The Artist Army

[PFDC]

Don't forget to comment guys
TalonEX is my art-spiration

[ʞ ɔ ǝ ɹ ʍ d ı ʞ s]

Ah, yes, comments, of course
I have been scanning and there are so many talented artists such talent much intimidating wow ;-;

@Tawk I LOVE that portrait. Oh the way you made it is just so soft and the color pallet is brilliant. Especially the lineless facial features- the shading is very much on point

Ahh is seems as though everyone else needs an animal redline...
Unfortunately I don't feel I am learned enough in most animals to offer a redline ;-;
I mostly just tend to... Sketch dragons sometimes, but... Not really with any proper proportions in mind...
But hey they all look better than any dragons and wolves I could do xD
A+ guys, you're definitely gettin there

EDIT: Alright alright I got somethin' for you guys
These character concepts
Alright soooo I did this very speedy so I'm not looking on feedback on the quality
HOWEVER comma I would like feedback on the designs themselves, or suggestions or additions or whatever c:
If anyone has any ideas, that is
and admittedly, I have never drawn a weasel before
so um
a redline could be lovely, if anyone draws weasels :DD
as you can see, Reeve here ended up looking more like a dog that was put through a taffy stretcher...
[you can ignore the sword and belts n stuff]
Thank you! c:

[wickedpup]

i dont have much to show so im gonna drop a few recent doodles


☆☆☆

i have tons of art inspirations omg !!! luv me some styled stuff

this isnt even half of the people i REALLY like art of either
mainly not posting them because they post too much nsfw or have nsfw urls hahaha
vcr-wolfe / edelilah / sa1b0t / kub-e / captainhanni / wolberdan / slimeboys
popomodoro / kasmut / tyronniesaur / cheepers / whitekitestrings / ginsengandhoney / gibbons
aivii / chop4 / ghuro / fablerhythm / phloxebutt / toilet-llama / goatpox /goatpox / maroonraccoon

☆☆☆

@u ı ɐ ʇ d ɐ ɔ
im not on expert on weasels or anything but here!
most prominent thing wrong was the legs because you drew them digitrade,which is why it turned out "looking like a dog". otherwise really nice!

@street soldier.
heres a quick redline
dont pay too much attention to the anatomy tho because it is a fantasy creature :o
& moving the tail would make the drawing flow much better imo you dont have to change it really

@gwanu
heres a redline!
srry for cropping out the bg!
you have nice anatomy but could still use a few tweaks!

[song&storm]

EDIT: Alright alright I got somethin' for you guys
These character concepts
Alright soooo I did this very speedy so I'm not looking on feedback on the quality
HOWEVER comma I would like feedback on the designs themselves, or suggestions or additions or whatever c:

I like the first one's expression and elements, it lends a bit more character.
The other one, however, seems to drawn more simply, so I suggest adding something to make him/her better recognizable?

i dont have much to show so im gonna drop a few recent doodles
-snip-

The color palettes on these are beautiful! And they are of course, very well done.

[kivr & fireflii]

Question for any artist: who is/are the artist/s who inspire you to draw better? Like whenever you just look at their work, you go like, 'i wanna be able to draw like that one day!'

tknk, she's on various sites including deviantart.
also madlab666 , they are also on DA I believe.
http://tknk.deviantart.com/
http://madlab666.deviantart.com/

@street soldier

[song&storm]

Another question: I'm planning to buy a digital art tablet for some time, so I'm wondering:

1) What brands/models do you use?
2) What software/s do you use?
3) What difficulties did you have in transitioning from traditional to digital, or from using the hardware/software?
4) How long did it take you to learn the basics and/or master other advanced techniques?
5) Any tips? hehe

I'm thinking of getting Wacom Intuos...
Thanks in advance, I'll really appreciate any answers I'll get!

[emberonis]

Another question: I'm planning to buy a digital art tablet for some time, so I'm wondering:

1) What brands/models do you use?
2) What software/s do you use?
3) What difficulties did you have in transitioning from traditional to digital, or from using the hardware/software?
4) How long did it take you to learn the basics and/or master other advanced techniques?
5) Any tips? hehe

I'm thinking of getting Wacom Intuos...
Thanks in advance, I'll really appreciate any answers I'll get!

1. I use a Bamboo Create, which is basically the same as Wacom's current Intuos line. ouo I've had it for a few years now, and it has served me pretty well.

2. I use Paint Tool Sai. (which I do recommend for use with a tablet. The pen pressure is fantastic in Sai. I never used to like the program as a mouse user, but I had little difficulty using it afterwards.)

