Drawing Neytiri - Basic Shapes

[Disco Scratch]

Originally Posted by Smirnoff

And by the way why have you said that you cant draw like you used to? I think maybe you should give a try??

Spoiler: Explanation (Graphic Content) 

As for my art. I used to do sketches, pastel and charcoal drawings and I used to be good at it. When I was in high school I sold my work for $50-$100 each. In 2003 I was bitten by a Brown Recluse spider on my hand while I was at work, which is one of the two most dangerous spiders in North America with the other being the Black Widow. The venom of the Brown Recluse breaks down tissue by causing the tissue to die and rot.

Here are some photos, but be warned they are graphic.

This is what it looked like on day 3.



This is what it looked like by day 5.



This is day 7 after being cleaned up by wound care specialists.



The wound was about 12mm deep and you could clearly see my thumb tendons, which are very important for pen / pencil control.

And I caught this early. Had I not taken care of it I could have lost my hand. The venom and dead tissue has to be removed or it will just keep killing healthy tissue. The biggest fear for anyone bitten is that the venom gets in the blood stream and gets to the heart.

I'm left handed so that's my primary hand. It did enough damage around my tendons that it basically took my ability to draw away and that's why I get so frustrated because I remember what I once was able to do. Although I will admit that after this injury I never really sat down an tried to relearn how to draw. Here I am 13 years after the injury and I still struggle to write my own name.

I may try to do a sketch though.

This is all about getting the basic shape on paper. I did make a few alterations though. I made her have some loose hairs hanging down. I also gave her longer sideburns. I made her sideburns look the way I feel it should have looked in the movie. I started the sketch at 9am this morning and got it to this point by 10am and I'm about to post it here at 11:50am. The most difficult part was signing and dating it. I also had some trouble with her top lip so I erased that line. I used some random pencil, but that is one of my old art erasers.

This is the first time I've even attempted a sketch probably since 2012.




I used this image as my reference.




I was loosely inspired by this image by niwre-san.



I scanned my sketch and printed a copy and I'm going to try to do more with it.

[Smirnoff]

That looks beautiful Loved it! I can say, the way she is basic makes this work even great! I hope that didnt hurt your hand so much.I will be staying tuned for continuing of this project

[Disco Scratch]

Originally Posted by Smirnoff

That looks beautiful Loved it! I can say, the way she is basic makes this work even great! I hope that didnt hurt your hand so much.I will be staying tuned for continuing of this project

Thanks!

I'm going to try to redraw it and add to it.

[Smirnoff]

Originally Posted by Eternal Enigma

Thanks!

I'm going to try to redraw it and add to it.

I`ll be looking forward to it

[Disco Scratch]

I'm messing around with ink-pen lines this morning (9am). The original drawing is to the left. The middle one is a scanned copy of the original that I'm going over with an ink-pen and making a few alterations. The one to the right is a complete redraw. I'm trying to get her shoulder to look like a shoulder and relearning cross hatching. It's been 13 years since I did a serious drawing, but it's been 16 years since I was in an art class. These are all just tests. I need to figure out what to do with her hair instead of just making it stop like that. Making the hair terminate where it does makes her neck look too skinny. In my drawing I'm making the hair stop at the line, but in the reference image the hair comes down and covers the side of her neck. So I have some things to work on fixing...

[Smirnoff]

Originally Posted by Eternal Enigma

I'm messing around with ink-pen lines this morning (9am). The original drawing is to the left. The middle one is a scanned copy of the original that I'm going over with an ink-pen and making a few alterations. The one to the right is a complete redraw. I'm trying to get her shoulder to look like a shoulder and relearning cross hatching. It's been 13 years since I did a serious drawing, but it's been 16 years since I was in an art class. These are all just tests. I need to figure out what to do with her hair instead of just making it stop like that. Making the hair terminate where it does makes her neck look too skinny. In my drawing I'm making the hair stop at the line, but in the reference image the hair comes down and covers the side of her neck. So I have some things to work on fixing...

Looking pretty nice I can see that you made her a bit more looking to the ground,In my opinion, this way is more better.Great to see progress,Id love to see what happens next.Keep them coming Oh and I think you should go ahead and add your own details with your own drawing,and not too much sticking to the reference.Yeah hair always an issue,I know that from me

[Disco Scratch]

^Thanks

I'm certainly trying to make it my own by not following the reference exactly.

This is where I got it by the end of the day yesterday. I did make the changes to her hair and managed to get rid of that harsh shoulder line. I also made the hair hanging down longer and put some beads in it. Her sideburn hair is longer too. I keep making small seemingly unnoticeable tweaks here and there. The biggest change in the image below is her hair.



It's an ongoing process as you can see in the image below. Last night I was in the process of coming up with a pattern to surround her with. What I do every so often is scan and print a copy so if I mess up bad or do something I don't like I don't have to start over completely since I'm using a ink-pen. I can just go back to the previous scan. It's just my creative way of bringing "undo" to the real world. lol



I haven't done anything today because I'm not feeling well so I'll take a break today.

[Smirnoff]

Its going beautiful E.E hair,stripes everything looks great now,I got a feeling that this could be a great T-shirt.Im actually would buy one though Get well soon tsmukan

[Disco Scratch]

Originally Posted by Smirnoff

Its going beautiful E.E hair,stripes everything looks great now,I got a feeling that this could be a great T-shirt.Im actually would buy one though Get well soon tsmukan

^Thanks!

Nothing new, but here's a better look at a test copy. It could be better, but remember this is just a test. I plan to redraw the whole thing. I'm working on what type of pattern I want to go with and how to achieve it with this ink-pen because this pen bleeds real bad. I still think they should have given Neytiri longer sideburn hair in the movie.

[Ja'k Dawsiin]

i like your drawing, Enigma, and may i say 'moar please'?!

[Smirnoff]

Enigma, any new progress yet? It was going great please dont abandon it