#i may be more comfortable painting than working with lineart | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

glareandgrowl · 1 year

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5, 11, 16, and 19 please.

(Link to ask)

Absolutely!

5. Anything you haven’t drawn yet but want to?

I've got so many ideas of stuff I want to draw, but just never get the time to do. The most recent fanfic comic I did was one of them until recently! But I guess a few would be some scenes from Assassins! that I haven't gotten around to illustrating, some more character study sheets, as well as an entire long running comic I plan to create once Cigarettes and Assassins! are both complete! Just to name a few...

In terms of like... concepts or physical things and ideas I have wanted to draw but haven't, I don't really have any qualms. I'm pretty good at just doing whatever I feel like in that regard lol.

11. Favorite comment you’ve ever recieved on your work?

I don't receive many comments on my stuff, which is unfortunate but not something I can really change. The one that has stuck out to me the most, however was one that I received on One Mistake when I was still in the middle of finishing it.

It was a bit of an indepth criticism of a certain character dynamic I had made the focal point of that part of the story, and a critique on how I had handled the 'making up' portion of the relationship.

While criticism may not be the first thing most people think of in terms of 'favorite comments' I cherish it for the sole reason that it was the first time anyone had given me an analytical response to something I had meant to be taken with that analytical context. It was the reply I was hoping people would give to the part of a story I had put a lot of time, effort and continuity into. Plus, the ideas being presented were things I had already been toiling over in my rewrite of One Mistake to begin with, so that was also pretty cool to feel like I was sharing a mindset with someone absorbing my creation.

I also just now realized this was meant for art stuff and not fanfic lol. Same applies to artwork I guess, still don't get many comments so none in particular really stand out.

16. What’s the most daunting part of your process? Ex, planning, sketching, lineart, rendering etc

hmmm.... that is a thought provoker for sure. I don't really have one part of the artmaking process I favor over the others, since it is all just kind of a process for me. Ever since I started this cool thing of turning my sketches into my lineart via the airbrush tool in Paint Tool Sai, I haven't really had any problems!

I'd say the most daunting process is just getting started. Putting pen to paper and just doing sometimes seems impossible. But if I just force myself to sit down and start, it usually turns out ok.

19. Favourite character(s) to draw?

You'd expect me to say Kiyotaka. Which is half true, mainly because I've drawn him so much and he has been the catalyst to change my art style entirely. But believe it or not, I used to never draw people, like at all. I was a furry artist in the lamest sense of the word, since most of my OC's at the time were animals in some capacity. So I really should give it to Taka for pushing me out of my comfort zone and forcing me to take the daunting journey of learning over two years how to draw people good.

The characters that are my real true favorites to draw are my OC's of course. James, Goose and The Oposstag to be specific!

They're my babies, my darlings, my easiest things to draw. James specifically, used to be my go-to if I was ever in a slump and needed to draw something easy and simple. Bones and furry creatures have always been my specialty when it came to art, (If you've seen any of my animal-ish drawings you could see the difference in quality compared to drawing people) It just always has come easier to me than drawing people, but as an artist, I need to push myself out of my comfort zone to improve, and I'd say I've done a pretty good job improving!

Thank you so much for the ask, I hope I answered it all in good proper english and good proper wordage :)))

-Goose

#longsheepanswers #artist asks #fanart #askbox sheep #original character(s)

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goldandlights · 4 years

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Lambert & Aiden centaur!AU - who said wolves and cats can’t be lovers friends?

This is obviously after Aiden was attacked, brought to the Temple of Melitele, recovered from his injuries, was found there by Geralt, brought back to Kaer Morhen and him and Lambert were tearfully reuinited.

He’s an honorary wolf now <3

#lambert #aiden #the witcher #lambert x aiden #centaur!au #ginger paul bullion lambert #because i love gingers uff #also idek if there are canon descriptions of aiden?!#but i saw some fanart going round #and I based his dark hair/skin and species off of that #fanart #this caused me so much grief #and tbh i'm not all that happy with it #i may be more comfortable painting than working with lineart #but #that would take even LONGER #and this was just supposed to be a quick sketch :(

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tallaroo · 3 years

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I challenged myself to try and mimic the style and designs of seven different artists. And what better subject to draw than technoblade who has some of the most varied designs.

Each artist's style proved to have its own challenges and I've learned a lot of new techniques while I studied them, some which I might even start incorporating into my own art moving forward.

This was very fun to do, thank you to the artists who volunteered (and to those who got selected out of the blue). Please go check out everyone here, they are all extremely skilled and cool people.

Artists featured:

@casboar

@altadoodler

@nachosforfree

@sapphic-omen

@insyndiar

@angst-and-fajitas

@syntiment

↓ Close ups of each and added commentary below the cut ↓

Casboar was the first one I tackled and I may or may not have had a mild breakdown having to remember how to digitally paint people. But being able to keep in some of my construction lines helped in figuring stuff out. Their Techno design is very fun to draw, big fan of the dad bod.

Alta's style intimated me a lot going in due to the more stylized 'cartoonish' feel and the fact that I had to use a brush I'm not as familiar with. But after I finished the sketch I knocked out the lineart in a few minutes and it was easy sailing from there. His stye was actually really fun to draw in once I got comfortable, good shapes there.

Going into this I was the most anxious to draw in this style, I was extremely worried I'd butcher the lineart. But similar to Alta, after I doodled for a bit I was able to get into a good flow and knock this one out pretty quickly. I also had to improvise on the brush since I don't actually have any pixely brushes.

This was the first style to be really challenging. I couldn't find a brush that fit right and all of my sketches were too similar to how I normally draw. So I ended up sitting on their blog and staring at their art for a few hours until I finally pushed myself to start. I probably stayed a little too close to the original sketch since there's definitely some messy parts.

This is the one I procrastinated on. Syn's way of shading/lighting is so cool looking but also terrifying when I remembered I had to do it. I had to alter the sketch several times and marked out where the highlights and shades were going to go. I definitely could have pushed the colors more for better contrast but I got to the point where I was too scared to keep working on it in fear of messing something up.

Realism has never been my strong suit and this is the one I'm the least happy with. Emma's art style kind of reminds me of d&d art and I tried to channel that when drawing but the sketch was too close to how I normally draw and the lineart got messy as a result of that. I should have pushed the value in the shading too but same with Syn's it just got to a point where I was too scared to keep messing with it.

I decided to go monochrome for Syntiment. It looked better that the colored version I did and also I think it just makes stand out more there were also a lot more references to work with. Unfortunately long hair is my enemy, I struggle a lot in drawing it and I had like three layers of sketches just for the hair. I also drew this and Emma's back to back so if they look similar no they don't

#mcyt #technoblade #art challenge #my art #sorry for the @s #click for better quality the pic is huge

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thechekhov · 4 years

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Hi Chekhov! Really enjoying your white diamond au! I had a quick art question: How do you start comissions? I've been improving my drawing skills and thinking about drawing for others after having fun in artfight, but I don't know where to start? How much to charge, how to get paid, etc. Do you have any tips? Hope you're doing well! :)

Alright, since a few people have asked, I’ve decided to put together a few things about how to get started on commissions - what you need, what you should make, and how to keep things organized.

This will get a little long, so I’ll divide it into 4 main sections:

1) Draw Art - Getting started

2) Get Commissioned - Making a commission sheet, Advertising

3) ??? - Communicating, Setting Limits, Running the Business

4) Profit - Pricing Yourself and Getting Paid

* Disclaimer: I’m an artist, so this How-To will be illustration-focused. I’m sure many of these tips can apply to ANY types of commissions, but I will be focusing on the type I know best. If you are proficient in other types of commissions for other types of art - music commissions, photography, etc - feel free to chime in and leave a comment or make your own tutorial!

1) Draw Art

I think this is probably the most obvious part, but it needs to be said:

Before you start making art for other people, you must first be comfortable making art in general.

