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Questions, Discussion, and Tutorials

1235744

Posts

  • ScrumYummyScrumYummy PortlandRegistered User regular
    edited January 2010
    ScrumYummy wrote: »
    my figures are too stiff
    Okay, so, I am comfortable with my knowledge of anatomy, but I have this problem where a lot of my figure drawings look stiff. The anatomy is realistic and believable, but the figures/characters look too posed. I guess what I am looking for is advice on figure drawing that is more natural. So I was wondering if anybody had advice, links to tutorials, or book titles that I can check out, that deal with overcoming stiff illustrations, specifically.

    Please and thank you!

    Force

    thanks! That looks like exactly what I need :D

    ScrumYummy on
    -Scrum
  • beavotronbeavotron Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    force is an incredible book!
    the first chapter made me entirely rethink my approach to drawing the figure in an awesome way.

    beavotron on
  • NibCromNibCrom Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Where could I download small icons for facebook, twitter and youtube for print?

    Edit: This these, but for print:

    sociallogos.jpg

    NibCrom on
  • ManonvonSuperockManonvonSuperock Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    So I'm taking the Praxis II in art this semester. Anyone else here taken it?

    ManonvonSuperock on
  • MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    How long would a 4 or 8 ounce bottle of paint last? If it's a lot, painting for real might not be as pricey as I thought.

    MKR on
  • ManonvonSuperockManonvonSuperock Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    bottle or tube, what type of paint, how large do you paint, how much do you plan to dilute it?

    ManonvonSuperock on
  • MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Bottle, not sure which kind I would want, probably not particularly big until I'm good enough to not waste a large canvas, and I have no idea.

    edit: The paints I found are here. I don't know if the brands they have are any good.

    MKR on
  • winter_combat_knightwinter_combat_knight Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Does anyone know if theres a difference working in photoshop in 8bit, 16bit or 32bit? I've been working in 8bit for all my images. Just wondering if theres any advantage/disadvantage of anything?

    e.g.

    29z6gjm.jpg

    winter_combat_knight on
  • bombardierbombardier Moderator mod
    edited January 2010
    Only advantageous to people working with photos.

    bombardier on
  • DirtyDirtyVagrantDirtyDirtyVagrant Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Hey everyone. I've been fiddling with digital for quite a while today and I appear to be running into some pitfalls. It was suggested to me that I ask some of the old pros here if they have a list of basics. Things to watch out for. Tricks of the trade. Whatever.

    I'm using a small-sized bamboo fun tablet, if it matters.

    This was a work in progress. I think I'm gonna call it. Here you can see some of the pitfalls I was talking about.
    digitalthingy.jpg

    DirtyDirtyVagrant on
  • J-PJ-P Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    I'm perplexed with this one. My friend commissioned me to make a CD cover for him. Stander CD covers are like 4.5 by 4.5. He wants a shit load of stuff in the painting that it really wouldn't work IMO.

    He wants a big ass mountain with a valley below filled with dead roman soldiers and a blizzard going on.

    I dunno how to squeeze all that stuff in on a small canvas size. I mean, The soldiers would be uber tiny. As well as a blizzard.

    I've been referencing mountain ranges and valleys and I dunno how to fit all those tiny soldiers into their. I dunno how to draw lot of tiny things. I tried a close up, but that means fewer soldiers and dunno if i squeeze a mountain into there it will look "off".

    I even watched 300 for reference, and I don't really see it happening.

    I've been looking at "Magic The Gathering" art for reference, seeing they make awesome art in cramped spaces, and I can't find anything thats remotely helpful. I can't think of a card that sounds similar. FYI I'm using this website to look at card art. I don't own MTG cards anymore.
    http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Default.aspx
    (Side note, you guys just gotta check out all the awesome art. MTG art kicks so much ass)

    Anyhoo. I'm pretty sure I'm going about this all wrong. This is also why I don't like doing commissions cause I generally get bad ideas from people, or they don't know my limitations and style.

    J-P on
    Ray gun and sharpies.
  • DirtyDirtyVagrantDirtyDirtyVagrant Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Could you draw it large in a high resolution and then condense it? Or would that create problems?

    DirtyDirtyVagrant on
  • MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    You could double the width and have it go across the front and back.

    MKR on
  • NeoRedXIIINeoRedXIII Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    does anybody know of any good tutorials for painting water, rough sea water preferred. Im having trouble ??

    Just so happens through a series of seemingly unrelated incidents this came up and I saw this post.

    http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2010/01/reflections-of-masts-in-rippled-water.html

    NeoRedXIII on
  • MagicToasterMagicToaster JapanRegistered User regular
    edited January 2010
    NibCrom wrote: »
    Where could I download small icons for facebook, twitter and youtube for print?

