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Sketches, Studies, and Stuff

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Posts

  • NibCromNibCrom Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    Sure, we have a whole bunch of links to online tutorials and books in the questions thread:

    http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=105734

    There's also some good info in this thread:

    http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=106078

    If those lists seems too intimidating, go to your library or book store, leaf through some books and find one you wouldn't mind reading. Have fun!

    NibCrom on
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    Thanks for the links, I'll be sure to check them out. Also I'll put the comic a day thing on hold so I can do some studies.

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    I'm out for the weekend but when I come back, I'll post what I did a long the weekend. In the meantime here are somethings I made sometime ago.
    B_Man_by_Mabelma.png
    1b4b2a737d909b85824bea377aec4d12.jpg

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    I haven't done many new things but here are a few things I whipped up recently.
    MARVIN Model Sheet (THHGTTG)
    marvinmodel.jpg
    I used to create really cool characters that looked nice but I started using the stick figure method and I messed everything up. I work better thinking about shapes rather than bones.

    Castle Crashers Fan-Art
    castlecrasherscontesten.jpg
    Madness Collab Entry (Starwars poster style)
    madnesswarsposter.jpg
    A scared doorman/policeman?
    scaredman.jpg
    I haven't done any life studies like suggested but that's because I just don't know how to do it. I can't wrap me head around it. How do I do? Do I start copying what I see? Do I study it? How do I study it?

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • DMACDMAC Come at me, bro! Moderator mod
    edited August 2010
    You know how sometimes you look at boobs?

    REALLY look at them. For, like, a long time.

    DMAC on
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    That doesn't really help in any kind of way but...ok

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • NappuccinoNappuccino Surveyor of Things and Stuff Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    He's suggesting you draw from life... i think?

    Nappuccino on
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  • EWomEWom Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    You say you want to become a better artist. And people here keep telling you to stop drawing your cartoon characters, and fan art, and practice from real life. And then you come back, and post cartoon characters, and fan art, and say that you do better when you do it your way; without even having shown that you tried any other way, and then wonder why people are not helping you become a better artist.

    And how do you not know how to do a life study. You look at something, that is in front of you, in real life (not a video game, or cartoon character, or anything like that), and you draw what you see.

    Honestly I think you shouldn't even be drawing people at all right now. You should be drawing bowls of fruit, and shoes, and stuff, and figuring out shape and lighting.

    EWom on
    Whether they find a life there or not, I think Jupiter should be called an enemy planet.
  • FugitiveFugitive Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Mabelma wrote: »
    I haven't done any life studies like suggested but that's because I just don't know how to do it. I can't wrap me head around it. How do I do? Do I start copying what I see? Do I study it? How do I study it?

    Nibcrom already posted the tutorials thread, but if you need a nudge, here it is.

    Read this Glen Vilppu article posted in that thread, then look around your room and pick an object. Or, better yet, if possible, prop yourself up in front of the bathroom mirror. Then start drawing.

    Try sketching as quickly as possible for the first little while that you're starting out. As a good exercise, try to fill a few pages with "gesture drawings" - smaller sketches that take you no more than 15 seconds each. The point of these drawings will not be to capture the entire form detail for detail, but to capture the gesture and basic shape of the object. These drawings will be unfinished and probably quite ugly, but keep doing them. They will help you immensely in blocking out your forms.

    While you're drawing, your head should be constantly in motion. You should be glancing up at the object and down at the paper basically the entire time you're drawing. You should never be looking at your paper or the object you're trying to draw for more than a few seconds. However just because you aren't looking at the paper, that doesn't mean you shouldn't be drawing on it. Your hand should similarly be constantly in motion. It sounds weird, it sounds uncomfortable, you will get the hang of it.

    Keep your wrist rigid and use solid, quick movements with only your elbow and shoulder, preferably the latter as you'll likely get few accidental curves. Don't "sketch" your lines - that is to say, don't use a series of small marks to try to build up the form. Use as few individual lines to define the form as possible. This is where the gesture drawings will come in handy. 15 seconds is more than enough time to capture the basic shape of any form regardless of complexity if you use the methods I mentioned above. If you can't capture it in 15 seconds, chances are you are spending too much time obsessing over details, or trying to "really get it right", or using too many sketchy lines, or erasing.

