TRIDIUM's Embarrassing Art Endeavors

TRIDIUM

This is as festive as I'm fricking getting.
Regular
Joined
Oct 20, 2022
Messages
1,126
Reaction score
3,532
First Language
English
Primarily Uses
RMVXA
A while ago, when I was trying to learn how to draw, I set a personal mandate that if I didn't draw one face every week, I would have to start posting it on this website. I did okay, and then...I just kinda forgot about it. I was cleaning today, and I found my art notebook (Note: Do not clean in future). Stupid stupid stupid! Anyway, here's three pics from this week.
IMG_20230926_183541.jpgIMG_20230926_183032.jpgIMG_20230926_182216.jpg

Anyway, constructive criticism would be great. If you're going to laugh, at least do it quietly, please?:kaoswt:.
 

TESTOSTERONE

Nosey aren't ya?
Regular
Joined
Feb 11, 2017
Messages
690
Reaction score
3,915
First Language
English
Primarily Uses
RMMV
Dime a Dozen would sure look different if you did all the art yourself.

I don't know, I think it's pretty decent if you just started drawing as a hobby. It's no Theo or other artists on here by any means, but hey, you got your own consistent style there and you even colored them all.

Do elf ears on the 3rd one and I feel like you got Legolas. :D
 

SpyroFan67

Regular
Regular
Joined
Apr 27, 2023
Messages
1,182
Reaction score
698
First Language
English
Primarily Uses
RMMV
Meh, to be honest I don't see any reason to be embarrassed about it. You probably drew those when you were really little, and if not then hey most people can't be artists, so it's still not that embarrassing-some people can only draw stick figures LOL. Seriously though one thing that is funny is why did you make their noses so big? They look like MLP characters TBH-makes them look like horses. I mean the middle one reminds me of Hitch Trailblazer with his green hair! XD
 

Willibab

The Lord of Whackery
Regular
Joined
Jun 22, 2017
Messages
795
Reaction score
2,669
First Language
Norwegian
Primarily Uses
RMMZ
Have you tried digital drawing? Its great for learning as you can just wipe away your mistakes or have a ton of layers :p

I learned by copying others. I used to draw this ad character from a Donald Duck comic and eventually I could just draw it whenever without looking and started changing it around to make it my own and then it started looking nothing like the original :p Kept doing that with lots of things and now I have a small archive in my head. Can prolly still draw all those characters to this day.
 

TRIDIUM

This is as festive as I'm fricking getting.
Regular
Joined
Oct 20, 2022
Messages
1,126
Reaction score
3,532
First Language
English
Primarily Uses
RMVXA
Dime a Dozen would sure look different if you did all the art yourself.
Is that a personal attack or somethin'?
Just kidding! It would, it would indeed
you probably drew those when you were really little
:kaomad3: Da noses are big because....I can't draw noses right
Have you tried digital drawing?
Just started! Downloaded Krita (if there's a better free one, please let me know) and so far, it's helped a lot! (Especially that mirror tool)
 

SpyroFan67

Regular
Regular
Joined
Apr 27, 2023
Messages
1,182
Reaction score
698
First Language
English
Primarily Uses
RMMV
Have you tried digital drawing? Its great for learning as you can just wipe away your mistakes or have a ton of layers :p
Yeah, plus generally I think it looks better actually to draw something digitally. It looks a lot less scribbly, if you know what I mean. I mean, clearly you colored those drawings with crayons, but in an art program on your computer, you could just use a paint bucket to color things in; saves a ton of time. And it looks a lot neater, too.
 

