Thanks, I'll check the link out. If I would buy a Cintiq then it would be the 13HD one, but I still find it to be way to expensive at 899 euro's. The problem I find with Intuossesssess is that when your drawing your having it on the table and looking up at the screen, hurts the back after a while (maybe its only me.. >_> )
This could also be due to your desk setup? Desk height or screen height (top of screen should line up with your eye level).
Yeah it might be, I'm like 6'7" so its kinda hard to find a suitable desk that's both a comfortable level and gets the screen where its supposed to be.
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The_Glad_HatterOne Sly FoxUnderneath a Groovy HatRegistered Userregular
even at 5'5" i know what you mean! I have one of those ikea desks with the adjustable legs. And my imac just happens to be my ideal height.
Cintiqs are a fun thing to have if you can justify the expense, and/or if you're a professional that's using it a lot for work. If you don't fall into one of those categories, an Intuos is still a great piece of technology. (I've also heard that the 13" Cintiqs especially may not exactly be justifiable for the price - and you may as well just get a nice 22" desktop Cintiq).
I use a Cintiq at work, and an Intuos at home...and while I've grown to really love the Cintiq (I actually preferred my Intuos for awhile! :P ) I'm still really happy with my Intuos. At some point I'll probably get a desktop Cintiq, but I don't feel I need it at all. I've found it can make some things like curves and precise lines easier...but there's also (maybe a bug?) a problem I've found with my work Cintiq where the pen stroke "stair-steps" sometimes, even when the resolution is high enough where it shouldn't do that. I don't have that same problem with my Intuos.
Definitely make your desk and chair as comfortable as they can be! I'm 5'4" and I still struggle sometimes with making sure I'm not sitting weirdly or hurting my elbow without realizing it. If you're hurting your back, you might be leaning in while you're drawing. If you can find a setup where you don't have to lean in at all, that might help.
@Tidus53 The answer to your question of "how to draw butts" is to study anatomy. I remember a while back saying that you've posted in here before looking for sort of intangible reference/advice. Its like you want some source to tell you how to approach these problems each time you get stuck on a drawing, but not face up to the actual judgment of us critiquing it.
But I don't really understand what you expect us to provide you. The only drawing you've ever posted on the forum was two years ago and you said you did it in three minutes. Without seeing your work we can literally provide zero helpful feedback on how you should draw butts. How should you draw butts? Correctly? From reference? Like Michelangelo? Like Frank Frazetta? Who knows what level of advice you need on the subject.
Like if you don't want to post work and get crits, Its cool dude, no worries, But the questions you are asking are literally impossible for us to answer in any meaningful way.
Its not that I don't want critique its that I have a hard time posting things like images here. My scanner is screwed up, I don't have a good camera, and the only camera like thing I have is my iPad and I have to go through imgur to post stuff. I'd gladly post stuff I just need to learn how? There's also the fact that I am a major wuss-baby when it comes to posting stuff online for: A) Super harsh criticism (which I need to learn to be open about) and B ) the content I draw would come across as crass or risque and I don't want to get banned or people to get the wrong idea about me.
imgur is not a big deal? if you get the images uploaded then the bbcode to post on the forums is right there. Also you can actually upload images to the forums directly, from your ipad or computer. Hit the attach image/file button above the reply box.
While we strive for honesty, you're not going to get torn apart here, critique-wise. Nobody will be mean. And as long as you put your art in a thread marked NSFW (which can include the doodle thread or one you make yourself, provided you put that in the title) then you won't get banned for being risque.
Overall, I'm a little confused about why you want to do art if you are scared of people seeing it.
imgur is not a big deal? if you get the images uploaded then the bbcode to post on the forums is right there. Also you can actually upload images to the forums directly, from your ipad or computer. Hit the attach image/file button above the reply box.
While we strive for honesty, you're not going to get torn apart here, critique-wise. Nobody will be mean. And as long as you put your art in a thread marked NSFW (which can include the doodle thread or one you make yourself, provided you put that in the title) then you won't get banned for being risque.
Overall, I'm a little confused about why you want to do art if you are scared of people seeing it.
