34 replies to this topic

[ENiGMA]

It's not just WebComic of NiGHTS I am planning but I just wanna get better at art and I hoped to get better not just by browsing galleies but by asking for any advice you can provide.

My art style is traditional with basic colouring pencils and want to be good on PhotoShop, any advice given is mostly apreciated.

Here is my devART gallery:
~MysticM

The gallery is mostly traditional Art and one bets shot I could do with PhotoShop.

[animejosse]

First, your link just leads to DA itself ^^; Second, I think it's better if you post the pics you want to improve here so people can see and comment at once rather than logging into DA first.

[ENiGMA]

OK, fixed the link... Id like to improove... well everywhere, Id like the pictures in my mind I draw to actually look like the pictures I have drawn, the only pictures I came close is my picture of the Enigma (Not ENiGMA, thats totally different) but I had references from an art book.

[KiloTango]

One important thing with improving is to try and focus on one aspect at a time, otherwise it gets overwhelming.

Also, I saw on your DA you're worried about wasting your materials. Don't be. Watercolours last for AGES. But they're quite unforgiving at first so take a bit of getting used to.

I would suggest focusing on your anatomy and linework for a bit before you worry too much about your colouring.

[Mitsuu]

Hmm, I agree with Kilo, definately focus on anatomy and lines before anything else. I highly suggest reading Drawing Comics the Marvel Way. It seems most people(looks like you fit in this category) want to draw manga like, but this book has a very good section on techniques for drawing humans, no matter the style.

[KiloTango]

I'd actually recommend that book over how to draw manga books even if you want to draw manga. That way you don't learn your style from a book.

Also if you're old enough, life drawing classes and anatomy books are very very useful.

[ENiGMA]

I think perhaps I may already have that book your on about somewhere... "Manga Mania"?

[KiloTango]

No really, 'How to Draw Comics The Marvel Way' is amazing and that's just it's title.

Otherwise use a general artist's anatomy book, or something like Hogarth's Drawing Dynamic Figures.

It's a lot easier to do good stylised stuff if you can do okay vaguely realistic stuff.

[Mitsuu]

It's a lot easier to do good stylised stuff if you can do okay vaguely realistic stuff.

Absolutely true!!! Advice to any beggining artists, start with the real things. That's how my art teacher teaches.

[ENiGMA]

You mean like still life items?
Also, know where I cna get reference pictires of Dolphin NiGHTS?

[Maki Izumii]

Check out the 'art resources' thread for some awesome links to anatomy references and general help! (it is, after all, why it was made )
Drawing humans from observation can be a bit daunting at first, I actually have a lot of trouble getting started because my rendering skills with traditional media aren't all that good (I've been using a tablet for about 5 years now e_e). When improving artwork, there are a LOT of things to look at and focus on - linework, colour use, anatomy, shading, media techniques, this list goes on for ages! If you really want to though, you'll pull through!

[KiloTango]

Also, experiment with different materials and styles you wouldn't usually do. I find alternating between CG and natural media really helps. I tend to improve my composition and colour choices with CG, and my rendering with natural media, and the two build on each other.

Though on colouring with natural media:

To help with your pencil work (I'm fairly good with coloured pencils) I recommend layering stuff up to get richer colours. Work lightly all in one direction but then go over things again in a different direction, which will start to hide the 'streaks' of which way you've coloured. You can also use a clear pencil or a lighter colour a bit harder over the top to 'glaze' things and help you loose a bit of the paper white that shines through. Also, you'll get a richer, less washed out look if when you're trying to make a light or medium shade of something, you mix a light colour and a dark colour instead of just working very lightly with the dark colour.

It also helps a lot to use darker lines to help separate your objects. They don't HAVE to be inked, or in black, but bringing your shading to a dark edge can help, or outright going over the lines in a strong colour. Unless you're really good at getting the colour values right, it can be difficult to get a sense of depth and form otherwise and your drawing ends up more a collection of shapes than a scene, if you see what I mean.

[ENiGMA]

By CG you mean computers? Like PhotoShop, GIMP etc? I need ALOT of help with that. X3

[KiloTango]

Yeah, CG = Computer Graphics.

[ENiGMA]

Besides PhotoShop I am learning the basics of 3D Canvas.

[Lost in Dream]

I would suggest any of Christopher Hart's drawing books. THey are pretty thorough.

[Mitsuu]

I would suggest any of Christopher Hart's drawing books. THey are pretty thorough.

I have to disagree, I do not like his books at all. I didn't learn anything, and the books just irritated me in general. Plus there are about 18,000 of them populating the art section at B.A.M., so sad.

Edit- I'm sorry, I guess this would be grave-digging, I posted on impulse.

[Murasaki Doku]

Personally, I don't find art books to be very helpful. I learn stuff by looking at artists...say, someone drew a hand in a particular position that I've never tired before, so I take that position and try to recreate it in my own style.

