gavindelThe reason all your softwareis brokenRegistered Userregular
I will pledge to buy 300 dollars worth of supplies, a leather-bound sketchbook, and a five hundred dollar inking class..then attempt day one in private, despair at the universe, and eat a tub of ice cream. :bzz:
I just got a tablet (a hand-me-down surface pro) and desperately need to train in the idea of regularly starting/completing digital artwork, so I might be drawtobering but dang, that inktober prompt list this year is not super compelling so I'll probably find one I'm more interested in
I'm going to try and make Inktober into a little story this year about a guy out on some kind of adventure in a vague fantasy setting with each prompt being a little scene from something that happens to him. That way, it kind of turns into a little storybook should I have sketchbooks made again. Plus it keeps it interesting for me and it's less I have to come up with since I'm using the same character for everything. Especially since I can't actually draw every single day. I gotta do like, 3 or 4 on my days off to keep up. I may start early this year too sssshhh don't tell anybody.
EncA Fool with CompassionPronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered Userregular
Hey gang, anyone have experience using Adobe Fuse? I recently started using it for some quick rigged animations for an animated promo for my current D&D group. I was mostly wondering if anyone knew of some free or inexpensive asset modules for it that weren't modern styled.
This is the last year I'm doing inktober. I'm trying to talk myself out of even finishing it this year.
I've got ~ 0 ~ time to work on stuff outside of work so my days off I'm having to bang out 2 or 3 to stay caught up. And they, unsurprisingly, suck like woah. Feels more like a stressful chore than a fun challenge.
@Juggernut I wouldn't get too discouraged about it.
As far as I can tell from people trying to do Inktober, it seems like the most useful thing that people can take from the experience isn't having 31 drawings in their sketchbook that weren't there before, but figuring out what was and wasn't working for them during that time, and taking steps to address those issues going forward, post-October.
Sounds like you learned that despite your weekdays being full, you can still block out some time on the weekends to work on drawing. A useful thing that would be good to keep going consistently.
You learned that you can't just rush yourself through work and get good results (few people can), so you know that you're probably going to use that time more efficiently if you use it to alternately A) spend more time on fewer pieces experiment/train on how to be more time efficient with your work (style exploration, dexterity training, etc.) without the pressure of producing a 'finished' piece.
I checked with the mods, and they said it was ok to ask here:
My mother has written a children's book, and is looking to hire an artist! I thought of you guys first, so I thought I'd come in to see who might be interested in such a gig. Deets:
- we are prepared to pay a modest commission (non-commercial, self-published work, limited audience)
- request will be for 12 to 20 simple, character-based images. Images would be in a very simple style, designed to appeal to a child to pre-teen audience (4 to 10 yrs old)
- narrative is in the style of educational slice-of-life. Main characters would be cartoon versions of real-life children. Realism not expected; simplified, exageratted and/or whimsical interpretations totally fine (in fact, encouraged!) (pictures of subjects of course available upon request)
- images would be required to reflect author's narrative, manuscript of which will be provided, as a matter of course.
I am acting as intermediary for the author, my mother, who is excited about this project, and has previously self-published other works, but this is her first children's book and her first time seeking outside contributions to her work. I will forward portfolio links and any samples provided to her on interested artist's behalves, but any and all contracting decisions will be hers. Feel free to provide an estimate as well, if you already have an idea of what it might be.
I hope that's enough information to get started. If you're interested or have any questions, please PM me!
I have a lot of thoughts about Inktober right now. Might write a longer post at some point. Basically I start out thinking "gotta keep it simple" and then by the middle of the month I'm spending 2+ hours of time I DO NOT HAVE between pencils/tones/inks on a piece.
In conclusion: I'm an idiot and too stubborn for my own good.
I think next year I'm just gonna do inktober weekend edition, and not try to do this shit on top of my day job. I canceled completely this year because of work, but I probably coulda done a little bit.
@Juggernut I wouldn't get too discouraged about it.
As far as I can tell from people trying to do Inktober, it seems like the most useful thing that people can take from the experience isn't having 31 drawings in their sketchbook that weren't there before, but figuring out what was and wasn't working for them during that time, and taking steps to address those issues going forward, post-October.
Sounds like you learned that despite your weekdays being full, you can still block out some time on the weekends to work on drawing. A useful thing that would be good to keep going consistently.
