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Questions, Discussion, Tutorials

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Posts

  • ScosglenScosglen Registered User regular
    edited April 2015
    I appreciate all the comments. It certainly seems like I'm in good company at any rate and I shouldn't feel too bad about stumbling a bit at the beginning.

    I'm still gonna try drawing in pen more, it can't hurt to see what happens.

    Scosglen on
  • Hiryu02Hiryu02 Registered User regular
    Super basic question, I am trying to get back into drawing, and I recently acquired a Surface Pro 3. I am told Manga Studio runs well on it, and I want to start drawing digitally.

    However, I am confused at to what version I need and where to purchase it from. I see Smith Micro and Clipstudio both selling it, so not sure where to go. Also, I'm not planning on doing anything super complicated, mostly just sketches and experiments in inking an perhaps coloring. Any advice is appreciated.

    Sev: Your gameplay is the most heavily yomi based around. Usually you look for characters that allow you to force guessing situations for big dmg. Even if the guess is mathematically nowhere near in your favor lol. You're happiest when you have either a 50/50, 33/33/33 or even a 75/25 situation to go crazy with. And you will take big risks to force those situations to come up.
  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited May 2015
    Its the same company and the software is the same. I think they are slowly trying to go back to branding it under clip studio. So, Unless you are looking at different prices, it doesn't matter. I think you can only get manga studio as a physical disk, and clip is now a download version.

    Its made a little more obvious here:
    http://my.smithmicro.com/manga-studio-ex-5-compare.html

    MS5 is the same as CSP PRO, MS5 EX is the same as CSP EX.

    Iruka on
  • OllieOllie Registered User regular
    Get Clip Studio Paint. It's the same program as Manga Studio, but it's a digital install rather than from a disc. I have a SP3 as well BUT I got Manga Studio (it was on a ridiculously cheap sale, so no ragrets 4 me) and had to buy (and then return) an external disc drive for the SP3. This is actually tricky because it needs to be a disc reader that has its own power source; your SP3 cannot provide enough power on its own for it to run properly and you may not get it to read the disc at all.

    and I had a small technical issue where I wound up trading in my tablet for a new one, so now I don't have Manga Studio 5 installed on my tablet anymore. :(

  • Hiryu02Hiryu02 Registered User regular
    Copy, thanks guys. Yeah I was leaning towards a digital install. For my fairly basic needs, the base version should work fine, correct?

    Sev: Your gameplay is the most heavily yomi based around. Usually you look for characters that allow you to force guessing situations for big dmg. Even if the guess is mathematically nowhere near in your favor lol. You're happiest when you have either a 50/50, 33/33/33 or even a 75/25 situation to go crazy with. And you will take big risks to force those situations to come up.
  • KallistiKallisti Registered User regular
    I think about that too, I think it's a real challenge to maintain that child-like innocence and letting it just flow out of you without it getting too stiff, there's a sweet spot, like a meditative state, which I think life drawing is good at making you aware of. I was always going back and forth in school, and I could see the quality of my work dip if I started caring too much. Because then I was too invested and if I was too invested, then my drawings became my precious babies.

  • F87F87 So Say We All Registered User regular
    Popping my knuckles... is that bad? I usually bend my fingers back to pop the joints on the hand. Should I expect problems from this?

  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Opinions are divided. "The chief morbid consequence of knuckle cracking would appear to be its annoying effect on the observer.”

  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
  • FlayFlay Registered User regular
    edited May 2015
    I'm doing some cast shadow exercises for school, and I've run into a problem I'm not sure how to solve. I have two boxes, which recede to two different sets of vanishing points. One box is casting a shadow on to the vertical side of the other. Here's my construction.
    8G8BYMr.png

    My teacher claimed that the edges of the shadows on the side should go the vanishing points of the box that cast it, but I'm preeeeeetty sure that's wrong. Is my construction here correct? If not, how do I solve this?

    Flay on
  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
    It doesn't look right to me but I may not be correctly interpreting the scene. Maybe @Angel_of_Bacon or @ChicoBlue could help?

  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    Which box is supposed to be in the foreground, the large one?

  • ChicoBlueChicoBlue Registered User regular
    edited May 2015
    That construction seems pretty okay to me, Flay.

    I think maybe your teacher may have gotten something a little mixed up. If both of those boxes had been constructed from the same vanishing points, then the shadows projected on the wall would go to the box's vanishing points. Or if your floating box had just been projecting on the ground, then those shadows would go to the box's vanishing points.

    Since your boxes are made from two different sets of vanishing points there is a fun discrepancy.

    I took a minute to make a not perfectly accurate 3d set up, just to help allay any doubts. Yeah, shadows get fuckin' wacky.
    e0nO1me.png

    ChicoBlue on
  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
    Wow I was totally looking at it the wrong way. I'm glad chico is here.

  • FlayFlay Registered User regular
    You're the best Chico!

    Sorry if my diagram was unclear, I'm glad you got it sorted.

