Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Oh...WOw. man, now i feel inadequate

 

^_^ Thank you, but don't feel inadequate! We're just good at different types of art. You are much better at digital art than I am. :)

 

Update: I drew another one. This is addicting!

 

2mrbodl.jpg

Edited by Sunbird
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's awesome! I love Adolin's armor. I seriously suck at drawing clothes... That's why I stick to portraits. XD

Thanks. It is the first time I have ever drawn armor. Thouth, I will have you know that that took about one hour(one sitting) to do the armor alone

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks. It is the first time I have ever drawn armor. Thouth, I will have you know that that took about one hour(one sitting) to do the armor alone

 

Storms! Intricate detail like that is really time-consuming, am I right?

 

I started working on a drawing of Mizzy yesterday. Got all the contours down and have started adding color to her skin. I'm kind of having to experiment with my colored pencils to get the shading right, since I've never drawn someone with darker skin before. But I'm super happy about how her expression turned out. Since she's so bubbly in the books I tried to give her a wide-eyed, smiling expression, and I think I succeeded.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found something in my file directory that I thought was worth sharing. 

 

A timeline of my progress.

1.  2011 (I think)

2.  2013

3.  2015

 

vzz9q8V.jpg

 

Every time you draw something, you improve a small amount.  The more you experiment and try new techniques, new media, new processes and drawing programs, and figure out what works for you, you get a tiny bit better.  It feels disheartening, when you have a really cool concept or idea in your head, and no matter what you do, your mental image won't translate to paper or to the screen.  It happens to everyone - and instead of rage quitting, you should annotate your sketches and attempts, and leave it for another day.  One day when you've honed your skills, you can come back to it and you might find that your second attempt works. 

 

Yeah, it sucks when you look at DeviantArt or the portfolios of professionals and they are SO GOOD OMG and you suck in comparison.  I feel it, you probably feel it, I bet everyone feels it, even the pros.  Keep your old drawings and maybe when you need a bit of encouragement, you can go back and to see how much progress you've made.    Now imagine your 2011 self looking at your 2016 skill level.  Pretty strange, huh?

 

If you can look at something you've drawn and point out this part or that line would be better if it was moved slightly to the left, or looks crooked, then you are on the right track.  Knowing where you went wrong is part of the improvement process.  Even if you are frustrated and don't want to rework it when you've been staring at the same piece for 3 hours, put it down, and if you ever decide to draw a variation of it in a week's time, incorporate your improvements.

 

Keep drawing guys!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was beautiful. In honor of this, I shall post a bit of my progress in drawing ponies

This is one of my first:

post-18041-0-49314900-1456362768_thumb.j

This is a while later (in between, I kept ripping up my drawings)

post-18041-0-68233300-1456362792_thumb.j

This is when I started making my own, and coloring them (in between, I studied lots of toturials)

post-18041-0-97991200-1456362812_thumb.j

This is about right before I got a tablet for digital art

post-18041-0-96215600-1456362872_thumb.j

This is something I did about the time I first got my tablet

post-18041-0-31023000-1456363094_thumb.p

And this is my some of my best digital

post-18041-0-61487500-1456363152_thumb.ppost-18041-0-97101900-1456363168_thumb.p

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's cool to see your progression through time, Carola!

I am glad you like it. Man, after looking through my old art portfolio, I feel amazing. Like, despite how, every day, I wake up feeling a little down, feel like I won't progress, I realize that, over time, I have progressed a lot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am glad you like it. Man, after looking through my old art portfolio, I feel amazing. Like, despite how, every day, I wake up feeling a little down, feel like I won't progress, I realize that, over time, I have progressed a lot.

 

Yes, exactly! Practice, practice practice--that's how we improve. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup... I am who I am because of my Fandoms.

I started by drawing Ponies. Then, I read a book about Cats. I decided I wanted to draw cats, so for a while my ponies turned into cats. Then, wolves became popular in the Art corner of the internet, and after that I drew a lot of animals. Because of Doctor Who, I learned a bit on drawing objects, such as TARDIS, and the Sonic Screwdriver. And, because of Brandon, I learned to draw humans and chibis

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you guys want to see an in-depth artistic progression?  I'm kinda ashamed my old art still exists on the internet, but also kind of glad that I can still find it because I've come a long, long way.   A road littered with all those cringeworthy but mandatory embarrassing confessions along the way. 

 

Note:  This will mostly be in chronological order but with some newer art scattered through for point of comparison.

 

2007

Confession #1:  I liked to play flash dress up doll games and I still kinda do.

My anatomy sucked because all I wanted was to draw *pretty dresses*.

 

The human lollipop lol

icZWDnv.png

 

 

 

2008

Confession #2:  I first got a drawing tablet because I wanted to make Neopets fanart.

