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Post by clig76 on Sept 8, 2009 6:30:19 GMT -9
I just stumbled onto this site. I love the one monk stuff. Pretty friggin awesome. Anyway, I am love to draw and it would be awesome to make my own minis. If there is some tutorial (how big to make your images, etc) or templates I could take a look at. Here is some samples of my art....
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Post by onemonkeybeau on Sept 8, 2009 6:55:47 GMT -9
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Post by anitangel on Sept 8, 2009 7:04:13 GMT -9
I have to agree with onemonkeybeau. That lady swinging her baby is a disturbing sight, but it is what it should be, right? The predator looks cool.
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Post by squirmydad on Sept 8, 2009 7:18:30 GMT -9
Cool stuff, and perfect for miniatures, bright bold solid coloring.
I really need to setup a STANDARDS document with all the of the features needed to make a "Onemonk" style figure. The basics are:
Flat feet, the figures must be designed with the horizon line at the feet for the tabs and other basing.
Minimal foreshortening, try to keep the figure as flat as possible, meaning keep the arms out.
Hands outside the body, keep the hands outside the main shape of the body. Try to avoid having weapons and such intersect the body, when possible.
Head facing on angle. Try to design with the head facing 45 degrees to the left or right. This gives the figure direction, although full profile and portrait vies can be used, but done look as good as turned heads.
That's pretty much everything I keep in mind when drawing my figures. Hope this helps. JIM
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Post by clig76 on Sept 8, 2009 7:40:53 GMT -9
Thanks for all the advice. I'll keep the standards in mind when I do my next sketch.
I think I am too lazy to actually draw a backside. I might go with the shadow effect. Wont look as cool but at least you know where the mini is facing.
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Post by squirmydad on Sept 8, 2009 10:44:30 GMT -9
The whole point of designing them as figures is doing the back sides. Otherwise your just drawing pictures. Doing the rear views is a challenge, but it will help your art, I know it's helped mine. JIM
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Post by clig76 on Sept 8, 2009 12:47:58 GMT -9
The whole point of designing them as figures is doing the back sides. Otherwise your just drawing pictures. Doing the rear views is a challenge, but it will help your art, I know it's helped mine. JIM Gotcha. I was trying to take the easy way out. I'll try and work out the logistics.
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Post by clig76 on Sept 8, 2009 14:06:31 GMT -9
Hands outside the body, keep the hands outside the main shape of the body. Try to avoid having weapons and such intersect the body, when possible. Why do you need to avoid this? Does it make doing the back view hard to draw? Thanks Curt
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Post by clig76 on Sept 8, 2009 14:46:51 GMT -9
here's a quick attempt at a mini. Would this pose work?
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Post by jabbro on Sept 9, 2009 4:04:26 GMT -9
Cool design, Clig. The main reasons for keeping weapons outside the body is to allow people to swap out the weapon easily, and it also makes for a more dynamic outline, so you can tell what the figure is from afar. Cool and disturbing in the same post. Nice range.
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Post by squirmydad on Sept 9, 2009 4:45:57 GMT -9
Just like jabbro said. Try to flip the weapon arm so it's outside the body, and turn the head toward the weapon.
Looks great by the way, these are just suggestions to make it better for use with other miniatures.
I would suggest doing some research on how actual metal miniatures are posed. My goal has always been to replicate the look of actual metal miniatures in pose and details. This will give you lots of examples of how sculptors need to pose figures so they will cast, working on a single plane. JIM
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Post by Floyd on Sept 9, 2009 4:55:26 GMT -9
Love that Minotaur sketch. He's got his Horn pierced, now that's HARD CORE!
You're earlier image posts have that Pop Art Comic feel to them. Where as the Minotaur (at least in its current form) has a more traditional figure appearance.
I'd say always reduce your work down to figure scale and test print to make sure the amount of detailing holds, and that there is separation and emphasis on the body masses to provide visual interest.
Less is usually more. And exaggeration of proportions usually looks proper at small scale.
Welcome to the boards!
You've got some nice looking art!
