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Tutorials, Questions, and Discussion Thread

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Posts

  • supabeastsupabeast Registered User regular
    When watercolor paper comes in those big blocks of paper, are they meant to be painted onto directly, or do they need to be sized first?

  • supabeast wrote:
    When watercolor paper comes in those big blocks of paper, are they meant to be painted onto directly, or do they need to be sized first?

    Just paint straight onto the block, then use an Xacto blade to separate the used page from the rest.

    It's tricky, and you'll probably kill a page or two before you get the hang of it, but it prevents the pages from wrinkling during use.

  • Hotlead JunkieHotlead Junkie Registered User
    It seems like a very simplistic question, but when people say 'draw what you see instead of what you think you see' when drawing from life, does the same apply to when you are drawing without reference/from your head? I'v been trying out techniqes and such, like building up a drawing from base shapes and other such examples but I think I'm just missing the point sometimes by not drawing what I see from my head straight onto the paper.

    What I try to do right now is to only draw lines that I can definatley visualise in my head (gesturing?), even if they don't connect to anything, but they have to be definate, final lines. If I start guessing where things go and not knowing what certian lines 'do what' on a page the picture just gets confusing. When I'v got a good 'base' down, usually a lot of confident outlines (think something like Sonic's work, but less detailed http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v185/Sonicc/Daily%20Scribbles/02-07-05.jpg) I'll then go in and start filling the drawing out with form, connecting everything up, etc.

    Sorry if I can't explain it well but I just want some opinions or suggestions or something on this way of working. That inital effort of 'gesturing' the drawing requires an immense amount of concenration from me but from theron in it gets a lot easier. The problem is I can rarley get a solid gesture base down seeing as most of the time I need a 100% concentration on what I want to draw and most of the time I'm not really sure.

    Can anyone give me some tips or suggestions on what I could use as something that could get me started a lot easier on a drawing? In most cases, drawing from a live reference would solve most of my problems about trying to visualise a strong outline and working in/outwards from it but when I'm trying to draw more abstract things it can get very tough to start.

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  • Fire_FoxFire_Fox Registered User
    Hey guys,
    I have been trying to find this on google w/ no luck. Does anyone know how to make an outline in Illustrator CS? Not a stroke, an outline.

    FF

  • Hotlead JunkieHotlead Junkie Registered User
    Fire_Fox wrote:
    Hey guys,
    I have been trying to find this on google w/ no luck. Does anyone know how to make an outline in Illustrator CS? Not a stroke, an outline.

    FF

    what exactly are you trying to make an outline of?

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  • Fire_FoxFire_Fox Registered User
    Ha

    Just figured it out.... Offset path.

    Man I wasted a lot of time on that. Thanks anyways man.

    FF

  • NecronomiconNecronomicon Registered User
    Can I have a link to Chewies colouring tutorial please? :)

    Thank you please.
  • senor_xsenor_x Registered User
    Can I have a link to Chewies colouring tutorial please? :)

    A Google search for "chewie coloring tutorial" provides the cached tutorial thread. If I were less lazy I'd copy all the other old links in here.

    http://evilbeaver.homestead.com/HowTo.html

    Senor10.gif Wii 1490 9129 8407 5923
  • NecronomiconNecronomicon Registered User
    Thank yee. :D

    Thank you please.
  • DogDog Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
    does anyone happen to have the Jhonen Vasquez sketch of the warlock or a link to it?

  • MinionOfCthulhuMinionOfCthulhu Registered User regular
    DM wrote:
    does anyone happen to have the Jhonen Vasquez sketch of the warlock or a link to it?

    jhonen.jpg

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  • Fleck0Fleck0 Registered User regular
    Anyone know any free font resources? I'm trying to find a Latin-esque font kinda like the stuff they would carve on architecture in the old days

    or anything else that has a ...umm... latiny look to it

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  • JAmp5JAmp5 Registered User
    Quiz me this...

    Im a poor student and i need an aternative income to feed my photography habit.

    my question is this: Could it pay for itself? I have found a place local to me that sells local themed pictures of which i have plenty, i may yet persue this but could I try selling my prints on ebay? do you think there would be any demand for them? and how should i go about selling them if this is a plausable means of income?