Before that, I drew on MS Paint with a mouse and had no idea what image filetypes were for, so I saved everything as a .jpg and never knew why they turned out pixelly on the edges when I opened them later.

 

I mostly drew animals at a side angle/profile because it was easier.

 

mdT3e2d.png

I had gotten an expensive set of coloured pencils as a birthday gift a few years before that, so I drew my Neopets with a mouse or with pencil on paper.  I still have those pencils 10 years later and use them occasionally.  They're really good.

 

When the colouring gets rough instead of being smooth, you can tell at what point I started getting bored/tired.

 

1xbeOH4.jpg

 

I tried drawing Neopets fanart again.  It's like riding a bicycle - once you figure out how drawing anthros works, you never really forget.  In this case, it's a Neopets x Dune crossover because the little yellow squirrel Neopet is named after Paul's clan nickname, Usul.

 

2015

Sandworms!  Stillsuits!  Squirrels!

AU1BfMr.jpg

 

 

2010

Confession #3:  I used Dodge/Burn to shade because I thought doing it the proper way took too long and if you cut corners, no one would be able to tell the difference.  (I was wrong.)  I also unironically used the brushes in the default toolpack.  You know what I'm talking about, the stars and the grass looking one.

Confession #3.5: I liked those classic comic book and pulp fantasy covers that featured warrior maidens with boob armour and chainmail undies.  And I never thought about how uncomfortable it would be to run in stiletto heels with a metal wedgie.

 

I don't know if you can tell in this small picture (and I drew everything small back then because I didn't know that making things 5000px a side let you work on details easier, and made lineart look super crisp when resized for web) but I shaded with just one colour.  And often the "shading" was picking a texture or chalky pattern brush and mashing Burn or Dodge.   That is why everything looks so weirdly flat.

 

KEn15DE.png

2011

Dat butterface, man.  And one hand is noticeably smaller than the other.  And the forearm doesn't seem to be joined to anything.  There are many many things wrong with this that I never noticed when I drew it.

FsunDvc.jpg

 

 

 

2011/2012

Confession #4:  I thought Steampunk was cool.  Just like everyone else.  I read and enjoyed many terrible novels written where removing the steampunk setting and details would not have affected the plot (what there was of it) in any way.

Confession #4.25:  I also like Art Nouveau style art.  You can obviously guess who was up to date with DeviantArt fads.

Confession #4.5:  I read many Regency Romances and liked them too.  Though that one is not too embarrassing to admit as long as they're "literature" and not the ones with pulpy Fabio covers.

 

2011

Pointless goggles everywhere omg

spBRUUD.jpg

 

2012

At one point I wanted to make my own steampunk themed comic book.  But I drew cool things and cool scenes and realised that cool scenes of people jumping off airships and explosions and stuff don't tell a story, and filling in the bits between cool scenes was boring so I never finished.

 

OcIXoCW.jpg

 

 

 

2015

My OC was pretty cool.  It's a shame that designed everything around COOL and never actually got around to making a plot and giving her a name. 

 

Why does she have white hair?  NO ONE KNOWS.  Not even me.

 

CYYkyBb.jpg

 

2011

Oh Mr Knightley, Mr Rochester, Mr Darcy, Sir Percy, I swoon...!!!

Proportions are off and at this point I cared more about *pretty clothes* than getting the anatomy right.  The shoulders are too narrow and the head is too big proportionally.  I was too used to "cartoon proportions" and drawing pretty girls wearing pretty clothes.

As a side note, I liked the style of the Regency/Georgian high collar cutaway riding coat so much that the Kholin Army officer 1.0 design had one.

4EDOGwN.png

 

 

2014

Confession #5:  Not really embarrassing, but I think WWII propaganda posters are pretty cool, especially the ones from Germany and the Soviet Union.   They are very well made for a time when they had no computers for graphic design and mass media brainwashing was in its infancy.  I appreciate the artistry behind them, but people will think you're a whackjob if you want to frame prints for your walls like vintage film posters.

 

Paper and pencil sketch:


fhxHHNT.jpg

 

Picked my colour palette.  It was drawn on printer paper so the colours are all patchy and bleeding.  I can't do more than basic colour blocking without tearing a hole through the thin paper.

ra34ssA.jpg

 

 

This was originally drawn to be the cover of an online magazine.  But a few people showed interest in it afterwards, so now there is a physical version hanging in a friend's office.

dHLAZIJ.jpg

 

 

2015

Confession #6:  I like going to thrift stores because I'm a filthy hipster.  I get excited when there are shoeboxes full of postcards at estate sales.  I once went to a Postcrossing convention at a carboot sale, and there were 5 other people there.  All of them except me were over the age of 45.

