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Questions, Discussion, Tutorials

GrifterGrifter BermudaModerator mod
edited May 2008 in Artist's Corner
Use this thread for:
  • asking questions pertaining to the forum or art instead of making a new thread for them
  • discussing said questions or issues in the forum
  • posting links to useful tutorials you come across on the Internet
  • post tutorials that you made yourself

Mods, please add links, tutorials, and links to useful posts to this post whenever you see them.

Constructive Criticism by Blinky
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=875



Downloads
Tutorials

Quick Sketching
http://www.drawalot.com/smblog/2007/11/17/quick-sketch-the-fastest-way-to-learn-professional-drawing-techniques/

The Structure of Man: Video Tutorials on Anatomy by Riven Phoenix
http://the-structure-of-man.blogspot.com/

Over a Dozen links to Misc Reference Photos
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=5329

Basic Lighting/Texture/Form Tutorial and Reference Guide
http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm

Alduar's Abstract Art Tutorial/Process
http://alduar.iseenothing.com/tutorials/abstract/

Pens 'n' Pixels Tutorials (Colouring especially useful)
http://www.pensnpixels.com/instructional.html

Feng Zhu Design Tutorials
http://www.fengzhudesign.com/tutorials.html

Tom Nguyen's "how to draw breasts"
http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=39;t=000176

Another good Tom Nguyen article
http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=39;t=000144

Team Special Olympics Tutorials
http://www.teamspecialolympics.com/tutorials.php

Portrait Artist Tutorials
http://www.portrait-artist.org/

Pencil Portrait Tutorials
http://homepages.tesco.net/p.wilkinson/index.html

Scanning Line Art
http://www.steeldolphin-forums.com/htmltuts/scanning_lineart.html

Flatting Tutorial by Mark Sweeney
http://www.dave-co.com/gutterzombie/dload.php?action=license&license_id=1&file_id=21

Speedpainting Tutorial by Angel_of_Bacon
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6167278083166388456

A Buttload of Drawing Tutorials
http://www.drawspace.com/

Erik Gist Drawing and Painting Principles
http://www.erikgist.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=131
http://www.erikgist.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=132

Dan Gheno Life Drawing Articles
http://www.dangheno.net/pteachingsindex.htm

Walt Stanchfield Notes on Gesture Drawing for Animation
http://www.animationmeat.com/notes/waltstanchfield/waltstanchfield.html

Glen Vilppu Drawing Articles
1. Never Underestimate the Power of Life Drawing
2. Gesture
3. Spherical Forms
4. The Box
5. Introducing Material and Proportion
6. Drawing Ellipses
7. From the General to the Specific
8. The Landmarks of Anatomy
9. Seeing Anatomical Masses
10. Seeing The Figure As A 2D Object
11. Using Tone To Draw
12. Getting a Handle on Direct Lighting
13. Using The Idea Of Atmosphere

Eatpoo.com Guide for Art NOOBS
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=876

Moolt Animation Tutorials
http://www.moolt.com/animation.html

References

Concept Artist Link Index
http://www.turtleart.net/artists.php

Photographic Lighting Schemes (with examples)
http://uk.fotopunto.com/articulo-explained-lighting-schemes_60

Wally Wood's 22 Panels That Always Work
http://joeljohnson.com/archives/2006/08/wally_woods_22.html


Online Colour Scheme Generator
http://www.steeldolphin.com/color_scheme.html

Colour Theory Guide
http://www.worqx.com/color/

Blambot Comic Fonts
http://www.blambot.com/

Microsoft Web Development
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/beginner/web/tier1/

Pose Maniacs Drawing Tools
http://www.posemaniacs.com/blog/

Books

Essentials/Basics

The Natural Way to Draw by Kimon Nicolaides
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards

Color

The Elements of Color by Johannes Itten
Painting With Light by John Alton
Color Theory by Jose Maria Parramon
Color Management: A copmrehensive Guide for Graphic Designersby John Drew and Sarah Meyer

Design

Design and Form: The Basic Course at the Bauhaus and Later, Revised Edition by Johannes Itten
The Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams
The Non-Designer's Scan & Print Book by Sandee Cohen
The Non-Designer's Type Book by Robin Williams

Anatomy & Illustration

Dynamic Anatomy by Burne Hogarth
Dynamic Figure Drawing by Burne Hogarth
Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery by Burne Hogarth
Drawing Dynamic Hands by Burne Hogarth
Dynamic Light and Shade by Burne Hogarth

Human Anatomy for Artists by Eliot Goldfinger
Anatomy For The Artist by Sarah Simblet
Artistic Anatomy by Richer & Hale
Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing From Life by George B. Bridgman

Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters by Robert Hale
Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters by Robert Hale and Terrence Coyle

DC Comics Guide to Pencilling and Inking Comics

Learning Software

Photoshop CS2 Bible
Illustrator CS2 Bible

Comic Book Storytelling

Graphic Storytelling & Visual Narrative by Will Eisner
Comics & Sequential Art by Will Eisner
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
Perspective! For Comic Book Artists by David Chelsea

Animation

The Illusion of Life by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas
The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams

Grifter on
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Posts

  • AumniAumni Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    First question of the new thread!

