Fira's Sketch Fest!

Firathion 2017-08-28 23:19:20 UTC #322

Trying to improve my sense of form.

malcom 2017-08-29 00:17:43 UTC #323

No problem bro. We all gotta help eachother. Thats how we all grow together. Don't worry if you need c&c i'll be on the look out to help. Unless your killing it and I'm not needed lol.

Firathion 2017-08-29 11:55:38 UTC #324

Haha, right xD. Well thanks again :).

Firathion 2017-09-04 23:00:55 UTC #325

Doing some Laurel Austin studies. Can't get over how good she is <3 <3.

malcom 2017-09-05 07:47:49 UTC #326

Love both studues. Need to study her work as well. The colors were done really well. The shape of the head is a bit different. The original is a bit wider. Overall good job on this.

JannaSophia 2017-09-05 08:30:14 UTC #327

Hi, that study looks gorgeous! Her work really is amazing. As @malcom said, the shape of the head is a bit too wide, especially at the bottom. Also, there's more color variation on her lips. They get lighter and less saturated towards the sides. And I feel like her ears are a little too small ^^
Really nice job!

Firathion 2017-09-06 00:06:07 UTC #328

Good points, i'll get to it at once. Thanks for the comment !

Firathion 2017-09-06 00:06:21 UTC #329

Thanks as always <3 !

Firathion 2017-09-06 00:16:08 UTC #330

Hmm, so i tried to experiment with different colors on the other demons in order to have some variety.
I figured having all of them red would be kinda boring, even tiring to the eye.
But man i'm not feeling it. Maybe i need to experiment more but i'm thinking of scraping those two and keeping the big guy. Or even making them red after all.

zanben 2017-09-06 00:40:05 UTC #331

Wow, your stuff is really coming along!! Keep up the great work!

Firathion 2017-09-06 11:48:07 UTC #332

Thanks a lot ^^ !

malcom 2017-09-06 12:29:28 UTC #333

Love how you added some lava lines to the big creature. I think having them be similar colors helps them look like a unit. For the little guy with wings. Maybe a small color balance with red would help a bit. But overall I like his colors. For the creature on the left, having blue flames can be cool but if the goal is to have them be some kind of unit, I believe his colors need to be tweaked. Try not to think of it being boring. Try to find ways to change up the red accents between them. Maybe they don't have to be same red. One can be dark red, red-ish purple, red-ish green...whatever. Keeping them in a similar theme and color range is a bit hard but power through it. Best of luck bro.

fai 2017-09-06 23:33:36 UTC #334

Loving the Staple piece, he's a beast. But you make it look just as awesome man.
I'm interested in your techniques for this one: basic blending or things like smude / color mixer brush / ... ?

Firathion 2017-09-07 15:02:43 UTC #335

Thanks for the awesome comment .

Do you mean the Stampleton study? I used pretty much the same technique he used in his video so be sure to check that out.

My actual painting method is very similar if only more 'organic'.
I avoid using many layers or fancy brush modes. I believe that painting everything yourself forces you to have a better understanding of what's going on and why colors are the way they are.

Here's how i usually start. I draw my lineart and then i open a new layer underneath adding some flat colors.
So far i'm doing exactly what Stampleton did in his video.
I then proceed to add some cast shadows.
Then the fun part begins. I start rendering trying to define the forms. I try to do most of it 'manualy' using a version of Marc's square brush. However i do use the smudge tool here and there.
Lastly i'll use a bit of overlay and multiply to saturate,lighten or darken certain areas of my characters.

Hope that helps so far. If you have any further questions i'll be more than happy to provide more info

Firathion 2017-09-07 15:18:32 UTC #336

Hmm to be honest the blue color on the demon on the left is kind of growing on me.
You are absolutely right tho. If they are to look like a unit they need to be the same color.
I will do some experiments but i'm thinking of keeping them as is and scraping the unit idea. Make the a different concept each. not sure .
Well, off to play with some reds.
Thanks for the comment as always <3 .

malcom 2017-09-07 19:06:01 UTC #337

As separate characters; that would be fine. Sorry if my last comment makes the choice sound restricted. The blue does look good. Maybe you can have 2 versions. You know how in some games there are 2 versions of the same level? Maybe the red one is in a fire level and the blue one is in a ice or advanced fire level. It could be interesting.
Look forward to the next update on these guys.

Also it was cool to here about your process. I'm a bit similar. For characters I really only use 1 or 2 brushes. Soft round and/or marc square brush. But when I experiment an do studies, I try others to see if it can speed me up or not.

hermidraws 2017-09-10 00:24:16 UTC #338

Not sure you already know, but I noticed one of the dudes you have been studying their work also has a youtube channel :

Firathion 2017-09-10 23:57:17 UTC #339

Thanks a lot for that. Also, good to see you back mate :D!

Firathion 2017-09-11 00:04:46 UTC #340

Ryan Met study in progress. Need a lot of texture work. The skin in particular looks too 'smooth'. But it's good rendering practise. Off to finish it :).

Lodal 2017-09-11 10:47:19 UTC #341

Hello Fira,

I just discovered your topic and it is a really nice one.
You have done a bunch of studies and it shows up over the month. You have a pretty good grasp at copying other artists but I would like to see more original creations from you as well.
Keep it up, it pays off !