Mongol Archer - Concept Stages

I have finished sketching my Mongolian Bowman and am currently in the process of colouring and shading him digitally. I will be giving him a very simple and traditional armour/robe combo, as well as an iconic mongol hat of the time and a composite recurve bow, ideal for horseback!

Warriors Throughout Time - Archer

Mongol Horse Archer 1100AD

Archery is the art, practice or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow. Archery has been used for hunting and combat. In ancient warfare, archers were particularly useful at decreasing enemy numbers at a distance, by continuously sending volleys of arrows over hundreds of meters. Many ancient armies throughout time made use of ranged warriors, but the most skilled and well-known came from the east. The Parthians, Scythians and Mongols would often combine horse-riding with archery, they were renown for being incredibly accurate and renown for winning battles. Historically, most people associated master archery with the ancient Mongol people. Mongol Horse-Archers were as effective as they were numerous and played a pivotal role in the expansion of Mongol territory in Medieval Asia and Eastern Europe. Of all the Archers and bowmen in the world, The ancient Mongolians are universally considered to be the best, and that earns them a place in my series of warrior character profiles.

#2 Feudal Japan Samurai - Swordsman - 1500AD

#2 out of a Series of 4 'Warriors Throughout Time' digital art project for my Self-Directed proposal at Bath Spa Uni.

A sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used in many civilizations throughout the world, primarily as a cutting or thrusting weapon. Most professional armies throughout time have implemented the use of the sword whether in a standard infantry force or a more specialised team of swordsmen, adept with the weapon. Historically, Knights & French Musketeers were highly skilled with the sword but they were no match for the Japanese Samurais from the Feudal-Japanese Empire. Samurais were masters of swordsmanship and were trained with incredible discipline, following a set of rules known as Bushidō. The katana sword is the weapon that has come to be synonymous with the Samurai, a type of blade renowned for its sharpness and cutting ability. The Samurai of Feudal Japan are considered to be historically, the best swordsman, so that definitely earns them a place in my series of warrior character profiles!

Feudal-Japan Samurai - Curves in PhotoShop

Creating simple curve shapes in Photoshop is something that is a lot more difficult to accomplish than one might think. There is no simple method of creating them, but I managed to find a very helpful tutorial explaining how to accomplish a straight curve. This is very useful to me as I wanted to make the samurai sword look good in my drawing and it needed to be curved, after following the tutorial instructions, I was able to create an excellent curve!

Feudal-Japan Samurai - Concept Stages

I have finished sketching my Japanese warrior and am currently in the process of colouring and shading him digitally. I will be giving him black and tan robes, a traditional samurai hair-style of the time and a katana, his pride and joy!

Warriors Throughout Time - Swordsman

Samurai in 1500AD

A sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used in many civilizations throughout the world, primarily as a cutting or thrusting weapon. Most professional armies throughout time have implemented the use of the sword whether in a standard infantry force or a more specialised team of swordsmen, adept with the weapon. Historically, Knights & French Musketeers were highly skilled with the sword but they were no match for the Japanese Samurais from the Feudal-Japanese Empire. Samurais were masters of swordsmanship and were trained with incredible discipline, following a set of rules known as Bushidō. The katana sword is the weapon that has come to be synonymous with the Samurai, a type of blade renowned for its sharpness and cutting ability. The Samurai of Feudal Japan are considered to be historically, the best swordsman, so that definitely earns them a place in my series of warrior character profiles!

#1 Greek Hoplite - Spearman - 350BC

#1 out of a Series of 4 'Warriors Throughout Time' digital art project for my Self-Directed proposal at Bath Spa Uni.

In Ancient warfare, Spearmen are typically footsoldiers, generally not of the knightly class, armed with a pike or spear, generally arranged into dense formations. These soldiers, when disciplined, were a potent defense against the heavily armoured cavalry, particularly where missile weapons were scarce or where the field could be restricted, such as in the Swiss or Greek mountains. Historically, the Ancient Greeks had the best spearmen and a 'hoplite'would wield the spear with the best proficiency. Typically a citizen-soldier of the Ancient Greek city-states. Since the Greek Hoplites were historically the best spearmen to have ever lived, I feel that they have earned their place in my series of character profiles!

Greek Hoplite - Plume

For the plume on the helmet of the Hoplite, I followed advice from this video, as I have never really attempted to recreate hair in Photoshop, it's surprisingly difficult to make it look realistic!

Greek Hoplite - Concept Stages

At the moment, I have just about finished sketching the soldier and am in the process of colouring and shading him digitally. I have based the character off of this existing sketch of a 4th-3rd Century Hoplite. I will be giving him a traditional helmet of the time and region. The Corinthian style helmet with a moheikan-esque plume.

Warriors Throughout Time - Spearman

4th–3rd century Greek Hoplite

In Ancient warfare, Spearmen are typically footsoldiers, generally not of the knightly class, armed with a pike or spear, generally arranged into dense formations. These soldiers, when disciplined, were a potent defense against the heavily armoured cavalry, particularly where missile weapons were scarce or where the field could be restricted, such as in the Swiss or Greek mountains. Historically, the Ancient Greeks had the best spearmen and a 'hoplite'would wield the spear with the best proficiency. Typically a citizen-soldier of the Ancient Greek city-states. Since the Greek Hoplites were historically the best spearmen to have ever lived, I feel that they have earned their place in my series of character profiles!

