Raptor-roo back in action... sort of.

[Steelite]

Hey folks.
So I decided to get off my comfort zone of just Guild Wars 2 and weapon designs all day, and update my sona a bit... or a lot, lol.
I loved both my raptor-roo and minotaur sonas so much, I kept getting indecisive between the two. I also really like the idea of having a snake for a tail, like the chimera in greek mythology, but I felt like my own design could use some update.
So here we go, folks.

This time I don't have anything planned out for his backstory or skills or weaknesses or whatever, though. He's basically me, that's all.

Any feedbacks (design-wise) would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[LuciantheHugmage]

Er... how do I put this?

His design is cool, but I don't think you should just fuse your 'sonas into one character. I honestly adore both of your other two 'sonas, though I haven't really said it. I like their designs enough that I would really prefer they stay separate. However, it's your character and your choice and I'll support you, but I'm not entirely sold on this design.

However, something that I suggest is reducing the size of the snake on his tail. It's large enough that it seems awkward, to me.

 

[Steelite]

Hmmm thanks for your comment.
I like my two designs a lot, too, but to the point I kept getting really indecisive about picking one as my main. And I don't wanna keep changing between the two.
As for my tail, I want to keep the snake head at the same size as my actual head. I felt like it'd look awkward if it were smaller, actually.

 

[Ovidia Dragoness]

You could always just be a shapeshifter if you can't choose. The fusion looks a little... uncanny. I think that's the right word.

 

[Oleg]

i mean he can fuse if he wants it must be hard to not be able to keep to one

 

[Steelite]

I have never been a fan of shape-shifting, way before I came to have those 2 sonas.
For an anthro to be able to transform into a different species... it doesn't seem to make much sense imo. And besides, what species is that character then, when they can switch back and forth ?
For a human to be able to transform into an animal, the character is still a human, and the species of animal they can turn into are just their power or whatnot... and I personally prefer to just stay as an animal, too.
Still, thanks for everyone's feedbacks, though.

 

[Ovidia Dragoness]

Of course. Just tryna give some constructive feedback. ^_^

 

[Steelite]

Flame on !

Actual time taken was probably 3 days, but it dragged on for almost 7 days, whew... but hey, still worth it !
All feedbacks are appreciated !

 

[Skychickens]

Personally I think this was a fabulous idea and good solution to your problem. The only thing that weirds me out too much is all the gold parts look copied on and not cohesive, I think because of the white rim. The main problem is the hooves, they just don’t seem attached.

The bulk on the lower half makes it seem like it can actually stand which is great so keep that up. I think the snake head is a fine size myself.

Have you tried it with more of the snakes gold going a bit up the back instead of cutting up the tail? May make them look more like one unit.

Just thoughts of one who hasn’t seen your old sonas. If you wanna keep the old ones, you can make them ocs and just keep this one as your proper this is my representation of myself sona.

 

[Steelite]

The only thing that weirds me out too much is all the gold parts look copied on and not cohesive, I think because of the white rim.

Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out how to make the gold scale look beneath the white fur...

The main problem is the hooves, they just don’t seem attached.

Mhm, still working on this, too... hooves are a real pain for me.

Have you tried it with more of the snakes gold going a bit up the back instead of cutting up the tail? May make them look more like one unit.

It was just my personal preference to keep the tail... uh... kind of "separated" on its own ?... Dammit, idk how to explain it.

 

[ellaerna]

Yay!
You have some of the most badass art, friend.

 

[Steelite]

Spark's "not amused" look, heh.

 

[Steelite]

JUSTICE RAINS FROM ABOVE !

 

[Ahnik]

Hi, just arrived here from the other thread.

I like your character (cobras are cool) and I think your line art is not too bad. The main things I would recommend for you to work on improving at this point are your use of photographic textures and your shading.

The photographic textures don't look good in my opinion. Firstly, they look flat, when your character is actually a 3D form. Secondly, I feel you're overusing them to the point that they detract from the line art and make the drawing cluttered and difficult to look at. If you really want to keep using the textures, try distorting them so that they appear to wrap around your character's form. This is really difficult to do well, though, so I would recommend focusing on building up your drawing fundamentals first without using any textures.

As for shading, try having some harder-edged shadows mixed in with all the soft-edged ones. Right now all your shadows are soft-edged, which makes the character look blobby, like a beanbag. Hard-edged shadows will make your character feel more solid and weighty on the page (or screen). Save the soft shadows for large, round forms (like your character's belly and hindquarters) or for very soft lighting conditions (like an image outdoors on a cloudy, foggy day).

Hope that advice helps and I wish you the best of luck in your artistic endeavours. I'm always up to give more feedback if you want. If you want to give me feedback on my art, it would be very much appreciated! My gallery is here, although I should warn you that almost everything is NSFW gay furry porn. If that's not your cup of tea, don't worry about it.