I’m not saying your art has to be Disney-quality, or industry-level! Not at all.

BUT! You must be comfortable creating what you sell. If you try to sell something you have little confidence in, you will stress yourself out and possibly end up losing time AND money.

Don’t shoot for the moon if you haven’t landed on it even once. Sell what you know you’re good at. Your commissions don’t HAVE to include full-body illustrations if you don’t know how to draw feet/solid stances. Limit yourself to what you can do.

Things you need to should probably have before starting commissions:

1. Access to art materials or a fully downloaded art program

DO NOT - Use a free tutorial version that will expire in a month and leave you without a way to draw! If you are having trouble finding a program, try free ones like MediBang Paint Pro.

2. Free time to complete the amount of commissions you want to take.

DO NOT - Take on or offer commissions if you KNOW you’re going to be overwhelmed with school or personal life for the next 2+ months. Pace yourself, otherwise you’ll burn out, get stressed, and get discouraged.

3. A reliable way to communicate with your customers like a commissions-only email

DO NOT - Use your friend/family/college email. It’s hard to keep track of things as it is, and creating new emails is easy and free. And keep it professional if you can! Not many people will reach out to dong-wiggles20434 to ask for a design. Ideally, your email should be close to your brand - however you want to brand yourself. Usernames are fine!)

DO NOT - Use Instagram/Twitter/Tumblr to collect commission info unless you are ready to do the organizing yourself. Some people make it work, but in my experience, if you use these SNS sites to communicate with friends and network... you’re going to be losing commission inquiries right and left and accidentally ignoring people. Email is much easier to organize and sort into folders.

4. A portfolio or at least 2-3 pieces of each type of art you’re planning to sell.

DO NOT - Advertise commissions without having any examples of the art you plan to sell. People will find it difficult to trust you if you can’t even give them a vague idea of what sort of drawing they’ll be getting.

Disclaimer: These are not hard ‘do not’s. If you have had a different experience, I respect that. I’m simplifying for the sake of streamlining this advice.

2) Get Commissioned

So - you have your art, you have your art program, and you’ve got all the time in the world. That means.... that’s right! It’s time to let the world know you’re taking commissions.

One of the most common ways artists signal to their audience that they can do commissions is by creating a commissions sheet. There are MANY ways to make this - and they range from simple and doodly ones to VERY complex designs. For example, here’s mine!

There are many ways to organize a commission sheet. At its core, a commission sheet should display the types of art you WANT to be commissioned to make. Let’s go over a few ways they can be done!

#1.... Body Portion Dividers!

This sheet is most common with those who want to capitalize on drawing people and characters. If you want to draw lots of characters, this is a great way to offer several tiers of pricing based on how much of their character your customers want to see.

#2... Complexity Scale

If you’re open to drawing many things but want to base your pricing off of how complex something is, you can split your tiers into done-ness. This type of commission is popular with those that draw characters AND animals, furries, etc.

#3.... Style and Type

If you’re more on the design side of things, or if you have various niche art styles that you can’t quite lump together, display a variety of your skills alongside each other! It helps if all the ones you have can be organized under a common customer - like those looking to advance their own business and get logos, websites, or mascots made for them!

3) ???

You got your first commission... what happens now???

Well, ideally you have the time, tools and motivation to make things happen! Now all you have to do is... sit down and... draw.......

I’m going to say something that may be a little controversial:

Commissions aren’t fun.

No, no, hear me out: I have fun doing commissions! I genuinely enjoy drawing characters and coming up with designs. But even with all that said, commissions are, first and foremost: WORK

I’m not saying this to discourage you, I’m saying this to keep things realistic. When I first began commissions, I thought it would be just like any other type of drawing. I would sit down, imagine a thing, draw it... it would be fun!

But then I realized that I couldn’t just draw what I wanted - another person had an idea in mind and had asked me to do it. I stressed over getting the design correct from descriptions. I stressed over not having the right reference for the pose the commissioner wanted. I stressed over not being able to draw the leg right in the way I had promised I would do. I stressed about billing. I stressed about digital money transfers. It was difficult, and time-consuming, and I did not enjoy it. At all.

And a part of that is definitely on the commissioner - we, as artists, NEED to demand proper references or descriptions. We, as artists, NEED to limit the amount of changes we’re going to make at the flick of a finger. We NEED to demand clear instructions and set boundaries. That’s also super important.

But also - don’t be discouraged if you find yourself exhausted drawing your first commission. MANY artists go through this. Adjust your rules, fix up your limits, practice putting your foot down on finicky commissioners who expect you to read their mind! It does get easier, but you have to communicate and put in the effort and act as your own manager AND your own customer service AND your own accountant. That’s what you’re looking at.

Good limits and boundaries to set:

Limit the amount of changes a person can ask to make. “I want blue hair.” Next email: “No wait, yeah, make it red.” Next email: “Actually I changed my mind, can I get the blue but like, lighter?” Next email: “No, not that light.” ... At some point, we have to stop. I personally allow 2-3 changes on the final stages of a commission before I start refusing or start asking for extra money.

Demand clear instructions and/or references. If something isn’t described, you have to take artistic liberty and design it, but that’s difficult! And if the customer is not happy with it but can’t tell you more? That’s not your problem - the burden of reference is on THEM. You cannot read their mind, and that’s not your fault.

Get at least half the payment up front! This is a good balance between the ‘pay before art’ and the ‘pay after art’ conundrum that will limit the amount of woes between artist and customer. (I’ll touch upon this a little more in the Profit section.)

Organization:

Where possible, create good habits! Tag your emails and organize your folders. I have a tag on my emails for active and finished commissions. I also keep my emails on Unread until I have time to sit down and properly look at/reply to them.

My Commissions in the folder are also organized chronologically and I mark down which ones are paid and which ones are not.

(I understand not everyone can do this, but if you want to give it a try, it does make things easier in the long run. Again, this advice is just what I have found personally helps.)

One last thing - I do not want to shame ANYONE for taking their time with commissions! Commissions are complex, and they take time and work. You can draw in 8 hours, but some things take research, materials, etc. Some illustrations realistically take up to half a year, or, depending on what’s involved, several years!!

THAT BEING SAID - it’s good manners to be upfront with your customers about how long you expect the commission to take. If you think you’re busy, just say that! Explain that you have a lot going on, and you will probably take (insert time period here).

And if your commissioners are worried, work out a system to keep them updated! I send my commissioners updates when I finish the lineart/flat colors/etc and I try to be clear about how long everything will take. I try to estimate with a +3-5 days buffer to give myself extra time... and recently I’ve been using it. Always say a bigger number than you think you’ll need.

If someone wants a rushed commission... make them pay more. If ANYONE wants a commission done ‘by the end of the week’ - that’s an automatic rush-job for me because I’m juggling an irl job and several commissions at once. I WILL charge a rush fee and I won’t feel bad about it.

If someone wants a commission within 24 hours...... Well, they better be paying you 3x your normal amount, or more. And remember - you CAN refuse! It’s perfectly reasonable to say ‘No, sorry, that sort of turnaround time is not realistic for me.’

Food For Thought - Invoicing

Many artists I’ve commissioned in the past have not used Invoicing, but I’ve recently begun to fill out invoices and file them in my Commissions folder just to keep track of things. It’s not necessary until you start getting into the Small Business side of Freelancing, but it’s not a bad idea to get into the habit early in case you might need to do it later for tax purposes.

Here’s what my Invoice looks like, for example.

I’ve optimized it to help me remember who, what, and how much is involved! It also contains important info for my customers like where to send the money.

Which brings us to...

4) Profit

One of the hardest things for artists is pricing themselves. I’m not going to tell you which way is BEST - there is no BEST way, only the best way for YOU.

One of the options available to you is pricing by the hour. It includes averaging out how long it takes you to draw a specific type of art (whatever you’re offering as a commission) and multiplying that by an hourly wage you’ve decided on.