    Don't erase. Don't even have an eraser nearby. If your pencil has a removable eraser, remove it and hide it in a timelock safe. The drawings are 15 seconds, so if they suck, if you screw up a line, whatever, who cares. Do another drawing. Eventually they will start to take the shape you want them to, and you can look back through the pages of gesture drawings and see that improvement.

    These rules apply to drawing from life as well as drawing from a photo-reference, so if you live in a blank white room, you can still do these exercises. I would still strongly, no, vehemently, even violently suggest you not use photo-references for awhile, until you have some practice under you belt. This is because photorefs won't give you a good sense of the 3-dimensionality of the object, and so won't train your eyes to capture the form and gesture in the same way. Believe it or not, drawing a 3d figure in a 2d space is actually easier, because your brain is able to contemplate it's true shape in 3-dimensional space. So set up some still lives, or stand in front of the bathroom mirror for a bit before you journey onto the internet in search of study material.

    And finally, if you want to make sure your proportions and angles are correct, use your pencil as the ruler. It's the stereotypical image of the artist. Beret on head, a bowl of oranges in front of an open picture window, leaning back from his easel with his thumb extended as he turns back to his canvas to continue on his masterpiece. What he's doing is using his pencil as a constant.

    In order to do this, you need to take your pencil in your fist, extend your arm fully, and hold it in front of whatever you're trying to draw. Brace the back of it with your thumb. Use the space between the top of your pencil and your thumb to measure the size of certain elements of the object in relation to other elements. Then, turn back to your piece with your arm still rigid, and check how this measures up to what you've put down on paper. This will help you as you start out, because it will help train your eye to observe the actual physical relationship between elements, instead of just what you think you're seeing.

    Okay I covered a lot more than I was intending to. This should be more than enough ammo to get you started. Now get out there and draw some shit. Your next post better be full of pictures of you in front of a mirror. MySpace it up!

    Fugitive on
  • pineappleherbpineappleherb Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    ^ lots of great advice

    the only thing i can add is what an art teacher told me once when drawing from anything, its stuck with me for years now, "draw what you see, not what you know"

    keep drawing ^____^

    pineappleherb on
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    I still can't believe that after two months of not posting here I haven't done any life studies, I just can't believe it. My only excuse is that for some really weird reason there is literally no mirrors on my house... I had never noticed such a thing don't know why really but my only opinion towards this dilemma is that I seem to be from a family of vampire who just got tired of not being able to watch them self on the mirror so decided to throw away each and every one of them out... Although it's only been two months for some reason I seem to have improve way more than what I had improved in my first two years of art. Weird but true, take a look at a comparison from my caricatures, here are two old ones (beginning of the year, January or February)(Last ones I did till now):

    OldManPortraitStudy.jpg

    This is not suppose to look like Jesus... It was suppose to be Russel Brand...

    JesusCaricature.jpg

    Some new faces, one of my brother(left) and the other one of my dad(right) (Caricatures)(A few days old):

    and2Luisinapeartree.jpg

    I promise you and myself that as soon as I get a mirror put up on my room I'll start doing some lifestudies of myself, I'll myspace it up like Fugitive said!

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • AimAim Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    On the life studies, try drawing them upside down. I think you're focusing too much on the features, and messing up proportions in the process. Just try to draw the shadows/areas of light on an upside down face.

    Aim on
  • melting_dollmelting_doll Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    Not sure if it's been said, but try to steer clear of stylizing your life drawings until you get some experience. Trying to simplify something you don't understand will result in scribbles, like the Jack Nicholson drawing.

    Also, don't be afraid to put something down and pick it back up later if it means taking the time to make it look better. Some of it feels rushed - there's no requirement for finishing a picture without putting your pencil down once in a while (:

    melting_doll on
  • MustangMustang Arbiter of Unpopular Opinions Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    You should try working on simple objects at the moment, blocks, cones, cups, wine glasses, etc.. Training your eye to see your drawings 3 dimensionally is going to be your first big moment where you'll get really excited about drawing.

    Don't get too disheartened, the face is an extremely complex object to draw, even with a reference. Just when you think you've got it down you discover there is a whole other level of learning to be done.

