Grimlock pencil art

[M-bot]

So, I tried a bit of freehand original pencil artwork. It came out pretty good - not perfect by any stretch, and I used the same trick here as with my FOC Grimlock custom - when in doubt, cover it with battle damage! He is meant to look a little weathered, with a nasty split in his face, exposing his eye underneath, as if he's just been in one hell of a rumble.

I drew a fairly generic Grimlock head that has elements of several different iterations, including the 'side teeth' from the War Within Grimlock that I quite liked. The front knuckles are meant to look a little bit like knuckledusters and I'm not sure I quite pulled it off.


DSC_1017 by M-bot2011

So... over to you. Thoughts? Constructive criticisms? I am toying with the idea of inking it but I'm not much of an inker, to be honest. I would be very open to any OTCA members trying their hand at some digital inking/colouring - I could send some high-res scans via email to any interested parties. Let me know if you'd like to give it a (digi)bash!

[lancalot]

that looks good man.... with the knuckle-busters you need to add abit more height to them as they look flat atm... very nice work man...

[KalEl]

oh man thats awesome! dude i might have to commission something

[Sam]

Lovin' the battle damage!

[Kazza]

That's damn awesome man.

[UltraMarginal]

That's really impressive work.

the only criticism I could offer, and I'm being super picky is the curvature across the top/back of his head seems a little off, but seriously it's excellent. I can see what Lancalot has said about the knuckles,

my only other suggestion is to follow through with the shading that you've started, it's currently around the visor, and fist, I'd put some more on his torso I'm certainly no expert but I think it will add more depth and volume.

as for inking, if it were my drawing I'd have a hard time going over it, I'd probably scan and print and then ink the print. that way the original awesome pencil work is still there.

[kristofferrer]

i LOVE it when i see artwork like this on this site! Brilliant!

[M-bot]

Many thanks to all for their kind words and encouragement!

that looks good man.... with the knuckle-busters you need to add abit more height to them as they look flat atm... very nice work man...

I didn't want them to look too pronounced - I actually hoped it might look better/more obvious when coloured - hence the overall lack of shading. Kind of like penciling towards an ink job, which I might have to do now anyways... But yeah, thanks for the advice man!

oh man thats awesome! dude i might have to commission something

I might actually be open to this... but probably not now. Too many customs to finish!

Just out of curiousity, what kind of thing would you be looking for (ie which character/characters? Posed? Bust or full size?)?

That's really impressive work.

the only criticism I could offer, and I'm being super picky is the curvature across the top/back of his head seems a little off, but seriously it's excellent. I can see what Lancalot has said about the knuckles,

my only other suggestion is to follow through with the shading that you've started, it's currently around the visor, and fist, I'd put some more on his torso I'm certainly no expert but I think it will add more depth and volume.

as for inking, if it were my drawing I'd have a hard time going over it, I'd probably scan and print and then ink the print. that way the original awesome pencil work is still there.

Yeah, the more I look at the head curve and the horn on the left of the pic, the more it bothers me. Part of the reason that horn is battle damaged is because I was struggling with the perspective there. May fix it if I do end up inking it. Good advice, thanks!

If ever you were keen, I'd love to have you aboard the TransWarp Project and working on a page of two of TransWarp: Csirac

I did see your post a while back requesting artists for the TransWarp project. I didn't respond then because I was concerned that an ability to draw static figures is one thing, but good storytelling is quite another and I'm not sure I have that club in my bag, so to speak. Perhaps knowing the difference is half the battle? I'll PM you...

Do you have a DeviantArt account or something showing off more of your work? I'd love to have a look.

I have a DeviantArt account but have never posted anything on it, I'm afraid. For a start, most of my art is stuff I've largely copied out of comics and the like (such as this piece here), so it would be a bit dodgy if I did post it up. The other stuff I've done was mainly just done for my own enjoyment. I did this piece to see if I could do something original, and I'm really happy with the results. Maybe that youth reading comic books was not so misspent after all? Actually, I still read comics...

Nope, I got nothing.

My artistic pursuits lie in the physical realm, for the most part, but I do like an excuse to try something new.

I'd love to be able to draw, but it's hard to make the time to practice when there're so many other things I'm better at.

Your model in that link is so very unbelievably cool. I've done models and customs before, but that? In a whole other galaxy, if you'll pardon the pun. Extraordinary!

I appreciate you giving it a go though!!

[Verno]

I did see your post a while back requesting artists for the TransWarp project. I didn't respond then because I was concerned that an ability to draw static figures is one thing, but good storytelling is quite another and I'm not sure I have that club in my bag, so to speak. Perhaps knowing the difference is half the battle? I'll PM you...

I have a DeviantArt account but have never posted anything on it, I'm afraid. For a start, most of my art is stuff I've largely copied out of comics and the like (such as this piece here), so it would be a bit dodgy if I did post it up. The other stuff I've done was mainly just done for my own enjoyment. I did this piece to see if I could do something original, and I'm really happy with the results. Maybe that youth reading comic books was not so misspent after all? Actually, I still read comics...

If you were ever keen to do a page, it would come from Issue #3 of TransWarp: Csirac, which means you've got 2 Issues of reference material to draw inspiration from. You'd be copying to a degree, but interpreting it in your own way

No pressure of course, and it doesn't have to be right now. I'm hoping the TransWarp series kicks on now, especially with TF-The Lost Seasons producing the Ravage portion of the saga which should draw some more attention to the whole thing.

So if you're keen in the future, let me know

[Iriorne]

I made a start on this the other day, here's an in-progress screen cap:



I'll go back and add the rest of the battle damage later, as well as redo some of the lines around the top of the head. I was still messing around with the pen pressure so they're quite a bit heavier than the rest.