I thank you Ron, and so does Brian.
Printable View
I thank you Ron, and so does Brian.
Sorry. I really did mean Mark.
No need for apologies here Ron, just a little teasing on my part.
Let me ask you this. Is it in the details?
This weeks entry for "Big world, small things" is not actually a new one and has been posted before as part of a poster I created. I reopened the file and clean it up a bit and added some more fine details; the more I look at it the more details I see that could be added, but, at the risk of reworking it too much (is that possible? LOL) I decided to quit at this point. However; knowing myself as I do, there is always the possibility I may pursue it further at some time. I also wanted to consolidate all of my vector insects in one thread.
I noticed while doing this that I used hundreds or perhaps thousands of shapes to illustrate it, much more than the other insect drawings in this thread, perhaps all of them combined. So this time I also enclosed the wire frame to show the intricate detail of the insect and especially its wings. They involved so much work I decided to draw just one side and then copy and flip them, kind of cheating? not really, just using the tools available, but I still like the symmetrical look and was worried that I might not be able to adequately match the other side (given the large number of small shapes and lines) if I drew them separately. Not to mentioned, it saved a whole lot of time.
I've learned quite a few new ways to to use the tools in Xara since I drew this one and believe I could create something similar without using so many small shapes and lines, this is how we learn. If you look at the wire frames of the previous newer drawings in this thread I believe you will see what I mean. Though I'm VERY happy with the way it turned out I now know there were easier ways to achieve it. So here we have kind of a dual example, if you want to put this kind of work into your creation you can, the tools are there. But there might be an easier way to do it, the tools are there for that also.
What do you think? Could it have been done smarter and faster while still achieving a comparable look? Or am I completely wrong?
And more so, how do the other renderings in this post which were created smarter and faster compare to this one?
Details or smarter and faster? Hmm
Here's to using the tools available. Will be back next time with a completely new creation, hope everyone had a great weekend.
Attachment 110519Attachment 110520
Late summer pale green male Luna Moth with brownish yellow margins. The generations later in the year are not as brightly colored as the early spring generations and males do not sport the brighter colors like the females.
Won't bore anyone with friendly banter, silly questions, or information on techniques used.
Attachment 110572 Attachment 110573
Excellent!
The gold edging seems to give the wings a thickness that isn't really there.
You've certainly got the hang of these.
Another beautiful rendering!
Paul, thanks. I thought it might be difficult to emulate the texture of a moths wings with a vector drawing program, but Xara seems to have the tools for even that. Hope to improve on them with my next attempt.
Ron. Thank you.
Thanks Igor!
All excellent drawings, Mark. You'd make a good illustrator for biology books.
Thank you Gray. Your airplanes should be in a book too my friend.
Speaking of things that fly, and since we both have a penchant for things with wings, here's a moth I've been working on for quiet awhile. Been going back and forth to it between my other projects trying to get it just so, because I wanted to do my favorite creature of the night justice. The Cecropia Moth is North Americas largest moth, and it's a beauty.
I collected moths and pinned them when I was younger, now I would much rather draw them or take their pictures. I actually like this drawing better than any photo I've taken of them.
Thought it would be hard to create something like this in Xara, but once again it had everything I needed. I see some great insects coming down the pipes!
Attachment 110654 Attachment 110655
Wow Mark, amazing detail in that work.
Thank you Gray. I wasn't happy with it after I started looking closer. Here's an updated one with more details and some minor fixes. I may refine it yet more.
This is much better.
Attachment 110665
The powder effect on the wings came out really nice, Mark. Nice illustration.
Thanks Ron. I thought that turned out well too,a great use for semitransparent textured noise.
Drew another dragonfly this time around, using a color palette that Bill Taylor; aka (Soquili) created from one of my favorite dragonfly photos back in 2009. The same photo I used as a reference for this drawing. I've been itching to draw this ever since then. I miss this gentleman. He made me feel welcome as I became a new member of talk graphics and was always there with kind words and encouragement. I attached his original post below and the Xara file (to honor Bills giving nature) for you to pick apart and see how it was made, you'll need Eye Candy for a small few of the fills but most of them come with Xara. Thanks for the memories Bill, this ones for you.
Attachment 110862Attachment 110863 Xara file -Attachment 110861
Very nice dragonfly Mark.
I hope you don't mind I made a palette file from some of the colours.
It is a Photoshop type swatches file that can be used in Xtreme as well as some other applications.
For use with Xara Xtreme simply unzip the .aco file to your Palettes folder.
For Xara Xtreme Pro 5.1 that would be C:\Program Files\Xara\Xara Xtreme Pro 5\Palettes
Start Xtreme then open the Color Gallery. Right click on the Dragonfly_by_MarksRGBD65 folder and click on the Show on Color Line option.