When you do this, I stress - do NOT price yourself below minimum wage if you can help it. When you first start out, aim for the $15/hour mark and adjust accordingly.

Other ways to price your art:

- Per complexity: Portraits vs full body should be scaled based on how difficult you find one vs. the other. You can also easily decide on a price for a sketch and double it for lineart, triple it for full color, etc.

- Per type: Look up for industry prices for website design and logo design. They may surprise you! You don’t have to charge that much, but it helps to keep things in perspective.

It’s okay to change your prices! Keep your commission sheet image handy so you can update the amounts as you grow. :)

Payment up front or after completion?

Some artist take full payment up front. Some only demand payment after they’ve finished and sent out the piece. I personally think these are both risky for everyone involved.

I recommend doing at least HALF of the payment BEFORE you start the commission. Calculate your full price and ask for half before you start working on it in earnest, to make sure the person can actually pay you. Then, when they receive the full piece and are satisfied, they can complete the payment.

I personally work in this structure:

> Someone emails me with their idea/reference

> I send back a rough draft sketch that shows the idea/pose (only takes me 10-20 minutes so not a huge loss if they ghost) and quote them a price

> They can pay the full thing upfront OR pay half

> I finish the commission and send updates when I do the lineart/colors to double check anything so they have multiple chances to spot any errors

> If the person paid only half on completion, I send them a low-res version of the finished thing, they finish up their payment and THEN I send them the full-res version plus any other filetypes/CYMK proofs, etc.

Many of the people who commission me pay me up front even though I offer they pay half - and I’m really flattered that they trust me that much! Because of that, I feel encouraged to update them frequently and ask for their input as I work, so they have the peace of mind knowing I’m actually doing their commission.

Great, but how do I get PAID????

There are NUMEROUS ways - these days money is relatively easy to transfer over digital means, and you have a few options.

Paypal is perhaps one of the oldest digital wallets and is geared towards businesses. By setting up a PayPal and connecting it to your debit card of bank account, you can tunnel a pathway from your online business directly into your hands in a matter of days.

Paypal also offers Invoicing - you make an invoice, price it and send it to the person’s email and they can pay whatever way they need! (It also allows partial payments.)

Pros: transfers from PayPal to bank account are free, and take a couple of business days. It also has no upper limit to the amount of money you can move in/out each month. It can force refunds due to the nature of its business-oriented payment system.

Cons: Because it’s used by businesses for larger transactions, PayPal may demand a more rigorous proof of your identity. It may also take longer to set up and be harder to get used to. I’ve also heard that they can be a hassle when it comes to closing your account.

Venmo is another type of digital wallet that acts much like paypal, except for a few key differences - it is NOT made for businesses (so depending on whether you’re officially registered as a freelancer, you may not be able to use it). I personally don’t use venmo, so I cannot speak to its usefulness, but I know a few people that use it for casual transactions. It’s easy and quick! :)

Keep in mind that you cannot force a refund over venmo! The transactions are final.

There’s also CashApp, GooglePay (which could load gift cards but also allows peer-to-peer transactions) and I’ve heard good things about Due, though I’ve never personally used it.

Other ways to pay: I’ve had people pay me over Patreon by upping their pledge, and I’ve had people pay me over Ko-Fi by donating a specific amount.

Many people even use Etsy - the website specialized for independent small businesses selling art - by listing their commission sheet and offering up several ‘slots’ of commissions, which allows you to track taxes AND allows your clients to pay using whatever they feel comfortable with.

If you’re in Canada, you can even pay by emailing money directly from bank account to bank account - check whether your country offers this type of service! There’s no shortage of ways to move money in the digital world.

Just like everything else, there’s no singular ‘Best’ way. It just depends on what works for you.

I think that just about wraps it up! I can’t quite think of what else to put here - but I’m sure other artists will chime in with their own advice. :) I’m very sorry this became so long but I hope it was helpful!

Obligatory Disclaimer: I’m not qualified to give legal or accounting counsel. Please double-check the laws in your own country/state in regards to taxation of freelancing work and do your own research. If you are underage, DEFINITELY get an adult’s permission before you start doing commissions, and have the adult help you through the process.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

OTHER POSTS YOU MAY FIND USEFUL:

An Extended Post on Pricing Yourself for Commissions

Dealing with Imposter Syndrome/Feeling ‘Not Good Enough’

Growing Your Audience

Advice for Starting Digital Art

#Anonymous #long post #commissions #how to #infograph #how to do commissions #arting #art tutorial

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sohin-ace · 3 years

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Jojo Drabble - Doppio

※ A story where you find out Doppio may be more than meets the eye.

-----

You were hanging out on a date together with Doppio at a small ice cream café, a pleasant little place next to the train station.

Doppio insisted to stay as close to the station as possible, feeling more comfortable knowing his boss could send him off anytime. It was all much to the boy's dismay though. He felt bad for potentially having to leave you all of a sudden because of work.

You didn't mind it at all though. After all, it meant you could finally have some sweets and drinks you've been wanting to try forever. And a short date with Doppio was still a date, in your eyes. You'd make the most out of the time you had together.

After a good while of talking, laughing and getting to know each other, his order came and you didn't miss the happy glint in Doppio's gaze.

He had ordered a classic Banana Split, but the dressing of the dessert, with sprinkles of pink sugar crystals, swirls of chocolate syrup and the candied cherry, strangely matched him and his style, which was both fun and adorable to see.

"Woah! Look at how pretty they made it look, Y/N!" Doppio exclaimed, snatching his spoon and more than ready to dig in.

You chuckled, suddenly wishing you had taken one as well instead of the pastry and iced tea you ordered for yourself.

"Hmm, strawberry for your hair, caramel for your eyes and..." You counted the different flavors he had picked for his ice cream, humoring yourself in trying to link them to him. "...Mint? I don't see anything green on you... Are you wearing mint underwear or something?"

You jested and he gasped, his freckled cheeks warming up red, "Ah no! Y/N, come on!" He interjected with offense and you tried hard not to snort.

"Haha, I'm just playing with you Doppio... it's okay to wear mint underwear." You continued, ceasing to pry into his choice of flavors but never ceasing your jokes on him.

He only shook his head and laughed with you, looking down to hide his very visible embarassment. You both had met recently, but he was in for a treat if you were the teasing type. Not like he disliked it in the slightest.

Just as he was about to devour his treat, your date clumsily moved his wrist right over the huge pile of whipping cream on his dessert, smearing it on his shirt in the process.

"Ah, oops." He blurted, looking around the table for something to clean himself off.

You graced him with your napkin, finding his clumsiness adorable and he thanked you, wiping his shirt off and pulling his sleeves up to prevent any more damage to his quite, you dared say, sexy top.

But right as he slipped his sleeves up to his elbows and started eating, your eyes fell into the beautiful swirls of black ink on the skin of his forearms.

You were not one to judge people for their appearances and surely you did not have anything against tattoos. However you were still surprised at how the sweet freckled and feminine boy all in pink you've started seeing had such strong and bold tattoos, almost reminiscent of a gang symbol.

"Huh? Doppio you have sleeve tattoos?" You asked, curious and admirative of the beautiful art.

"Hm?" He looked over his painted arms and nodded a bit absent-mindedly. "Oh! Uh... Yeah..."

"Aw shoot! I never would have thought! What a bad boy~" You teased and laughed. "Am I hanging out with one of the cool kids? You don't seem like the delinquent type."

"I-I well... Uuhh..." Doppio fretted and squirmed in his seat, a bit nervous that you would possibly be grossed out by it and want to ghost him, his paranoia kicking in. "It-it's... Don't you like them? Do they look bad?"

"Bad, no. Badass, yes! They look really cool Doppio." You leaned in and cupped your chin with your hands, staring at him with a gentle smile ."You surprise me everyday..."

He blushed and cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact, his heart racing in his chest. God you made him feel all gooey inside without even trying. Before he could even regain his composure, you reached across the table and softly started tracing the swirls and outlines of the meticulous lineart on his arm.

