Drawing Sketchbook doodles

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

I'm glad! I was a little worried he'd come out too feminine, because I was using a reference of a girl, but I think it turned out alright.

Elves are "fairer" than humans, so it can be a tricky balance for sure. I've had people mistake my drawings of male Elves as girls before. 🙄 I don't think yours looks too feminine, though. It looks like most other art I see of male Elves (and I don't mean it's not unique; I just mean I can easily recognize it as Maedhros.)

Really? I was thinking that her expression was a little clearer, more 'disappointed' looking. I feel like I tend to lean towards blank-er expressions because it makes drawing the face easier, and I'm trying to get away from that. I think I could've pushed it a little farther, that's all.

To me at least, the girl looks more angry/focused. Your Maedhros looks more weary and sad, which is a subtler expression, but one I like better for his character.

 

[Laurë]

Elves are "fairer" than humans, so it can be a tricky balance for sure. I've had people mistake my drawings of male Elves as girls before. 🙄

Lol, my mom does that all the time! I have a few male 'elvish' characters from my own worldbuilding project that I draw often and she always mistakes them for girls 😅. (Elvish in quotes because they're my own modified and tinkered with version)

To me at least, the girl looks more angry/focused. Your Maedhros looks more weary and sad, which is a subtler expression, but one I like better for his character.

True, she does seem a bit more aggressive then he would be.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Lol, my mom does that all the time! I have a few male 'elvish' characters from my own worldbuilding project that I draw often and she always mistakes them for girls 😅. (Elvish in quotes because they're my own modified and tinkered with version)

It's super frustrating! I have an aunt who thought my big drawing of Maedhros (the one in my PFP) was a girl! When I explained that he's an Elf and the males have long hair and no beards, she told me the facial features still looked feminine. I'm not sure where she got that from, because his jaw and cheekbones are pretty sharp. But since then, I stopped showing the drawing to people who don't understand Tolkien Elves.

 

[Laurë]

It's super frustrating! I have an aunt who thought my big drawing of Maedhros (the one in my PFP) was a girl! When I explained that he's an Elf and the males have long hair and no beards, she told me the facial features still looked feminine. I'm not sure where she got that from, because his jaw and cheekbones are pretty sharp. But since then, I stopped showing the drawing to people who don't understand Tolkien Elves.

(sorry I missed this 😓)
That's so strange! Especially with insisting that his face looks feminine, because I feel like you always do a great job of giving the male elves masculine looking features. I feel like I have less ground to complain in that regard, because the specific elvish OC I draw a lot isn't very masculine or 'beefy' for plot reasons so it's not too surprising he's mistaken for a girl, but the same couldn't be said for your Maitimo.

I do have some more doodles to show you guys, these ones are a bit more random. I actually took the pictures at reasonable time of day this time, it's amazing how much better my drawings look under natural lighting 😅

I watched the lotr trilogy recently because it's a christmas tradition for my family, so I was in the mood to draw Frodo. I don't draw hobbits very often, though I always have fun when I do:
I ended up making his hair a bit longer here, maybe it grows out over the course of the quest or something. My main goal was to make him like tired, which I think worked out.

Another frodo, this one more of a silly doodle. Every time I see art of hobbits that shows them as cute little guys I love it, so that's what I was doing here. He's holding Sting, and I tried to add the mithril shirt under his tunic but it's so tiny you can't really see.

Next we have younger Celeborn and Galadriel dancing. I kind of just drew this randomly, so I didn't use a reference but i think the pose still looks alright despite that. I put them both in dark clothing because I couldn't decide what colors to use, and only later realized that it sort of looks like they're at a funeral . . . oh well. Maybe there's some kind of night festival that they were black too or something that would constitute dancing.
Celeborn's hair piece thing is inspired by a Grecian hairnet I saw online. I really want to sit down and do solid, unique character designs for a lot of the characters, Celeborn included. Visually I think it'd be fun if the elves each had a distinctive hairstyle and outfit choice, because it can get boring drawing them all with similar hairstyles and clothing. I've yet to sit down and do it though, so here I mostly just based Celeborn's design off of other fanart I've seen and that sort of thing.

Finally, it wouldn't be a post form me if I didn't include Kano in some compacity, right? I ended up doing a colored pencil thing of him that somewhat matches the one I did of Nelyo, though in real life it's on different paper and a much different size. I did it quite late at night, and I think my color mixing suffered because it's a little iffy in places, but overall I like how it turned out.

He's thinking about something--maybe what to make Elrond and Elros for dinner🤣

 

[Laurë]

Hey there! It's been awhile, but I'm back with a few doodles. My schedules changed, so I work on my school paintings everyday now instead of every other day. While I love all the extra time to finish up my portfolio, it's definitely made it harder to have the energy to work on personal art.