3. I never was big on traditional art until after a year of using my tablet, I started out as a mouse artist x3 buuut, to answer the basic question, the learning curve is different for everyone. The hardest thing about learning to use a tablet, in my experience, is the hand eye coordination. You have to learn to draw on the tablet while looking up at the screen. It really isn't too hard, once you get the hang of it, but it tends to throw people off at first. I had practiced the hand eye coordination part of it before getting my tablet using a UDraw thing for the Wii, so I think that probably helped some, but it only took me a day or two to get used to it. The graphics tablet was such a huge step up from that UDraw tablet xD that thing was horrible.

4. I'm not really sure? It's hard for me to distinguish between normal art improvement (I got my tablet Christmas of 2012, and 2013 was a big year for me as far as improvement goes) and getting used to the tablet, but I think it came pretty naturally. I didn't really notice it happening. I probably had the basics of using the tablet down within a week or two. More advanced techniques mostly just came from experimentation. Like knowing how hard to press to get what results in my strokes. It's just something you learn with experience and time.

5. When you get your tablet and install everything, just open up a file somewhere and play with it. Make lines, circles, try holding the pen different ways, all sorts of things. Any sort of experimentation is useful to get the feel for it and decide what you're most comfortable with. And to be patient, because though some people get the hang of it really quickly, it can take others longer.


Also, I want to note that ChickenSmoothie's drawing platform, Chibipaint? It works pretty well with tablets too. You have to download a plugin to get pen pressure, though. It's also pretty simplistic, so it might be a good program to start digital art on.

Also, another tip: Learning and getting used to whatever program you use can take just as much time and experimentation, if not more, to learn as the tablet. So the biggest tip I have for you is to have patience and play around with it all.

OH and another thing, Paint Tool Sai costs money (it's a Japanese program, but I ended up spending about 40 USD to buy a licence. You can download a trial for free here.), but there are plenty of open source and completely free art programs out there. I don't know too much about them, but some of the ones I've played around in are FireAlpaca, Krita, and GIMP.

I find GIMP to be a little hard to navigate, and I don't use it regularly at all, so I don't really have any advice on that. Krita is a little complicated too, but it seems like a pretty decent program. I haven't taken the time to learn it just yet, I mostly stick to Sai because it's my favorite. FireAlpaca is a lot of fun to doodle in, and my brother really likes it. It's the simplest of these examples.

Basically, when it comes to art programs, it's probably best if you do your own research and try them out, see which one you like the most. And it's also handy to keep in mind what each program is designed for. GIMP is designed for photo editing, but you can paint and draw in it too. Krita and Sai are designed with digital painting in mind, and FireAlpaca seems to be more ideal for cartooning. Obviously there are many, many more programs out there, but these are the few I have experience in. x3 Your tablet should also come with some programs included, so you might want to test those out and see if you like any of them.

AND OH MY GOODNESS THIS ENDED UP LONG. I hope that this was somewhat helpful, and good luck!

[geinkotsu]

Another question: I'm planning to buy a digital art tablet for some time, so I'm wondering:

1) What brands/models do you use?
2) What software/s do you use?
3) What difficulties did you have in transitioning from traditional to digital, or from using the hardware/software?
4) How long did it take you to learn the basics and/or master other advanced techniques?
5) Any tips? hehe

I'm thinking of getting Wacom Intuos...
Thanks in advance, I'll really appreciate any answers I'll get!

1. I personally use a monoprice. It's proved to be a reliably cheap and sturdy tablet.

2. I personally use Paint Tool Sai for everything, but I hear manga studio and coral painter are really good too.

3. See I didn't have much of a problem personally because, I naturally am better digital than traditional. The biggest problem is getting used to holding your pen correctly and getting used to pen pressure. Because the best way to hold your pen is sort of straight down onto the tablet, using your weight of your hand to use your pen pressure, and your entire arm to moved around it and not your wrist. You should only use your wrist for slight corrections (I am, admittedly, very bad at this and use my wrist way too much and hold my pen sideways and it's not good at all for your joints). I think another thing is getting used to color. Digital color is rich and solid. You have to learn how to work with actual shades or how to blend these pure colors or work around them with different tones.

4. Uuh.... idk. It was a small learning curve for me to get used to my tablet. The rest of it just depends on the program you use to draw.

5. I do recommend, if you are not sure how you'll adapt to digital are if you've been a traditional artist for some time and are comfortable with it, to buy a simple tablet and really test how you like digital art before spending a lot of money on a really good tablet and then not use it. If you're looking for a large tablet, monoprice has some really decent large ones for only fifty bucks.