 

I got annoyed that people were asking $25 for a water-damaged dog-eared card, even though it was 100 years old.  So I made my own set of pre-WWI Colonial Australia cards.  And people liked them better than the real thing when we were swapping, so that's a plus.

 

 

I like the way these types of colonial houses look.  Very quaint and rustic and part of Australian cultural heritage, but if you are a modern Australian you would not want to live in one.  They have outdoor plumbing and no electricity so if you don't have candles, oil lamps or torches/flashlights you will have to stumble your way in the dark to go the dunny.  And there are always sheep hanging around these types houses (only found in rural areas today) so you will also step in poop.

kOhEAsY.jpg

 

 

 

Looking at my old art was a cringefest.  Even things I drew last year or in 2014 make me go bleurgh.

I have been drawing for a very long time but still I think I have much room to improve.  When I sketch doodles on napkins or in the margins of pages, sometimes people look over my shoulder and say things like "Wow, you're good, I could never draw like that!".  But you can, yes you can.  Anyone can.  All you have to do to level up is grind XP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Confession #4:  I thought Steampunk was cool.  Just like everyone else.  I read and enjoyed many terrible novels written where removing the steampunk setting and details would not have affected the plot (what there was of it) in any way.

 

Looking at my old art was a cringefest.  Even things I drew last year or in 2014 make me go bleurgh.

I have been drawing for a very long time but still I think I have much room to improve.  When I sketch doodles on napkins or in the margins of pages, sometimes people look over my shoulder and say things like "Wow, you're good, I could never draw like that!".  But you can, yes you can.  Anyone can.  All you have to do to level up is grind XP.

 

Steampunk is cool.  Like bow ties and fezzes, it will always be cool.  I don't even care if the gears don't do anything they just look cool, dagnabbit.

 

And this stuff is fantastic.  I have just enough drawing skills that I can kinda sorta sketch out some of my costume designs, but that's about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you guys want to see an in-depth artistic progression? I'm kinda ashamed my old art still exists on the internet, but also kind of glad that I can still find it because I've come a long, long way. A road littered with all those cringeworthy but mandatory embarrassing confessions along the way.

Note: This will mostly be in chronological order but with some newer art scattered through for point of comparison.

2007

Confession #1: I liked to play flash dress up doll games and I still kinda do.

My anatomy sucked because all I wanted was to draw *pretty dresses*.

The human lollipop lol

icZWDnv.png

2008

Confession #2: I first got a drawing tablet because I wanted to make Neopets fanart.

Before that, I drew on MS Paint with a mouse and had no idea what image filetypes were for, so I saved everything as a .jpg and never knew why they turned out pixelly on the edges when I opened them later.

I mostly drew animals at a side angle/profile because it was easier.

mdT3e2d.png

I had gotten an expensive set of coloured pencils as a birthday gift a few years before that, so I drew my Neopets with a mouse or with pencil on paper. I still have those pencils 10 years later and use them occasionally. They're really good.

When the colouring gets rough instead of being smooth, you can tell at what point I started getting bored/tired.

1xbeOH4.jpg

I tried drawing Neopets fanart again. It's like riding a bicycle - once you figure out how drawing anthros works, you never really forget. In this case, it's a Neopets x Dune crossover because the little yellow squirrel Neopet is named after Paul's clan nickname, Usul.

2015

Sandworms! Stillsuits! Squirrels!

AU1BfMr.jpg

2010

Confession #3: I used Dodge/Burn to shade because I thought doing it the proper way took too long and if you cut corners, no one would be able to tell the difference. (I was wrong.) I also unironically used the brushes in the default toolpack. You know what I'm talking about, the stars and the grass looking one.

Confession #3.5: I liked those classic comic book and pulp fantasy covers that featured warrior maidens with boob armour and chainmail undies. And I never thought about how uncomfortable it would be to run in stiletto heels with a metal wedgie.

I don't know if you can tell in this small picture (and I drew everything small back then because I didn't know that making things 5000px a side let you work on details easier, and made lineart look super crisp when resized for web) but I shaded with just one colour. And often the "shading" was picking a texture or chalky pattern brush and mashing Burn or Dodge. That is why everything looks so weirdly flat.

KEn15DE.png

2011

Dat butterface, man. And one hand is noticeably smaller than the other. And the forearm doesn't seem to be joined to anything. There are many many things wrong with this that I never noticed when I drew it.

FsunDvc.jpg

2011/2012

Confession #4: I thought Steampunk was cool. Just like everyone else. I read and enjoyed many terrible novels written where removing the steampunk setting and details would not have affected the plot (what there was of it) in any way.

