As requested by Duke John

[Orda Khan]

Here are two coloured concepts. I had to take pictures of the paintings with a digital camera because the scanner just would not reproduce the colours. I'll post some more later, hope you like them



.....Orda

[kataphraktoi]

Top stuff, I'll add it to MTR's thread as well.

Top stuff!

[King of Atlantis]

I must say, your skills as an artist are very impressive. Also it is very aparent the research you have put into these concepts. Well done :)

[Duke John]

Splendid work Orda! I wouldn't mind seeing your work in Osprey books

[PROMETHEUS]

Here are two coloured concepts. I had to take pictures of the paintings with a digital camera because the scanner just would not reproduce the colours. I'll post some more later, hope you like them



.....Orda

Very good work , but I was thinking the mongol steppe horse was a more little and shorter one , or I am wrong?

[Orda Khan]

I wouldn't mind seeing your work in Osprey books

Thank you very much for the compliment Duke John. That Would be my dream come true. I mentioned that I had always planned to illustrate, however fate can be quite cruel at times and I lost any chance of a place at University when I was involved in a traffic accident on my way to the interview. They did see me later, though the places were filled by then and they told me to work hard and apply the following year. Well, you know how it is, I was young, needed money...blah, blah, blah. Now I find myself in a job that I hate, looking back on those wasted years and what could have been. Which is why I tell my daughter who is currently in University to realise her dreams no matter what.

PROMETHEUS
The steppe ponies seen in Mongolia today are around 13.5 hands (as is the Takhi or Przewalski horse). However, the expanding Mongol Empire would cover the central Asian steppe and more.

Akhal-Teke
A horse found in the east Caspian region, northern Iran and Turkmenistan. It is renowned for its stamina and endurance of severe conditions. Theoretically poor in rear conformation there seems to be no ill effect on the animal's performance. The Akhal-Teke stands over 15 hands
Bashkir
A very hardy animal from the Ural foothills which is still used for the production of airag/kumiss due to its very high milk yield. It stands 13.3 to 14 hands and will dig through a metre of snow to find food.
Arab
It is fairly safe to assume that there were some Arabs in the Mongol herds. They are 14.2 to 15 hands.
Excavations have found remains of some animals up to 16 hands which is a big horse even by modern standards.

........Orda

[Duke John]

Just one suggestion (assuming that the scanner scanned the colours right, otherwise just dismiss what I write below); try to be a bit more bold with your colours. I know that with watercolours it is easy to play safe and add alot of water. My best paintings where when I dared to use the colour. Of course it remains a matter of taste, but when you use more colour you can have more contrast in your painting which will bring some areas more forward and will make your subject more 3d and lively. The trick I use is almost closing my eyes and looking through my eyelashes. In your painting you can then see 2 shades while the eye/brain can recognize 4 (or at least 4 is still practical to paint).

Having said that, you are quite talented in putting naturally looking poses on paper, there is nothing to comment on that area. I only thing that it deserves a bit more colour. But if that is your way of working, then I haven't said anything as it is then just simply perfect.

That Would be my dream come true.

That is an unfortunate happening of events. If I were you then, then why not try achieve something with your skill? As a hobby. Of course if you are only interested in painting the Eastern Hordes than you might a bit limited in what you can achieve, but you sure have the talent!

Cheers,
Rob

[Lentonius]

would it be a pain to ask some advice, as im taking exams in art over the next 2 years and i would love to be able to draw people like you can. i can draw people but are there any tips or tricks you use to getting proportions right?

Regards
Lentonius

[Herkus]

would it be a pain to ask some advice, as im taking exams in art over the next 2 years and i would love to be able to draw people like you can. i can draw people but are there any tips or tricks you use to getting proportions right?

Regards
Lentonius

Find any picture of nice human drawing in any book, than put transparent paper on it, and draw over the copy. This is good exercise to get used to human proportions.

[Duke John]

I wouldn't use transparent paper. It is quite important that you train your brain to translate what you see (be it in your head or a real life subject) to the paper. But do get some books on drawing and anatomy and practic, practice, practice.

[kataphraktoi]

We should start a thread where people can ask for advice from artists at the org.

I for one have problems with drawings hands and fingers...thats why I love mail gloves and mits hehehehehehehe...

I hate drawings horses, pesky animals...crap too much too....razzle frazzle and fo shizzle...

I hate drawing women, they just don't have enough muscles and when they do, it just looks freaking weird...they do have some nice features though ...bbut I never practice much on them...maybe its my sense of puritanism

I use to be good at drawing when I was young, but it seems I just cant tap into my comic-book geekiiness as I use to anymore

Ah....those comic book geekiness days........so much money spent on comic books..............

All hail Orda Khan, Lord of the Eternal Steppes and the Blue Sky...we offer you oranges and apples to satiate your lead pencil of fury and wrath.

So what do you do know Orda Khan as a job?