"Do they represent anything? Why that design? If it's not too personal to ask, of course."

Doppio flinched and shuddered at your sudden delicate and addictive touch before he relaxed a bit, enjoying the sweet affection.

"It's uh... How do I say it... It's not that they represent anything, let's say..." He scratched his head and mumbled a little bit. "They link me to someone."

"Link you to someone?"

"Someone... Important." He completed softly, his face strangely melancholic and strained, like he was fighting a headache, "It's a bit complicated, I'm not sure how to explain... I don't want to blabber on too much..."

You felt his distress and didn't want to push him further. He already looked uncomfortable with the subject so you let it go with understanding. You respected his privacy. The last thing you wanted was ruin your quality time together and stressing him out.

"Well... It looks very sexy to me." You purred and he gasped, immediately covering his arms bashfully, never expecting you to be so direct. His modesty made you chuckle.

"Wo-... You think so?" He smiled, his eyes wide and his cheeks feverish. That was the first time someone ever called anything about him 'sexy'.

"Your face is so red right now pfffft!" You stiffled a snicker behind your hands. "So cute!"

Fortunately for him, and before he could return the compliment clumsily and possibly inappropriately, the waiter came and finally brought your order, distracting you and saving the poor boy from further teasing.

#jojo's bizarre adventure #writing #jojo #jjba #short story #jojo scenarios #jojo imagines #drabble #jojo no kimyou na bouken #x reader #doppio #doppio vinegar #doppio x reader #doppio vinegar x reader

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iraprince · 3 years

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hello! do you have any advice for switching from traditional art to digital? (i recently ran out of supplies so im relegated to my computer lol) i hope youre having a good day!

i sure do!

first off i really recommend clip studio paint, but i also recommend u wait for it to go on sale. it goes 50% off a few times a year, so imo it’s worth waiting, but it also is usually on sale for only a few days so u have to stay on top of it. they usually announce on twitter etc. the tools don’t make the artist and obviously it doesn’t Really matter what program u end up settling on, i’ve just been really pleased with CSP and i wanted to recommend it

second: nothing that u can do with digital art programs/tools is cheating and it took me way too long to really internalize + understand that. copy-pasting stuff instead of redrawing it, using symmetry rulers, using transform/ctrl+T to stretch or squash slightly off anatomy instead of starting over -- when i was first getting into digital i A. didn’t know u could do this stuff and B. felt weirdly guilty doing it once i figured it out, as if i was a worse artist for using the tools that are literally built into the software or that it was lazy or dishonest to do so. that, it turns out, is bullshit. any drawing is just a constant series of decision-making and a lot of digital tools just help u make or retract or edit those decisions faster than traditional does. it’s not better or worse, it’s just different, and it’s worth ur time to figure out which of those differences are the most convenient and useful. this stuff exists for a reason! use it! save ur wrists and ur patience and ur time!

figure out file organization early, because it’s something u don’t have to deal with irt traditional art and so it probably won’t come naturally, but it also makes ur life harder to have a desktop swarming with wip files that are all titled “kjsrhrfgdhgj.psd” or whatever. some ppl sort into folders by date; for me it works better to sort by content (i.e. i have folders for tvrn stuff, patreon stuff, different fandoms, dnd/ttrpg stuff, “misc ocs” for characters i don’t draw much and “misc fandoms” for one-off fanart that doesn’t merit its own folder, etc etc; this is what makes it easiest for me to find stuff, but ur system might end up different.) i admittedly still name my files keysmashes if it’s personal stuff rather than work/commissions, but at least it’s all sorted into a category where i can quickly find it again anyway

also, u can hybridize traditional and digital! i frequently like my traditional pencil lines better than what i can do digitally, so i often scan them in, turn them into lineart, and color digitally (here’s a tutorial on how i prep that). but even if u don’t have a scanner, a carefully taken phone photo with high contrast can still be used the same way. i tend to lay my sketchbook flat on the floor in front of a window, squat down and hold my phone as level as i can while i’m taking the pic, and then i blast it in my phone’s built in gallery editor (highlights/shadows and contrast) before sending it to myself and doing the same thing w tone curve/levels in csp. it’s not perfect, but it’s presentable, and it can be a good way to ease urself in if ur feeling frustrated w the learning curve on digital draftsmanship.

oh, and this tip is really small but it’s ended up being rly helpful for me: resist the urge to zoom in way past 100% scale view just bc u can. if there are times where u absolutely need to, sure, whatever, but there’s no point in regularly tweaking tiny things pixel by pixel at 250% zoom bc nobody who looks at ur art is gonna see that and ur just bloating ur own time spent on things and creating unnecessary stress for urself!! if 100% zoom doesn’t give u the control u want, that may just mean u need to work larger to begin with.

set up a comfortable workspace with a Good chair. look up proper posture and try to stick to it. i know we’re all gay and it sucks to sit in a chair properly but otherwise ur gonna hurt urself. take even more frequent breaks than u do when drawing traditionally! screen bad!

also, if ur tablet has a way to calibrate pressure, try that out. a lot of them are set in a way where you have to press really hard to get full line width and over time it can really seriously strain ur wrist; u can’t manually set pressure in traditional tools (besides like. using softer lead i guess lmfao) but u can with tablet pens and u should try it, bc if u can use a lighter touch overall it really goes a long way towards preventing injury in the long term.

this is all the stuff that came to mind immediately; i’m sure there are tons of basics i haven’t covered, depending on how much of a transition this is for u, but there are a lot of tutorials out there written by ppl more patient and more educationally-oriented than myself so you’d be doing a better service to urself seeking those out than if i were to try to clumsily emulate them lol. good luck + have fun!

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elektroyu · 2 years

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I love your art so much! :) what kind of brushes do you use? I paint, but i find the change to digital art/painting so difficult ! Do you have any tips? :) keep being awesome!

Hey! Thank you so much, I'm really happy my art brings you joy! :D

In Clip Studio Paint I mostly use these 3 brushes:

a flat oil brush with a rectangular brush shape, so it creates thin lines in certain angles and wider marks in others (I *think* it came with an earlier version, but seems to not be included anymore? There should be similar types in Assets for free, though). I do the bulk of my painting process with this brush especially for pet portraits

a pencil brush with paper texture; this is a standard brush (wonderful for creating convincing fur effect in paintings, but also beautiful for sketches)

G-Pen brush for lineart or cel-shaded work

Depending on what I want to achieve I'll sprinkle other brush types in (like airbrush), but in general these are my main go-to's. I'm still learning to use all the fancy tools, though, so maybe I'll develop a preference for other brushes in the future. Who knows :D

As for tips from switching from traditional to digital... this may be a pretty unsexy answer, but I think in the end this comes down to simply practice and experimentation. Use it often for all sorts of things, play around with settings, maybe watch tutorials to see how other people use all the digital tools. You could do studies of photos or art in order to concentrate on getting used to the medium instead of also worrying about what you draw/ paint on top of that. You could start by painting small items/ subjects from your comfort zone one at a time; there's no need to start off with complete finished paintings.

However, if you're overwhelmed with the sheer possibilities: feel free to start very simple and treat it like traditional art (that's what I did). Maybe at first use just one brush, one or two layers, maybe even ignore the eraser or undo option if these stress you out more than they help. You could also combine both types of art and color your traditional linework/ sketches digitally, or the other way around. Whichever approach excites you most! From there, expand your tool box in whatever pace you're feeling comfortable. The rest will come with time and practice.

One thing I'd strongly recommend for everyone who tends to get too lost in details too early (like me haha): work zoomed out until you've solved all the problems, then proceed to detailing. This prevents you from a) wasting a lot of time and b) creating lots of unnecessary frustration.

Other than that, definitely do have fun with it! :) Digital is much more forgiving than traditional art imho and you definitly can make full use of this.