    I recently formated my computer and since then my lines in Corel Painter [with a Wacom] have been jaggie. I make sure that the picture is properly zoomed into 100% of course and check the brush properties to make sure there is no jitter. I also tried upping the picture quality to something around 500 pixels/inch with no success, but before I never had to go that high to achieve a smooth line.

    Is there a Wacom/Corel setting I might have missed that is causing this? Thanks for any help guys.

    Aumni on
    http://steamcommunity.com/id/aumni/ Battlenet: Aumni#1978 GW2: Aumni.1425 PSN: Aumnius
  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I've been drawing for most of my life, but for the past few years I have improved very little. My theory on it is because I haven't made an effort to improve, and I've hit the limit of where random doodling can help. One thing I've always stayed away from, and is valuable information, is that of values. What are some good exercises to improve my grasp on it?

    Zombiemambo on
    JKKaAGp.png
  • mattharvestmattharvest Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Zombiemambo wrote: »
    I've been drawing for most of my life, but for the past few years I have improved very little. My theory on it is because I haven't made an effort to improve, and I've hit the limit of where random doodling can help. One thing I've always stayed away from, and is valuable information, is that of values. What are some good exercises to improve my grasp on it?

    In my experience it was the obvious: find something that's all black and white (e.g. folds of white fabric, plaster castings, etc.) and simply practice.

    At least at my undergrad, all but the highest drawing class was exclusively B&W. We alternated regularly between contour and gesture drawings (i.e. no shading of value) and cross-hatch (i.e. line-value), and only did true shading when we worked with charcoal.

    The nice thing about this, in concept, is that if you have a nice bright light, and a piece of thick white cloth, you're set for at least a while.

    mattharvest on
    My site: http://mattharvest.com
  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    mattharvest wrote: »
    Zombiemambo wrote: »
    I've been drawing for most of my life, but for the past few years I have improved very little. My theory on it is because I haven't made an effort to improve, and I've hit the limit of where random doodling can help. One thing I've always stayed away from, and is valuable information, is that of values. What are some good exercises to improve my grasp on it?

    In my experience it was the obvious: find something that's all black and white (e.g. folds of white fabric, plaster castings, etc.) and simply practice.

    At least at my undergrad, all but the highest drawing class was exclusively B&W. We alternated regularly between contour and gesture drawings (i.e. no shading of value) and cross-hatch (i.e. line-value), and only did true shading when we worked with charcoal.

    The nice thing about this, in concept, is that if you have a nice bright light, and a piece of thick white cloth, you're set for at least a while.

    Cool, thanks.

    Zombiemambo on
    JKKaAGp.png
  • Katchem_ashKatchem_ash __BANNED USERS regular
    edited July 2007
    So how much would it take (money wise) if you wanted an artist to draw something that you have a rough setch for?

    Katchem_ash on
  • MaydayMayday Cutting edge goblin tech Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Depends.
    How far would you want the artist to take it?
    Coloured or lineart?
    A single character or a complex scene?
    Just PM me the sketch and I'll be able to tell you.

    Also, is it supposed to be anime-styled.

    Mayday on
  • GrifterGrifter BermudaModerator mod
    edited July 2007
    Mayday wrote: »
    Depends.
    How far would you want the artist to take it?
    Coloured or lineart?
    A single character or a complex scene?
    Just PM me the sketch and I'll be able to tell you.

    Also, is it supposed to be anime-styled.

    You're talking to Katchem. Everything is anime with the guy.

    Grifter on
  • MaydayMayday Cutting edge goblin tech Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Ah, in that case it costs double ;P

    Mayday on
  • StealthNachosStealthNachos Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I'm about to change from XP to Vista and was concerned that my tablet might not want to make the jump. I have a Wacom Intuos 3, and I see they have drivers for Vista on the Wacom site but I was wondering wether anyone has had any problems with it or not.

    StealthNachos on
    I tend to ramble.
  • LlyLly Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    The link for:

    Over a Dozen links to Misc Reference Photos
    Penny Arcade Accumulated Forum Knowledge/Reference Links

    doesn't work, which is annoying as that sounded interesting.


    edit:

    I assume this was the thread you meant? http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=5329

    Looks pretty damn handy.

    Lly on
  • GrifterGrifter BermudaModerator mod
    edited July 2007
    seems the link wasn't updated after the software change. I'll sort it out now.