Ah, yes, comments, of course
I have been scanning and there are so many talented artists such talent much intimidating wow ;-;

@Tawk I LOVE that portrait. Oh the way you made it is just so soft and the color pallet is brilliant. Especially the lineless facial features- the shading is very much on point

Ahh is seems as though everyone else needs an animal redline...
Unfortunately I don't feel I am learned enough in most animals to offer a redline ;-;
I mostly just tend to... Sketch dragons sometimes, but... Not really with any proper proportions in mind...
But hey they all look better than any dragons and wolves I could do xD
A+ guys, you're definitely gettin there

EDIT: Alright alright I got somethin' for you guys
These character concepts
Alright soooo I did this very speedy so I'm not looking on feedback on the quality
HOWEVER comma I would like feedback on the designs themselves, or suggestions or additions or whatever c:
If anyone has any ideas, that is
and admittedly, I have never drawn a weasel before
so um
a redline could be lovely, if anyone draws weasels D
as you can see, Reeve here ended up looking more like a dog that was put through a taffy stretcher...
[you can ignore the sword and belts n stuff]
Thank you! c:

mmmm I'm a little tired to really explain much. My best advice I can give you on the weasel thing is just to really take your time to look at diagrams n drawings of the species you are trying to draw. And really register the shapes. Anatomy, even character design, relies heavily on shapes. Recognizing, replicating, and manipulating. With that said, here's a bit of a readline just to help with some of the shapes.



As for the character designs. I know they are just headshots, but for the most part they feel very plain. The one on the left is interesting because of the shapes of the tattoos. He's got nice colors going on and a hairstyle that works with the composition of the design of the tattoo. It could, however, use some more pushing on details. Like, unique peircings. Not every peircing has to be a generic hoop. There's a lot you can do. Punch holes in their ears, bars, connect them with chains. Just depends on the character's personality and the shapes you're going for.

The one on the right is, admittedly, very plain and I don't see a lot of visual interest. Something small such as a birthmark/beauty mark or freckles or scars or whatnot can definitely help push some more interest in the face. Also, really push shapes in your facial structure, especially when dealing with ears or the like. Variate how they look to really give your characters interest.

I've doodled a really quick example. I've honestly not done much but play with shapes and added a few idk kinda of like sparkles or something and some accessories.



I'm not sure what feeling you were going for, but I accentuated round, soft features. Round, curly hair, curvy ears, circular accessories. And I used some sorta speckles to bring more attention to the eyes. It's just an example, I don't mean to impose on your character, but you're free to take and use the doodle for whatever.

But yeah. Really focus on shapes. In designing a character, it means a lot to bringing across the feeling of their personality to the viewer. Triangles, sharp edges is dangerous and wicked and harmful and usually used for most villans. Squares usually mean strength. Heavy, bulky, and full. Circles are used for softer feelings. And you can use and warp these to fit your characters in both their clothing, hair, facial features, etc. Idk I hope I hoped a little bit ^^;

[ʞ ɔ ǝ ɹ ʍ d ı ʞ s]

@doetails and Geinkotsu Ahhhh thank you for the weasels! I shall take them in the corner and study them until I fall over. I always have issues with stubby limbs for some reason... and weasel faces apparently [but he is a fantasy creature, hence the antlers and mechanical arm... so his body is supposed to be a tad long and his ears pointy x] but that still helps! I did forget to mention that...]

@doetails I LOVE the color pallet for the first character! I'm admittedly not much of a bright pink person but for some reason you put it with orange and I just -melts-

@Geinkotsu Ahh I should have explained them a bit more, I apologize... They aren't going to be mainly drawing characters, but actually characters for a fantasy story. Nephrie actually does have freckles- orange ones that glow. But I'm afraid they didn't turn up so well xD she's a flora fae, so she's kind of plant based, but I've been struggling with that concept... HOWEVER comma she spends the entire story trying to transform into different animals, but only getting halfway. So she'll have feathers or a tail or scales at any given time, which should make her a bit more interesting lol
But your example actually helped a lot, thank you! It gave me some new ideas to think about as well...

@mitochondrial

1) What brands/models do you use?
My tablet is a Wacom Bamboo c:

2) What software/s do you use?
Sketchbook Pro and Photoshop, but I very much prefer the first for simpler stuff

3) What difficulties did you have in transitioning from traditional to digital, or from using the hardware/software?
Surprisingly enough, I struggled with layers at first. Theres SO many ways to use them- I mean a big project of mine usually ends up with over 100, easily. Also coloring. Digital art opens up a whole new array of possibilities when it comes to coloring. I can't color with pencils for the life of me xD though, of course, there's also a lot of dots in the corners of my newer pencil drawings as a result of expecting there to be an undo button... I think it's a lot harder to go back to traditional than it is to transition to digital.