  • BrushwoodMuttBrushwoodMutt Registered User regular
    I have a feeling this question will be hard to answer sans images, but is there a way to tell when adding something is too extraneous? Because there's an element I've had in the plans since the beginning but now I'm not sure if it works as well now. The confusion is because I've been working on this for a week and I'm not sure if I'm legitimately finding the element as distracting or if I'm just at the point where I want this to be done.

    tldr: Is there a way to tell when an image is done?

  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    I have a feeling this question will be hard to answer sans images, but is there a way to tell when adding something is too extraneous? Because there's an element I've had in the plans since the beginning but now I'm not sure if it works as well now. The confusion is because I've been working on this for a week and I'm not sure if I'm legitimately finding the element as distracting or if I'm just at the point where I want this to be done.

    tldr: Is there a way to tell when an image is done?

    This is probably different for everyone, but I have doublethink about this personally.

    On one hand, nothing is ever truly done. You can always keep working.

    On the other, once I stop learning from what I'm working on I'm usually satisfied to either start over again or start a new project.

    It's a question you'll have to wrassle with.

  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    There's no hard and fast rule to follow. But one thing that can help ui to consider the visual flow of a piece. What is/are the most important element(s)? What are the secondary or less significant elements? Now come to the drawing freshly and see how your eye naturally flows around the picture. If it gets caught up in something that you don't want people to focus on, or led off the page before reaching the important parts, then you've got a problem.

    Usually this is something to catch in the composition stage, but lighting and colour also play key roles in guiding the eye.

  • NightDragonNightDragon 6th Grade Username Registered User regular
    I agree with tynic. If adding something detracts from the visual "flow", or distracts the viewer from the focal point(s), don't add it in. Or - find a way to tone its importance down so it no longer interferes with the composition or the original "intent" of the image.

  • ChicoBlueChicoBlue Registered User regular
    I have always found that hitting a deadline is a pretty good way of telling when an image is done.

  • m3nacem3nace Registered User regular
    Agree with Chico. It's so easy to overwork something when you don't have a deadline. I've certainly created my best stuff when I had the least time to do it - forces you to think like a lazy programmer where efficiency becomes key.

  • F87F87 So Say We All Registered User regular
    When I'm doing a study, I can't seem to pick out what the actual color is without much trial and error. Any tips of getting a good eye for color?

  • LampLamp Registered User regular
    edited May 2015
    Two things that help me. First, I try to think less about the specific hue and more about the temperature. So I try to pick something close, put it down on my canvas, and then ask myself, is the color I wanted a bit warmer or a bit cooler than the one I have? That helps guide me toward the right hue and saturation. When you start to get into browns and greys, I find it a lot easier to think about going warmer or cooler, for example, than to think about going redder or bluer or purpler.

    The second thing I do to help with pick the right value is just to put the color I picked down, then simply squinting to compare it to the color in the reference. Obviously this works best when your reference is positioned right beside your study.

    Lamp on
  • ChicoBlueChicoBlue Registered User regular
    Having the Hue Saturation Black sliders out helps me out a lot when I'm doing colour studies.

    mL5PHh2.png

    Step one: Try to figure out the colour for yourself.

    Step two: When you think you've got it, colour pick back and forth from the photo and your painting and watch the HSB sliders move to see just how wrong or right you were.

    It's a little like trying to solve a math problem on your own and then flipping to the back of the book to check your answer.

    I have found that eventually you just get a feel for where certain colours live on the sliders.

  • MorichalionMorichalion Registered User new member
    moonstonegallery.tumblr.com/post/120455648222/heres-a-character-that-i-made-called-komashu

    I'm looking for ways for her to learn more and improve. She's decidedly beyond my ability to teach by this point.

  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited June 2015
    Hey @Morichalion !

    We have a rule that to make a thread/seek critique the actual artist needs to be the one posting, since your daughter is a bit young to post on the forum herself, I merged your post into the questions thread so you can seek some guidance for helping your daughter improve.

    I would say, that at 10 you shouldn't sweat it too much. If she has a desire to improve, I would find some simple local classes in your area and start taking her to museums and buying her art books. She'll still be figuring out what she likes and what she wants to draw for a long time, let her explore and try not to bog her down with technical work.

    We have some resources here: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/categories/art-assignments-and-resources

    But they are largely geared at people who are in the "I'm considering being a professional" stage of their art career. That being said, it maybe a good idea for you look through the enrichments and get some ideas for what to do, You can make some of them more kid friendly and reword the assignments to make them less severe sounding.

    One that would be good to look into would be character contruction: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/180484/july-monthly-enrichment-character-construction/p1 Its a fun assignment and copying cartoons is not a terrible way to start out. If you can get her interested in the golden age cartoons that will set her up for better construction. I would also look into picking up a couple books:

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Animators-Survival-Richard-Williams/dp/0571202284
    http://www.amazon.com/Drawn-Life-Classes-Stanchfield-Lectures/dp/0240810961/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1433210460&sr=1-1&keywords=drawn+to+life
    http://www.amazon.com/Drawn-Life-Classes-Stanchfield-Lectures/dp/0240811070/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1433210460&sr=1-2&keywords=drawn+to+life

    These focus on cartooning, which is going to be just technical enough to give her something to chew on but perhaps not as boring as a more technical books.

