Dave's HL2 Sketches

I only have a mouse though, no tablet.
Click to expand...

If your thinking of photoshop inking and colouring i would totally suggest a tablet.


Wacom tablets are pretty much the ship of the line graphics tablet for me and other artists I know.

http://www.tablet4u.co.uk/products/en/bamboo-tablets.html

This is the Bamboo, the beginner one, and not too expensive.


I have a Graphire 4, and so does another artist I know who is pretty darn talented!.

http://www.tablet4u.co.uk/products/en/graphire4-tablets.html


Its a good tablet, good control, good detail, no wobbly lines, very forgiving and yeah, does the trick. :)



You'll learn faster and get more accurate and satisfying results with a tablet, so if your planning on doing colouring and inking work in Photoshop they're pretty much essential, if you think you can spare the cash for one. :)

I would suggest a Graphire 4, I haven't tried the bamboo, but generally being geared to casual and beginners, you might find it unsuitable for your needs, since I get the impression you take your arts seriously, hobby aside. :imu:
 
nurizeko said:
You'll learn faster and get more accurate and satisfying results with a tablet, so if your planning on doing colouring and inking work in Photoshop they're pretty much essential, if you think you can spare the cash for one. :)

I would suggest a Graphire 4, I haven't tried the bamboo, but generally being geared to casual and beginners, you might find it unsuitable for your needs, since I get the impression you take your arts seriously, hobby aside. :imu:
Click to expand...

Hmm, might be worth getting one, I tried a tablet about 8 years ago but never really got used to it. Probably would be easier now since my art's progressed so much. Not too expensive either. I've had a go at some Photoshop colouring, using the pen tool and then some brush and gaussian blur work to get the shading. It's come out fairly well so far, on the Hunter. I'll try and finish that today and then I can work on a bigger piece.

You're right about me taking art seriously too. ;)
 
I suppose this counts as art. Since I got a new PC (HL2 looks amazing at 1920x1200 :p) I played through HL2 again on full graphics, taking pics as I went along. I made this panorama and edited it with Photoshop. Hope the effects aren't overdone. ;)


Click for massive pic
 
Started thinking about what the portal gun would have looked like in the early-80s and did some simple line drawings of its development. I thought it would be fun to write a mock-documentation of it as well. I made up all the dates and stuff, just gives it a sort of realism to me, so feel free to complain if I got the era wrong. :p

portalgun1983rz0.jpg

portalguntext1ib0.jpg

portalgun1992cl5.jpg

portalguntext2dz1.jpg

portalgun1999oh8.jpg

portalguntext3ua3.jpg


Yes, the drawings of the portal guns will be drawn larger and more detailed later, I'll try and get it looking like a textbook about Aperture Science. If you like my writing I might extend it to talk about the Borealis and the 7 Hour War and how I think it ties in with Portal. :)
 
Finished my Aperture write-up. The mentally unstable Cave Johnson was aptly played by a friend of mine. :p Now to work on the actual guns...

aperturesciencedoc1zm6.jpg

aperturesciencedoc2kt9.jpg


Sorry it's pretty long-winded, I just thought it'd be pretty interesting to come up with a timeline for Portal.
 
Wow, I'd like to see that pic in future stages!
 
Shaded Alyx. Much more contrast this time, I think it's an improvement. I'll make a start on the trees on the left, get that out the way, then fix the Combine.


Click for ridiculously high-res (2500 x 1862)
 
My god that's amazing. Like, official concept art amazing.
 
Updated. I need as much feedback as possible at this point, since the background is the hardest bit for me. Are you getting a sense of depth and distance from how the rocks are drawn, and can you tell they're rocks? :p



As always, any comments are appreciated.
 
I'd say it looks good so far, but I can't quite tell how the depth is going to look overall yet.
 
It's really coming along nicely now, Dave!

Remember to take your time ;)
 
Another update. Really not happy with the trees in the far background, or the main curved support so I'll keep adjusting those. Everything else look alright?

7bridgeshadingbegunjd9.jpg
 
Amazing stuff Dave. The shading in some of the earlier shots was unbelievable. Loved the Dog / Strider one.
 
Are the background trees supposed to be going up a mountain? If so, then you need to get a sense of atmosphere in there by fading it out a bit, because theyre too uniform in tone right now. You also need to really knock the contrast up in the environment. Under the bridge should have some areas almost totally black.

You may also want to figure out a way to bring Alyx back out in the composition. Shes starting to face into the background. Not sure how though.
 
Krynn72 said:
Are the background trees supposed to be going up a mountain? If so, then you need to get a sense of atmosphere in there by fading it out a bit, because theyre too uniform in tone right now.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the bit I'm least pleased with, I think using some darker pencils and a rubber I can get some more texture and tone.

Krynn72 said:
You also need to really knock the contrast up in the environment. Under the bridge should have some areas almost totally black.
Click to expand...

I see what you're getting at but if you have a look at the reference shot the background is very dull compared to Alyx in the foreground. I guess this is HL2's fog effects. I think leaving it slightly dull will help to make Alyx stand out a bit more, but I'll try and get more texture on the rocks.



Krynn72 said:
You may also want to figure out a way to bring Alyx back out in the composition. Shes starting to face into the background. Not sure how though.
Click to expand...

This is probably because of the bad technique I have which ends up with me moving randomly around the page to shade things, so lots of the graphite gets smudged and lifted. I'll go over the highlights and shadows again when the background's done.

Thanks for the comments. :)
 
I re-did the trees at the back and carried on with the rocks and bridge. It looks much better on paper, the contrast actually shows up, everything's duller on the computer.

8rocksshading75pcao7.jpg
 
I see you've managed to further accentuate the tree on the far left now. And on the whole it's shaping up to be one amazing drawing!
 
My first attempt at digital drawing. All done with a mouse in Photoshop, excluding the signature. I got a drawing tablet yesterday so I used that for my name. :p Think it turned out well?



Also I blatently stole Vegeta's idea of a time-lapse video, so that'll be up soon. :E
 
Turned out well? My dear boy, that turned out EPICALLY!
 
Damn you're good with photoshop, that was awesome to watch and it looks fantastic.
 
Extreme boredom during triple biology led me to develop a cartoon style. :E

Here's a case study of Hunters. Thought I'd try drawing them in as many ways as I could think of. My favourites are the bottom two. Also, I have no idea if Synths need to sleep but a sleeping Hunter seemed like a cute idea. :p



Any you particularly like? :)
 
Make a HL comic or I'll kill you.
 
If it's one thing i always liked, its shaded drawings. And these are, i think, pretty damned good.

D0g and Strider was my favourite so far.
 
Used my drawing tablet for the first time today, and drew Alyx. Yes, it's untidy but it's by no means finished and the shading is just to get a rough idea of the tones. I cheated and traced her face from a screenshot but only the basic outlines. :p

2basicshadesmn5.jpg
 
Fantastic work.
 
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