[Valdez]

For those of us who draw, I thought it'd be a nice place for everyone (except Redtech who adheres stubbornly to his own style) to be able to share info on exactly what goes behind the creation of your crap pics, and it'd be good opportunity for us to learn from each other bout techniques and stuff on drawing styles or image editing.

I've posted bits elsewhere (especially Loony's thread for those who've recently noticed) on the behind-the-scenes stuff behind some of my own stuff but I think from now on I'll keep those stuff here, and only post completed crap pics in Loony's thread.




I guess I'll get the ball rolling. This is an overview of me doing anime-style illustration:

This is the raw sketch (fresh from scanner, no digital modification I swear). Prior to doing raw sketch there is sometimes the need for research. In this case I had to google for facepalm images to use as reference when drawing the hand. It's easy to screw up hands because of so many factors to take into consideration, in particular finger length and palm size.



Image is colourised in GIMP to give a coloured tinge. This is so that when tracing, you can distinguish between the tracing outline (black) and the background (not black). As I mentioned in Loony's thread I normally don't trace out a lineart so it really depends on the pic. Sometimes it's more worth it to go for a tracing outline, other cases like Strat's mod concepts I don't bother go straight for the raw image.



Outline tracing with correction done on a separate layer in GIMP. Pros can do it on paper with ink and then digitally touch up. If you suck, don’t try the pro method. There’s no undo button in real life. What you're seeing is 2 layers superimposed, the line art and the colourised background.



Next move on to colouring. Usually I don’t do this but for the pic in this example it requires colour sampling from official artwork so a palette is prepared. pretty straightforward, grab an official pic from the internet and copy+paste the desired colours onto somewhere and save it as a pic, then open the pic in GIMP, tada instant palette. The colours are easily accessible using the eyedropper tool.



Colouring is done slowly. Typically multiple layers are used for different things. For example in this case, the hair and skin are on separate layers, while the clothes are split into 2 further layers based on colour. After the desired areas are fully coloured, the eraser tool cleans up the unwanted bits.

To check if there’s transparent little bits I didn’t colour in, I add a background layer with a bright red colour so the transparent bits show up as red tinges. Have to carefully check (especially along the lines) whether I missed a spot or two. With big images this can take ages.



With different elements coloured via different layers, shading and highlights becomes easier. For instance to shade the hair I can access the hair layer and shade from there, and the shading brush won’t affect other parts, although what I actually do is duplicate the layer and shade the duplicate. Keeping the unshaded original gives a backup in case of a shading screw-up.

For this image the shading type is obviously cel-shading which is mercifully easier than realistic shading. Highlights are not needed except for the hair (you can see it as the bright purple flecks)



With the major work done the remaining stuff is mainly touch-ups and cleaning up the pic along boundaries between colours. The line art (which is still in its own separate layer) may also be tweaked. If you compare the final pic with the raw sketch you'll notice the mouth is moved upwards, for instance. Looking back at this pic I think I should also have made the fringe less vertically straight... it looks funny in its current state.

After that it's basically finished. In total about 3 hours of work (with some breaks in between since I was also browsing these boards )





k someone else post something.

This post has been edited by Valdez: 21 January 2009 - 03:53 AM

[Redtech]

I resent all snide comments!
http://www.thewebcomiclist.com/forums/view...085321b0008a219
More importantly:

Quote

Iconoclast: "desire for honesty, authenticity, and a connection to real life. The determination to hold a mirror to life's face--warts and all--and to resist pandering or selling out. The conviction of artists to remain true to themselves while never taking themselves too seriously. To fly no one's flag--not even their own."

Remember I said that art is a reflection of the person.

I'm very, very unique.

Anyway, I'm not above 'borrowing' style tips from other people!

[Mizu]

So I don't bore anybody, does anybody even want to see how I draw my simple crappy sketches? :/

[Strategist]

I'm afraid I'm not a very advanced artist, but anyway.

First I do a basic line art with a mechanical pencil, using shapes to "build" the creature or object in question and erasing lines to make more exotic shapes. I then take a pen and trace over each line and any details that should be particularly dark (such as the eye on the Scorpuron below)

Preshading: (Note that some of the image was cropped. I used a Disciple render to get the details right on the impaled fellow to the left)


Once the Line art is done, I then shade (I now do this correctly with the side of a normal pencil) to make the object stand out from the page better. Also, I've been playing around with paper wads to add texture to the shading, though I'm not sure if it had an effect.

