With A Broom You Can Fly

Posted Nov 11, 2011, 3:59:26 PM UTC

An HP site that I go to has recently had a contest called Quidditch Tournament for people to write drabbles about or dealing with the objects/players in Quidditch in canon. I had at the time run out of writing ideas, but I was struck with this picture in my head, so I spent hours meticulously(usually it doesn't take me that long, but this time I really wanted to make it as good as I could so I forced myself to keep my patience)sketching this drawing. Then without any inking I immediately scanned this and spent another several hours experimenting with colors and patterns on GIMP.

I didn't want this to be overly complicated, so I stuck mostly with solid colors, but wanted to keep the overall sketchiness of the drawing. I obviously still used some patters and gradients but in this end this is what I got.

Tell me what you think. Whether you like it, hate it, and ESPECIALLY if you have some helpful advice/constructive criticism :)

Comments

ArkillianDragon
Nov 12, 2011, 10:27:25 AM UTC
Heh, Jeann covered most of what I was going to suggest The other thing I was going to suggest is that Harry's extended arm is too long. In normal proportions, the forearm is as long as the head is tall, but with a more deformed style, the elbow goes down to the belly button, and the forearm is about that same length again. The forearm shouldn't be longer than the upper arm what ever the length is anyways

Ink may make the digital colouring process a bit easier for you too, although I know I prefer the multiply method explained by Jeann for my coloured art
Permalink
- Miks-Orzo
  Nov 12, 2011, 3:08:41 PM UTC
  Okay, thank you so very much. lol I actually took the time to measure my own head and forearm after I finished reading....lol So thanks again
  Permalink
  ArkillianDragon
  Nov 15, 2011, 2:57:38 AM UTC
  Lolol- it's an approx measurement till you start to learn how you can bend and break the rules. IT doesn't work for foreshortening though T.T There's a few sorta standard measurements that the human form has. Like, if you drw a line around the width of the head, the eye is on the same level as the top of the ear, and the bottom of the ear is the same level as the bottom of the nose. That's with realism heads anyways. Most of it is feel, although it's REALLY handy to know how to draw stuff realistically even if you want to draw in a deformed style. That way you don't make mistakes cause you don't know what it is, rather you make stylistic choices that look right cause you know how to make them look right
  Permalink
  Miks-Orzo
  Nov 15, 2011, 3:28:03 AM UTC
  Wow *mind is blown*
  Permalink
  ArkillianDragon
  Nov 15, 2011, 3:57:55 AM UTC
  Heh- it's just tips you pick up I know alot of them (doesn't mean I can practise them but... >.< ) It's a good idea to draw realistically when you start off. Not cause it's harder, but cause it's easier to see where you go wrong and correct them cause it's so familiar. when you can do that, then you can stylise it with no fear
  Permalink
  Miks-Orzo
  Nov 15, 2011, 4:13:51 AM UTC
  When I was younger I used to draw facial portrates....I could never do a decent self portrit but I would do for others, naturally with their permission...I was always told that was creepy and weird, plus when I would do so for art homework and such, for some reason my teacher wouldn't put it up with the other students in the display case...so I went for a style that stood out more...I have taken anatomy classes and such, and hopefully thanks to your advice I'll become even better
  Permalink
  ArkillianDragon
  Nov 15, 2011, 11:31:57 AM UTC
  I can help if you post one. I think you'll find that you just need to learn correct proportions. Once you have that, it's just practice. I'd need to see how you draw first though. Can you draw something for me- a portrait shot or something? I'll tell you where you're going wrong
  Permalink
  Miks-Orzo
  Nov 16, 2011, 4:17:45 AM UTC
  Yeah! So....like....what do you want me to draw? Just anything that comes to mind? In just like a typical standing pose??????
  Permalink
  ArkillianDragon
  Nov 16, 2011, 5:53:30 AM UTC
  Doing the face is hard enough. Start with that Front on face without hair over the face.
  Permalink
  Miks-Orzo
  Nov 17, 2011, 10:01:12 PM UTC
  Okay. I just posted one. I tried to keep it simple...
  Permalink
