox quality but maybe not too far off? All suggestions and criticisms are welcome. edited with current version
The canister of oxengen he has around his shoulder looks like it is resting, and it should be floating right? Maybe the sash caught up under his arm?
Looks like there might be a discrepancy in the number of fingers on each hand. Not sure if intentional (fantasy creatures and all that) but I'd guess not. The Trident feels a bit flat considering it's supposedly a natural branch (and again, assuming it's not just some very strange carving habit). It feels strange that bubbles are coming out of the tank, but it might be intentionally trying to show a leak? Bubbles coming out of the mouth are difficult to distinguish against the background, and I missed them entirely at first. I quite like the pads and overall feel of the background, and the frog in the bottom left is a neat detail along with the disturbed dirt mixing into the water. Something about the fish bothers me but I can't put my finger on it. Disclaimer: I am a terrible artist, my mentions and advice may or may not be useful. Regardless: This is pretty good for a first attempt at doing a "proper" illustration. Keep at it.
Good feedback, thanks. I think the problem with the fish is that it is stylistically different to the rest of the picture - more detailed and a 'cleaner' look. I could probably blur up the edges a generally make it more 'painterly'. Edit:it did originally have the same number of fingers but one hand seemed too big so I trimmed it, I was hoping it wasn't noticeable but I guess not lol.
red, the character orange, the action yellow, the effect blue, focal point, fishing with the intent to catch. laid out really well. contains story telling.
You've got an omni-light issue, get some shadows on the hair in particular. Additionally unless that hair is solid if he's underwater they'd be going up, you have shoots going downward as if affect by gravity and not the desire to float, take the angle of the head and make the hair go mostly perpendicular to it so they're directly upward towards the surface
This is awesome for a first try! If you don't mind me asking, what program do you use? Edit: I really like the lilies for some reason!
Thanks, just using GIMP , which is proving pretty good considering it's open source - i also got a cheap drawing pad which is useful, but took me a long time to get used to.
Gimp is pretty comparable to photoshop in truth, people just like to be disparaging about it because photoshop is expense and Gimp is free so Photoshop has to be leagues above Gimp in their mind. When it comes to actually drawing rather than editing there is near no difference, photoshop's main difference is that it has a lot of bells and whistles that do things for you so non-artists using the program appreciates some of those features. Gimp has a clunky GUI that's my main problem with it, but the content is there. Tablets are all about the same as long as they're in the same class. Opaque versus screen on the drawing surface are the main differences really.
I love everything about it except the teeth. I am in no way an artist but I feel like it's a much lower standard than the rest of the drawing? Or maybe just not in the same thematic drawing style? Or it could just be me personally. Anyway, great job!
I didn't notice the net at all first. I really like the worn out, staring eyes of the goblin. The air tank seems to be made of metal, which seems a bit advanced for the drawing, it would probably be more realistic for the air tank to be made of leather. The best improvement I could think of is coloring the skin of the goblin in the same way as the fish and frog is painted.
Thanks for the feedback, I know what you mean about the teeth - they look a little too cartoonish when not viewed close up. I'll se what I can do. I think if the air tank was leather it would be harder to see what it is - maybe not. Glass is another option but I guess technology in pox is all over the place anyway, if they can make helicopters and gatling guns... Regarding the skin, I think you're right, I quite enjoy the painterly-ness to it, but it is a bit inconsistent with other parts of the picture so maybe more detailed is the way to go.
@soulmilk Finally got some time to put more work into this, made the skin more rendered. @Dwlr I still feel like I'm struggling to decide where the light source is. I guess it should be directly above and behind but that might make the shadows look a bit bland since his face would basically be dark. Any ideas?
I dunno. I think it would be kinda dappled from the ripples in the water, with areas of shade from the lillies, but then we're getting pretty advanced.