~Fl0yd
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Post by clig76 on Sept 9, 2009 7:02:43 GMT -9
Thanks for all the feedback. It is funny how posing for miniatures is so different. I always noticed they had similar structure on how they are posed and porportioned. Am I wrong saying they tend to look midget-esque (bigger heads, shorter legs)?
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Post by squirmydad on Sept 9, 2009 7:41:34 GMT -9
Yes the proportions are out of whack when you look at them at large sizes, but at actual size they look better than realistic proportions. The key to figure designs is to have the details large enough to decipher from an arms length distance at actual size. I try to emphasize weapons, faces, hands and feet to make the figure look more grounded and expressive.
It is a whole different art style from normal figure drawing. I would also suggest drawing a flat ground line when sketching the figure to force your feet to go flat. I notice you still want to add the little hint of perspective. JIM
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Post by clig76 on Sept 9, 2009 8:12:10 GMT -9
Its funny. I just finally started to get a handle on the perspective thing...now I need to tone it down..lol.
I'll mess around with some poses later tonight.
Jim did you design the Cerebus off a Papo figure? Either way it wound up looking better than that figure (which is one of my favorites).
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Post by squirmydad on Sept 9, 2009 9:15:39 GMT -9
I don't think so, I do have some art I grabbed off the net that features Cerberus as a three headed Mastif hound, and that's what I used for a guide.
I highly suggest that if you find a cool concept sketch or other art on the web, covert it into a figure design. I have a folder full of web reference art that numbers over 100,000 images now, and sort of organized. I would highly recommend doing the same, good reference art is the key to getting the look just right. JIM
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Post by onemonkeybeau on Sept 9, 2009 9:37:24 GMT -9
Clig, that minotaur looks great!
And I echo all of the previous constructive criticism regarding flat feet, weapon outside the body, and perspective.
Great stuff!
onemonkeybeau
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Post by clig76 on Sept 9, 2009 15:44:44 GMT -9
Cool design, Clig. The main reasons for keeping weapons outside the body is to allow people to swap out the weapon easily, and it also makes for a more dynamic outline, so you can tell what the figure is from afar. Cool and disturbing in the same post. Nice range. Cool and disturbing is what I was going for. Thanks!! If I am not concerned with having the weapon switched out is ok that the weapon intersects the body?
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Post by jabbro on Sept 9, 2009 16:00:59 GMT -9
You can have the weapon intersect the body, but I wouldn't do that for too many figures. From across a dimly lit game table several figures with the arms inside the body silhouette all look the same.
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Post by clig76 on Sept 10, 2009 13:12:34 GMT -9
You can have the weapon intersect the body, but I wouldn't do that for too many figures. From across a dimly lit game table several figures with the arms inside the body silhouette all look the same. That makes sense. I imagine it would hard to see the image well if they images are overlapping (weapon intersecting the body). All this info is helping. It will take me a while to get the hang of this but by the look of all the mini's I've seen on here it is well worth it. Awesome hobby I've stumbled onto here.
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Post by onemonkeybeau on Sept 10, 2009 13:28:14 GMT -9
Heh heh...
Welcome to our madness!
;D
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Post by clig76 on Sept 11, 2009 7:32:38 GMT -9
Heh heh... Welcome to our madness! ;D Thanks for the welcome. Im pretty excited for the gameplay and design posibilites. A Few more Questions... -Do you guys draw the image to scale in pencils? I have a hard time drawing anything smaller than an image that takes up a 8 x 10 piece of paper. -Is it totally necisarry to use a Vector program? I was just hoping to ink and color in Photoshop. Curt
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Post by squirmydad on Sept 11, 2009 8:28:55 GMT -9
Your process doesn't matter, only the results. Use whatever techniques you want. The important part is the details, line thickness, pose and coloring. How you get there is NOT important, draw and color how you do it best.
I only put up my tutorials for those curious about how I design figures, and not necessarily the only way to do it. JIM
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Post by anitangel on Sept 11, 2009 12:14:29 GMT -9
When using vector program for the outline that you scanned in it makes the lines a lot crisper. I was amazed myself. It probably helps the quality of the outcome. Photoshop cannot sharpen the outlines nicely. So it is not a bad idea to use it. Of course you can do what you see fit best! Go with your own method, and see how it comes out. Then you see what you need to change if anything.
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