    Edit: This these, but for print:

    sociallogos.jpg

    http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/

    You can find Facebook and YouTube there, but I couldnt see the Mashable logo. In any case, it doesnt seem that it will take more than 2 minutes to trace in Illustrator. The font is Myriad Bold.

    MagicToaster on
  • NibCromNibCrom Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Thanks, MT. That's one of the sites I ended up using. Didn't have exactly what I needed, but it worked. Thanks!

    NibCrom on
  • PierceNeckPierceNeck Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Man I'd really like to do concept work for games, etc. But I don't even know what kind of background I'd need to get into that. Or if I even have the potential to be good at it in terms of making it a career. I'm assuming I'd need to be able to do a little of everything, to best communicate the ideas I'm trying to get accross. What would be some of the main things I need to practice? At least to get started?

    Also, anyone have any tips on learning to do figure drawings? I can't afford, nor do I have time for, classess. I tried teaching myself out of a book, but the book I have (and others I flipped through) still rely on having models for reference. I have some friends willing to pose, but I'd feel bad getting them to do that and then producing garbage. I'd like to get some skill before subjecting my friends to that.

    PierceNeck on
    steam_sig.png
  • MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Has anyone here tried the Intuos 4 yet? I'm wondering if it's worth selling off my 3 and upgrading. If I'm going to go that route I would like to do it while the resale value is still so high.

    MKR on
  • NibCromNibCrom Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    MKR wrote: »
    Has anyone here tried the Intuos 4 yet? I'm wondering if it's worth selling off my 3 and upgrading. If I'm going to go that route I would like to do it while the resale value is still so high.

    I have an Intuos4 (large). I really like it. I can't compare it to the Intuos3, as I haven't used those, but the light up buttons and the scroll wheel are both really helpful, especially when switching between programs. The pen to tablet friction is, I imagine, much better than an Intuos3. People complain about the pen sliding around and stuff and putting a piece of paper on it, but the friction on the Intuos4 is excellent. It's kind of like drawing with a Sharpie.

    NibCrom on
  • MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    I just remembered I can get Photoshop CS4 for $300 from the intuos privileges thing. I think I'll save up for that since I'll still be $200 short of an intuos large if I sell my 3.

    MKR on
  • MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    How long does Wacom support tablets? If I waited for Photoshop CS5 or 6, would that (based on history) likely be offered at a discount to Intuos3 owners through the privileges thing?

    MKR on
  • NightDragonNightDragon 6th Grade Username Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    PierceNeck wrote: »
    Man I'd really like to do concept work for games, etc. But I don't even know what kind of background I'd need to get into that. Or if I even have the potential to be good at it in terms of making it a career. I'm assuming I'd need to be able to do a little of everything, to best communicate the ideas I'm trying to get accross. What would be some of the main things I need to practice? At least to get started?

    Also, anyone have any tips on learning to do figure drawings? I can't afford, nor do I have time for, classess. I tried teaching myself out of a book, but the book I have (and others I flipped through) still rely on having models for reference. I have some friends willing to pose, but I'd feel bad getting them to do that and then producing garbage. I'd like to get some skill before subjecting my friends to that.

    Are you kinda new to drawing in general?

    NightDragon on
  • SkyGheNeSkyGheNe Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    If I was just learning how to draw the body - would you guys recommend one of the Hogarth books over the other anatomy books in the OP? I am new to drawing, but not new to drawing in photoshop. I've taken underdrawings people have done and used the pen tool to do up some stuff (learned a bit from beavo's youtube tutorial).

    I can't do anything original though - I want to be able to manipulate body shapes to create stylized drawings, and don't want an arm to be abnormally long because I don't know what I'm doing.

    SkyGheNe on
  • NicNic Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Use both; Hogarth's fantastic, but his stuff is a tad stylized. Dynamics are great, but Loomis is probably best for understanding muscle anatomy.

    Nic on
  • MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Loomis took all the dull, boring technical stuff and made it easy to get. I imagine he was a pretty awesome teacher to have.

    MKR on
  • SkyGheNeSkyGheNe Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Alright I'll start with loomis and work my way into hogarth then. Time to shop!

    SkyGheNe on
  • MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    I got a used copy of CS1 for free, and installed it. PS works fine, but Illustrator's dialogs are blank except for some very tiny buttons. For example, in the New File dialog, it's as tall as the screen and very thin, and has two tiny buttons with no text visible. The top one behaves like an ok button, and the bottom like a cancel button.

    Is this a thing that can be fixed, or should I reinstall illustrator?

    edit: Rebooting fixed it

    MKR on
  • AumniAumni Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    So those programs where you can chat and draw art in a chatroomy environment, with multiple people...
    where can I find some links to those sites?

    Aumni on
    http://steamcommunity.com/id/aumni/ Battlenet: Aumni#1978 GW2: Aumni.1425 PSN: Aumnius
  • MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Aumni wrote: »
    So those programs where you can chat and draw art in a chatroomy environment, with multiple people...
    where can I find some links to those sites?

