Return of Nui!

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

Two of my electronics died this past week. My tablet and my mobile phone. RIP to my old tablet and phone...

In terms of my tablet, I actually had a second one that I bought a while ago, so thankfully I was able to use that one once I set it all up. It's an Intuos pro, so definitely an upgrade. Still getting used to it at the moment (mostly with the short cut keys and accidentally nudging things since I'm not used to the bigger tablet, but it's definitely doing well so far. As for my phone...Honestly don't know what happened to it. It kept glitching on the screen lock - when I put in the correct code, it just shut off and I had to wake the screen up to try again. After about 6-7 tries, it just shut off completely. Thing was, I had 50% battery at the time and it wouldn't switch back on or charge or anything. I'd had the phone for about 3 years, so it was probebly an event waiting to happen. I have a new phone now, though I lost a ton of photos that overshot the memory card and saved on the internal memory.

Thankfully, I did manage to back up some photos and some were forwarded to my computer at one point or another, so while I lost some, I still have others.

Speaking of some of the photos I saved, does anyone remember a sketch a did a while back that was a version of a character called 'Nui', only a bit younger with longer hair? Well, that was one of the photo's I saved (I photographed the sketch as I didn't have a printer). As I reminder, this is the sketch I'm referencing:

Well, Using this picture as a basis, I had decided to make a digital version. Tablet issues aside, I have made a start on it, though currently only the actual line art, so...it does kinda look like he's sitting on nothing right now. lol. I was thinking of drawing him and doing at least the flat colour, then focusing completely on the background to get in those details so that I can make sure the placement works, then adding shadows, lights and other final touches to the picture. With that in mind, I started with the line art of Nui himself.

I adjusted some of the picture, as you can see. The cloak part on the original sketch was a pit on the awkward side on terms of how it lay over his shoulders and arms, plus the over shoulder sash (which was more a makeshift bag) didn't properly work with the cloak being more of an actual cloak than a shoulder drape. The dagger also would have been difficult to show with the cloak as it was. I'm considering drawing both bag and dagger draped or leaning against the tree though, if only as a nod to those parts I removed from the character pic itself. I also adjusted how the sash around his waist looked, with one of the ties leaning on his leg rather than just mysteriously not being in shot. 

Some of the details, such as cloth folds at the bent legs and the likes, will be added with the shadow/light parts of the picture. I tried to add them with the lines, but it looked a bit too harsh and made the leg bend look strange in terms of how the leg below the knee was positioned. Purely shadow lines tend to be a little less harsh so here's hoping it works better once I get to that point!

I also managed to do the flat colour to the picture, using the colour pallet from the older, short haired version of Nui, since his outfit is almost the same:

I'm a little unsure if the marks on the hems is a tad too thin or not at the moment, so I'll likely end up redoing those or making them thicker on another layer to see if they work better if not as thin. I also realised in doing the colour that the cloak might end up partly draping over the branch behind his bent knee, so I will likely add that in as extra details once the background is finished, as the placement of the log might change how it looks and if the cloak would be draped behind the log rather than over it. 

I realised a lot of tiny details will likely show up a lot more once I've added shading and highlights to it, such as on the broach, some of the wrinkles in the clothing and also in the hair details. Even so, it is pretty cool to see how the image is adjusting as I'm translating it from sketch to digital. 

(It is also such a relief that I dont have to redraw a line half a dozen times because my tablet is playing up. Yay for new tablets!)

Of course, still a long way to go yet before it's done. As always, I'm happy to hear your thoughts! :)

Until next time!

Tara