    Thanks guys :D

    e.g

    flowing.jpg

    bowl.jpg

    xposay.jpg

    bluetone.jpg

    treesrgd.jpg

    (p.s If you have seen any of my stuff that would make a nice print (or you'd like one yourself) please tell me)

  • AlyceInWonderlandAlyceInWonderland Registered User regular
    Say a picture is way too dark, but it's a nice picture. How would you lighten it up on photoshop with out ruining it?

  • MillionsMillions Registered User
    JAmp5 wrote:
    Quiz me this...

    Im a poor student and i need an aternative income to feed my photography habit.

    my question is this: Could it pay for itself? I have found a place local to me that sells local themed pictures of which i have plenty, i may yet persue this but could I try selling my prints on ebay? do you think there would be any demand for them? and how should i go about selling them if this is a plausable means of income?

    Thanks guys :D

    e.g

    ig]ig]ig]ig][img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y88/JAmp5/treesrgd.jpg[/ig] (p.s If you have seen any of my stuff that would make a nice print (or you'd like one yourself) please tell me)

    That last green one is pretty nifty.

    Don't know too much about the whole photo thing. If you're desperate for money you may see about selling some of it to some stock photography companies. Not sure how much they pay or what they expect but they charge out the ass for high res. photos. I bet they pay decently enough.

  • RavenshadowRavenshadow Registered User
    Say a picture is way too dark, but it's a nice picture. How would you lighten it up on photoshop with out ruining it?

    Image->Adjust->

    Levels, Curves, Contrast, Variations

    take your pick

    That's why I like the AC. Just the right combination of stupid butt-fuckery and verbal masturbation to suit my needs.
  • supabeastsupabeast Registered User regular
    JAmp5 wrote:
    Im a poor student and...my question is this: Could it pay for itself?

    Sure. Here are a few tips.

    1. Only try to make money if you have access to a high-quality photoprinter and can produce high-quality prints. That means at least 300 DPI, on premium glossy paper, with waterproof pigmented inks. You can get that for a couple-hundred bucks, peruse the latest digital photo magazines for reviews and recommendations. Once you get started and have some money in reserve, find a printer with high-end iris printers who can do insanely high-quality prints, because those go for a hell of a lot more than inkjet prints.

    2. Find a good place to sell them. You aren't going to make a meaningful amount of money selling prints on the internet, so you'll have to find an art gallery, or at least a good local restaurant/coffee shop to sell them in. Print up some really nice examples, put them in a nice print portfolio, set up a nice introductory letter and business card that points to your online gallery, and hit the pavement. If you don't live near any galleries, look them up online or in magazines and mail them a nice letter with a card and your web site. If you go on vacations, do it in places with lots of big galleries, like New York, LA, San Francisco, and Scottsdale. While you're there hit up every gallery in town. Try to get representation on each coast. Donating prints to charity auctions is also a great way to get your work out there, get free booze and food, and schmooze with wealthy art collectors and gallery owners.

    3. Only sell prints in limited editions. Keep editions small - less than 250-300 for small, cheap prints, 50 for bigger, expensive ones. Sign every single print, and include it's number in the series. Keep track of every single print you sell, and never, EVER reprint after you max out a series (Unless you get famous and do posters or something like that). This is what makes art collectors buy your work, as opposed to those guys with mall kisoks who sell endless runs of their crappy prints for $25.

    4. Like everything else in the art world, getting your stuff out there and making money takes a whole lot of persistence. People will blow you off 99% of the time, but eventually you might find someone who gives a shit and wants to sell your work. But hey, there are a lot more art galleries than there are comic-book publishers, so be glad your thing isn't drawing.

  • the muffinthe muffin Registered User
    Dear peoples of Penny arcade I need help drawing ears for school yea I suck bawls at ears and for doing a portrait of a famous person who do you think would be a good choice (im thinking clint eastwood) my medium is pencil.

    Thanx

  • JonisJonis Registered User
    are there any basic tutorials for drawing heads like the one above, but with a direct front view of the face? all of his drawings seem to be from an angle

  • JonisJonis Registered User
    I was thinking something more along the lines of this:

    headproportion1.jpg

    Lately I have been killing myself trying to draw the head, dunno why, so I wanted to go back and get it perfect.

