On Topic[less]

[DustiiWolf]

OS-tan Comiket? What's that?

[Nichi]

That'd be the OS-tan comic that Kari was making, but got sidetracked. She uploaded the first few chapters of it a few years ago here, but she's been too busy with Aces High (Her other comic, located here) as far as comics go.

[Bella]

I have so many semi-finished stories that I should actually complete.  There's still a Columbus UNIX series and a PTSS series I should really finish.

Doooooooooooooooooo eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeettttt.
I've been wondering about CB Unix and PTSS-tan for ages. ;^;

someday, i'll get back to the OS-tan Comiket. someday.

I'd give you the same comment I gave Stew, but you're busy with Ace's High so I can let you off the hook. -w-

On a different note, I'm slowly forming ideas for Lynx-tan :3

Post that toast (when you're finished). :3

I feel like i should have something more constructive to post here but i don't. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Chocofreak13]

when I get into a steady rhythm with Ace's High I may work on the Comiket more. I wrote an entire arc for it (with cool action scenes!), so I don't want that to go to waste.

[DustiiWolf]

If i was any good at art i'd do something tan related. Everything looks good in my head but comes out 1/10th the quality i desire...

I'd like to make a comic, or even an animation... but i need to hone my skills first....

[Chocofreak13]

practice practice practice practice practice practice. that is all I can say to you.


and if you think i'm bullshitting you there, consider the following:
my first anime drawings (and this is AFTER I got the book) looked like giant candy bars with grapefruits cut in half and stuck on the "chest" region. with straws poked in the top, and eggs poked on the top of those straws.

let that sink in while you look at something recent.


(I DID post a drawing tutorial on my DA awhile back if you think that'll help any. :\ )

[DustiiWolf]

practice practice practice practice practice practice. that is all I can say to you.


and if you think i'm bullshitting you there, consider the following:
my first anime drawings (and this is AFTER I got the book) looked like giant candy bars with grapefruits cut in half and stuck on the "chest" region. with straws poked in the top, and eggs poked on the top of those straws.

let that sink in while you look at something recent.

(I DID post a drawing tutorial on my DA awhile back if you think that'll help any. :\ )

Still better than me on average...

Thing is, I used to be a lot better than now,  but due to circumstances (long story) which i'd rather not explain, i stopped drawing for a long time... only this year did i really pick it back up for more than an occasional doodle...

Every once in a while, if i have an image to go off of, i can make something decent, like Metra here, but drawing from scratch? My quality has decreased drastically i feel.

[Chocofreak13]

still, the only thing I can really advocate is practice, and if you feel like it, observation. studying the masters can be a real help, and you can learn interesting hints of style that may eventually reflect in your personal style.

if you weren't gearing up for a move soon, i'd also advocate investing in a ball-jointed doll. the 1/6 scale ones are cheap, durable, and can pose 10 times better than an artists' mannequin. some of the softer ones also have some semblance of anatomy, too. (if you do, I recommend Obitsu, they're very basic and sometimes have magnets in the feet for easier posing. google The Junky Spot and you'll find a store with a huge selection for reasonable prices.)

[NejinOniwa]

I was never any good at drawing, but I've been able to fake my way through the worst and do some decent stuff back in the day. I used to be decent enough at sketching, but getting that stuff digitalized never came easy to me.

I am completely rusted by now, though; by far the best work I believe I've done is this thing which actually looked a bit more than half-assed once complete. People keep giving me drawery-related presents all the time though...but I never use them >_>

[Chocofreak13]

still looks nice. ^^

[Nichi]

Indeed ^^

[Balrith]

Practicing a lot is a necessity, as choco has mentioned already. Especially for decent linework.
I've noticed one of the first things to go after I take a break is that my lines become more chickenscratchy again.

