Small spacecraft - Prismacolor Markers used

[Phait]

Getting more use of the markers, but still new to them. The ship may look a bit odd, but its that the body has different angles.. perhaps I didnt portray them as best I should've - some people have said it's an odd perspective.

http://art.phaitaccompli.com/concept/vehicles/1.jpg

[sic1]

I see the dreaded red X :(

[Phait]

Impossible...

hrm... http://art.phaitaccompli.com/concept/vehicles/1.jpg

[sic1]

Ahh, I can see it now ;)

I like the shading you've managed with the markers. It gives a metallic feel to the ship surely.

I do see the perspective issue, it may just be the ship and it's unique angles, but it does look like the nose of the ship and the wing of the ship don't agree.

Overall, I think it's very clean and it has a cool spacey mood to it :)

[Sammy]

you're gettin the shading down nicely but here's a tip for perspective stuffs.. use the lightest gray and do a quick (and I mean quick) rough sketch to get a grasp on the perspective and to help out don't be shy to get a straightedge and put a guideline through the thing.. then start to build uppon it with your inks

[Phait]

Sammy
I've seen this method before, but have been hesitant to use it because I think you need to be rather confident with where you're placing your lines. I did it with a 4H pencil, though.

[Phait]

More replies please, thanks

[Phait]

...
:hmm:

[sparth]

forget about your h4 pencils. go for a 2b or even more. most of the time, 4h is good for peeps who hesitate and who aren't confident in their own lines. (:D) you can always make a clean up afterward on a layout paper, as it's a fact that markers don't like b pencils that much.

before taking your markers, be sure about the design and perspective. for now, your design is not rich enough. concerning the iron plates, don't spend too much time on these, but analyse first the general shape of your ship. aerodynamism is the key, combined with originality.
let's take a design from khangle for example. it will be the best way to make improvments.
http://www.khangle.net/Entertainment/I_EschatonTryout.jpg
what do we have here... a very vertical ship. - as you can observe, nowadays shapes are far more complex. angles have a huge interest when they're combined with smart curves. that's ONE of the keys for an original design.
- look at the perspective lines. they haven't been erased. as sammy said, it's a good method to give hints concerning the ship's shape. - this overall sketch is very nervous. the tiny details are very smartly chosen, no boring or repetitive elements. khangle took time to make interesting rythms between lighter and darker areas of the vessel, proving this way that some materials may vary in tones. contrasts in this piece are also very strong, it gives a more exiting look to the design.
also, there are enough details in there that are catching the brightness from the main light source located up right. if you design a vessel with a very flat nose and body, you must absolutely find other ways to give it a more impressive look. color use, painted rythms, many possibilities. - if you observe a bit more, you'll see that there is another small yellow light source located on the left, in order to give more impact to the object's shadows.

designing ships is very exiting, as you're nearly allowed to do anything you want. as you do not have any real constraints coming from gravity. however, a successful design is a design where the shape and balance is respected. no matter the shape of wings, turbines, engines, radars,... its got to please the eye and make you want to see more.

hope it helps

sparth

[davi]

Phait, please do not post repeatively in your thread to "bump" your thread up, and don't beg either.

People reply when they want to... groveling is just shameless.

[Fisa]

Sparth covered the perspective. I'll give you some advice on the marker work.
You seem a little timid with them.Dont be afraid to use them. A good thing to do is make several copies of the linework on copypaper to try several times.
3d objects have a core shadow your ship does not have that. This shadow will help define your shape more. Its just like shading a cube,you have your 1,2,3 sidesof darkness. Figure out where your light source is and follow that process, just as you would with primitive shapes.

[Phait]

Sparth - thanks, it does help. You've also introduced me to some more intriguing work *rubs chin*.

Fisa - I was timid with them being the first use. I didn't want to screw up the work too badly - and hell, I payed $35 for them - I best use them wisely, they won't last *forever* ;)

Davi - I wasn't begging. This is begging "dammit I want more replies what is with you people HURRY UP". However, I'll keep it in mind anyway.

Thanks all.

[Fisa]

The trick with markers is the blending ability. You have to get a nice big wet puddle going for that to work. I had the same issues as you. I usually use the odd# shades for abit then go to the even #s to try and compensate the usage. Fillers for markers will become your friend.
Some paper that works well with markers is the Letramax. I love this paper. My second choice at the moment because I cannot find Letramax in the midwest is Canson ProLayout Marker paper. Alot of people use Beinfang but I find it too thin and even though I use the better side of paper its still poor compared to the 2 that I mentioned.

[SpaceRabbit]

Not to harp or seem cocky, but if your worrying about the costs of your materials, you'll never be lose enough with your work to really grow. Markers need to be worked almost like paint, be loose, work light, then build up to dark.

[gasmask]

agreed, markers are one of the harder mediums to use so if you want to get into them you will spend lots of money because prismas dry out fast. and like said already work light from dark and just try different things and look at other marker work by profeesionals to get ideas of how they color, another thing that works is actually scetching with the markers, u can get some inmteresting stuff that way and make sure the perspective is good. Keep practicen. Good start

[Phait]

Thank's for your input guys :)