  • CamCam Registered User
    Okay, I've had my Graphire Wacom tablet for about a month now, and although I'm still not great with it, I can at least do some okay-looking sketches. But what I want to do is be able to do all the crazy coloring/inking that guys like Wakka, AoB and Dave do. Can anybody give me some really good tutes for doing stuff like this with PS 6.0? I'm not good with that either, so It'd have to go in baby steps and not assume I know how to do even the basics. Because I don't. So what I'm asking is, can someone give me a site that takes me from the very basics of good PS inking/coloring all the way up to Wakka-and-AoB-quality stuff? Here's a very rough sketch/outline I just did in PS (about 3 1/2 min.) if it helps. Thanks. :)

    rspsquestionpaac3xh.jpg

  • DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    Alright this seems like a dumb question but maybe it is more complicated than it seems. So I inked this sketch in Photoshop in black, how do i change the color without it affecting the image itself? All I've tried is to magice wand the inking and painbucket on a different layer for the new image, but this screws with the lines just enough to be a problem. It's probably really easy but I barely have any idea as to what I'm doing in Photoshop so any help would be nice. :roll:

  • Toji SuzuharaToji Suzuhara Southern CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    Doodmann wrote:
    Alright this seems like a dumb question but maybe it is more complicated than it seems. So I inked this sketch in Photoshop in black, how do i change the color without it affecting the image itself? All I've tried is to magice wand the inking and painbucket on a different layer for the new image, but this screws with the lines just enough to be a problem. It's probably really easy but I barely have any idea as to what I'm doing in Photoshop so any help would be nice. :roll:

    Go to the Hue/Saturation window (Command + U on Macs, so probably Control + U on PCs) and click the little box that says "colorize." Then just mess with the hue and saturation until you find what you want.

    There are probably a million more ways to do it, though.

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  • MillionsMillions Registered User
    Doodmann wrote:
    Alright this seems like a dumb question but maybe it is more complicated than it seems. So I inked this sketch in Photoshop in black, how do i change the color without it affecting the image itself? All I've tried is to magice wand the inking and painbucket on a different layer for the new image, but this screws with the lines just enough to be a problem. It's probably really easy but I barely have any idea as to what I'm doing in Photoshop so any help would be nice. :roll:

    Is it on a seperate layer? If it is...right click on that layer and select 'Blending Options' ...then in Blending Options click on 'Color Overlay' and you can change it to any color you want.

  • Recoil42Recoil42 Registered User
    Hey guys. I'm really tired of these shitty tutorials I find all over the 'net for 3dsmax and I'm ready to invest in something that will actually get me somewhere with it. Can anyone suggest any good 3dsmax books that go from moderate skill up to advanced modelling? I'm familiar with concepts and such, I just need practical help with learning to build models.

    I'm using version 6 by the way.




    edit: Also, on an unrelated-but-still-related note, does anyone know of any books that teach you to draw in perspective? I'm great drawing things head-on, or side on, but ask me to draw things on an angle, and I fail so hard it's not even funny.

    Buildings I can do, by the way. I'm totally adept at two point and three point perspective for buildings. It's people, cars and everything else I have trouble with.

  • Toji SuzuharaToji Suzuhara Southern CaliforniaRegistered User regular
  • I have question that prob been asks a million times but i can't seem to see anything in the thread.
    i'm considering looking into getting a tablet but the problem i hav eis I know nothing about them. could anyone makes suggestion or even give me a rundown on whats good, the terminology and what sort of work thye are good for.


    Oh and another question has anyone here done the international baccularetee (and no i can't spell it), specifically art

    Let's Digress now Kings Put your Cans up, Paint the city scope with the Prettiest type of Cancer
  • tynictynic Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Oh and another question has anyone here done the international baccularetee (and no i can't spell it), specifically art

    er, yes, I did it, but no, not art, however some of my friends did art. I might be able to answer questions.

  • tynic wrote:
    Oh and another question has anyone here done the international baccularetee (and no i can't spell it), specifically art

    er, yes, I did it, but no, not art, however some of my friends did art. I might be able to answer questions.

    well just finished my preliminary year and it has come time for me to start thinking about by major work. I Was just wondering what sort of conecpt people have done and what sort of marks they got. i'm just having a hard time coming up with an idea, i just need to see what sort of thing people have done.

