KoopahTroopahThe koopas, the troopas.Philadelphia, PARegistered Userregular
Tack me onto the list of fans you have on PA. Your linework is truly awesome. I read that you do most of scrap in 4H, does that mean that all of these are sketched on paper and then digitally scanned to be colored/altered? I'm in the market for some new brushes for manga studio and wanted to know if you used digital pencils or brushes too? I'll probably pick up the Frenden mega-pack when I get home today and would like your opinion on it. Look forward to seeing more of your work!
My process for things like this usually starts with a sketch in 4H, sometimes tightened up a bit with an H if things are really loose to begin with. I then scan that rough drawing and adjust the levels a little to end up with something like this:
At this point I usually flip things in Photoshop and see if everything still looks okay. It's amazing how different things can look when you flip them left to right. I'll often end up making minor adjustments to things like eye placement, correcting skewed bits, etc. and then I print out a black and white copy to trace from.
I have a cool little light table at home which I then use to trace the line art onto a new piece of paper in H pencil. Once that's done, I scan the final pencils and color in Photoshop. The majority of what I do uses the standard hard round/soft round brushes in Photoshop but there are some cool brush packs out there.
NakedZerglingA more apocalyptic post apocalypse Portland OregonRegistered Userregular
Dmac...i like that your process is pretty much based on straight up awesome drawing skills. No tricks or cheats with photoshop or anything. No crazy brushes. Just hard work, steady hand, clean lines and default brushes. Thats damn inspiring! I think too often people (myself included) get so caught up with trying flashy new stuff, that they don't take the time to nail the basics and deliver wonderful art like you have here.
Thanks for always sharing your amazing talent!
(how the hell do i get on your christmas card list!!! lol. Those are AMAZING!!!!!)
If you remind me in December next year, I'll see what I can do.
I pulled the muscles in my lower back last week and spent the next 4 days in bed barely moving. I decided to celebrate my ability to sit upright again by doing some superhero sketches.
NakedZerglingA more apocalyptic post apocalypse Portland OregonRegistered Userregular
Awe man, im going through back issues too. Had to go to the ER because i literally couldn't get up. It was not cool. Still not sure whats wrong. MRI and sonogram on wednesday. I hope you're recovering well. I know the pain SUCKS. Your work is as tight, clean, and beautiful as ever!
I like these last 2 having a hint of texture in the line, or is it slightly transparent? Either way, i love them.
NakedZerglingA more apocalyptic post apocalypse Portland OregonRegistered Userregular
Awesome as always.
DO you take requests? if so i would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see you do some Invincible characters!!!! Omniman, Allen, Conquest, Mauler.....omg...im making myself giddy thinking of them in your style! lol.
DMAC your technique is so solid and your workflow so smooth, I find myself wondering, at this point what are some things you still find challenging?
Hands are still something I struggle with. Dynamic poses, group shots, settings... There are certain things that I really enjoy doing (portraits/busts and character/costume designs) and I really haven't put in the work to get good at some of the things that fall outside of that comfort zone.
The thing I'm struggling with most lately is just finding time to do things for myself. Between a full-time day job doing graphic design, a part-time teaching job, and random freelance gigs (mostly for friends and previous clients at this point), I don't have much time to draw for fun or practice. It's something I've always struggled with but it's especially bad at the moment.
I'm teaching 300-level university courses in "Visual Presentation". The fall semester covers traditional hand-drawn concepts starting with basic forms in perspective and moving on to complex organic shapes, shading, and finally color. "Traditional" covers both pencil and paper as well as software like Sketchbook Pro and Photoshop.
The winter semester moves into 3-D rendering using Rhino 3-D and also focuses more on presenting your work through things like posters and PowerPoint presentations. I've been amusing myself making slideshows for the class (this is part of my presentation on presentations):
So happy I got one of those swanky cards. A DMAC class must be pretty dang cool. Love all these comic character busts, though it does make me hungry for a two page action shot spread with dynamic poses and environmental perspective!
