Art Discussion Thread

[Sheep]

Oh, competing against each other like that seems fun! :3 But my only issue is that I don't think we have enough people to have a contest with several artists on a team yet? Maybe we can start off with smaller things, like your Draw Me idea, to bring some more members in and move onto competitions when we have enough users. :D But either way, I'm sure it's worth a shot if you're set on starting it up soon.

I'd love to help with anything so I'll send a PM!

 

[quilzel]

Hi all, I am no graphics artist. But i do like to waste some time pretending I am. I was wondering where I could post an image and have it critiqued. ( I am not sure a thread is necessary) Perhaps I could get some useful tips and pointers as I am not very experienced. Thanks for you time.

 

[Sheep]

Hi all, I am no graphics artist. But i do like to waste some time pretending I am. I was wondering where I could post an image and have it critiqued. ( I am not sure a thread is necessary) Perhaps I could get some useful tips and pointers as I am not very experienced. Thanks for you time.

General critiques and such are usually given in the Drawing Display Thread. :3 If you're looking for more serious critiques where the user critiquing gives you a rough paintover to help you better visualize the critique you're given, then the Drawover Paintover Thread is where you should go. ^_^ But since those critiques require a little more time to put together, it might take longer for people to get back to you.

Also, I'm assuming you're talking about drawn artwork and not graphics such as icons or banners? Because if you are, I'd recommend heading over to the Graphics Rating Thread to have your graphics critiqued. The rules state you have to critique the user above you (or at least critique someone else that has posted) before requesting critique for your own work, though.

Good luck! =D

 

[quilzel]

General critiques and such are usually given in the Drawing Display Thread. :3 If you're looking for more serious critiques where the user critiquing gives you a rough paintover to help you better visualize the critique you're given, then the Drawover Paintover Thread is where you should go. ^_^ But since those critiques require a little more time to put together, it might take longer for people to get back to you.

Also, I'm assuming you're talking about drawn artwork and not graphics such as icons or banners? Because if you are, I'd recommend heading over to the Graphics Rating Thread to have your graphics critiqued. The rules state you have to critique the user above you (or at least critique someone else that has posted) before requesting critique for your own work, though.

Good luck! =D

It's a cel-shaded Pokemon image, I'm not entirely sure which catagory it would fall in. I didn't draw it, but I did spend quite a lot of time coloring it. It was on the tag of a plush that I bough, and I just had to have a digital version of it.

 

[Sheep]

Hm... that would likely go in the Drawing Display Thread, but since it's not 100% your work (assuming the lines are traced?) I don't really recommend posting it at all; it won't do much to critique an image that isn't entirely yours. x: The rules don't say anything about posting vectors/an edited version of an official image so I could be wrong but in this case (since your image is so similar to the original, same lines and colors minus the tail being a different color and very little visible shading) there's not much left to critique after you take those things into account. Though it might be plausible if you're only asking for critique on your shading. Again, I could be wrong since we don't run into too many cases like yours here that I know of - you'd best contact Anastasia.R and ask her directly about this!

 

[quilzel]

Hm... that would likely go in the Drawing Display Thread, but since it's not 100% your work (assuming the lines are traced?) I don't really recommend posting it at all; it won't do much to critique an image that isn't entirely yours. x: The rules don't say anything about posting vectors/an edited version of an official image so I could be wrong but in this case (since your image is so similar to the original, same lines and colors minus the tail being a different color and very little visible shading) there's not much left to critique after you take those things into account. Though it might be plausible if you're only asking for critique on your shading. Again, I could be wrong since we don't run into too many cases like yours here that I know of - you'd best contact Anastasia.R and ask her directly about this!

That about sums it up there. Oh and I did go out on a limb and did the eyes. They are very dark brown with some black mixed in. Its not 100% a copy and its not 100% mine either. Iam interested in learning new shading, highlights as well as background ideas.Thanks for the input, I will be sure to ask the mod of the section.

 

[Kura]

It's a cel-shaded Pokemon image, I'm not entirely sure which catagory it would fall in. I didn't draw it, but I did spend quite a lot of time coloring it. It was on the tag of a plush that I bough, and I just had to have a digital version of it.