4) How long did it take you to learn the basics and/or master other advanced techniques?
I've been REALLY working on progressing my art for about a year and I'm learning new things all the time! There's always something new to try, you're never done learning c: that said, I don't think I could choose a point in time where I could say I knew everything I needed to.

5) Any tips? hehe
LOOK UP ALL THE TUTORIALS. Study the crap out of those things and USE THEM. Your stuff won't look exactly the same of course, but they bring up points that you may not even think of! My most recently discovered technique: reflected color! I'm excited to use it more ^-^

--

Alright guys so I stumbled across an old drawing of mine of characters from my story [Swindle] and have been working on redoing it for about two days.
I always seem to find myself stuck on clothing texture... Any suggestions for that? It's frustrating because I don't want them to be solid colors but I have no idea how to fix that problem. I think I did alright with my attempt at making her corset look velvet, but other than that... I was kinda lost.
ALSO I added the stain glass window in an attempt to play with colored and reflected light. I was wingin' it since I haven't tried anything like that before, but does anyone have tips for that as well?
... Or tips for curly hair and backgrounds because...
[thats all I swear]
here's the before and after meme [if only because I'm a bit proud of my progress]
and click this one to see the bigger version c:

[kivr & fireflii]

1) What brands/models do you use?

I currently use a Wacom Intuos Pro Large ( it was called Intuos 5 before they changed all the names)
My first tablet however, was a Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch.

2) What software/s do you use?

I strictly stick to Photoshop CC. (I use to use SAI all the time before I switched my computer to a mac. Now I prefer PS over SAI lol..) The first program I used to draw was GIMP and it was perfectly fine by me ovo I feel like GIMP was a very simple and basic version of photoshop.

3) What difficulties did you have in transitioning from traditional to digital, or from using the hardware/software?

As with any other new mediums, digital art calls for a specific skills as well. The biggest one I would say is the hand-eye coordination and basically learning how to loosely move your hands/wrists/arm. When I first started out with the Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch (I think this line is no longer manufactured.), it was about 10 inches long and 7 inches tall but the active area was only about 6 x 4. Since I wasn't use to constantly drawing on a tablet, I hands began to cramp very easily, and I was diagnosed with tendonitis soon afterwards. That's when I decided to move up to buying the tablet I have now, which is much bigger in size and allows for me to use my whole arm to draw rather than my wrist. Hand-eye coordination is just something you learn a long the way given time, experimentation, and experience. I use to read up on tutuorials all the time on Deviantart and it really helped me as a beginner.

4) How long did it take you to learn the basics and/or master other advanced techniques?

Since I was constantly drawing, it took me about 2,3 weeks to fully learn the basics. However, I'm still learning new or easier ways to do certain tasks while drawing... so I think with digital art you can just continue to improve techniques and new learn ones quite frequently. I wouldn't really say "master" because I feel like it's quite impossible/difficult for one to master all the advanced techniques available in their preferred program.

5) Any tips? hehe

Just keep on drawing on your tablet. Don't give up because how "crappy" or "rough" it looks because you'll improve given time and experience. As mentioned before, as a beginner (and tbh I still read tuts for certain skills that I constantly forget how to do lol) I use HOARD.. tutorials, read them, study them, copy them... etc. I feel like I improved the most in the 2nd~3rd year I had a tablet when I constantly experimented and drew from day to night haha. Good luck and have fun if you do get your tablet! It's pretty great experience c:

----

@captain
Wow! What an improvement :O
Your anatomy is definitely better! However if you would like to emphasize the vivid lighting of the window, it would make more sense if you added some darker shadows in the general environment and also on the characters. Right now it just seems like they are in a very brightly lit area with white electric lights and the lighting from the stained glass looks out of place because the reflection is so strong and away from the bottom of the window, which should indicate that the sun is setting/rising. Another thing is the black bar... light shouldn't be able to penetrate and create such a dark black color on the floor. Perspective is also kind of off, seeing how the horizontal line is diagonal, but the tiles look more vertical and the pillar looks very 2 dimensional. The tiles should distort to look bigger as it comes closer. With the wrinkles on the clothes, unless they are wearing a tight spandex or latex material. I would highly suggest looking at some reference materials just by googling the ___th century clothing and there are various outfits that you can easily see how the folds and the wrinkles are placed on those certain type of clothing.