Confession #4.25: I also like Art Nouveau style art. You can obviously guess who was up to date with DeviantArt fads.

Confession #4.5: I read many Regency Romances and liked them too. Though that one is not too embarrassing to admit as long as they're "literature" and not the ones with pulpy Fabio covers.

2011

Pointless goggles everywhere omg

spBRUUD.jpg

2012

At one point I wanted to make my own steampunk themed comic book. But I drew cool things and cool scenes and realised that cool scenes of people jumping off airships and explosions and stuff don't tell a story, and filling in the bits between cool scenes was boring so I never finished.

OcIXoCW.jpg

2015

My OC was pretty cool. It's a shame that designed everything around COOL and never actually got around to making a plot and giving her a name.

Why does she have white hair? NO ONE KNOWS. Not even me.

CYYkyBb.jpg

2011

Oh Mr Knightley, Mr Rochester, Mr Darcy, Sir Percy, I swoon...!!!

Proportions are off and at this point I cared more about *pretty clothes* than getting the anatomy right. The shoulders are too narrow and the head is too big proportionally. I was too used to "cartoon proportions" and drawing pretty girls wearing pretty clothes.

As a side note, I liked the style of the Regency/Georgian high collar cutaway riding coat so much that the Kholin Army officer 1.0 design had one.

4EDOGwN.png

2014

Confession #5: Not really embarrassing, but I think WWII propaganda posters are pretty cool, especially the ones from Germany and the Soviet Union. They are very well made for a time when they had no computers for graphic design and mass media brainwashing was in its infancy. I appreciate the artistry behind them, but people will think you're a whackjob if you want to frame prints for your walls like vintage film posters.

Paper and pencil sketch:

fhxHHNT.jpg

Picked my colour palette. It was drawn on printer paper so the colours are all patchy and bleeding. I can't do more than basic colour blocking without tearing a hole through the thin paper.

ra34ssA.jpg

This was originally drawn to be the cover of an online magazine. But a few people showed interest in it afterwards, so now there is a physical version hanging in a friend's office.

dHLAZIJ.jpg

2015

Confession #6: I like going to thrift stores because I'm a filthy hipster. I get excited when there are shoeboxes full of postcards at estate sales. I once went to a Postcrossing convention at a carboot sale, and there were 5 other people there. All of them except me were over the age of 45.

I got annoyed that people were asking $25 for a water-damaged dog-eared card, even though it was 100 years old. So I made my own set of pre-WWI Colonial Australia cards. And people liked them better than the real thing when we were swapping, so that's a plus.

I like the way these types of colonial houses look. Very quaint and rustic and part of Australian cultural heritage, but if you are a modern Australian you would not want to live in one. They have outdoor plumbing and no electricity so if you don't have candles, oil lamps or torches/flashlights you will have to stumble your way in the dark to go the dunny. And there are always sheep hanging around these types houses (only found in rural areas today) so you will also step in poop.

kOhEAsY.jpg

Looking at my old art was a cringefest. Even things I drew last year or in 2014 make me go bleurgh.

I have been drawing for a very long time but still I think I have much room to improve. When I sketch doodles on napkins or in the margins of pages, sometimes people look over my shoulder and say things like "Wow, you're good, I could never draw like that!". But you can, yes you can. Anyone can. All you have to do to level up is grind XP.

I have to admit. WHen i first saw your art, and compared it to mine, i felt SUPER JEALOUS. But, afterseeing this. I understand. YOu have more practice and have been doing it llonger. I guess i can't complain. I'll get good by the time that i'm older

Steampunk is cool. Like bow ties and fezzes, it will always be cool. I don't even care if the gears don't do anything they just look cool, dagnabbit.

And this stuff is fantastic. I have just enough drawing skills that I can kinda sorta sketch out some of my costume designs, but that's about it.

I agree. Steampunk is awesome. I am writing a story wher Steam is the magic, and the types of metal the Gears are made of make the objects do different things. It also gives a good explaination of why Steampunk people wear goggles

https://youtu.be/UOueMzKYbP0

Edited by CarolaDavar
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steampunk is cool.  Like bow ties and fezzes, it will always be cool.  I don't even care if the gears don't do anything they just look cool, dagnabbit.

And this stuff is fantastic.  I have just enough drawing skills that I can kinda sorta sketch out some of my costume designs, but that's about it.

 

I readily admit that it is pretty cool.  The problem that I had with steampunk, that led my interest to tail off, is that most of the time (at least in YA fiction and other trendhopping novels from around 2010) the steampunk is just for flavour and when you think about the fictional worlds deeply, it's not well explained, or explained at all.  It would make sense if a steampunk Victorian London exists because it is an alternate history where electricity was discovered earlier, but backstory is rarely mentioned.  And often they had mechanical Rube Goldberg machines to do housework, but somehow everyone still had valets and chimney sweeps and hallboys.  It's like the goggles and the cogs on top hats.  Why????  After a certain point I had trouble overlooking bad plots and wishy-washy worldbuilding, and that was when I knew I had outgrown the subgenre, and a lot of YA writing in general.

