Creative Art Input Thread

[Argentus]

Some OCs from a story I may do

Left one will probably go through a big redesign as I flesh this out. She's supposed to be punk but I'm not feeling it yet

How do you do your linework?

i'm mostly teaching myself by completely winging it. As of right now, I just sketch a rough idea of what i'm going for, then do solid lineart, then coloring.

working with Photoshop, because its all I have lol.


Also that guys forearms and hands are driving me crazy. I wanted them to be slightly enlarged to give an imposing physique, but it makes it hard to pose him, so I wound up shrinking his forearms back down lol.

 

[synce]

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[WisperG]

@synce
I see you're using Manga Studio. How is it?

I've been looking into getting that along with finally picking up a drawing tablet sometime soon-ish.

Any specific version you would recommend, or is it best to just go with the most recent?

 

[Argentus]

For me line art is usually 3 steps/layers: thumbnail, rough, final. The rough is most important IMO, since that's when I add detail, fix proportions etc. Final is usually tracing and I tend to skip it unless I'm gonna color

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Also punk girl now looking a little more punk... any suggestions/comments welcome

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Looks much better with the glasses up. Maybe throw some of those fingerless full arm gloves on under the combat gear, for aesthetic appeal?

Also, I had a random character inspiration. I'd like some input on how it looks so far.

I was literally just walking to the gas station, and though "What if Ganondorf just went to a temple ahead of Link, moved the artifact, then sealed Link in when he arrived?"
That thought evolved to Link surviving magically, turning into something like the Hero's shade. So now I'm coming up with an idea for a character along those lines in my story. Was a Link type hero on a quest to stop the evil overlord, but was simply outwitted and sealed in a Shadow Temple like place, only for his enchanted gear to inexplicably draw in the darkness permeating the temple to keep him alive, at the cost of warping and corrupting him. Released from the temple, he is now controlled by the evil emperor, as he is essentially a mindless husk who only retained his combat abilities and viciousness towards elementals such at the Emperor (As other elementals are fighting the Emperor, he exploits this to turn the warrior on his fellow elementals)

This is my rough idea.....but.....not sure if I like what I drew. I think I gave him too MUCH armor. Do you think I should tone it back so hes more lightly equipped like Link, or keep him in the enchanted armor with the helmet, breastplate, and greaves? (Lightly armored would be ditching those and essentially just keeping the sword, shield, shoulderpad, gauntlets, and maybe belt).

Outside of the enchanted armor, he's going to be zombie-ish and tattered, just debating if I wanna give him a body tunic like in that golden armor reference pic. The face will be shadow except a single red Zaku-ish eye, and visible teeth.

Thoughts?

I'm kinda stumped because I'm not sure if I should continue with/keep the gladiator look, or switch him over to a Link style "some kid with enchanted gear" look. Because...this does look kinda badass, I like it, but it wasn't what I started out going for lol. I was originally just some withered husk of a young man wielding enchanted sword and shield.

 

[synce]

That idea definitely sounds cool. Regarding armor you just have to ask yourself what kind of character this is... if he's a nimble fighter I might tone down the armor a bit.

Also as with anything else I'd recommend using real life reference instead of 2D, unless you're just using those images for inspiration. What I might do if I was creating armor is look at some museum/historical pics, then maybe some jet equipment or an animal or whatever else, and try to combine elements from each

@synce
I see you're using Manga Studio. How is it?

I've been looking into getting that along with finally picking up a drawing tablet sometime soon-ish.

Any specific version you would recommend, or is it best to just go with the most recent?

It's nearly replaced Photoshop and Sai for me, although I'm still trying to find the perfect brush settings for coloring. I'd definitely recommend it, especially if you plan to do comics since it has a lot of amazing tools for that. You can try the latest english version here for yourself: http://www.clipstudio.net/en/dl

I'm running an older version (Manga Studio EX 5) so I can't comment on difference between that and Clip Studio, or Pro and EX, but I will mention you could get the latest EX for like $80 around last xmas (which I missed out on )... so if you can't afford it now maybe get Pro then EX when it's on sale again

 

[WisperG]

@synce Excellent. Thanks for the info!

