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kmkibble75 — Thimble
#bard #digitalart #drawing #elf #fantasy #greeneyes #originalcharacter #woman
Published: 2018-04-04 01:10:01 +0000 UTC; Views: 965; Favourites: 68; Downloads: 0
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Description
Thimble is a young elven woman who was one of the protagonists of the first 'real' novel I wrote years ago. Like most first attempts at a fantasy novel, it involved war and ugliness, so she went through a lot -- including losing her family and her ears to bounty-hunting soldiers. But she was a survivor, and wound up inspiring more people to do good things than she'd ever realize. I only got halfway into book two before moving on to other things, so I never got to give her a happy ending, but she an I both know what it is. Maybe I'll get back to it someday.Anyhow, here she is in her usual brown dress and with her one prized possession, her mandolin, strapped to her back. There isn't too much to get into as far as technical stuff goes -- I wasn't trying out any difficult positions or any new techniques. I just wanted to draw a character I adore, and I hope I did a decent job of it.
As always, any comments, critiques, or tips are welcome and appreciated!
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Disclaimer: I’m red-green colorblind. Because of this, it’s difficult for me to tell similar shades/hues of different colors apart, and, therefore, I need to work with very limited palettes when I color pieces. For shading and highlights, I’ll generally adjust the ‘value’ portion of the HSV setting to make the base color lighter or darker; I’m unable to ‘cool’ shadows by adding blue or anything like that. I’ve often been told to be bolder in my highlighting and shading, and I’m trying to be so, but… sometimes it still seems pretty tame. I’m just saying this in case you mentioned I need to do that on a previous piece – I’m not ignoring you, and I appreciate the input. It’s just not very easy for me to implement confidently.
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Comments: 41
That's something I've never noticed in a fantasy story before - an elf who lost their ears.
And I've put my characters through a wringer myself.
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I'm sure it's been done by someone out there -- everything has, pretty much. The key to being a successful writer is simply making what everyone else has done your own.
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I’m a professional write. I know ALL about making stuff your own.
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No worries, I didn't think that was the case
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Not that I bank other DA artists creations.
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She's beautiful and yet the colors and outfit fit her well. I see her as the kind of person who would go out and play music just to cheer people up in times of strife and depression like a person who sings in the midst of combat.
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Now, all she needs is a traveling band that is willing to play alongside her when bombs go off!
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I love that her name is Thimble because she is, on all levels, irrevocably adorable. You've really nailed the facial proportions here for all-around cuteness. I'm glad to hear this concept came from a novel, I'm definitely intrigued by the prospect of elf girls with bard-like qualities saving the day, most of all with a mandolin! Dispite my inkling toward sarcastic elf warlock women with drinking problems.
I'd love to see more of her and where she comes from!
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You know, describing her as a bard is like hitting the secret word of the day, because that's exactly what she was without her even knowing it. When she played music, she could project her emotions onto other people, for better or worse, but I never reached the point of the story where she realized that's what she could do. Most of her inspiring up until that point was done simply by being someone worth fighting for and for seeing the good in people before they saw it themselves.
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Hey there! Time for a ProjectComment comment!
I really like your piece here and it is pretty well drawn. I really like how the character is presented. The simple background is very elegant and really and helps make the character pop. It seems like you have a good grasp on drawing the human form.
Originally the first thing I was going to mention for you to improve upon was your highlighting/shading. After reading the description on your piece and finding out you are partially colorblind, I can imagine that this is difficult. I don't know what you have tried in past, but have you considered quickly converting your pieces to greyscale as you work on them? When I do this to your work in ClipStudio I see that most of the values are in the mid range. There are very few dark greys and very few whites. Perhaps practicing rendering pieces in greyscale can help you get that difference in value everyone is talking about, then when you work on a colored piece you can flip it to greyscale quickly and see if it's similar to your practice.
I don't know how much of a help that will be for you, so I do have a few more things to mention. The first is that you use a lot of lines to represent folds in the fabric and strands in the hair. I think you could try and simply these lines to only a few and be more precise in where you are placing them. I would like to see you add more detail through your rendering rather than relying on lines so much. The other thing is that the guitar tuners are not drawn as well as the rest of the piece. It kind of distracts me a bit from the overall drawing and they almost seem like an afterthought. I think you should focus on giving attention to all details of the drawing and you will have a more professional quality.