    Let's Digress now Kings Put your Cans up, Paint the city scope with the Prettiest type of Cancer
  • KevarKevar Awaiting Email Confirmation
    This might be a weird or out of place question. I'm not too sure.

    I've been lurking this board for a few months now, and I guess I really want to start drawing. The problem is.. I have no experience with drawing of any kind, and don't have a single clue on where to start. I've been reading the responses to threads here for a long time, and I understand that a person needs to draw from life to become a better artist and that it takes a very long time. But, as I mentioned, I don't really know where to start. I'd appreciate any help.

  • MetalbourneMetalbourne Registered User regular
    Just pick up a pencil and start drawing on some printer paper. I'm one of those people who very rarely draws from life, I only draw for fun, and as a result, I improve very slowly. But to me, that's okay. You get out of drawing what you put into it.

    ... but you're fucking Metalbourne. You rock a blue hawk like it's not even a thing. Nothing is too much for you.
  • tynictynic Registered User, ClubPA regular
    tynic wrote:
    Oh and another question has anyone here done the international baccularetee (and no i can't spell it), specifically art

    er, yes, I did it, but no, not art, however some of my friends did art. I might be able to answer questions.

    well just finished my preliminary year and it has come time for me to start thinking about by major work. I Was just wondering what sort of conecpt people have done and what sort of marks they got. i'm just having a hard time coming up with an idea, i just need to see what sort of thing people have done.

    oh, ok. Well, one guy I know did a big sculpture - he had very distinct family features, so he sculpted his face, his fathers' and his grandfathers' all onto the same 'head'. It was pretty cool, he got a good mark. I don't remember anything particularly outstanding out of the others in term of originality - a series of paintings was one, and another was a kind of mobile/sculpture thing with painted origami birds.

  • Hotlead JunkieHotlead Junkie Registered User
    Just pick up a pencil and start drawing on some printer paper. I'm one of those people who very rarely draws from life, I only draw for fun, and as a result, I improve very slowly. But to me, that's okay. You get out of drawing what you put into it.

    :^:

    I'm in the same boat. I too just draw for fun and progress very slowly, but I always enjoy it

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  • SublimusSublimus Registered User regular
    Does anyone know any interesting techniques for putting color on glass?

  • SmackySmacky Registered User
    Could someone direct me to the site with reference pictures?
    I've seen it thrown around here quite a while ago.
    Thanks in advance.

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  • FibretipFibretip Registered User
    http://www.gettyimages.com ? that one?

    Question.... has anyone else had to humble themselves and scrap everything they've learned? I started art courses at college, but then left college early for a multitude of reasons... now..several years down the line, i've carried on drawing etc, but ended up with a (dum dum dummmm) "style"... and i'm not liking it. whilst i can acomplish my "style" quickly..and efficiently...and to good effect... it's been at the cost of other talents like drawing from life etc. My style is underpinned with basically good anatomy so that's not a problem (already done life drawing classes etc at college, just didn't progress into my illustration/life classes in the second year and beyond) it's just...the looseness etc is lacking, being able to add realism to pictures.

    So atm i'm having to go back to square one with a sketchbook, pencil and just draw whatever the hell is infront of me... which is pretty frustrating :| i also think it's something to do with drawing digitally for so long..it kinda creates a different atmosphere? being able to undo/erase etc so easily.... has anyone else had to go back like this? has any advice maybe? it's really getting to me :| i have books etc, and all my old notes and crits from art class on life drawing etc, so i'm good to go on that front... and there's no way i can go back to school... so i'm just wondering what kinda things you guys would reccomend to break a "style" atm i'm just drawing objects, stick figures/fleshing them out, and trying to rough up reference drawings just using tone, no lines. (oh and yes... that "style" is anime :x ...and whilst i can draw good anime...you come to a day where not every woman has a 2 inch waist and huge breasts...and a gun....and blue hair..... )

    sorry if that's all rather confusing :?

    I believe in angels, not the kind with wings, no...not the kind with halos, the kind who bring you home
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