After:

Quote

So I don't bore anybody, does anybody even want to see how I draw my simple crappy sketches? :/

I would please!

This post has been edited by Stratigest: 21 January 2009 - 03:54 PM

[Mizu]

Quote

I would please!

Alrighty, heres it .
----------------------------
(If a few spots didn't make sense, I was under the influence of listening to "A state of Trance - 387")

Well I normally get an idea in a dream or by seeing something someone did and try to draw my own version of it. I grab my sketchbook, a pencil, a bookmark (all my rulers disappeared), and my orange babybel eraser. I then draw a boarder (like a picture frame) on the paper to give me a "warning" of when I'm about to go off the page.

example - boarder


I then draw a top view first and if I still got patience, I'll attempt a side view for further reference (as seen above). I sometimes get careless when I start doing the labeling or doing fine details .

When I'm done I go to the scanner and upload it on another computer, sending it to mine via "Network Connections". If the image is like-able I will then upload it on photobucket and show people. Though recently I also posted concept art that so I could get feedback on it and fix anything when something wasn't like-able (i.e Fox's Fangs sword).

Example 1 - Unaltered image (No colors added):

(Image was one of my earliest concepts during the time I created the G.S.F.S and tried to make a faction mod. This is also the only time such a huge unit actually looked nice enough without a boarder and when I never used boarders.)

Well most of it is uncolored anyways. I only highlighted where the bridge is with the red circle because the middle actually stores floods of missiles, people got confused. You can also see how easy it is to drift off a page and how much I actually need a tablet instead.

Example 2 - Image uploaded for feedback with a colored version next to it:

(The colors are there to get an idea of what it "might" look like. I only color it to only set a color scheme or to experiment.)

When I do color such thing in paint, I highlight the lines in black, remove any non-white particles in the empty spaces, and eventually fill those empty voids with color. I sometimes do all three at once and noticed it actually takes up lot of time to fill it in with color (even if its basic).


And the rest is up to people's interest if they want to 3D-fy it or color it in. Some gain interest while others just sit in my archive of concept art. And with that I think I need to search for tablets along with a computer upgraded along with a few games of interest

[Duke]

Man there's so many great artists here. Nice guide too!

[Valdez]

Ghostly_Substance, on Jan 22 2009, 06:29 AM, said:

a bookmark (all my rulers disappeared)

Do yourself a favour and get a new ruler. There simply is no substitute.

And Paint stinks. Get GIMP it's free! My early Zange pic I did in GIMP except for the palette which was done in Paint, saved as pic and then opened in GIMP alongside the Zange artwork.

Although honestly I'm still not harnessing the full potential of GIMP... I need to start going into the advanced features...

Redtech, on Jan 22 2009, 03:41 AM, said:

Remember I said that art is a reflection of the person.

I'm very, very unique.

Anyway, I'm not above 'borrowing' style tips from other people!

[high pitch girly voice]
Ai em vewy vewy you-neeq!
[/high pitch girly voice]

alright no offense

I'm not against being unique. My sig comics utilise my own style of drawing and shading, although I'm pretty sure it isn't unique since hundreds of other GIMP-users probably have done similar things.

For the artwork in the first post it is intended to look as true to its official anime style as possible (hence colour sampling) so in that scenario I don't mind deviating from my own style.

That link you posted... with respect to my sig comics I'm probably Formalist. You'll notice changes in the way I've drawn things over the different chapters, most significantly the recent change to using digital inking, shading and highlights. I aim to be Classicist though, which is why I do stuff like draw some stuff multiple times (liek drafts) to refine my technique. For my Rigel art I drew him about 3 times, including one drawing which I fully coloured and shaded (its in Loony's thread)

This post has been edited by Valdez: 22 January 2009 - 12:45 AM

[Valdez]

Oh one more thing this for Strat:

Prior to shading you should always determine the light source and how the shadows will be cast. In your earlier pic I see mto be able to see shadows at the head which don't match the shadows on the body.

