Tips, criticisms, pointers! Avast!
Learning to paint digitally
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Last night as I talked on the phone, I absent-mindedly launched ArtRage (I got the full version; at $19.95, so should you) and began learning the tools.
My line drawing is fine, in my opinion. What I'm trying to learn (and this is just a first stab) is color painting with the appearance of volume and lighting.
Tips, criticisms, pointers! Avast!
Tips, criticisms, pointers! Avast!
Well, I am no artist, but I must say that I think your form is beautiful -- you really seem to have an excellent grasp for anatomy and positioning.
My only criticism is the guy on the right's shoulder is far too large -- but seeing as you were sketching, it is excusable.
As for volume and lighting -- you seem to have nailed it for the most part (even a non-artist's eyes can percieve when it is wrong). Then again, this is a sketch. I can only imagine that it would become much more difficult when the lines are more defined. With such a "sketchy" style, a few things wrong here and there with lighting and volume are difficult to notice.
With all that said...I wish I could draw like that. Too bad I have the patience (and drawing capabilities) of a 4 year old.
My only criticism is the guy on the right's shoulder is far too large -- but seeing as you were sketching, it is excusable.
As for volume and lighting -- you seem to have nailed it for the most part (even a non-artist's eyes can percieve when it is wrong). Then again, this is a sketch. I can only imagine that it would become much more difficult when the lines are more defined. With such a "sketchy" style, a few things wrong here and there with lighting and volume are difficult to notice.
With all that said...I wish I could draw like that. Too bad I have the patience (and drawing capabilities) of a 4 year old.
Author
Quote:Original post by Dave
Is it that all done with a mouse or stylus?
Stylus. I use a (highly treasured) Wacom Intuos3 6x11, drawing area constrained to match the video aspect ratio. Before constraining the area, my drawings appeared oddly elongated.
Quote:Original post by visage
Well, I am no artist, but I must say that I think your form is beautiful -- you really seem to have an excellent grasp for anatomy and positioning.
Thanks!
Quote:My only criticism is the guy on the right's shoulder is far too large -- but seeing as you were sketching, it is excusable.
Thanks for the criticism, still, though. I believe that even when sketching I should maintain proportion, perspective and other fundamentals of drawing. I've been drawing for a long time, actually, so I have an innate sense of anatomy, but I am looking to shore that up with a formal study and have recently acquired (electronic copies, sadly) of Andrew Loomis' works on figure drawing, and will be purchasing an anatomical reference soon.
Quote:As for volume and lighting -- you seem to have nailed it for the most part (even a non-artist's eyes can percieve when it is wrong). Then again, this is a sketch. I can only imagine that it would become much more difficult when the lines are more defined. With such a "sketchy" style, a few things wrong here and there with lighting and volume are difficult to notice.
I happen to have a pretty good digital camera (Canon Digital Rebel XT), so I was thinking that I'd create reference shots with dramatic lighting for studies. I'll be sure to post them as I execute.
Quote:With all that said...I wish I could draw like that. Too bad I have the patience (and drawing capabilities) of a 4 year old.
I've been reading The Animation Book by Kit Laybourne, and he made a statement that I have embraced when encouraging others: everyone can draw. Sure, not everyone can draw the world as observed by the human eye with a high degree of versimilitude, but nearly everyone can create consistent representative drawings of the world both as they see it and in a fashion that will be universally recognizable.
In other words, if you have an interest in drawing, draw!
More crit welcomed.
I suggest working on your form and line art, then shading and then color.
On those drawings everything is lacking in weight. Breast's droop and muscles create volume under skin, but not lines. You obviously have some experience 'making lines', but your work lacks any actual training in theory or hands on instruction. I suggest you focus on your outlines and movement before taking on color, and to do this, I suggest a beginning drawing class at maybe a local community college or something.
Also, try drawing from real life, not memory. Take for example your basketball player. It lacks in everything, but the one obvious (to me) huge flaw is in its motion. Although people might look at it and think, looks good, but slightly off. This is not in your 'lines' but his sense of motion, his pose. A closer look reveils (to me), that his weight is off center. This is caused by drawing him lunging with his left leg at the same time his left leg is moving foreward. In reality, we cannot run like this, (try running across your room like this). We counter the movement of our leg by moving our opposite arm, not our same arm.
Anyways, just an example.
Good luck.
On those drawings everything is lacking in weight. Breast's droop and muscles create volume under skin, but not lines. You obviously have some experience 'making lines', but your work lacks any actual training in theory or hands on instruction. I suggest you focus on your outlines and movement before taking on color, and to do this, I suggest a beginning drawing class at maybe a local community college or something.
Also, try drawing from real life, not memory. Take for example your basketball player. It lacks in everything, but the one obvious (to me) huge flaw is in its motion. Although people might look at it and think, looks good, but slightly off. This is not in your 'lines' but his sense of motion, his pose. A closer look reveils (to me), that his weight is off center. This is caused by drawing him lunging with his left leg at the same time his left leg is moving foreward. In reality, we cannot run like this, (try running across your room like this). We counter the movement of our leg by moving our opposite arm, not our same arm.
Anyways, just an example.
Good luck.
Author
Quote:Original post by slowpid
Also, try drawing from real life, not memory. Take for example your basketball player. It lacks in everything, but the one obvious (to me) huge flaw is in its motion. Although people might look at it and think, looks good, but slightly off. This is not in your 'lines' but his sense of motion, his pose. A closer look reveals (to me), that his weight is off center. This is caused by drawing him lunging with his left leg at the same time his left leg is moving foreward. In reality, we cannot run like this, (try running across your room like this). We counter the movement of our leg by moving our opposite arm, not our same arm.
