I have been working on this for a while now. I would love some feedback!
http://linus108nicole.deviantart.com/art/Captain-Kirk-175905803?q=&qo
http://linus108nicole.deviantart.com/art/Captain-Kirk-175905803?q=&qo
My Kirk Drawing
- Thread starter highlyillogical
- Start date
Very nice!
Fan-F**king-tastic! 
Thanks guys! Up next is Spock. ^^
Wonderful! The details are so perfect that it looks almost like a photo. You're sure have talent!
It looks almost like a photo I've seen of him
Thanks everyone.
It's from a photo still from Where No Man Has Gone Before.....where he is playing chess with Spock.
It's from a photo still from Where No Man Has Gone Before.....where he is playing chess with Spock.
Amazing! So real looking! Great job!
Truly beautiful work, Nicole. Your understanding of shading values here is perfect. In other words, the darks are exactly where you want darks to be, the parts that draw your attention first. Although the hair is dark, it's textured (beautifully!) rather than a giant patch of territory like on a map. So the viewer's eyes are drawn to the same part of the face as if the subject were a photograph: the eyes.
That's something a number of artists don't understand: You don't have to be a realist to adhere by the rule that you direct your viewer's attention the same way the real subject would. You want a portrait to draw attention realistically, even if it's stylized (and in this case, you're much more realistic than stylized anyway).
Suggestions for those future portraits you say are coming down the road: True, you're drawing exactly what you see, which is exactly what you should do. But good drawing (especially monochrome) is like good sculpting, which means you should try to see the face in 3D even when your subject is 2D. As an exercise: Hold your own thumb in front of your face, so that it blocks the lower right quadrant of your drawing (Shatner's left jaw). Let your mind fill in the rest of his face from the three-quarters that remain visible. Hold that image in your mind, then after a few minutes, remove your thumb. You'll see that his jaw appears to slip down and in from where the mind says it should be. That's not a problem of actual positioning, but rather of shading. His cheek runs smack into the white nothingness of the background, so the mind doesn't place it quite right on the Z-axis, if you will. There should be some backlighting that's not showing up here, which gives that portion of the cheek a 2D look.
This will get to be a challenge when you're drawing McCoy. De Kelley's face is distinguished not by the eyes or the nose or any one particular feature, but by its shape. If you get his shape right, you'll have his face; if you see it in 2D, it'll come out flat and pudgy.
Two more suggestions: 1) Let yourself do something with the background, even if it's just ethereal shading or fuzz. That will let the bright spots on the face (like the bridge of the nose) pop further forward, and that will help you properly shade those quirky cheek areas. 2) Don't worry about the detail in places that don't need the viewer's attention, like the folds of the shirt in the lower right corner. All you need is something that suggests the proper shape of shoulders -- too much detail, and your subject could end up looking like Vina's "true appearance," if you'll recall the reference.
Once you're done with Nimoy and Kelley, if you want a real challenge of a face, try Scott Bakula. I was absolutely shocked by how tricky he was to capture; it took me six or seven tries to come even close.
-DF "Men of a Certain Age" Scott
That's something a number of artists don't understand: You don't have to be a realist to adhere by the rule that you direct your viewer's attention the same way the real subject would. You want a portrait to draw attention realistically, even if it's stylized (and in this case, you're much more realistic than stylized anyway).
Suggestions for those future portraits you say are coming down the road: True, you're drawing exactly what you see, which is exactly what you should do. But good drawing (especially monochrome) is like good sculpting, which means you should try to see the face in 3D even when your subject is 2D. As an exercise: Hold your own thumb in front of your face, so that it blocks the lower right quadrant of your drawing (Shatner's left jaw). Let your mind fill in the rest of his face from the three-quarters that remain visible. Hold that image in your mind, then after a few minutes, remove your thumb. You'll see that his jaw appears to slip down and in from where the mind says it should be. That's not a problem of actual positioning, but rather of shading. His cheek runs smack into the white nothingness of the background, so the mind doesn't place it quite right on the Z-axis, if you will. There should be some backlighting that's not showing up here, which gives that portion of the cheek a 2D look.
This will get to be a challenge when you're drawing McCoy. De Kelley's face is distinguished not by the eyes or the nose or any one particular feature, but by its shape. If you get his shape right, you'll have his face; if you see it in 2D, it'll come out flat and pudgy.