BobbyLily

Villager
Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2023
Messages
21
Reaction score
614
First Language
English
Primarily Uses
RMMV
(Note: I'm almost entirely self taught so there will probably be inaccuracies, so take the rest of this with a side of salt.)
I'm generally not very good at explaining/wording things, but whatever, might as well give this a try:

The first thing I want to mention is that I really hope that the faces aren't all exclusively side-views, since only drawing from a single angle probably won't help much.
I'll suggest starting out drawing side-views and front-views, and, once you're comfortable enough with those, move on to 3/4th views. You should then be able to move on to practicing more complex angles after that, though I can't say much about that since I've barely gotten that far myself.
Views.PNG
In terms of anatomy, the only real issues I can find are the jaw and eyes (and maybe the cranium too).
The issue with the eyes is pretty simple: They aren't acting like they should from that perspective. From a side-view, eyes should look smushed, their width should be lessened while their height should stay the same.
The issue with the jaw is less apparent but it's still worth mentioning. The issue is most apparent in the first image as the angle of their jaw is a bit too steep and also curved a bit. It's also worth mentioning that the jaw starts a bit before the front of the neck, so the angle should seem like it's continuing from an earlier point, though the last two pics seem to get that just fine.
The cranium part isn't as important since it seems like that's something you're already aware of, but just in case you need to know; the craniums/skulls of the last two seem flat when they should be a bit more bulbous (If that makes any sense), a flat cranium isn't a physical impossibility since all that has to happen to make one is to leave a baby lying down all the time(Y'know since their skulls are soft and can easily be malformed if poorly cared for), though I'm not sure if you want your guys to have flat heads or not.
Craniums.PNG
(This is literally me just guessing what their head shapes are, so it probably isn't accurate enough lol)
The only real advice I'll give after that is to make sure to use a circle as a base whenever you draw a head, you're probably already doing that due to how common of a tip it is, but it doesn't hurt to mention.
I'll leave an example of a head sketch below this, one for something more accurate to real life, and another more accurate to an anime-ish art-style since that's probably what you were going for with these.
Heads.PNG
It's also worth mentioning that these aren't really hard rules, they're there for the purpose of learning anatomy and whatnot. The only real reason you're told these rules is so that you can learn not only what they mean, but also how you can break them, as a stylistic choice usually.

Good luck, and don't take my rambles too seriously:kaoswt2:.
 

TRIDIUM

This is as festive as I'm fricking getting.
Regular
Joined
Oct 20, 2022
Messages
1,126
Reaction score
3,532
First Language
English
Primarily Uses
RMVXA
Yeah, I did technically use circles as bases, but I didn't stick to the base much.
Thanks for all the tips! Gonna hafta look over these
 

Willibab

The Lord of Whackery
Regular
Joined
Jun 22, 2017
Messages
795
Reaction score
2,669
First Language
Norwegian
Primarily Uses
RMMZ
Yeah, I did technically use circles as bases, but I didn't stick to the base much.
Thanks for all the tips! Gonna hafta look over these

I'm terrible at that stuff, I just wing everything xD That's why I do pixel art, its way more forgiving imo (Still hard to master ofc)

Im just generally bad at doing things seriously, we all got to find a way that fits us :p
 

TRIDIUM

This is as festive as I'm fricking getting.
Regular
Joined
Oct 20, 2022
Messages
1,126
Reaction score
3,532
First Language
English
Primarily Uses
RMVXA
Alright, quick sketch with Krita. Think I should switch to all digital? Woman!.png
 

Willibab

The Lord of Whackery
Regular
Joined
Jun 22, 2017
Messages
795
Reaction score
2,669
First Language
Norwegian
Primarily Uses
RMMZ
I think its more about which you prefer tbh, its easier to learn if you're having fun.
 

hiddenone

Lurker Extraordinaire
Global Mod
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Messages
3,233
Reaction score
6,643
First Language
english
Primarily Uses
RMMZ
Good on you for holding yourself to your personal mandate. :) There are a lot of tutorials out there that can help if you want, but are there anything you want to focus on first?

For your newest piece, why did you not do an outline for her hair? That style can work, but it takes some extra skill to make sure it looks good with the rest of the piece. I see that there is some white spots around the black lines of her nose and eyes, which can be fixed: work with layers. A layer for outlines and then a separate layer (or multiple layers) for colors under it can help you make sure everything is colored in without having to fight with the art program as much.
 