(Speaking of which--around a month ago, I was sharing some wip photos of an oil painting in the 'what art projects are you working on?' thread. I was finally able to get a nice picture of the finished painting, and I'm not certain if I should post it in the same thread because it's finished now. Perhaps I should start a thread in The Prancing Pony for my non-Tolkien artwork and paintings? I'm curious as to what your thoughts are).

Anyway, onto some of my recent doodles.

First off is a thing I actually finished today. I randomly ended up seeing a circular shaped portrait composition on Pinterest, and I liked it so I tried it out with the boys: (Maglor on the left Maedhros on the right)

I quite like how Maglor turned out, but I think Maedhros's head is a bit wonky looking. That, and I was visiting family when I colored it, and the random markers I chose to take with me fit Maglor color scheme a lot better. The mauve I used for Mae's hair is fine, but it looks a little dull instead of pastel.
Close ups:

Next we have bunch of Maglor sketches tucked here and there among other things. He's pretty easy to doodle, and he's my favorite character, so what can I say? 🤣 Some of them may be a bit wonky, but I think they're cute anyway. I've been trying to play around with my stylization, which is why his features are different then the portrait above.

(look how happy he is to crammed in next to my bio notes! lol)

Next are some Caranthir drawings, because I randomly felt like drawing him:

Like I said, I'm trying to play around with stylization, so I wanted him to have more distinct features. That said, I definitely need to sit down and hammer out what I think Feanor and Nerdanel's features would look like, that way I make their sons look like them, and of course look like each other. My vague thoughts on Moryo's likeness are that the stronger nose is Nerdanel's, and the wider eyes are Fëanor's. I wonder what your thoughts are on their features? I'm trying to draw less faces that all look the same, and part of that is deciding what exactly characters look like in my head.
I realize this design of him comes off pretty vampire-y, which I'm honestly fine with. I mean, you can only do so many original things with 'Rich man that looks mildly evil, and has long black hair' 🤣. The cloak I gave him isn't helping, I know, but it's actually inspired by Caitlyn Kiramman, so it's not like I was trying to make him look like a vampire. I think maybe giving the cloak a lighter color helped though? I like it either way, a lighter cloak makes it seem like he'd be less likely to 'get his hands dirty' which is in character in my head.

Next is a drawing of Caranthir and Haleth, with that same Caranthir design. I actually don't really like how his face looks in this one, I think the whole thing is a little too wonky, but it's cute so whatever. This ship is growing on me, if I'm being honest. Their dynamic has a slightly different vibe than the other human/elf pairings, which I think is one of the reasons why I like it. I don't know, it's hard to explain.

Here's a little colored pencil drawing of Finno:

I keep getting the itch to draw him, but then when I do, I'm always disappointed with how it looks. I'm not sure why, I just don't end up happy with it. I didn't like this one either, but after sharing it with some other friends they said it wasn't too bad, and it's grown on me. I definitely want to do a more polished thing of him soon though, to really do him justice.

And to finish off, here's silly little sketch of Finrod holding a baby Galadriel:

I think it'd be funny if baby Arta was irrationally scared of Finrod because he's a little to over-excitable and fidgety for a toddler lol 🤣. Poor thing just wants to be put down so she can play.

That's all for today, thanks for reading and talking a look! Have a great weekend, everyone!

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

Next are some Caranthir drawings, because I randomly felt like drawing him:

I do like your clothing design for Caranthir, especially the contrast between his red tunic and his hair. I also like his unimpressed/bored/annoyed facial expression.

And to finish off, here's silly little sketch of Finrod holding a baby Galadriel:

I think it'd be funny if baby Arta was irrationally scared of Finrod because he's a little to over-excitable and fidgety for a toddler lol 🤣. Poor thing just wants to be put down so she can play.

This was so cute and funny lol. I like the idea.

 

[Laurë]

I do like your clothing design for Caranthir, especially the contrast between his red tunic and his hair. I also like his unimpressed/bored/annoyed facial expression.

Hehe I'm glad! He's just mildly done with everyone lol, I'd be too if I had such chaotic brothers 🤣.

This was so cute and funny lol. I like the idea.

Thanks! It was mildly inspired by my brother trying to hold my toddler niece, lol.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

First off is a thing I actually finished today. I randomly ended up seeing a circular shaped portrait composition on Pinterest, and I liked it so I tried it out with the boys

But this is so good tho!! If I saw it on Pinterest, I'd most likely pin it to my Fëanorian board!

Seriously, I'm kind of amazed by your talent in art, especially given your age. You mentioned deliberately working on your style, and I've always felt your art has a distinctive style, which is a fairly advanced thing and can take a long time to develop.

