/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

>>2523803
Learn the basic pieces. Most armour is constructed in a similar way, they just vary slightly with shapes or decorative qualities.

>>2523803
>Any tips on drawing armor?
Draw and study lots of armor.

The same answer to all these lazy moronic "how i do dis?" type threads.

Make a colage of armor references so you don't have to play the stupid card designing what you ignore.

>>2523853
I think OP is asking about detail. Like how to draw reptile scales.

>>2523939

>just draw them

is it that hard?

>>2523939
Again, the answer to all these retarded "how i do dis?" threads is the same: Go draw

There is no shortcut or trick, you have to draw shit until you understand the form and how it works, then you can replicate it in any position you want.

>>2524326

there are tricks. it's called spend time and study properly. it's the magical trick that the industry pros keep from you so you keep buying their tutorials on how to lens flair.

>>2523803
INSECTS
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S

>>2523803

another anon posted this some time ago. study

https://collections.royalarmouries.org/#/objects

>>2524326
>There is no shortcut or trick

This is the dumbest /ic/ meme. There's almost always a shortcut or trick, artists use visual shorthands all the fucking time. If you've ever looked at a single educational book it's usually literally composed of an artist telling you shortcuts and tricks.

It's like you took "how do I get good at art in a year" and people telling them "you can't just cut corners and get there that fast." and applied it across the board at all levels.

As for the OP, if the armor isn't tarnished it's a reflective surface. Rather than being silvery grey it'll almost always be a mix of green (the ground) and blue (the sky), or if the ground/sky are different colors, whatever those are. It'll also likely have some bright spots where it reflects the light source right in your eyes.
A few areas of high contrast usually make it look quite shiny was well.

Obviously studying armor, as others said, will teach you more. Do it enough and you'll learn a trick or two.

>>2524326
>you have to draw shit until you understand the form and how it works
>then you can replicate it in any position you want.
Okay that's great but you can understand the form of armour perfectly and it still won't look right until you understand how metal reflects light and how to make it look believably worn.

Banging your head against the wall drawing won't get you anywhere if you aren't studying and drawing smart.

>>2524355
This is a very good resource.

Also look up images of replica armour being worn in real life.

Don't fall into the trap of popular fantasy armour design, it (mostly) looks fucking terrible.

Explore more obscure arms&armour, don't just take inspiration from one very specific time period.

Don't slack on weapons. if you draw good looking armour holding a shitty looking sword it will ruin it, I constantly see drawings like this. Remember, no paddle swords.

If your doing something fantasy and not just sticking closely to real life references, make sure your armour would actually allow the user to move, so many designs completely fall flat on their face with this, Mostly with 'muh mega pauldrons' and 'muh huge boots'.

What worked for me is I started practicing plate-by-plate. You first put on a chestplate, the arm armor, then pauldrons and so on in logical order, so as always start with the ones that are gonna be covered and work your way up (reference helps). After you've done this enough you'll understand the structure and you'll be able to just draw them without building them up.

>>2524874
ty anon, I had that pic but in a lower resolution

>>2523803

If I can only give you one advice that applies to studying shit in general it's study designs that you find cool/attractive/whatever. It really helps if you like what you're drawing.

>>2524874
>this

I see so many armours that have 'realistic' rendering, meaning that technically it looks really good, with solid lighting and texture. But I rarely see anything that goes beyond that, meaning that actually looks believable from a technical point of view. I don't mind some artistic freedom of course, but it's often just too much.

not op but i also want to draw armors, thanks for the tips
figure best way to improve is to show my work

>>2524945
guy is off balance, would fall off to the right in this pose. its hard to judge, could use a clean-up to be able to see whats going on. keep practicing, draw a lot from reference, and dont get stuck on one drawing yet for a long time or it can slow down your progress.

>>2524981
pft, pose is fine - though I generally agree with everything else

>>2524945
The design is solid.

Smiling helmets are pretty great, face helmets and masks in general are super /aesthetic/.

>>2524874
cont.


One other thing is the topic of 'high fantasy' armour, or just armour that is supposed to be overtly fantastical or magical.

One obvious way to do this is to look for the more strange examples of real armour and extrapolate, eg take the aesthetic of something worn by some niche group of barbarians and convert it to say, plate armour or whatever would be appropriate.

One other thing is using the concept of real world ceremonial armour as a basis, something that I think Warhammer Fantasy as a setting does very, very well.

The knights and other elites of the Empire and Bretonnia still look clearly human and relatable, even if they are wearing brilliant and ostentatious suits of armour. They are a stark contrast to the massive, spiky, otherwordly and hulking suits of the insane Chaos warriors and orcs or the ultra-edgy sadistic dark elves.

Compare this to a setting like Warcraft that has every faction, including humans, in ridiculous cartoon-proportioned suits which frankly doesn't fit with the (mostly) serious story being told.

Im pretty shit at explaining things, I hope this makes sense.

>>2526141

>>2526144

>>2526146

>>2526148

Oh, and don't be afraid to use plenty of colour.

