#or perhaps a paintover?

[kissedkass]

redraw from something from 2022.

#naut #dorian #kassocs #they put me on adderall and now i know how to do everything in the world. you can't even comprehend how much i can focus on tasks now #can i be real this is mostly an “edit” #or perhaps a paintover? #but im considering her a redraw. dorians entire face actually got drawn this time #last time i got mad at him and left him ugly af

[ssalballoon]

i wanna get better at art but dont know how to start ^^' whats a good way to get into studying anatomy and improving as an artist? tysm 💗 love your art soso much

more art converts 😼 yay!!

i think these asks were sent by different people but they're pretty related + a lot of my advice is the same! so i'll answer these together under the cut (it's so long oh gosh)

ok first of all i'm very flattered that people are asking me for art advice but i'm really not the most equipped person to ask TTOTT I've never been deliberately studious with my art so I feel bad offering advice when I've mostly gotten by with just drawing fanart and ocs a lot... my rate of improvement has therefore been slow, but I've still had an enjoyable learning experience so perhaps from that angle my input may help! i'll mainly refer you to external resources that have helped me

For anatomy + drawing humans:

1) I know I'm not diligent enough to sit down and study muscles, so instead I make it more enjoyable by drawing my favorite characters in a pose that targets the muscles I want to practice! (i default to drawing ppl naked because of this lol) This isn't the most efficient, but it serves as good motivation to get practice in. (honestly a lot of my general art advice has the undercurrent of becoming so obsessed with characters to drive your motivation to draw even when artblocked/ struggling with doubts!)

2) I want to refer you to Sinix's Anatomy playlist! Although Sinix focuses more on digital painting, he gives simplified anatomy breakdowns that include how muscles change shape under different movements/poses, which is crucial for natural human posing. the static anatomy diagrams from Google don't really help for that

3) What's just as important as anatomy is gestures! (especially important if you're used to drawing non-human objects I think!) Making figures look like they have flow to them will sell the "naturalness"(?) to your anatomy. If you have in person life drawing sessions accessible near you I'd recommend trying those out, or if you prefer trying it digitally there's this website!

This helps you not only get a sense of human proportions, but also natural posing! I'd limit the time taken to draw the poses from like 10 seconds to 1 minute(?) for quick gestures, and maybe 1 minute to 5mins(for now!! typically they go much longer) to study human proportions. I'd say don't spend a lot of time on them, repetition is more important!

4) I've also picked up on useful anatomy tidbits from artists online! Looking at how practiced/ professional artists stylize a body helps me focus on what the essential details are to convey a particular form (looking up "human muscles" and being hit with anatomy diagrams full of all the smallest details can be overwhelming! what do you even focus on?! so these educated simplifications really help me) Like Emilio Dekure's work! Look how simplified these figures are, and yet contain all the essential information to convey the sense of accurate form (even though it's highly exaggerated!)

(shamefully admits I've never studied from actual anatomy books so I can't recommend anything in that sense TTOTT)

For general improvement:

1) I highly recommend Sinix's Design Theory playlist and Paintover Pals! (+ his channel in general) You don't have to put them immediately into practice, but I think these are good fundamental lessons to just listen to and have them in the back of your mind to revisit another day. Plus these videos are just fun and very approachable! Design theory fundamentals are essential to creating appeal and directing a viewer's attention, and critiquing others' work/ seeing his suggestions are a good way to practice noticing areas of improvement+ solutions yourself!

2) If you prefer a more formal teaching resource, the Drawabox YouTube course covers all the basic fundamentals of drawing in short lessons. But honestly if I were starting out, this would be a little intimidating for me (and even now it still is! I haven't done all of them) But even if you don't watch them, the titles should give you an idea of the basic concepts that are valuable to pick up. I think it would be nice to keep in mind and revisit once in a while as you learn!