  ArkillianDragon
  Nov 18, 2011, 1:40:13 AM UTC
  Oh- I must've gotten 2 conversations mixed up somewhere along the line and assumed you knew I meant a realistic version of the face- sorry! T.T I encourage that you use a photo as a reference cause basically, I want to see how your eyes see things right now, and I'll tell you what to watch out for. It's hard to explain how this will help your more manga style art, but please believe me when I say it will help. Manga art is based off real human beings, so drawing humans without style enhancements is how you learn to draw them correctly. I draw from photos often to re-remind myself how faces actually look. Otherwise my style gets too cartoony and lazy.
  Permalink
  Miks-Orzo
  Nov 18, 2011, 2:03:02 AM UTC
  lol okay. I remember once I did a realistic face I was really proud of, in school. I was told it was creepy though. I also think the cartoonier the better sometimes...as long as you don't suddenly get all Phineas and Ferb all over the place or something. lol Kk I'll see what I can do for a realistic looking face...
  Permalink
  ArkillianDragon
  Nov 18, 2011, 3:08:24 AM UTC
  USe a photo to help. I want to see how your mind works. No tracing though. Only eye ball it. I think you'll find the 'creepy' factor is only cause you have and eye too high or something simple like that.
  Permalink
  Miks-Orzo
  Nov 18, 2011, 4:14:15 AM UTC
  It wasn't that the picture itself was creepy(in fact the teacher used it as an example for proper shading and how to use shading to show the existence of the nose)it was just that, as I was the odd one out of the class, I just drew the person across from me, and I guess according to the other students that was creepy, and my drawing was creepy because of it. I haven't drawn realistically since. I take blatant insults hard, especially so when I was younger. Anyways I'll get permission from my sister to draw her...she takes a ton of pictures of herself, there's gotta be one that she doesn't mind me drawing...
  Permalink
  ArkillianDragon
  Dec 11, 2011, 9:24:07 AM UTC
  It's best to ask permission if you're going to draw someone. Some peopel would be flattered, but alot take offence. If your sister doesn't mind posing, then that's a good option. Otherwise, you can always find photos on the net to draw There's plenty of royalty free images of people, and celebrities are fun to draw too (but they hold legalities on how much you can copy of them >.> )
  Permalink
  Miks-Orzo
  Dec 28, 2011, 12:44:09 AM UTC
  Yeah I haven't spoken to my sister about it yet, so I haven't started anything as of yet. I just don't want to bother her with this for a little while, she's have a seriously hard time at school with a former friend of hers, and I don't want to upset her more than she is. So as of right now I won't be drawing anyone. I don't feel comfortable drawing someone I don't know, and yeah like you said, some people get offended if you don't ask. I'll get one done, but as of right now I don't think I'll be drawing anyone. I might if I can get permission from a friend, but that's unlikely.
  Permalink
- Miks-Orzo
  Nov 12, 2011, 3:15:55 PM UTC
  Thank you!
  Permalink
jeann
Nov 11, 2011, 11:39:21 PM UTC
I really like the sense of motion in this! It has a light and fun feel to it and I like your choices of colors, they aren't too bright and glaring but keep the mood of the pic light.

I'm guessing you didnt use layers for this. If not you ought to look up how they work, they will make your life so much easier I notice there are lots of white spots in the background next to Harry; to avoid this, change the layer with the sketch to multiply and add colors to lower layers. The black lineart will stay on top. There are lots of other ways to separate the black from the white, but especially for newer digital artists this is probably the easiest
Permalink
- Miks-Orzo
  Nov 12, 2011, 3:07:11 PM UTC
  Okay thank you so much. I'm still really new to using GIMP, for the longest time I just did minor coloring and such on picnik.com, and I find the GIMP user manual very tedious to read so I only really read that when I'm in need of help, therefore I haven't gotten very far through it yet...heheh I just don't have the attention span to read and understand most of it.
  
  Thank you so much again, your a big help
  Permalink
- Miks-Orzo
  Nov 12, 2011, 3:16:38 PM UTC
  Thank you!
  Permalink