    Good luck, I hope your daughter keeps drawing and has fun. Feel free to continue to ask questions in here if you need more insight.

    Iruka on
  • Tidus53Tidus53 Registered User regular
    Hey guys me again, with a quick and simple one this time. Should I use heat or ice on my arm after drawing for a long time?

    I've been using ice for awhile and haven't noticed much, any help is appreciated as I really don't want to lose my ability to draw.

  • LampLamp Registered User regular
    Hey Tidus, could you possibly clarify your question a bit? Are you experiencing pain after drawing? If so, your question would probably be better directed at your doctor. Or are you not experiencing pain, and are simply asking about using ice/heat as some sort of preemptive measure against drawing-related injury? In which case, I've never heard of anyone doing such a thing, and I'm not sure where your concern comes from?

  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    Treatments for a repeated stress injury or tennis elbow or carpal tunnel or the slew of other issues that can cause pain after drawing are going to vary. I'm with lamp on this one, that's a question better answered by your GP with your full medical history than art forum folk.

  • F87F87 So Say We All Registered User regular
    I'm trying to network more... so I updated my site with links to all my social profiles. Do you guys think it's a little overboard to have 7 different links to my profiles?

  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    Social Networking is sort of a tricky thing. Are you cool with employers seeing your profiles and the profiles of the people you hang out with?

    In my experience, unless you are in a performance business where you live and die by content creation (webcomics, actors, comedians, etc.) social media is almost always a negative against a potential employee. I don't work in art professionally, so I don't know how true that actually is in discipline.

  • Tidus53Tidus53 Registered User regular
    Hey guys me again, this time with something to contribute:

    A lot of you guys have told me the importance of life drawing classes, but I've never had the means to go and attend one, until last week. The art streaming site Picarto has given the okay to a user on the site to stream themselves nude for life drawing purposes. I've never experienced a life drawing class in person, but it does seem to match my expectations.

    I know that some might say that watching a stream of a life drawing session is not the same as going to one in person, but it's the best you can get for those without the financial means, conflicting schedule, or transportation.

    Because this is a life drawing stream and therefore involves nudity, I cannot directly link the stream in question; but a smart google user could probably find the right combo of words to find the person in question, or just PM me for the details.

  • LampLamp Registered User regular
    That's interesting, though honestly I'm not sure that I see the benefit of observing a live model on a computer screen. You get none of the benefits of actual life drawing from a model, like the ability to see the model from various angles, or the chance to practice translating the 3-dimensional depth of reality onto a 2D plane. If the model is decent (i.e. they can sit still) then it sounds indistinguishable from drawing from digital photo reference. All that said, drawing from a webcam model might be useful simply for adding structure and pace to your virtual life drawing session.

  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    Yeah, that seems essentially the same as drawing from a movie and just hitting pause to me, only with nudes which causes certain voyeurism alarms to go off.

  • LampLamp Registered User regular
    Well, I'm guessing (hoping) that the lighting and poses are more conducive to life drawing than the average movie frame. But then again there's plenty of good nude figure reference online in the jpeg format.

  • Tidus53Tidus53 Registered User regular
    Lamp wrote: »
    That's interesting, though honestly I'm not sure that I see the benefit of observing a live model on a computer screen. You get none of the benefits of actual life drawing from a model, like the ability to see the model from various angles, or the chance to practice translating the 3-dimensional depth of reality onto a 2D plane. If the model is decent (i.e. they can sit still) then it sounds indistinguishable from drawing from digital photo reference. All that said, drawing from a webcam model might be useful simply for adding structure and pace to your virtual life drawing session.

    Actually she does use lighting, times each pose, and takes takes photos from the front, back, and side angle. I've been drawing all the poses I could, if you want to see them.

  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    ... yes?
    The main purpose of the forum is to post and critique art and I think you'd probably get a lot more out of it if you posted more images along with your questions. We would love to see your drawings.

  • LiiyaLiiya Registered User regular
    I have a daft question.

    Background: I am studying landscape architecture and being able to sketch is important, I am really poor at this but trying to sketch lots over summer. My current issue is that when I pencil rough lines in I'm fine, but when I come to using a pen to go over the line my lines are so wobbly and uneven. I cannot draw a straight line, I feel so dumb.

    What should I do? Draw straight lines over and over again? Be gripping the pen with less fear?

  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited June 2015
    yep! It's about practise and confidence. The faster you go the straighter and smoother your lines will be, but to have the confidence to go fast you'll need to be assured your lines will end up where you want them, which requires practise. One exercise is to draw lots of straight lines with a ruler and a pencil, horizontal and vertical, then practise just going straight down or across along the same paths with ink, freehand, trying to find that balance between speed and accuracy. It's a mite tedious, I admit.

    Somewhere there's an amazing tutorial/lecture series which is entirely focussed on implement control, it's a great resource and exactly what you're asking about. Unfortunately I can't remember for the life of me who made it, or how to find it - someone else might recall, it was quite a famous dude. I'll have a think about it.

    In the meantime here's a video linked here which might be of interest,
    http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/196865/jeffery-watts-inking-demonstration-back-online

    tynic on
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