For practicing, try imitating some decently famous artists that you like, but do not be fixated on any one single artist. Do studies from life. Look at porn and doujins from an artist's point of view. Think about why they place the lines there and how the lines look. What feelings do different types of lines give the overall piece? Don't worry too much about developing your own style.
Just absorb as much anatomy knowledge as you can. Tracing is an okay place to get started but copying or drawing from reference would be better. What matters is that you're thinking about what you're imitating.

Don't work in a vacuum. Forcing yourself to develop a style and then sticking to it instead of incorporating new things as you learn will just stunt your growth anyways. A style is supposed to be something that comes naturally to you like your own handwriting.
It's a crystallization of all that you have learned and is the way that you automatically choose to represent the world. As long as you're growing as an artist, expect it to change and evolve.
Even many super deformed styles are styles that can only be executed properly only with the necessary amount of underlying anatomy knowledge. The same can be said of the anime style in general.
It is simplified, but not easy. In order to simplify something, you first have to know how it works.


While working on developing your sense of anatomy, also work on drawing from imagination. Draw random characters or characters from reference in new poses. Don't be afraid of drawing hands or feet. Things that you avoid drawing should be practiced until you enjoy it. http://www.posemaniacs.com/ 10 second drawing can help with placing body parts and ratios and cut down on wasted lines.


As for coloring advice, I can't really give any. I'm only getting started in that respect too. Just know that to color properly, one should first have a grasp of how to draw body parts from different angles in order to know where the parts in light and shadow are. Also, it's a good idea to start with only black and white drawings from reference. Get an idea of the light and dark values and what shades of light and dark look good in the overall picture. Then, finally work on playing with hues and saturation and bending colors. Coloring is probably one of the most distinct parts of any one artist's style.

[Chocofreak13]

colouring is a buttload of fun, but in order to introduce light and shadow, you have to think of 2 things. 1, the source of the light. and 2, the shape of the object in light/shadow.

for example, say you were doing sunlight in a picture. the hair would have the typical halo effect you would expect, and underneath that (such as under the bangs, on the sides of the face, and under the chin/down to the shoulders) would be in shadow. then, points that stick out (cheeks, shoulder tops, breast tops if they're showing) may have a slight highlight (this can be super-tricky if you're not careful, so I usually omit it for simplicity's sake since skin isn't super-shiny anyway). parts that are covered by other parts (the body's sides, depending on arm position; under the boobs; skin showing underneath clothing, such as thighs under a skirt) would be in shadow, too.

after that, only shiny stuff would receive a highlight, and depending on the size of the item, it might be easier on the artist to omit it completely. (a necklace from far away would just be a necklace, but if you zoom in on the face, the necklace might show highlights on the chain and pendant.)

of course, with each lighting change, highlights and shadows change dramatically, especially if the light is low or coloured (such as at night). one cardinal rule I can tell you is that highlights on black hair never change. other colours may show up differently in different coloured light, but black's highlights are always either white, blue, or purple (in the case of anime). anything else looks awkward (such as when I thought of using golden on black hair and my teacher told me that it'd look like there was honey in it).

[Balrith]

highlights on black hair never change. other colours may show up differently in different coloured light, but black's highlights are always either white, blue, or purple (in the case of anime). anything else looks awkward (such as when I thought of using golden on black hair and my teacher told me that it'd look like there was honey in it).

I'm going to have to disagree with that. Black hair with touches of red and yellow highlights is a pretty common stylistic choice, although in some cases that starts to fall into the category of color bending.  Doomfest's or Yuumei's styles are good examples. Doom pretty much puts red everywhere and Yuumei's style is heavily based on atmospheric lighting and highlights. Depending on the lighting, touches of yellow green wouldn't go amiss either. As you say, color is heavily context dependent and there are very few absolutes when it comes to coloring.

[Chocofreak13]

this was coming from a guy who had been doing work with coloured pencils (which is what we were using) for between 35-45 years or so. so I would disagree with you, saying that if someone makes the choice to use those colours, it must be a rather stylized piece.

I would never use them, personally. #2tricky4me