Sonic character study progress

[Daeino]

Hello there!

In these cold days I've started to learning how to draw sonic from the ground up, I've bought some artbook and comics as references and I was thinking "why not to share this (probably very long) trip with you guys?".

A simple excuse to try the art forum here, having a good time and why not? maybe it can be helpful from both sides :D

So for the beginning of this journey (The final goal is to be skilled enough to create a portfolio for IDW comics, and having fun during the entire process), the first sketch Is Amy done following the official tutorial videos published by Sonic Channel JP, the I'll upload some more sketches done in the spare time from work this week

GENERAL NOTE: because for now they are all studies the quality will be very low-key xD take them as they are xD.

Constructive criticism is very appreciated of course, and if you are a wannabe, don't hesitate to ask some advice, I'm not Picasso but I am a professional comic artist with some past pubblications on the shoulders here in Italy :)

Hope you'll enjoy!

Cheers.

[Daeino]

So, first study:

a little copy excercise done using the original sketches from the artbook "Sonic th Hedgehog" by Mana Books

Tools: green pencil for the rough sketches and Ballpoint pen for the lineart, I've tried to be very rapid, so there are a lot of errors but it was fun ahah

[Daeino]

second one, same as the sketches before, more fast studies

[Daeino]

Last one for today:

this one was made during a coffee break from work, done by memory of what I've learned from the past sketches, only heads this time :P

Tools: only ballpoint pen

[blackwind677]

At 1/14/24 12:47 PM, Daeino wrote: Last one for today:

this one was made during a coffee break from work, done by memory of what I've learned from the past sketches, only heads this time :P

Tools: only ballpoint pen

Well, crud! I can tell the reference points strictly come from Naoto Ohshima's style. I don't say that as a bad thing per say but this last one is starting to morph into something else which I'm guessing the combined influence from the comics is starting to show. Interesting stuff overall. It honestly inspires me to draw sonic again now that my drawing fundamentals are more "stable"

[Daeino]

At 1/14/24 02:25 PM, blackwind677 wrote:

At 1/14/24 12:47 PM, Daeino wrote: Last one for today:

this one was made during a coffee break from work, done by memory of what I've learned from the past sketches, only heads this time :P

Tools: only ballpoint pen

Well, crud! I can tell the reference points strictly come from Naoto Ohshima's style. I don't say that as a bad thing per say but this last one is starting to morph into something else which I'm guessing the combined influence from the comics is starting to show. Interesting stuff overall. It honestly inspires me to draw sonic again now that my drawing fundamentals are more "stable"

Yeah! the idea is to learn everything from the ground by Oshima's original studies, from that point of learning the "basis" of how sonic "work" by his cartoon style rules, then try to apply it to the modern design and my own "style" and see what happens, the goal is to make a personal interpretation following the official rules of the character, one day :D

Also I'm very happy that these sketches inspires you to draw sonic again ^^ if you do and you want to post them here feel free :D

Thank you for your kind words :)

[blackwind677]

At 1/14/24 04:32 PM, Daeino wrote: Yeah! the idea is to learn everything from the ground by Oshima's original studies, from that point of learning the "basis" of how sonic "work" by his cartoon style rules, then try to apply it to the modern design and my own "style" and see what happens, the goal is to make a personal interpretation following the official rules of the character, one day :D
Also I'm very happy that these sketches inspires you to draw sonic again ^^ if you do and you want to post them here feel free :D
Thank you for your kind words :)

Now that's a promise. Personally I'm a fan of Ohshima's pre-SA1 style. And Satoshi Okano's influence that's responsible for all the art of Sonic looking all noodily and curvy. Pretty much what I strive to do

[Daeino]

At 1/14/24 04:48 PM, blackwind677 wrote:

At 1/14/24 04:32 PM, Daeino wrote: Yeah! the idea is to learn everything from the ground by Oshima's original studies, from that point of learning the "basis" of how sonic "work" by his cartoon style rules, then try to apply it to the modern design and my own "style" and see what happens, the goal is to make a personal interpretation following the official rules of the character, one day :D
Also I'm very happy that these sketches inspires you to draw sonic again ^^ if you do and you want to post them here feel free :D
Thank you for your kind words :)

Now that's a promise. Personally I'm a fan of Ohshima's pre-SA1 style. And Satoshi Okano's influence that's responsible for all the art of Sonic looking all noodily and curvy. Pretty much what I strive to do

that's nice! my 3 major influences are the designs from Black Knight, 06 amd frontiers. I love the contrast of a toony character in a realistic environment a lot. From Black Knight I love the black shades used in the artstyle of the cutscenes; from 06 the proportions and the long quills amd as for 06 and Frontiers, the contrast of a toony character in a realistic style.

My goal will be in that direction, but as for now, OG Sonic by Oshima it's so fun to draw, it feels very "alive" :D

[Czyszy]

Nice job. I love it!

[SpikeyBlum]

Good luck with your journey. The artists on IDW do some incredible work!