Two more suggestions: 1) Let yourself do something with the background, even if it's just ethereal shading or fuzz. That will let the bright spots on the face (like the bridge of the nose) pop further forward, and that will help you properly shade those quirky cheek areas. 2) Don't worry about the detail in places that don't need the viewer's attention, like the folds of the shirt in the lower right corner. All you need is something that suggests the proper shape of shoulders -- too much detail, and your subject could end up looking like Vina's "true appearance," if you'll recall the reference.
Once you're done with Nimoy and Kelley, if you want a real challenge of a face, try Scott Bakula. I was absolutely shocked by how tricky he was to capture; it took me six or seven tries to come even close.
-DF "Men of a Certain Age" Scott
Thanks for your comments. I have a new Spock drawing up. http://linus108nicole.deviantart.com/art/TOS-Series-Spock-176296767?q=&qo=
Thank you so much for your review and careful examination of my drawing. I want to improve and I;m so appreciative when others give suggestions and tips! I wish I had read your post before finishing my Spock drawing. Luckily, I actually added a background in that one. http://linus108nicole.deviantart.com/art/TOS-Series-Spock-176296767?q=&qo= Please let me know what you think!
I tried the thumb thing and I hope I'm doing it correctly. I can see that his cheek doesn't have a 3d appearance, esp the part where I drew the line and the background is white. Yeah there definitely needs to be some kind of background. My mom even told me that....haha I should have listened to her. And it looks like the other side of his face has the same problem. I'm going to work on it a bit and update the picture.
I've never heard of that thumb trick before! Thanks. And what you said about thinking in 3d even though my reference pic is 2d is very helpful! I guess you're not supposed to just straight out copy things like a copy machine! LOL It definitely comes from a bit of laziness....are you saying I'm actually supposed to think while I'm drawing? haha
And the other tips are helpful too. I always get so worried about drawing the clothing. I don't know how you're supposed to draw different kinds of fabric and all the folds are so difficult to get right. But I'm gonna keep on it and do what you said.
And thanks for saying the hair is drawn well, but I really don't think it is. The hair is one of the most dreaded areas to draw for me. The hair on his sides is not bad, but the hair on top looks like just a bunch of lines. Any tips on drawing hair?
Ok since I've done Spock already, I'm going to do Bones next and I'm going to do what you said especially since Bones does indeed look like a difficult subject! I hope you check back on me. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for your review and careful examination of my drawing. I want to improve and I;m so appreciative when others give suggestions and tips! I wish I had read your post before finishing my Spock drawing. Luckily, I actually added a background in that one. http://linus108nicole.deviantart.com/art/TOS-Series-Spock-176296767?q=&qo= Please let me know what you think!
I tried the thumb thing and I hope I'm doing it correctly. I can see that his cheek doesn't have a 3d appearance, esp the part where I drew the line and the background is white. Yeah there definitely needs to be some kind of background. My mom even told me that....haha I should have listened to her. And it looks like the other side of his face has the same problem. I'm going to work on it a bit and update the picture.
I've never heard of that thumb trick before! Thanks. And what you said about thinking in 3d even though my reference pic is 2d is very helpful! I guess you're not supposed to just straight out copy things like a copy machine! LOL It definitely comes from a bit of laziness....are you saying I'm actually supposed to think while I'm drawing? haha
And the other tips are helpful too. I always get so worried about drawing the clothing. I don't know how you're supposed to draw different kinds of fabric and all the folds are so difficult to get right. But I'm gonna keep on it and do what you said.
And thanks for saying the hair is drawn well, but I really don't think it is. The hair is one of the most dreaded areas to draw for me. The hair on his sides is not bad, but the hair on top looks like just a bunch of lines. Any tips on drawing hair?
Ok since I've done Spock already, I'm going to do Bones next and I'm going to do what you said especially since Bones does indeed look like a difficult subject! I hope you check back on me. Thanks again!
Aaaah-h-h! You see what having even the suggestion of a background can do? It places the subject in space -- not outer space, but in three dimensions. He's some-where and not just some-thing.
