YWS Artistry Discussions

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1. 
   

   Sunshine1113 Admin
   Sunshine1113 Admin · Apr 26, 2015

   Here is my sketch:
   
   
   
   I'm having a really hard time with the shading to give it depth and with the fur texture.
   
   Any suggestions to improve it would be greatly appreciated!
2. 
   

   rainforest Admin
   rainforest Admin · Apr 26, 2015

   What I would do is shade around the head. So it looks like the head sticks out because right now it looks flat. I would also add shadows under the wolf to give it more detail to make it look like it's standing somewhere, because it looks like it's floating in midair.
3. 
   

   Holysocks Creator
   Holysocks Creator · Apr 26, 2015

   I don't sketch a lot of dog-type creatures but I have noted when animators talk about creating fur/hair on creatures they tend to say that they do every single hair. Obviously you're not trying to make 3D art here, but I think the principal is sorta the same; try to do less bigger strokes, and more detailed smaller ones. This is just a theory I have but I haven't tested it yet.
   
   Of course though I think it would be hard to make such small strokes while making the fur lay right... but it's worth a try, I think.
4. 
   

   TakeThatYouFiend
   TakeThatYouFiend · Apr 28, 2015

   Generally (I don't know if this will help now) do the shading first, then the texture, hair, etc. The edges are the most important parts to convey fur so add detail there.
5. 
   

   Aley
   Aley · Jul 3, 2015

   I think the main thing you're missing right now is shadows. Your picture is very matt because you're not using enough shadows to push the highlights and depths of the variation in colors in the fur. For instance, the color under the belly should be different than the fur on the face or top of the back. If you add in the shading with darker pencils and potentially even erase some of the matt color in the lighter areas, using lighter pencil strokes, you'll probably improve the image a great deal. Instead of thinking about it like a "brown wolf" think about it for all of the variations of color and shadows the shapes have.
6. 
   

   ChiravianSkies
   ChiravianSkies · Dec 27, 2015

   This is a bit of a tough issue to tackle, but it looks like you're doing this digitally, so I think I can lend a hand. XD
   I agree with everyone else here. You're lacking shade and light, but after that, you can be pretty much well on your way.
   
   It helps to have lineart or at least a sketch on hand.
   Try creating a new layer for the shading and putting it over the wolf. Colour that entire layer the darkest colour of your shading. Lighten your colour a bit, now colour on every single bit of the wolf's body that touches the light.
   A bit lighter, paint some more, now in the spots that touch more light. Keep going until you hit the brightest colour you need. Those'll be your highlights.
   
   When you're done, set the layer to overlay or soft light, and you're pretty much done. Thanks for reading, heh.
   
   (Okay I'm the *worst* explainer in the world. I've got a thing with images to explain... ) https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/74041002/ (There. Hope this explains better, XD)

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