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Description
After finishing the new MARDEK character portrait things, I found it really interesting to directly compare it with the older versions that I'd done... and I made this to make the changes really clear!

The first column contains the in-game conversation portrait things, which are based on a face model that I probably came up with in like 2007, or even earlier than that! Looking back on them, they're not as bad as I remember, though it's clear that I didn't properly understand face proportions (the eyes are too high, etc), and the faces all look the same due to sharing an animated base... And the women look masculine!

The second column has drawings from this thing:

...which I drew soon after the release of MARDEK 3 (I think?), in May 2010, during a period where I was completely neglecting drawing... So in many ways they're the most 'raw' forms of each character, based entirely what I had in my mind without using anything from any studies.

The third column has portraits from April of last year (seems like much longer ago; I'm really surprised by that date), which I didn't have a compilation of on deviantART, but which can be seen here: www.fighunter.com/?page=blog_p…

I was just starting to learn about faces at that point, and I understood the general proportions, but not the shapes of anatomical details or anything like that. I'd also decided that I'd finally take art seriously, so I was drawing often, did studies, used references, etc. I was very much at the start of my 'serious journey', but my mentality about drawing was very different to when I did the 2010 ones!

I remember being really pleased with those portraits at the time, though I did feel that some looked off and wrong and such.

And then there are the ones I've just done now in December 2013, over the last few days. They're the result of two years of hard studying, paying close attention to other artists' work and styles and such, and doing tons and tons of detailed studies about things like eye and nose anatomy and such. While the 2012 ones were meant to be 'realistic', these ones are meant to convey character through exaggeration and such.

I think that the improvement is rather obvious, and that is really motivating and makes me happy! I've been feeling for ages like I hadn't really improved at all in years, and I kept thinking of those 2012 MARDEK portraits as something that I'd yet to surpass ("I'm getting WORSE! The best things I did were so long ago! I could not do better than that now!"). So making something like this really makes all my efforts over the last two years seem worthwhile!

Some self-indulgent rambling about individual ones:

The first row is Mardek himself. The 2010 version was his chapter 3 form, with a helmet, so I didn't bother including it because this is about faces! The 2012 one is really creepily awful, and I think that the 2013 one is the worst of the bunch, but that's because I did it first!

The next row is Deugan. I'm actually impressed by the 2010 one, and the 2012 one looks fine to me too, except for the glassy, flat eyes. The 2013 one is smiling, perhaps inappropriately! I feel it really conveys the sort of character that I've been wanting to portray since I came up with him, though.

Next is Emela, which I think is perhaps the biggest improvement of them all! Her first three versions all look weird and wrong and certainly not pretty, but I really do think that the 2013 one comes very close to what I want! I'll probably look back in a year and cringe, though! I mean, I liked the 2010 one at the time!

Next is Vehrn. I find it interesting how they all look like the same character to me, though obviously with refined execution and such.

Then there's Zach. I think it's clear what I was TRYING to do with the first three, though it's only with the recent one that I feel I've actually come close to my target!

Next is Steele, who doesn't have a 2012 version. This may actually only be the first drawing of him I've done since 2010! I think it probably is! I'm not really sure it looks like the same person in each of the three images, but... eh.

Then there's Donovan, whose appearance was for whatever reason originally based on my own! Well, sort of; I also remember basing the shape of his hair on a longer version of Selphie's from FFVIII. o_O

Again, I think the 2010 one doesn't look all that bad at all... though I do think that the more recent one shows that I've learned a lot. Probably.

Next is Sharla! Who I've always imagined as Australian for some reason. I mean, it makes no sense that she would have a different accent to anyone else, but I suppose her design reminds me of my time in Australia, or something? Anyway, I thought that her 2012 version was the best of that set at the time, but now it bothers me how they all have these glassy, dead eyes. The 2013 one's eyes are certainly more alive! And I find it interesting how that newest version doesn't look 'sexy' at all, yet I HOPE it still at least looks female?! She looks WAY more cartoony than Donovan though, which bothers me a bit.

Next is Elwyen, who I think is another huge improvement! Her in-game portrait was called manly by an uncomfortable amount of people, and that's bothered me for so long that it's a relief to finally have a version of her that (HOPEFULLY) looks distinctly female. The 2012 one looks a bit like a guy in drag, or at least some older woman, even though she's meant to be 17. I hope the newest one conveys the 'seductive nymph' thing well enough!

Next is Gloria, whose appearance seems to have changed the most with each drawing?! I imagined her as having a sort of homely appearance; her design was always meant to be based around the sort of girl who loves 'Mother Nature' and collects magic crystals and such. Those hippie types! It's interesting comparing her to the more 'sexy' Elwyen.

