And the rest of the blocking

Decided to post the other two poses I've got on the table right now, another one for Suzie:

And one for Samwell (yes, I realize he's still bald):

I've got quite a bit to touch up on Suzie (re-connecting the pants laces, correcting clothing folds, etc), and more battle damage and clothing fold work for Samwell in store. Comments and critiques are appreciated!

Bases and poses

So, nothing too exciting this week, since most of it has been spent posing figures, and modeling props. So far, Wave has a base, and an unedited Transpose Master pose:

Still have a lot of folds to add on the wings, and the hind legs kind of got jacked, so I'm starting from scratch on the folds. Suzie's gotten her more simple of two poses transposed out, as well:

Which honestly looks a bit weird at that angle, so I clearly have some things to fix on that one. Her second pose is currently getting blocked out. And poor Samwell...

...Isn't even in the picture yet. So, hopefully I'll have a finished picture or two by the end of the week. If you've got any critiques before I get further, feel free to shoot them my way!

Another introduction is in order

The final (I promise this is the last WIP!) project I've currently got on the burners is my very first 'original character', Samwell.

Admittedly, he's a bit bald at the moment, and that's something I should probably rectify (even though he looks surprisingly okay that way). And his suit is quite a bit less ripped than I plan on having it. But it's something.

Going by me middle school imagination, Samwell is a hawk demon with long blue hair, an armband tattoo, and an earring with the fang of his girlfriend on it. He could also talk to birds, and was a super genius. And could hack into any computer system.

I'm....pretty sure this was the first picture I drew, so yeeeeeaaaaah. Surprisingly, it's always been a bit difficult for me to draw Samwell, because I always think back to how I drew him years and years ago. Since my style's largely drifted away from emulating Yu-Gi-Oh, there are quite a few set-in-stone 'character traits' that really don't hold sway with how I draw things nowadays, bu they're often what I picture whenever I go to put him on paper. Square eyes, winged eyelashes, and randomly emphasized musculature were what I had thought made him unique, and figuring out how to evolve his concept really gives me artists block sometimes.

It's an interesting phenomenon, since I often feel like my drawings of him are worse than when I depict more recently created characters. Am I regressing when I draw him? Is this how comic artists feel, once their title has been running for a decade or more?

Anyone else have issues like this, drawing older characters, or favorite cartoons from your childhood?

Captain Suzie progress

So, the topic for today is a little elaboration on Suzie. She was actually a character that I had created for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign years ago, and had evolved from a warrior, to a bard, to the captain of a ship. I've played other campaigns since, but this one has always stood out to me, since I had such a vivid picture in my head.

I always dislike how the neutral pose looks when I go to share it, since it looks so lifeless. But, since her Zsphere rig isn't on my to-do docket for a bit, this little preview will have to do for now. Any comments or critiques would be truly helpful- I want to do her justice!

Current progress

Right now, I've got a few personal projects on my plate, as well as giving a shot at polishing some of my older works. Finishing up Captain Suzie is pretty high on the priority list, as well as giving some life to a grumpy menagerie overseer.

Poor guy, perching a monocle on a reptilian face is no easy feat. At any rate, I'll be posting more next week, with an open request for critiques. I want to develop my skills with a viewer's eye in mind, so knowing what you think will really help.

Introduction of sorts

Hello, everyone! I've created this blog mainly to showcase my work, both in-progress and complete, as well as offer my thoughts on animation and gaming in general. Hope to put myself out there for beginners to contact, since I've seen far too many aspiring animators go into the field without having ever gone beyond traditional artwork. Not that there's anything wrong about traditional stuff- it's definitely the foundation needed in any art field! I just feel like the industry would get more innovation if the playing ground was a bit less of a cliff.

But that's enough of that, I'll post some art before you leave. Basically, I'm going to open up myself for critique here, too. Since listening to advice has brought me from models like this:

up through my current projects, like Suzie here:

With my own characters, I tend to go more for relevant detailing than layered designing, but I like to experiment around, and pick up new techniques by trying different approaches. So, without further adieu, I will end my first post. Shoot me questions or comments, if you've got 'em, and I'll be back shortly to post more of my in-progress shots!