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Russockshitha β Knock Out
Published: 2013-10-21 21:27:32 +0000 UTC; Views: 5446; Favourites: 249; Downloads: 35
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Description
I decided to color this: . It was good practice with the digital media.I wrote more about it on my Tumblr here .
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Comments: 46
I always love to see action shots of transformers, especially Knock Out who doesn't seem to get that treatment quite as often. And I do really like a lot in this piece, but there are a few things to maybe think about.
You've got the angle brilliantly, and considering the pose is a mid-action pose, I think you've captured that perfectly. The thing my eye gets drawn to first unfortunately is his wheels. The lining on them is a bit too strong compared to the nice subtle lining throughout the rest of the piece. Perhaps evening out the lines would have worked better to blend the focus away from them, through lowering the opacity or even taking a bit more time by building them into the colour scheme of the tyre a bit more effectively.
There are a few lighting issues throughout the piece as well. His shadow is seen below/behind him, but somehow his back arm is completely lit? Why is his tyre somehow producing a shadow as if the light was from above? And if the light is before him, why aren't there any shadows behind his arm?
This is an easy problem to fix though. Imagine a birds-eye view of the scene and think about where the MAIN source of light is. This will cast shadows even in the presence of other sources of light. Once you have the main shadows/highlights done, you work on extra shadows and highlights from secondary sources, such as his prod and the glowing energon crystals.
Okay, enough of the negatives, what do I like? Well, I LOVE the way you have painted the end of the prod. The electricity effect is beautiful and much more detailed than I'd expect. The crystals are also very well represented and look in place for the situation.
The colours all seem like perfect choices, so I believe you've got the right idea in that area.
The backgrounds out of focus simplicity also adds to the feature, making the piece whole if you will. I am assuming he is meant to be stood on a ledge, hence the dramatic difference from the cave-like background and the well-lit foreground. Again, lighting is key. If this is a ledge to the outside, more light would be spilling into the cave.
I am also at awe of how well you have captured the Prime style in 2D drawing format. That is a tough wall to conquer and you have achieved! The only other advise I have to offer is perhaps don't be afraid to diverge from your original drawing. A couple of elements on Knock Out are a tad mis-proportioned (his wheels...and I think his leg are a tad off). When you digitalise a sketch, don't worry about changing it. No one will look at the old one and rage that you changed it.
Overall, a very effective piece of art work, which holds a lot of promise for your future pieces. I am impressed with it and think it is a good stepping stone considering the original sketch was a mere sketch with no real context.
Looking at it though, I can see this is highly based off of the episode "Deus ex Machina", when Knock Out is about to shock Prime. And looking now, I am aware the original sketch was a study of the character and pose, but I would highly advise in future trying to work out new poses and situations for the character, or at least trying to diverge a little from the original sketch.
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Thank you very much for the thoughtful and helpful critique! I really do appreciate all of your advice, and am flattered that you like so many things about it. After all, it was originally supposed to be a simple digital coloring exercise.
Yeah, the wheels are kind of an epic disaster . . . Scrap! I knew I was forgetting something: I was going to add a few highlight/shadow thingys to the treads, but forgot. It is the tread lines you are talking about, right? Not the rims at all?
The main lighting (sun) on him is kind of weird. It is coming from the front, right (his right) and above. Yeah, the shading in those places is probably not quite right. I have never really done anything with multiple light sources before, though, so I was freaking out the whole time I was shading him. Heck, I have never done such a complex background before, and drawing robots and digital art are kind of new for me so I was freaking out the whole time. It did not help at all that I was using an app on my iPad 1 that only allows up to 6 layers, but that really is no excuse. But I digress . . .
He is on a ledge, and you are right about the lighting. I kind of made up the background as I went. Bad plan.
I actually thought of nuking his wheels and doing them over when I digitized him, but, as I said, digital art is new to me, so I did not dare more than a slight shift in position to the far wheel, some modifications to the treads, and a few miscellaneous other things. This is definately something I need to work on.
You got me. The original sketch is totally from a screencap from "Deus ex Machina" . . . I really do intend to use more original poses in my art.
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No problemo. I decided to give my 2Β’ for a change, as I actually had useful stuff to say haha.
Yeah, as far as the wheels go, it's the treads that I'm talking about. The rims are as sweet as they should be
Lighting is an ass. Plain and simple. It is what makes a piece more realistic, but it is annoying as hell. Like I said, just think about the main light source first, especially if you're new to it. Then after, and only after, do you think about other layers of lighting.