Technically that's a soft shaded image; not cell shaded.. so there isn't much to critique in terms of shadows. Cel shading generally is used for animators because it's where it originated. It is near impossible to give a soft shade that looks natural to a character; therefore they would animate the shadows on another layer to match the animation, but this also means that they had to be more precise. (there is also soft-cell shading which is a blend of both)

If you wanted to redo this piece with proper cel-shading and asked for a critique on shading, then I think it's entirely fine to post and ask for that. However, as the piece stands now, there's not really anything to critique as it is more of a "fill in mostly-flat colour" than a drawing that focuses on lighting.


I hope this makes sense; and I really really encourage you to try this again with proper cel-shading. It is reeally good practice for understanding the forms of the object or character.

Anyways.. it was hard for me to find a picture of the same image shaded in two different ways so I'm using this 3D example. The one on the left would be considered soft-shaded.. and on the right it is cel-shaded.

Give it a shot; try colouring something with multiple different lighting sources. It's a great challenge! Then you have more of a basis to come back and ask for a critique! :33


Good luck!

 

[Acrios90]

What to do With all those cards!

I had recently came across all of my pokemon cards (Thats a lot of cards) And I taped them all together and laminated them and Now have pokemon card wallpaper in my room (And I didn't even use all my cards!) I was wondering Has anyone else used their pokemon cards for a creative project like this? I still have quite a few cards left (200+) and I would like Ideas I am completely out of them!

And yes I took out my rarest cards so dont fret about me wasting good cards.
I toook out my charazard Ho-oh (2 cards holo) and my Ancient mew card (Completley useless but rare!)

 

[Corintio22]

I'm just curious: those who are graphic artists, in which kind of projects do you work?

I mean, do you work in a study? Do you work as freelances? Do you work in personal projects?

 

[Dark Symphonia]

Hey peeps I need a little help and advice here.

So, after starting to upload my artwork for a couple of months of so, I have come to the realization that most of my artwork are kinda rushed and just 'drawn for the sake of drawing for the sake of killing time'. I end up not feeling confident about my work and so for now, I intend to start all over to learn how to draw anime fanart - the proper way.

So this is my plan for now: I will spend a few hours each weekend doing 2 things. First, I will print out and trace over official artwork from my favourite series, and learn how to shade them using either pencils or color pencils. Second, I will learn how to draw the anime face properly and practice by drawing portraits/mugshots. Once I am confident with my shading, I will then shade my drawings and then move on to anatomy.

I was also wondering if anyone could recommend me any useful and simple tutorials on how to do the above. (Yeah, I know there are resources that I can easily find here and there, but I hope I can get some recommendations.) And is my approach to improving correct? I want to know because I really want to improve with the limited time I have now.

Thanks for your valuable advice.

 

[Kura]

Hey peeps I need a little help and advice here.

So, after starting to upload my artwork for a couple of months of so, I have come to the realization that most of my artwork are kinda rushed and just 'drawn for the sake of drawing for the sake of killing time'. I end up not feeling confident about my work and so for now, I intend to start all over to learn how to draw anime fanart - the proper way.

So this is my plan for now: I will spend a few hours each weekend doing 2 things. First, I will print out and trace over official artwork from my favourite series, and learn how to shade them using either pencils or color pencils. Second, I will learn how to draw the anime face properly and practice by drawing portraits/mugshots. Once I am confident with my shading, I will then shade my drawings and then move on to anatomy.

I was also wondering if anyone could recommend me any useful and simple tutorials on how to do the above. (Yeah, I know there are resources that I can easily find here and there, but I hope I can get some recommendations.) And is my approach to improving correct? I want to know because I really want to improve with the limited time I have now.

Thanks for your valuable advice.

I, on the other hand, think that's a terrible idea. It's great to have inspiration; but tracing is only going to do you any good if you deconstruct the drawing while you trace it. That means.. doing draw-throughs and drawing the structure lines.

You need to learn anatomy first before going onto shading. Shading is sculpting, and if you don't know the form, you wont know what way the light will hit the object.

I would actually, instead, find pictures of people in a magazine, and try to pull off the same style/expression in your chosen anime style. That way you will learn anatomy, structure, and an approach to a style all at once. Print out your references from other manga, and have that beside you as you try your own approach at drawing in a similar style, using that real pose as a base.
After all, anime is a caricatured version of real life; and if your anime drawing is lacking, it's because your life-drawing is lacking.

I also recommend posemaniacs.com for studying the human body. If you don't study you wont grow. That's the proper way to do it.

If you're even more serious about it, I'd set aside at least 30 minutes every day or an hour or so every other day to do this. If you only draw once a week you won't improve as fast as you seem to be expecting results. But if you're busy I guess it can't be helped.