I hope this helps somewhat, but feel free to nudge me into another direction if you were looking for more advanced tips! I really couldn't tell from the (amazing!!) work you have on your blog where you might feel challenged during the changing process. :)

#ask #digital art

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meowlayn-art · 3 years

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meowlayn, i was just wondering, and this might be a rlly bizzare question, but i see on twitter that your commissions are closed, but once they open up again, would you consider drawing me a tattoo design? 👀👉🏽👈🏽 i really like how you draw flowers, the ones on the obey me boys look flawless, and ive been wanting to get a specific tattoo designed that has flowers in it, and if you’d be okay with designing one for me, i’d love to commission you to draw it for me!! 😁🤩 ofc its completely fine if youre not okay w the idea of this, i know tattoo designs can be a whole different ballpark,, i just thought it would be worth asking heheh (^-^)

Hi @leiigh!

Wow thanks a lot for asking, that’s really... Well that’s really flattering to say the least! My brain went blank for a minute there haha. It’s such an honour to see that someone would consider getting my art tattooed on themselves. Really! (°◡°♡) And no worries, it’s not a weird question!

(It’s a long-ish answer so I am putting it under a cut.)

Ok now that my braincells are back, I can type haha. I am not a professional tattoo artist, but I have a few friends who design them (and I personnaly have and enjoy them too), so I put a few advices that could be useful. You are free to follow them or not, of course. I just wanted to make sure you have a few other infos before jumping on this exciting project.

For now, I don’t feel 100% comfortable with the idea of designing and selling a tattoo design, given that my artstyle, as it is, is not suited for tattoos (uneven lineart, too many colors, etc...). It means I would have to spend a lot of time on trying to draw something that a tattoo artist will have to tweak anyway (with me having no control over it etc...), and for now I don’t know, it scares me a bit xD I could technically do it, because the flowers I did for the ObeyMe! portraits are all completely hand-drawn - (EXCEPT for Satan. He has a complex floral scarf thingy, so I actually used a lineart floral brush from Clip Studio Paint, then added manually the eyeglobes, tweaked the lineart a bit again, colored it, shaded it... ) But even if I did, it probably wouldn’t be as good as the one from someone who is used to designing tattoos, because the weight of the lines, the shading, the colors if you want colors, the composition etc... is really different.

I think that if you ever want to commission an illustrator for this project, you should have in mind that:

You need to find a tattoo artist that is ok with tattooing someone else’s work (and vice versa of course). Not every tattoo artist is ok with tattooing someone else’s work : some want to avoid problems in case it’s a stolen design, other’s are tattoo designer themselves and wouldn’t want someone else’s design to appear on their “walking portfolio” - aka you - etc... Maybe you already knew it! :) But if not, I would suggest you to start by finding a GOOD tattoo artist (emphasize on good), that is also ok with that (whether it’s tattooing custom-made design or ticket tattoos - you can google it if you don’t know what it is ^^). It will save you time!

Tattoo design is indeed a whole other technique, on a whole other medium (skin). So if you commission an illustrator that isn’t a tattoo designer, I would really, reaaaaally suggest you make sure that the tattoo artist that will tattoo you redesigns it so that it’s suitable for tattoos. And make sure the illustrator you commissioned is ok with their work being slightly modified, because some may not. Some designs, although absolutely wonderful on a piece of paper, might NOT look as good once tattooed and/or age well (lineart too thin, colors fades too quickly, bad composition), so you really need a professional’s opinion on that.

My final advice would be : try and find a good tattoo artist 1) whose artstyle and universe speak to you 2) that is used to doing custom tattoo design, 3) and run your ideas by them!

If what you wanted was a tattoo design with spooky eyeglobe flowers and it’s their jam, chances are they would love to work on a custom piece. And you are more than welcome to show them my pieces as a reference ! I don’t mind any tattoo artists taking inspiration from that - I do not own this concept afterall ^^ - on the contrary! The only thing I don’t want is straight copy or worse, tracing - but no decent tattoo artist would do that I think. Thanks again Leiigh, for enjoying my art that much and considering commissioning me for a tattoo design. It really means a lot! And I am sorry if my answer disappoint you - I hope my little advices will nonetheless help you find the perfect artist(s) for your project! And feel free to drop a picture of your tattoo once it’s done, I would love to see it!

#ask #leiigh #tattoo commission ?#tattoo #now I want to get a new one haha #good luck with your tattoo project #🥰#txt post

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taikova · 4 years

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Hi! I'm really new to drawing digitally but i really love it. Im also so in love with your art and was wondering if you had tips (specifically for coloring/detailing), because a problem i have is colors looking a little to harsh or flat. I use photoshop right now but am open to trying different software suggestions.

hi, and thank you! :3

i have answered some art asks before, and there are some more tips about CSP tools somewhere in there, so try going through the “asks” tag on my blog for tips. also, these are just my thoughts on how to improve and how i WANT to improve atm, so take this with a grain of salt. if you don’t want to do all this, or just want to concentrate on one of these things, or NONE of these things, that’s perfectly allowed. a lot of these are “pro painting illustrator” tips i’ve absorbed from various sources, but they aren’t the “end-all, be-all” of making art, even for me. YOU can just do what you wanna do, no pressure at all.

this is a cliché but i think it’s true: these rules are meant to be bent, but it helps to bend them if you understand the rules first.

If you wanna learn painting, or just.. want to understand how and why pro painters get their colors to look so good, i recommend learning at least some fundamentals of art like uh.. values, composition, lighting (it helps me that i remember there are all sorts of light going on, like bounce light, ambient light on top of the imagined main light source) and using a lot of references. pro illustrators have a really good grasp on lighting, generally, and even on a more cartoony or less realistic style, i helps me a lot to do some painting studies of these fundamentals. It also takes a lot of trial and error and failed attempts.

With colors, it’s really important to recognize how colors work relative to each other. if you add grey, or rather, desaturated colors in places that you don’t necessarily want to draw rhe viewers attention to, it will make the brighter hues or colors (for example the opposite color on the color wheel) pop more. depending on your style it’s easier to make your art look good with brighter colors, and by using multiply layer style for shadows etc.. but you should understand at least a little bit of color theory, so i recommend looking into all of that.

i also recommend you avoid using black (or at least, ONLY black) to shade your art unless you’re making a desaturated (grayscale) picture in the first place. it always makes the pretty colors you chose turn muddy. shadows HAVE colors, so very dark hue of any bright color is almost always better than straight up black (in my experience). If you start with black lineart, you can lock the transparent pixels in photoshop (in the layers box), and use any brush to change that hue.

when i want to learn composition and good colors, it helped me to start learning values first by painting in only gray hues, and adding color after (like with layer styles like “color” and “overlay”. it may not make the colors look successfully pretty often times, but at least the composition and the play between shadows and light would work and make the art look nicer?

also, at some point (i recommend starting immediately, I Need To Do This More Myself) think about the sketching with the colors+shadows in mind. maybe try to use lines to separate where your colors and shadows change! when you’re sketching, don’t think of it ONLY as, “here’s the line of where the shirt ends, and where the nose ends” think of it like.. this is where the nose curves, so it creates a shadow THIS big and in this direction. just as an example. i TRY to do that as often as i can remember nowadays, so that the coloring will be much more comfortable later, because then i’d have made the sketch with the goal of making the values, shadows and colors look good. here’s a pretty good video on sketching like faces this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJkIaMECW6c

and.... ALL of the above requires reference to “get”, whether it’s well-lit photographs or other artists’ work, it’s always recommended to use reference. it’s not shameful, all artists need to use it, no matter how good they are. only thing you need to be aware of is to avoid posting straight up copies of others art, especially if you make money out of it (i think just drawing for fun and posting fan stuff is fine, if the reference is famous or you provide the reference...). but it’s recommended you find good references for what you want to draw. art studies that help you improve some part of your art always require them.

all of this is really hard to explain without visual aid, but i recommend channels like “tyler edlin” on youtube, who critiques student work and posts videos about tips for painting. his channel is more for environments but the tips often apply to any object or figure. i think this channel is the one of the only pro art mentor types i have found that i can stand (the critique is sometimes kinda harsh and tiring, though not always, but if you don’t want to see that or it makes you feel unmotivated, stop watching and look at some art or mentor for inspiration instead).

check out “astri lohne”’s youtube too, she paints characters and has some real cool paintings and couple of tips on improving your art!

