Dante's Avatar Attempts

[biermann]

A little bit different from my usual style
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1921]

Also
I recently promised to show some step by step progress on an avatar. So I will strive to scan in my steps more regularly on this next avatar.
Step 0 would be the doodles I made for dark demon.
Step 1 is shown below.

Basically you start with a glorified stick figure. This step is VITAL. you draw, redraw, redraw again, redraw some more till you reckon the limbs are in the right proportions as well as the entire thing being anatomically possible.
the anatomically correct part, well it is good judgement and basically, either a wooden drawers doll...or, well, a full sized mirror.
Yes, I do actually stood in front of a mirror in this pose to see if i got the arms right.
it is advised to do this when noone is home, cause you look like an idiot.

There are sites with the measurements for a human body, forearm is length x, leg is length x times 1.5 or so. But after a while, or with some basic talent, you can just see what is right and wrong.
This process however is horridly more complicated when the figure is not straight facing the viewer, you then have to work in some perspective, meaning all your carefull measurements are now required to be adapted for perspective. This is where a good eye for such really comes into play.

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1922]

[DARK DEMON]

whoa . . . it's amazing how you can turn something so basic into such a detailed figure!

[Fire Starter]

Dante, some of those seem quite fine, even scaled down. But I suggest you to work them more into grey shadows. Right now we are considering them, but better edit will ease us a bit.

[biermann]

I can tone down the contrast/levels a bit things more grey then black are preferred
the shading is mostly grey, it is just heavy editing of the levels to turn them more black then grey

[biermann]

And we're s tep further, been busy at work so it's a bit slow going

[attachment=4152:wip-darkdemon2029.jpg]

[biermann]

Ok, been a bit silent, work, sickness, vacation

ok ok, and perhaps a lot of guild wars 2 as well. However, I took up the pencil again to finish, or move towards finishing the previous image.
We're done shading.
Next step, sharpening, mucking with levels, contrasts, resize, curse as stuff looks bad when small, reshade, repeat the other steps, again and again!

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1923]

[DARK DEMON]

Awesome! Thanks Dante

[biermann]

And we're done, the final result, as now outlined by the step by step images.
I hope it made the process a bit more clear as well.

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1924]

[Nimrodel]

wow.. that's really cool.. I envy your talent

[Fire Starter]

Wether you mean it or not, envy isn't a constructive feeling.

[biermann]

Perhaps rephrase the feeling as 'I think I would need a lot of practice to achieve your level of drawing!'

Anyways. One work doodle.
And one commision work in progress.
Tada

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1925]
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1926]

[Fire Starter]

[color=#2f4f4f][i]*grins*[/i] [/color]I am glad to see that the gift has stimulated some neurons

[Maebius]

Loving it.

[Nimrodel]

i wonder if you could make a graceful feminine avatar.. or is it.. not your style?

[Peace]

Perhaps you should start an avatar market, Dante.

[biermann]

Nimrodel, I can do those, I find them harder but not impossible. Somewhere in this topic there's a work in progress of a graceful female, surrounded by ribbons.
A repost here
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1917]

And a market M'Lady Peace, hmm, good idea, though I have few free avatars right now.
I will probably state my general intention here right now;
Any avatar that I don't refer to as a commission will remain for the grabs for up to a week, then it will go into the md shop.
So if you see something, shout.

[Peace]

Alas, the one I layed my eyes on, already merged with the ones in the shop... Perhaps a future work...

Keep it up.

[biermann]

Yay done!

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1927]

[Neno Veliki]

This is closest to MD style i have seen in a while. Great work Dante.

[Menhir]

Wounderful passion Dante!

[Maebius]

Yep. Now to put a price that is both affordable to me, and not insulting to the artist by being too low.
I love it Dante!

[biermann]

So, time for a break and see if I can make something for myself now!

or well, time to make lots of works in progress and then shade them one by one and then pick one for myself.
Anyways, first two drafts

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1929]
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1928]

[Esmaralda]

I must complement you on your work. It is very good and really fits with the style of MD. I'm glad you decided to join this realm =)

[Nimrodel]

Yeah... But your other avis have more detail than that one.. So...

[biermann]

Another little work doodle

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1930]