I show you an example

Extra shading done in GIMP using fuzzy brush, black colour at around 30-40 percent opacity with 2 layers of shading.

It's not perfect as it was done in a hurry so there may also be inconsistencies (especially right leg) but it's easier to see the light behaviour. This kind of thing is not easy to do and requires good knowledge on the shape of your object especially with regards to edges (sharp vs smooth) and textures (for instance metallic things may have light reflectivity on surface which affects how the shadows look)


In this pic, the source of light is the sunset so all shadows must go in the opposite direction. You can see there's a shadow cast by the object on the ground surface, and it's a long shadow not just a grey mass at the object centre. Similarly the clouds have shadows on top of them, shadows are between the light source and the stuff casting the shadow, good rule of thumb I stick to


Some fixing:
original

edited

Mostly hair changes. I wuv the perspective tool. FYI though I only use it to change the line art. The colours which exist on a separate layer have to be edited separately which is the tedious and demanding part but relatively for a pic like this.




Yay:
http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/
Much to learn have I. Mmmm. It's amazing how much a tutorial can expose you to stuff you turned a blind eye to simply because you never really bothered to look and try it out. Watch me play with Zange-chan!


Gaussian Blur


RGB noise


Lens flare (UAW players recognise this as the s@!$ Petroglyph used instead of giving us a proper sun)


Sobel Algorithm Edge Detect (smear)


Solid Noise (Zange disappeared!)


Bump Map (I can make a Zange-shaped island UAW map with this)


erm it called "predator" tool... dunno seems to make a neon glowy rainbow version of my pic. I could soooo do this to a photo of Piglet. Mike where's that pic from the Games in Concert gig?


Ok there really is a neon tool but you can't see it clearly since the pic blocks out the white glow beneath it (separate layer), showing only the exterior aura. There's also another tool to give just the aura.

Aww they're all so pretty. Ghostly you convinced to get GIMP (or buy photoshop) yet?



Found this mecha drawing tutorial on DA:
http://v2buster.deviantart.com/art/Drawing...e-Mecha-6219157
Applying that technique to try drawing Rigel:



It's a quick sketch. I still cannot draw Rigel's head properly... Somehow I seem to be only able to draw his head from a certain perspective...

Btw did you know his shoulder cannon's shape is inspired by a digital thermometer?

This post has been edited by Valdez: 22 January 2009 - 09:19 AM

[Mizu]

Quote

Do yourself a favour and get a new ruler. There simply is no substitute.

And Paint stinks. Get GIMP it's free! My early Zange pic I did in GIMP except for the palette which was done in Paint, saved as pic and then opened in GIMP alongside the Zange artwork.

Although honestly I'm still not harnessing the full potential of GIMP... I need to start going into the advanced features...

Funny thing was I could of actually bought a few rulers and a few various pencils the other day.......

As for GIMP, I ignored that suggestion since I got Jasc Paint Shop pro. I guess I should get it for the modern stuff.

Quote

Aww they're all so pretty. Ghostly you convinced to get GIMP (or buy photoshop) yet?

Currently no since my paintshop has some interesting effects . I just rarely use it. Though I could download gimp for the text part....

[gufu]

Rulers? On my sketches? Blasphemy!
Although, interesting thread.

[Redtech]

Valdez, on Jan 22 2009, 05:24 AM, said:

[high pitch girly voice]
Ai em vewy vewy you-neeq!
[/high pitch girly voice]

alright no offense

I still think furries are really "odd" ******* though.

Anyhow, assuming that ComicGen servers haven't borked you could see the final pic on my sig...but anyways!...

I use a Generic H pencil and some mid-tier paper from WH Smiths. I couldn't get the easily removable pages drawing pads, so I bought two sketchpads and destroy them.



My lines, scanner contrast fiddled to show how I mark. I do sketch and muck around at times. I draw the frames using my UBER P0WER metal ruler which is rust proof and an excellant melee weapon to boot.


Added more frames pretty much complete linework.



I actually go over the lines in inks before I scan them in, I don't like digital inking, I feel it is far too time consuming (I am tres' slow) and I am confident in my pen usage. I use edding 1800 drawing pens which are expensive, but mostly reliable. I have them in .7, .5, .3 and .1 mm variants. I rarely use the .7 though. Note how I add detail with inks, and shifted the eyes of panel two.