 

I love costume designs too.   If you prefer drawing clothes over drawing people, you could print out some figure outlines from fashion design courses and draw on those (WARNING: they do tend to have overexaggerated proportions and super long legs).  Saves time if you struggle with anatomy and don't care to make a study of it - it's what clothes designers and cosplayers do.

 

 

 

I have to admit. WHen i first saw your art, and compared it to mine, i felt SUPER JEALOUS. But, afterseeing this. I understand. YOu have more practice and have been doing it llonger. I guess i can't complain. I'll get good by the time that i'm older

I agree. Steampunk is awesome. I am writing a story wher Steam is the magic, and the types of metal the Gears are made of make the objects do different things. It also gives a good explaination of why Steampunk people wear goggles

 

Wow, jealousy?  That was really unexpected and now really weird.  Because it was always me, for years and years, who felt bad about how much I sucked when looking at other artists.   I stopped feeling salty a few years ago because, after a certain amount of self-indulgent self-pity, I changed my thinking from "Why do I suck so hard?" to "What is stopping me from getting good?".

 

And these days, occasionally, I see art by my favourite deviantArt cartoonists reposted elsewhere, and I can pick out small errors that I never saw before, and I can say that I could do something just as good.  It is a weird feeling. Your analytical and observational awareness increasing is just one sign that you know you're improving.

 

 

 

sheep, you may think that your older stuff was bad or even cringeworthy, but I am jealous of it! I admire every single piece you posted.

 

That sudden role reversal, it means a lot to me. 

I willingly admit that there are things I really really suck at and I'm uncomfortable drawing, though.  For example, I cannot draw anime/manga style.   I tried to draw Saber from Fate/Stay Night looking at a sheep but what the heck. 

 

Nw37E6w.png

How do anime faces even work?  I like my cartoons but I tend to keep realistic facial proportions.  Trying to draw anime makes me feel like I'm restarting from level 1.  Even worse if it's robot anime, like Gundam. 

 

 

 

 

 

And because I'm doing all this soul-searching and confession-making, why not share my personal sketchbooks with you guys.  Before I draw things digitally, my first impressions after reading a book are done on paper.  They're my instant impressions, without the thought and explanations that usually accompany my digital works.   I do paper sketches when experimenting with things, like costume designs.  That is why they're never as polished as I'd prefer.  (And also, they were never intended for showing other people.)

 

4XHwDPP.jpg

 

This is how my character designs were born.  I originally pictured Shallan like an Earth art student, with crazy frizzy hair  that she pinned up with random pencils.  Since her calling was natural history, I thought of the teacher from Magic School Bus when I drew it Design #1.  But then WoR came out and it said she wore her hair down...and this is how character designs evolve.   

 

I drew a design for a high collar cutaway tailcoat for the Kholin Army officer uniform, like a tailed tuxedo dinner jacket.  It would leave room for grabbing a side knife or side sword easily.  But then the coat wouldn't flap around Kaladin's knees when he flies, as described in WoR, so I changed it.  It could still be a summer uniform coat, though.

 

 

 

 

AliITVS.jpg

 

And here's something about my digital art style.  I mainly draw in three levels of detail.

1.  Hyperstylised - this is when expression, emotion and pose are more important than being precise, accurate or detailed.  It's the fastest, and useful when I need to draw many versions of the same thing, like for a comic book strip or an animation. 

2.  Stylised/cartoon - honestly, I would say this is my comfort zone in terms of style, even though having a comfort zone is something that makes art teachers annoyed with you.   I use realistic proportions that are stretched slightly to convey a character's personality.  It shows my impression of a character, but cartoons are far enough away from reality that your mind can fill in the blanks. 

3.  Digital painting -  time consuming omg.    If you do it right, not only are you depicting the shape of your idea as you do with a cartoon, you also give it texture and weight.  My words sound artsy fartsy but it's hard to describe.   With a cartoon you're transferring your mental image into something physical, equivalent to a slap.  When you've got the full works going on, digitally painted scene with characters and background and atmosphere, that's full impact, like body slam with a folding chair thrown in.   That is the impression from the person who sees your art.   But again, it's time consuming, and often you find yourself fiddling and frustrated with something that isn't working out. 