    Grifter on
  • anableanable North TexasRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I was wondering if anyone in AC would be awesome enough to do something along the lines of what ruskin is doing in WB.

    I'm just now getting into drawing and a class style routine set up by one of the many talented people in AC would be amazing help.

    anable on
    Writings · Paintings · Photography @ nilsdougan.com
    sig.jpg
  • LlyLly Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    That's what the "Practice: Your Desk" thread is about.

    Lly on
  • anableanable North TexasRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Not to say that the Practice Your Desk thing isn't a good idea, but is that really where I should be starting after picking up a pencil for the first time last week? Also, that thread was created a month ago. I was hoping someone could set up some weekly lessons or something along those lines.

    anable on
    Writings · Paintings · Photography @ nilsdougan.com
    sig.jpg
  • RavenshadowRavenshadow Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    looking for someone to start a tutorial thread for you is probably a little much. Google 'Drawing lessons'. Theres a ton of shit there. Some of it is free.

    If you've just picked up a pencil, might I suggest just drawing? then post what you come up with and we can either giveyou or point you to some useful advice.

    Ravenshadow on
  • LlyLly Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Conceptart.org has a lot of good regular activities.

    Lly on
  • GrifterGrifter BermudaModerator mod
    edited July 2007
    I've actually been meaning to make a new activity for a little while now but I only think about it when I don't have time to make one. If anyone has ideas for a new activity, please, feel free to share. It's about time that we had a new one.

    Grifter on
  • MagicToasterMagicToaster JapanRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Art Corner Cereal Box!

    MagicToaster on
  • EnefEnef Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Grifter wrote: »
    I've actually been meaning to make a new activity for a little while now but I only think about it when I don't have time to make one. If anyone has ideas for a new activity, please, feel free to share. It's about time that we had a new one.

    I think doing something like CA.org do, but instead of "Daily" make it "Weekly".

    "PA:AC Weekly Sketch Group"

    And the subject is picked at random, anywhere from one word to a sentence? Is there any "Word Randomizers" on the web that anyone knows of?

    Just a suggestion anyways.

    Enef on
  • LlyLly Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I fancy a vehicle design activity, maybe with a theme or maybe not. I really want to try my hand at designing some sci-fi/old-school hybrid vehicles. Not that I need an activity thread to that of course.

    Lly on
  • NamNam Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Does anyone know some good 2d animation programs? One in terms of overall quality and package and maybe another one thats easy to hop into and play around with.

    Nam on
  • MaydayMayday Cutting edge goblin tech Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    You mean... like... Flash?

    Mayday on
  • anableanable North TexasRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Or you can make some badass animated gifs. Those were the best part of the early intratube.

    anable on
    Writings · Paintings · Photography @ nilsdougan.com
    sig.jpg
  • LlyLly Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    ToonBoom Studio?

    Lly on
  • supabeastsupabeast Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Nam wrote: »
    Does anyone know some good 2d animation programs? One in terms of overall quality and package and maybe another one thats easy to hop into and play around with.

    Get After Effects and learn to use the hierarchical character animation tools. They were actually developed for animators at Nickelodeon who were using AE to animate shows and making regular feature requests. After Effects CS3 was just released and Adobe has added an entire new system for rigging characters. You’ll also have all the other great After Effects stuff to play around with. Sure it’s more expensive than Flash, but it’s much easier to learn and use, better documented, and doesn’t have all the bugs and interface design flaws that can make Flasha PITA. And unlike Flash, with After Effects you can render everything out to Quicktime or Windows media (Flash can theoretically do this, but the video output in Flash is incredibly buggy), and at HD resolutions.

    supabeast on
  • NamNam Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    supabeast wrote: »
    Nam wrote: »
    Does anyone know some good 2d animation programs? One in terms of overall quality and package and maybe another one thats easy to hop into and play around with.

    Get After Effects and learn to use the hierarchical character animation tools. They were actually developed for animators at Nickelodeon who were using AE to animate shows and making regular feature requests. After Effects CS3 was just released and Adobe has added an entire new system for rigging characters. You’ll also have all the other great After Effects stuff to play around with. Sure it’s more expensive than Flash, but it’s much easier to learn and use, better documented, and doesn’t have all the bugs and interface design flaws that can make Flasha PITA. And unlike Flash, with After Effects you can render everything out to Quicktime or Windows media (Flash can theoretically do this, but the video output in Flash is incredibly buggy), and at HD resolutions.

    Sounds cool. I tried flash before posting in this request but it was a bit over my head I think.

    Thanks!

    Nam on
  • anableanable North TexasRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    For some reason I have this cognitive block against drawing a cube with an angle lower than 30ish degrees.