That, and most of the art books I've "read" have naked models, and most of the time they are NOT negligent to include *every detail*, if you know what I mean, and it can be really distracting...

[KiloTango]

Life drawing is important though. You're better off being able to draw nudes and learn how fabric falls and creases, and combine the two skills. That way you can draw anybody wearing anything (or indeed nothing if you feel like it).

[Murasaki Doku]

Life drawing is important though. You're better off being able to draw nudes and learn how fabric falls and creases, and combine the two skills. That way you can draw anybody wearing anything (or indeed nothing if you feel like it).

Perhaps, important, but not neccessary. I'm trying to take a step back from realism, because I find myself spending hours upon hours trying to get something RIGHT instead of enjoying myself...I feel that any art form should be a calming activity that doesn't add more stress to your life.

Besides, you don't need to have a realistic style to make amazing work. Look at Thweatted...she has the most cartoony style in the world--barely realistic at all--but it's still amazing stuff.

[KiloTango]

Perhaps, important, but not neccessary. I'm trying to take a step back from realism, because I find myself spending hours upon hours trying to get something RIGHT instead of enjoying myself...I feel that any art form should be a calming activity that doesn't add more stress to your life.

Besides, you don't need to have a realistic style to make amazing work. Look at Thweatted...she has the most cartoony style in the world--barely realistic at all--but it's still amazing stuff.

I'm pretty sure Thewatted has solid groundwork as well as her own style. Her stuff is really really versatile but also really well put together. If you totally stick to being stylised in one way, you can only ever draw that. If you learn the basic stuff about anatomy, expression, drapery and rendering, you can stylise that to look however you want, do it in different styles as well. The best stylised stuff still captures something from life, be it just a sense of movement or mood but it's still there. I'm not saying realism as a style is better than cartoony, what I mean is that just KNOWING how things work, the proportions of the body, the way clothes stretch and crease, the way shadows fall, that kinda stuff, knowing about that will inform and improve all your comic stuff regardless of weather you stick to those 'rules' or not. And drawing from life is one of the best ways of getting a handle on that information. You don't have to do it all the time, but it's still really really useful.

Art should be fun, yeah, but if you really want to improve you have to push yourself. It's not about getting it 'right', but it's often about getting it the best you can make it. Pushing yourself is hard work, but if you love what you do then that hard work is also fun. It's fine to just do stuff to chill sometimes, but getting better takes a bit of work. (I'm one of those people who's never happy with the standard I'm at and always wanting to get better, so I don't mind it adding a little stress so long as the enjoyment balances it out.)

[Mitsuu]

I'm pretty sure Thewatted has solid groundwork as well as her own style. Her stuff is really really versatile but also really well put together. If you totally stick to being stylised in one way, you can only ever draw that. If you learn the basic stuff about anatomy, expression, drapery and rendering, you can stylise that to look however you want, do it in different styles as well. The best stylised stuff still captures something from life, be it just a sense of movement or mood but it's still there. I'm not saying realism as a style is better than cartoony, what I mean is that just KNOWING how things work, the proportions of the body, the way clothes stretch and crease, the way shadows fall, that kinda stuff, knowing about that will inform and improve all your comic stuff regardless of weather you stick to those 'rules' or not. And drawing from life is one of the best ways of getting a handle on that information. You don't have to do it all the time, but it's still really really useful.

Art should be fun, yeah, but if you really want to improve you have to push yourself. It's not about getting it 'right', but it's often about getting it the best you can make it. Pushing yourself is hard work, but if you love what you do then that hard work is also fun. It's fine to just do stuff to chill sometimes, but getting better takes a bit of work. (I'm one of those people who's never happy with the standard I'm at and always wanting to get better, so I don't mind it adding a little stress so long as the enjoyment balances it out.)

I totally agree with you. I learned a little bit of anatomy, not a lot, but it's helped me immensely with drawing my characters.

[Nickbot]

Okay. I'll try to help you out the best way I can with drawing. But keep in mind that drawing takes a long time and a lot of practice. Though I"m sure you're well aware of that. After looking at your gallery a bit, I can see you have potential indeed. But what has to be done first is you need to get used to the basics of drawing itself. And that means learning gesture drawings and being able to get them down to a decent time that can help you create a lot of awesome drawings and poses that you may or may not want to use.

If you are not familiar with gesture drawings, they are quick sketches that simply get you used to placement and posture of the image you see or the image you are drawing. It's a bunch of shapes, lines and the simplest of the simple placement of key points in an illustration. A lot of artists start out with this for any of their drawings. And it can really help out the eye to make fast decisions and helps you think of "what if" placements in an illustration.

So with that said, here's what I would like to see. This was the exercise that my art teacher in grade school told me to do. Take one hour out of the day, search for any picture of something/someone, take one minute to draw out the basic outlines of the figure such as shapes lines, swooshes and positions. This isn't going to be a pretty sight so get used to that. Try to get as many done as you can in one hour. I wanna see these too, should you choose to try this exercise out. If you think this helps I'll be glad to go on with more stuff.

Hope this is useful to get you going. And hope to hear some good results. Good luck!

[KiloTango]

Listen to Nickbot, he speaks the truth.

[Maki Izumii]

Agreed.

I picked up an artists' anatomy reference book for $10 (bargain!) the other day and I've been dedicating like, an hour a day to studying it and copying out of it - art is a LOT like a musical instrument - anyone can play one, but it takes a LOT of practise and dedication to get good at it. Comics, even simple ones, require a consistant art style, good rendering techniques, and a lot of the time, the ability to draw any character in any pose at any angle - a feat that is not accomplished by simply reading a book or watching a video. Try drawing from both memory and observation, as drawing from memory will show you how much you've learnt from drawing from observation.

It may seem like it's not what you want to do, but trust me, it helps a LOT and it will also help you develop your own unique style.
On the subject of unique styles, look EVERYWHERE for inspiration - Manga and Jhonen Vasquez-like styles are EVERYWHERE these days, but if you look at different artists (both classical and modern) and try to study what makes their style unique, you can find bits and bobs to add to your own style (for example, my realism studies have made me not draw pointy-anime-style noses anymore, and my research into Kingdom Hearts concept art has changed the way I draw eyes) (I'm also much better at drawing dudes )
..buuut stylizing your art comes later - you have to learn the basics first if you want to do something with your art such as a web comic.

[KiloTango]

In fact, on gesture drawing:

(WARNING NAKED SKINNLESS BODIES ON THIS SITE)

http://www.posemania...irtysecond.html

30 second pose site.



Another tip, check out photography websites for tips on composition, to help the layouts of your images really shine. Also, pay attention to HOW your favourite comic artists use panel shapes, angles and layouts to get the effects they want, and also try looking at the effects of framing, angle, colour choice and composition in film and animation as well. Drawing comics is as much about good storytelling as it is about well rendered characters.

[Mitsuu]

So with that said, here's what I would like to see. This was the exercise that my art teacher in grade school told me to do. Take one hour out of the day, search for any picture of something/someone, take one minute to draw out the basic outlines of the figure such as shapes lines, swooshes and positions. This isn't going to be a pretty sight so get used to that. Try to get as many done as you can in one hour. I wanna see these too, should you choose to try this exercise out. If you think this helps I'll be glad to go on with more stuff.

Hope this is useful to get you going. And hope to hear some good results. Good luck!

You should start an art help thread where you give everyone challenges like this or something.

[Amy Rose]

You should start an art help thread where you give everyone challenges like this or something.

Yeah, I could benefit from it too (needs help badly)

[KiloTango]

Actually that would be a really good idea. Or even if not challenges, we could do a weekly task thing.

[Amy Rose]

Weekly masterclass/task things sound brilliant!
The more experienced artists could take it in turns to bestow their wisdom upon us perhaps

[cherrycat]

It's not just WebComic of NiGHTS I am planning but I just wanna get better at art and I hoped to get better not just by browsing galleies but by asking for any advice you can provide.

My art style is traditional with basic colouring pencils and want to be good on PhotoShop, any advice given is mostly apreciated.

Here is my devART gallery:
~MysticM

The gallery is mostly traditional Art and one bets shot I could do with PhotoShop.

Your style is cool!
Just practice is all you need, smoothen out the edges ya know.
I cant tell you how to draw your style because its originally you.Everyones style differs from person to person, with enouph practice I see you mastering photoshop in no time!

also dont be flattered by tablets, I personally barely use it.all ya gotta do is scan a drawing that either is a colorless outline or a colored completion and just touch it up with some photoshop graphics.
If ya wanna see my deviantart its http://fluffpillow.deviantart.com/ .
Practice!Practice!Practice! ( I'm sorry I cant help but have an upbeat attitude when I cant sleep )

[TRiPPY]

http://www.posemania...irtysecond.html

omg! That website is crazy amounts of fun! My scribbles look like poo but its very helpful XD

[Nickbot]

You should start an art help thread where you give everyone challenges like this or something.

I suppose I could do something like that, however I don't claim to be a professional artist by any nature. And there was a time where I did do something called an art Jam in the forums of old, and it was some fun. But I don't know if the hype will pick up so easily here. I am flattered to hear that, though.

All I can say is practice, practice, practice, take a bathroom break, and practice. The best advice ANY artist would give.

[Maki Izumii]

Hey, it'd also be a learning experience for the more advanced artists too, as you can never stop learning and all that jazz, ey? I'd totally be up for it!

[Mitsuu]

Getting better at drawing is like trying to lose weight, you have to excersize and eat right.