>>2526150

>>2526151

I can dump more if someone wants it.

>>2526151

Is that a BLACK KNIGHT HALBERD?

>>2526241

Glaive.

Well, some call it a glaive.

The thing you have to realise about European pole-arms is that nobody can fucking decide what any of them are called.

>>2526241
No it's a glaive you fucking casual

>>2524981
>>2525666
>>2525666
thanks for the critiques guys
i just had to draw one of those silly smiling face helmets, although i imagine it would be pretty scary seeing them in an army killing everyone
i usually start pretty sketchy and then gets to something like pic related
still pretty unsure about design in general and he whole character desing and costume design

>>2526153
Yes please

>>2530233

sorry im late

>>2531628

Jack of plate, similar to the brigandine.

Many small metal plates between cloth gamberson.

Not as good as solid metal, but cheaper to make.

>>2531631
>Not as good as solid metal

*not as good as a solid metal full chest piece.

See also the gamberson itself, never underestimate cloth and other seemingly weak materials. It makes serious armour that can stop arrows and cuts. Linen armour for example which the greeks loved to use.

>>2531633

I posted this Youtube channel a little while ago in another armour-related thread, so I hope you find it helpful as well:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1T4KJG1L_kTrP9RcdU5Csw

It's a dude who explains pieces of armour and how to put them on and stuff. He often demonstrates how it moves on the body, so it's great for seeing the armour at a bunch of different angles and in a bunch of different positions. It's good for drawing armour, but even better for /understanding/ armour, allowing you to make your own well-informed design decisions based on real knowledge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiDZ35_Ym3A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHqpJSHXFGs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrFwI4eFhf0

>>2531634
Most of my stuff is late medieval/early renaissance Europe unfortunately, id love to post some Chinese if I had it.

>>2531635
this guy is great, listen to this anon

>>2531636

>>2531637

>>2531638

>>2531639

Messer of various types.

>>2531640

>>2531641
Most war axes from across the world are significantly smaller then wood chopping axes, always remember the basics of kinetic energy; focus it onto a smaller point for better killy powah.

>>2531642

>>2531643

>>2531644

>>2531646
Also important to read up on how battles work, big dumb 1 v 1 duel melees look like shit.

>>2531649

>>2531650

>>2531651

>>2531652

fin

>>2526153
what to heck is this mace/sword thing?
how would you wield it? the center of mass looks so far away from the handle and the handle looks way to short to be two-handed

>>2524351
This. So much this. Insects have inspired me so much. Their exoskeletons are designed by nature with no ego like man to take fashion over function.

>>2533045

do you have a resource-heavy site with insect images?

>>2533021
>mace/sword thing?

Bwah? its clearly a mace.

>how would you wield it? the center of mass looks so far away from the handle and the handle looks way to short to be two-handed

I actually don't know enough about this sort of thing, but I see plenty of weapons with the same sort of setup so it must have worked.

That particular mace looks very cerimonal anyway, like a kings scepter.

>>2533045

>with no ego like man to take fashion over function.

Are you referring to historical gear? most things that seem fashionable are at first practical. For example Tabards are for identifying and the massive horse hair plumes of the classical greeks are for identifying officers above the crush of bodies.

Don't forget about psychological war as well, massive poofy hats may seem comical at closer glance but can have an effect on morale in practice.

If you're making armour for humans, take into account human things.

Not to detract from your point though, bugs are a great inspiration for designing armour and should be studied.

>>2533021

I have studied many weapon based martial arts so I feel qualified to answer. Top heavy clubs aren't moved with brute strength of the arms but rather by utilising the momentum of the initial swing.

>>2524298
What is this from?

I've got a pretty big medieval ref folder largely composed of re-enactors/LARPers etc, I'll upload it to dropbox if anyone's interested.

>>2536367

It seems to have frozen for some reason but 90% of it uploaded.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/euji5hcf3agxcuo/AAAqyEerxMWBNqoW106d29NHa?dl=0

>>2536714
Thank you very much anon

Does anyone have a link for free Sai Paint tool?

>>2523803
Draw pieces of real armor from reference.

If you want a still life, buy some stainless steel pots/pans from the store and you can get some value out of that.

You only perceive that you have to do "a lot of little things to make it whole" because you're looking at someone's finished work. Being able to block out big forms, subdivide, and render in parts is just a process of laying bricks. Do it enough and people see your stack of bricks as a singular building.

>>2531631
that's not a jack of plates. That's a fencing doublet/jacket.
This is a jack of plates

>>2533021
generally speaking those things weren't as heavy as people think they were. one handed weapons rarely go above 1,5 kg even for maces. With a flanged mace head you doesn't even need that much force especially that it was usually used from horseback.

massive reference collection
https://no.pinterest.com/sutorenja/pinboard-of-steel/

>>2523803
i recommend using huaban, the chink chonk version of pinterest
http://huaban.com/boards/14266908/

>>2524921
there is more of that
http://imgur.com/gallery/dNpHz