Work in Progress.

Wilsondf · 03-27-2010, 02:07 PM

Hi, been awhile since I posted here. I've just recently returned to drawing and working on getting used to finishing pinups before trying out sequentials. Before I just sketch a lot.

Inspired by Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman

Here's a sketch I did on an A4 paper using 2h pencils - very rough but loose. For pencil work I like Leinil Yu, Adam Hughes Con Sketches and Mike Mignola.

I redid/re imagined the piece (watched a Jack Kirby Documentary) along with some adjustments on the Design an 11 x 17 board but no lightboxing used and used it for inking practice with pen nibs, croquills and finally brushes. I'm not good at inking my pencils since it looks completely different and can't maintain my penciling style.

For brush work I'm starting with Kevin Nowlan for study.

Still a preliminary scan:

Looks different right? Its always a frustration to loose my pencil style when I go over the inks, but I'll keep working on them.

Cheers.
Wilson

JamieRoberts · 03-27-2010, 02:17 PM

First off, lemme say how much I love the energy of the pencil sketch! It's great!

The inks, I see what you're saying. It changes the pic completely. Not in a bad way, but the stuff I liked most about the pencil work is absent here. I wonder if, because you're conscious of your inks and how they change your art, you're spending too much time trying to get them to look perfect? Obviously, this is a wild assumption, but the sketch starts out as a Yu-type piece and ends up almost Kyle Hotz-esque, and if I was to make a distinction between those two artists, it's that Hotz is all about rendering, and Yu is all about chaos.

Back to your stuff, however, and I'd say that the hand holding the knife is inked how it's pencilled, more or less, so maybe you can buid on that?

Whatever, take this crit or leave it! Either way, I like the pic!

Wilsondf · 03-27-2010, 02:40 PM

Thanks Jamie, you nailed a few points there. Whenever showing people my finished art I always let them take a peek at the sketched layout. Everyone agrees that inking over them looses what their gut feeling likes in the pencils.

Yeah, inking is a chore since I never felt comfortable trying to maintain the pencilwork and at some point disregards them completely.

Leinil Yu's current style of raw pencil reads exactly like you said "chaos" and I think that's where I get my pencil style, unhindered because at the back of my head "all this will be corrected in inks" but when inking them I'm too busy bringing "order" to the linework and so...

Also I'm a heavy handed penciler which might affect the inking phase.

Thanks for the crit

alexcat321 · 03-27-2010, 04:35 PM

Not much to say besides what's already been said by Jamie. I really like what you have and your style is has that main stream flare, but you need to tie up some loose ends here. Nice work overall.

Funfetus · 03-27-2010, 04:47 PM

I don't know if this is the case here, but here's my take on the issue of "losing something" when you go from pencils to inks. This is coming partially from my own experience, so don't take it as a knock against you or anyone else:

It's usually because you're not good enough. It's easy to make loose pencils look good. Pencils are vague. You can hint at stuff, and leave stuff out, and draw a whole bunch of light lines instead of one strong one. When we look at it, our mind will fill in the blanks, find detail in the mess, and pick the "right" lines out of a bunch of wrong ones. When you ink, though, you have to nail it down -- you have to commit. If you don't actually have the skills to pick out exactly the right lines, or to really draw in that detail that you only suggested in the pencils, you're going to lose something.

Of course, this is all assuming that your ability with your inking tools is up to snuff -- if you can't handle a pen or a brush (or a wacom, even), then of course you're going to lose something. But I suspect it has more to do with the former than most people realize.

Wilsondf · 03-28-2010, 04:27 AM

alexcat and funfetus:

Thanks a lot for the comments

especially the "your not good enough" hit in the gut from funfetus,

honestly I have felt that and sometimes I blind myself with just doing sketches, because your right, sketching does excuse/hide the lack of skill and should be used as an excercise and I should move on to being able to do "finished pencils".

Thanks, most of the time my studiomates back home would just stop the crit at "I like your pencils better." and not be totally transparent in front of me. appreciate it a lot.