(this clickbait title lmao. but i remember this has some good info about lighting): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpAIdEcNJaM

someone who has some really nice, bright colors and fun painting videos, is Laura Price/lulusketches, who also worked on Steven Universe! Her whimsical colors are inspiring. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS3ZMbzTOXdDuJlhAZuXgaw

i don’t really have tips at this point for cartoony art, but.. these fundamentals have helped me choose how i color, even the flat colors with multiply layers for shadows. Tools to learn for coloring in these are: the lasso tool, “selection” options like “select color gamut” or “color range” (it selects only one limited color range: you can adjust that range too, so you can fix that color or add more hues into that block of color you have in your drawing), locking the transparent pixels option, learn what each layer style does, try adjusting the colors sometimes... just... there’s a lot photoshop or CSP can do, as long as you learn the program properly. i don’t really know how to give you any software tips, you should probably google photoshop tips for drawing, or find photoshop tutorials! I use clip studio paint, and that is a really good program for digital art imo!

i have a yt channel where i put sped up videos of my fanart, so you can see how i sometimes draw and color things (i haven’t made any hardcore painting videos, they’re mostly about lineart drawings). if you go to the website version of my tumblr you can find a link there in my sidebar. or by going through my art, i post links to those videos on here too. i hope all that helps.

#arcadediamond #asks #i'm really not sure how to consider your starting point other than.. like this #if you need technical help with photoshop i don't think i'm a good teacher for that #art help

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creekgods · 3 years

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hey, I don't want to seem like I'm attacking you, but I have a question. there's some art of yours where Percy Newton from The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue is drawn as white and that's not cool. Percy is canonically Black and drawing him whitewashed is kinda racist. so could you not draw him like that anymore?

I saw this ask in the morning, but didn’t have the time to reply to it because I had to go to work, but I’ve been a little confused by it all day, because I’m not sure what you mean? I have never purposefully drawn him white.

I’m guessing you could either be referring to my pencil art, or my watercolour art, because I feel like in all my digital art Percy is very visibly black.

When it comes to my pencil art, works like this, I only draw lineart. I usually don’t shade or colour in my pencil art, so everything including skin, hair, eyes, no matter the colour or character, will be left paper white. If I were to shade or colour my pencil works, I would obviously colour everything as it’s supposed to be.

Watercolour on the other hand is a bit more tricky. Looking back at my art, I think you might be talking about especially these two works. I understand where you’re coming from. However, I would like to stress that I’ve never imagined Percy as white, and I’ve always tried my best to present him right in my art, even in these two works, even if they ended up being failures on that front. Watercolour is a difficult medium that I’m by no means a master of. When painting with watercolour you have to work from light to dark, and if you accidentally go too dark at some point, you can’t go back anymore. That’s why I often tend to be a bit “too careful” with watercolour, making multiple layers where I little by little go darker, until the result is to my liking. It seems that in these two works, I didn’t make enough layers, in the fear that I would make too many and end up ruining the whole piece.

Also, if you look at the first work, the post with the six different characters, you may notice that Percy’s skin is pretty much the same colour as Jesper Fahey’s on his right. Jesper Fahey is also a black character. Then compare this to Andrew Minyard, an actual white character, on the left. If you look at the work closely, you can also see that Percy’s palms are a little lighter than the rest of his hands. I guess I’m just trying to point out that I really was trying to go for black skin. Though I admit that it’s not a very successful presentation, and it’s always been one of my least favourite Percys I’ve ever drawn.

Looking at my newer watercolour works though, you can hopefully see some progress. This is the point where I started getting a little bit more comfortable using actually bold colours in watercolour painting. Also black comes in multiple shades, and I think in some of my works I was going for a little lighter shade of black, considering Percy’s father is white and mom is black, and his skin is described as being the “colour of sandalwood”. Those works were a long time ago though and I don’t fully remember my thought process behind each of them anymore. I’m sorry it ended up too light.

So, tl;dr: I have never intentionally drawn Percy, or any poc character for that matter, white. That would be against my values. In addition, TGGTVAV is my favourite book and Percy Newton my favourite character, perhaps in all of literature, and I’ve always tried my hardest to do him justice in all of my works. The fact that I have failed saddens me.

If you have any further questions, or if you were perhaps talking about works other than the ones I brought up in my reply, please feel free to leave me another message.

#tggtvav #ask #anonymous

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dysfunctionalbatfam · 4 years

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Do you have any advice/tips/tricks for new artists?

I’m definitely not the most qualified for this but I’ll try my best!! 😅

I kind of started out sort of using other artists’ art as references (just personal studies that I threw away right after) - that’s how I actually got into drawing. I did it for fun and when I finished I thought, “Huh. Neat” (even though it was terrible) and then I just tried a few more. Unlike working from real references, some artists may choose to have a style that’s more simplified and easier to understand. (Do keep in mind that you should never just trace it and repost online.)

Another thing I took from were speedpaints and tutorials - and they don’t really all help me, but they at least give me some motivation, even if they make it look overwhelmingly easy. They help break down the steps and give you a process so that you don’t only see the masterful finished product and that the beginnings can be rough. There has been, however, two (2) that really did help a lot. (Probably will drop the talented users in the tags 💞💞)

And honestly? Most of it has been just, making up shit, and that’s okay! Even if you have no idea what you’re doing, it’s not going to hurt your art progress, and often times you learn from them. Explore things, different styles, programs, tools, until you find some you’re comfortable with. And don’t worry if you’re unsure, this process takes a ton of time, so just keep exploring. Sometimes you just gotta say “This looks bad to me, but it helped me learn this and that.”

Another good thing to do is find a group of friends willing to support you! You could share your shitposts to more serious drawings and get their feedback. Bounce off ideas off each other, find other artists. People encouraging you to push on can do more than you’d think.

This is said. A lot. You hear it everywhere, but it’s commonly said for a reason, y’know? Practice. Practicing is so much of the gig. No one’s going to automatically be amazing at art, which also means that if your art isn’t what you want it to be right now? Doesn’t mean it’s never gonna get there. Try your best to draw everyday! Don’t worry if it varies, do whatever the fuck you want, this is for you. A two second scribble one day and a portrait study the next? Heck yeah.

Last general advice, methinks, is to use references. I’m a huge hypocrite for this because I just. Randomly put stuff down. But don’t ever be afraid to use them. They’re a resource all artists have used.

Onto more technical stuff -

Digital Art Programs (that I’ve tested and would recommend)

-Firealpaca (computer) and Medibang (computer & tablet): Always my recommendations. They’re absolutely free and easy to install, yet they offer such a reliable program. They’re basically the same, to be honest

-Krita (computer): I don’t really know how to use this but it’s free and capable of producing gorgeous pieces of art.

-Photoshop (computer & tablet): I started with this, it’s pretty good, but my personal issues made it just keep crashing, so I’m not very versed in it 😅 but it lives up to its hype.

-Procreate (tablet): Good for painting, but lineart is a little harder, in my opinion. The brush stabilization is wack. But it’s very comfortable and whelming to use, worth the ten bucks. You can also download a fuck ton of free brushes online, always a plus (I SWEAR I get twenty more every day)

-Autodesk Sketchbook (tablet & computer [?]): The interface is very similar to Procreate, so if you want a subsititute for Procreate, go ahead! In my opinion, it’s a little harder to use, though.

-Paint Tool Sai (computer) and Clip Studio Paint (both): Never tried, but probably really good, I know a lot of people who use them.

