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I took a few months break around xmas, but now I'm finally back at it again. I was stuck on how to draw base of the stalker for a very long time, but I finally pushed through. It was a really weird, awkward shape and I'll probably have to deal with it again sooner or later, but by then it might be a bit easier, since everything else will already be into place.

Anyway, now that the base is dealt with, I can finally move on to other sections. I've start solving (sorta...) the perspective of the left leg.

Good job on the drawing !

Hey thanks!

I am still working on the 'remaster' believe it or not. I had a lot of progress at the start of the year, but then I slowed down again. Have been thinking recently that it's time to pick it up again.

The only major items I have left are the head/face (ongoing), the little front graspers (next item; need to be repositioned completely) and I guess some simple shadows so it doesn't look like flat line-art.

...and some more polishing T.T
I really wanna be done with it this year, so I can move on to more productive things

Here's a little preview of the head. The face-mask is just crudely added on with the mouse, to have something to work with, but will naturally also be made nicely in vectors later...

The head has been one of the biggest roadblocks for this drawing, so I'm very happy to finally be making some progress with it.


Obviously there's a pretty major redesign going on. I've tried to better capture the skull structure of a Protoss by referencing cinematic models from SC2, though it seems the shapes of Protoss heads can vary wildly, so it's a bit difficult to grasp what kind of lines constitute a 'real' Protoss...

In reality I've already progressed a bit further than this screen-cap illustrates, but this is a similar enough shot that I could use easily. For one I've fixed the overly-squinty eyes...

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Retro-actively adding in a progress report from 23rd of July, 2021

Several adjustments to the right-most leg:


I still made a few more adjustments later, but I don't have as nice an image to show the rest of them.

So how's Henry doing?

Progress halted atm. Last thing I did was fix up the rightmost leg. Now I need to adjust the thigh(?) part that connects the leg to the base.

Here's an updated screenshot of the face. I've added several lines to make his head look a bit more detailed and complex and more protoss~y + I deleted the crown since it always ended up looking stupid.

The cloth is missing for the time being. I am unsure how to tackle it with the whole vector/path technique I've been using so far...

edit: Oh ****, I was working on the head back in february? Shiiiit... I thought I was working on that around May/June. Time flies

Just traced the original paws and moved their position to the base, where they are actually supposed to be located. The original position was an error on my part.



I'll have to adjust the styling a tad as it's a bit too shaky, but right off the bat they are already look pretty alright. The frontal facing one will needs it's angle adjusted it seems.

THE END DRAWS NEAR!!
My TODO list is down to 6-7 items now

- Finish the paws
- Add the 4th hind leg (Easy, barely visible. (the current one is just a placeholder))
- MAYBE add attachment point to base for frontal leg (Nasty angle, Probably quite tough)
- Minor proportion adjustments (easy-medium difficulty)
- Details (hoses and patterns and stuff; pretty easy for the most part)
- MAYBE add the cloth (extremely hard with just vectors/paths)

If I am gonna do the cloth, I think I'll finally bite the bullet and purchase a new drawing tablet. I don't see how I can make the cloth look natural with these overly smooth lines and no shading, and I don't think I can reasonably achieve it with just a mouse either

Redesigned the first paw. Will need a few more adjustments, but I am pretty satisfied with it.
It suits the rest of the bodylines a lot more than the first version.

First paw fully done I think

OLD (left) vs NEW (right)

Both Paws have been upgraded at last!

The rear leg is coming along nicely and is no longer a placeholder!



Unfortunately, I'm observing some perspective fuckery (not visible in image) happening between the outer legs and the base component. The angles just aren't lining up properly and I fear that I will have to make some pretty heavy adjustments to the base in order to resolve it...

The base has a pretty awkward shape and was very hard to get right the last time I worked on it
Easily the biggest roadblock I ran into. Lets hope it's easier the second time...

I'm strangely addicted to these updates. Keep 'em coming

Glad to hear I'm not posting these updates for nothing.

The perspective issue I described in the previous post has been putting me off from working on it much
I'm kind of skirting around the issue by doing some minor items instead.

For the time being I've tried to update the decorations for that glass container at the top, but I'm not sure if I am happy with it yet. the left and right side are more consistent in terms of complexity, but I fear it might be a bit overcomplicated as whole when looking at it 'from afar'.

Also I guess the whole 'flames' theme going on there always seemed a tad out of place...


I think I'll have to let it sit for a bit and see if it bothers me or not

Another minor invisible improvement is that the glass container and little shield thing on the side are also separate paths now, which should make them a little more convenient to work with in the future. Previously the entire top of the body, with the exception of the big shield were one single gigantic path

Commencing Leg rework...
Here's a placeholder pencil sketch for the new angle of the leg.



Obviously the attachment point to the torso/base will also need some adjustment to suit the new angle...

Result of the rework (for now)


Needs more work. The angle where the torso and leg join is still a bit wrong.

Despite this, it's starting to looks quite satisfying! I can open the file now and tell myself "Oh shit! That's actually a really good drawing!"

I also received an Wacom Intuos drawing tablet for Christmas.
I don't plan to use it for this drawing yet, since it would yield completely inconsistent results for the line-art, but I could use it at the end for finishing touches, like drawing the swirly decorations and a bit of shadowing and things like that. Maybe those rags I was afraid I couldn't do with paths properly, but since it's a large element I am afraid it might look very out of place if I suddenly use hand drawn lines there.

I have no plans of making this a full-color drawing thankfully...

Oh hey... I could certainly... draw by hand an then trace the line with paths :0
Oh shit... that is going to make my life so much easier D:
Oh man. I so need to do that D:
I don't know why I forgot about that option

Updated connection of the leg to the torso.



Seems better. Might need a bit more fine-tuning, but the it's getting there.
I'm not convinced I can get the perspective 100% right here without more heavy-handed anatomy modifications, but tbh I've just about had my fill of those. It doesn't look wrong enough anymore that I can bring myself to bother.

I'll proceed to edit the curves a bit on the other side of the torso, so it doesn't look asymmetrical.

Also I've been watching some Marc Brunet videos for a while and I've been made aware of a couple of tricks that I literally can't not apply here if I want a proper pay-off in the end.




Boy do I not look forward to applying line weight to everything