Warriors Throughout Time - The Best of the Best

Over the last few weeks I have been brainstorming ideas for what to create as a final piece, showing my skills learned in the medium of Digital Art. I have finally come up with a solution! I will be sketching a series of character profiles of different warriors and soldiers throughout our history. They will be in similar style to my gangster but I will add a profile section on each, talking about who they were and what they did. My intention is sketch and digitalize a minimum of four warriors from various peroids in time. I will choose a Spearman, Swordsman, Archer and Specialist Weapons, I will research on which nation were the most proficient in each of the weapon classes and attempt to recreate them!

Gangster Composition - Background

I've experimented with the tablet and created a background using some custom brushes downloaded from DeviantArt to give a different view of the character!

Gangster

So here's the result of my hard work! I'm still not sure if he's finished or not yet. It's very hard to decide when you've finished a piece, whether there is more to add to it or not. But for now I am pleased with how he is looking and will most likely upload him to my DeviantArt account, hopefully people will like it!

Existing Digital Artists - Nathie

The Beserk

Nathie
Germany
http://creationwarrior.net/
http://nathie.deviantart.com

1.) Could you tell me a bit about yourself as someone who works in the Digital medium?

I have worked for over 20 years with traditional media - pencil, acrylics, oil and the airbrush technique, mostly on cars/trucks. I don´t consider myself as a "digital" artist, because I grew up completely without that medium. 5 years ago I gave in, bought a Wacom Tablet and started to paint with Corel Painter and Photoshop. However, I have worked with Photoshop since 1995 - food retouching for an advertising agency, so I am well aware what the program is capable of. Nevertheless, if I paint digital, I am using only one layer and use brushes that simulate traditional media - for my digital paintings I need just 5% of the whole program. There are a lot of discussions about traditional versus digital painting. I personally think that both media have their advantages and also disadvantages. One big advantage of digital painting is that you can backup and duplicate the files. You can always go steps back if you messed something up. You can work with textures and/or do Matte Painting. Then, you have colour correction tools. You can sharpen or blur something, and there are tons of more "easy made" effects. However, they do not always look good. Some say that digital painting is quicker - those people do not use the zoom factor. ; Zoom is a thing that you cannot do in traditional media. It allows you to get to the finest detail in your drawing, and that where I spend the most hours. One of a detailed digital painting still takes me 50 hours. Another advantage is that you can send the file easily to the client in a matter of minutes. That allows me that I can work with clients all over the world. The whole digital stuff works well for the entertainment industry where deadlines are tight and you have to produce quantity before quality and slam out 3-4 pics/week. The advantage of traditional media is that you create a unique artwork that exists only once in the world that way. There is (except a scan or photo of course) not the chance to create exactly the same artwork once again and that is a completely underestimated value nowadays. If I want to make a very special gift to a friend/family, I paint them a traditional picture. There are some more advantages of course - for example the look. Even with all the texturing in digital programs you just cannot recreate THAT traditional feel. Then, you are not limited to a digital file. Yu can paint murals, on parchment, on wood, on stones, cars etc.

2.) Are you employed in the arts/entertainment industry? If not, do you aspire to?
I have been in the art industry for two years. It was, as said above, quantity above quality, and left me finally frustrated. I work now for very few selected publishers and private clients.

3.) What equipment and skills are most essential in your work?
I work with a Mac, a Wacom Intuous and Photoshop CS5. Skills? I personally think that skills are just 10%; the rest is practise and patience.

4.) Do you use graphic tablets in your work?
Yep, of course I use them, because I am not masochistic and I love my hands, arms and my back if they are not sore. It allows me also to be far more precise than with a mouse. If I paint, I do it sometimes up to 16 hours/day, so good equipment is a must. A tablet is more intuitive, and I think I would not even come close to my standard if I would use a mouse.

5.) What is your opinion on them? Do you think they are a useful/necessary tool to create Digital Art?
Answered above.

6.) What style of art do you prefer? Digital or Traditional?
I don´t prefer a style. I like artwork that "speaks" to me, art that evokes emotions. That can be everything.

Existing Digital Artists - Kaizeru

Choo Kah Chun 'Kaizeru’
Malaysia
http://kaizeru.deviantart.com/

Gatherer of Souls

Slinger Warlock

1.) Could you tell me a bit about yourself as someone who works in the Digital medium?
I jumped straight into the Digital medium when I first started drawing. Most would have the opinion that traditional skills are not needed but I find that it is necessary to build a strong foundation from there. Practiced together, the synergy would progress your skills faster as it helps both ways.

2.) Are you employed in the arts/entertainment industry? If not, do you aspire to?
I am still a student currently, but I do aspire to be employed in the arts/entertainment industry and try to be one of the best.

3.) What equipment and skills are most essential in your work?
Traditional: Pencil and Paper
Digital: A computer worthy of supporting graphic software and a tablet.

4.) Do you use graphic tablets in your work?
Answered above.

5.) What is your opinion on them? Do you think they are a useful/necessary tool to create Digital Art?
Absolutely, how else would you create Digital Art then? It is not impossible to use a mouse but the limitations are huge and without the tablet, Digital medium would not be fighting a fair fight with Traditional medium.

6.) What style of art do you prefer? Digital or Traditional?
I like doing my works in Digital, but honestly, I'm a bigger fan of Traditional maybe because of my lack of mastery in that field.