I myself will soon be part of a government bureacracy hehe

[Lentonius]

thanks for the advice guys

[Orda Khan]

Duke John
The scanner would not reproduce the correct hue of colour and no matter how much I tried, I could not get anything close to the original. What you see now is the actual painting or near enough. It was always my intention to 'wash out' any background detail, to concentrate attention to the subject itself. That said, I do admire the work of Graham Turner who tends to paint a complete picture every time. This would be possible too of course but I simply coloured my concepts and added a little background to give a bit of a setting.
(btw, you never told me you painted, any chance of seeing some concepts from yourself?)
If people here don't mind I will post something I used to do as a bit of a hobby. Unfortunately it was never going to be a money spinner, people love pictures but they are loathed to pay for them.

Lentonius
First of all, good luck with the exams. I would say that most artists are gifted especially in certain areas and others need work and attention. I feel exactly what Kataphraktoi says, hands are very complex, but in smaller sketches such as these we can get by with less detail. Horses.....again, they are very difficult to draw and reference to photographs can be invaluable. however, if one is used to them and is around them quite a lot, they are perhaps easier to draw. As an example, I have had dogs all my life, ask me to draw a dog and it is not a problem; I am familiar with their structure and anatomy, muscle location so the task is easy then.
I agree with Duke John, practice, practice, practice. Do not trace but rather try to reproduce a copy of a picture, it is far harder to get the correct scale. One thing you could try is one of those artists dolls, this could prove very helpful with poses and angles of limbs, etc.
Some tips for drawing people.....
Upper arms and thighs are generally just shorter than forearms and lower legs.
Try drawing a series of elipses to represent head, torso, upper and lower arms and legs and remember that an open hand is the same length as the face.
Kataphraktoi
Funny isn't it? We spend so much of our lives studying the female form, yet try to draw a woman and it looks dismal. Some have the talent but I certainly find it difficult to draw a feminine face unless I have someone to pose
As for my job.....nearly thirty years working with a communication company, repairing cables (!?!?!?!)

..........Orda

[Duke John]

I rarely paint humans or animals. I usually tend to try evoking a feeling with my paintings using buildings. If you are interested I can try finding some digital photos. I am more of a landscape person, which is also was my task at NTW2, making the landscape of the Borodino battlefield.

[Lentonius]

thanks for the advice but atm we have to draw 3 pages of fruit so i guess i wont be drawing humans for a while. .

very good drawings though you are very talented.

Lentonius

[Orda Khan]

Apologies for going off topic, this is the sort of thing I did for a hobby. As I said earlier, there was a lot of interest but people never seem to appreciate the work that goes into a pastel drawing like this

It always amuses me that people will pay OTT prices for a print yet shy away from an original done especially for them.

......Orda

[kataphraktoi]

i can appreciate especially as a former art student who spent hours on a small piece of artwork for folio. i miss those days!

still have hopes of being an artist ?

[Lentonius]

Well, i dont want to be a professional artist but for me in the future i want my career to be creative- i would enjoy working somewhere where i can use art skills.

[danfda]

People are odd...My little sister is a wonderful artist and is amazing with paint, so she took her stuff to an art show. She got a lot of flak because it was too realisic, for lack of a better term. The "critics" that were there said most of her stuff wasn't "dramatic" and "modern" enoguh, which really is bogus. Jackson Pollack didn't just become an artist yesterday, ya know. She tends to do landscapes and still-life and that sort of thing, intead of wierd paint splotches and faces...which I guess are what people want.

Anyway, I am not sure where I meant to go with this, other than that people are strange, artistic taste is completely relative, and I can't draw.

[kataphraktoi]

In my opinion art critics are a bunch of pompous snobby smug and self-deprecating egotistical fops...wow that felt good saying that

Art is personal, the only one who should be satisfied is your sister. Got any samples of her work we can fawn over?

[Lentonius]

I Hate it how they will drool over something my dog could do, but frown upon truly great pieces of work.

I read somewhere that as a prank people got an elephant to do random paint blobs on a canvas. They showed it to the pompus critics and they thought it was a masterpiece, until they were told the artist was an elephant

[The Wizard]

Very nicely done, Orda. It is your wisdom and knowledge regarding the Mongols come to life.

[Orda Khan]

A few more. Relying on camera for the images so quality is not so good, sorry..





.....Orda

[AliAS]

I want painting like you.
AWESOME WORK

[Orda Khan]

A few more pictures..
Mongol Faction Leader, Heir and Tuq Standard.

Mongol Khan.

Just an idea.


Hun.

Huns.


......Orda

[{BHC}KingWarman88{KTCC}]

good Pics m8, I really Like them.Really like the one of the Mongol Leader.

[Myrddraal]

You complain about drawing horses but....

until they were told the artist was an elephant

Are you sure? I would have thought that would only have spurred them on, make them frame it in gold and pay the elephant owner millions for his stroke of artistic genius.

I heard the same story, but slightly different. I thought it was a donkey with a brush tied to the tail, stood in front of a canvas for a while...