#I don't care if my lineart looks good anymore | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mrghostrat · 4 months

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Okay I cant -- I need to say it out loud.

I am 100% sure, at this point, you are my favourite artist so far. And I have to honestly thank you for a lot of stuff so let me get to the point before my anxiety takes me back --

I came across you less than a month ago. I don't remember if I saw your art before reading your fictions (Mon Horrible Cherì was my first) or the other way around, but both inspired me so much I can't describe it properly. Art itself is my absolute weak spot. In my past years I always struggled working on that, I was never happy with my results, and mostly had drawn to pay bills than for my own happyness. In the end I hated it at the point that every line I drew was a cut on my hand instead of a moment of joy. And that was horrendous.

But then I came across your art, at some point - and I was amazed. Your style is something I wished to achieve years ago, or very similar to that at least, so I was totally into looking for more, and more, and more. I can't produce art of that quality, but for the first time I wasn't envious of another artist's ability and talent, I was just... Amazed. I felt very happy, can't say why, but your style totally fascinated me. It still do. Anytime you post something new it gives me a shot of serotonine, it makes me feel happy and inspires me to get back on my Huion and draw something too. I started to push it through everyday, and in less than a month I grew a lot. You don't know that, but you pushed me into art with a passion I didn't had since I was 16, and I turned 30 couple months ago. Now it gives me joy everytime I draw. It doesn't matter if the art I produce is no good, or if I change my style everytime (I'm trying a lot of styles right now), the only thing that matter is the way I feel when I sit here and just let my inspiration go. And I feel happy. Happy to draw. Happy to experiment. Happy to share. Somehow I don't feel ashamed of my art anymore, and I was for a long time. I improved so much in these weeks. I watched carefully almost all of your timelapses (I am in love with all of them btw) and followed your tutorials more than once. Your examples, the way you work, is just inspirational for me. I've seen someone was thankful to you for the way you use references and says people out there to do it too: I want to thank you for that too. References was a taboo until last month for me, and I was SO wrong! Those helps so much!

So, well. I am not sure I wrote this all correctly, english is not my native language (I'm italian) and I may have done some mistakes, well, I do not care. I just hope I was able to express you my gratitude for all you did for me - I had to let you know how much this means to me everyday.

Oh also: I love every part of your art, but I could stare at your linearts for days and never get bored by that. And the way you color! Don't make me start on that. I could speak for hours. Not sure you'll want that, believe me.

So, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for making me believe in myself again. Thank you for giving me back my passion. Thank you for reminding me everyday I can draw for myself, for my own happyness. And thank you for making me happy.

You are a great artist.

Thank you! <3

i put off replying to this because i wanted to draw you something, but i just haven't had the energy after work and dont want u to think im ignoring you 😭

but i dont have WORDS. i'm so fucking proud of you. i'm so happy for you. browsing your blog and seeing the sheer amount of art and AUs you're making is so inspiring. your happiness is contagious and i hope you only continue to grow, and continue to foster all that joy for art.

thank you <3

#ask a rat #rat CRIES #everyone pls go look at fei's blog #this kills the bilv

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onejellyfishplease · 5 months

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I am all about constructive criticism. I mean, how am I supposed to get better at writing/drawing if people won't be honest with me and give me tips to get better. I personally think that people who can't take constructive criticism aren't very bright. How are they supposed to get better at things if they don't listen to others who are just trying to guide them?

Also, I would love some more tips on how to make the shell better. If you are willing, of course. :)

I am horrible at drawing. I usually have to trace things to get a decent drawing. (For instance, I traced like five different things to make Mikey a pony.)

I'm so much better at coloring than I am at drawing. My writing needs work, too, but I'm getting better.

First of all, can I just say that you shouldnt worry about tracing art to improve your own (as long as u aren't posting it as soley your own but thats a whole other rabbit hole) I did too! It helps build ground work for a good understanding of anatomy and poses.

However there are a few holes in tracing. Forst of all it is quite limiting in the outcome of your work, as your art is stuck static in one pose. this can alkost hinder your ability to see things in '3D' and visualise objects for multiple angles. it can also lead to 'skin wrapping' , which i think is the hole you fell into here (and also a term i just made up now)

with the shell, you only coloured it within Mikey's trace lines - this caused the shell to loose a lot of its mass - making it look, quite frankly, not like a shell.

a way to improve on this is to look at more references of Mikey's shell in the show and its shape from different angles. this can help you get a good idea of how it should look, and it is a good idea to practice drawing it from these angles. this will improve your ability to think in a 3D space, (which is so darn hard, but seriously useful)

however, and you may have noticed this yourself, when you add new additions to the figure, the line art just doesnt line up! the line quality is different!

