Character Concept

[Jon_Elder]

Here is a concept drawing for a character I made up (I'm not sure for what yet). I really want/need some critiquing, especially for anatomy/musculature/muscle attachment. Opinions and help in other areas (style, the character himself, perspective, etc.) are more than welcome, too (as long as they're constructive). Please be as specific as possible.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l15/Jon_Elder/Darc%20Heritage/Kaine001bfixed.jpg

[kawakaze]

your doing the standard superhero man figure so you should be able to pick up any comic book to find some good references on anatomy. proportionalty he is not too off, he does look a bit big boned but maybe thats what you are looking for. try adding in some values to define him vs bold contour lines. also it would help to pick up a general anatomy book just to get the basic ideas of how muscles form on the human figure. right now you have the basic formula but your missing a lot of defining muscles and adding others in where the dont exist.

the straight leg on the right feels like its off. imagine if you were to stretch the two out side by side. the one on the left would be much longer. u might be able to get away with what you have by forshortening a little more or adding some major shadows in under that foot. but its also hard to tell since heas wearing such baggy pants.

as far as concepts, its cool but as i said before wout any story behind him, he comes off kind of generic. maybe put some more emphasis on his non human defining features like the pointy ears, no pupils, tats, gloves, weapons or whatever. overall its dope though just give it a few more passes n feel him out.

[emily g]

Hi, I edited your post so your image shows up.
Next time, use the IMG tags, or click on the square yellow button that looks like it has mountains on it.
You can also upload your pic directly to the site using the attachment feature.
It's the button that looks like a paperclip.

best!
emily

[Jon_Elder]

I realized that I forgot to include some info. that I should have earlier that would make critiquing easier. Sorry, everyone; I was (and still am) runnin' on very little sleep, so my thinking abilities weren't too great (nor are they now). Anyway, my character's the protogonist of a story I'm writing (right now it's in the form of a novel, but I'm that might not be the best medium/-a for it). He's half demon, quarter human, quarter angel (odd mix, I know) - thus, the reason for his specific appearance. Anyway, he's kinda of your typical "cutting-edge" comic dark hero (or anti-hero, if you prefer that term). I'm aiming for pretty realistic musculature for a guy who's well muscled and well toned but not overly of either; I think describing him as slightly over average muscular in build or having a build more muscular than "athletic" but less so than a body-builder are the best I can do without being able to project my mental image. Keep in mind, I intended for him to be slightly thicker boned than normal so his limbs, especially his arms and hands since there isn't anything obsuring them, should appear slightly larger than normal. As far as his pants go, I wanted them to look not exactly like but similar to those airy ones you always see Chinese martial artists wearing. Lastly, but maybe most importantly, this is supposed to be closer to a sketch or drawing, not a finished, fully thought out, final character concept. I hope to her from people soon. Thanks in advance, and please remember: BE AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE.

[Jason Rainville]

I remember this stage of my drawing, when I used to make people ultra-defined to the point of drawing lines around all major muscles. One thing that can really help you get past this phase (besides loads of life drawing) is to realize that no one has lines around their muscles, at least, you shouldn't seperate each and every one with line. Especially those abs, they look very out of place.

hope that helps :)

[Saurus]

like the first guy said...you should be able to find many reference pictures for something like this...comics, internet, mirrors...etc...just search on google for comic book characters if yo udon't have any...it looks stiff, the muscles look plastic...reference pictures!

[Jon_Elder]

I made some changes after listening to everyone's advice. Let me know what you think, please.

[CAPTAIN_FADE]

46618You should look more at who this character is and not so much at what he is.What's gunna make this guy cool are his vulnerabilities not his stringths.And stop drawing those stupid big ass anime swords this guy needs somthing with some sex appeal.Here is a little scketch of my take on this guy.

[ACRO]

the last drawing is cool..
even though the hands are 2 small for the body

[Ben_Olson]

Hey, sorry it took me so long to post. I was desperately behind at work.

So, I don't have any really specific advice that will make this guy a perfect ten. I would get some more anatomy books and go to some life drawing sessions. Yeah, I know you may not find models at life drawing that look like comic characters but I there's something called "quick poses" that I think you could benefit from. It's an activity where the model moves every minute or so, to help you practice poses without getting too rapped up in details. It really helps. If you go to a local art supply store they will probably have advertisements for life drawing studios. Also look at the artwork of your favorite comic artists.
The good news is you seem to have a good instinct for proportion. And I noticed from your Myspace that you're a Metallica fan; shows you have good taste and I think it promotes the right mood for creating art. Works for me at least (the old stuff that is). Do you like mathcore too? Go to my myspace and click on Botch in my friend list. It's good heavy stuff.
Realistically, the concept artist market is getting more competitive and if you're a slow learner like me you'll need a lot more practice before you're at a pro level. It took me until I was 30 to get a full time concept gig so get drawing.
Below are some anatomy books that I have found helpful. There might be better comic drawing books now day than the Comics the Marvel Way book but that one helped me out early on.

