A Request

[BCMatsuyama]

Hi. So I recently joined this site, and immediately after doing so I got depressed at how everybody was better than me, so I stopped doing low res profiles and started doing fairly high res ones (about 410 pixels to 1 meter).

I have a gallery of all of my best profiles, and was wondering if anybody could give me a critique and give me any advice on what I need to do to take my illustrations to the next level.

Thanks!

[GiantFlyingRobots]

Unfortunately there are no magic bullets when it comes to this wacky pursuit, it really is just a matter of trail and error. As you note there are plenty of guys here that do fantastic work, look closely at what they do, take aspects of what they do that you like and try and reproduce it in your own work. If you stick at it and keep striving for better the results will come soon enough. Its what I did, and your work is certainly better than mine when I got started.

As for a critique of your work, It appears that you have the fundamentals in place you just need to work on the details. If you want to bring some life and realism to your work pay attention to the way light and shade falls on individual objects, its rarely uniform the length of the airframe as you've drawn it. Also something to consider is they way that individual panels fit together, Look to giving the removable panels in particular stronger line and shadow. It's these seemingly trivial details that bring life to a profile.

If you want check out my fb page for an idea of what I'm talking about.

Hope this was in some way helpful.

[BCMatsuyama]

-snip-

Thanks! I altered one of my Fw 190 A-5's a bit. Is there anything in these examples that are glaringly bad/can be fixed?

[inkworm]

We have very different set ups and methods of working but a lot of it is just looking at others and how they've done something you like and then picking up little tips here and there just to sharpen up the image.

What ever you create will look great for a few days and then you'll start questioning how good it is. This is normal for just about all profilers.

Do agree with GFR about looking at as many real life references as possible to see what the aircraft actually looks like.

[GiantFlyingRobots]

Thanks! I altered one of my Fw 190 A-5's a bit. Is there anything in these examples that are glaringly bad/can be fixed?

Once again, there is nothing glaringly wrong with your work. You just need to work on you light and shade, and some of the main panel lines, so that you get a fuller more 3D look to your work.

Right now your cowl looks completely flat when in fact its obviously cylindrical in shape. Sometimes its best to get these things right before succumbing to the temptation of the ***ier side of this game. The colour.

[gamary]

You just need to work on you light and shade, and some of the main panel lines, so that you get a fuller more 3D look to your work.

+1

I think that should be your priority, too. The wing doesn't stick out enough IMHO.

As Inky said, we all have our different styles and methods, so you'll need to find out what works best for you.

[Swiss]

I like what you do. It's better than many other profiles I've seen! Realistic or 3D effect is another level ;-) I like!

[Jesters-Ink]

For me, its all about the form.
If it looks flat, or you cant tell if its round, flat or between the two, then it needs more work.
Take plenty of photos of your subjects, or trawl the net for your needs, the more you have, the better you work can be.

This may or may not help with the form.
http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/w...0Ftemplate.jpg

[inkworm]

You've been quiet for a while, glad you're still kicking about, very nice work there jesters and a very good example of form on a profile.

[Supah]

I like how your canopy looks! Agreed that the cowling could use some stronger definition though the paintscheme doesn't help either. Any chance of a shot of it in a more uniform paintscheme?