Its not that I'm afraid it's just that I have this thing in the back of my head that says," You're not ready yet, work more." I somehow have this internal thing to where I believe you have to achieve a certain level of skill before you can show it (and most of it is really sketchy to be honest.)
no no! So backwards! The earlier the better! The more help you get at the earlier stages the faster you will progress! If art is climbing a ladder, getting feedback is a winch that hauls you along a few rungs.
We're not here for back patting but for assistance, if you look around there's a wide variety of skill on display.
Yeah, I can understand that same fear of "waiting to show work". Tynic is right though - the earlier the better. It can be a hard thing to get over but it becomes easier with practice! Lots and lots of people have posted here (and post now) from a range of skill levels. We've had people just starting out, and people that have been drawing for years post here. Don't feel self-conscious!
In regards to the "crass or risque" subject matter...unless it's on the far end of "risque" and ends up being straight-up pornography, or like...racist caricatures (or other things of that nature), you're probably fine. Just throw a NSFW tag in the title of your thread. If you're still not sure about the subject matter, you could send a private message to one of our moderators (like @Iruka) with a link to the piece(s) in question, and ask if it would be okay to post or not.
Critiques are meant to help you improve, so we'll tell you where you need improvement. We're not going to say "UUUGH, this SUUUUCKS" or anything like that. Just try to hear us out and if you have any questions or you'd like us to explain something further just let us know.
Cintiqs are a fun thing to have if you can justify the expense, and/or if you're a professional that's using it a lot for work. If you don't fall into one of those categories, an Intuos is still a great piece of technology. (I've also heard that the 13" Cintiqs especially may not exactly be justifiable for the price - and you may as well just get a nice 22" desktop Cintiq).
I use a Cintiq at work, and an Intuos at home...and while I've grown to really love the Cintiq (I actually preferred my Intuos for awhile! :P ) I'm still really happy with my Intuos. At some point I'll probably get a desktop Cintiq, but I don't feel I need it at all. I've found it can make some things like curves and precise lines easier...but there's also (maybe a bug?) a problem I've found with my work Cintiq where the pen stroke "stair-steps" sometimes, even when the resolution is high enough where it shouldn't do that. I don't have that same problem with my Intuos.
Definitely make your desk and chair as comfortable as they can be! I'm 5'4" and I still struggle sometimes with making sure I'm not sitting weirdly or hurting my elbow without realizing it. If you're hurting your back, you might be leaning in while you're drawing. If you can find a setup where you don't have to lean in at all, that might help.
I think an Intuos would be good for me then, I'm still new to the digital aspect of drawing so I guess its better.
I got my girlfriend a Wacom Intuius tablet (the small one) for Christmas and shes just now trying to get to it, but she has a really bad issue with lag between what you do on the tablet and what happens on screen. I've been messing with it and I can't figure it out. Also, what programs do you guys use? her tablet came with the Wacom art app and the Sketchbook but neither feel very intutive. She also hates Photoshop a lot.
I got Art Rage on Steam once when it was cheap. Not sure how much it is right now. It's more intuitive for someone used to drawing and painting irl than a complex program like Photoshop, but it obviously has less features. I have the small Intuos tablet and I haven't noticed much lag but I'm not really used to the thing either.
I got my girlfriend a Wacom Intuius tablet (the small one) for Christmas and shes just now trying to get to it, but she has a really bad issue with lag between what you do on the tablet and what happens on screen. I've been messing with it and I can't figure it out. Also, what programs do you guys use? her tablet came with the Wacom art app and the Sketchbook but neither feel very intutive. She also hates Photoshop a lot.
Any help would be appreciated
Yeah, definitely make sure the drivers are up to date...clean out any old drivers before updating.
Is the computer she's using pretty low on RAM? Is she working at a really high resolution (300 dpi or around there) and using a large brush, or using quick strokes? Is she using any other memory-intense programs at the same time? You can set a handful of options in Photoshop's preferences that might help...check the "Performance" tab, and play with the options in there, like allowing Photoshop to use more RAM.
Is there a reason why she hates Photoshop? Is it just something she hasn't used before? Corel Painter can be fun and relatively intuitive, at least the last time I used it. Sketchbook Pro also doesn't seem like it would be too complex to figure out...is there a particular thing she's trying to do that she's finding difficult?