    Meaning this:
    360px-Cube.svg.png

    Is vastly more difficult to draw for me than:
    cube-only.png

    The lower the angle, the harder it is. How do I get around this? Just practice, practice, practice? Is there some type of drill I can do or something?

    anable on
    Writings · Paintings · Photography @ nilsdougan.com
    sig.jpg
  • LlyLly Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Just get a grasp of 2 point perspective. There are a lot of tutorials out there, here's one:
    http://drawsketch.about.com/library/weekly/aa021603c.htm

    Lly on
  • HorusHorus Los AngelesRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Trying to get back to drawing, I got my old pencils and materials. The only thing missing is a good book to reinforce the lost knowledge I once had in drawing. From the recommended list,
    The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and The Natural Way to Draw: A Working Plan for Art Study

    which one offers good foundation for someone who lost all knowledge of drawing.

    Thanks


    PS, I got Loomis PDFs but I don't want to be stuck by the computer to read it.

    Horus on
    “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”
    ― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
  • JWashkeJWashke Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I'm actually working my way through Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and plan to pick up where I left off on the natural way to draw once I finish. The two books seem like they stress the same thing which is the importance of drawing what you see.

    The difference being Drawing on the Right Side of the brain explains the science of it, and uses exercises specifically designed to shift your brain mode while drawing. While The Natural Way to Draw just has you draw a crap load but doesn't really explain why.

    Either one works, Though Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is definitely faster. The Natural Way to draw is broken into schedules, with 64 exercises total in the book, the first 3 exercises it has you draw for 15 hours before advancing. The main difference is DotRSotB will give you exact exercises, copy this picture upside down, draw your hand, draw a self portrait etc. The Natural Way to Draw will just say Draw gestures for 3 hours, and its up to you to find poses to draw for gestures and such.

    I would recommend starting with Right Side then moving to The Natural Way to Draw if you can get both. If your really dedicated you can finish Right Side in less then a week, and it will give you the science of why you should be drawing that way, and a good foundation of basic drawing skills quickly. At which point you can move on to the more rigorous The Natural Way to Draw.

    I don't think Drawing on the right Side of the Brain will help you once you've finished the intensive Natural Way to Draw, but I think its really something everyone starting drawing should read which is why I would recommend starting with it then moving on to The Natural Way to Draw.

    JWashke on
    steam_sig.png
  • SairusSairus Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Now I'm learning to draw comics somewhat close to cartoon style, maybe a little PA style but I have problems drawing the same character more than once. How do people do it?

    Sairus on
  • GrifterGrifter BermudaModerator mod
    edited July 2007
    Sairus wrote: »
    Now I'm learning to draw comics somewhat close to cartoon style, maybe a little PA style but I have problems drawing the same character more than once. How do people do it?


    They actually just draw the character over and over and over again until they are able to keep them on model. It's called practicing.

    Grifter on
  • MagicToasterMagicToaster JapanRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I'm building this page, do you guys think this button is too blurry? I think I might have to remake them at a higher resolution.

    blurrywk9.gif

    MagicToaster on
  • LlyLly Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    The font needs to be crisper, but i kinda like the blurriness around the edge.

    Lly on
  • MaydayMayday Cutting edge goblin tech Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Guys, I'm having this weird trouble with my PC in that the mouse cursor is lagging from time to time (stays in place when I move the mouse and jumps to the correct place a few seconds later). Does anybody know what's going on?

    Mayday on
  • MagicToasterMagicToaster JapanRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Lly wrote: »
    The font needs to be crisper, but i kinda like the blurriness around the edge.

    What resolution is your monitor set to?

    MagicToaster on
  • LlyLly Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    1280x1024

    Lly on
  • supabeastsupabeast Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    MagicToaster wrote: »
    I'm building this page, do you guys think this button is too blurry? I think I might have to remake them at a higher resolution.

    Too blurry. You could clean it up some by tracking the letters a little or switching to a font with a good light weight (Neue Helvetica would work), but at that size a pixel font is really the best way to go.

    supabeast on
  • MagicToasterMagicToaster JapanRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Lly wrote: »
    1280x1024

    Though it's blurry due to low resolutions and perhaps too much compresion on my behalf, for some reason it looks blurier at resolutions higher than 1024x768. I wanted to know if you were running above that resolution.
    supabeast wrote: »
    Too blurry. You could clean it up some by tracking the letters a little or switching to a font with a good light weight (Neue Helvetica would work), but at that size a pixel font is really the best way to go.

    Thanks for the tip, but I can't change the font. It's the one used throughout the page I think I'll design it at a higher resolution to fix the problem. Also, out of curiosity, what resolution are you running, Supa?

    MagicToaster on
  • supabeastsupabeast Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I’m at 1440x900.

    Blurriness at higher resolutions may also be due to people using screens with larger or smaller pixels. For example, I have two 1280x1024 screens on my desk at home, one 17" and one 19." On the 17" gaps between tightly-spaced anti-aliased type start to fill in noticably.

    supabeast on
This discussion has been closed.
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