I think the best tutorial is just to draw anything and everything around you. Even that glass of water beside your desk next to that crumpled tissue. When you improve your visual memory and your sense of perspective and being able to put what you see on paper.. then drawing from your imagination will also improve because you will have a better sense of visual space.

Good luck! VM me if you want/ need more info.

 

[Sheep]

I'm just curious: those who are graphic artists, in which kind of projects do you work?

I mean, do you work in a study? Do you work as freelances? Do you work in personal projects?

I personally work on personal projects. I'm not confident enough with my graphics art skills yet so it's currently a bit easier for me to work on things where I have full control over what I think should be there (rather than a commissioned piece where I'm told what to do).

Hey peeps I need a little help and advice here.

So, after starting to upload my artwork for a couple of months of so, I have come to the realization that most of my artwork are kinda rushed and just 'drawn for the sake of drawing for the sake of killing time'. I end up not feeling confident about my work and so for now, I intend to start all over to learn how to draw anime fanart - the proper way.

So this is my plan for now: I will spend a few hours each weekend doing 2 things. First, I will print out and trace over official artwork from my favourite series, and learn how to shade them using either pencils or color pencils. Second, I will learn how to draw the anime face properly and practice by drawing portraits/mugshots. Once I am confident with my shading, I will then shade my drawings and then move on to anatomy.

I was also wondering if anyone could recommend me any useful and simple tutorials on how to do the above. (Yeah, I know there are resources that I can easily find here and there, but I hope I can get some recommendations.) And is my approach to improving correct? I want to know because I really want to improve with the limited time I have now.

Thanks for your valuable advice.

Everyone's different when it comes to what helps you learn best, but I wouldn't say that's a bad idea. :D I actually did something similar when I was learning - took some trace paper and traced over Pokemon for about a year or two, which helped a lot with my animal drawing skills, though you definitely shouldn't rely on it. Copying and tracing is definitely not a bad place to start learning at all!

Though honestly, I think it's a bit better to practice anatomy before shading. You really should have a decently good grasp on the former before trying the latter. Things are different for everyone, though, so I'd give your method a shot sometime to see how it works out for you. Sadly there's no surefire way to tell if you'll improve quickly in a limited amount of time. You'll just have to keep practicing!

but tracing is only going to do you any good if you deconstruct the drawing while you trace it. That means.. doing draw-throughs and drawing the structure lines.

^Something I completely neglected to mention. XD;

Simple trace-overs that don't require any thought processes and practice on understanding each separate "part" and how they properly go together to create one form (as my professor would say... though I probably didn't remember it right haha) aka where you just trace without any thought behind it are not as helpful. I'm assuming you're aware of this for the most part, though at the same time it's hard to tell from your post if you're tracing just to have a base for your shading or not (I dismissed that idea and excluded it from my post, though). But as someone who just mindlessly traced for years without giving it much thought and actually improving very quickly from it, I can say things work differently for everyone (though there's obviously a "better" way to do things, but that is still up to the person to discover). I still wouldn't recommend mindless tracing, though. You really don't learn properly from it.

I did really like Kura's idea on getting magazine images for practice too, so give that a shot (: I hope you'll find what works best for you using of all these resources available to us :D

 

[droomph]

Hey! (I think I'm gonna regret this)

I, uh, have been trying to draw for years, but every time I try the only thing that comes out is a series of orderly scribbles.

I know that I have to practice practice practice but I feel like something's missing from the "practice" part that I can't put my finger on. Any help?

 

[Kura]

Hey! (I think I'm gonna regret this)

I, uh, have been trying to draw for years, but every time I try the only thing that comes out is a series of orderly scribbles.

I know that I have to practice practice practice but I feel like something's missing from the "practice" part that I can't put my finger on. Any help?

You may feel like you're probably making the same mistakes over and over again then. I know every artist seems to go through that stage and they feel like they are "plateau"ing and not getting any better. For every artist it's different the way that they overcome it, but for me, I like to look at some other artists' work and either try to emulate their style to learn something new about the way they see objects, or using some different artist's approaches by looking at sketches, watching someone draw, or even picking up some of those "how to" books. Even trying some blind contour, or trying to paint something with just thick blocky paintbrushes instead of working on lineart first, and etc.