If interface is the issue, Artrage and Sketchbook pro are probably the only decent alternatives. I feel like painter/manga studio/paint tool SAI/Krita/firealpaca/mischief are all pretty Photoshop-like, just with their own quirks and benefits.
If the issue is feel, though. Try to download some demos and play around.
Alright I'll check out the drivers and stuff when she gets home. I might even try installing everything on my machine as I think her laptop is poop. She ususally just runs whatever art program and Spotify. Her resolution isn't very high, and its the small pen model
Also if she has been trying out photoshop, make sure that the spacing on the brush isn't too low. Think of a photoshop brush like a pencil skipping across the surface. The lower the spacing, the closer the skips are together. Low enough and they overlap and look like just a line.
Even a high end machine can lag if the spacing is set to 1%. Depending on the brush you can get anywhere between 10-15% before it starts looking dotty.
Also, just FYI - I don't think a small model vs. a large model will really change anything at all in regards to performance. I have that same small model at home, and I don't experience any lag with it.
Blegh, I just realised I have no Idea about anything in art anymore. What are some good color/sketch pencils that you guys use ?
I know that some people find "Non-Photo Blue" pencils to be fun (but unless you're planning on inking your sketch, and then photocopying/scanning that, I don't think there's a particular reason to use pencils like this, compared to anything else. Wouldn't hurt anything, but if you'd prefer a colored lead, feel free to use one).
For non-mechanical, standard graphite pencils, I've always loved Mirado Black Warrior pencils:
The leads are smooth, the wood is really smooth and is whittled down/sharpened easily. For mechanical pencils, I personally love Techniclick III (or II) by Pentel...and avoid these guys like the plague - reason being that there is a often a bit of a "spring" mechanism in the pencil that affects the lead...so the lead stays on the paper longer than you'd intended when you try to lift it off.
None of these should cost you more than a few dollars, unless you get a fancy mechanical pencil...in which case, under $10 for pencil and leads.
I haven't used colored pencils in ages, but Prismacolor tend to be my go-to, and a fairly good brand. Faber-Castell is also really good for sketch pencils, and I've heard their colored pencils are also really good. I found a graph that might be useful!
Any suggestions of how to replicate the textures in this digitally (preferably in Manga Studio)? I thought it might have been created with screentone, but if it is I can't figure out how to do it (I'm fairly new to digital art, BTW).
Thanks. I'll try it out later. While I'm still on the subject, is there a commonly-accepted standard for pressure settings in Manga Studio for tablets? I'm sure some of the problems I'm facing are because I haven't mastered line control, but I'm also wondering if I don't have my settings properly calibrated.
I just purchased a Cintiq 13HD. The first night I used it with Manga Studio 5EX is was perfect, amazing... uh, really good... yo. The next day though, while using the ink brush I noticed quite a bit of lag... and then MS wasn't registering every other stroke. It was like getting a flat tire on a new car; sucked all the enjoyment out of it. I installed the latest driver and experienced the same problem. I then re-installed the driver on the disc to no avail. I don't have another system or art program to test it out in. I figured I'd pepper a forum here and there with my query; see what turns up. Thanks, ya'all.
Please forgive my question, for it may be considered ill-constructed - I am not akin to the world of internet forums, therefore I hope that you will all forgive me for any of my actions that seem to be out of protocol.
(Just to make it known, I have read the rules of the forum, yet I have some issues that need to be addressed)
I have been following Penny Arcade since 2006. , and the consistency in its style and soul has pushed me to make an effort in creating webcomics of my own - this is a desire of no basis in commercial nature for now, my wishes are simply to share my thoughts with the world through webcomics.
Being that this is the site I am most familiar with, it is my wish to have the respected members of this community share with me any information that they are willing to give that might help me improve, as well as express their opinion of my work.
My question is to what extent am I allowed to post the webcomics contents and in what specific thread in order to hear the criticism?
P.S.
Being that I am yet uncertain of whether I may present my webcomic on the threads of this forum, I will be waiting for the moderator's/moderators' permission to do so.