    Mustang on
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    It's been almost an entire year since I posted in the forum. I'm back for a couple of reason, mainly that I finally got off my butt and finally started a webcomic and it's my top priority to get that going and get some comments on it to make it better. It's only on it's first strip but I have a few strips already finished. I'm updating every Wednesday (weekly) is that a good time frame to push new strips?

    Here's the first strip. I hope you enjoy it.
    Smokethelimitrevised.png

    Also a lot of other new art I've been working on during my year of "absence"
    RssIcon.png
    AZombieFamily.jpg
    AriannaCamuasPortrait.jpg
    blackcoquilogo.png
    SuperMeatBoyBanner-2.png
    CreeperContest1.png
    Banner-1.jpg
    CharacterColorSheet.png

    WIPS
    TreePiececopy.jpg
    MuralPieceSketch.jpg

    I have a lot more images I would like to send you but my computer crashed a few months ago and I had to buy a new one so I basically lost everything on my computer but I'm sure that somewhere around the web I have some of those files, just need to find them. Looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks about my new and "improved" art. I just hope I've gotten better during this year of long training.

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    A few more strips I had done but I ran them through a couple of people and well the overall opinion was that they suck. Any help you can give me or anything you can say will be greatly appreaciated.
    HugePussycopy.png
    TheRealToad.png
    SupermanSadFlyingStrip.jpg
    CrippleStallStrip.png

    Some other strips I wanted to write but maybe they're as bad as the last couple of things if you could tell me what you think of the strip that would be great.
    Where Umpa Loompas come from
    In the first panel you see the guy from smurfs sending a box that says smurf to Willi Wonka

    The second panel basically has a bunch a of smurfs inside tanning beds and in the background (going right through the middle) there's a line of chained smurfs going into a room that size "Bigginator Ray". Somewhere inside the toom there'a a sign that says Tanning Bed, Tanning Room, OrangeInator Beds

    3th panel has a smurf being made big a ray of life coming from a machine, basically growing into oompa loompas

    4 last panel is a waiting room with like 5 oompa loompas watching a documentary that mainly says dance, sing or die! And somewhere in the background a pick your working helmet here and you can see the green hairs and the little cap thingies they wear.

    How I do my comic strips
    First Panel
    (me pouring some coffee into a glass)

    Second Panel
    (front shot of me with tired sleepy eyes, no motivation at all, cup in hand)

    Third Panel
    (me with glass in mouth and super mega boosted with energy)(extremely big eyes and a super awake expression)

    Dialogue:
    Me: I'M READY!!!

    Death Star Portal
    Setting:
    You can see Luke's Rebel Uniformed face inside the (I forgot the name of the ships but the 3 pointed ones)

    Dialogue:
    Man over headphone: Luke you're approaching the target

    Setting:
    Back of Luke's face is he disable the targeting system.

    Dialogue:
    Man over headphone: Luke no, don't do that!

    Setting:
    (Panel is divided in 2)Missile goes inside the portal hole and you can see another portal behind Luke's ship.

    Dialogue:
    Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    It would be really nice if I could get any kind of comment. Anything at all would help me lots. This one comes after reading, this
    http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/714144/bed-intruder-available-on-rock-band-network/
    Hope you like it.
    Stripfinal.png

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • NibCromNibCrom Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Why do you have two urls on your comic strips?

    NibCrom on
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    One for my blog and one for the comic. I shouldn't do that right?

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • NibCromNibCrom Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Only put the comic one on there.

    You've got some interesting premises here. I kind of like the one with the guys racing to the stall. It needs some more development though. I like the idea of the guy blocking the wheel chair man from using the stall... but really it doesn't make sense. Why are they both racing to that stall? Obviously the wheel chair guy needs it cause it's a bigger stall, but why does the other guy need it? It's the only stall open? You need to effectively communicate your jokes.

    Watch your word balloons. There is tons of white space in your Rock Band comic, yet you have the word balloons blocking people's faces and heads. Also, it's hard to tell what is happening in the last panel of that comic. Does he just knock the tv off the stand? Some of the text seems fuzzy in the comic as well. The size of the text should remain consistent throughout a comic, unless there is a need to emphasize dialogue (shouting) or making text quieter (whispering).

    NibCrom on
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    NibCrom wrote: »
    Only put the comic one on there.
    Just fixed my panel template so that's the only one included it there.