[Do keep in mind that starting out with free programs is enough, and many extremely good artists stick with them!]

Traditional art stuff -

-Same stuff applies, you don’t need advanced supplies to create good art!

-Hoard sketchbooks like a dragon, eat hot chip, and cry

-A lot of professional artists prefer sketching/inking traditionally and then digitally coloring it

-My favorite traditional supplies are charcoal pencils, if that’s anything? 😂 I find them more comfortable to use than pencils.

-You can tell I can’t do traditional to save my life, I’m SO sorry if you do traditional dhdkhd

-Brushes can be bought cheap!! They’ll still work just as well (many supplies that come cheaper are still good, I got a whole set with paint, a sketchbook, etc. for under twenty USD)

-Some advice I took from a youtube video somewhere: Have two notebooks, one for more serious artwork and one just to do anything in, as we know we all have failures and get nervous to fuck up. This ensures that you unleash your creativity! In that notebook, don’t worry about making your drawings look good, just put your ideas down.

This is getting to the point that I’m just rambling, so I’ll end it here. Hope it helps, even though I should follow my own advice- ❤️❤️❤️ good luck, you GOT this, anon!

#absolute-0zero was the first person who i had used references from for fun #very neat and simple linework #tutorials i liked: nac-nic /speedpaints i liked: kurawastaken #not dc #art tips #art refs #i guess #i am NOT qualified #very honored 🥺💞 but why me i can’t draw hskdhkdhkd #asks #long post #sorry #didn't cover anatomy and shit because nac-nic will do it way better #i can't anatomy myself rp #their art is 100 you won't regre it

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same-side · 5 years

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hiiii! i just wanna say, i adore your art. second, im teaching myself to draw and while i can draw simple basics (mouths and sometimes eyes if im lucky), im still a beginner. ive watched many art videos and im still a bit confused on wtf im doing. so i just came here to ask if you had any words of wisdom for beginners? could be anything from what tablets to buy to simple mistakes to avoid. ive read some of the other posts here and have found it all extremely helpful so far! Thx for all you do!!

Hey there! Thank you so much!

I would put a read more but tumblr is broken. I’m trying to cover a lot of varied thoughts in little points, so if there’s anything you would like me to elaborate on or otherwise have questions on, feel free to shoot me an ask or dm me!

General

I think the biggest thing to remember is not to compare yourself extensively to others. A little bit of comparison is healthy... But too much will destroy your confidence, motivation, and take the fun out of art. Particularly if you are comparing yourself to someone older than you (life experience and coordination come into play here) or that has been drawing much longer (practice).

Additionally... If you’re not having fun (and you’re not getting paid to do it), don’t force yourself. If you find yourself being frustrated or bored with art, don’t force yourself to do it. That’s how you burn out and get art block! This applies to parts of a peice, too! If you don’t feel like drawing a face or a hand today? don’t force yourself to finish it. Come back to it later when you aren’t as frustrated or are getting better results. Even if its a week or a month from now. Honestly, at any given time I have probably ten headless bodies in my drafts. That’s okay! I just come back to them when I’m ready to do the face. And don’t be afraid to abandon something if it doesn’t feel right!

Something that also doesn’t get said enough.... take care of your body! I never knew when I started art, but artists are supposed to do warmup sketches and stretches and muscle exercises! I didn’t do any of this, and i went through a period of a few months where I was drawing for 5ish hours every single day. I developed carpal tunnel from it! So remember to take care of yourself. Take breaks, stretch, remember to eat.

Practice

Practice!!!! Even if its just for fifteen minutes every day. Or twice a week. But if art is something you really want to get good at, you have to put in the time and effort!! You can’t expect to draw an hour per month and be on the same level as someone who draws an hour a day!

I know I say this a lot but I think the biggest thing is just reference! If you don’t know what something looks like, look at a picture of it when you draw it! To go hand in hand with that, though, don’t just copy what you see! Learn from it and apply it! So take, for example, a shoe! pay attention to the way the heel is shaped, the location of the eyelets for the laces... how large the toe is, how steep the top! While you’re at it, look at other styles of shoes as well, and compare them! See what makes it look like a boot versus a trainer! And then the next time you draw it, hopefully you’ll remember all the things you learned the first time around!

I do lots of studies that serve no purpose other than to teach me things! I use referencing/studies to learn about color theory, shapes, and anatomy in a real environment. For example, hands or fabric folds! Oftentimes I’ll do them timed (20 or 45 minutes) so that I don’t fixate on perfecting things, just on the process itself and what I can learn from it. This also helps with getting better acclimated to your software and more coordinated with what you’re doing. Repetitive learning, like with playing sports.

I’ve realized a lot of people don’t quite understand what a study is? Basically you just look at a photo and try to replicate it so that you can learn about lighting or color theory or textures or anatomy or whatnot. So here’s an example of a timed study.

Additionally, don’t avoid!! We, as humans, have a tendency to avoid things that make us uncomfortable or are difficult. But it will make you a better artist in then end. When I first started, I absolutely hated doing fabric. I felt like I wasn’t good at it. So instead of avoiding drawing clothing, I sat down and did studies and sketches of different kinds of fabric. By the end of this learning period, I became comfortable with it and grew to enjoy it. These days, I adore sketching clothes, and it’s why my pants and shirts and things tend to be detailed instead of stylized in line art. If you don’t like drawing hands because you feel like you aren’t good at it? Sit down, look at a bunch of pictures of different hands, and practice it. By the end, you’ll be more comfortable, you’ll have learned something. Even if you feel like the drawings you ended up with aren’t good, you’ll still have learned, and that’s what matters!

Style

I worked on basics before I tried to develop a style. I made sure to start with a very realistic method at first, so that I could be sure I understood how fabric folds, anatomy, and realistic expressions worked before I tried to stylize them. I think in the long run this approach really paid off for me. It also allowed me to be conscientious of what elements I was absorbing into my artwork. I hear from so many artists that they started drawing when they were younger and into anime or cartoons or things like that, and tried to emulate it. Because those styles became so ingrained into their artistic skillset, it becomes near impossible to iron out those influences and get rid of them later. So starting with realism is a way to ingrain proper anatomy and other good practice into your artwork.

One way to develop style is to take a look at the artwork of someone you admire, and try to list out the things you like form their style - perhaps the thickness of their lines, or the way they do eyes. Do this with several artists, take all those little details you like and try them out! See if you enjoy using them in your own drawing process! Think of it like a grab bag or a pick-n-mix, sprinkling in the elements you like here and there to create something new and your own - not just copying another artists style word for word.

Don’t worry too much about it though; don’t allow yourself to become anxious or fixated on “achieving a style”. Its a natural ever evolving process that comes with time and practice. I know a lot of people get hung up on style, but just take it one day at a time!

Also try to keep in mind what style you’re going for as you begin drawing. And I don’t mean that like sailor moon vs. ghibli. I mean that as in, is this piece going to be a painting, a lineart, a lined painting, cell shading...? It will help you in the longrun if you narrow down the broad kind of style you use, and refine from there.

Workflow

My workflow for paintings is very different from my workflow for lineart and cell shading. A full tutorial on how I do paintings can be found here! A process video for how I cell shade can be found here!

Everyone is going to have a different method that works for them! You just have to experiment and find out how you like to draw! For me, personally, I use color blocking for painting (see the tutorial above) and a spine method for lineart. How the spine method works is that I will draw lines that represent the legs, arms, back, etc. so that I can determine the placement, length, and composition. From there, I’ll add a dark outline that actually shows the shapes of the body. Then, I’ll use thinner lines to add details. This is the method I’ve found that works for me. Another commonly used method that I’m sure you’ve seen is representing body parts with cylinders and cubes. There are lots of good tutorials out there on breaking down bodies into shapes like this!