I looked up comparisons between MS and CS, and it seems they're both basically the exact same program from the same developer, except that the digital version is now called CS while the boxed version is keeping the MS name (except they later brought back the digital version of MS too, apparently?). The naming is really confusing, but I'll probably stick with MS since I prefer boxed copies anyways, and it's cheaper.

Haven't decided yet if I'll go with EX5 or the standard MS5, which I can get for like $60 cheaper although it is missing a few convenient, comic-related features. EX5 is sitting at around $90 (which itself is a pretty hefty discount) on Amazon right now, but I'm not sure I can afford that at the moment since I'll be picking up a drawing tablet also.

 

[synce]

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[synce]

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[Ghosty-J]

Well wouldn't you know it believable backgrounds are impossible to do if you don't know what you're doing. But I found a lazy trick anyone can use and even pretend you're doing it to be stylish: ruler tool + single color + shadows

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OK so it kinda looks like an early flash animation but whatever

Writing this down for future reference!

 

[synce]

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[Ghosty-J]

@Ghosty-J I see you do commissions, any quick tips for someone just starting out?

Unrelated but I only recently realized that Midna was rocking a mullet, it blew my mind. So ah here's fancy schoolgirl with extreme mullet Midna (and a boring old regular one)

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Welp. First, you can start by studying the prices an average amount of artists would charge for fanbase commissions. Use that as a base to determine how much you think you could charge for a drawing. Whether it's sketched, finished, etc. Different styles can warrant for different prices since the amount you want to be paid for must be adjacent to how much time you spend on that particular piece. Feel free to charge extra for more than one character per illustration if you wish.

Once you have all that figured out, make a chart displaying all this information to people who want to commission you. This can also be used for your reference in the future just in case you forget the system you've set in place or if you want to review to make changes if things don't work in your favor. Let your commissioners know that none of your work can be used for commercial purposes (unless you're paid at a professional rate) and have a payment method set up. PayPal works well, even if it can be a bit rocky at times. If you prefer someone send checks, that's fine too.

That's all there is to it, really. If you need a good idea for setting up a chart, mine can give you a good idea. Even if it's a bit sloppy to be honest.
http://pltnm06ghost.tumblr.com/post/97597409436

Oh yes, and I love Midna~ <3 Good taste, mang.

 

[synce]

Thanks, some good advice there. Do you generally do a lot of thumbnails and revisions or does it depend on the person?

And yeah we seem to have some tastes in common

 

[Ghosty-J]

Thanks, some good advice there. Do you generally do a lot of thumbnails and revisions or does it depend on the person?

And yeah we seem to have some tastes in common

It depends entirely on the person. Most of my commissioners would just give me an idea for a pose and let me wing it from there. Others would give me a reference of what pose to draw. Asking for reference (character appearance or otherwise) is always important, so be sure to mention that whenever possible. For something more professional, it's pretty much of a requirement to make thumbnails. But fon't worry about that unless they ask for it themselves XD

 

[Argentus]

So, few questions.

I'm WIP on the next page of my comic. (God I can't draw hands. Or color metal)

1) I'm having trouble making this tree look right. The background are just gonna be blurry so they don't matter, but I was trying to make this middle tree look ominous. Kinda like Hexxus' prison tree from Ferngully.

2) I'm not sure if I should stick with "Solid" shading like I did on the old pages, or try to go with a more "painting" style shading like I used for my Mila costume remake.

For comparison's sake, here's the pages leading up to this. (Shush, I know I'm a terrible artist and writer, half the point of this is to give me an ongoing project to get better at them). Granted, these pages were done across like 3 or 4 years for various reasons, so I keep getting rusty again in between pages.

Spoiler

Its frustating because I have a full extended plot laid out, tons of characters I'm excited to write....but I hate my art, so its REALLY hard to get the ball rolling here lol.