 

[Steelite]

The photographic textures don't look good in my opinion. Firstly, they look flat, when your character is actually a 3D form. Secondly, I feel you're overusing them to the point that they detract from the line art and make the drawing cluttered and difficult to look at.

Aye... yup, my problem with textures right there, indeed... been having troubles with those for a while now.
I think I'll try something different and see how it works out.

As for shading, try having some harder-edged shadows mixed in with all the soft-edged ones.

Never thought of doing hard-edge shading before... alright, I'll give it a try, too. Thanks for suggesting.

 

[Ahnik]

No problem! Let me know how it turns out; I'm curious to see what you draw next.

 

[Steelite]

No problem! Let me know how it turns out; I'm curious to see what you draw next.

I think I'll just try recoloring the ones I have in this thread atm ; kinda currently on "cool-down" for new ideas, heh.

 

[KeesNailo]

Firstly, the color on it is not too bad on the eyes and it derives all from one hue. There's very little else color wise being used. I recommend adding a second color in there that collaborates or complements the yellow. Purples and deep blues go well with yellow hues. Just a touch somewhere like the eyes or implimented in the background of the piece would work. With just one color, he seems unrefined or bland, unfinished.

I like the use of texture for the gold or metal-like parts but compared to the rest of the image as it has been drawn up, it looks out of place. Have you tried shading and highlighting to imply sharp, crisp and shiny metals? Give it a try and if you need help with that, we can hook up on discord and I'll show you what I mean!

The soft shading is great, it's not too dark but it's not too light. It's also really uniform throughout the piece and shadows are not like that. They fade on round surfaces, crisp up at harder edges and fade away or get stronger in opacity and density depending on distance. You did great but you can do better!

I like the way you lined it up as well. It's clean and mostly uniform in thickness but with a little more practice and patience with your lines, they should come out less stiff and inorganic.

The whole creature is creative and it's not overwhelming at all. I don't know if you intended for it to be so heavy looking or if you have a slight problem with dimentions so I can't really comment on the shape at this point. There are some lines that should not be there, like on the left leg next to the knee to imply muscle.

In my humble opinion, use shadow and lighting to imply muscle, among a great other things. They are your friend. Anyone can color but it is the shading, backlighting and highlighting that really takes a piece to another level.

All in all, it is a good piece, you finished what you started, you have clearly represented what you aimed for, everything is distinguishable and anyone looking at it can tell its a snake and a kangaroo mix.

I highly suggest you take some time to study draw. If you don't know how to do that, I can explain further on my discord!
Study roos, study snakes, study shading, backlighting and highlighting. Watching YouTube on speedpaints and tutorials really helped me, they can do the same for you! Just remember to actually practice what they teach!

I promise that taking the time to study will massively improve your work. You'll see a big difference as you create future pieces!

 

[Steelite]

Firstly, the color on it is not too bad on the eyes and it derives all from one hue. There's very little else color wise being used. I recommend adding a second color in there that collaborates or complements the yellow. Purples and deep blues go well with yellow hues. Just a touch somewhere like the eyes or implimented in the background of the piece would work. With just one color, he seems unrefined or bland, unfinished.

That's my problem : I'm super indecisive with colors, and can never settle down on anything for long. After a while the color gets "old" and I'd feel like changing.
I stick to yellow because of one lousy reason : I'm Asian, I have yellow skin.
Yeah, that's my reason, heh.

I like the use of texture for the gold or metal-like parts but compared to the rest of the image as it has been drawn up, it looks out of place. Have you tried shading and highlighting to imply sharp, crisp and shiny metals?

I get what you mean, and I'm working on it.

I like the way you lined it up as well. It's clean and mostly uniform in thickness but with a little more practice and patience with your lines, they should come out less stiff and inorganic.

I use the "vector" tool in Paint Tool SAI for all the line-arts, so yeah, there are some parts that can't be as curved as I want...

The whole creature is creative and it's not overwhelming at all. I don't know if you intended for it to be so heavy looking or if you have a slight problem with dimentions so I can't really comment on the shape at this point.

The bulky/chubby build is perfectly intentional. I'm pretty certain I have no problem with dimensions at all.

There are some lines that should not be there, like on the left leg next to the knee to imply muscle.

I felt that it'd help to make the muscle on the thigh more... pronounced ?

In my humble opinion, use shadow and lighting to imply muscle, among a great other things. They are your friend. Anyone can color but it is the shading, backlighting and highlighting that really takes a piece to another level.

I get what you mean

All in all, it is a good piece, you finished what you started, you have clearly represented what you aimed for, everything is distinguishable and anyone looking at it can tell its a snake and a kangaroo mix.

Study roos, study snakes, study shading, backlighting and highlighting.