Now for the character design itself (his clothing, hair, accessories and weapons). A good character design sometimes includes clues about who the character is or what he is about. Spiderman has spider web patterns. Professor Xavier is bald to emphasize his cranium and is wheelchair bound which suggests that he is physically frail and his powers probably don't involve super strength or speed. Chewbacca looks like a shaggy dog, maybe to suggest his unconditional loyalty. Darth Vader helmet looks kind of like a skull and kind of like a nazi helmet. Most pyrotelekinetic comic characters are orange, etc. The obvious approach isn't always appropriate but helps to at least think about these things as a tool for generating ideas.
Another good approach is adding something unexpected or contradictory to give the character depth. Some of the more familiar examples of this are like a biker with a tattoo that says mom, or Hunter Thompson dressed like a characterture of a Vegas tourist but then he has a tough ass biker bracelet.
So for this guy think about details. He's supposed to be part demon, part human, part angel. Do some research for inspiration. google demons, angels etc. Are you talking about christian demons and angels or could you get inspiration from other cultures? He has an anime sword and ninja pants. So maybe you should look up some Japanese demons too to see if you can find anything inspiring there. Is there something significant about his human side? Is he schizophrenic or conflicted? Are the tattoos on his chest from the kabala, yakuza, ancient Sumeria or off the wall of some L.A. tattoo shop? Do some research, find inspiration.

I added some examples of details in character design below. Two of them are mine and the girl is a design of the talented Marcko Djurdjevic. I hope I'm not breaking any rules by post other peoples work as examples.

[Hyptosis]

Hey, sorry it took me so long to post. I was desperately behind at work.

So, I don't have any really specific advice that will make this guy a perfect ten. I would get some more anatomy books and go to some life drawing sessions. Yeah, I know you may not find models at life drawing that look like comic characters but I there's something called "quick poses" that I think you could benefit from. It's an activity where the model moves every minute or so, to help you practice poses without getting too rapped up in details. It really helps. If you go to a local art supply store they will probably have advertisements for life drawing studios. Also look at the artwork of your favorite comic artists.
The good news is you seem to have a good instinct for proportion. And I noticed from your Myspace that you're a Metallica fan; shows you have good taste and I think it promotes the right mood for creating art. Works for me at least (the old stuff that is). Do you like mathcore too? Go to my myspace and click on Botch in my friend list. It's good heavy stuff.
Realistically, the concept artist market is getting more competitive and if you're a slow learner like me you'll need a lot more practice before you're at a pro level. It took me until I was 30 to get a full time concept gig so get drawing.
Below are some anatomy books that I have found helpful. There might be better comic drawing books now day than the Comics the Marvel Way book but that one helped me out early on.

Now for the character design itself (his clothing, hair, accessories and weapons). A good character design sometimes includes clues about who the character is or what he is about. Spiderman has spider web patterns. Professor Xavier is bald to emphasize his cranium and is wheelchair bound which suggests that he is physically frail and his powers probably don't involve super strength or speed. Chewbacca looks like a shaggy dog, maybe to suggest his unconditional loyalty. Darth Vader helmet looks kind of like a skull and kind of like a nazi helmet. Most pyrotelekinetic comic characters are orange, etc. The obvious approach isn't always appropriate but helps to at least think about these things as a tool for generating ideas.
Another good approach is adding something unexpected or contradictory to give the character depth. Some of the more familiar examples of this are like a biker with a tattoo that says mom, or Hunter Thompson dressed like a characterture of a Vegas tourist but then he has a tough ass biker bracelet.
So for this guy think about details. He's supposed to be part demon, part human, part angel. Do some research for inspiration. google demons, angels etc. Are you talking about christian demons and angels or could you get inspiration from other cultures? He has an anime sword and ninja pants. So maybe you should look up some Japanese demons too to see if you can find anything inspiring there. Is there something significant about his human side? Is he schizophrenic or conflicted? Are the tattoos on his chest from the kabala, yakuza, ancient Sumeria or off the wall of some L.A. tattoo shop? Do some research, find inspiration.

I added some examples of details in character design below. Two of them are mine and the girl is a design of the talented Marcko Djurdjevic. I hope I'm not breaking any rules by post other peoples work as examples.


This right here, is some awesome advice.