The palette was created using myPANTONE Palettes version 1.5 available for free at Pantone.com. http://www.pantone.com/pages/MYP_myp...pg=19567&ca=75 scroll down to find the myPANTONE palette download link. You will need to sign up for free with myPantone to get the free application.
http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/s.../paperclip.png Attached Thumbnails http://www.talkgraphics.com/attachme...1&d=1261489484 http://www.talkgraphics.com/attachme...1&d=1261489484
http://www.talkgraphics.com/attachme...1&d=1261489918 http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/s.../paperclip.png Attached Files
- http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/s...attach/zip.gif Dragonfly_by_MarksRGBD65.zip (430 Bytes, 103 views)
Last edited by Soquili; 22 December 2009 at 07:55 AM.Soquili
a.k.a. Bill Taylor
Bill is no longer with us. He died on 10 Dec 2012. We remember him always.
My TG Album
Last XaReg update
Really nice.
Great to hear about Soquili.
Thanks Paul, always good to hear from you.
Just curious. Do you think the Gaussian blur is effective for creating the out-of-focus illusion of depth of field? Or is their another method you know of and might share?
Sorry, no words of wisdom about blurring things, except when it comes to taking bad photographs.
I've been known to take of few of those myself.
Guess I'll stick with the blur for now until I better familiarize myself with Xara and find an alternate method.
Thanks Larry, I will try.
I actually reworked the Cecropia Moth but I already posted 1 revision so I will leave it as is.
Great detail again, Mark. I think the blur works just fine.
I truly appreciate your opinion Gray, you the man.
This addition to Big World, Small Things includes two very cute small things. A child and a junco.
People, especially faces, are hard for me to draw. I think I will stick to mainly wildlife.
Comments and criticisms welcome.
Attachment 110963 Attachment 110964
Mark, I like it. My first impression was that it's an excellent image though the proportions of the face look slightly off to me.
My advice would be to carry on because many of use would be delighted to produce images like that. No reason not to carry on with people.
http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...ty-or-Quantity
That is a fantastic drawing, Mark. =D>=D>=D>
For something you find hard to draw, you did a particularly brilliant job of it. If I could draw that well I post much more regularly. You have trouble with faces, I have trouble with rectangles ...!
Thanks for the compliment and the critique Paul. I will try to improve one that.
Thanks Rik. This one took a little bit of time.
Glad you think so Keith, and thanks. I couldn't do much with Xara initially but since I committed to creating something with it every week or two my skills have come a long way and I've found faster easier ways to create things. I still have a lot of room for improvement but I see things getting better. Will keep pushing forward and hope someday to put out work as nice as the folks they have posted in the Xara gallery.
Mark, that's one excellent drawing. I hope you do more portraits.
Thank you Gray. I don't generally draw portraits because I find them a bit too challenging, but I may try another one some where down the line.
Critters are more my speed. LOL
Thanks Larry, good to hear from you.
Thanks Mark. I know you would rather do wildlife but that port rate really was phenomenal, wish I could do as well.
It's a funny thing Larry, and sometimes I think I have trouble expressing in words what I truly am trying to say, I also think I sometimes I drive people away from my posts because of it. When I draw insects I am trying to portray the beauty of gods creatures that is there, but most people do not see. Let's face it, most people don't closely scrutinize and insect or a bug. But it's something I've done since I was a child. The closer you look the more you see. For me the beauty is in the details, the things most people don't see. I feel that when I draw a close up of a critter it gives someone a chance to sit there, take in the details and see the beauty of it's design. Something different that most folks never consider as a source of pleasure to look at. Drawing them helps me share what I see with others, and with creatures, I feel like I mostly succeed at that.
When I draw portraits of people it's different. On the merit of the drawing itself I feel it is a "good" drawing, but I don't consider it phenomenal; Though I do thank you for that evaluation of my portrait Larry and it makes me very happy that you think that much of it, it seems that no matter how good the drawing itself is I can never capture what I'm truly trying express when doing a drawing of a person. Like this subject, Rylee. She is my grand daughter that I have raised since she was a baby and is one of the kindest, gentlest, caring people I know. Try as I may, I feel like I always fall short capturing and conveying that in a drawing of a person. People seem to like my portraits and I like creating something that others can enjoy and appreciate, but for me they are never quite there, which can be disheartening. I guess it's that different kind of beauty found in Gods greatest creatures that makes them so difficult for me to portray and always leaves me feeling I could have done better.
My wife says I'm a perfectionist and that is why I'm never completely happy with anything I do, 'cause nothing is perfect.
Sorry so long winded. LOL
That's not saying I won't attempt more portraits, like a good man here at the forums says,
"Never give up. You will never fail, but you may find a lot of ways that don't work."
That's why I like the forums here at Talk Graphics, you folks are encouraging and supportive and you're positive influence and advice has had a lot to do with the advances I've made with my drawing skills in Xara.
Thanks all, and thanks again Larry.
A Bush Cricket basking in the glow of the setting sun.
Attachment 111429
Okay, Mark, you had me feeling depressed (as an artist) when you showed the little girl with the bird.
Now, please tell me that the bush cricket is a photo and not a drawing.
Please?
I'm going to quit art altogether if so, and send you all of my clients.
you are one amazing and talented dude, dude!
—Gary
Yes, I thought it was a photo too. Amazing illustration.