Okay that's it for me. I hope my thoughts can help you in some way.
Good work and keep it up!
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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment, I really appreciate it.
I do use that greyscale technique for the shading, but I'll have to get better at making the shadows more distinctive. I'm always way too conservative about those, and i just need to start biting the bullet and going dark for more pop. :-/
I think I'll need to moderate the amount of ink lines I use in hair, too -- maybe I've gone form not using enough to using too much. I'll have to keep that in mind in the future.
Thank you again!
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Having seen some of your other work, I can definitely say that you have a clear and distinct style. I love it! It's a little pop-art-ish, and each of your figures have wonderful details and character to them. As for Thimble, I think her backstory is very interesting. Kudos to you for having finished a novel and a half – I was still working on my first when I wandered off to other projects.
As someone else mentioned, the hair looks particularly great – as does the shadowing and creases on the fabric. I also noticed just a hint of rougher texture along the mandolin's band, which I think is an awesome detail. Your anatomy is dead on - as usual. I think adding a green belt to match her eyes was a great move and really brings the whole piece together.
Something looks a little off about her eyes. Taking a peek at some of your other drawings, I would say the shadow under the lid could have a little more contrast to it. Also, with the way her hair falls over her face, I think it could drop more shadows as well.
The other thing is, before reading her backstory, she looked modern rather than medieval to me. I think this pretty much chalks up to the background, particularly its perfectly straight edges, because the colors and textures you picked for her clothing do feel medieval to me.
To me, it's incredible that you managed to draw a portrait of your protagonist at all. Whenever I've tried - excepting webcomics and the like - they never come out looking the way I envisioned them, and I scrap the piece. Thimble has appeal and power, and honestly I'm curious to read her book(s) now. ProjectComment
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Thank you so much for taking the time to write a thoughtful review of the piece -- I really appreciate that! It's great to hear what worked and what didn't.
I'm so glad that the texture of the mandolin strap came through -- obviously it wasn't something i wanted to make too obvious, but I was hoping I did enough to catch someone's eye. And speaking of eyes, I get what you're saying about my shading being off; that's not the first time I've heard it. I think I'm getting better, but I'm not surprised I still have some work to do. So thank you for letting me know about that.
And I can see why she might look more modern than medieval -- that was a thought I had as I drew her, but... she was a peasant girl, you know? She just wore a simple dress and those, I think, are kind of timeless. If she carried a weapon at all, that might have helped, but she's not a fighter *at all*. I'll think on this, and maybe tweak the background I use in the future.
Thank you again for taking the time on this -- it was a big help!
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I'm so glad I could help!
Yeah, you're not wrong, it's a pretty universal style. I have thought about how you might change the outfit, though. One thing is, peasants are associated with rough clothes, so a visible seam or cross-stitch might go a long way? I also went ahead and googled, like, "peasant maiden." One thing I noticed was that scoop necklines tend to be crimped or pulled. They also tend to be wider, showing the whole collarbone. Alternatively, square necklines are really frequent.
I thought the rough mandolin strap was a subtle yet really cool details. And just to clarify about the eyes, I think for the most part, it reads as part of the style (speaking of, I think you'd draw a really cool cyberpunk-inspired character); however, with the slightly lighter shadow and more natural hair here, less so, if that makes sense.
But, yeah, overall, I really like it; and I'm so pleased you found my comments useful. Can't wait to see your future work!
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That's true about the cross-stitching, and it's the sort of detail I usually overlook. The scooped neckline might be more fitting though, because in the story it's sort of a plotpoint that the dress is new (buying it for her is one of the first kindnesses other protagonists show for her), so I'll have to rely more on style than condition in that regard.
And drawing cyberpunk would actually be pretty cool, but I feel like nailing exactly what that actually is usually eludes me. :-/ You may have inspired me to at least give it a shot, though!