Then there's Meraeador! The 2010 version looks like a child or something, and the 2012 one looks like someone's creepy uncle who's no longer allowed to attend gatherings where there'll be children present. Yes. Though the 2013 one is hopefully much better!! Again, I was focusing on trying to make each face distinct from eachother, so it's nice to not have every face sharing that same base, which never really suited certain characters anyway...

Then there is ENKI, who's barely been in the games, but I suppose I know what his eventual role will be, so he has more significance in my mind and such. The in-game version is the younger version that Mardek remembers, while the newer one is his aged version who hasn't appeared yet. I'm really rather fond of the angular style there; it reminds me of something, but I'm not sure what. I think it's very much a step in the right direction, though, and I felt my confidence growing while drawing it.

Next is Muriance, who's another character that has more significance in my mind than in players', probably! He's been a character of mine since long before MARDEK 1 was made... so it's really interesting seeing him become THAT thing there! I haven't really improved at drawing hat things though!!

Then come the World's Saviours! Bartholio first. He was always meant to look 'punchably smug', but I think the in-game one always looked 'uncomfortable' in some way. The 2013 one really exaggerates that smugness though, and it makes me laugh! Such an admirable person. Everyone's favourite, surely!

Then there's Vennie! I remember that I liked drawing him back in 2010, but I hadn't attempted it at all since then (interestingly, the other three Saviours have full body paintings in my gallery, but he doesn't yet). I think this 2013 one really shows off EXAGGERATION; it uses the key features that have always been present in his design, and really PUSHES them to make a much more striking character. I think.

Then there's Aalia! I know what she looks like in my mind, but none of these really match that image, unfortunately! There's certainly progress and growth there, but she's definitely one of the ones I haven't quite 'got' just yet. A shame, but oh well!

And finally, there is Bernard! I sort of regret giving the 2013 one eyes rather than just those white glasses, actually; perhaps the impenetrable lenses made him a lot more mysterious, and that was a good thing. His final design reminds me of Up! I bet you can't guess why.

So there! Yes. Good. I don't expect people to actually READ all that, but it was entertaining writing it, I suppose! Now, I look forward to doing something like this again in future and seeing how far I've come since now!

Description
After finishing the new MARDEK character portrait things, I found it really interesting to directly compare it with the older versions that I'd done... and I made this to make the changes really clear!

The first column contains the in-game conversation portrait things, which are based on a face model that I probably came up with in like 2007, or even earlier than that! Looking back on them, they're not as bad as I remember, though it's clear that I didn't properly understand face proportions (the eyes are too high, etc), and the faces all look the same due to sharing an animated base... And the women look masculine!

The second column has drawings from this thing:

...which I drew soon after the release of MARDEK 3 (I think?), in May 2010, during a period where I was completely neglecting drawing... So in many ways they're the most 'raw' forms of each character, based entirely what I had in my mind without using anything from any studies.

The third column has portraits from April of last year (seems like much longer ago; I'm really surprised by that date), which I didn't have a compilation of on deviantART, but which can be seen here: www.fighunter.com/?page=blog_p…

I was just starting to learn about faces at that point, and I understood the general proportions, but not the shapes of anatomical details or anything like that. I'd also decided that I'd finally take art seriously, so I was drawing often, did studies, used references, etc. I was very much at the start of my 'serious journey', but my mentality about drawing was very different to when I did the 2010 ones!

I remember being really pleased with those portraits at the time, though I did feel that some looked off and wrong and such.

And then there are the ones I've just done now in December 2013, over the last few days. They're the result of two years of hard studying, paying close attention to other artists' work and styles and such, and doing tons and tons of detailed studies about things like eye and nose anatomy and such. While the 2012 ones were meant to be 'realistic', these ones are meant to convey character through exaggeration and such.

I think that the improvement is rather obvious, and that is really motivating and makes me happy! I've been feeling for ages like I hadn't really improved at all in years, and I kept thinking of those 2012 MARDEK portraits as something that I'd yet to surpass ("I'm getting WORSE! The best things I did were so long ago! I could not do better than that now!"). So making something like this really makes all my efforts over the last two years seem worthwhile!

Some self-indulgent rambling about individual ones:

The first row is Mardek himself. The 2010 version was his chapter 3 form, with a helmet, so I didn't bother including it because this is about faces! The 2012 one is really creepily awful, and I think that the 2013 one is the worst of the bunch, but that's because I did it first!