    You've got some interesting premises here. I kind of like the one with the guys racing to the stall. It needs some more development though. I like the idea of the guy blocking the wheel chair man from using the stall... but really it doesn't make sense. Why are they both racing to that stall? Obviously the wheel chair guy needs it cause it's a bigger stall, but why does the other guy need it? It's the only stall open? You need to effectively communicate your jokes.

    I'm glad you like it, I know they could use some work. I having a lot of trouble when it comes to making the set up for the punchline. I'm working on improving that.

    Watch your word balloons. There is tons of white space in your Rock Band comic, yet you have the word balloons blocking people's faces and heads. Also, it's hard to tell what is happening in the last panel of that comic. Does he just knock the tv off the stand? Some of the text seems fuzzy in the comic as well. The size of the text should remain consistent throughout a comic, unless there is a need to emphasize dialogue (shouting) or making text quieter (whispering).

    Keep text consistent and don't blog faces, got it. In the last panel he's basically swinging the guitar at the tv but I'm having trouble with that pose even though I used reference for it.

    Do you by any chance have any other comment? Maybe on the one panel gags, or anything at all. Feel free to critic any of the new pieces.

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • EggyToastEggyToast Jersey CityRegistered User regular
    edited July 2011
    You can draw, so you should try to make sure you draw each panel completely. Your Rock Band comic has the guys in the exact same perspective, even if it doesn't fit. Envision it this way. And work on editing your text significantly -- making your dialog punchy is a good first step towards a punchline.

    1st panel: Looking at laptop user's face, bluish glow (so you know he's at a computer). Over his shoulder, you see his friend's back and the guitar. This indicates that the subject is Rick, and his life is being interrupted by his friend. Dialog is: "Hey Rick, you know that Bed Intruder song?" Rick: "Unfortunately" Friend: It's on Rock Band."

    2nd panel: Laptop user gets up, you see the laptop in the background but we're now looking at the two friends in the living room, head on. Still a hand-off scene. Dialog is: Rick: "...What?" Friend: "Yeah, on the network, it's–" Rick: "Gimme that"

    Last panel: From behind Rick, Rick smashes the guitar into the television, and it explodes as if Rick just did a massive move in the game -- points, lights, etc. See: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/08/22/

    Note also in the Penny Arcade strip that in the first panel, Gabe and Tycho are barely in the panel. You don't need to see entire bodies in comic strips -- you just need to see what's going on. So if hands are doing something, see their hands. How often do you see feet in PA strips, or even pants?

    You can do this; you've already got some gags, you can draw. You just need to edit and storyboard more, and take a more critical look at what you're doing before you're finished with it. One of the most difficult things for any creative person to do is to trash what they're working on and start completely over, especially if it's an act of re-creation. Creative people love tweaking. Don't tweak unless you're basically done. If you're unsure, or if it needs work, just start over. It'll be faster, you'll get good practice, and you won't get stuck. You also won't just say "ah fuck it" and ditch it, never learning from the process.

    EggyToast on
    || Flickr — || PSN: EggyToast
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Yes sir! I'm currently taking like a crash course in comedy over at the Help and Advice Section of the forum and I'm learning lots of things I assure you that the next strip is gonna be as funny as it can be. It's been only a couple of hours and I've learned so many things. You'll enjoy next weeks comic.

    I see what you mean, the perspective is atrocious as much as I hate as you said trashing everything this strips calls for a complete reboot and I will deliver that push line as an artist, I have the ability I just need to take my time on things and the PA style of upper body emotion is an amazing way of delivering that punchline with precision. Thanks so much for the advice I'll start storyboarding at first I didn't really think that you could do that for comics but I see that's what opens the comic into new perspective and better ways to illustrate the joke.

    All you said is extremely helpful, I'll take it all to heart through the rest of the comic. Thanks so much for the great advice. The new strips will not disappoint, I promise.

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    if you can handle your soul being crushed

    lemme see your next strip

    I'll make it funnier

    The Lovely Bastard on
    7656367.jpg
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Working on my next strip so you can rip it apart and tell me how to improve.

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • MagicToasterMagicToaster JapanRegistered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Where in PR are you?

    MagicToaster on
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Toa Baja.

