EB Unit Development Art

**Caveira** · 04-06-2007, 21:25

lol truth be told, Caratacos does deserve that honour.

**Caratacos** · 04-07-2007, 08:10

I'm really pleased to have been able to inspire you to draw again after all these years (though i don't know how many). It is very flattering (and i'd never laugh at anyone's creativity). However beware of tracing other pictures, you'll learn next to nothing by going about it that way. Copying pictures is better (that's how all artists begin) but even then it limits you severely. Illustration is a process after all, and if you don't learn the correct process you'll find it very difficult to progress. For years I would draw good and bad pictures and not know why one was better than the other, just getting lucky every now and then. The truth is there are rules that determine whether a picture is good/appealing/eye-catching. These you must learn-- it takes time and a lot of work.
A good illustration, like anything good, must have foundations and be built up from them. That is you must start from scratch. What it appears you have done is trace directly over another picture. That or draw the linework on a new "page" as it sat next to the original. This isn't starting from scratch. If you start from scratch you'll know exactly what is happening on the page. If you construct his body from a basic "skeleton" of lines and shapes* you'll know exactly what his arm is doing behind that shield or if he is carrying his bodyweight on his heel or the ball of his foot. You'll know which muscles he is tensing and which he is relaxing-- hell you'll even know what his toes are doing in his boots! This is the origin of the problems you have uncovered and are asking me about.
From what I understand you don't own a scanner. A digital camera is a fairly decent substitute. If you don't have that a cell phone camera will do the job (but offer lesser quality). Anyway my advice is picking up a pencil and piece of paper and starting again-- though you probably didn't want to hear that, huh?
Draw the "skeleton" and work out the pose so it looks strong and you are happy with it (leave out all details at this point). Once the pose looks good start fleshing out the body. But it's best to start studying some anatomy at this stage-- that's right, naked people. Life drawing classes help immensely. But perhaps that is too much commitment. You can instead try some tasteful nude photography sites-- NOT porn. It's distracting, and if it's not your computer its owner might not be happy about it-- a nice way to get viruses and the like. And when you look at these pictures you are not looking at breasts and bums but muscle, fat and bone. That is, imagine what is happening under the skin that is making the arm do that (or whatever). Are they putting most of their weight on this limb? And what affect does that have on the muscle (etc.). For learning about the different muscles and how they fit together try medical diagrams-- they are very helpful.

But if you wanna cheap it and finish your picture "as is" that's okay too. I'd search online for a face in a similar position and copy it. As for the leg (you mean "his right", right?) I'd raise it a bit at the knee-- his thigh looks longer than his foreleg which is wrong. I'd also lengthen his left foot-- as at the moment it looks too flat (the perspective doesn't look right).

I hope this helps, Caveira. And keep it up! With a bit of work you'll be fine.

*By lines and shapes i mean an elipse for a head, a line going down from there as his spine to a rectanglular pelvis. The arms and legs are simple lines connected by circles that are the joints (shoulders/elbows/knees) and extremities (hands/feet).

**keravnos** · 04-07-2007, 09:40

Originally Posted by Caveira

lol truth be told, Caratacos does deserve that honour.

Indeed. Your post struck a nerve here, as I used to draw and quite well, when I was a kid, and now can't draw to save my life.

I have set my eyes on the below, though, and plan to acquire it at the first opportunity... Maybe I will draw a stickman with a cross for a sword 10 yrs from now...

http://the-structure-of-man.blogspot.com/

**Caveira** · 04-07-2007, 13:07

Thank you very much, that helps a lot! And yes I do have a scanner, and I did try drawing in paper and then scanning it, but I found it hard to properly select "areas" using photoshop, so I ended up using MS Paint to replace my "pencil lines" with pure black "pixel lines". In any case, let me thank you one more time for all the suggestions, I'm certainly going to make use of them. I'll later show here what my drawing ended up like.

**Caratacos** · 04-07-2007, 14:56

Have this on your computer screen and sit in front with your drawing pad and refer to it as you draw your own version.

Not that this is a "learn to draw" thread but I was feeling nice and decided to sketch this up. My anatomy is a real weak point for me and this sketch contains a few errors but it might help. Note the thumbnail at the top-- do these first so you can "nail" the pose (this one I in fact drew afterwards *tsk! tsk!* just so you could see what my simple skeletons look like). Also note the horizon line and perspective lines. Using them i can the place his feet on the ground as opposed to having him sit in space with his feet hanging no where. So look up 2-point perspective as well. And practice drawing hands and feet on their own (not that I do *tsk! tsk!* again). Once you've given him a face you can then give him clothes, a helmet and anything else you want.

I am still very much an amateur and am learning all the time as I draw. Err that's supposed to be encouragement...

Okay that's the thread hijack over...

**Teleklos Archelaou** · 04-09-2007, 19:35

Are you guys ready for the next installment here? We're releasing another image of a unit that Caratacos did for our sig banners and other promotional art, but it isn't a unit development pic. This is just a more detailed version of the little image you see in the Arverni sig banners now.

Arverni Arjos:

**Caveira** · 04-09-2007, 21:07

that's what I have to say about the anatomy and gallic warrior screen

As for the naked dude:

OMGWTF? LOL

Edit: How do you draw the chainmail? I'm guessing it's a texture to which you give a 3d effect (with PS?), but I'd like to hear from you. Sorry to be asking so many questions, but you've been very helpful and I like learning new stuff.

**Watchman** · 04-10-2007, 00:04

Needs more chest hair.

**abou** · 04-10-2007, 00:38

Actually... can we get T-shirts? I think the left over money can go towards paying the cost of the website and maybe an upgrade in hosting if we need more bandwidth.

**Teleklos Archelaou** · 04-10-2007, 01:09

Originally Posted by abou

Actually... can we get T-shirts? I think the left over money can go towards paying the cost of the website and maybe an upgrade in hosting if we need more bandwidth.

We have discussed it actually. Some members wished we could use money from it to *only* pay website server costs, but many preferred just making them available directly at cost through a third party website (basically EB would just provide the graphics - that's all), but still others felt any attempt to do anything in this manner would potentially concern CA and we shouldn't risk anything at all.