Where are those points supposed to be?

[jeffbert]

Here is what the Italian encyclpedia says about his hair: and above all Topolino : same in fact it is the position of the round orecchie and of hats to tip, position that, for both, it never does not change from whichever angle-shot is designs to you. But the idea for hats of Atom also comes from the stizze that Tezuka had when was waked up.

google translation of article Boy Star

[Haruka-chan]

Hmmm Atom's hair is quite an interesting topic. It took me awhile but after rewatching the 80s series many times, looking at the few manga i have (>_< no money) and observing the many figures i have and rotating them i was able to figure it out some time ago.

Atom's hair is hardly consistent and there are a few angles of his head where the hair is not correct but has been changed to.....erm look better i guess XD Anyway because his hair is black its hard to see what the angle really is unless its another colour or has been lighted by something ^^

The best picture you can probably look at (from the 80s) are those of Tobio. Note how his hair points out above his ears at a backward angle. Atom's hair is modelled off this idea (one point really isnt higher than the other as i used to think as a kid). The picture of Astro as a dog is another good example except for the fact, as i stated before, the angle has been tweaked a little (in this case to empathsis the ear look ^^).

Taking the above into consideration it explains how Atom's points can look the way they do in the 60s ending as you mentioned before. Another thing is when the view is looking him straight on it explains how one point is not higher than the other and they both stick out --> \()/ LOL i'll put up pictures i have that show this better when i am at home not Uni ^^; Although in this view they are often tweaked and one is put higher than the other. To illustrate this here is a drawing i did of Atom recently:

http://www.arch.usyd.edu.au/~abel2906/atom.jpg

As in many pictures you might see i have raised his right point a little more than the left....while this is not the correct position/angle (should be the same as the left) it is a thing that was often done in drawings and i was merely copying that style as opposed to being ...er anatomically correct ^^ However the angle of his spikes is most changed in his side on view. I have an image in a manga book which actually shows the correct position of the topmost one (i'll scan and add pics when i'm at home ^^; ). Normally from the side on view you see the top spike as tho it is coming from the top of his head, however its really coming from just above his ear remember .... in the correct picture its actually a bit lower and not as long.

OK i know this explaination must be a bit hard without pictures so i'll be sure to add them when i get a chance (and remember where all the good ones that show it best are ^^; ). Oh just remembered...in the 80's Robot Circus check out when Hamegg grabs Astro by the hair. As his head moves side to side you will see that he is grabbing just above the ears on both sides ^_^

EDIT: ah also check out True, the liar robot from the 80's, ^^ his points are ALMOST exactly the same as Atom's

[jeffbert]

I hope you do not mind my putting this here. I do not know why you did not do it yourself. Anyway, this is very good. My sole critique is that his waistband is far too thin. Ok, I think his feet are a bit too big, but they were little more than toes attached to his legs, so he definately had room for some feet between them. Ooops, I just caught another flaw. Atom is always depicted with exactly 5 eyelashes for each eye. You need to add 1 per.

As your drawing lacks color, I might assume that it is of the 60s version, but that version has onlt 3 fingers + the thumb per hand. However, as you refer solely to the 80s cartoon, I will defer my critique.

[Haruka-chan]

Well basically i just gave the link to save people on a slow connection ^^; i used to have dialup so i know it can be a pain loading a forum page full of images.

The other reason is probably because i havent quite finished the picture. I hadn't intended to put it online yet as it needs just a little doctoring still, but i found my lack of images to accompany my explanation annoying. Also i'm actually in the middle using photoshop for a colour version (just have to add shading). As for your critiques ^_^ :

Well i think my style of drawing Atom, in this picture at least, is a bit of a cross between mainly the manga/60's and the new series. Actually it's the first drawing i have done of Atom in many many months and since seeing a few episodes of the new series i decided to let that style influence me a little more this time. There is also, of course, my own drawing style in there (for example, oversizing feet XD even if i don't mean to <_< ).

Hmmmm the waistband doesn't seem too small to me Granted it is on the small side.... but if you take a good look at all the Atom series and manga you will see it varies in size rather greatly ^^; sometimes it's enormus....other times rather thin. I have noticed it tends to be larger in the 80's and new series.....anyway i bring the size down to my style and style of the drawing i was aiming for ^^; ...and I wasnt aiming at a perfect Atom replica . At least i didn't for once flare the legs overly which is another thing i tend to do sometimes (sometimes just a _little_ too much ^^; ).