This is because the line you have done for the addition is Your Line. And we love your line.

so lets make the rest of the traced lineart fit into your style, instead of you fitting yours into theirs okay?

You may notice that when you trace art, the line work is just not the same, the lines are shakier than the original and it just doesn't look as good. this is not a reflection of your skill.

It is because, usually, (at least when I did it) you follow the original line so closely that it turns out shaky, probably taking your pen off the page a few times to take a break from the oen stroke. while the original artist did that line in one sweeping stroke.

a way to fix this, and make the line arr cleaner and more you, is to instead use the drawing as a very close reference. for example:

instead of tracing the exact lines of the art, merely trace the general shapes of the art. not only then do you add your own flair and gesture to the drawing, you are then more free to add more shapes to this sketch.

You can still use the reference drawing as closly as you want, but try to focus less on getting the exact lines copied, and more on the general shape. you linework wont be perfect the first time, it might be really messy compared to your usual tracing, and thats fine! you should see some of my sketches before i refine them!

But these will be your lines, theyll be smoother and more gestural, and overtime you will get better control over your penstrokes doing this.

Okay I cant really think of anymore to add here, I hope this helps! i think this was just one big word vomit lol. Keep drawing!! cause no matter what you do, as long as you are actively drawing you are always improving! dont be afraid to push yourself out of you comfort zone! who cares if it doesnt turn out the way you wanted it to? Its your art, You Created That with your Own Hands, and I think that is amazing.

#asks #animal-lover-forever #i really hope this helped #its always hard for me to articulate my thoughts like this lol #YOU ARE GETTING BETTER #YOU ARE ALWAYS GETTING BETTER #art help #i hope #rottmnt #rottmnt mikey #mlp

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soktokki · 8 months

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*inhales deeply*

Woah, your art is so beautiful. How HOW!? I mean, practice of course 😂 blah it's so goodd!! Like the lighting! And the backgrounds! And the EVERYTHING!

*pokes fingers together*

So, do you have any tips or anything for aspiring artists?

BDLSSJKDODHDSKSS THANK YOU SO MUCH?!!?! oh goodness genuinely asks like these make me so happy because thank you for taking time out of your day to send this in?!?!? 😭😭💗💕💖💕💗💕

TIPS?!?! oh man im not gonna tell you to practice, practice, practice because its so basic and everyone always says that AHAHAH hmmmm....

I think what helped me a lot honestly was saving/bookmarking art that i like and think is pretty!! It inspired me a lot to draw more and try to get to their level 😂 also for more practical reasons!! You can look for one(1) thing to apply to your own art. Things like how they draw eyes, how they color skin, what kind of brushes they use!!! If you like it, you get used to it. If you don't, you try something else or tweak it until you do. Once you start mixing things in your routine and get used to it, it eventually becomes your own style!!

I also used to watch a lot speedpaintings to see what other artists processes were. So when i first started out i actually had much looser lineart and rendered a LOT. I dont do this anymore, i dont know what changed, but thats just what happens when you keep drawing!! Things change and thats okay!!!

Also genuinely, and i think this helped me the MOST, draw a character you're obsessed with and WANT to create for. Who cares if it gets repetitive!!! I drew yamaguchi so much i could draw him in my sleep 😅😅

ANOTHER IMPORTANT THING!! Whatever gets your creative juices flowing, just go for it. Dont be scared of messing up or not being good enough to make what you imagined!! It'll all build up and help you get better!!! Then one day, you could go back and redraw your old art and feel better about yourself 🤣🤣