4. would be photorealistic digital painting for highest level of detail.  But I shy away from this for fictional characters' faces.  Because you need photo references to do this right (unless you're going to use a mirror) and it's too easy to take too much from a stock model or famous actor rather than your mental imagery.  Use your realism skills for background or prop art, ie, fabrials, Shardblades, spheres. 

 

 

When you go up levels of detail, you have to figure out how much of your own style you want to incorporate.  Drawing from life, even though I do it regularly, is something I do for "exercise" and learning.  You have to find a balance if you want to improve your skills but still keep what is you in your art.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I readily admit that it is pretty cool.  The problem that I had with steampunk, that led my interest to tail off, is that most of the time (at least in YA fiction and other trendhopping novels from around 2010) the steampunk is just for flavour and when you think about the fictional worlds deeply, it's not well explained, or explained at all.  It would make sense if a steampunk Victorian London exists because it is an alternate history where electricity was discovered earlier, but backstory is rarely mentioned.  And often they had mechanical Rube Goldberg machines to do housework, but somehow everyone still had valets and chimney sweeps and hallboys.  It's like the goggles and the cogs on top hats.  Why????  After a certain point I had trouble overlooking bad plots and wishy-washy worldbuilding, and that was when I knew I had outgrown the subgenre, and a lot of YA writing in general.

 

I love costume designs too.   If you prefer drawing clothes over drawing people, you could print out some figure outlines from fashion design courses and draw on those (WARNING: they do tend to have overexaggerated proportions and super long legs).  Saves time if you struggle with anatomy and don't care to make a study of it - it's what clothes designers and cosplayers do.

 

 

I enjoyed the Parasol Protectorate books, but I haven't actually read too much other steampunk stuff.  I just love the costuming and the gadgetry in all their pretty, pretty gloriousness.  But I think a lot of the reason I love Mistborn Era 2 so much is because of the sneaky steampunk flavoring that's been slipped in.

 

I am, as it happens, a cosplayer.  I sew.  I make corsets.  I'm working on a crazy armored Jean Grey costume right now.  If you wanna see stuff, poke the link in my sig. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I readily admit that it is pretty cool.  The problem that I had with steampunk, that led my interest to tail off, is that most of the time (at least in YA fiction and other trendhopping novels from around 2010) the steampunk is just for flavour and when you think about the fictional worlds deeply, it's not well explained, or explained at all.  It would make sense if a steampunk Victorian London exists because it is an alternate history where electricity was discovered earlier, but backstory is rarely mentioned.  And often they had mechanical Rube Goldberg machines to do housework, but somehow everyone still had valets and chimney sweeps and hallboys.  It's like the goggles and the cogs on top hats.  Why????  After a certain point I had trouble overlooking bad plots and wishy-washy worldbuilding, and that was when I knew I had outgrown the subgenre, and a lot of YA writing in general.

 

I love costume designs too.   If you prefer drawing clothes over drawing people, you could print out some figure outlines from fashion design courses and draw on those (WARNING: they do tend to have overexaggerated proportions and super long legs).  Saves time if you struggle with anatomy and don't care to make a study of it - it's what clothes designers and cosplayers do.

 

 

 

 

Wow, jealousy?  That was really unexpected and now really weird.  Because it was always me, for years and years, who felt bad about how much I sucked when looking at other artists.   I stopped feeling salty a few years ago because, after a certain amount of self-indulgent self-pity, I changed my thinking from "Why do I suck so hard?" to "What is stopping me from getting good?".

 

And these days, occasionally, I see art by my favourite deviantArt cartoonists reposted elsewhere, and I can pick out small errors that I never saw before, and I can say that I could do something just as good.  It is a weird feeling. Your analytical and observational awareness increasing is just one sign that you know you're improving.

 

 

 

 

That sudden role reversal, it means a lot to me. 

I willingly admit that there are things I really really suck at and I'm uncomfortable drawing, though.  For example, I cannot draw anime/manga style.   I tried to draw Saber from Fate/Stay Night looking at a sheep but what the heck. 

 

Nw37E6w.png

How do anime faces even work?  I like my cartoons but I tend to keep realistic facial proportions.  Trying to draw anime makes me feel like I'm restarting from level 1.  Even worse if it's robot anime, like Gundam. 

 

 

 

 

 

And because I'm doing all this soul-searching and confession-making, why not share my personal sketchbooks with you guys.  Before I draw things digitally, my first impressions after reading a book are done on paper.  They're my instant impressions, without the thought and explanations that usually accompany my digital works.   I do paper sketches when experimenting with things, like costume designs.  That is why they're never as polished as I'd prefer.  (And also, they were never intended for showing other people.)

 

4XHwDPP.jpg

 

This is how my character designs were born.  I originally pictured Shallan like an Earth art student, with crazy frizzy hair  that she pinned up with random pencils.  Since her calling was natural history, I thought of the teacher from Magic School Bus when I drew it Design #1.  But then WoR came out and it said she wore her hair down...and this is how character designs evolve.   

