Malcom Art Blog

[malcom]

So after not posting on here in like forever because of art war, I'm back to start posting more sketches and WIPs
So lets start off with a few

Inspired by something I seen Marc Brunet do, Miyazaki and Overwatch. Wanted to work on folds and a more stylized anatomy for males. Was fun but I need to study more.

Also here's my character for ArtWar(well one of many)

Even in war a champion protects the weak and ones in danger.

[chris_r_art]

I really like the character and the background but maybe you could place the character into the background so it doesn't seem like she is kind of floating ? >-< or maybe just some simple adjustments to the ground below her would do the trick ^^and to me the right arm look a little bit off idk

[cedricgo]

Man, the character looks so good. I'll agree with @chriswhatelse on the background. I like the blurred effect (it adds some depth to the image), but I think that having the ground under the character be sharp and clear, and having it blur out as you move away from her would look great.

Anyway, awesome piece and good luck for the Art War!

[malcom]

@chriswhatelse and @cedricgo I blurred the background from the illustration as to only show the character with some color behind her. Its a simple fix though so I'll quickly go back and re crop the image. Also glad you like the character.

New version that hopefully makes more sense.

[cedricgo]

It looks good to me

[malcom]

@cedricgo Ok cool. Thanks

Here is something I'm working on now. Trying to remake a character from last year properly.

This final sketch is what I landed on after doing some other crappy variations. Not saying I'll stick with this 100% but I like it. This character had the original spiky hair style. Hopefully I don't take forever with this. Now to find a good pose that will have better anatomy.

[joycew-art]

Now I'm curious to see the comparison of this version and the old one!
Also great job on the Art War illustration! Love the design

[malcom]

Thanks a lot bro. Really appreciate it. I will do a comparison shot once I'm finished with the concept. Hopefully the new is better than the old.

[ragamuffin]

Really liking this character so far!

[malcom]

@ragamuffin Thank you. Hopefully the end result is good

Here's a wip so far. C&C welcomed.

I'm thinking of taking a step back an doing more thumbs.
More on this tomorrow

[malcom]

Here's some anatomy studies. I will show more of them off in the future.

[soluxos]

Hi Malcolm, the worlds you're trying to design with all the character concepts is awesome, inspiring to see all the hard work and effort you put into it! :3

I'm loving the headdress/hair of the dragon lady. The blue lines and blotches of paint make it a bit harder to read the design, but so far the design looks good to me. I do feel like the cross-guard of the sword could be less 'cropped up' and angular, making it pop out a bit will enhance the silhouette of the sword more and give the design a punch.
Adding some 'real-life' details like the small leather buckles at her shoes and things along those lines will make the design feel more grounded and plausible, if that is what you want to go for. A random question, but I was wondering how her chest armor works, it reminds me a bit off a body warmer haha. Drawing a back view might also be handy, so you get a better and more clear understanding of the design.

Anatomy-wise the pose feels and looks a tad stiff. She looks now like she's standing in a standard concept display pose, and if that is what you are going far you can sort of ignore what I'm going to say beneath this xD

If you were going for a beauty shot pose:
Get yourself some nice refs on pinterest/tumblr/google etc. , or even better is acting the pose out yourself to feel which muscles tense/relax, where the diagonals are in the body yada yada. Adding the concept of contrapposto to this lady, even in a basic pose might also add more interest to the overall concept.

Whatever you want to do, is up to you. Just putting my two cents here (:

[malcom]

Thanks a lot for the feedback. I put her in that stiff concept pose to just focus on design and not distract myself with other things. Good thing I have a board with poses on pinterest to looks at. I'll keep playing with the sword design. Hopefully I can make something cool. I will do a back view when I have a good idea how to front is. If the front doesn't work with the back then I just change things. No problem there.
Again thanks a bunch for the feedback. Time to get back to work.

[radiobunny]

Good work. I'm gonna address a couple things.

1. The photobashing in the mountains, I feel hurts the piece as it is. That sort of detail, or implied detail, sort of contrasts with the brushstrokes you gave your character, and makes your character feel weaker, muddier, and less detailed than maybe she should be, since she does appear to be the intended focus. So even though it's in the background, the texture in the mountains is grabbing my eyes more than her body.

2. The colors and lighting are not that great. Some of the colors in her skin feel not believable to me, they seem inconsistent. Keep in mind what your light source is. If it's direct sunlight, pay attention to what kind of shadows that would cast. I see a lot of areas where the body is lit from the back, and it makes it look like the main light is hitting her from behind and not from directly above her. When a character is lit from the back like that it usually means it's the main light bouncing off of things and hitting the character from behind, like the sunlight bouncing off the sand. In that case, it should be less bright the actual direct sunlight coming from above. But it's showing as the brightest.

[malcom]

Thanks for the feedback.

[malcom]

Newest wip of the same character. She changed a lot. I read my old notes about who she is and what she can do. I realized the previous sketch was off. Her staff is the only thing I'm not sure of. I need to think about her story a little more.

Tried to take @soluxos feedback into consideration. Looked at some medieval armor and dragon reference. Still somethings to figure out but hopefully the silhouette is ok

[sladedigital]

Wow damn, I know i'm late to the party, but damn there's so much cool work here! really digging the one winged Style , i know it's still in progress, but the weapon can be one way of making the whole piece come out even more

[malcom]

Thanks a lot I'll keep that in consideration. I should have another update in the future.

[malcom]

So I tried doing 2 wings here as she originally had 2 wings.

And here's the latest version. Starting the lineart next

I think this might be a good spot to start working on the back view and some support sketches. Feedback always welcomed

Quick side note the left hand is something I noticed I have to work on. Looks quite dumb at the moment.

[malcom]

Latest update for today. Not much changed...had company today. Worked a bit on the back view, drew the leg sideview and worked on the chest armor which isn't figured out completely. Hope you guys like the shapes so far.