Another thing you can do, and although it's a bit embarrassing for some people who don't think they're very good, but is posting your art online, getting critique, and then RE-DRAWING that same drawing with those critiques in mind. One artist that I love, Claire Wendling (she did the girls in my avatar/sig set) always redraws the same sort of pose that she's going for about 4-5 times until she feels she gets it "right" with small variations like bending the torso more, or changing a hand pose. Then post that one again and keep going from there. It's like working at a story with an editor or working on an essay with a teacher. It will start getting better and then your understanding of drawing will also improve immensely! Or try drawing the same thing from different angles to help understand the form.

Hope this helps and helps to inspire!

 

[Dark Symphonia]

I personally work on personal projects. I'm not confident enough with my graphics art skills yet so it's currently a bit easier for me to work on things where I have full control over what I think should be there (rather than a commissioned piece where I'm told what to do).



Everyone's different when it comes to what helps you learn best, but I wouldn't say that's a bad idea. :D I actually did something similar when I was learning - took some trace paper and traced over Pokemon for about a year or two, which helped a lot with my animal drawing skills, though you definitely shouldn't rely on it. Copying and tracing is definitely not a bad place to start learning at all!

Though honestly, I think it's a bit better to practice anatomy before shading. You really should have a decently good grasp on the former before trying the latter. Things are different for everyone, though, so I'd give your method a shot sometime to see how it works out for you. Sadly there's no surefire way to tell if you'll improve quickly in a limited amount of time. You'll just have to keep practicing!



^Something I completely neglected to mention. XD;

Simple trace-overs that don't require any thought processes and practice on understanding each separate "part" and how they properly go together to create one form (as my professor would say... though I probably didn't remember it right haha) aka where you just trace without any thought behind it are not as helpful. I'm assuming you're aware of this for the most part, though at the same time it's hard to tell from your post if you're tracing just to have a base for your shading or not (I dismissed that idea and excluded it from my post, though). But as someone who just mindlessly traced for years without giving it much thought and actually improving very quickly from it, I can say things work differently for everyone (though there's obviously a "better" way to do things, but that is still up to the person to discover). I still wouldn't recommend mindless tracing, though. You really don't learn properly from it.

I did really like Kura's idea on getting magazine images for practice too, so give that a shot (: I hope you'll find what works best for you using of all these resources available to us :D

Well, thanks a lot for the suggestions, but I feel that I am in a dilemna; a contradictory situation.

Time is a big issue here. I really cannot explain to you why am I busy till the point that I can only afford practice for 2 hours each weekend day, and even then, I might not even be able to have enough time and energy to practice for that amount of time. Furthermore, I will only be able to pursue this hobby until the end of this year due to various reasons, after which, I might have to adbandon drawing completely, if not draw very infrequently.

I genuinely want to improve, but even if I did, I must be able to produce something by the end of this year.

So for now, I was thinking if I could develop a proper plan to be able to have a resonable level of skill in these things by the end of this year, using the 4 hours I have as effectively as possible.

1. Be able to draw anime portraits and shade them using pencils and color pencils
2. Do more spriting
3. Learn papercraft and scrapbooking techniques and use them to produce anime fanart

 

[Logiedan]

Well, thanks a lot for the suggestions, but I feel that I am in a dilemna; a contradictory situation.

Time is a big issue here. I really cannot explain to you why am I busy till the point that I can only afford practice for 2 hours each weekend day, and even then, I might not even be able to have enough time and energy to practice for that amount of time. Furthermore, I will only be able to pursue this hobby until the end of this year due to various reasons, after which, I might have to adbandon drawing completely, if not draw very infrequently.

I genuinely want to improve, but even if I did, I must be able to produce something by the end of this year.

So for now, I was thinking if I could develop a proper plan to be able to have a resonable level of skill in these things by the end of this year, using the 4 hours I have as effectively as possible.

1. Be able to draw anime portraits and shade them using pencils and color pencils
2. Do more spriting
3. Learn papercraft and scrapbooking techniques and use them to produce anime fanart

I say you should follow what you love doing. Even though I have no idea what reasons you have for abandoning your artistic hobby, I say you should do what you enjoy doing. Take time with your work, learn a skill and hone it more instead of rushing some papercraft, and then transition to spriting and change to shading and anime.

Every artist has their own style so try and figure out what style you have and what you like before learning a bunch of things continuously. You can worry about 'more spriting' later unless you are fond of that area. If you are interested in anime fanart, you should learn proportions and drawing bases of characters and their anatomy before learning how to shade them.