[Rob McLay]

Howdy folks! My first ever post, so lemme know what you think...be gentle.

[afex]

thats looks cool, i love the small leg huge upper body thing you got goin on, and the facial gesture is sweet, good job.

[sock]

very kewl and clean style, love it....
charakter looks good too, and the initials on his 'hero-plate' are the same like my initals, hehehe. so - perfect

[Tiger Eaten]

Good work Mr. McLay.

One bit of advice I'm tempted to give is that perhaps you need to make a choice.

"A choice? What the hell is he talking about?"

What I mean is. You have chosen a cartoony subject but you have take quite a bit of time and effort with his hair and the folds in his clothes. His FB
logo for example is wonderfully rendered around the rise of his rib carge and I can see that you thought about it quite a bit. What I see as a problem however, is that you have a very simple character design that in places has been drawn in great painstaking detail. You have a cartoon like absence of a light source but in places you are trying for detailed shadow. What it seems to me is that you have a design that is neither a cartoon nor a realistic rendering but something that is trying to do both. I commend you for tackling such a challenge but I wonder if you would not be happier with the results if you chose between them and stuck with a single style of drawing. A cartoony super hero with solid colors and block lighting OR a detailed, realistic super hero. Trying to pull off a combination of both may not produce the look you are after. Could you tell me what you had in mind for this picture when you began?

Very good work.

[ June 07, 2001: Message edited by: Tiger Eaten ]

[MethodMn]

I tend to disagree with the last post. This piece rocks...keep up the good work. On thing that comes to mind regarding the last post, is the artist Kruger. His charicatures are pure genius and absolutely breathtaking. His mix between cartoony and a realistic rendering is absolutely brilliant. If I ever had the privelage to smeet him, I don't think I'd tell him to choose one or the other.

[waylon]

Well, I'm with Tiger, to some extent. If this were simply a B&W line drawing, it would be nearly flawless, but maybe not as interesting as the version you posted. But because you decided to take it one step further, you added a whole bunch of extra elements that are a LOT harder to tackle.

Before I give any crits, let me say I think that the drawing rocks, and the character rocks, but as with any picture, there are things that could be improved. (or maybe just taken into consideration in your next pic, since this one definitely has a "finished" look.)

The one thing that jumps out at me is the anatomy. Yes, I know it's a cartoon, but anatomy is still important. The main area that could use a little work is his chest and shoulders. The bottom of his pectorals, for instance, should more or less line up with his shoulders. The way you drew it, it looks like the right side of his chest (our left) is either sunken in or raised up too high.

Another problem area, which would unfortunately be much, much harder to fix, is his shoulders and upper arms. I guess my best advice would be to do a couple quick sketches of yourself in the mirror, standing in a similar pose, and try to work out how everything connects together. Then exaggerate it a bit for that buff superhero look.

Anyway, everything else looks pretty good. The face is great, as is everything below his "FB" logo. (and actually, I really like some of the details you put into the logo.) Just work out some of those anatomy details for next time, and it'll be perfect. (or very nearly so.)

[Rob McLay]

The character was just a sketch that I had laying around. I do a lot of vector work, and I just wanted to do something different(especially after looking at the work of the artists on this board).
I wasn't really going for a certain look at first(this is one of maybe three pieces I have done using my Wacom) but after a while I decided to try to emulate the look you get from 'global illumination' in 3D packages like Lightwave. In hindsight it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to see a photoreal-ish cartoon character but that's just what happens sometimes with my personal projects.

[Red Leader]

I kind of like the painted cartoon look. Probably because i do it too.

You just have to work on your anatomy and lighting a bit. Your figure is a bit flat looking for lack of form shadows, and you need to add cast shadows as well. Also, you might want to study drapery a bit, that cape doesn't bunch too well at the neck. The design itself is swell though.

Watch for dropout... Those teeth disappear into the background.

Nice logo.

[Collosimo]

Welcome to Sijun..

This is nice. I like the style, and the rendering is pretty cool.

that style is not something that I am familiar with yet. So keep posting and we'll soon get to know you.

Make sure you show us some vector stuff.. its always interesting.

RedLeader has some good points...

[Molybdenum-Indiscipline]

Molybdenum Indiscipline looked upon the scence with a carefully constructed facade of disaffected ennui as the green spandex clad Tony Blair swooped down in front of number 10 to resume his perennial bilous tyranny. In all hullabaloo the benevolent P.M had mistakenly replaced his 'T' with an 'F'. Oh the shame. He did however have to time spruce up his rather drab hairstyle in time for his appearance on Johnny Bravo later that evening. . . . .*ahem*. . . .wonderful work sir, I found it most humorous to look upon. (I post this in the vain hope that others will see the inherent 'Blairness' of the countenance).

[Visigothan]

I love it! His grin is classic...Keep up the good work!

[Rob McLay]

Thanks for all the compliments guys. I don't think I will revisit this pic to make any fixes that some recommended, just because it's way too finished, but I may do another of this character having just exhaled...

BTW-Moly, I had to read your post three times before I got it(Duh, he's from England!!)

[Molybdenum-Indiscipline]

I am indeed.

[StatiK]

I call him "Faggot Boy" because he wears blue eye shadow.