An update + cute tablet pen holder ;]

A quick Update :

Always had problems with my graphics tablet pen magically disappearing - Resolved it. A small Tiger teddy thing that my little sister bought me long ago, that I used to have clipped to the side of my monitor offers a perfect grip to store it. So cute. (Also a shameless plug for The Workshop)


10 comments:

Alan Postings said...

Hi Jon,

I;m liking your concept so far - Although women again, sigh! Just kidding ;)

My one recommendation would be to find a way to transcend the limitation of your graphics tablet - It seems to be giving your sketches a 'rigid' feel. Possibly something you don't do with a pencil. It’s happening on two levels - In your skeletal structure (arcs) and the feathered lines. A common phenomena.

My suggestion is - Get the skeleton right first. Don't draw the character draw its skeleton first using simple lines. Look for fluidity in the shapes - Curves of the spine for example. Make them fluid and logical. Then draw your character on top whilst obeying the fluidity. Do it in levels of detail, getting closer to the final character as you go.

I'm sure you realise most of this but don't be controlled by technology. Force it to do what you want it to do.

Jon Stewart said...

Hey Alan,

Well my plan is to just be as loose as I need to be for now. Then I was going to lower the opacity of the rough layer, and do a cleaner paint over the top. This way I divide up the tasks so that Im not doing too much at once, and thus confusing myself.

So rough > Clean up > Manga studio to get some real nice line art > back to Photoshop to paint.

Jon Stewart said...

The problem with graphics tablet is that feathery lines are just unavoidable in my opinion, unless you use like Manga studio which smooths a line out for you.
Or unless you have a Cintiq (The dream for me right now is to get one of these babies :(

Alan Postings said...

Perhaps - Less detail and more fluidity first?

Alan Postings said...

I guess an easier way to put it is to start a level lower than you're going right now - Much more primitive and basic. You seem well capable of doing the levels above but if you get the arcs right too - Magic!

Jon Stewart said...

Okay, yeah you're right.

The way I see it is that you should break it down to different levels. It's like working with just black and white shade and then using an overlay layer to colour that in. Then you're dealing with just shadows and highlights, and not having to think about colours.

In the same way you can break it down into;

-Foundations / flow
-Rough lines filing in
-Clean it up with another layer on top.
-Clean it up even more.
-Fill in blocks of colours for each object/area.
-Add shadows
-Add highlights
-Clean up

Alan Postings said...

Yep thats the stuff...I'll butt out now and let you create some magic!...

...of course more a Merlin style of magic than Paul Daniels ;)

Alan Postings said...

...and not the David Blaine (Git Wizard) kind either.

Alan Postings said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alan Postings said...

I bet his Mum loved him...

David: "Mum! Mum!...Look I can levitate!"

Mum: "Sigh! Yes David...eat your greens"

Not a bad Idea for a spoof...David Blaine as a child?

About Me

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I am a video game artist at Dovetail games, working on Train Simulator 2014, 2015 and an unannounced title. I also graduated from the CG Arts course at UCA in 2010 with a First Class. www.jonstewart.co.uk