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Oh, that's very cool. You know, everything I learn about your novel(s) makes me more eager to read it XD (bad writer brain, sorry, I want to read everyone's works).
And as for the cyberpunk - I hope you do! Also… apparently I got way too excited about explaining it, and wrote a journal entry based on that. You are welcome to read it or check out my cyberpunk art admiration board on pinterest and maybe it'll help?
Thoughts on CyberpunkI was recently inspired to think on what, exactly, cyberpunk means to me.
"High tech, low life" – a quote I read recently. In cyberpunk, ever-present technology is the glow in a repressed or otherwise decaying society. Glittering cities, encroaching advertisements, and cramped and inadequate living spaces light up the cyberpunk nights.
Content-wise, this is something dark and just post-modern. Huge sky-rises eat up the horizon. Machine shops, neon, and graffiti color the streets. Living spaces are dominated by machines, computers, and windows that look out into city. Flying cars zip past crumbling walls and shanties. And people stick USB ports into their skin.
Style-wise, graphic contrast tends to dominate. Highly saturated or glowing blues, oranges, pinks and reds are favorites of the genre. Night scenes are enormously common; and even day scenes tend to be visually dark. Common textures are chrome, steel, rust,
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Eh, it was a bit generic -- or, really, very generic, but it was my first attempt at wrangling ideas into book-form and sticking with a project until its end. I'm proud of it, but I don't harbor any illusions that anyone outside of close friends and family would actually feel driven to read it. But thank you, nonetheless!
And thank you for the nod toward the cyberpunk stuff -- the bright colors aspect seems like it'd be fun to play with, if nothing else!
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Yeah, I have a tendency to love supporting that kind of stuff, because, well, I've been there! But I'm sure your later works are much more interesting ^_^
And you're very welcome, hope you find it useful!
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I like her Nose so much, you draw it rally good, the whole picture looks awesome too, Nice !
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Thank you for saying so! I really appreciate it.
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You're very welcome, it's my pleasure !
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Thimble is a very interesting elf. I really love the design. Her backstory sounds very tough, but what she is doing right now is good and fantastic. I've got a few ideas I thought of for a happy ending for her. What an amazing OC you got there!
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Thank you very much! There was a bit of an ordeal where I originally made the dress orange by accident, but some friends helped me sort it out.
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your welcome and hey do you do requests?
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I'm not sure I'd say I do requests, but I do take suggestions -- if you happen to have an idea that intrigues me, I'd give it a go. But since my time for drawing is limited, I need to make sure I'm really into what I try. (I've been thinking of trying to help a friend's fundraiser by offering commissions for donations, so that might happen at some point.)
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She's cute! I love how you did her hair and the folds in her clothes - I always have trouble with folds and creases. And I totally get just drawing a character you love for the heck of it 
Your shading is well-placed and gives a good sense of dimension; with a uniform light source like this, it doesn't have to be dramatic 
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Thank you! Her hair kind of took forever (okay, actually an hour or so... but still!) to get how I liked it, but I am rather happy with it. I'm sure there are probably quicker ways to do it, but I didn't mind -- I probably could have worked on her for another night or two and not have minded. She deserved the attention.
That's an interesting idea for the shading... The "half to black" idea is definitely worth trying. (Right now, I just lower the value by 30 or so, more in deeper places like where Thimble's hair creates a bit of a cavern on her right side.) The complimentary color idea ... that would be a huge leap of faith every single time I used it. I may give it a try for kicks at some point to see how it goes, but I'm getting nervous just thinking about it. Who knows, though, right? It's worth a shot.
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I might try the complimentary thing myself just for fun ^_^ And the “half to black” thing works well every time you want to go darker, too. What also works well: putting a layer on “Multiply” and just using the same color. It automatically darkens the color, though I sometimes don’t like the hue that comes out.
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I used to use multiply exclusively, and I always wondered why things came out darker than I wanted them to be. Then I learned that i should be using "colorize" instead.
Now, I want to redo all of my OCs with the colorize layer to see how they would look with that. (The one image of The Captain and her first mate canoodling is an example of how things went darker than I expected.... I'm still amazingly noob-like at this.)
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