 

[Laurë]

But this is so good tho!! If I saw it on Pinterest, I'd most likely pin it to my Fëanorian board!

Thanks!

I do need to sit down and really figure out Nelyo's scars though. I think it makes sense for him to have some on his face, but every time I draw him I just end up doing some randomly placed slashes. I won't to sit down and give him something a bit more distinct that I can draw every time. I haven't gotten around to it, which is another reason why I think I'm less happy with this drawing of him.

Seriously, I'm kind of amazed by your talent in art, especially given your age. You mentioned deliberately working on your style, and I've always felt your art has a distinctive style, which is a fairly advanced thing and can take a long time to develop.

Aw, that's very kind! Art style is a really hard thing to not only grasp but work out for yourself. Often other people can tell you made something, and that it fits into the overall 'look' of your work, but you can't. That, and there's the matter of not liking your style even if you have one, lol 😅. I've always had trouble with that. For now though, I've been trying to focus on learning how to draw things, and then hoping that personal stylization will come naturally with a more advanced visual library. I suppose we'll see!

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

Perhaps I should start a thread in The Prancing Pony for my non-Tolkien artwork and paintings?

Yes, I think you should. I also have a thread for things not necessarily Tolkien related (Curvo's Crafts)

 

[Laurë]

Yes, I think you should. I also have a thread for things not necessarily Tolkien related (Curvo's Crafts)

Alright then! I'll try and throw that together sometime soon.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Art style is a really hard thing to not only grasp but work out for yourself. Often other people can tell you made something, and that it fits into the overall 'look' of your work, but you can't.

That's true. Art style just comes from practicing a lot. I think it's kind of like handwriting, where you can't control it that much, but as you write enough you see what it consistently looks like. And we can try to play with different overall styles (realism vs cartoony, for example) but it's always going to look like yours.

@Server Room Gremlin was the first person to put words to my art style, when she described it as "doll-like." I've taken that idea with me and embraced it in all my artwork since then.

 

[Laurë]

That's true. Art style just comes from practicing a lot. I think it's kind of like handwriting, where you can't control it that much, but as you write enough you see what it consistently looks like. And we can try to play with different overall styles (realism vs cartoony, for example) but it's always going to look like yours.

Yep! I guess I just want to know how to draw a lot of different things in different styles, and if they all still end up looking like mine then even better, lol.

@Server Room Gremlin was the first person to put words to my art style, when she described it as "doll-like." I've taken that idea with me and embraced it in all my artwork since then.

Oh yeah, I totally agree! Especially with how you draw the eyes and hair!

I feel like mine is a weird amalgamation of some of the Japanese comics I read growing up, as well as a lot of the western artists I admire.

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

I really liked them all, but the first two stood out to me, and the one drawing of Fingon.

The first two kinda looks like coins to me, I don't know why.

 

[Laurë]

I really liked them all, but the first two stood out to me, and the one drawing of Fingon.

The first two kinda looks like coins to me, I don't know why.

Thank you!

My mom actually asked me if they were coins when she saw them, lol! Maybe the currency of Himring and Maglor's Gap has their lord's face plastered on one side they way we do with leaders irl 🤣

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Maybe the currency of Himring and Maglor's Gap has their lord's face plastered on one side they way we do with leaders irl 🤣

Maitimo would be so embarrassed, lol!! He'd be like, "I don't want everyone passing around coins with my FACE on it 😭"

 

[Laurë]

Maitimo would be so embarrassed, lol!! He'd be like, "I don't want everyone passing around coins with my FACE on it 😭"

Hehehehehe I can imagine his advisers insisting on it to help with his public image, but he blushes every time he has to handle money. Meanwhile, Kano just straight up forgets his face is on theme, and repeatedly gets jump scared. 🤣

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Hehehehehe I can imagine his advisers insisting on it to help with his public image, but he blushes every time he has to handle money. Meanwhile, Kano just straight up forgets his face is on theme, and repeatedly gets jump scared. 🤣

*Maitimo complaining to Aranya* They didn't even put my good side on there!

*Aranya is unsympathetic* Either side of your face is your good side. Quit complaining.

 

[Laurë]

*Maitimo complaining to Aranya* They didn't even put my good side on there!

*Aranya is unsympathetic* Either side of your face is your good side. Quit complaining.

🤣
Kano, going through his wallet to find change while shopping: WHY ON EARTH IS THERE--
Kano: Oh that's right.

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

Maitimo would be so embarrassed, lol!! He'd be like, "I don't want everyone passing around coins with my FACE on it 😭"

Can I have one with my face on it? The ladies agree.
Ranissë: 🔪
Tyelko:...or not.