You learned that you can't just rush yourself through work and get good results (few people can), so you know that you're probably going to use that time more efficiently if you use it to alternately A) spend more time on fewer pieces experiment/train on how to be more time efficient with your work (style exploration, dexterity training, etc.) without the pressure of producing a 'finished' piece.
I forgot to respond to this but yeah, last Inktober was really responsible for getting me in the habit of drawing on pretty much every day I'm off. I've actually accomplished a lot in the year between and I attribute it almost entirely to Inktober.
I wanted this go round to be an exercise in more sequential drawing and breaking down things into simple shapes and that last part didn't really manifest too well because I didn't have the time to actually think about what I was doing. Some nights if I was behind I had maybe 15 minutes to get something done and posted and man it was just garbo.
If I somehow find myself with a little more time next year I may do it again but going forward I'd rather use my time off to work on more polished and finished stuff rather than try to post for the sake of posting and hella damn stressing all the time.
I did realise I need to work figure studies back into my routine again. Drawing a character in various poses with little reference was tough. I gave him a big ole cloak though so that was cheesing it a little.
Yeah I had a very similar happening. Basically work got busy, personal life got a bit crazy. I got to paint my mask for halloween and that ended up being my inktober. I really want to get into the habit of doing something creative every day though. Just gotta do it.
I really want to get into the habit of doing something creative every day though. Just gotta do it.
I've know I've mentioned this before, but I found this thing is really helpful in getting me to stick to doing these kinda every day tasks: Chains.cc
If you go this route I would suggest setting goals in terms of a minimum time commitment, rather than as a deliverable.
Part of why Inktober seems so frustrating is the expectation to finish a whole piece, start to finish, every day- which could be a 10 minute task or a 10 hour one, depending on skill level/style/ambition/etc. Fail to produce an masterpiece 3 days in a row, and you start to get discouraged.
But if you just commit to putting in a minimum of 20-30 minutes a day, it becomes a lot easier to open up that sketchbook up regularly. If you've got more time to spare than your minimum, the sketchbook's already in your hands and you can keep going. If you don't, you can always pick up from where you left off tomorrow.
I realize its less feel good an artsy, but I wonder if the general population would be more interested in an artsupply/artbook secret santa rather than a gift art one. It saves people time, but it have a bit more of a barrier with the money.
EncA Fool with CompassionPronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered Userregular
As someone who does digital rendering, I'm not super interested in that. I'd be interested in doing an art trade for funsies, but money is tight for me and there isn't really anything I could ask for to participate.
A tribute to Stan Lee on the Muddy Colors blog brought this to my attention- Stan Lee and John Buscema doing a video version of the classic How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way book. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5tU2PuRdU8
If you've never read the book before, it's actually really good. You sorta assume by the title that it's going to be another one of those shitty how-to-draw-4-kidz books that you had at age 8- and then threw in the trash before hitting age 9. This book is the book all those other books knocked off so poorly, and despite being cheesy and obviously not able to go into a whole ton of depth on individual subjects, it's actually really well explained, solid information. Really good, perspective, construction, figure construction, gesture explanations and examples.
If you HAVE read the book before- well, enjoy Stan Lee at his Stan Lee-est. Does this video start with him saying, "Greetings, true believers!"? It does.
Chains.cc
If you go this route I would suggest setting goals in terms of a minimum time commitment, rather than as a deliverable.
Part of why Inktober seems so frustrating is the expectation to finish a whole piece, start to finish, every day- which could be a 10 minute task or a 10 hour one, depending on skill level/style/ambition/etc. Fail to produce an masterpiece 3 days in a row, and you start to get discouraged.
But if you just commit to putting in a minimum of 20-30 minutes a day, it becomes a lot easier to open up that sketchbook up regularly. If you've got more time to spare than your minimum, the sketchbook's already in your hands and you can keep going. If you don't, you can always pick up from where you left off tomorrow.
Yeah I need to get the app again for android (or something similar, used to have it on my iphone. Headspace has been incredibly helpful in keeping me meditating every day. Pretty soon my entire day is going to be run in 20 minute increments through the use of apps.
Definitely going to check out that marvel video tonight. Really glad I got to meet Stan Lee a few years back. Although it was very brief he was incredibly sweet to everyone who came by.