The next row is Deugan. I'm actually impressed by the 2010 one, and the 2012 one looks fine to me too, except for the glassy, flat eyes. The 2013 one is smiling, perhaps inappropriately! I feel it really conveys the sort of character that I've been wanting to portray since I came up with him, though.

Next is Emela, which I think is perhaps the biggest improvement of them all! Her first three versions all look weird and wrong and certainly not pretty, but I really do think that the 2013 one comes very close to what I want! I'll probably look back in a year and cringe, though! I mean, I liked the 2010 one at the time!

Next is Vehrn. I find it interesting how they all look like the same character to me, though obviously with refined execution and such.

Then there's Zach. I think it's clear what I was TRYING to do with the first three, though it's only with the recent one that I feel I've actually come close to my target!

Next is Steele, who doesn't have a 2012 version. This may actually only be the first drawing of him I've done since 2010! I think it probably is! I'm not really sure it looks like the same person in each of the three images, but... eh.

Then there's Donovan, whose appearance was for whatever reason originally based on my own! Well, sort of; I also remember basing the shape of his hair on a longer version of Selphie's from FFVIII. o_O

Again, I think the 2010 one doesn't look all that bad at all... though I do think that the more recent one shows that I've learned a lot. Probably.

Next is Sharla! Who I've always imagined as Australian for some reason. I mean, it makes no sense that she would have a different accent to anyone else, but I suppose her design reminds me of my time in Australia, or something? Anyway, I thought that her 2012 version was the best of that set at the time, but now it bothers me how they all have these glassy, dead eyes. The 2013 one's eyes are certainly more alive! And I find it interesting how that newest version doesn't look 'sexy' at all, yet I HOPE it still at least looks female?! She looks WAY more cartoony than Donovan though, which bothers me a bit.

Next is Elwyen, who I think is another huge improvement! Her in-game portrait was called manly by an uncomfortable amount of people, and that's bothered me for so long that it's a relief to finally have a version of her that (HOPEFULLY) looks distinctly female. The 2012 one looks a bit like a guy in drag, or at least some older woman, even though she's meant to be 17. I hope the newest one conveys the 'seductive nymph' thing well enough!

Next is Gloria, whose appearance seems to have changed the most with each drawing?! I imagined her as having a sort of homely appearance; her design was always meant to be based around the sort of girl who loves 'Mother Nature' and collects magic crystals and such. Those hippie types! It's interesting comparing her to the more 'sexy' Elwyen.

Then there's Meraeador! The 2010 version looks like a child or something, and the 2012 one looks like someone's creepy uncle who's no longer allowed to attend gatherings where there'll be children present. Yes. Though the 2013 one is hopefully much better!! Again, I was focusing on trying to make each face distinct from eachother, so it's nice to not have every face sharing that same base, which never really suited certain characters anyway...

Then there is ENKI, who's barely been in the games, but I suppose I know what his eventual role will be, so he has more significance in my mind and such. The in-game version is the younger version that Mardek remembers, while the newer one is his aged version who hasn't appeared yet. I'm really rather fond of the angular style there; it reminds me of something, but I'm not sure what. I think it's very much a step in the right direction, though, and I felt my confidence growing while drawing it.

Next is Muriance, who's another character that has more significance in my mind than in players', probably! He's been a character of mine since long before MARDEK 1 was made... so it's really interesting seeing him become THAT thing there! I haven't really improved at drawing hat things though!!

Then come the World's Saviours! Bartholio first. He was always meant to look 'punchably smug', but I think the in-game one always looked 'uncomfortable' in some way. The 2013 one really exaggerates that smugness though, and it makes me laugh! Such an admirable person. Everyone's favourite, surely!

Then there's Vennie! I remember that I liked drawing him back in 2010, but I hadn't attempted it at all since then (interestingly, the other three Saviours have full body paintings in my gallery, but he doesn't yet). I think this 2013 one really shows off EXAGGERATION; it uses the key features that have always been present in his design, and really PUSHES them to make a much more striking character. I think.

Then there's Aalia! I know what she looks like in my mind, but none of these really match that image, unfortunately! There's certainly progress and growth there, but she's definitely one of the ones I haven't quite 'got' just yet. A shame, but oh well!

And finally, there is Bernard! I sort of regret giving the 2013 one eyes rather than just those white glasses, actually; perhaps the impenetrable lenses made him a lot more mysterious, and that was a good thing. His final design reminds me of Up! I bet you can't guess why.

So there! Yes. Good. I don't expect people to actually READ all that, but it was entertaining writing it, I suppose! Now, I look forward to doing something like this again in future and seeing how far I've come since now!