I work on each frame one at a time, I may notice artifacts and other bits that need cleaning or work, I drop the colours to 2 so I can get good hard lines and make corrections. I then bump the colours up to 16K and set this layer to float and it's properties to "multiply" which makes it transparent only in the white ares.




A complete frame. You can see the typical layer usage. I call the base level whatever suits my mood, it's "cat" for now. As you can see, I don't draw irises, so those go on a seperate layer, and any eye shading also goes on its own layer. The "shine" layer is my generic glass effect. the l and d layers cover lighting and darkness areas as each portion gets a seperate layers. I sometimes have a "darkness" or "tint" layer to add special lighting conditions.




Same frame with only the "c" layer (colour) shown and the ink layer. I shade using a thick brush along the region and then use a guassian blurr filter. While nifty, it is time consuming and not very accurate!




I decided to discard frame 4. This is what will become the next comic strip. I use a grid (not shown) to arrange frames together. Then it's an easy case to merge layers add text and bubbles and go!

This post has been edited by Redtech: 23 January 2009 - 07:01 PM

[Valdez]

Ghostly_Substance, on Jan 23 2009, 02:37 AM, said:

Currently no since my paintshop has some interesting effects . I just rarely use it. Though I could download gimp for the text part....

I myself have never touched the GIMP text tool. I just haven't found a use for it yet. If I need text I go over to MS Office (usually powerpoint) and use a text box. I'm more used to the editing capabilities of PP2007 when it comes to texts. As you well know, my sig comics use text and speech bubbles from pp2007 (although specifically the font is Blambot Casual, not one of the default MS Office fonts, it was penny Arcade which inspired me to use Blambot Casual)

Redtech, on Jan 24 2009, 07:58 AM, said:

I actually go over the lines in inks before I scan them in, I don't like digital inking, I feel it is far too time consuming (I am tres' slow) and I am confident in my pen usage.

That's nice for you. Myself the sketch never seems to turn out 100% the way I want it so I feel more confident with the digital route knowing I can erase or reposition lines. With regards to time consumption, I think colouring for me takes longer than inking because it involves a lot of painting and erasing.

I also use a sketchbook for the illustrations for my sig comics. Only they deserve the quality paper Similarly I also work on each "frame" at a time. Sometimes it can take multiple drawings, for instance the Inquisitorlok and Purifier pic is an Inquisitorlok drawing pasted onto the Purifier pic, with the sky and clouds done in GIMP.



Less-important drawings have to contend with being done on ordinary meh paper, and unlike the sig comic drawings, these aren't immortalised in a sketchbook but instead are scrapped

Although from your perspectives I guess it makes no difference since you only see the end result, which is what becomes of it after it goes through GIMP.


Quick enquiry:

Is it better to shade on a separate layer rather or to shade on the coloured layer itself? I find both have pros and cons.

Shading on a separate layer allows you to make changes to the shading without affecting the colours/lines but the clean-up job is time-consuming as you have to erase any shading marks on the background which can be hard to spot if the background is an alpha channel.

Shading on the coloured layer itself doesn't have the problem of your brush going into the background as you can lock Alpha Channel in GIMP to make trasnaprent bits unpaintable. Problem is, the colour and shading are forever melded together and you cannot independently change the shading.

btw redtech just my personal opinion but I think your drawings will look better without the multiple parallel lines on them. I understand they are to indicate areas to be shaded but because they are spaced far apart, they stick out like a sore thumb on the final image. Also for your first frame is it shattered glass or corroded plastic because the likes seem to indicate the latter (if by any chance it was glass, the fracture lines need to look more erm glass-like)

This post has been edited by Valdez: 23 January 2009 - 10:09 PM

[Valdez]

Oooh one more lesson to bear in mind.

If you are drawing a detailed picture, pay attention to the goddam details

I've told this to Strat before when he was drawing concepts. Still the advice is something that can be easily forgotten when absorbed in drawing...