    OpenCanvas if you want to host it, iScribble if you don't mind lots of bad anthro and fanart.

    MKR on
  • AumniAumni Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    MKR wrote: »
    Aumni wrote: »
    So those programs where you can chat and draw art in a chatroomy environment, with multiple people...
    where can I find some links to those sites?

    OpenCanvas if you want to host it, iScribble if you don't mind lots of bad anthro and fanart.

    Thank you sir!

    Aumni on
    http://steamcommunity.com/id/aumni/ Battlenet: Aumni#1978 GW2: Aumni.1425 PSN: Aumnius
  • winter_combat_knightwinter_combat_knight Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    does anyone know of asny good links to FREE hi res fashion photography? Im developing a graphic design portfolio, and want to do a bit of design aimed at fashion.

    winter_combat_knight on
  • NibCromNibCrom Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    does anyone know of asny good links to FREE hi res fashion photography? Im developing a graphic design portfolio, and want to do a bit of design aimed at fashion.

    Well, I'm pretty sure this site isn't FREE, but there is TONS of fashion photos in the editorial section of Getty Images. If you just need them for reference, you can get them from there. Have you tried Stock.XCHNG?

    NibCrom on
  • beavotronbeavotron Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    What about making myself marketable? Once I have the skills?

    These kinds of things need to be in the tutorials thread.

    Break it down.

    An AOB style speech on the usefulness of fundamental study

    A section detailing the finer points of fundamental study, complete with books, ideas for studies (AOB's 30+ hour accuracy study), things to watch for (core shadows, draw using shapes), gestures, tools of the trade, etc etc.

    A short essay on color. Color theory books, design and form books, ideas for studies, techniques and methods (like the one you recently posted), and so forth.

    Composition

    the other stuff.

    Followed by marketing, tips from the working professionals here on the AC, how to formulate contracts, etc.

    all of that stuff can be found on the graphic artists' guild site

    once you get to the point that you feel you can start selling your work, you can take a few steps

    start applying for positions in studios
    or or if you want to do freelance, join the gaphic artist guild, or an illustration house so you have access to their resources, contracts and legal information
    you can get an agent to rep you
    or you can self rep
    when you self rep, to start finding clients you can buy lists of potential clients who hire freelancers
    my choice is Artist's and Graphic Designer's Market. Comes out once a year (november) and is full of lists of people who hire designers illustrators and animators. The lists are organized by type of work: magazine, book, stationery etc. and list what each potential client is looking for in submissions

    you generally send them samples of your work in the form of a postcard or sample sheets and hope for the best.

    that's... it in a nutshell.

    beavotron on
  • OrikaeshigitaeOrikaeshigitae Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited January 2010
  • ObilexObilex Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    beav, you're my hero <3

    Obilex on
  • JohannenJohannen Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Hey guys, I thought it would be best to come here for advice, as I am looking to buy a scanner to scan images from A4 paper into my computer, which I will then digitally alter. Is there a good quality scanner or will pretty much any do? I will be editing in photoshop or illustrator, and using a mac to start with.

    Does anyone have any advice please?

    Johannen on
  • MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    I think pretty much anything that scans to at least 300dpi is fine for lineart, but I'm no scannerologist.

    MKR on
  • JohannenJohannen Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    MKR wrote: »
    I think pretty much anything that scans to at least 300dpi is fine for lineart, but I'm no scannerologist.

    Would that require a degree in scannerology? or scannerotics?

    Thanks, I was looking at 300dpi flatbed scanners for A4 work, but whenever I go on a review site they tell me about the new Epson "could scan the sun" 9001 assbanger scanner costing around £200 a pop.

    Johannen on
  • MimMim I prefer my lovers… dead.Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Quick question: When practicing drawing, would you start on paper first and then move to the wacom or can you practice drawing with both at the same time? I'm starting from the ground up (got "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain") again and I want to be able to draw on open canvas eventually.

    So stick to pencil and paper for awhile or can I mix and match?

    Mim on
  • NightDragonNightDragon 6th Grade Username Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Mim wrote: »
    Quick question: When practicing drawing, would you start on paper first and then move to the wacom or can you practice drawing with both at the same time? I'm starting from the ground up (got "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain") again and I want to be able to draw on open canvas eventually.

    So stick to pencil and paper for awhile or can I mix and match?

    It's generally recommended that you stick with traditional media to start. It makes the transition the digital much easier, as well. I mean, it's not going to completely screw you up if you do a bit of mix-and-match...but I think that bad digital habits are probably easier to avoid if you understand the traditional equivalent that you're imitating (paint/ink line/etc/whathaveyou).

    NightDragon on
This discussion has been closed.