Ms Littlefish

Time Traveling Victorian Vampire
Global Mod
Joined
Jan 15, 2014
Messages
8,994
Reaction score
14,524
First Language
English
Primarily Uses
RMMV
Layers really are the beauty of digital artwork. Gotta use and abuse them. It takes so much hesitation out because if you like what you’ve done so far, just slap a new layer on and try out the bits you’re less certain about before you commit to it without endangering the parts you do like!
 

Dalph

Nega Ralph™ (Prince of Evil)
Regular
Joined
Jul 15, 2013
Messages
7,998
Reaction score
22,036
First Language
Italian Curses
Primarily Uses
RMMZ
@TRIDIUM
its-really-not-that-bad-shea-whitney.gif

It's a start. And it's not as bad as you think.
Art isn't a result, it's a journey of self-discovery.
Keep practicing hard and you'll get better eventually, you need to have a lot of patience though, it takes time and perseverance.
It's useless for me to share tutorials here, there's plenty on the net. Even too many.

But I will give you a few useful tips:
- Draw something everyday. For at least 1 hour or 2. Can be anything but make it your routine.
- Don't be afraid to use references, just don't copy.

And yes, Tridium, you are an artist too, anyone who draws or creates something is an artist. You can already call yourself one. Good luck!
 

TRIDIUM

This is as festive as I'm fricking getting.
Regular
Joined
Oct 20, 2022
Messages
1,126
Reaction score
3,532
First Language
English
Primarily Uses
RMVXA
I'm still figuring layers out. "Technically" I used them for the aforementioned one, but as you can see, not very well.
Thanks @Dalph! My goal for now is to be able to draw some fan art for some fellow RM'ers
 

Willibab

The Lord of Whackery
Regular
Joined
Jun 22, 2017
Messages
795
Reaction score
2,669
First Language
Norwegian
Primarily Uses
RMMZ
@TRIDIUM
View attachment 278130

It's a start. And it's not as bad as you think.
Art isn't a result, it's a journey of self-discovery.
Keep practicing hard and you'll get better eventually, you need to have a lot of patience though, it takes time and perseverance.
It's useless for me to share tutorials here, there's plenty on the net. Even too many.

But I will give you a few useful tips:
- Draw something everyday. For at least 1 hour or 2. Can be anything but make it your routine.
- Don't be afraid to use references, just don't copy.

And yes, Tridium, you are an artist too, anyone who draws or creates something is an artist. You can already call yourself one. Good luck!

I don't see an issue with copying to learn, but I don't mean like tracing. Just trying to create the same thing you're looking at. Just don't claim you are the originator if you do :p

Ofc, if someone doesn't learn from that method then its pointless ^^
 

TRIDIUM

This is as festive as I'm fricking getting.
Regular
Joined
Oct 20, 2022
Messages
1,126
Reaction score
3,532
First Language
English
Primarily Uses
RMVXA
Arwen.jpg\Blonde.jpgCreeepy.jpg

Finally did a front-view face! I'm having trouble with symmetry (don't study the eyes too closely).
This is a rare occasion where the sketch looked better than the final result. Started out as Arwen, ended up as her not as pretty half sister.
 

TESTOSTERONE

Nosey aren't ya?
Regular
Joined
Feb 11, 2017
Messages
690
Reaction score
3,915
First Language
English
Primarily Uses
RMMV
Haha not as pretty half sister. :D Hey I think I am seeing some slight progress!

You can say whatever you want, but that 3rd one is pretty damn cool with the evil grin look.
 

Latest Threads

Latest Profile Posts

Yknow what? Im seriously considering recruiting a manager to oversee my games development.
Because I cannot focus or complete these tasks by myself. I need someone to give me orders, without having them be my boss.
yp_4vS.png

Remember my latest plugin for rpg maker mz:

Acknowledgement Window is now available!

Take a look here:

Got my focus back, 9/59 maps have the door fix in place now.
Making a small RMMV project has made me realize that I've never actually made a credits sequence for a game.

Forum statistics

Threads
136,803
Messages
1,270,175
Members
180,557
Latest member
nlee
Top