#ask

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kapi-tanka · 1 year

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I'm probably extremely late to say this but I love you MCSM drawings, (especially the Jesskas-) your style is super amazing and I look up to you-

this question was hanging in my ask box for ages. literally. i'm extremely late to answer it too and i'm sorry for even bringing it up, since i’m not into mcsm anymore. decided to do it anyways because my attitude to my art hasn't changed much since then and it's just interesting to me. i have some *art thoughts* about it. so, sorry this answer goes off on a weird tangent honestly? the idea of someone looking up to me was crazy to me then. like, totally unbelievable. and it's still kinda wild to me. i'm rarely happy with my art. not in a hopeless, self-deprecating way, i don't hate it or anything. but i consider myself a pretty average artist. i'm not able to draw *lots* of stuff, on a technical level. and i'm not a very hard-working/dedicated person either to study stuff like perspective and shading in a more deliberate way. i also don't like drawing much. i know it sounds absurd but i'm much more into writing and making storyboards. the process of finalizing sketches is dull and boring to me most of the time but it's what needs to be done so... yeah i believe i currently have zero pieces of my art which i'm 100 percent satisfied with. there's always stuff that doesn't sit with me right. there's always something i kinda regret. i don't even feel like an artist sometimes because there's this idea that artists are free, creative and unbound. i'm nothing like that. my style's rigid, it doesn't change much with time. i'm not very comfortable with experiments, too. my lineart's heavy and careful, my coloring is pretty flat. there's little room for wildness and freedom. maybe it doesn't look like that from another perspective but i guess it's because i try to sprinkle my stuff with jokes and somewhat interesting storytelling but again, i've accepted it. i know that my way of drawing is just a part of me, like a limb or a language. it's inseparable from my way of thinking, even though i often feel trapped in it. i still look at other artists and think "i wish my mind could work like this". and sometimes it's really weird to get positive feedback, especially when i know all the "flaws" and all the unpleasant details about my process but i just wanted to say that... it's okay?? it's okay if you (you as in anyone who reads, not you specifically) draw like that too, if it's a bit painful and tiresome and slow at times. we work it out, every time we draw! and "weak spots" are just back sides of things we're good at and uh. thanks for the ask and your kind words haha! even if it's been a lifetime ago

#asks #also damn it was my birthday today #so it felt right to ponder a bit #personal #art

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kathy-rah · 2 years

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As someone who is slowly learning how to do digital art alone, I may have some advices to give to those who want to start and don't have time/resources to spend a lot of time trying and testing out drawing processes.

These are some things that I've found useful but Boi, it got me a lot of time to get to it. Of course, this is just what I think can be a good advice for who is a newbie like me, you can try it as a way to start your coloring process but it's not something professional t.t so take it with a bit of salt

First advice I wanna give is to do like I did during this drawing process: while I keep everything on different layers (skin tone / armor / hair /detail / background), don't just start with one layer and then start another one after rendering the first one.

Multiple times I've noticed how the different tones didn't match to each other, or the colors were simply horrible to see next to each other. I've spent a lot of time fixing this type of issues in my old drawing, always deleting the layers (fully rendered) or trying to change the tone with horrible results.

Instead, if you too happen to have this problem, I'd advice you to first coloring everything with the base color. As you see in the video, as first thing I simply filled the lineart with base colors. It's not clear but I assure you I've changed his skin tone multiple times because it didn't match the armor. Same with the mask and the red details.

This is something you can easily do at the beginning to see if the colors match and are nice to see all together in the bigger picture.

It's really something easy and I'm 100% sure they teach you this literally at the beginning of art school but Boi I'm stupid. I only learn when I do things myself t.t

Change colors as much as you want until you've reached your desired tones. Be careful of saturation levels. To make everything more balanced, play with the hue level for every base color you've used. You don't like how the red is in contrast with the blue? Change the red layer' hue/saturation values a bit and you'll find the perfect type of red you need.

After you are happy with the overall results, start with the rendering.

This is something I recommend to do if you still aren't used to the use of tones/saturation.

If you need some examples of the pieces where I struggled, here you go: this one is probably my fav one even now that I draw from pc.

Before:

As you can see there isn't balance in the colors. Fulgrim's skin is too much out of everything and in general there is too much differences between the colors. It just doesn't look harmonious. Then:

I assure you I haven't re-drawn anything here, just fixed the saturation, tones and hue levels (and added a bit more of shadows), yet now everything matches. (i also have changed the color of the lineart in a few places, look at the hair for example).

This might looks obvious to others, but I've spent a lot of time on this piece with the only focus on making those colors look nicely together and with time I've learned from my mistakes.

Another example: the commission I did a few weeks ago. I had to draw an Imperial fist, so you'd expect to see a yellow armor. Considering that I painted the background with red colors, bright yellow would have been quite a shock to see: that's why the base color is not yellow but orange. Same thing the clothes aren't white anymore but a light pink.

On a white background it looks weird for an IF armor, yet this is the result at the end:

Yellow is only for the parts hit by the light, where the shadow are more on the red tones. (don't mind the light blue for now)

Of course, you have to take in consideration many things before changing the hues of the original colors, but I hope this could help c:

#Art tips #For newbies like me #Just in case you're struggling with the colors like used to do #Kind of rambling #Video #My art #Digital art #Long post #Might also be wrong but at least it's a start

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just-like-playing-tag · 4 years

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A totally self indulgent compilation of my favorite works on this blog of the year June 13, 2019 - June 13, 2020

I wanted to do this for the blog's first anniversary but then completely forgot about it lol.

The following lists are all in chronological order according to the date each post was first published.

Top 10 panel edits:

#1: Don and Gilda - Chapter 138: Demon serch (1)

Date: Jun 14th, 2019

Time: ~ 1:30 h

My very first redraw from my very first edit posted here, so it deserves an honorable mention. Back then I was young and inexperienced, I didn't even apply a gray filter (lmao I was so unskilled I even unintentionally scratched the picture, I hadn't realized until today). I'm actually very happy my first redraw was of Don, boy deserves all the love.

#2: Emma and Ray - Chapter 140: I’m Here!

Date: Jun 28th, 2019

Time: ~ 1 h

Back then this looked like so much work to me!!! And to this day, I think it turned out pretty well. I'm particularly proud of how the bow turned out. This is one I was really proud of right after having finished it; it gave me the confidence to try redrawing bigger areas. Also, the edit were I first applied the opacity of layer / opacity of brush for the gray filter that would have stuck with me.

#3: Krone's birthday edit

Date: Jul 15th, 2019

Time: 15 mins

I don't know I just really like how Krone's hair vanish to a more sketch-like style here– and consequently, how I managed to replicate such effect. I think Krone's beautiful.

#4: Emma, Norman and Ray - Chapter 153: Coward

Date: Oct 4th, 2019

Time: 4:07 h (and 67 layers lmao)

Probably the single panel redraw I'm the most proud of. That Norman panel was beautiful and very poignant at the end of a chapter I adored, so I believe it deserved all the time I've spent working on it. It's far from being perfect - the back of his head is too plain, and the difference between my brushes and the original brushes is pretty visible - but I still like it very much and am extremely attached to it. The horn looks kinda big but I honestly believe it to be more of an issue with the original than with what I had redrawn lol. Funny enough, the whole picture didn't make it to the final edit and had to be trimmed.

#5: Full Score Trio - Chapter 154: A Breakthrough

Date: Oct 11th, 2019

Time: 29 mins

I don't have a particular reason for this I just think Emma's hair turned out amazing. It took just half an hour and I didn't even use references like. Wow. @Redrawing skills where did you go please come back

#6: Mujika and Queen Legravalima - Chapter 158: The Reason I Was Born

Date: Nov 17th, 2019

Time: 2:09 h

Sis I love this so freaking much. The shift from redrawing almost exclusively people and clothes to redrawing this mess was so fun and refreshing. Even though it's a mess I think it turned out very clean and overall it looks beautiful? I remember after finishing this I felt so powerful, like now that I had redrawn this thing I would have been able to redraw anything I set my mind on lol.

#7: Emma - Chapter 161: Never Be Alone

Date: Dec 13th, 2019

Time: 57 mins

Again no particular reason except this is a very cute Emma and I think the redraw turned out pretty well. There's this big lock on the left that doesn't make a lot of sense but overall I really like it. Cute Emma is cute, and I love her determination.

#8: Emma - Chapter 166: Going Back Home

Date: Mar 9th, 2020

Time: 3:45 h

I'M SO FREAKING PROUD OF THAT RIFFLE I have not the slightlest idea why this took so damn long BUT I'M SO PROUD OF IT

#9: Norman's birthday edit

Date: Mar 21st, 2020

Time: 1:04 h

This is cool! I didn't know I could manage to draw this, but I did it! The feathers were particularly hard to clean but I think they turned out fine.

#10: Full Score Trio - Chapter 174: A New World (part 1)

Date: Apr 6th, 2020

Time: 2:11 h

I just think they're very pretty? I can't understand if I like Ray's face a lot, or not at all, but I think overall there was a lot to redraw and it turned out pretty cute! Sorry Gillian.

(Also insert pretty much every panel from the chapter 177 Isabella edit– I've spent so many hours on basically every panel there's no way I could choose only one).

Top 5 edits as whole:

#1: Emma and Ray - Chapter 140: I’m Here!

Date: Jun 29th, 2019

Complessive time: 2:57+ h

The very first edit I'm actually proud of; I'm really attached to it. It's the first edit I had put all of my effort into, and I remember feeling anxious people would have left it without notes. It kinda feels weird to think about it now, because I really don't care about notes anymore; yet, it somehow makes me happy to think that past-me wasn't let down. Thank you @neverlandstrio for your support, you may not remember but it really meant a lot to me back then! And it still makes me smile. You're the best!!!!!!

#2: Mujika and Queen Legravalima - Chapter 158: The Reason I Was Born

Date: Nov 20th, 2019

Complessive time: 7:12+ hours

This whole edit was an hella wild ride. It's midnight before a school day, when I think: "Mh, it's been a while since I last made an edit, why not make one about Musica and the queen from the last chapter?" And seven hours after this was born. I'm particularly proud of the queen's redraws on the 3rd, 7th and 9th picture (ofc), the areas which have been redrawn are pretty huge yet I think the difference with the original is almost impossible to notice?? @Redrawing skills where did you go please come back (part 2)

#3: Emma - Chapter 174: A New World (part 1)

Date: Apr 12th, 2020

Complessive time: 6:53+ h

I think the panels that were selected work very well together, especially considering the close-up / full body alternation. I love Emma, and I've always been kinda sad noticing that edits that focus one her take the less notes... She deserves all the love. Also, fun fact: for the last but one panel, I had redrawn Emma's whole left ear before remembering she doesn't have one, so I had to redraw the panel from the start. Besides from the error with the ear, the reason why this (and all the others after) took so long is because official panel take way longer to clean.

#4: Isabella and her children - Chapter 177: Mother

Date: May 22nd, 2020

Complessive time: 13:41+ h (ahah.)

Lmao tbh I can't understand how this has so few notes it's like. Technically speaking, probably the best edit I've ever done. I don't even like Isabella that much, I haven't got the slightlest idea why I decided to spend so many hours on this. Anyway, I find the composition (full body on the left / headshots on the right) really good looking in this as well! And I think the redraws turned out fine, especially Isabella's.

#5: The Promised Neverland manga ending countdown→ 1/7 chapters: chapter 1 - Grace Field House

Date: Jun 9th, 2020

Complessive time: 1:59+ h

I don't know how I came up with that idea for the composition but I find it really beautiful??? I think it does a pretty good job conveying the sudden, terrific shift of atmosphere from the first chapter, and I think that sharp bridge is very nice. I'm very, very proud of this.

Honorable mention #1: Full Score Trio - Chapter 154: A Breakthrough

Date: Oct 13th, 2019

Complessive time: 3:44+ h (+ 1:13 h of working on a panel that ultimately didn't make it to the final edit)

A very good chapter, and the edit turned out surprisingly amazing??? All the redraws look great and make it almost impossible to distinguish them from the original; honestly I feel like I'll never be able to redraw so neatly again lol.

Honorable mention #2: Don and Gilda (+ Norman) - Chapter 160: Shackles

Date: Dec 11th, 2019

Complessive time: 3:14+ h

That one is really one of my favorite scenes; I'm telling you peoples, Gilda and Don are a blessing to the earth. I think I've never mentioned it, but Gilda's hair is a nightmare to redraw??? More specifically, it takes me h o u r s to fill the texture without making it look too weird, it's the worst.

Honorable mention #3: Norman and Ray - Chapter 179: Compensation

Date: Jun 6th, 2020

Complessive time: 4:16+ h

I was so glad to finally be able to make a Norman / Ray edit, and it turned out it was just in time before the series' finale. I like how it turned out and I'm pretty satisfied with the redraws (even though my sister helped me with the lineart of some panels - it was exams time and I really couldn't afford to spend more time on it), too bad we didn't have more chapters that focused on the boys. Ray sweetie one day I'll fix your ear it's just today's not that day.