(One lesson I do encourage you to watch is the line control one! A confident continuous line conveys motion and flow much better compared to discontinuous frayed lines which I think is good to practice early by drawing from the wrist and shoulder)

3) As a universal piece of advice: Please please please use references! Use a reference for literally everything, observing is how we learn! You'll find that a lot of things you thought you knew what they looked like are inaccurate by memory alone. Also, trace! This is solely for your practice, tracing then freehanding has helped me grasp proportions when I was struggling! (of course don't post these online if you traced from art)

I've found that being able to compile references into easy to access boards has been very helpful in encouraging me to use references more. For PC, I think they use PureRef (free/pay what you want), and for iPad I use VizRef. VizRef is a one time purchase (which was definitely worth the $3.99 USD price imo)

4) On that note, try building up the habit to observe from media + real life and make purposeful comments about what you see! Like hey, when I bend my knee, the muscles/fat in my thighs and calves bulge outwards, I should draw that next time. Purposeful observation carries over to your overall visual library, and it's a little thing that adds up over time

5) For motivation, get into media you really enjoy, or make your own characters! The way I started art more seriously was by drawing fanart + OCs from anime that I liked ^^ For OCs it really encourages you to draw more because you're the primary creator of their art! Also you gotta see a lot of good art to make good art! Watching visually appealing media (like animation with appealing stylization/simplification) can passively help you learn just by observation.

ok wow I could go on but this is already a lot of information TTOTT my main aim for this reply is basically: don't let anything discourage you from learning to draw!! drawing is so fun and brings me a lot of joy ^^ practicing often will of course help you improve, and the way to incentivize that is by having fun with it! i hope this could help!💞

#my asks #art resources #trying to be concise n failing #i'm mainly worried that like. my art tips make me sound more skilled than my art actually is

[catnippackets]

What’s your thoughts on the moral okayness for or don’ts on referencing real life photos or photo stock as reference in our art? There’s some that just reference and others just rough trace the poses and draw over that. Is there any code on what’s totally okay or not okay??? I’m still learning what’s okay to do and what’s not okay in situations of referencing. Is it a law or more like personal preference and opinion for each?? Sorry if this is a weird question🧚✨

of course it's okay! people have ALWAYS used photos as reference for drawing, there's nothing wrong with it. a ton of drawings I've made were done by referencing photos. almost every drawing I've posted in the past week was made by referencing photos. the drawing I've used as a header image for years is actually a paintover of a photo I like! I'll also regularly take photos of myself and then use them to draw poses that I'm having trouble with.

there is nuance to this discussion, of course; you could make an argument that it's wrong to paint over a photo of something you found online so you can like, sell it. cuz I'm sure there's ethics to essentially recreating another person's photo (which is a form of art as well, of course), especially if it's like a beautiful landscape and not just a simple pose, and then passing it off as your own completely original thing, especially for money. like idk for example, I would never use the paintover I'm using as my header in like, my business cards. cuz it's not my composition or colours or anything. but just using it as my header image feels fine cuz it's not really doing anything there, it just looks pretty and I like it (tho that being said it has been years at this point and I have been thinking it's time to change it out so perhaps this point will become irrelevant soon lol)

basically I don't really know where my personal line is, you just kinda gotta use your best judgment, cuz while I do believe it's possible to take it too far and overstep, people have been using photos as reference since the dawn of time and it's usually completely fine. unless the photographer in question specifically says please don't, of course

#anonymous #ask

[pm-fmp]

Unit Builder Concept (Rough)

I recently tackled another sketch, this time focusing on the unit-builder aspect of the game. Here’s how it turned out:

Similar to my previous attempt with the environment sketch, this new drawing hasn't quite hit the mark for me. It represents only a basic outline of what could eventually be developed, serving more as a conceptual starting point than a final design. There’s a clear path ahead for further development and refinement of this idea.

The sketch, while not fulfilling all my expectations, has laid the groundwork for more intensive exploration and innovation. I am eager to dive deeper into this concept, iterating on the design and experimenting with new methods to enhance its functionality and aesthetic appeal. This process will likely involve a series of revisions where I will test different configurations, adjust proportions, and perhaps incorporate feedback from potential users or peers.

As I continue to develop this sketch, my goal is to not only improve the visual representation but also to ensure that the unit-builder is intuitive and efficient for players. This involves a careful balance of artistic expression and practical game design principles, aiming to create a feature that is both visually compelling and strategically advantageous in gameplay.

I look forward to uncovering new possibilities and pushing the boundaries of what I can create.

In order to create this sketch I utilised the same workflow as my previous one, using Midjourney to create some resources that I can move, combine and paintover.

The raw Midjourney artwork:

I find great pleasure in this process because it allows me to generate ideas with remarkable speed. This rapid ideation is particularly exhilarating as it enables me to translate fleeting thoughts into tangible concepts almost instantaneously. Being able to sketch out ideas quickly not only keeps the creative momentum going but also helps in identifying which concepts have the potential to be developed further.

References

Midjourney AI, 2024. Midjourney. Available at: https://www.midjourney.com/ [Accessed 28 April 2024].

[nlmda]

So I was thinking about setting up a Patreon for my art stuff.

The rewards would include high resolution files, early access to all of the artworks, also some insight into my creative process - sketches, WIPs, palettes, process shots of finished works (perhaps some older ones too) and I could also share some of my epic fails with you (works that I have abandoned halfway through, because they were terrible :D). And for my fellow artists (including beginners) I could provide some tips, tutorials, textures and maybe some paintovers of your works that you have difficulties with?

What do you guys think? Yay, nay?

[harleyjonesart-blog]

Paintover This is the final outcome of my first paintover. I just made some slight changes by enhancing the reflection on the dragon and adding a little more shading for contrast. When referring back to the style I am mimicking, I feel pretty happy with the outcome, but in hindsight I should have used more complimentary colours and perhaps enhanced the lighting even more so. Although, I can take this and use it to improve my next paintovers.

[laikaanimationtamara]

Tamara Blackette - BAW03.1 Project Proposal

Group Proposal

Veronika - The Story, Purpose & Projected Outcome

Our project centres around the Soviet Space dog, Laika, and our artistic interpretation of what she might have experienced -- or how she might have seen her experience -- those hours while she was in space, in an environment she had never been before. We intend for this to be a stylised 3D animation with 2D elements of roughly 3-3:30 minutes in length, with a strong musical score and followable plot. We are aiming for a well-blended, impactful final product that will allow people to connect more emotionally with the history around them and perhaps challenge at least our own ideas of what animation, especially 3D animation, can look like.

Holly - Art Direction

Star Sailor-1 uses a mix of 2D and 3D assets to create a unique art style. Lighting, colour, and texture play an important role in the animation. High contrast lighting creates a powerful and serious mood and helps elements stand out when using painterly effects. We use painterly effects to create a dream-like feeling and communicate with the viewer whether Laika feels grounded in reality or not. Space Sailor-1 uses colour to show the change in Laika’s condition; when Laika goes into space the colours are cool blues, purples and greens, these colours slowly grow warmer to reflect the heating up of Laika’s capsule. Keeping styles consistent between all team members has been achieved by setting guidelines to follow. For example, with 2D paintovers, we all use the same brushes and keep constant communication with each other to make sure we’re on track.

Levi - Sound Design 

Within the piece, the team hope to have a strong sense of Sound Design that plays a major role with the narratives storytelling. To achieve this Team Laika have partnered with a composer to create an original composition that encompasses exactly what they want in terms of feel and flow. Working with a composer means budgeting in a commission fee. Neo Te Aika (composer) agreed to be paid $100, however as a group we have decided to pay him $150. This includes a tip and is to reflect the short notice. This piece will work in conjunction alongside other sound design elements E.g Russian radio segments to help convey the story in place of dialogue. 

Scarlett - Roles & Teamwork 

As a group, we are split into roles, with Veronika and Levi focusing on story and character and Scarlett, Tamara and Holly focusing on worldbuilding and VFX. Story and character team members have created a fleshed-out story, storyboards, animatics and other 2D, 3D elements. Worldbuilding and VFX team members have been creating 2D, 3D assets such as rocket models, building models and shadow dog models. We are also working on VFX within animation such as water, clouds and starscapes. Communication will ensure the team is working in a cohesive style throughout the animation. We are using programs such as Discord, HacknPlan and a shared Google Docs to communicate.