I'm now tracing the 3 Zange pics I drew yesterday (all going to be part of the image macros I mentioned in Loony's drawings thread)



...and I have the first pic, the facepalm one also open in GIMP for colour sampling and I realise the hairpin on that one isn't of the same proportions as the newer three. Specifically the vertical section of the cross needs to be shortened. It's a minor thing but stuff like that gets on my nerves gradually (kind of like how I was annoyed with how the fringe initially turned out).

Doing this series of pics is tricky, even with detailed references. Because anime styles differ in subtle-yet noticeable ways, something like the shape or length of the nose, or the distance between the eyes and mouth can greatly affect how true-to-original the pic looks. Well at least for the eyes I only have to worry about that for one pic...

EDIT:
Ok after checking, even the anime doesn't seem to standardize. This is clearly a Christian cross hairpin, only 1 line of symmetry, although the ones on my reference pic (and hence my art) have the vertical arms of equal length.

This post has been edited by Valdez: 23 January 2009 - 11:49 PM

[Redtech]

Valdez, on Jan 24 2009, 12:57 AM, said:

Quick enquiry:

Is it better to shade on a separate layer rather or to shade on the coloured layer itself? I find both have pros and cons.

I would have thought you would have already known the answer for that one, since you're confident in your own method. Speaking of methods, what's your shading technique? I use gaussian blurs parallel to the area to be shaded, but something that's faster would be helpful.

Quote

btw redtech just my personal opinion but I think your drawings will look better without the multiple parallel lines on them. I understand they are to indicate areas to be shaded but because they are spaced far apart, they stick out like a sore thumb on the final image. Also for your first frame is it shattered glass or corroded plastic because the likes seem to indicate the latter (if by any chance it was glass, the fracture lines need to look more erm glass-like)

[color=#000000;background:#000000' onmouseover='this.style.color="#fff";' onmouseout='this.style.color="#000";]They're the remains of a guy who literally dissolved after a teleportation accident and is being used to find the secret to immortality.[/color]
I need to use a time machine to get myself from 10 years in the future so he can draw this stuff for me.

BTW, Val, everything you've just said, spoken like a true Formalist!

This post has been edited by Redtech: 24 January 2009 - 07:40 AM

[Valdez]

Redtech, on Jan 24 2009, 08:36 PM, said:

I would have thought you would have already known the answer for that one, since you're confident in your own method. Speaking of methods, what's your shading technique? I use gaussian blurs parallel to the area to be shaded, but something that's faster would be helpful.

My confidence in method varies depending on the artwork. The Rigel one in particular was really tough since I'm still not sure how to shade metal surfaces.

For typical shading, I use GIMP small or medium fuzzy circle paintbrush or a large fuzzy brush or airbrush if I need a very soft gradual light to dark transition. That's what you see in my sig comics, in Strat's mod concepts and generally most of my artwork.

For cel-shading like this:

I use a normal circle paintbrush since the soft edge of shadows in cel-shading is very minor.

(been nearly 6 hours of work on this. Damn colouring and shading 3 at one go...)

From the looks of it, your shading technique is similar to the cel-shading technique I use, only at the end, you apply gaussian blue to soften the edges. I don't do this because it might soften the edges in places I do not want. Manually painting is slower but gives more control over the areas you're shading.

On one occasion (the Rigel Artwork specifically) I also applied a radial gradient fill from black to transparent over the entire thing. it's very subtle so you can't really tell it apart from the normal shading, but what it does is help make the object less monochromatic. I basically used it as a cheap alternative to highlights, but for most work I stick to manually painting highlights as I mentioned manually painting gives more control.

Redtech, on Jan 24 2009, 08:36 PM, said:

[color=#000000;background:#000000' onmouseover='this.style.color="#fff";' onmouseout='this.style.color="#000";]They're the remains of a guy who literally dissolved after a teleportation accident and is being used to find the secret to immortality.[/color]
I need to use a time machine to get myself from 10 years in the future so he can draw this stuff for me.

My intepretation of the drawing was so way off...