And it also enables you to set up a dramatic situation around your subject. The darn thing about a subject on a completely white background is that he runs the risk of looking like a police sketch. But give it a dark background, like you did with Spock, and you create the illusion of a bright light source. So the mind accepts why there are dark regions and why the light plays along the face and hair the way it does.
This piece has much more of a theme to it than your first one. It emphasizes a feeling, a moment in time -- it places the viewer there and shares an emotion. Which is, ironically, one of the things Spock actually does best with the viewer.
All that said, you may need to incorporate some more bounce lighting behind the light source, to help suggest roundness in those places that don't directly face the light. Case in point for your Spock is the back of his head. Try the thumb trick on the very back of his head, just behind his ear. Although you do pick up some back light along the back of his neck, you may need to darken a segment of his hair just inside of the border, just to help complete the illusion of roundness.
My mother was a private art teacher for nearly a half-century. Hair was, as she herself called it, a bitch. Whenever a student tried to do hair too realistically, it usually ended up as what Mom would call a "wheat field." About the only way to convincingly draw hair is by giving enough suggestion of how hair appears and behaves, without having to draw blueprints for each strand. You're actually doing very well in that department; Nimoy's upper cranium here is actually quite nice. I wouldn't try to get any more realistic about hair than what you're already doing. Otherwise your subject will fall into a trap from which he cannot escape, and his hair will look like the cap on a Fisher-Price person. (I can't tell you how many times that's happened to me.)
I love the pastel lighting on Nimoy's cheek and nose, and especially how you allowed the light on his nose to glow beyond the edge. Faces aren't comprised of hard edges where you only color inside the borders. Here, you've made light an actor in your script, and it plays against your subject like a supporting actor.
Fabric: Don't worry too much. If you were doing a 3D rendering of a character who utters Spock's words in an animated movie, you'd want to be concerned about whether the fabric sheen looks too plastic or too metal. Here, you can afford to "fuzzify" -- you can just suggest the presence of shoulders. This can actually add drama to the piece, by steering the viewer's eyes away from the body and toward the face.
Keep this up -- with each new one, you're finding a universe of improvement!
-DF "Wishes His Own Head Suggested the Presence of More Hair" Scott
And it also enables you to set up a dramatic situation around your subject. The darn thing about a subject on a completely white background is that he runs the risk of looking like a police sketch. But give it a dark background, like you did with Spock, and you create the illusion of a bright light source. So the mind accepts why there are dark regions and why the light plays along the face and hair the way it does.
This piece has much more of a theme to it than your first one. It emphasizes a feeling, a moment in time -- it places the viewer there and shares an emotion. Which is, ironically, one of the things Spock actually does best with the viewer.
All that said, you may need to incorporate some more bounce lighting behind the light source, to help suggest roundness in those places that don't directly face the light. Case in point for your Spock is the back of his head. Try the thumb trick on the very back of his head, just behind his ear. Although you do pick up some back light along the back of his neck, you may need to darken a segment of his hair just inside of the border, just to help complete the illusion of roundness.
My mother was a private art teacher for nearly a half-century. Hair was, as she herself called it, a bitch. Whenever a student tried to do hair too realistically, it usually ended up as what Mom would call a "wheat field." About the only way to convincingly draw hair is by giving enough suggestion of how hair appears and behaves, without having to draw blueprints for each strand. You're actually doing very well in that department; Nimoy's upper cranium here is actually quite nice. I wouldn't try to get any more realistic about hair than what you're already doing. Otherwise your subject will fall into a trap from which he cannot escape, and his hair will look like the cap on a Fisher-Price person. (I can't tell you how many times that's happened to me.)
I love the pastel lighting on Nimoy's cheek and nose, and especially how you allowed the light on his nose to glow beyond the edge. Faces aren't comprised of hard edges where you only color inside the borders. Here, you've made light an actor in your script, and it plays against your subject like a supporting actor.
Fabric: Don't worry too much. If you were doing a 3D rendering of a character who utters Spock's words in an animated movie, you'd want to be concerned about whether the fabric sheen looks too plastic or too metal. Here, you can afford to "fuzzify" -- you can just suggest the presence of shoulders. This can actually add drama to the piece, by steering the viewer's eyes away from the body and toward the face.
Keep this up -- with each new one, you're finding a universe of improvement!
-DF "Wishes His Own Head Suggested the Presence of More Hair" Scott
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