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • MagicToasterMagicToaster JapanRegistered User regular
    edited July 2011
    In the UPR in Rio Piedras, they have a figure drawing workshop twice a year. It runs for 4 weeks, 3 hours each. You dont have to be a student there to go, just pay $3 at the door and your in.

    If you are interested, Ill let you know when the next one starts.

    Its not a class, so nonone will tell you "do this, fix that". Its more like a work shop in which you can just practice. Its great for building up skills that you can later apply to your web comic.

    As for writing comedy... its like trying to drift in a car. If you jump straight into drifting without learning how to drive first... you will be poor at it. In the case of writing comedy, I think you first need to learn how to write. And writing well starts with reading and observing.

    Dan Simmons has a horrible looking web page, but he has great articles on Writing Well.

    MagicToaster on
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    You live here too? Yeah if you could pm me that information when you get it that would be great. Although do they let underage artist take the workshop cause well I'm underage.

    I understand, it's a more of you go and work on your figure drawings kills and throughout the workshop you work on your flaws and all those things

    Thanks for everything, including the article. I'll check it out.

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • MagicToasterMagicToaster JapanRegistered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Yeah, I live in Bayamon, not too far from you. Age is not an issue, Ive seen kids as young as 15 there. How old are you?

    MagicToaster on
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    That's pretty cool maybe we'll see each other at one of the workshops. Also, I'm 16.

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    A sketch of next weeks strip. I'm almost done with it and I have the script all done thanks to psolms but I want to save the script till Wednesday. What do you think of my new art direction? I'm pretty happy with the staging, it looks good and clean, what do you think?
    sketch.jpg

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    All done, what do you think? Looking forward to your comments. Hope you like it.
    finalwithoutwords.png

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    sketchqa.jpg

    Hey, I started working on a new strip and I'm trying to stage it properly but I don't know if it's working. What do you guys think? Looking forward to hearing what you have to say about it, and I hope you like it. I'm determined to make my comic a good one and anything you can say to help me improve would help a ton.

    It's about this article

    http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/714144/bed-intruder-available-on-rock-band-network/

    and since some of the text can't be read properly here's the script.
    p1
    Tony (off on the side) (not inside the panel): Heard the news? The bed intruder song is on the RBN.
    Rick: I don't care!
    Rick (Sarcastically): Feel free to keep talking though.

    p2
    Tony: Well they recently
    Rick (ballon overalaps Tony's ballon as if Rick started talking and cutted Tony's dialogue): Say, hand me that guitar I wanna play this song.

    p3
    Rick (about to swing the guitar at the tv): This is gonna be a fun song!

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited July 2011
    I think you are doing better than I was at 16, Keep on the life drawing.

    This may seem out of left field, but do you listen to stand-up comedy? Being funny is pretty hard, but I think, like with any craft, you have to dig at it from all angles. I adore comedians, and really sitting down to some stand-up and listening to comedians talk about putting it together can teach a lot about timing. Trying to mimic/derive from only other webcomics will give you a really weak pool of inspiration. Consuming good media will help you figure out what goes into good work.

    Iruka on
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Thanks so much for posting, it's greatly appreaciated.

    Yes I do listen to stand-up comedy but I've only enjoyed it. I've never sit down and actually study how everythings done, their set ups, the punchlines the timing. But now that I know a little more about comedy I will start studying them and try to apply to my comic what I learn. Thank you again for the advice, it's greatly appreaciated.

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    helms1.jpg
    I wanted to try something new, so I'm trying out the AC challenge. This is what I have so far, I'm gonna the brightest colors to the helmet while everything else is, dark and almost pure black so there's enough contrast between character and helmet and that makes it the stand out element. Hope you like it. Any comments or critics is greatly appreciated.

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    Here's what I have so far, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
    helms2.jpg

    Mabelma on
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  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    A Huge Crusader, just sketching out some character concepts, I need a little away time from the comic.

    *edit* forgot the image
    HugeCrusader.png

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
  • MabelmaMabelma Registered User regular
    edited July 2011
    The new comic is up, hope you like it.
    full_final.png
    Also I drew Batman :)
    batmancopy.jpg
    Also finished my AC piece
    helmlast.png

    Mabelma on
    Have some time, check out my blog
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