@Kontrazen
First of all, enough with the vulcan rhetorics.
Second, I'm going to implore you to disregard any insecurity you have about your works and just uploading your stuff here. You ask of us to give you any information that might help you improve, but the bottom line is and always will be that you are going to make it a hell of a lot easier for us all if you post your stuff, because by god there is so much information we could give you but none of us really feel like writing it all down yet. If we did we would tell you to buy our "how too doo comicz gewd" books instead. There are a few general things that can be said about improving, but one of the most important things on that list would be "show your stuff to others." By showing your stuff from the get go we get the opportunity to see where exactly you will need to improve to begin with, which is much more helpful than you cherry picking from our general suggestions.
Now, as for general things that I can say:
read a lot,
write a lot,
draw a lot,
go to life drawing sessions (supervised/unsupervised doesn't matter),
have fun.
As for the "legality" of posting: just make a thread on this subforum for your comics for critique. If you want to show it to an audience that won't tear it apart there are a few webcomic oriented threads in SE++ and Debate and Discourse, you can post them in there.
@m3nace
Forgive me for upseting you, English is not my maternal language and I am unfamiliar with the accepatable rhetorics - aside the fact that when writing texts I tend to make them concize.
Thank you for the answers.
Posts
I use a Cintiq at work, and an Intuos at home...and while I've grown to really love the Cintiq (I actually preferred my Intuos for awhile! :P ) I'm still really happy with my Intuos. At some point I'll probably get a desktop Cintiq, but I don't feel I need it at all. I've found it can make some things like curves and precise lines easier...but there's also (maybe a bug?) a problem I've found with my work Cintiq where the pen stroke "stair-steps" sometimes, even when the resolution is high enough where it shouldn't do that. I don't have that same problem with my Intuos.
Definitely make your desk and chair as comfortable as they can be! I'm 5'4" and I still struggle sometimes with making sure I'm not sitting weirdly or hurting my elbow without realizing it. If you're hurting your back, you might be leaning in while you're drawing. If you can find a setup where you don't have to lean in at all, that might help.
Its not that I don't want critique its that I have a hard time posting things like images here. My scanner is screwed up, I don't have a good camera, and the only camera like thing I have is my iPad and I have to go through imgur to post stuff. I'd gladly post stuff I just need to learn how? There's also the fact that I am a major wuss-baby when it comes to posting stuff online for: A) Super harsh criticism (which I need to learn to be open about) and B ) the content I draw would come across as crass or risque and I don't want to get banned or people to get the wrong idea about me.
While we strive for honesty, you're not going to get torn apart here, critique-wise. Nobody will be mean. And as long as you put your art in a thread marked NSFW (which can include the doodle thread or one you make yourself, provided you put that in the title) then you won't get banned for being risque.
Overall, I'm a little confused about why you want to do art if you are scared of people seeing it.
First you must take a crack at it.
INSTAGRAM
Its not that I'm afraid it's just that I have this thing in the back of my head that says," You're not ready yet, work more." I somehow have this internal thing to where I believe you have to achieve a certain level of skill before you can show it (and most of it is really sketchy to be honest.)
We're not here for back patting but for assistance, if you look around there's a wide variety of skill on display.
In regards to the "crass or risque" subject matter...unless it's on the far end of "risque" and ends up being straight-up pornography, or like...racist caricatures (or other things of that nature), you're probably fine. Just throw a NSFW tag in the title of your thread. If you're still not sure about the subject matter, you could send a private message to one of our moderators (like @Iruka) with a link to the piece(s) in question, and ask if it would be okay to post or not.
Critiques are meant to help you improve, so we'll tell you where you need improvement. We're not going to say "UUUGH, this SUUUUCKS" or anything like that. Just try to hear us out and if you have any questions or you'd like us to explain something further just let us know.
Any help would be appreciated
Yeah, definitely make sure the drivers are up to date...clean out any old drivers before updating.
Is the computer she's using pretty low on RAM? Is she working at a really high resolution (300 dpi or around there) and using a large brush, or using quick strokes? Is she using any other memory-intense programs at the same time? You can set a handful of options in Photoshop's preferences that might help...check the "Performance" tab, and play with the options in there, like allowing Photoshop to use more RAM.