 

I drew a design for a high collar cutaway tailcoat for the Kholin Army officer uniform, like a tailed tuxedo dinner jacket.  It would leave room for grabbing a side knife or side sword easily.  But then the coat wouldn't flap around Kaladin's knees when he flies, as described in WoR, so I changed it.  It could still be a summer uniform coat, though.

 

 

 

 

AliITVS.jpg

 

And here's something about my digital art style.  I mainly draw in three levels of detail.

1.  Hyperstylised - this is when expression, emotion and pose are more important than being precise, accurate or detailed.  It's the fastest, and useful when I need to draw many versions of the same thing, like for a comic book strip or an animation. 

2.  Stylised/cartoon - honestly, I would say this is my comfort zone in terms of style, even though having a comfort zone is something that makes art teachers annoyed with you.   I use realistic proportions that are stretched slightly to convey a character's personality.  It shows my impression of a character, but cartoons are far enough away from reality that your mind can fill in the blanks. 

3.  Digital painting -  time consuming omg.    If you do it right, not only are you depicting the shape of your idea as you do with a cartoon, you also give it texture and weight.  My words sound artsy fartsy but it's hard to describe.   With a cartoon you're transferring your mental image into something physical, equivalent to a slap.  When you've got the full works going on, digitally painted scene with characters and background and atmosphere, that's full impact, like body slam with a folding chair thrown in.   That is the impression from the person who sees your art.   But again, it's time consuming, and often you find yourself fiddling and frustrated with something that isn't working out. 

4. would be photorealistic digital painting for highest level of detail.  But I shy away from this for fictional characters' faces.  Because you need photo references to do this right (unless you're going to use a mirror) and it's too easy to take too much from a stock model or famous actor rather than your mental imagery.  Use your realism skills for background or prop art, ie, fabrials, Shardblades, spheres. 

 

 

When you go up levels of detail, you have to figure out how much of your own style you want to incorporate.  Drawing from life, even though I do it regularly, is something I do for "exercise" and learning.  You have to find a balance if you want to improve your skills but still keep what is you in your art.

THis. Is. Super. awesome.

Okay. I do cartoons. I tend to draw fast (My art teacher, who draws realism, calls me a speed demon). I want to draw realistically, but almost every time i try,it sucks. Now, Normally (Like with my ponies and cats) I don't let myself give up. I keep drawing the same thing. You can actually DO this with cartoons. But, for realism, I've kind of given up. I try. I mean, for a twelve-year old, I draw amazing. And, the realistic paintings i do in my art class are very real. But all the things i have painted so far are scenery. The thing with realism is, with my cartoons, i can draw the same character over and over (i.e. Adolin Wants a Cookie) But, if you wanna do real, and you wanna do perfect, you can't draw the same thing twenty times in one day. teh last time i finished a realistic painting, it took me almost three months. Three! i can do an entire Adolin Wants a Cookie comic in about a day! Everybody who sees my art(In real life) loves it because they can't do anything better (Exept my art teacher.). In fact, my sister-in-law and my brother both say that i should keep on with graphic design. I like that. My brother was the reason i have my drawing tablet. But, i still want to do realism. I could grow up and become a profesional Graphic designer, and that is most likely. But, what if i want to be a profesional realist? I want to draw stuff lie the cover of WoR, but ikeep letting myself get discouraged. I have not yet found a solution, even throughout the year or so that i have been trying. Ihave gotten better at realism, but it's nothing like how much better I've gotten at cartoons.

I... think i might have spent too much time doing this by now. but. Please, if you might have somehting to helpme (And, Sheep, you have already helped A LOT), I would really appreciate it.

Here, i don't want this to end on a sad note, so I will post this.

https://youtu.be/GxEHi6Mlzmk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I enjoyed the Parasol Protectorate books, but I haven't actually read too much other steampunk stuff.  I just love the costuming and the gadgetry in all their pretty, pretty gloriousness.  But I think a lot of the reason I love Mistborn Era 2 so much is because of the sneaky steampunk flavoring that's been slipped in.

 

I am, as it happens, a cosplayer.  I sew.  I make corsets.  I'm working on a crazy armored Jean Grey costume right now.  If you wanna see stuff, poke the link in my sig. :)

 

I think I read those too - weren't they the werewolf romance novels in Steampunk London?  The series was a character driven romance in intention, and the steampunk-ness was just for prettiness and coolvalue and flavour rather than solid worldbuilding.  Like icing when I wanted cake.  I know I shouldn't judge it that harshly because it's meant to be a light read, but I felt a bit disappointed.  Leviathan was a more thought-out steampunk world (even though biology does not work that way, and walking mechas are realistically impractical) which I felt was immersive, and not bad for a YA series.   I like the Mistborn steampunk!  Many authors find comfort in the medieval stasis for their fantasy worlds, but whenever an author has the confidence to put trains and railroads in their story, I am much more interested.