[color=#000000;background:#000000' onmouseover='this.style.color="#fff";' onmouseout='this.style.color="#000";]it really looked to me like a glass/plastic cylinder tube with the front portion melted by something corrosive.[/color]

Elaborating on the detail thing I mentioned earlier:

Anna Faris said in The House Bunny that eyes are the nipples of the face. I have no idea what that has to do with all this, but doing the eyes on my pic requires intense comparisons with the original, every few seconds when I draw. and even then I'm not certain I nailed it perfectly:


On the left is official media. On the right is my pic at 400% magnification (bout 8 times the intended size of the forum image macro it will become). The shape of the iris was the challenging part... had to keep rotating them to the correct orientation... Eventually I guess I completed Zange's "facial nipples" after much effort.

Heh I guess I'm glad this anime wasn't done by Kyoto Animation. Kyoani's illustrations FYI have eyes that contain a myriad of highlights, little flecks here and there... I'd go nuts trying to do it properly...



btw Redtech I also just noticed you're having perspective issues like me trying to draw Rigel's head.

In the 3rd frame of the pic you showed the guy's ears, both of them are pointing in the same direction...



So... what we learn today:
Perspective Drawing is tough as f@$!...
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x27/uti...spective/b1.jpg



...but try not to skimp on basic details, subtle things can make much difference




(Sorry for not being able to find a better example. I was in a hurry to get a pic with a perspective error and I ended up clicking the link in your sig and then using the first pic that I saw)


I've done dozens of perspective alterations in the facial features of the 3 Zange pics so far before reaching a satisfactory result...


Bluish stuff is the background layer. as you can see, the line art and stuff do not overlap perfectly with the background sketch, evidence that there has been changes to the lineart since it was traced out. *sigh* small wonder i guess... I take hours to complete the artwork...

My weakness is that some times I cannot tell if it's correct until it is fully coloured during which perspective changing becomes troublesome... I have to change the line art plus recolour the affected areas, and if shading affected, also re-shade.

This post has been edited by Valdez: 24 January 2009 - 11:10 AM

[Redtech]

Work out what I'm referring to: too lazy to quote!

Well, I've read arguments for and against shading on the colour layer, one very, very strong advantage is that you can get very spectacular effects.
http://www.elfwood.com/farp/theart/velpspc...lpspcolor1.html comes to mind.

And CattyN had a great shading tutorial for using blurs above the art (which I use myself), but if you google his name...well you can see why he's playing it 'straight' now.

Yeah, the "blob-in-a-tank" is fiddly. Good thing I am wrapping up to "insert spoiler here" where I don't need to worry about whether it's in or out anymore.

Eyes are nipples of the face? I suppose they are a great way to define a personality and the character of the person. Naruto had a great theme with so many combat techniques dependent and personified by the character's eyes. I haven't got anywhere close to their full potential, since I've only been drawing irises for about a year now!

About Cath's ears, it's more of a design flaw on my part than so much a perspective one. Both her ears DO face forwards! And to quote myself (in reference to your snatch of Shawn of DSatA fame) "Why do people keep owning me?" I think I'll wrap up my arc, get my bit-cast characters to muck around and redesign my lead cast a little. I also don't try to draw tits that big! *facepalms*

ADVANCED TIP!
http://www.alexhays.com/loomis/
DOWNLOAD THE BOOKS!
The artist Andrew Loomis is a master of technical art while being one of the gentlemanly writers from the WW2 era that were charming and polite in their writing as in their art. He is a master of advanced technique and I've only grazed the tip of his knowledge, if you ever draw a human(oid) body, read his books!

As for your choice of posture, well I can only suggest that you are not against the clock! If you leave work aside for a while, you notice the flaws and glitches spring out when you forget what your last line was. Unfortunately a side effect is that you end up becoming more critical of your past work if you consistently do the same work then you start noticing the more flaws proportional to the time away from the work. I do not vouch for anything of mine more than 2 weeks old.

WTFBBQ EDIT:You didn't archive binge did you? D-A-M-N! I'm not brave enough to do that.

This post has been edited by Redtech: 24 January 2009 - 09:30 PM

[Valdez]

Redtech, on Jan 25 2009, 08:30 AM, said:

About Cath's ears, it's more of a design flaw on my part than so much a perspective one. Both her ears DO face forwards! And to quote myself (in reference to your snatch of Shawn of DSatA fame) "Why do people keep owning me?" I think I'll wrap up my arc, get my bit-cast characters to muck around and redesign my lead cast a little. I also don't try to draw tits that big! *facepalms*

Both ears facing forward... so it's like a jackal... think the perspective issue has to do with some of the lines you used.