Yyyyeah some still can't really make out what the creature is supposed to be, at first sight... guess it has something to do with the anatomy.

Watching YouTube on speedpaints and tutorials really helped me, they can do the same for you! Just remember to actually practice what they teach!

I guess it's just me, but everything you see here is purely self-taught. No speed-paints or tutorials involved. Literally none. How I can work with the vector lines, how I can test the colors around, etc ; all are from my own.
The only one time I learned from youtube is when I started practicing on how to shade, years ago. It was just a video, no more than 10 seconds, which showed what this tool (called "blur") in Paint Tool SAI can do : it... blurs out the colors and can help create soft-edged shades, like you see here.

 

[KeesNailo]

Before I knew what YouTube was. All self taught on Photoshop with a mouse, using the pen tool.

To, taking the time to study anatomy, shading and highlighting on the body, no backlighting because I did not know about that. I knew about YouTube but still did not know about speedpaints. Used Photoshop. Created in 2013.

After watching speedpaints and tutorials, adding in my study of the anatomy that I myself took the time to seriously do, which meant looking up a lot of horse pictures and drawing different parts of it in different positions, gesture posing to get the motion of it and limitations and using medibang:

I'm not perfect but look at the difference. I still need work on hair and backgrounds because animals were all I did but I'll get there.

I'm showing this progression to you because I really don't think you're sold on this whole study thing.
I know it feels like too much work, I know we have a natural tendency to push away from new things. It's okay. If you are looking for constructive crit, then you are looking to learn, you are open for new things, a new way of looking at it.

I will be more than happy to help you with some of your growth. I can redline and show you how to study. I used to think calling myself "self-taught" was a good thing, something to be proud of and really it still is, but when you couple that same thought with practices of, "I'm gonna jump out the box and draw something different but that's it," will cripple you. You're not learning anything or applying something any different. It's like a fish jumping out the water bowl and into a new water bowl, there's no point. You will hurt yourself if you hold onto the mentality that you did it all by yourself and don't want to experiment or seek new avenues of learning and technique. You still technically can. I won't draw the pictures for you but I can help you progress like this if you want. Really, anyone who is on another level can teach you how to draw better than you do now, it just depends on who has the time, ability and the want to help you.

And I feel like this is as far as my progression will go. I am self-taught. I always look to learn a new technique, a new way to look at something. I know deep down I will not get better than this unless I go to art college. I will eventually pass on to another level of learning but I will be 10, 20 30 years older by then instead of 4 years older. Right now I'm trying to learn how to draw and create faster. Sitting there for 4 to 6 to 12 hours on one piece is no good to me. I want to be productive and have a piece finished in 30 minutes to an hour. So I watch speedpaints and I ask questions and I practice and I study and I draw more personal pieces than commissions because I'm applying what I learn so much of the time, it's not safe to try something new on something someone paid for, not knowing how it will come out.

If you're serious about taking the crits as you are, and you're really super super serious about your art, this is my discord channel Lobby: Discord - Free voice and text chat for gamers

I can add you as a friend and then we can have one on one chats and I can livestream to you over join.me.

You don't have to reach out right now, just think about it. I'm on discord every day and I check it often as I draw. Don't feel obligated, don't rush. I've been wanting to mentor someone who is as serious about their work as I am and you seem like a good first try. Best of luck to you!

 

[Steelite]

Thanks for the offer and suggestion ; I'll consider visiting your channel some time soon.
See ya.

 

[Steelite]

So, I decided to recolor my sona to make him look more natural... and at the same time, removed all the textures that I've been overusing in the past.
Also more focus on shading and highlighting, as opposed to... just pure shading like back then.

Practice on background, foreground and special effects, too ! I know, it still looks super basic, but gimme some slack please, I'm still just practicin'.

I also decided to get rid of the snake tail. I realized it's just too much trouble trying to position it so it won't look out-of-place... though, I don't wanna redraw 'em all over again, it's just out of question for me.
So, I drew a new one for a start. Kinda wanna have something to replace that minigun-carrying one, anyway.

 

[KeesNailo]

That definitely looks a lot better! Everything is easy on the eyes and the dynamics of the posing, which, for some subjects are difficult to do), you're still a little line depended and that's okay. When you get used to using shade to define your muscles and shapes, you'll be using less lines to show that. Everything is awesome but one thing that stands out.

The ear looks like it's either hovering beside the horn or is attached to the horn. It doesn't show any attachment to the side of the head. Having the right ear placement while a subject has horns or antlers helps viewers know where the horns/antlers are curving (forwards, backwards). In the last image's case, I know you want the image to show that the horns are curving forwards but with the ear hovering on the horn and the line that shows the horn is curving is making the horn look like it's curving across the head, pointing towards the right side of the head instead.

Everything else is stellar!