 

Oh, that was you!  I remember seeing that thread a while ago, and never put two and two together and realised that you were the one with the amazing props.   They are really great, and makes me want to get better at crafting things.  I am shockingly clumsy at things outside of 2D art - I worked on cosplay armour last year and I cut myself more than a few times with penknives and boxcutters. 

 

 

 

 

THis. Is. Super. awesome.

Okay. I do cartoons. I tend to draw fast (My art teacher, who draws realism, calls me a speed demon). I want to draw realistically, but almost every time i try,it sucks. Now, Normally (Like with my ponies and cats) I don't let myself give up. I keep drawing the same thing. You can actually DO this with cartoons. But, for realism, I've kind of given up. I try. I mean, for a twelve-year old, I draw amazing. And, the realistic paintings i do in my art class are very real. But all the things i have painted so far are scenery. The thing with realism is, with my cartoons, i can draw the same character over and over (i.e. Adolin Wants a Cookie) But, if you wanna do real, and you wanna do perfect, you can't draw the same thing twenty times in one day. teh last time i finished a realistic painting, it took me almost three months. Three! i can do an entire Adolin Wants a Cookie comic in about a day! Everybody who sees my art(In real life) loves it because they can't do anything better (Exept my art teacher.). In fact, my sister-in-law and my brother both say that i should keep on with graphic design. I like that. My brother was the reason i have my drawing tablet. But, i still want to do realism. I could grow up and become a profesional Graphic designer, and that is most likely. But, what if i want to be a profesional realist? I want to draw stuff lie the cover of WoR, but ikeep letting myself get discouraged. I have not yet found a solution, even throughout the year or so that i have been trying. Ihave gotten better at realism, but it's nothing like how much better I've gotten at cartoons.

I... think i might have spent too much time doing this by now. but. Please, if you might have somehting to helpme (And, Sheep, you have already helped A LOT), I would really appreciate it.

Here, i don't want this to end on a sad note, so I will post this.

https://youtu.be/GxEHi6Mlzmk

 

When you want to draw realistically from life, you have to start simple to get the basics down.  That's understanding shade and light (value) and perspective, pretty much.  The way I was taught was through charcoal drawings of fruitbowls on tablecloths in semi-darkness with an overhead lamp.   It makes things easier when you have only one light source.  You draw your fruit for 30 minutes, then move a metre to the left and start again, because the viewing angle changes everything.  It's incredibly tedious, and in a karate movie it would be making the kid rake leaves for 2 weeks straight, but in the end you start to get a feel for how light and dark work with different textures and how it bounces and reflects off different shapes. 

 

iHOdjxu.jpg

Not my art, but an example.  They tell you to start as light as you can and gently go darker, because learning pencil control is important, and using too much black takes away the contrast and sense of space.

 

As for being a "professional realist", I don't think that's an actual job name.  :lol:

In most circumstances, it's good to have the skills to draw photorealistically, but you have to have developed your own style or "voice" in art because otherwise people would just use cameras.  Michael Whelan's art (SA cover guy) doesn't draw ultra realistically.  He understands how light and colour work for realistic subjects, and uses it to paint backgrounds and clothes and props, but his faces are still stylised enough that you wouldn't be able to identify the face model as a specific person or race. 

 

Would it give you some encouragement if I told you I think your skills are better than mine when I was your age?  Especially in digital art.  And even now, I find frustration in finishing digital paintings and often quit before they are finished, only to stumble upon them  years later, buried in my file directory.   Now I've gotten into the habit of leaving sketched concepts in a "time capsule" so I can return when I am more confident in my skills.  Discouragement and despair is not unusual for artists struggling to improve...and sadly I can say that the feeling doesn't go away over time.  The point where you begin to feel perfectly happy and satisfied and comfortable with your art is the point where you begin to stagnate. 

 

 

 

This is my art from 2008.

Why did I keep drawing huge heads without noticing how huge they were???

nmM7rCF.png

 

This is "put on ice" work that I started in 2013, and then picked up in 2014, then abandoned, then picked up again in 2015.

I'm still not totally happy with it, so I will probably re-work it in a few months.    So yeah...it takes me years to finish something sometimes.

zbPVW3O.jpg

 

 

I wish I could help you more, but when you are learning the basics, it's better to have someone in front of you to demonstrate and explain.  There are probably YouTube vids out there though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...