[Type]

Hi all,

First things first: I'm a newbie. And I try, try and try really hard, but my little drawings and doodles don't even come close to the level of some of the stuff I saw here.
Might be the lack of exercise, might be the fact that I'm left-handed, might just be the fact that you all have way more talent than I. Probably the last one.

And now for the real topic:
I'm putting together a leather warrior's-outfit, just a mask and a shirt, covered with tiny screws and nails and everything.

So I've been sketching this, to make other people understand what it is exactly that I want to end up with.

my sketch:



as you can see, just a quick pen-on-paper sketch of the situation. This is what I've got, this is a 3 inch * 2 inch drawing in real life, with dots representing screws or nails.

Now my problem is: I can get the damn thing colored, but I'm not making any progress beyond my fuzzy blur of a drawing.
Link to fuzzy blur

now, my questions: How do I do the smooth highlights, the curves, depth etc?
And how do I draw a leather surface?

I know this is almost asking you guys "hey, how do I hold a friggin' pencil", and I know this stuff is just the basics to you, but I've really got a prob here.
This stuff is going to be used in a film, and a photoshoot, and the real life thing looks great, but this... well, this needs to look a little realistic at least.
My only problem: I'm a newbie.

So, could you guys give me some hints, tips, pointers... the basics? Please?
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...Always short on everything...

[AndyT]

Hehe not sure how the design makes sense ...
are the leather parts nailed to the warrior's body?

A painting leather tutorial is not what you need IMO.
Use reference ... search for leather, screws, nails and so on in google.
Look for painting approaches in general.

Links to good tutorials are there:
http://www.sumaleth.com/links
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http://www.conceptworld.org

[BobMarley]

Oh my.
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"Reality is an illusion all be it a very persistant one." - Albert Einstein

[Phonefriend]

before you work on actual texture just focus on finding the shape as a whole
pick a light direction and shade accordingly
actual color would probly help too or at least more shades of grey, for smoothness, right now it is purely black and white
the metal will most likely be more shiny then the leather which depending on the type may either be very shiny or not shiny at all

start with that and work towards the detail of what leather actually looks like

as for drawig leather or anything else its a matter of texture and edges does the leather have a rough edge, a clean edge, is it smooth and shiny or worn in and rough?

the way you have drawn the shirt makes it look as if it is holding its own shape without anything in it, and i dunno im spent...add color and shades of color
just try it and show it even if it doesnt look good, ill try to keep helping

(didnt realize it was a shirt, thought it was metal, my bad)
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wait...wait...........what?