The feet......for some reason i always draw them extra large....maybe i think it will compensate my unhappiness with my hand drawing ability But they take after the new series more because of their size ^^

Ah the eyelashes <_< yes i know, my bad. I didnt actually notice i made the error until i had scanned in the image and was using PhotoShop to remove the lines in the image from my Uni notebook. 1....2.....3.....4...... >_< *slaps forehead*. This is already fixed for the almost done colour version, but as i said before this image isn't complete, so Atom will have to deal with 4 lashes until i have my final Uni assignments done and time to PhotoShop ^^;

Lack of colour....well personally these days i prefer doing all my sketches in pencil, scanning and then using PhotoShop to colour them. Maybe because i'm a perfectionist when it comes to my work so i like more control over the fiddly bits ....hate rubbing out colour. Hmmm i didnt even notice i used 80's references the most in my description ^^; well probably because i have seen all the 80's series, only 4 episodes of the new and hmmmm 5 of the 60's. Plus a few manga books, so those references came most easily to mind as it was usually the 80 series and various images i could find on the web that i used to come to my conclusion a few years ago ^^

Er what else........i'm not a perfect drawer

[DrFrag]

I think it's fantastic! I suck at drawing.

[jeffbert]

Despite all my critiques, it is very good. How long did you take drawing it? I have done some drawings, but as I draw faces, if they are not just right, I am not happy. I could spend 20 minutes just on the eyes. I guess, even though I did a few decent pics, because they took over an hour each, I really am not much of an artist. Now it just hurts my hand, wrist, and fingers to draw anything that takes that long. Maybe I will be better at cartoon faces than real ones.

One more mean ol' critique: Atom has Popeye arms and legs. His forearms and calves are often depicted as bigger around than his thighs and upper arms (Maybe this is unique to the manga). Although in the 80s, he seems to have cylindrical arms and legs, they still seem to have those proportions, although nowhere as obvious as Popeye.

[Haruka-chan]

Hmmmm in the 80's he was definatly more er...cylindrical ^^ that is one of the things i love about the manga/60's version, and now the new series, that it has that sort of style and takes a lot from the manga/60's (if you have seen the 60's version you will know his feet make this cute little squeaking sound as he walks which has been used in the new series ). Well i made the arms overly big.....but i don't like being too over the top on that otherwise it ends up looking silly....as it would given the rest of the style of the drawing

How long did it take......hmmm well i drew it at Uni....i think all in one day. It was sort of on and off in two classes and a bit at lunch break...so :huh: i guess a little over 3 hours.... i always start with the head then move to the shoulders (sometimes just outline and not the minor details like eyes etc) then do a brief light sketch to figure out the length and position of the rest of the body. Then i move on to making teh lines more definate and adding detail then a little shading then its on to scanning if i think the drawing is worthy enough ^^

[jeffbert]

I use the squeaky feet as the sound effect that signals Windows is loaded. I used the "go, go, go!" as the sound for windows logging on, but the rotten thing would not stop playing its own default sound. Even after I hunted down and deleted every wav file that I myself did not create! :angry: My intent was that it should sound like he is taking a few steps and launching himself into the air.


If you are concerned about dailups being booged down loading your pic, I can edit my post, and remove the reference to it. I have enjoyed broad band for almost a year and a half, and have forgotten how painful it can be to wait for large images to load.

[Loüßëãr]

I absolutly love to sketch but having two kids under 4 keeps me too busy to endulge and not been able to find time to even pick up a pencil is frustrating but I havent drawn for 3 years so I may have lost my touch :wacko: but I love your pic. It is great. I hate drawing faces as I seem to make them look completly wrong in relation to the body, head etc so I am envious of your effort in such a short time. CONGRATS!!
The closest I get to sctching is fiddling on Paintshop Pro with my Kisekae but that is needing attention too. So keep up the great work you are a very talented artist

[jeffbert]

Okay, this is from The Transformation Robot. The guy in the picture is Snare, who works for Mandrake the Fourth (remember that guy with the funny voice?).

Anyway, Snare shoots Buck's dad, and then tells Buck that his dad was kidnapped by "a robot with horns on his head like this". (meaning Astro)

Does this gesture really refer to Atom's hair?

According to Japanese Beyond Words, it "means that there is an angry wife waiting at home." :wahah: It goes further to state "the silk cap-like headdress A Japanese bride wears on her wedding day is called tsuno-kakushi, literally, 'something to hide the horns.'" :wahah: :wahah: