Chit-Chat: "L'art pour l'art" - DCC

[Fairy]

Any artists out there able to help me with some banners? I'm a member of several clubs, but the banners are all different sizes and they look terrible together.

Was hoping someone could help me with cranking out a few banners of the same rectangle size

After asking around (on some incorrect threads and PMs to moderators) I have found myself here. Even though I am only a member of 5 clubs, I was thinking it would be a good gesture to the whole community of club members if a set of banners were crafted for each club.

For the size, I think the rectangle shape of my flying club banner would work best.

Yeah, I'm sure you'll be able to find someone willing to help you out with your banners. Try asking the owner of a Shop! :)

As for club userbars chiefly made by A&D? Well.. that is a nice gesture, but whose going to make them? Making userbars and banners is usually a privilege reserved for someone in the club with the means, ability, and time to craft them. A&D as a whole doesn't have the manpower or resources to assert to a community wide project like that (although it's something I'm working towards!). That and, well, having a universal "one size fits all" type of userbar.. just so drastically reduces the creativity and personality that each club has.

All of this said, if you know of any clubs that are in desperate need of userbars/banners and don't know where to go; send them here. I'll see how I can help. :)

 

[White Raven]

Does anybody know who was the original artist for this piece of art?

 

[TwilightBlade]

It's circulated the internet for several years, so it's hard to pinpoint the original artist. It was spread on sites like cheeseburger, 9gag, tumblr, imgur, weheartit, etc.
April 2012 http://www.deviantart.com/art/All-Eevee-Evolutions-296711170
May 2012 http://www.ptt.cc/man/C_Chat/DE98/DFF5/DE4B/M.1339982201.A.78F.html

 

[Elaitenstile]

Huh. Looks like this thread went dry for a few days. Only one thing to do!
(takes up the revival wand)

So I've recently gotten into graphic designing, and by a lot of lazy skuddling and messing around with this rusty Photoshop I have, I managed to make something work looking at. (if you think this isn't that good, you surely haven't seen the high-contrast previous ones XD) Personally I feel that I shouldn't have blended the render I used for Dante with the reddish... whatever. And I CAN'T CUSTOMIZE FONTS HELP. It's supposed to look CSS backround... ish. The space below the 'Dante' text (that crosses over the legs) should ideally be used to contain the links, text etc. for a hypothetical sig.

Stock I | Stock II

Dante from DMC! Long time fan of him, haha. Unfortunately, I don't really think this 'rebooted' look is as impressive as the classic one.
I'm not claiming credit for anything here except for putting it together, jsyk.

Some kind of direction on what to do next would be appreciated very much.
~beginner at gfxing signing out

 

[Hiatus]

I personally love the size, haha. Anyway, your render looks sort of copy/pasted. To prevent that, you could have added some C4Ds above it, and maybe also some effects. Also, those texts are too far away from the focus; would have looked nicer if you had placed them a little closer. When you get the chance, you should definitely look at some signature tutorials. They really help, you know? n_n;; Been making graphics for years, but I still look at tuts every now and then. Each time I do, I always learn something new.

 

[Elaitenstile]

Why does this thread always get stale...?

(!)New question - When do you guys find the time to draw/prefer to draw?

 

[TwilightBlade]

Why does this thread always get stale...?

(!)New question - When do you guys find the time to draw/prefer to draw?

My ideal drawing time is when I have the place to myself. I don't want to be interrupted nor pestered while drawing. Yet, it's also the ideal time to watch anime or a movie so... I haven't sketched anything new in months. I'll open Photoshop and work on sonething whenever I can close Skype and a few Chrome tabs.

 

[Elaitenstile]

My ideal drawing time is when I have the place to myself. I don't want to be interrupted nor pestered while drawing. Yet, it's also the ideal time to watch anime or a movie so... I haven't sketched anything new in months. I'll open Photoshop and work on sonething whenever I can close Skype and a few Chrome tabs.

I totally get that. Since sketching up something is classic leisure time, I guess you'd be watching something or reading something at the time lol. The main reason art is still a hobby in my book XD

 

[Fairy]

Hey it's hard to keep this thread going. :< Besides, I can't just sit here talking to myself it gets embarrassing after a while.

Lately, creativity has been hitting me in a lot of bizarre and interesting ways, and at odd moments. Right now, most of my creative energy has gone into pixel art and the majority of that has been either large, full pixel works or complementary components to already existing pixel pieces.

I've learned just to not fight it and go along with whenever the mood strikes me. I find that if I try to set up an atmosphere conducive to art, I don't really do any more or better work anyway. I'm a go with the flow kind of girl~

 

[Aquacorde]

sorry can i just like vent/be proud of myself for a second lol

i've been pretty neglectful of my shop this month but i just hadn't been feeling creative at all ;; kinda moped around, put off doing requests, was a terrible person, then slogged through some things that i'm sure i didn't do really great on. ;( but then i managed to get this and something in my brain just went "hey! remember! you can make pretty things!!"

​

but today i was like "ahh i still feel stagnant" so i made myself a new signature and wow making myself a new theme always makes me really happy and energized about doing things idk it's nice. also makes me want to post bc im proud of it and like seeing it. and i re-discovered that cropping/resizing gifs isn't actually too hard when you have a good source image and that made me happy. :3

☆ I've invented a momentum
That'll never slow me down

aquacorde themes
Pokémon Anime
Doctor Who Fanclub
Red vs Blue Fanclub
RWBY Fanclub
RT/AH Fanclub

Akita + Roxanne Rosie
Dragon + Sora + Rinna
Wobbu + Nova
elheroeoscuro

lyrics by Hedley
image by starexorcist
bg by jon risinger

and then i went and did requests again! which is good! the thing is, i tend to put them off for various dumb reasons such as "i dont really like that request i'll deal with it later i guess" and "i dont feel like doing anything rn". and then i get all anxious about requests piling up because wow they do and im like "augh i gotta get all these done asap or people will be mad :(" and then i put it off even more because i'm too anxious to be creative and then it gets worse and that's a downward spiral isn't it. but i finally got it through my head that yes!! i can do a few things at a time and it's fine!! just a few at a time, nobody will be mad. unless i do them out of order lol. but like three to six things a day; i can do that :D and today i ended up with this avatar that im just really happy about aah.

​

like, usually inspiration and drive come to me in a striking source image and that's what it takes to get me back into it. but the first image up there wasn't one i particularly even wanted to use- i had trouble with placement and what to do with it that was different than everything i had been doing before it. and it just wasn't going really well until i found a nice background to go with it. my signature was nicer; the piece struck me as being a lovely piece of art at first but i wasn't going to do a sig with it until i thought about pairing it with the background and then the css set up just came naturally really. and basically when i get down to it im proud of myself for shaking off a slump and getting back to it rather than quitting for half a year like i usually do (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ celebrate with me lmao

 

[Elaitenstile]

above post ^^^^^

I can get that managing an art shop can be very, very difficult. You would do well for the first few days, and then you'd start postponing bit-by-bit until a lot of requests have piled up when you either go inactive/close down the shop/do everything in a flash. Doing everything at that time is very unusual, as your self confidence would have probably faded by then. Possibly the reason why we don't have an awesome, long-running shop in the forum, huh? Anyway, I used to have two sprite shops, like way back, and both of them closed up because of this reason. Good for you you're still trying hard.

 

[Fairy]

If you ever feel like you need a break, you can always ask me and I'll close the thread for a couple of weeks. :( That's the main reason I don't want people posting request threads, because I feel they can really compromise an artist's desire to create and puts unnecessary pressure on people where there doesn't need to be. There's nothing wrong with suspending the shop for a small time so you can catch your breath.

Anyway, I am happy that you were able to produce something you're proud of. It's always awesome when you can recapture something you felt like you lost. Just please remember that, if you ever hit those moments of exasperation, I'll be happy to take some of that weight off of your shoulders. <33

 

[Aquacorde]

I can get that managing an art shop can be very, very difficult. You would do well for the first few days, and then you'd start postponing bit-by-bit until a lot of requests have piled up when you either go inactive/close down the shop/do everything in a flash. Doing everything at that time is very unusual, as your self confidence would have probably faded by then. Possibly the reason why we don't have an awesome, long-running shop in the forum, huh? Anyway, I used to have two sprite shops, like way back, and both of them closed up because of this reason. Good for you you're still trying hard.

I actually like having a shop because it makes me work with a lot of different things- mine right now is open to pretty much anything people can think of besides original works because I actually can do this stuff. Even if I'm not the greatest at it, I can do some things that others can't for themselves. Requests make me do things I'd never do on my own (Murkmire's text&bg-only banner; tags with text; a heck of a lot of vertical tags due to the stocks I've been getting; more dynamic pieces than whimsical floaty things) and that's good for me.

I have been having trouble with repetitive stocks lately- I've been pretty much forced to do a lot of vertical tags due to the unforgiving positioning of the subjects and I've been running out of ways to make them look good and different from each other. But I mean, I wouldn't have made any of them at all if I hadn't gotten those stocks? idk it's an interesting range of experience I'm getting.

If you ever feel like you need a break, you can always ask me and I'll close the thread for a couple of weeks. :( That's the main reason I don't want people posting request threads, because I feel they can really compromise an artist's desire to create and puts unnecessary pressure on people where there doesn't need to be. There's nothing wrong with suspending the shop for a small time so you can catch your breath.

Anyway, I am happy that you were able to produce something you're proud of. It's always awesome when you can recapture something you felt like you lost. Just please remember that, if you ever hit those moments of exasperation, I'll be happy to take some of that weight off of your shoulders. <33

If I ever have the thread closed I'll never get back to it tbh. :x And I do like having a shop, even if I don't like all the requests I get. Because while some aren't fun and some are just ??? there are others that I have fun with and end up with something I never would have done without that particular direction. And people clearly want stuff done, too. I remember there used to be like tons of shops that were always really busy and I thought that people had just stopped requesting or something but I guess it was shop owners that didn't want to do it anymore. So if I can do things for people and they continue to like it and come back for more then that's great! I'm sure I'm only getting requests because of the small amount of people offering services tho. ^^;
Galleries are even more difficult for me tbh because everyone is so much better than I am haha. And I learn on my own time and with experimenting rather than trying to figure out what people with actual art knowledge are trying to explain to me. I take criticism fine, I just don't understand it well. -v-; And like. I don't want to show off what I'm doing. I just want to make things that I or other people will use. All the stuff I do has always been for themes. I don't make stuff for the sake of it as much.

 

[Elaitenstile]

above post

If you remember the Pixel Art section, you would have seen tons of sprite shops at one time. They all fade away fast, sadly, since most people who request there don't really have uses of the fusions and other things they make. People have an incentive to request in your shop, so they flood in. They want cool avatars and siggies, and they want it done by someone who really knows his gfx.

I get that swapping themes a lot is natural. You're into something one day, and the next you've picked up something else. I think that's the main reason people become experienced with gfx XD. I guess with the whole requests pile ups you'd really improve in the fields which you thought you were bust. That's kind of lucky, if I do say so myself. If you're dedicated to making art for others, you've got yourself a good hobby haha. If you ever feel like opening a gallery, hope for some good critics (like Dero) to come by and give you awesome tips, since that can be invaluable.

To get horizontal tags done, I feel you have to focus more on the landscape thing and have the stock really shortened. Or you can cut out the legs, like in my signature (horrible I know, but I was bored). Or try for many characters in a single piece XD

 

[derozio]

LOL. It is your shop. You're the owner. You decide whose request you do. Whose you don't. Or when to do. People will be mad? They can't be. They need to know you're doing this just out of pure good will and are not asking anything in return for your time and effort spent on it.

Honestly, I've had two shops. When I felt like it, I did requests out of order. And both shops I asked got closed before I finished all the requests lol. Honestly, requests shouldn't be a burden. At all. You're doing this for fun and to improve yourself. Not to feel anxious. As soon as you start feeling the pressure, just give it a break. Ask jo to close it so the requests don't pile up. Do them as you feel comfortable - at your own pace. Then restart if you want.

Also lel ^ thanks for what you said, hehe. I'm flattered. :p Too bad I want to get back to doing stuff and posting here and being active asap but that ain't happening till june.

 

[Hiatus]

Hm... you're right, but I'd still avoid that sort of thing and finish all requests (or at least try) before closing down. It's okay to not take requests that don't range within your shop rules, but if you ignore ones that do and move to next, don't you think some might take it against you? :( Haven't had this sort of stuff happen to me personally, but then again, I've never actually opened up a proper shop here, haha.

 

[derozio]

I'd try my best to complete all, of course. But if things just do not work out (I ran out of time and had to leave for a place away from home with no pc access. I thought I'd do yours and Jo's at the end as they were kinda difficult but never got the chance), you can't really do anything about it. Or even in cases where your drive has been completely killed. I wouldn't force myself even if it means upsetting a person or two. I can't do it, okay. I do it for fun. If there's no fun and I'm merely forcing myself then my main motivation is dead. I can't continue in that case.

And I believe others shouldn't force themselves either. Politely apologise, maybe make up for the requests later (like I will to you with those 5 sets, haha), do something. Anything's fine. But don't force yourself. Don't be a complete jerk about it either tho. :v

 

[Seki]

Random anime fan art approaching.

Spoiler:

I had a senpai to help me with the hair cos I couldn't draw hair. Had to constantly put it onto my computer screen for guidance as well.

 

[Elaitenstile]

Had to constantly put it onto my computer screen for guidance as well.

The reason why I don't really like tablets XD but it does help you grow as an artist, you know, like you get better with proportions and shizz.

Another thing you better watch out for is either using dark pencils or making sure that the scanner doesn't auto-adjust the brightness of the picture. It would be really hard to trace your lines if you don't.

I do like the simple way you handled the expressions, though. A thanks received by an awkward surprise lol

Hair tho. Hair and hands being the things that kill most artists.

 

[Fairy]

I always found that learning to draw hair early on and following it through can give a lot of detail and needed personality to an otherwise unremarkable piece.

example

Hands? We don't talk about hands here.