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JosephB222 — Invasion
Published: 2011-04-26 23:43:05 +0000 UTC; Views: 3874; Favourites: 48; Downloads: 76
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Yesterday wasn't a very good day. So I was in need of "being alone" time. Not always easy to find when so many are living in the same house
But I did find some peace and quiet and since I always have paper and my pencil handy I decided to just draw, even though I wasn't really in the mood. In fact, I threw away the first several sheets of paper away before I even finished drawing a face (I do recycle 
)I was about to throw away the face of this sketch, but I guess I wasn't even in the mood to throw anything away. All I had was just the face. So I just started drawing the hair; somehow I got the idea to put some sort of scarf thingie on her head, then put a poncho-like cloak on her, and from there I got the idea that she was this soldier/survivor in a world ravaged by war, maybe post-apocalyptic future. The world was so devestated that people have only rags to wear, weapons are barely functional.
By the time I finished drawing her boot (the last thing I drew of her) I got the idea of a sort of "War of the Worlds" theme. So I drew a mouth of a cave around her and an alien spider robot/thingie in the background. I hardly did any erasing, except for the alien's searchlight.
I did use up the entire sheet of paper and it probably took about two and a half hours to finish the whole thing. I'm particularly proud of this because it's my first real sketch in a LONG time, and especially the impromptu-ness of it.
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Comments: 20
As long as you're going off the classic War of the Worlds and not the craptastic Tom Cruise one, the piece is excellent... Even if you are going on the crappy one it's still excellent.
Anyway... there is one criticism I have... and I'm sorry, but it'll probably come across as stupid: the assault rifle she's carrying. The ejection port should be directly over the magazine (take a look at this to see what I mean: [link] ). Firearms nerd in me can be a bit picky sometimes...
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I actually really like the "Spielberg" (as I call it
I really can't draw a decent gun unless I'm working with reference material and I wasn't sure what kind of gun she would be carrying when I drew the handle, (I did consider going sci-fi laser) but it became a sort of M-16-ish type of rifle in the end
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I guess I'm just old-fashioned or something... can't stand the new WotW. Never even knew there was a TV series though. Might have to look into it.
As for drawing guns... The only advice I really have for fixing that problem is making your own designs. I find that works pretty well in general. I understand your problem though; if I don't have a reference and am trying to draw anything that actually exists but a Colt M1911, it usually ends up looking awful. Gotta say, though, a sci-fi laser probably wouldn't be quite as fitting in a post-apocalyptic "War of the Worlds" kinda setting as an old, beat-up assault rifle. Then again, maybe I've been playing too much Fallout.
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First off: Holy crap this is cool!!
Now that the little gush of nerd gasm delight at the idea of it is over, there are a few things I think could use addressing.
- The thing that stands out most to me is her forearm. She's got this bit of woolen cloth around her wrist like a bracer, but the size of it is actually right in line with the size her actual wrist should be. This would be fine if the cloth looked skin tight but it doesn't, as a result it makes her wrist seem thin/frail; in fact when I look at it I think there are actually are some light reference lines for her wrist and it does look really thin compared to the rest of her arm.
- Next I think it's important to consider ethnicity and available clothing. Her clothes, and the style she's wearing them in, scream Scottish highlands. The idea of an alien invasion in Scotland is pretty bitchin' compared to all the been-there-done-that invasions in US cities, but her clothing doesn't really sync up well with her appearance. Ethnically she looks like she may be hispanic or middle-eastern. This really comes down to person design choice, but I do think it's good to account for a characters origins when consider what they wear, even in an apocalyptic scenario.
- Finally, this ones really nitpicky, but her right eye (left side of the pic) is just freaking me out! It's on a whole different level than her left eye, it's like she meant to raise an eyebrow and she raised her whole eye socket instead, creepy.
All that said, the picture is still gorgeous. I love that the gun has a broken trigger guard and that her boots are split and held together by twine. I like the poncho and I love the little touch of the locket around her neck. I think the background is the strongest point, so much detail in the cave wall, and then we give way to a simple silhouette in the distance that really snatches your eye and quickly tells you the world is in some serious trouble; maybe add a few light wisps of smoke rising from behind the hill to imply the walkers path of destruction? All in all, still a great picture, you never disappoint with your work!
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Thank you
As far as ethnicity I like to go with that mixed "Vin Diesel / Vanessa Hudgens" multi-ethnic look. Once I figured people only had scraps to wear I just tried to make the clothes look like they were pieces of blankets, sheets, towels, socks, and whatever ripped clothes she could find.
I do tend to make the eyes a little un-even. I've had to correct more than a few pics using paint shop
I appreciate the critique
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Well, one someone actually asks for one I try to give a good one!
AS for the clothes I think you actually did good with your goal; the only thing you really need to do to make it look more "Wearing what I can find" and less "Aye, Laddie!" is to avoid that Vertical/Horizontal hatch pattern you've got on some of the rags, it takes them from simple cloth to plaid/flannel cloth, which pulls the mind toward kilts and Brave Heart ensembles.
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that is the sound that haunts my nightmares
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Different than what you normally do and a full back ground, too. Her muscle tone is different and much more defined, the clothes are an interesting idea and the boot split down the middle is a nice twist. Broken trigger guard is a good touch.
I don't feel there's enough here for me to "Critique" as she's a sketch. No theme, story, concept. She's a WIP awaiting another adventure for when you foray into whatever awaits her.
It also helps to have High Plains Drifter theme going on in the background.
I think you should run a bit with her, do a couple other pictures.
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Thank you.
This was very on-the-fly drawing. Don't have any ideas for future pics of featuring her, but you never know. I didn't even know how she was going to turn out even when I had half her drawn
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That's why its much better, you have that whole exploratory feel going on. Let yourself explore more. Then you can come back and draw me a free picture with shinies. I luv shinies o_o
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Thanks. I'm glad you like it.
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