03-27-2010, 02:07 PM	#1
Wilsondf Architect Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Philippines Posts: 29	Work in Progress. Hi, been awhile since I posted here. I've just recently returned to drawing and working on getting used to finishing pinups before trying out sequentials. Before I just sketch a lot. Inspired by Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman Here's a sketch I did on an A4 paper using 2h pencils - very rough but loose. For pencil work I like Leinil Yu, Adam Hughes Con Sketches and Mike Mignola. I redid/re imagined the piece (watched a Jack Kirby Documentary) along with some adjustments on the Design an 11 x 17 board but no lightboxing used and used it for inking practice with pen nibs, croquills and finally brushes. I'm not good at inking my pencils since it looks completely different and can't maintain my penciling style. For brush work I'm starting with Kevin Nowlan for study. Still a preliminary scan: Looks different right? Its always a frustration to loose my pencil style when I go over the inks, but I'll keep working on them. Cheers. Wilson

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03-27-2010, 02:17 PM	#2
JamieRoberts Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 3,689	First off, lemme say how much I love the energy of the pencil sketch! It's great! The inks, I see what you're saying. It changes the pic completely. Not in a bad way, but the stuff I liked most about the pencil work is absent here. I wonder if, because you're conscious of your inks and how they change your art, you're spending too much time trying to get them to look perfect? Obviously, this is a wild assumption, but the sketch starts out as a Yu-type piece and ends up almost Kyle Hotz-esque, and if I was to make a distinction between those two artists, it's that Hotz is all about rendering, and Yu is all about chaos. Back to your stuff, however, and I'd say that the hand holding the knife is inked how it's pencilled, more or less, so maybe you can buid on that? Whatever, take this crit or leave it! Either way, I like the pic!

03-27-2010, 02:40 PM	#3
Wilsondf Architect Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Philippines Posts: 29	Thanks Jamie, you nailed a few points there. Whenever showing people my finished art I always let them take a peek at the sketched layout. Everyone agrees that inking over them looses what their gut feeling likes in the pencils. Yeah, inking is a chore since I never felt comfortable trying to maintain the pencilwork and at some point disregards them completely. Leinil Yu's current style of raw pencil reads exactly like you said "chaos" and I think that's where I get my pencil style, unhindered because at the back of my head "all this will be corrected in inks" but when inking them I'm too busy bringing "order" to the linework and so... Also I'm a heavy handed penciler which might affect the inking phase. Thanks for the crit

03-27-2010, 04:35 PM	#4
alexcat321 Gettin' somewhere!!! Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: PA, United States Posts: 517	Not much to say besides what's already been said by Jamie. I really like what you have and your style is has that main stream flare, but you need to tie up some loose ends here. Nice work overall.

03-27-2010, 04:47 PM	#5
Funfetus Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 200	I don't know if this is the case here, but here's my take on the issue of "losing something" when you go from pencils to inks. This is coming partially from my own experience, so don't take it as a knock against you or anyone else: It's usually because you're not good enough. It's easy to make loose pencils look good. Pencils are vague. You can hint at stuff, and leave stuff out, and draw a whole bunch of light lines instead of one strong one. When we look at it, our mind will fill in the blanks, find detail in the mess, and pick the "right" lines out of a bunch of wrong ones. When you ink, though, you have to nail it down -- you have to commit. If you don't actually have the skills to pick out exactly the right lines, or to really draw in that detail that you only suggested in the pencils, you're going to lose something. Of course, this is all assuming that your ability with your inking tools is up to snuff -- if you can't handle a pen or a brush (or a wacom, even), then of course you're going to lose something. But I suspect it has more to do with the former than most people realize.

03-28-2010, 04:27 AM	#6
Wilsondf Architect Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Philippines Posts: 29	alexcat and funfetus: Thanks a lot for the comments especially the "your not good enough" hit in the gut from funfetus, honestly I have felt that and sometimes I blind myself with just doing sketches, because your right, sketching does excuse/hide the lack of skill and should be used as an excercise and I should move on to being able to do "finished pencils". Thanks, most of the time my studiomates back home would just stop the crit at "I like your pencils better." and not be totally transparent in front of me. appreciate it a lot.