Considering this was done on an iPad, you've done a fantastic job! I would have thought this was done easily in Photoshop or something similar, so considering that, well done!
iPad apps are fine, I've messed around on my iPad mini drawing appsΒ before, but a lot of them do have limited layers...what you need to do is prioritise the colour layers in that case. Perhaps experiment by saving a couple of copies of the file in future and try them under different colour priorities, have one where it is darker and you've experimented much more with where the light is, showing the highlights in white and lowlights in grey or something
The only reason I knew it was a screencap copy is because I'm too obsessed with Knock Out 
Have you seen those character turnarounds of the characters? I often find them highly useful, even for weird poses, as it gives you an idea of what goes where and at what size. (Here's a link to where I found them: www.tfw2005.com/boards/transfo⦠)
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I am glad the rims are ok. They were such a pain to draw.
I had to prioritize colors and export/import layer images for this. I also still have 13 saved PSDs from various stages of its production, so going back, and playing around with it is not out of the question. There are just so many other things I should and want to work on instead at the moment.
Turnarounds are always very useful. I tend to like using them to double check features, or generic color references. Some tend to vary from their appearance on screen, so I still prefer taking complex a rays of reference screencaps from the cartoon for my ultimate references. That, and you can not always find the turnaround for the character you want. These look pretty good, though. Thank you for the link! I may never have found them otherwise.
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My advice: Move onto something you wanna do, don't worry about 1 picture "being it's best"...I often get to a point where I post because I get so nit-picky with myself that I will literally want to re-do the original line-art and complete colouring process to correct one little thing I see as an error and what most people won't even notice. (Let me say this now: most of the flaws I even remotely found in your work was after staring at it intently for several minutes on about 3 different occasions.)
Yeah, not all shows publish turnarounds, mainly because behind the scenes stuff is often left...behind the scenes. Not to mention for Transformers Prime, the turnarounds would be 2D concept art for the modellers to use.
These ones come from the Japanese dub which had the character turnaround as an animated transition for the commercial break 
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Agreed.
I don't know that shows really ever officially publish the turnarounds. The only way I have found them is by tracking down the art sites of the concept artists for a given show. Sometimes they get permission to post the concept art they did, including turnarounds. Of course, they do not always post all of it either, so it is really hit and miss.
The Japanese really love those commercial break transitions.
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Sometimes they are officially published in books, like for animated there was some in the "Allspark Almanac" books
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I was under the impression that the Allspark Almanac only had one-sided stills, but no turnarounds like the ones they made for the G1-style characters. However, you are saying otherwise? I have yet to check those books out . . . I have The Art of Transformers: Prime on pre-order as well, so there is no need.
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I definitely remember a couple...like for characters they never used (wheelie haha) but, not having the book with me right now, I can't exactly check (i'm at university). The only definite main character ones I remember seeing were here when some design sheets went on auction.
Don't think there were ever particularly clear versions of the animated mains though.
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Isn't just the way that goes.
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Well that's why we all use screenies...isn't it?
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This one remind me of Deus Ex Machina
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Well, I did use a screenshot from that episode for the pose, so I am not surprised.
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I see. That makes my day
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That is REALLY good! It looks like he might move at any second!
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Thanks a lot! Motion is usually one of my weaker points.
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Thanks. It was a lot of work.
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Thank you! I am glad you think so.
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Holy shit this is primes fragging awesome!!!
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Thanks! I am glad you think so.
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This is definitely a giant leap forward for your digital drawing.
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This is awesome dude!
Awesome, awesome, awesome!!!
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I am glad you think so!
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Well, this deserves to be in the featured folder! The detailing on him and his tires, the energon crystals-
He looks amazing!
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Featured folder? Sorry, I don't follow your meaning.
Thanks. I am glad you like how he turned out.
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Lol, oh, in the group, the art works are put into folders, featured is among the best of the whole collection.
You're welcome.
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That makes sense. I am flattered that you think so.
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U R Welcome!!!
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I am glad you like it!
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You are welcome
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This is stunning work! His wheels look a little big, but looking at the line art I believe that is down to your own personal preference (?) so fair play- the details and position still look great. I love the action surrounding him and the tough pose- not one you normally see for KO so this is very unique! Well done
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Thank you! The wheels are a little big . . . oops.
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