Btw, I justed realized I have never done an Emma / Norman centered edit? I'll have to make one eventually. I remember considering focusing on them alone for the chapter 154 one, but then I thought "even if the manga is gonna ignore Ray, I will chose to do not" lol.

Top 5 long posts:

#1: Reconstruction of how the Grace Field children were settled in the three bedrooms

Date: Aug 28th, 2019

I just had really a lot of fun doing it. I love putting all the little things to their own place, it's so calming to do and that's why I love making this kind of things. Also, loved how @temporoom contributed to the post! It was so nice of them to add what they had noticed to come up with more exact conclusions, that's one of the things I love the most about the internet.

#2: A study of how many times the characters of The Promised Neverland call each other through the first season of the anime

Date: Sep 10th, 2019

I REALLY LOVE IT! I mean it *was* kinda stressing to note everything, but it was very also very satisfying to see everything methodically divided and organized! And it's not just that– it's also the fact that it looks good. That's one post I have fun rereading because it's actually pretty! Also, even though it can be very stressing to learn to use new programs and sites, it's always very satisfying to look at the final result. Again, I really adore compiling these tiny little details! I would love to make more posts of that kind if i had the time.

#3: The Promised Neverland musicals headcanons

Date: Oct 27th, 2019

I mean it's literally. Putting my two favorite fandoms together how could I not love it. This is another one I really enjoy rereading, I find all the musical / character associations so fitting! I really want to make a second part, I hope to find some time to do it.

#4: Considerations on the reward / eventual series' finales (and Emma's sacrifice)

Date: May 7th, 2020

It's always nice to put down all your thoughts regarding a particular matter. It can take a lot of time (at least for me it does because... I need time to think about things), but it's so satisfying to see all of them there once you're done. Bonus points when, like in this case, it was something asked by someone else because “Wow! Somebody wants to hear my opinion on this subject! I'm flattered (◍•ᴗ•◍)”

#5: Some other considerations on the series' finale and Emma sacrificing herself

Date: Jun 13th, 2020

Pretty much the same as above. It's like some kind of clarity when the post is done and signed. Another fun fact, I had to censore the post a lot; the first version was extremely sharp and harsh, but I believe it's right to express your opinions calmly and politely.

Bonus: A thread of what the tpn characters would wear at the Oscars

Date: Feb 9th, 2020

Imagining all the children in those pretty dresses makes me so incredibly happy (╥﹏╥) I go back to look at that post a lot. I really love red carpets, I love looking at pretty dresses!!!!!

Lmao it's so funny how the post of mine I like the most are also the ones with the less notes

Anyway this was just a personal report! You don't have to read it all (or any of it actually). But it was indeed fun making it! Here's to many more months in the fandom!!!

#This was supposed to be posted on July 13th as one year and one month since I made the blog #but Tumblr decided to be a jerk and deleted all of it 😊#So here we are #tpn #tpn manga spoilers #long post #Again this is just a personal report don't stress over reading all of it #But it was fun to make!#To the people I tagged: sorry for tagging you in this long post but also it would have felt weird not to do so? I hope you don't mind #It felt like... Giving credits foe something you've done y'know

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inky-thoughts · 5 years

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Hello there! I read all of your how to zine thing and I've been thinking how to organize a portfolio online... Do you have any suggestions or tutorials on how to do one? I use Google drive but I don't like it anymore (it seems unprofessional) so I was wondering if you have any tips óvò thank you in advance and sorry for my English!!

aaaa it’s ok I’m no native English speaker either, so don’t worry!!

For your question, I personally have started using the Adobe Portfolio (it seems to be free?) as I have the Adobe CC for uni purposes and thus already an Adobe account. I innicially wanted to have it for design stuff only but then discovered I could make a second portfolio so I made one for my internet illustration/art stuff as well and used it as portfolio for zines (idk if it interests you but in case you want some inspiration, here’s the link.) I’m still kinda unsatisfied as it doesn’t really have a gallery option where you can click through the images individually, it really is catered to mobile users and the images look uncomfortably large on the desktop for me, but in general building them is kind of intuitive even if the layout options are rather limited.

I personally don’t have much experience with other portfolio websites (I only tried deviantart’s portfolio before and wasn’t really satisfied with it either, but that’s been years ago.) I would recommend doing some research (maybe some of my followers also has suggestions?) and maybe also consider using a general website from a website builder like weebly or wix (I think there are also free options?) as they are a bit more flexible in their layout.