 

[synce]

It depends entirely on the person. Most of my commissioners would just give me an idea for a pose and let me wing it from there. Others would give me a reference of what pose to draw. Asking for reference (character appearance or otherwise) is always important, so be sure to mention that whenever possible. For something more professional, it's pretty much of a requirement to make thumbnails. But fon't worry about that unless they ask for it themselves XD

Thanks again. I am ready. >:}

RE: tree coloring I think it's really up to you, either way it looks good to me. If you want to really emphasize it maybe consider adding some effects or playing with the panel layout or make it burst through a border. Full disclosure though: I'm a complete noob at comics

 

[synce]

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[Argentus]

Potential hair designs for an OC (she's supposed to be a genetic experiment)

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I'm finding it's kind of tough to come up with an interesting design for a long haired character without it being too ornate...

Also ah here's a Juri WIP (receiving a big smoochy hug from her grandma)

Spoiler

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BTW this will probably be my last WIP update here since I'm creating a tumblr for this kind of thing

Link to the tumblr!

...i have no idea how to use tumblr lol

 

[Ghosty-J]

So, few questions.

I'm WIP on the next page of my comic. (God I can't draw hands. Or color metal)

1) I'm having trouble making this tree look right. The background are just gonna be blurry so they don't matter, but I was trying to make this middle tree look ominous. Kinda like Hexxus' prison tree from Ferngully.

2) I'm not sure if I should stick with "Solid" shading like I did on the old pages, or try to go with a more "painting" style shading like I used for my Mila costume remake.

View attachment 8851
For comparison's sake, here's the pages leading up to this. (Shush, I know I'm a terrible artist and writer, half the point of this is to give me an ongoing project to get better at them). Granted, these pages were done across like 3 or 4 years for various reasons, so I keep getting rusty again in between pages.

Spoiler

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Its frustating because I have a full extended plot laid out, tons of characters I'm excited to write....but I hate my art, so its REALLY hard to get the ball rolling here lol.

Well, hands and metal are pretty tricky things to work with. As far as I can tell, you're doing pretty well with both of them XD About the tree though. If you want to make it look ominous, it's all about presentation. To put it more into focus, keep the tree in the foreground the way you have it now and blur the background a bit. Objects in the distances have a slight tint of blue due to discoloration from air particles. Since the setting is a swamp, overlaying a greenish tint to the trees in the background should create a contrast to help bring more attention to the tree in the center.For comic illustration, go for the coloring style you think is less strenuous since comics are time consuming enough as it is. Personally, I would go for a cell-shaded style reminiscent of anime like Casshern Sins or Dead Leaves if I wanted a cleaner look I can create in a decent amount of time. If you're daring to tackle a painterly look, then go right ahead!

One last thing. I hope this doesn't sound too harsh, but I oughtta give you a good slap on the wrist for being too hard on yourself. You're a great artist, man! It's already impressive enough you already have a big story laid out since I find that much more difficult than the actual drawing. When it comes to writing a story and drawing comics, that's something I'm also having a hard time trying to get started with. What I'm starting to learn recently from one of my best friends and other artists in the industry that I look up to is this. If you have a story and an idea laid out for a comic, just do it. I know how it feels when someone thinks their artwork isn't good enough for a simple story. The thing is that you can only learn by doing and letting your dissatisfaction with your own art will halt progress. Improving on technique comes with study and will definitely happen along the way as you continue drawing and learning a new thing with each piece. Remember that art is not a competition and we all have to learn at our own pace. Some illustrators catch on faster than others. Others who aren't as experienced can still garner a butt load of fans who admire their work. Your art already has a ton of potential. Keep at it and you'll be well on your way to where you want to be. I'm trying to learn this stuff as well, so let's give it our all this year!

 

[synce]

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[TOMA SAN]

For me line art is usually 3 steps/layers: thumbnail, rough, final. The rough is most important IMO, since that's when I add detail, fix proportions etc. Final is usually tracing and I tend to skip it unless I'm gonna color

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Also punk girl now looking a little more punk... any suggestions/comments welcome

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lol i never do the first step !! i need training