Something that I do is if I’m not quite happy with a part of a drawing, I don’t just erase it. I duplicate the layer so that I always have the original copy, and then I make changes from there. Sometimes I can end up with five or six different versions of the same arm or face that i’ve made minor changes to. And then I compare and pick the one I like best, or condense all the parts I like from each version to make a “best” version.

Tools

Currently I use Procreate and the standard Ipad with Apple Pencil. Prior to March I was using a Wacom Bamboo Touch and Photoshop Elements 2008. I find its harder for me to do full paintings in procreate, but its made my life a million times easier for lineart and cell shading. The pen pressure is phenomenal, and I also adore that its wireless / active screen instead of plug in like the wacom. The programme itself is intuitive and easy to get the hang of; it simply lacks a lot of the neat tricks that photoshop has, like rendering (lens flares, for example), gradients, and gradient maps. Try testing out different trials of programmes... firealpaca, photoshop, autodesk, whatever it may be! What works for me may not work for you!

#thegodbucky #asks for ts #t talks #long post #art reference

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areyousanta · 4 years

Photo

I made a self-analysis of my art progress over the past five years. I feel like I’m at a point where my progress has kinda flat-lined and I want to go through what was my most popular each year and point out what I like and what I don’t like/what I improved on.

This is mainly for my own use so putting the meat of this under the cut.

Also going on a little hiatus for who knows how long because my head is not on straight and I need to take time and get out of my head and this fog.

2015

First year with a tablet. Well, first few months at least. I think I got this tablet around October/November. I think the main thing I like about this is the colorr! The oranges and reds in his hair just make it look so vibrant and inviting. Definitely feel like I need to expand on my color usage and be more carefree about it like in this pic.

I have a whole list of things I don’t like but I’m not gonna get into them since...well this was my first arting experience and I loved every minute of learning the program and using the tablet. So I don’t wanna throw shade on those memories. Mainly, linearttt needs some workk.

2016

Alright here we go. So first thing, THE POSE?!? I honestly am still shocked at how well I pulled off that pose. Yeah the anatomy is wonky, but I feel like I executed it well.

The shading bugs me the most. I was so concerned with having harsh lines in the shading that I blurred everything out. I feel like this makes it lose it’s depth! Yes it looks soft, but I am a HUGE fan of shading that has a rough, painted, look?? Idk how to describe it.

Also the avoidance at doing anything with Roy’s face or anything below both of their shoulders annoys me.

That is probably my main regret about me doing art at this time. It always had to be PERFECT. If I ever drew something and it started seeming like it wasn’t going to turn out how I liked, I pretty much rage-quit and shut down. I still do this now, but I try and hold out a little longer and work on fixing it before I give up. Unfortunately, giving up on a drawing happens more often than I’d like to admit. And, it’s not just giving up, its giving up and DELETING the whole drawing because I get so mad at myself. This is why you all rarely see me post sketchy sketches. I really need to try and kick this habit.

2017

STILL MY FAVORITE PIECE I’VE EVER DONE.

Idk what it is about this drawing. The shading! The lineart! His hair! That AUTOMAIL OMFG. I can’t tell you how many times I have tried to recreate this and nothing seems to compare in my mind.

Nothing to critique. I still love it all.

2018

God this one seems like I literally did it yesterday.

This is where I feel like my progress began to stall out. Most of my stuff now still looks like this and idk how that makes me feel.

This is right about the time I started doing my lineart this way. I used to refer to it as my “soft lines” as I labeled it in my old commissions posts. Now its my standard way to do lineart and I love it so much. I really like the variation of line weight on this and the hatching!! I need to work on incorporating this into future pieces.

Also I remember I did this weird technique of shading on an overlay layer with odd colors?? I think I used like green and red on this one and I still really like how it turned out so I may try that again.

2019

THIS ONE idk what it is about it but I have a love/hate relationship with this one. I love the fact that I did a (sort of) full-body pose and it actually turned out okay! Also the colors and lineart look super dope and work welll!

I hate the hands and the face though. Hands because...well they’re hands and were crafted by satan himself to torture artists with their wonkiness. The fact just looks weird to me. I’m not super comfortable with doing profiles and I always feel like they turn out really strange looking. I’ve looked at a million different profile tutorials, traced over pictures, and Still. Can’t. Do. It.

However, looking from the one from 2015 to this one, I am amazed I have come this far.

#stfusanta #progress #areyouart #i havent been mentally okay since jan of last year when i came about 2 inches from ending it all #i need time to sort out my thoughts and start thinking for me and doing things for me and not to please others #also need to get that dumb little voice in the back of my head tf out #it not surprisingly sounds like my mother and is her opinions of me #so need to get rid of that shit #also clean my apartment #and make actual food for the first time in fucking months

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joves-stash · 5 years

Note

Hi ! Your art is AMAZING, even your draft are beautiful, it’s insane ! I’ve started digital art a few months ago but I don’t progress at all... Would you have some advises you could give me please ? Thanks for sharing your art with us

First of all, thank you so fluffing much for kind words, you beautiful kind creature!! And second, well.. I wanted to ask did you get the right person, just in case x)

Pff.. now for the tricks.. there is a lot I can share, so if you come off anon, you can dm me and I would be able to help you a lot more than just this, but if you don’t feel comfortable, then sure.. I’ll try to sum up as much as I can :)

So, the tips for you and everyone wants to read are under the cut.

1. You said digital art, that means that you are workingin a program. The best way to get better is to learn how to use it and what canyou do with it. Program is a tool, you can be creative with it, so my best tipis to search on YouTube some tips that you maybe didn’t know about and how canyou use shot keys. I personally use Paint Tool Sai (for almost 10 years) andI’ve learn how to make up for the stuff it’s missing so I wouldn’t have to useadobe CS or other expensive hard drive clogging programs.

2. Composition. When you dodigital art you can mess and fix this part. Choose a canvas shape and size, Iusually use the classic A5 sheet size and decide what I want where. You wouldwant to put a cross on the sheet and move it around to see where you wantpeople to look, for ex the face of the character. Make it a bit off center. Ifyou finish the whole illustration and some random thing draws the attentionmore than the characters face, use circular fade (light center, dark edges) andset it overlayer and lower the opacity, it should help. Also, try flipping thecanvas often cause you may see the mistake before it’s to late, maybe evenfinish the lineart one day and look it tomorrow with fresh eyes before coloringit.

3. Sketch. I’ll put mydrawing skill in this category. Something that artist generally don’t talkabout much as if it’s some taboo, is referencing stuff. Sure, tracing is badbut finding a stock image isn’t! my illustration folder looks like this

I can’t draw it all, I would google everything! I google the torso so I would see how to draw those abs, I google the men squatting so I could draw the thigh and knee, and I googled the horses so I wouldn’t have to load my brain and maybe get something wrong. Referencing is ok, that’s how we see how things are supposed to look like and lean. I can draw curly hair and most of the anatomy by now cause I’ve been doing it for years. It takes time but eventually you wouldn’t require the reference. I use to be traditional artist before I was digital, and I draw for over 15 years, Istill think I should be better considering my age.

4. Coloring. Right now, I just color in 3 layers (base color, multiply layer shadeand overlayer highlight) but I use to be much thorough and had gazillion layersfor everything, to the point my PSD files would be as large as over 1GB. This is one of my old tutorials if you want to look.

5. Time.This is the most important one. Practice needs time, but more importantly, you need to reduce the time in what you start and finish one illustration. It use to take me a week or even two to do one illustration, and now I don’t allow it to take me over 2 days, one for the lineart and other for the coloring, no more than 4h total. Less time you spent, more will you draw, that means that you will have less vips and more finished illustrations that you can judge and see what you did wrong and how to get better, what you need to fix. My best advice is to look at your work after you are done, look hard and find one thing you are proud off and one thing you can fix, and next time you draw, try to fix that one thing and so on. That way it will be furling and educational and not‘wasted time’

I rly hope this helps, it’s all I could think at the moment, but feel free to ask me for whatever you need, ok? :)

#ask #you're still so precious #; w ;

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