While I appreciate the rest of your commentary, I think you're wrong here. In basketball, and in many other sports, we do very unnatural things by virtue of training or will. It's a very odd drawing to present because the movement in question is completely foreign to almost everyone who doesn't watch certain fringes of the sport: it's a test rendering from the midpoint of an animation sequence I'm planning in which a player takes the ball and wraps it around his back then through his legs while jumping - not running - forward, all as a means of getting past two defenders. To see moves like this in action, which are completely unnecessary and completely showy ([smile]), take a look at older footage of #">Jason Williams when he was with the Sacramento Kings (the first two and last moves illustrate perfectly), or some of the ballhanders on the AND1 Mixtape Tour.
Those who have seen (or done) movements like this in a game will know that you usually are off-balance after the fact. If anything, the basketball player here is entirely too composed, making the pose insufficiently dynamic. Trust me, it's easier to wrap a ball around your back and through your legs, back-to-front, if your handling hand (in this case the right hand) is not also tasked with crossing your alternate-side leg (left here). In fact, doing it that way is damn near impossible in a full run: your limbs get in the way. Basically, your pivot foot must be the same side as your handling hand for a full wraparound.
I'd like to take a class at the School of Visual Arts, but I don't have the time this fall. Maybe in the spring. Any concrete pointers I can work on on my own?
Quote:Original post by OluseyiMaybe try some books? I have always liked this one. It's not a more serious book, but it takes a different approach. CLICKY. Seems it would compliment your style well. I read a lot of books on this when I was younger, and this one ended up being my favourite.
I'd like to take a class at the School of Visual Arts, but I don't have the time this fall. Maybe in the spring. Any concrete pointers I can work on on my own?
Author
I learned to draw off Roy of the Rovers comics. I'm looking for something a little more "high brow." [smile]
As mentioned, though, I have those Loomis books, but those focus on line drawing. Any tips for color/shading/volume?
As mentioned, though, I have those Loomis books, but those focus on line drawing. Any tips for color/shading/volume?
I'd suggest recreating Master drawings, from a book like:
http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Lessons-Great-Masters/dp/0823002810/sr=1-1/qid=1157604460/ref=sr_1_1/102-0526477-2534561?ie=UTF8&s=books
Also, for digital work, http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Character-Design-Painting-Photoshop-CS-Graphics-Graphics-/dp/1584503408/sr=1-2/qid=1157604326/ref=sr_1_2/102-0526477-2534561?ie=UTF8&s=books
has been invaluable in teaching me how to paint.
I also have:
http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Drawing-Barrington-Barber/dp/0572028792/sr=1-1/qid=1157604502/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-0526477-2534561?ie=UTF8&s=books
which is decent, you should read a fundamentals book if you haven't had any formal training.
Traditional art has four components to learning I've found.
The first, is drawing from life. The Great Masters knew every muscle in the body, but still used models. How can you expect to get a proportionally and anatomically correct figure with only a microscopic fraction of their talent?
The second, is drawing from drawings. Look at Great Masters, and see how they used cross-contours and tone. Look at student work in universities. Look all over. THEN, once you have an idea, move onto shading with colours, and realistic shading. 'Blending' is done far too much by the inexperienced beginner; a more 'raw' drawing, with a clear stroke to it, will be much more effective. Once you have that down, you can start smuding things together, which is all smooth blending is.
Third, be very critical about your own work. After you finish anything, put it away for a day or two, go back to it, hang it up, stand back, and tear it apart. Find things you aren't doing well, and correct them. Look at work that does do them well. If you cannot find an experienced artist or teacher to do this, you will have to be doubly as critical and objective.
Finally, PRACTICE. Drawing, more than anything I've done (from sex to 3D characters), benefits from practice rather than 'studying.' Fortunately, drawing is easier to do and more accessible than most things (all you need is a writing instrument and surface). As long as you keep practicing (4) by working from life (1), and keep being objective and critical (3), and correct your faults by looking at other work (2), you'll do fine.
http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Lessons-Great-Masters/dp/0823002810/sr=1-1/qid=1157604460/ref=sr_1_1/102-0526477-2534561?ie=UTF8&s=books
Also, for digital work, http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Character-Design-Painting-Photoshop-CS-Graphics-Graphics-/dp/1584503408/sr=1-2/qid=1157604326/ref=sr_1_2/102-0526477-2534561?ie=UTF8&s=books
has been invaluable in teaching me how to paint.
I also have:
http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Drawing-Barrington-Barber/dp/0572028792/sr=1-1/qid=1157604502/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-0526477-2534561?ie=UTF8&s=books
which is decent, you should read a fundamentals book if you haven't had any formal training.
Traditional art has four components to learning I've found.
The first, is drawing from life. The Great Masters knew every muscle in the body, but still used models. How can you expect to get a proportionally and anatomically correct figure with only a microscopic fraction of their talent?
The second, is drawing from drawings. Look at Great Masters, and see how they used cross-contours and tone. Look at student work in universities. Look all over. THEN, once you have an idea, move onto shading with colours, and realistic shading. 'Blending' is done far too much by the inexperienced beginner; a more 'raw' drawing, with a clear stroke to it, will be much more effective. Once you have that down, you can start smuding things together, which is all smooth blending is.
Third, be very critical about your own work. After you finish anything, put it away for a day or two, go back to it, hang it up, stand back, and tear it apart. Find things you aren't doing well, and correct them. Look at work that does do them well. If you cannot find an experienced artist or teacher to do this, you will have to be doubly as critical and objective.
Finally, PRACTICE. Drawing, more than anything I've done (from sex to 3D characters), benefits from practice rather than 'studying.' Fortunately, drawing is easier to do and more accessible than most things (all you need is a writing instrument and surface). As long as you keep practicing (4) by working from life (1), and keep being objective and critical (3), and correct your faults by looking at other work (2), you'll do fine.
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