Maybe you can look at jackal pics in different perspective for a better idea on how ears should face. Just a suggestion...

Redtech, on Jan 25 2009, 08:30 AM, said:

Well, I've read arguments for and against shading on the colour layer, one very, very strong advantage is that you can get very spectacular effects.
http://www.elfwood.c...lpspcolor1.html comes to mind.

And CattyN had a great shading tutorial for using blurs above the art (which I use myself), but if you google his name...well you can see why he's playing it 'straight' now.

I'm no stranger to the blur tool, although usually when shading I simply use a fuzzy brush to get a soft edge. Problem with shading on the colour layer itself is that if you blue or smudge, it affects the unshaded part too. The 3 Zange pics I've done, shading was on a separate layer as seen below:



Of course the dodge/burn tools require you specifically to shade on the colour itself. if you shade on a separate layer you're essentially painting on a totally blank slate in which case I choose the shading tone beforehand, or if I'm lazy I just take black and make the layer semitransparent (that's what I do for Strat's concepts)

Redtech, on Jan 25 2009, 08:30 AM, said:

I can only suggest that you are not against the clock! If you leave work aside for a while, you notice the flaws and glitches spring out when you forget what your last line was. Unfortunately a side effect is that you end up becoming more critical of your past work if you consistently do the same work then you start noticing the more flaws proportional to the time away from the work

I don't really go back to change stuff unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise I'd have redrawn the initial chapters of my sig comics to match the standard I've achieved today.

Redtech, on Jan 25 2009, 08:30 AM, said:

WTFBBQ EDIT:You didn't archive binge did you? D-A-M-N! I'm not brave enough to do that.

Archive binge? Your stuff? Well if looking through the past 2 or 3 chapters counts (cos I really needed to see if it's a dissolved guy and I still can't tell even when referencing the previous entries featuring it)

I've archive-binged one thing in my life before: The Fullmetal Alchemist manga.




Anyway... with the ZangeMacros done I CAN FINALLY DO MY NEXT SIG COMIC WOOHOO! *ahem* actually still have to sort out Rigel's head... I need inspiration to get the perspective... Rigel's in the next chapter so I cannot move forward until I nail his design...

This post has been edited by Valdez: 24 January 2009 - 11:30 PM

[Redtech]

You sure the thread isn't called "Art Techniques and discussions: How to improve the style and technique of one's art by Prof V. Aldez MA"?

Anyway, thanks for the pointers.
The only reference to the blob having a body was April 14th 2008 I think. IT SUCKS SO MUCH IT BURNS!

[Valdez]

Redtech, on Jan 26 2009, 02:21 AM, said:

V. Aldez MA

Oh great, split my username up now...


I'm sure other people would love to give their own advice and stuff, they just don't frequent this thread as often as I do. That plus the face that I've been doing a lot of arty stuff recently... Rigel, the ZangeMacros (see Loony's Drawing Thread) and newest sig comic, so I'm very active on the art scene. consider this one of my peak periods in art activity. It'll die down soon as I'm resuming regular work on my UAW map now that the sig comic is done with.

Redtech, on Jan 26 2009, 02:21 AM, said:

Anyway, thanks for the pointers.
The only reference to the blob having a body was April 14th 2008 I think. IT SUCKS SO MUCH IT BURNS!

Ok... I've gone over to the entry you mentioned, it's all dialogue and no reference pics so screw that I have nothing to convince me your so-called blob is a solid object rather than a corroded hole in a semitransparent cylinder tube.

Maybe try applying shading to the blob? Solid objects gotta have shadows if there's a light source, which there should be considering shadows are seen on surrounding objects near the blob or whatever.

This post has been edited by Valdez: 25 January 2009 - 01:37 PM

[Valdez]

More on shading and highlights. Does anyone have a good method for representation of metallic surfaces using shading and highlights? Specifically brush techniques would be appreciated.


An example of a recent work

Both characters should be metallic but somehow either the shading or highlights (I suspect highlights) don't give them a metallic look.

Funny thing is, even after looking at pics of light behaviour on metallic objects I still cannot grasp how to replicate that effect