Posts Tagged ‘fantasy’

Hi guys

This week we’ll be taking a look at three evil sorcerers. These form the bulk of the leaders in fantasy stories.

three sorcerers

Have a look at this week’s pic.

I’ve drawn three examples of the typical evil sorcerer.

The first is the nomad traveler type. He wears the robe with hood, but is very unassuming and keeps to himself and plots in secret.

The defining features are the nose and beard. Also, when possible, hard shadows are a good idea to emphasize that he is evil. (See the blog on mysterious characters).

The second picture is exactly the same as the first except sometimes the Sorcerer has been able to live through death and been consumed by his magic. In this case he’s undead and has a skull for a head. Not only is this creepy, but shows he has total control of all things.

Once again, look at the shadows and keeping parts of his features hidden.

The last picture is the obviously sinister type. This one makes no attempt to hide the fact that he’s evil. He has power and he’s not afraid to use it.

Tip: Adding war paint, a mask, hideous scars or shiny glowy eyes helps to show that he is not a normal person and makes him scary.

Have a look at these and try creating your own villain!

Hi guys

This week we’ll be drawing the vile, and brutish Orcs. My personal favorite, these guys are probably the most barbaric of all the raises with simple intelligence. They resolve most conflict with brute force because of their strength.

Have a look at this week’s pic.

two views of an orc's face

The first step is to create the rounded shape of the head. Now you add a Huge protruding bottom jaw and teeth.

Then a flat pig nose.

Add in small eyes and heavy eyebrows.

Now add hair (if there is any) which is rough and spiky, unless tied back.

Put on a pair of elfish ears.

Their skin is scared which is not surprising, seeing as they are quite a brutish race.

Tip: Most features closely resemble an amalgamation of a boar and a very muscular human.

Give it a shot and see what kind of orcs you can create!

Hi guys

This week we will be drawing goblins.

So, we all know goblins to be the work horse, easily enslaved race of the fantasy world. They don’t have the brains of wizards nor the brawn of Orcs.

So they are only good for menial tasks. How do we convey this with their look?

Take a look at this week’s sketch.

There are five main things to look at when you draw a goblin.

1 Ears – these are often bitten or damaged. They tend to be pointy and either too large or too small.

2 Mouths – these are either really large or really small.

3 Eyes – make these really big if you want the character to be gentle, sad or make us feel for him. If you want us to dislike him then make his eyes small and pointy.

4 Bones – Imagine the goblin as a pile of bones. He will have angular features, a sharp chin and cheekbones. They are not the brightest creatures, so give them a small flat head.

5 Skin – Their skin should be scarred and scratched to show how much they have gone through. They are also malnourished so their skin should be stretched over their bones.

Tip: If you have large ears, have a small mouth or eyes. If you have small ears have a large mouth or eyes. The point is to create a disproportionate face.

They are able to make extremes with facial expressions, so add large expressions.

The point is usually to make them look like they’ve had a pretty rough life. Plainly put – they are butt ugly.

Although they are generally not “main character” material, they are a lot of fun to draw and generally the best types of characters to learn to play with in terms of proportions.

Hi guys

Previously we spoke about drawing the fiercer dragons and using the tiling method to figure out how the scales work.

Those are not the only dragon to draw. There are tons of children’s books filled with cute and cuddly dragons.

a cuddly dragon illustrating large feet and how to do the scales

So, have a look at this week’s pic.

I’ve toned it down quite a bit. But the MAIN factors when trying to draw a cuter/baby version of a dragon is pretty much the same as drawing a cute version of anything.

Curves.

No sharp angles anywhere. That immediately makes whatever you’re drawing look younger.

Also the tiles/scales principle is toned down a lot. They are less obvious and less detailed. Also play with your proportions. Bigger eyes, snout or ears all help to make them look adorable.

Have fun, experiment, and show us what you come up with!

Hi guys

We all know the need to draw something that just looks immediately cool.

Well the first thing that comes to my mind is dragons. Even if you don’t like fantasy art, Dragons are good fun to draw.

Firstly we will look at the typical “evil looking” dragon. Most people will do a side profile, because it is a lot easier than a three quarter view.

a side and three quarter view of a scary dragon

So look at this week’s pic – the first is the standard Dragon side profile.

When drawing the dragon think of the pieces as tiles. There are layers upon layers of scales and details on top of each other. In our case the dragon breaks down into a top jaw and head area, a bottom jaw and a neck.

Create a basic shape of these three sections then start to add the tiles on top.

Start with the top piece and work your way down. It’s up to you to decide what is attached to what. But the layers/tile effect is a very effective way of getting the dragon to look like a dragon and not a cow or pig.

The next picture looks at the 3/4 view. This is significantly harder to draw, but well worth it.

The trick is to work out how the tiles move on top of each other.

The best thing to do is to experiment and never be afraid to go crazy with the design and always strive to improve!