EDIT: I added a list with some website builders and portfolio websites on the How to Apply post, if any of you have more suggestions, I’ll add them to the list as well. Just a note that I don’t have experience with every website on the list.

Some of my study friends also from other universities used a PDF file with their best works and sent that to agencies, so that might be an option, too, especially if you’re only allowed to a very limited number of pieces. With programs like InDesign it’s fairly easy to make a cohesive and nicely designed PDF (I recently got some suggestions for similar programs as a lot of people suffer from Adobe raising their CC prices but I haven’t tried any of them so I can’t vouch for them.)

For me, it largely depends on what specifically the portfolio is for.If I were to apply for an agency job, I’d try to fit in as much of my range as possible while still trying to focus on what the specific job is for. I think that tactic works for zines as well, even though it’s more illustration-heavy than necessarily corporate or editiorial design. I started to categorise my works more by projects/purpose so that the individual concepts are gathered together instead of having “sketches” “illustrations” “typography” etc. as throughout time, you’ll get more and more interdisciplinatory projects so you can’t sort them that easily. Of course you can sort them also on the main focus for the individual projects (a magazine might be sorted into editorial or typography for example.)

I made an extra category for my comic project to have everything together, currently most of them are just some illustrations but I’ll add more concept art and stuff like that later on.I also like displaying commission or zine works in a seperate category so it’s easier to see what people can expect from hireing me, plus it also shows that I actually already have experience with zines and commissioned work. Of course you don’t need to put all your commissions/zine works into it, especially if you don’t like them/don’t find the result very pleasing anymore. A portfolio is always courating your own works by what you consider your personal qualities.

As I already have mentioned in the portfolio post, I also try to kick out works that are older than 3 years from the portfolio staples that I use when zines only ask for a few of my best pieces (like 3-5) but I keep them in my online portfolio site if I still like them on a general basis, especially if the style is something I still can pull off. I also never use pieces I never published anywhere online so I usually just link to the tumblr post if there’s only a limited number of pieces allowed. I just try to keep my tumblr organised and aesthetically pleasing and check if all the links still work.

For the layout, I recommend using something simple and neutral as the work itself should be the focus, not the very fancy design around it. This especially should be the case if you want to display several styles and/or moods/colour schemes. If your style is very pastell-y and cute, of course a more cute and pastel design compliments it well. But if you also have very dark colours and for example gory designs, it most likely will clash with the works and thus isn’t a very wise descision. Safe colours are always white and any completely desaturated greys that are somewhere in the lighter and mid-range shades. Black can look good, too, but imo should be handled with a bit more care. I probably would recommend a darker grey instead as it doesn’t swallow too much light. You want your work to pop but having too much contrast between your work and the background can also get uncomfortable for the eye.

I also would recommend not using too fancy and playful fonts as they easily distract you from the actual work. I also wouldn’t use Times New Roman and Arial as they aren’t very comfortable to read (and don’t have a very good design.) Calibri is always a very safe and well-designed font that most likely is an option everywhere, but of course just look through the font options and test what suits your works the best.When picking a font colour, please always check the contrast to the background, especially when you use more saturated colours. I also wouldn’t recommend using 100% saturated colours as they are also very uncomfortable for the eye.My prime example of very little readability is bright red on pitch black background. It’s one of the most uncomfortable combinations to read as red is very aggressive to the eye and through the very high saturation also is difficult to distinguish in front of the very dominant black. Having a red-ish grey would work much better, especially if it’s a lighter shade, and not using black but a darker grey would take away the tension as well. Just play around a bit until you get to a visually satisfying result.

Always be aware that starker contrasts also always draw the eye, so you want the most contrast in your works and not in what surrounds them. If you have especially light works with maybe a very delicate lineart and little contrast, you might want to use a white, pastel colour or light grey with a fairly light font (that still has enough contrast to the background to be readible)

The most general advice I can give is focussing on displaying your works and not distracting from them. I would try to have a very simple and cohesive site that puts everything together in a harmonizing way and also doesn’t have too many subcategories so that navigation is easy and smooth.

I hope that helped in some way? ^^;

#htoaz101 ask #portfolio #portfolio advice #how to organize a zine 101 #zine portfolio #anon #ask

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