I love these covers so much:

They are a part of the inspiration for me to get into drawing more Sonic, along with Tyson Hesse's work on Mania.

[Daeino]

At 1/14/24 06:02 PM, SpikeyBlum wrote: Good luck with your journey. The artists on IDW do some incredible work!

I love these covers so much:
https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/digimin/idw-sonic-the-hedgehog-issue-58-cover-a
https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/digimin/idw-sonic-the-hedgehog-59

They are a part of the inspiration for me to get into drawing more Sonic, along with Tyson Hesse's work on Mania.

thank you! and yeah, I agree about those covers, really awesome work! Tyson is also great! :D

One of my greatest inspirations from the comic is the works done in "Scrapnik Island", the colors, textures amd atmospheres are absolutely gorgeous! :D

[Daeino]

At 1/14/24 05:56 PM, CzySzy wrote: Nice job. I love it!

thank you so much :D

[SkilledFella]

Lovely sketches!

[Daeino]

At 1/15/24 01:37 PM, fe3l1ngsk1lledd wrote: Lovely sketches!

Thank you mate! :D

[Daeino]

Today was very busy, but I manage to do another copy exercise, this time there is the reference :)

cheers

[blackwind677]

At 1/14/24 04:32 PM, Daeino wrote: Yeah! the idea is to learn everything from the ground by Oshima's original studies, from that point of learning the "basis" of how sonic "work" by his cartoon style rules, then try to apply it to the modern design and my own "style" and see what happens, the goal is to make a personal interpretation following the official rules of the character, one day :D
Also I'm very happy that these sketches inspires you to draw sonic again ^^ if you do and you want to post them here feel free :D
Thank you for your kind words :)

Welp. A promise is a promise. My line art isn't always the best but doing this around midnight was worth it!

[Daeino]

At 1/16/24 01:48 AM, blackwind677 wrote:

At 1/14/24 04:32 PM, Daeino wrote: Yeah! the idea is to learn everything from the ground by Oshima's original studies, from that point of learning the "basis" if how sonic "work" by his cartoon style rules, then try to apply it to the modern design and my own "style" and see what happens, the goal is to make a personal interpretation following the official rules of the character, one day :D
Also I'm very happy that these sketches inspires you to draw sonic again ^^ if you do and you want to post them here feel free :D
Thank you for your kind words :)

Welp. A promise is a promise. My line art isn't always the best but doing this around midnight was worth it!

Some good stuff in here I see! :D Nice work mate!

If I Remember this evening of you are ok I can give you some advice for this sketch, let me know :)

[blackwind677]

At 1/17/24 09:23 AM, Daeino wrote: Some good stuff in here I see! :D Nice work mate!
If I Remember this evening of you are ok I can give you some advice for this sketch, let me know :)

Sure thing! I always sense there's something I need to improve on

[TheMusicalManiac]

At 1/14/24 12:47 PM, Daeino wrote: Last one for today:

this one was made during a coffee break from work, done by memory of what I've learned from the past sketches, only heads this time :P

Tools: only ballpoint pen

I like the morphing of classic and older comic styles. I think it's really neat and could get quite a following if you keep up the practice! I'm no artist, so I like whatever I see. Please continue your awesome work!

[Daeino]

At 1/17/24 11:00 AM, TheMusicalManiac wrote:

At 1/14/24 12:47 PM, Daeino wrote: Last one for today:

this one was made during a coffee break from work, done by memory of what I've learned from the past sketches, only heads this time :P

Tools: only ballpoint pen

I like the morphing of classic and older comic styles. I think it's really neat and could get quite a following if you keep up the practice! I'm no artist, so I like whatever I see. Please continue your awesome work!

Thank you so much! And yes, I've got scheduled various illustrations that are not sonic-related but anthro/furry related for the next weeks and months, but these types of excercises I'm very interested to do in every spare time I have, When I'll become more confident with the characters and the style I will try to do some serious illustrations and even some short comics if I can. :D

As for now, I'll update this thread with every sketch I make and maybe using the "news" tab so, just to mantain order and quality in the gallery.

Also I'm very happy to have some non-artists around to share this experience, hope you'll enjoy the ride then! :D

[Daeino]

Welcome back to all of you! I'm very happy that this thread is recieving so much attention and support! you are awesome guys, thanks! :D

These are the studies of today, same references, same tools, but with more structure and some errors spotted here and there.

[Daeino]

The next one is a little more particular, It was made during a coffee break at work in few minutes, 85% only from memory (I used a reference only for the direction of the quills), I've tried to use all that I am learning from the past sketches and implement it in the modern design, here I tried to sketch super sonic, If I have the energy I'll try to finish it more in the next hours :)

[Daeino]

At 1/16/24 01:48 AM, blackwind677 wrote:

At 1/14/24 04:32 PM, Daeino wrote: Yeah! the idea is to learn everything from the ground by Oshima's original studies, from that point of learning the "basis" of how sonic "work" by his cartoon style rules, then try to apply it to the modern design and my own "style" and see what happens, the goal is to make a personal interpretation following the official rules of the character, one day :D
Also I'm very happy that these sketches inspires you to draw sonic again ^^ if you do and you want to post them here feel free :D
Thank you for your kind words :)

Welp. A promise is a promise. My line art isn't always the best but doing this around midnight was worth it!