Tamara - Production Schedule & Pipeline

In terms of the Production Schedule and Pipeline, we are currently slated for the Final Cut of the animation to be completed on Friday 13th November. We will then have the 16th-20th of November to finish our Graduation Exhibition resources. All Assets and VFX are slated for completion on Friday 25th September to allow most of October for the remainder of Rendering and the 2D Paintovers. As scenes are assembled they will be rendered so as to not slow down progressing them forward into painting. The Compositing, Compiling, Final Sound Design and Editing are slated for October to be developed as we complete sections of the animation. During October we plan to design an Exhibition display for our Graduation 

Our Pipeline has changed several times throughout Pre-Production and Previsualisation as we have developed and tested the concepts. We have predominantly used Maya and Blender for the creation of the 3D Assets which will then be taken into the Adobe Suite and Procreate to create the stylisation outlined by the Art Direction. From there it will be compiled and edited together using predominantly After Effects and/or Premiere Pro. 

Individual Project Plan

For the second semester I will be modelling, animating and rendering any remaining assets and visual effects needed to complete the water wave sequence of our Star Sailor-1 animation using Maya by the end of September. The Water Wave sequence consists of four main sections: Laika looking through the capsule at the particle waves, her running alongside the waves, the waves crashing into her and then the wave rolling over the capsule with her looking at it. As I complete assets and sections, I will then be using the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite to digitally paint over the frames in 2D to achieve the desired Oil Paint texture effect. My personal goal during the Production of the animation is to continue improving my knowledge and skills in creating VFX and 3D assets. As a result of digitally painting over the frames in a 2D Oil Paint style I will also be able to grow my digital art skill alongside my 3D skills. 

In the 2D paintover I wish to retain the Noir lighting style I did research into last term and was trying to replicate in the 3D assets I was making. As a group, we decided early on during Pre-Production that we wished to have high contrast High Key lighting and so far in the Previsualisation stage I was using Maya & Arnold lights to start this in the 3D scenes. I will still add the lights to the scenes the way I want them and then manually further emphasize the lighting in the paintover by increasing the contrast between the lights and shadows. This way I can see what the lighting will generally look like and I can increase the intensity/effect without adding further lights. This mini-pipeline for the lighting was what I did in Term One when I painted over my render of the Sparrow sequence. So far I have the 3D elements and constructed scenes for all the sections except the waves crashing into Laika. I constructed those scenes during the Previsualisation stage using Scarlett’s Rocket Exterior with my Internal Frame and Veronika’s Animatic model. Currently, I am waiting on the final Laika model to do final VFX adjustments and camera placements for the first two sections and create the wave crash section. In the meantime, I have conducted a Brush Test as I am going to be using Photoshop where the rest of my team will be using mainly Procreate and I’ve begun painting the final section’s background as I created the full 3D scene and effect for it during Previs last term. I have been using another Photoshop layer in the Colour Burn/Multiply mode over the top to help me see where to place the base shades with higher contrast to enhance the shadows and highlights.

As a group, the deadline for creating scenes and assets has been set for the end of September to allow most of October for Rendering. Once scenes are rendered we will be painting. I would like to complete the four main painted backgrounds/static element pieces one per week each Saturday across August, leaving the wave crash for last to give Veronika more time to complete the Laika model without hindering my progress. This should leave me September for making the wave crash scene, rendering and painting the moving VFX that changes with the frames which will mainly consist of the particles in the waves. This way I hope to remain at a consistent pace and if I need to step in and paint Laika in any of my sections to assist Veronika’s workload, then this will allow for slight leeway or delays. From the end of September onwards, I will also be assisting with the final compositing and editing of the animation as we complete scenes. This will likely mostly consist of Colour Grading and Lighting assistance/touch-ups and any final adjustments. I have offered to help Levi in creating the final Exhibition presentation we hope to do and I wish to create a Trailer for the animation.

(https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Vh2wZKjnzU1mzH-sq329uWStwmSnln7lcvxYt9NiETE/edit?usp=sharing)

Additionally towards my Worldbuilding and VFX Major, I will be writing my Investigative Project essay on “Advancements in Special Effects”. I’m planning to cover older and modern practical effects, digital effects and programs used to create them. Through this, I hope to educate the rest of the class through the Seminar on my learnings about how both Practical and Digital Effects have evolved through time and the best programs to use to achieve our specific stylisation for Star Sailor-1. I hope to apply any techniques and deeper program understanding that I learn from this additional research into my sequence as I create it.

#research #production #productionreport