I'd be down for art supply trade, my time is way too tight at the moment to create a piece I'd be happy to give to another (unless it was a photo >.<)
Personally I'd be fine with art and/or supplies. We can put a white elephant type cap on it, like 50 bucks at most. If we started it early enough we could just do a Christmas card exchange or something. Its not as interesting as what we used to do perhaps, but I'd be fine with a little doodle from an ACer on a card.
gavindelThe reason all your softwareis brokenRegistered Userregular
On a gratuitously self-congratulatory note, I bought myself a Wacom tablet for Christmas. Then I forgot to buy the drawing software to go with. :bzz: Right now i'm looking at Clip Studio Paint as probably the best price point. Anyone here have strong preferences on their digital tablets?
Clip is good, though I recommend getting frendens brushes to go with it, The standard ones are a bit lacking. Some of the transform and selection tools aren't as powerful as PS, but I otherwise use clip paint without much issue. Its comic making tools and rulers are quite good.
I've not used SAI much but it is well reviewed for years and years.
Krita is completely free and is the new OS painting software. It has a cleaner and more modern interface than other free software has had, but it's also had a rocky couple of years with taxes and has slowed in momentum, theres not a tablet UI yet.
gavindelThe reason all your softwareis brokenRegistered Userregular
Man, this whole digital thing is taking some time to get used to. Track the cursor, not your hand; a billion options for line and color; a very different workflow from line to brush compared to a charcoal pencil. I ended up buying a cheap little stand to tilt the tablet at a 40 degree angle since that's what I'm used to from working physically. Drawing on a flat surface seems like a real wrist strain.
gavindelThe reason all your softwareis brokenRegistered Userregular
I got my roommate a series of the new Magic the Gathering art books for Christmas. Ie: Dominaria I've been really quite impressed by the range of stuff on display. The quality of the pieces selected do vary, but there are still a lot of good pieces. The world-specific books read sort of like a DnD module planner - full of factions and characters and events explained from 10000 feet above at breakneck pace. By contrast, the Concepts and Legend book is almost entirely concept art for the various themes running through Magic, and it focuses a lot more on how to build the various creatures.
Probably my favorite part of the set is the expansive set of fantasy landscapes. With over twenty years of art, they've had a lot of practice in melding the fantastical and the pragmatic, and that practice really shows.
I've heard good things about the new art books. They just released an adventure module or something for 5e set in the Magic universe too, I Wonder how that's influenced their world building.
DnD in general seems to have exploded lately. I found 4e impossible to decipher, but now I'm running two 5e games
Hi AC, I have like ... five projects I want to do this year and since I've got no commissions on the horizon I should be able to
so I'm posting in here in a probably futile attempt to guilt future me into resurrecting my old thread. I've also been going to a bunch of figure drawing sessions, which are mostly serving to point out my serious drafting shortcomings. I should put those up as well.
Posts
My Portfolio Site
That or I post nothing but traditional Japanese calligraphy
Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
I'm having trouble with "swollen" though.
Also what do you guys think about LinkedIn? For artists I mean
I am on linkedin, it seems to work well if you're looking for corporate jobs. I'm not sure how it would work for freelance stuff.
I've got ~ 0 ~ time to work on stuff outside of work so my days off I'm having to bang out 2 or 3 to stay caught up. And they, unsurprisingly, suck like woah. Feels more like a stressful chore than a fun challenge.
As far as I can tell from people trying to do Inktober, it seems like the most useful thing that people can take from the experience isn't having 31 drawings in their sketchbook that weren't there before, but figuring out what was and wasn't working for them during that time, and taking steps to address those issues going forward, post-October.
Sounds like you learned that despite your weekdays being full, you can still block out some time on the weekends to work on drawing. A useful thing that would be good to keep going consistently.
You learned that you can't just rush yourself through work and get good results (few people can), so you know that you're probably going to use that time more efficiently if you use it to alternately A) spend more time on fewer pieces experiment/train on how to be more time efficient with your work (style exploration, dexterity training, etc.) without the pressure of producing a 'finished' piece.
Twitter
I checked with the mods, and they said it was ok to ask here:
My mother has written a children's book, and is looking to hire an artist! I thought of you guys first, so I thought I'd come in to see who might be interested in such a gig. Deets:
- we are prepared to pay a modest commission (non-commercial, self-published work, limited audience)
- request will be for 12 to 20 simple, character-based images. Images would be in a very simple style, designed to appeal to a child to pre-teen audience (4 to 10 yrs old)
- narrative is in the style of educational slice-of-life. Main characters would be cartoon versions of real-life children. Realism not expected; simplified, exageratted and/or whimsical interpretations totally fine (in fact, encouraged!) (pictures of subjects of course available upon request)
- images would be required to reflect author's narrative, manuscript of which will be provided, as a matter of course.
