fencer portrait

[nehuen]

Attempt of doing a drawing with the style of kitty

[thespaceinvader]

It's a nice job. The one major issue i have is the way he's holding the sword - a rapier like that one would simply not have space on the hilt for both hands - it's a single handed weapon.

[irrevenant]

It's a nice job. The one major issue i have is the way he's holding the sword - a rapier like that one would simply not have space on the hilt for both hands - it's a single handed weapon.

The angle seems a bit funny, too. It presumably should be oriented towards a foe.

[thespaceinvader]

I disagree - since this is a generic unit portrait, it should explicitly not be pointed at anything in particular. A relaxed ready stance is appropriate - you don't point your weapons at your commander when talking to him, after all, and generic portraits should fit any dialogue.

[Neoskel]

The sword looks really short, like a glorified dagger.

[Guidrion]

The sword looks really short, like a glorified dagger.

I agree. The blade is too short. It makes me think to a toy
The clothes are well done, except the collar which seems a bit unnatural. It's a bit too straight.

Anyway, it's a pretty good start. Keep working on it

[Thrawn]

Nice start. However:

1. Your lines need varied width. I'm sure you know this, but just in case you didn't.

2. The folds in the cape seem...odd. I'm sure someone with more expertise than me can elaborate there though.

3. His left arm seems wrong. It looks like you start the bicep FAR too low down his arm, with his shoulder muscle being to long.

[kitty]

first of all: that's a great start! even if the hand position may be wrong for a rapier - i love the way you drew his hands! they are really great!

i have a problem with his posture, though... the face is the focal point of every portrait - and you just put the wheapon in front of it. without any good reason. why? - you should really move it to the left or to the right, allowing us to see his face! or a completley different stance...


some other (mainly anatomical) problems:
(most of them get visible if you flip your canvas horizontally)

* he is about to overbalance, you need to rotate him a few degrees counterclockwise
* his arms are too slender. he may be a level1 but now he is a weakling
* you have a problem where his waist is, the connection of his tunic is off. and he needs hips.
* his collarbones shouldn't be visble through his shirt
* face: eyes have different sizes. he is crosseyed. ear is too low. chin isn't parallel to eyes/nose/mouth orientation. eyebrows!
* his cape has already been mentioned - try to get a good reference: just take a picture of you with a sheet. and think about the way it is closed: doesn't he need some kind of brooch?

keep on!

[Girgistian]

I'd also add that his left arm is skinny and a bit short compared to the right.

[irrevenant]

i have a problem with his posture, though... the face is the focal point of every portrait - and you just put the wheapon in front of it. without any good reason. why? - you should really move it to the left or to the right, allowing us to see his face! or a completley different stance...

That was my concern with it and the main reason I wanted the blade moved. I wish I'd expressed it as well as Kitty did.

[nehuen]

Perfect I do another drawing tomorrow

[nehuen]

this is a photo from my cellphone of the actual drawing, because i dont have a scanner installed...

in the red hand it would have a rapier and in the left a dagger.

[Girgistian]

Well... The arms, especially the right one, are very skinny, and the neck is a bit long and too thick. The left hand's backside is also turned probably too much towards the viewer. If you manage to improve this, though, it would look pretty good.

[kitty]

he looks much stiffer than your first version - what's the reason?


and a general hint: 3/4 portraits are prefered, straight on views tend to look boring.

[Jetrel]

he looks much stiffer than your first version - what's the reason?

and a general hint: 3/4 portraits are prefered, straight on views tend to look boring.

Exactly.

An old sculpture term - a criticism of poorer works, is to accuse something of still being "in the block". What it means is that all the major planes of the thing being sculpted are parallel with the planes of the block it was carved from - enough so that it's obvious after the fact that it was carved from a block of said shape. And it works exactly the same way for drawings, and for the plane of the canvas.

If I were a bit more clever, I might have a solid theory as to why it does this, but I can say unequivocally that having something "in the block" is almost guaranteed to make it look amateur. (Possibly because then you have to deal with scary things like foreshortening, and actually figuring out perspective, etc?)

In this drawing, the guy is facing dead-on, parallel with the page. Don't do that.