Is there a reason why she hates Photoshop? Is it just something she hasn't used before? Corel Painter can be fun and relatively intuitive, at least the last time I used it. Sketchbook Pro also doesn't seem like it would be too complex to figure out...is there a particular thing she's trying to do that she's finding difficult?
If the issue is feel, though. Try to download some demos and play around.
Even a high end machine can lag if the spacing is set to 1%. Depending on the brush you can get anywhere between 10-15% before it starts looking dotty.
Yeah a lot of this, and its expensive and the last version she used was the opposite of intuitive and user friendly
http://gnomophobia.com
I know that some people find "Non-Photo Blue" pencils to be fun (but unless you're planning on inking your sketch, and then photocopying/scanning that, I don't think there's a particular reason to use pencils like this, compared to anything else. Wouldn't hurt anything, but if you'd prefer a colored lead, feel free to use one).
For non-mechanical, standard graphite pencils, I've always loved Mirado Black Warrior pencils:
The leads are smooth, the wood is really smooth and is whittled down/sharpened easily. For mechanical pencils, I personally love Techniclick III (or II) by Pentel...and avoid these guys like the plague - reason being that there is a often a bit of a "spring" mechanism in the pencil that affects the lead...so the lead stays on the paper longer than you'd intended when you try to lift it off.
None of these should cost you more than a few dollars, unless you get a fancy mechanical pencil...in which case, under $10 for pencil and leads.
I haven't used colored pencils in ages, but Prismacolor tend to be my go-to, and a fairly good brand. Faber-Castell is also really good for sketch pencils, and I've heard their colored pencils are also really good. I found a graph that might be useful!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RghZo7oi4a8/USKPYQvjf1I/AAAAAAAAZfQ/4WZml27qc_0/s1600/colored-pencils-brand-analysis-over-time.jpg
Not sure what that dip is due to, for Prismacolor - unless they changed their formulas/pigments I'd imagine they're still a really good choice.
(source: http://natebearart.com/2013/07/super-sonic-bros-print/manga-studio-1/)
Thank you. I feel like I belong now.
(Just to make it known, I have read the rules of the forum, yet I have some issues that need to be addressed)
I have been following Penny Arcade since 2006. , and the consistency in its style and soul has pushed me to make an effort in creating webcomics of my own - this is a desire of no basis in commercial nature for now, my wishes are simply to share my thoughts with the world through webcomics.
Being that this is the site I am most familiar with, it is my wish to have the respected members of this community share with me any information that they are willing to give that might help me improve, as well as express their opinion of my work.
My question is to what extent am I allowed to post the webcomics contents and in what specific thread in order to hear the criticism?
P.S.
Being that I am yet uncertain of whether I may present my webcomic on the threads of this forum, I will be waiting for the moderator's/moderators' permission to do so.
Thank you all in advance.
First of all, enough with the vulcan rhetorics.
Second, I'm going to implore you to disregard any insecurity you have about your works and just uploading your stuff here. You ask of us to give you any information that might help you improve, but the bottom line is and always will be that you are going to make it a hell of a lot easier for us all if you post your stuff, because by god there is so much information we could give you but none of us really feel like writing it all down yet. If we did we would tell you to buy our "how too doo comicz gewd" books instead. There are a few general things that can be said about improving, but one of the most important things on that list would be "show your stuff to others." By showing your stuff from the get go we get the opportunity to see where exactly you will need to improve to begin with, which is much more helpful than you cherry picking from our general suggestions.
Now, as for general things that I can say:
read a lot,
write a lot,
draw a lot,
go to life drawing sessions (supervised/unsupervised doesn't matter),
have fun.
As for the "legality" of posting: just make a thread on this subforum for your comics for critique. If you want to show it to an audience that won't tear it apart there are a few webcomic oriented threads in SE++ and Debate and Discourse, you can post them in there.
Forgive me for upseting you, English is not my maternal language and I am unfamiliar with the accepatable rhetorics - aside the fact that when writing texts I tend to make them concize.
Thank you for the answers.