I am acting as intermediary for the author, my mother, who is excited about this project, and has previously self-published other works, but this is her first children's book and her first time seeking outside contributions to her work. I will forward portfolio links and any samples provided to her on interested artist's behalves, but any and all contracting decisions will be hers. Feel free to provide an estimate as well, if you already have an idea of what it might be.
I hope that's enough information to get started. If you're interested or have any questions, please PM me!
In conclusion: I'm an idiot and too stubborn for my own good.
I got other stuff I'm concentrating on currently.
It was garbage but I finished it.
Now I can finally die.
I forgot to respond to this but yeah, last Inktober was really responsible for getting me in the habit of drawing on pretty much every day I'm off. I've actually accomplished a lot in the year between and I attribute it almost entirely to Inktober.
I wanted this go round to be an exercise in more sequential drawing and breaking down things into simple shapes and that last part didn't really manifest too well because I didn't have the time to actually think about what I was doing. Some nights if I was behind I had maybe 15 minutes to get something done and posted and man it was just garbo.
If I somehow find myself with a little more time next year I may do it again but going forward I'd rather use my time off to work on more polished and finished stuff rather than try to post for the sake of posting and hella damn stressing all the time.
I did realise I need to work figure studies back into my routine again. Drawing a character in various poses with little reference was tough. I gave him a big ole cloak though so that was cheesing it a little.
My Portfolio Site
I've know I've mentioned this before, but I found this thing is really helpful in getting me to stick to doing these kinda every day tasks: Chains.cc
If you go this route I would suggest setting goals in terms of a minimum time commitment, rather than as a deliverable.
Part of why Inktober seems so frustrating is the expectation to finish a whole piece, start to finish, every day- which could be a 10 minute task or a 10 hour one, depending on skill level/style/ambition/etc. Fail to produce an masterpiece 3 days in a row, and you start to get discouraged.
But if you just commit to putting in a minimum of 20-30 minutes a day, it becomes a lot easier to open up that sketchbook up regularly. If you've got more time to spare than your minimum, the sketchbook's already in your hands and you can keep going. If you don't, you can always pick up from where you left off tomorrow.
Twitter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5tU2PuRdU8
If you've never read the book before, it's actually really good. You sorta assume by the title that it's going to be another one of those shitty how-to-draw-4-kidz books that you had at age 8- and then threw in the trash before hitting age 9. This book is the book all those other books knocked off so poorly, and despite being cheesy and obviously not able to go into a whole ton of depth on individual subjects, it's actually really well explained, solid information. Really good, perspective, construction, figure construction, gesture explanations and examples.
If you HAVE read the book before- well, enjoy Stan Lee at his Stan Lee-est. Does this video start with him saying, "Greetings, true believers!"? It does.
Twitter
Yeah I need to get the app again for android (or something similar, used to have it on my iphone. Headspace has been incredibly helpful in keeping me meditating every day. Pretty soon my entire day is going to be run in 20 minute increments through the use of apps.
Definitely going to check out that marvel video tonight. Really glad I got to meet Stan Lee a few years back. Although it was very brief he was incredibly sweet to everyone who came by.
I'd be down for art supply trade, my time is way too tight at the moment to create a piece I'd be happy to give to another (unless it was a photo >.<)
My Portfolio Site
https://www.systemax.jp/en/sai/
I've not used SAI much but it is well reviewed for years and years.
Krita is completely free and is the new OS painting software. It has a cleaner and more modern interface than other free software has had, but it's also had a rocky couple of years with taxes and has slowed in momentum, theres not a tablet UI yet.
Wacom Intuos https://amazon.com/Wacom-Digital-Graphic-Drawing-PTH660/dp/B01MQU5LW7/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1541966595&sr=1-6&keywords=intuos&th=1
Probably my favorite part of the set is the expansive set of fantasy landscapes. With over twenty years of art, they've had a lot of practice in melding the fantastical and the pragmatic, and that practice really shows.
DnD in general seems to have exploded lately. I found 4e impossible to decipher, but now I'm running two 5e games
so I'm posting in here in a probably futile attempt to guilt future me into resurrecting my old thread. I've also been going to a bunch of figure drawing sessions, which are mostly serving to point out my serious drafting shortcomings. I should put those up as well.