Here I am, just some notes and some correction here and there, hope it will be helpful in some way! :D

[blackwind677]

At 1/17/24 02:19 PM, Daeino wrote:

At 1/16/24 01:48 AM, blackwind677 wrote:

At 1/14/24 04:32 PM, Daeino wrote: Yeah! the idea is to learn everything from the ground by Oshima's original studies, from that point of learning the "basis" of how sonic "work" by his cartoon style rules, then try to apply it to the modern design and my own "style" and see what happens, the goal is to make a personal interpretation following the official rules of the character, one day :D
Also I'm very happy that these sketches inspires you to draw sonic again ^^ if you do and you want to post them here feel free :D
Thank you for your kind words :)

Welp. A promise is a promise. My line art isn't always the best but doing this around midnight was worth it!

Here I am, just some notes and some correction here and there, hope it will be helpful in some way! :D

Yeah. The silhouette was one of my main concerns. I was too focused with making that arm look wacky. However I didn't realize how off my concept of gravity was with this one. Thanks a million for this!

[Daeino]

At 1/17/24 02:49 PM, blackwind677 wrote:

At 1/17/24 02:19 PM, Daeino wrote:

At 1/16/24 01:48 AM, blackwind677 wrote:

At 1/14/24 04:32 PM, Daeino wrote: Yeah! the idea is to learn everything from the ground by Oshima's original studies, from that point of learning the "basis" of how sonic "work" by his cartoon style rules, then try to apply it to the modern design and my own "style" and see what happens, the goal is to make a personal interpretation following the official rules of the character, one day :D
Also I'm very happy that these sketches inspires you to draw sonic again ^^ if you do and you want to post them here feel free :D
Thank you for your kind words :)

Welp. A promise is a promise. My line art isn't always the best but doing this around midnight was worth it!

Here I am, just some notes and some correction here and there, hope it will be helpful in some way! :D

Yeah. The silhouette was one of my main concerns. I was too focused with making that arm look wacky. However I didn't realize how off my concept of gravity was with this one. Thanks a million for this!

You're welcome! ^^ it was a pleasure :D

[Daeino]

At 1/17/24 01:50 PM, Daeino wrote: The next one is a little more particular, It was made during a coffee break at work in few minutes, 85% only from memory (I used a reference only for the direction of the quills), I've tried to use all that I am learning from the past sketches and implement it in the modern design, here I tried to sketch super sonic, If I have the energy I'll try to finish it more in the next hours :)

Little update:

I worked on it a bit more before go to bed, this time, references are used, I think the difference is evident :)

[blackwind677]

At 1/17/24 02:19 PM, Daeino wrote:

At 1/16/24 01:48 AM, blackwind677 wrote:

At 1/14/24 04:32 PM, Daeino wrote: Yeah! the idea is to learn everything from the ground by Oshima's original studies, from that point of learning the "basis" of how sonic "work" by his cartoon style rules, then try to apply it to the modern design and my own "style" and see what happens, the goal is to make a personal interpretation following the official rules of the character, one day :D
Also I'm very happy that these sketches inspires you to draw sonic again ^^ if you do and you want to post them here feel free :D
Thank you for your kind words :)

Welp. A promise is a promise. My line art isn't always the best but doing this around midnight was worth it!

Here I am, just some notes and some correction here and there, hope it will be helpful in some way! :D

And helpful it was!

[Daeino]

At 1/17/24 05:51 PM, blackwind677 wrote:

At 1/17/24 02:19 PM, Daeino wrote:

At 1/16/24 01:48 AM, blackwind677 wrote:

At 1/14/24 04:32 PM, Daeino wrote: Yeah! the idea is to learn everything from the ground by Oshima's original studies, from that point of learning the "basis" of how sonic "work" by his cartoon style rules, then try to apply it to the modern design and my own "style" and see what happens, the goal is to make a personal interpretation following the official rules of the character, one day :D
Also I'm very happy that these sketches inspires you to draw sonic again ^^ if you do and you want to post them here feel free :D
Thank you for your kind words :)

Welp. A promise is a promise. My line art isn't always the best but doing this around midnight was worth it!

Here I am, just some notes and some correction here and there, hope it will be helpful in some way! :D

And helpful it was!

NICE! very good improvement! :D

[Daeino]

Sketch of today: done using only memory and what I've learn as precise as possible, there are various errors (ex.: the head is out of the body xD and there are some proportion errors, and other things here and there), but I had fun and Happy with the result, I still not feel the control on the character yet, but it will require more time and many more drawings to be done :D

[NewMonarchy]

Congratulations, you are now able to sell counterfeit sonic products