LadyJudgement

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Thor looks a mite skinny, might be me but his long skinny limbs make him look skinny. Other than that it looks great, especially for a quick sketch.

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Hmm maybe I should thicken his waist? If I work on it some more, I'll post a close up of Thor, and beef up his arms...

Looks awesome DL, here's mine... see you in game!

LJ

You are returned? Who said you could leave?!!!

uh drawings of them that is. I was starting to think, that maybe several people thought all I draw are women with large chests. Then I got a little paranoid after looking through my work and realizing oh-kay maybe I do draw too many wimmens.

So here's a 90 minute doodle of TA vs his namesake... just to prove that I can draw men! Okay well maybe Thor is a little girly?

LJ

Yer going for cell shading? What program are you using by the way... see if this helps:

Cell Shading Tutorial by Getty

It's pretty thorough, even if you don't use photoshop, worth reading for the lighting and color advice. Hope that helps...

LJ

The first piece is very nice... is the artist sending you a color final?

I think it depends on the artist... if I had the disposable cash, and Adam Hughes was going to draw LJ, heck, I'd wait a year! I agree with you it's not a great place to be, and in my own defense, I tell people that it will be a short wait, but it will be worth their while... however every artist has their own terms hopefully based on what's best for both parties.

The traditional approach to most anatomy is to lightly pencil in the skeleton, or skeletal indicators for the top of the head, the skull itself, the shoulders, the chest cavity, the pelvis, the knee and elbow joints, and the ends of the hands and feet.

Okay that hurt just to type it... Over this in a gesture drawing goes a quickie stick figure line drawing, once again to indicate parts of the skeleton, and to show movement.

I think most pencilers use a series of interconnecting spheres over this to show body weight and to fill out the proportions. Over that is a darker line, but the final pencil is the darkest of all, which is the Inker's guide line.

IF you can master the proportions, the spheres, the shapes of various body parts, you can "move" the puppet of the figure however you like. However this IS the hardest part, drawing anatomically correct and adding or not any kind of foreshortening, perspective or tonal quality.

I would suggest getting someone to pose for you, or buying a "mannekin" to practice with. A class would be your best choice, to work on the shapes...

Goodluck.

LJ

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Well, mine's at... nine months now. Almost four months to the day since the last word I'd heard. And previous projects (not with me) seemed to be promising....

In contrast, I just got a quick note from Daggerpoint saying he'd be pushing that commission to the end of the month - my response being all of "OK, that's fine, thanks for letting me know."

It's going to be interesting to see if I can hold my tongue if/when my *severely* late commission contacts me. I got irked enough that I've commissioned someone else (totally different style, too...) to do those characters (plus one other, making it a trio) even though I wanted the initial piece... well, long ago, but I was still hoping for "Before they hit 50." Which they did last night.

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There's no doubt that some artists, being so popular are overbooked... Gil Bates, Graver, Daggerpoint... just to name a few. I think in these cases it's an unfortunate side effect of their work that a long long wait is unavoidable.

Where someone may have been lucky with an artist in the early aspects of their career, less demand and more free time, the reverse is true of most sought after artists incredibly high demand and no free time.

I hope when you get your piece, it's worth the aggravation, and that it's so good you forgive the artist for being terrible at time management. Even with agents or assistants working for them, you can only draw so many hours in the day, and somebody somewhere will be forced to wait.

I know 9 months is ludicrous, but I should think after the 4-5 month marker, it would be best to move on to someone new, with plenty of time to devote to you, and hope for the best that someday you'll get your work soon from the other party.

I have been guilty of keeping people waiting 2-5 months myself, unintentionally, and this is all in the past, where it was worked out to update them as regularly as possible. As I mentioned before, the guilt builds up, and some things are unforeseen. I've adjusted my capabilities to prevent this from happening, with perhaps a 10% chance of overtime, but then again nothing can be predicted fully.

But I cannot speak for your predicament since I don't know the artist very well. In Bates & Graver's case you get physical pieces of art, so waiting for those is worth any period imho. Daggerpoint's work is also worth the wait, since he's been here since the community started.

But again I'm not telling you anything you don't know, goodluck with everything...

LJ

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For any WIP projects, Art or Otherwise, if there is little/no direct oversight between you and the producer, its best to go by a 1/3rd, 2/3rds rule.

1/3rd up front (its the "Carrot") and the 2/3rds once the project is completed (The "stick"). That way, they get money (So they can't say "Well I'm not working for something I'm not paid for!") and you don't fork out 100% off the purchase price, in case they renege on the deal and try and shirk the responsibility.

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While this rule protects the collector very well, it does nothing to protect the artist from a "wild card" client, who would demand several changes, extend the period of work, and flat out refuse to pay the remaining sum if they should so choose.

1/2 down and 1/2 after is fair.

But I personally believe that before the buyer leaps into the pool, they first do their homework. Check with previous clients, check that they got what they asked for, check the artist's demeanor, and if that is something they can "put up" with...

I regret that one bad apple will always keep the lines of communication harshly paranoid. And while I myself have had some less than perfect clients, it could all have been avoided with some preparation on both parts. That is to say I know what I am and am not capable of, and what I hope my clients understand and if I'm lucky they won't be too angry with me.

Okay, note to self, don't watch PBS and post at the same time.

LJ

Very interesting, I see improvement and a style developing... carry on!

Terrific style, faved and watched... good eye Rudecat!

very nice... congrats!

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Why even take any money until you've started on the piece?

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Personally I prefer upfront because it doesn't slow the work flow... however if there is a glitch, I will tell the client how long the wait is.

Consideration, yer kidding me right? That's a whole frickin issue, they won't need any other art brother!

How about a better shot of your toon? And congrats!

Welcome to Paragon, Hero of the City!

I'm doing one too Doug, with all new art... the hardest part will be not showing it to the community before it's for sale.

Dj: sorry you're having such a hard time... I too am offering DA printing sales, but haven't heard any complaints from those who've ordered through them. Maybe that's the hold up in this case... the physical packing and mailing off of your calendar. I know that trudging to the post office was not going to be good for me, which is why I paid the extra for a DA printing account.

I hope it works out in the end... though a month is not long too wait if the artist is heavily booked.

But personally speaking I would go nuts making my client wait that long. Part of the reason I am offering a "fast" offer vs a more detailed "slower" offer, cuz waiting is just as hard on the artist. I hate guilt... I'd rather work with screaming back pains (and I have) than be backed up for months on commissions, but that's just me.

Good luck to ya!

LJ

tes well I find the eye and the mouth, the face in general to be the most expressive thing about a toon, regardless of their costume. I always start with the head. But with this toon everything was nearly covered, so I just had to place it proportionally and hope I got what the client wanted...

she'll never drown...

Welcome to the forum, nice work! So you gonna finish the renders?

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Wow.... very very nice, I always love your ability to make each of the costume details and enhance them on a drawing + put the char in a pose that suites the character.

*has more of a feeling of a bit of an upcoming tax refund going into commission work more than planned *

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Thank you very much, always nice to have a new fan

uummm I'm sorry I guess...

These are great! Love the first 2 pieces... can't wait to see more!

LJ

The 1st of 3 commissions for Kobalt 1...

LJ

Ah gotcha... well then i guess your other choices are, street clothes, classical oriental look, and the anime look here.