Yeah, when last I popped in here I stared at those two hulk heads for like 15 minutes trying to figure out what gave them such a huge degree of solidness. All of these headshots are fantastic, but I think so far my favorites are the Stephen Universe ones.
Yeah, when last I popped in here I stared at those two hulk heads for like 15 minutes trying to figure out what gave them such a huge degree of solidness. All of these headshots are fantastic, but I think so far my favorites are the Stephen Universe ones.
Thanks (to both of you). It probably comes from my time designing large-scale 3-D props. The things I drew had to actually work as 3-D sculptures so it taught me to think of the things I draw as existing in real space rather than just lines on a page.
Thanks. It's something I've thought about. I'm about due for a hardware upgrade and might look at getting a little camera set up for overhead filming.
Boss Monster 2: The Next Level is now live on a certain crowdfunding site. It just went up today and they've already met and exceeded their funding level so they have 2 weeks to hit ridiculous stretch goals. I did the art for the Limited Edition packaging only available through the funding campaign.
If you haven't played BM1, I highly recommend picking it up. There's also an app version now available on most platforms.
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Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
At this point I usually flip things in Photoshop and see if everything still looks okay. It's amazing how different things can look when you flip them left to right. I'll often end up making minor adjustments to things like eye placement, correcting skewed bits, etc. and then I print out a black and white copy to trace from.
I have a cool little light table at home which I then use to trace the line art onto a new piece of paper in H pencil. Once that's done, I scan the final pencils and color in Photoshop. The majority of what I do uses the standard hard round/soft round brushes in Photoshop but there are some cool brush packs out there.
Thanks for always sharing your amazing talent!
(how the hell do i get on your christmas card list!!! lol. Those are AMAZING!!!!!)
I pulled the muscles in my lower back last week and spent the next 4 days in bed barely moving. I decided to celebrate my ability to sit upright again by doing some superhero sketches.
I like these last 2 having a hint of texture in the line, or is it slightly transparent? Either way, i love them.
DO you take requests? if so i would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see you do some Invincible characters!!!! Omniman, Allen, Conquest, Mauler.....omg...im making myself giddy thinking of them in your style! lol.
facebook.com/LauraCatherwoodArt
Hands are still something I struggle with. Dynamic poses, group shots, settings... There are certain things that I really enjoy doing (portraits/busts and character/costume designs) and I really haven't put in the work to get good at some of the things that fall outside of that comfort zone.
The thing I'm struggling with most lately is just finding time to do things for myself. Between a full-time day job doing graphic design, a part-time teaching job, and random freelance gigs (mostly for friends and previous clients at this point), I don't have much time to draw for fun or practice. It's something I've always struggled with but it's especially bad at the moment.
The winter semester moves into 3-D rendering using Rhino 3-D and also focuses more on presenting your work through things like posters and PowerPoint presentations. I've been amusing myself making slideshows for the class (this is part of my presentation on presentations):
edit - "totally," not "rotally."
INSTAGRAM
Yeah, when last I popped in here I stared at those two hulk heads for like 15 minutes trying to figure out what gave them such a huge degree of solidness. All of these headshots are fantastic, but I think so far my favorites are the Stephen Universe ones.
Thanks (to both of you). It probably comes from my time designing large-scale 3-D props. The things I drew had to actually work as 3-D sculptures so it taught me to think of the things I draw as existing in real space rather than just lines on a page.
Boss Monster 2: The Next Level is now live on a certain crowdfunding site. It just went up today and they've already met and exceeded their funding level so they have 2 weeks to hit ridiculous stretch goals. I did the art for the Limited Edition packaging only available through the funding campaign.
If you haven't played BM1, I highly recommend picking it up. There's also an app version now available on most platforms.
Game looks fun. I like how Boss Monster 2 can be added to the original Boss Monster or played stand-alone. Also pretty great art and nostalgic design.
Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
Wait you do this all traditionally? That is insane I thought these were fully digital images.
Pretty much everything I post is a pencil drawing scanned and then colored in Photoshop.