Noctem-TenebrisArt

When you redline yourself

Added 2024-10-15 02:11:08 +0000 UTC

So, I want to explain a redline of my own mistakes.

I want to show you one of the ways I use references-

I want to discuss how to cross-reference different materials.
How do you apply references and get familiar with the forms.
Give links to resources I use.

The Glaring issues

• So I noticed the initial shape of the snout; the overall head did not read as a Trex. This is problematic to me for a myriad of reasons. While I want to anthropomorphize the character and give them character, I still need the quintessential point of the profile of a Trex. While I grew up drawing dinosaurs, I am very familiar with the critical points of specific shapes and what makes the classic profiles. He needed a few that make up the classic profile for anatomically correct and media profile of a Trex.

•The snout was too thin and lizard-like, he was missing the classic brows/ brow knobs, his jaw was too thin and somewhat broken, and the overall mouth was the wrong shape.

Fixes

•The first point of business was fixing the characteristic brows of the Trex. I adore their brow ridges and how they always have a sense of character, no matter how simple or anatomically correct. They have a distinct shape of what I lovingly refer to as the "Prada Brows," namely, as they have the same bold personality as these glasses. link

• Once I was able to correct the brow ridge shape, I was able to fix the snout and the way it curves, as it is a fair bit more rounded than my original sketch, which started to correct the overall mouth shape and structure.

• After I corrected the upper head and proportions using the Liquify tool in Photoshop or Tap Adjustments > Liquify to enter the Liquify interface in Procreate. I made minor proportional adjustments namely around the eye and back of the top of the jaw.

• Now that the top jaw was fixed, it was much easier to correct the botton jaw alignment and cheek/jaw structure. Similar to the snout it is much rounder and deeper than it was intiially sketched. Once I had the base idea down, I could finally work on the actual anthropomorphization of this character.

• A critical point I made with these was to pull up my PureRef, which has a collection of references to skeletons, 3D models, more cartoony, and more artist iterations, to see how the profile is transposed across a variety of media.

• Looking over the redline now it reads more like a classic Rex, even if a little humanoid in their expression.

Some thoughts and food for the mind

• Referencing ≠ tracing or exact copying. Rather the exact definition is "In the visual arts, using reference is the practice of discovering information in a photo and/or real-world object, person, or location"

• For the sake of simplicity, You are learning to understand the foundations of what makes something what it is. Whether in this case, 3D models are used to see the form in light better, The Skeleton to see what makes up these shapes, the musculature for how they function, or other artists' interpretation of these forms to see how they may have interpreted the same forms from their perspective. The point of referencing is to build a stronger and better visual library so you can better interpret forms and visual communication.

• After all, Art is visual communication; how you communicate subject matter comes from how strong or weak your visual library is. The more you gather for reference and actively study it, the easier things will get.

FAQ

Adobe Photoshop CC

Reference programs - PureRef Link

Please feel free to ask me questions of course.