Mark's art for Shelter page

Just finished another I started yesterday - now to finish off Bennie-Mac's.

space_marine_by_darkelmarko-d5ybl12.jpg
 
Mark how do you actually do the prep for these? I understand you sketch first, but I noticed in another thread you said something about Photoshop? I'd love to have a go myself, really impressive artwork mate, bravo. :) Will be donating asap.
 
The basic process is,

Find a reference photo,

Increase contrast/gamma, change to grey-scale.

Sketch out the black areas, dark grey, mid grey & light grey into blocks - colour them.

I set my canvas on photoshop for the reference to be the same size (A3/A4) - so it's easier to judge perspective when 1inch on my screen is the same as 1 inch on my paper :).

Pending on the complexity of the picture I start out with very basic size sketch/perspective lines to get a feel for it, then work in segments (starting from the eyes/most complex area - then it's just a case of simply working from that point onwards with regular distance checks for key metrics (IE, I'll judge the eyes as been exactly 1/2 the way down from the reference picture & mark them out).

The only hard bid is the drawing really, the photo-shop prep is simple, as is the colouring - but as you get a hang of it you only really need to sketch the black (the rest of the tones come naturally).

For the picture above, i just drew the face a few times as a sketch until it matched, then the top of each shoulder as lines, along with 2 blocks for the legs & the chainsword & worked from that - the shading I did as I went along.
 
All done (Took longer than I thought it would!), I'll be borrowing a camera tomorrow (hopefully) so will be able to take a better picture for you.

assassins_creed_by_darkelmarko-d5ye39t.jpg


Eulogy said:
Love the space marine one :)
Click to expand...
Thanks :) - just noticed Fareham! (live by Fareham station lol so very local!).
 
Last edited:
Mark that looks fantastic :) Turned out exactly as I had hoped! Do you have frames for the A3 sizes by the way? It doesnt matter if you dont I can always grab one myself, plus it would make things easier for you postage wise I guess.

Have made a donation to your justgiving page, when its ready if you could drop me a trust email to sort out delivery that would be great.

Have you had many requests from the forums? If not whats wrong with you people! Its a great idea and I hope you smash your target.
 
Last edited:
Bennie-Mac said:
Mark that looks fantastic :) Turned out exactly as I had hoped! Do you have frames for the A3 sizes by the way? It doesnt matter if you dont I can always grab one myself, plus it would make things easier for you postage wise I guess.

Have made a donation to your justgiving page, when its ready if you could drop me a trust email to sort out delivery that would be great.

Have you had many requests from the forums? If not whats wrong with you people! Its a great idea and I hope you smash your target.
Click to expand...
Sent a message in trust, glad you like it & it's all for a good cause.

:)
 
DB_SamX said:
Some great work Mark!

Do you reckon http://blackmannrobin.com/wp-content/uploads/image_2076.jpg would look good at A4 or A3? There are loads similar otherwise. Gonna have a think about it overnight.
Click to expand...
Picture looks great, already done a quick sketch & seems to work well on A4 - I'l upload a pick later.

Edit - Done the sketch & some of the black fill from it - (no shading yet obviously) (only done the first coat of the black, i go over it after (as it sometimes doesn't fill right with these stupid art pens, going to switch to another brand me thinks)

de_wip_by_darkelmarko-d5yfm6g.jpg
 
Last edited:
These are awesome. Any chance you could take a photo after each shade has been put on? I can't even draw stick men so have always wondered how its done. Or do you have a video online that shows the technique?
 
Eulogy said:
That is pretty close indeed! I actually live in Knowle but it's only 5-10 minutes to get into Fareham from there :)
Click to expand...
Hehe, ay - very close indeed!, good living next to the station on the regular commute to Havant! - not a bad town, but a little boring.

Totality said:
These are awesome. Any chance you could take a photo after each shade has been put on? I can't even draw stick men so have always wondered how its done. Or do you have a video online that shows the technique?
Click to expand...
I'll do some snaps on each stage for the Deus Ex one, it's black & 3 shades of grey usually, but come next week I'm moving upto 6 shades (when my new pens arrive!).
 
Bennie-Mac said:
Replied to your email Mark, been a busy day so sorry it took so long. Also bump for a worthy cause.
Click to expand...
Cheers, I've replied too :).

Finally borrowed a better camera - still isn't great mind... :/, must go & get a DSLR when I get paid..., (That's £600 gone :/....) (higher quality than my stupid phone).

Sadly I got carried away & finished the Deus Ex one without doing the stages.., I'll remember to next time! :)

dues_ex_by_darkelmarko-d5yh4bb.jpg
 
Last edited:
platypus said:
I'd be interested in seeing how Louis Armstrong playing his trumpet might turn out.
Click to expand...
Like this.

First attempt at using the promarkers (instead of the Faber Castell ones) - which actually seem much better & less than half the cost... (shakes fist!)

louis_armstrong_by_darkelmarko-d5yl1xd.jpg
 
I like it, but there's something about the pose thats off for me, do you have a sample of photos? This is a serious request and a donation will be made :).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom