how to draw Anime-Style ?

[Thurosis]

I watched many pics in the Gallery and i ask my myself how you guy create pics/Coloring like a pros! (But How???)

Now i ask:

Please/onegai/Bitte/s'il vous plait! Teach/tell me how!  ;269

Added after 2 minutes:

for example like this:


Added after 1 minutes:

Or like this:



(if someone can teach me that would be great!)

[C-Chan]

*sigh*  See my Private Message.... -___-

Added after 16 hours 37 minutes:

Alright, first thing to do is agree that this thread is a picture thread.  That way, we can post larger pictures or repost preexisting ones without worry.

Second:  You have to ask yourself the philiosophical question...

Are you really drawing like a "pro" or just trying to imitate a style you admire?

Maybe two you or me, this style of art seems professional:



But I can assure you, to 80% of people in the world (or more), it's actually quite childish and unprofessional.

In contrast, I can assure you quite a number of those people would better appreciate your style of drawing, as seen here:



It may not be cel-shaded, but the presentation is excellent and the colored-pencil feel to it does give the viewer the sense that a lot more effort was put into making it.  I've definitely seen manga covers drawn in that style before, and it is a universally-accepted notion that manga art is of better quality than Anime cel-art.

Once you've thought that through (and hopefully a few people will pitch in some opinions as well), then you let me know if you really want to downgrade your art style.  -v-

[redrackham]

Well...i'm not a pro but i can give you some advice.
Try to imitate some picture you like, do it every day and you will gain a lot of drawing skills.
To coloring a pict...try mastering drawing software (photoshop or if you like free soft, try Gimp).

[Thurosis]

Thanks C-Chan again and again! (you safed me by consulting now the third time or so o.O")

I was/going to betraying myself ...   ;015  That's true, what you said, if i do that i will betray my own drawing style...


(btw i agree this is a picture thread)

[Raffaele the Amigan]

Thanks C-Chan again and again! (you safed me by consulting now the third time or so o.O")

I was/going to betraying myself ...  That's true, what you said, if i do that i will betray my own drawing style...

Nope...  ;014

As you strongly desire to be a professional, then you want to learn how many techniques of drawing as possible.

This is a point of respect for you, because it demonstrated you want TO EVOLVE, and not being stuck forever into your little garden of good artist, (sure good one) but with limited capabilities to pratice techniques...

Then, once you had had learned new methods of colorizing, IF you will apply new techniques or not, it will be only matter just by your own judgement.

But sure the fact you will explore new solutions will made you more praticed and skilled.

Don't worry!

You will not renounce your style, neither you will betray yourself.  ;012

[C-Chan]

Evolution is a given for anyone who practices something on a regular basis.  Case in point, Thurosis wanted sharper color, so he began the practice of using digital paint (Photoshop, etc.).  He wanted better and smaller GIFs, he eventually sought out ImageReady.

But the idea of "professional" is an extremely subjective term, so in trying to aim for professional, he as an artist is inherently making the decision to consciously imitate something.

Not saying that's bad,.. I myself am ALL about imitation, because I love imitating things (like a master coin forger... ^__^).
But if you respect your own artwork (not all people do), then you have to take steps to ensure that imitation is used to enhance your work, and not replace it entirely.  -.-

For that reason, it's better to think this through strategically,... select a small component that you want to be able to draw, set that as your goal, then take steps to learn how to reach that goal.

Digital paint was one solution.  It saves money and produces clean and rich imagery (if used properly, which he's done so far). -v-

The question is, what other SPECIFIC things does Thurosis admire about those pictures that he wants to see carried over in his work?

The hair?  The highlights?  The stiff shading?  the way the clothing flows?  The modern variations of eye patterns?  etc etc...

Perhaps thinking through this in that kind of logical progression helps ease these techniques into his style (evolution, if you want to call it that... -v-).  Especially when he's drawing as a hobby and not being paid for it, we can afford to make such a thing nice and slow....  -.-

[Thurosis]

I want to improve my skills! but I i don't want to imitate someone or downgrade my arts/chars

The question is, what other SPECIFIC things does Thurosis admire about those pictures that he wants to see carried over in his work?

The hair?  The highlights?  The stiff shading?  the way the clothing flows?  The modern variations of eye patterns?  etc etc...

You hit the point C-Chan! I want to shade better, better highlightings etc etc.
Because in the past few weeks i thought about my arts (good in their own way) but  arn't good enough ((but love/like those pics) so i was frustrated and i was more frustrated as i saw that my progression was going to stuck -.-

I like/love those characters that i disgned and i always (still) want to see my own chars in anime-cel style and or animated (becasue this give me the feeling that they are alive)(maybe i have/put too many deep feelings in  that...)

Want to know why I put so many feelings in it?
here is the story (read it only if you want to know more about me)

I was always lonely when i was a small kid becasue (i was a chinese in germany) (i was different) from classmates so i was bullied a long time) and this caused that I was afraid to go outside. (and i had no friends)
So at home i always read mangas and watch Animes and i thought those anime-chars were real persons... (they were my only "friends" at those time and i always want to be with them)
i started to draw because i thought i could change the fate of those anime-characters in the series ;013,
I was shocked too after i notice that those characters weren't real and that i couldn't change anything... ;026
i have a older sister (who was born with the talent to draw) who always  said to me that i will never be so good like her... (so i was enviously to my sister and other artists)
so i stoped to draw because, since then i was thinking that only people born with "that" talent  can draw... (And after the shock i always said if i only can... if i only can...)
After some years when i was 14 and was in singpore(holidays) i saw normal kids drawing! those pics arn't bad or good ether but they could draw! So i started again with 15.
With some kind of iron-will and after three(now four) years of troubles, i reached a small part of my (life)wish/dream ... I can draw.

Many thing of my own character changed. So i'm not enviously anymore to all artists and my sister who could draw better than me...
(this isn't a detailed story of my life but i hope you all undersant me a little bit better)

Added after 5 minutes:

back to main subject/theme

I want to see/use those techniques in my wn arts... how did you do that c-chan??? the coloring, highlighting, etc etc...

[C-Chan]

Thank you for telling me that,... your story finally gives me an idea of where you're coming from and what your main goal is.  Once I know what your goal is, I know how I can help you.  -v-

Stand by, I'll give you a very quick demonstration of what my own technique is (hopefully others will tell you how they go about it).

Don't worry if you don't see any activity from me even though I still show up in the forum registry, since I'm still technically working (from home) and simultaneously fiddling with the sound test.  ^___^'

Added after 2 hours 8 minutes:

First a preamble, skip if you want to ....

=========================

In some ways, I suppose your story mirrors mine a little.  Not that I was ethnically different from the kids I went to school with, but because I was literally the only boy in my [intermediary] school  that cared about studying.  You either goof off or you don't, and since I vehemently chose not to, I would be made to suffer for it.  I graduated from that hellhole with top honors and all that jazz.  But I still felt angry nonetheless because I knew that I didn't excel because I was intelligent, rather because everyone else was an idiot.  I left there learning nothing except how to fight, how to survive with people which just never gave a damn about bettering themselves.  In other words, I felt my life and time squandered.... I suppose at least half of my current cynicism about many things can be traced back to these years.

So I guess it's no surprise that once I began to draw (pre-Anime style), I also got attached to my characters because I pictured them as crafting an ideal society.  Everything that I saw wrong in the world, they managed a solution.  Any technological or architectural idea that I imagined would better the world, they would use.  Any vista that I would yearn to see (like a beautiful sunset on a beach) I would try to craft on paper in any way I could (then colored pencils).

While I was not anti-social per se, I did shut myself off from the workings of the world for a while, given how engrossed I was in this perfect world of mine.

But just like how I imagine you had to learn to make real friends, I also had to eventually snap my head back to reality.

I don't regret the decision, since being involved in the ways of the world is not only interesting, but offers you the chance to do SOMETHING about it.  `v'

Participation is everything,... as long as you keep yourself active doing something constructive, there's no reason why you should feel smaller than anyone else.  -v-

========================

Now then, a little mandatory pep talk about Anime style....

Added after 45 minutes:

I'll start with more philosophy if you don't mind, since it's just as important to keep the right mindset as it is to learn tangible techniques.  -v-

Many years ago, when I want to an Anime Convention center, I watched a panel of American and Japanese manga artists.  A question was raised near the end by someone who wanted to know how to draw heads,... their shape, eyes, size, hair, etc....

It took a little while for the panelists to really say anything since the questions up until now were very philosophical rather than technical.  Finally, one of the Japanese artists took to drawing a shape, and then trying to explain very technical details about shades, lights, the position of the eyes, and so on....

But for whatever reason, it didn't seem to register to the person who asked the question or to much of the crowd as there were general murmurs and chuckles (as if it was something they couldn't understand).  In the end, one of the American panelists cut the discussion short and simply ended with something lazy like "Just draw however you feel like" or "draw as best you can" or something like that.  -v-

In any case, that made me very angry.  They could've gotten it if they tried to understand, but they didn't even have the decency to listen to the man.  What kind of message does that kind of thing send about Westerners?  That they could never possibly match the creative output of Japanese artists, because they can't take things seriously?  That maybe they're reluctant to study, to analyze, to treat their art as much as a science or a craft rather than just a mere hobby?  A curiousity better that they love and envy, but already convinced themselves that they would never be able to match?

To that I say Bull Biscuits, and my efforts to imitate the Japanese Anime style are in part to prove to myself that drawing this gorgeous style is not an impossibility.  I also do it to express my admiration and solidarity for the art style and its many benefits, especially in the region of the world I live where Anime art is very rare.  -v-

The one misconception about Anime is that it's simply an art style,... angular characters with choppy frames and big eyes.  But Anime is also both a serious industry and a story-telling mechanism.

Behind the gorgeous movies and OVAs we watch, there are brainstorming sessions, cost-cutting measures, staff management issues, equipment handling, script-writing, and most importantly, deadlines.  The art is a delicate balance of trying to develop your work as quickly, cheaply and efficiently as possible, while still maintaining the mass market appeal, which nowadays is crisp clean lines, vibrant colors, bold shades and highlights, properly-blended use of CG effects, and of course cute girls.

The primary goal, however, is to develop the kind of fresh and original storylines -- and deep, endearing characters -- that have always been a staple of their loyal customers.

Thanks to the intelligent and efficient use of artistry and new technology/techniques, the industry has adapted wonderfully well against a growing international audience and increasing costs,  
One would think the animation quality would degrade,.. and while it has to a certain extent compared to the rich hand-drawn animation of before, it has more than compensated by giving us greater detail, faster action, vibrant colors, cuter characters, stronger woman, and remarkable stories!  That's the kind of goal-orientation that produced such gems as the Rozen Maiden that you like so much.  ^__^

I think I talked too much, so I better start real examples tomorrow after you've digested all this stuff.  -v-

But if you haven't done so already, start trying to think along the lines of a director or anime producer, and make some decisions about what you're hoping to produce, how fast you want it done, what equipment you need to invest in, what kind of technical "special effects" you want to utilize, what kind of script you're trying to follow to make your characters alive and 3-dimensional, and, most importantly, how can you improve inefficiencies that will hinder your progress, but not diminish the market value of your artwork (don't make them TOO shoddy).  -v-

While you're thinking about this, I want you to consider this as your goal,... take one of your favorite ORIGINAL characters and one of your favorite OS-TANS, and come up with a scene (or a comic) where the two can believably interact.  The reason I'm asking is because I strongly believe you will have greater enjoyment and pride if you can apply this new mindset to your OWN work just as well as you can to someone else's.  ^__^

Don't draw it yet, just sleep on it for a while.  The drawing part we'll take step-by-step.  That will be our goal from now, until as long as it takes.  -v-

Added after 29 minutes:

BTW, I'm going to start with a demonstration of the kind of shading I do.  I will start with Inkscape since that's what I use, but I'll also show you how I used to do that in Photoshop as well so you can see if that technique can be useful to you.

[Thurosis]

C-Chan you are amazing! You understand me! ^_^

My parents (they are good parents in my opinion) tried to understand me but they didn't understand why i like to draw ... -.- but you do!!! I'm so happy becasue I found someone who can see that deep (or deeper than i do) in the anime philosophy!

Because my parents don't understand this philosophy so they want:

My parents want that I work in the hotel/restaurant business because everyone (ancestor & etc.) worked in the that business (since 150 or 200 years). I want that the wish from my parents comes true (to keep the traditional things, so i started to work/training(ship) in a hotel). But to be honest i've fun in the hotel business (because it is different)... but it isn't that what i really want to do (forever) since i was grown up with animes...

And like you C-Chan I want a ideal-/perfect world too so I create my own fantasy-world where want to be ... (a world without annonying things)

My parents educate(d) me well, so I can see that many kids & teenagers nowdays are spoiled & dumb. They don't even know how good they have around them.
For example the school/university: In germany you mustn't pay fee to learn. So they don't care about learning/studying. In all other countries you pay a high fee for it!

I really HATE all those teenagers who are childish, spoiled and dumb. They are so unproductive, lazy and don't have manners. The only thing that they can/ care are trends and nothing more. Sometimes they don't even understand simple things (like mathe or english) or each other (reason, action & reaction, Consequences)

They are so easy to get manipulated by the media.

About the theme friends... I had many friends (2 years (when i was 14/15)before i graduated from school) but from all those "friends" there a were only 1 true friend left right now (he & I created this http://www.davidbrucksch.de/ homepage).
I tried to keep contact with all other "friends", but i noticed that they don't want to keep the friendship, they are all to lazy to call back. -.-
   
There three wishes that I really really want, but they 100% never comes true...

1. A world without (social/politicial)problems (War, differences between rich and poor, spoiled childrens etc. ...)
2. Living/real anime characters that i love/like/designed
3. To have adventures/ funny time/ with them  

btw about the japanese

I know them (well or a bit) becasue i was and stayed in japan (tokyo) for two months(summer vacation). I noticed that they are arrogant & egoistcally (not all but many) they always keep the best things in their own country, they don't really like to share (important information) with others, at least not if there are no profit. (in every country is it so but in japan there are more)
All those, i mean most of those good things that we know about japanese (good manners etc.) are fake/not true (like the smile of a waiter). [/b]

Added after 12 minutes:

Btw:

Reason why i draw:

- to be near/see my the characters that i love/like/designed
- to change somthing in this world (even if it impossible)
- to keep the "fantasy"-world alive
- to be a (pro) Manga/Anime Artists-Idol and tell everyone "YOU CAN DO IT"  
- to be acepted in the society
(- to keep a promise a from a childhood girlfriend (had one in my past but i almost forgot about this if we didn't talk about this...)


I'm looking forward to learn it ^^

[Kami-Tux]

Wow.... the last 2 posts left me rather speechless. And in need to defend my fellow Germany even though this is a very difficult task. There are many people who are easy to manipulate, who think only with their eyes. However there are others: interested people with Allgemeinwissen, who do not follow every trend. There are also people who do not mention how much they learn because they think others might consider him/her uncool.

I wish you lots and lats of luckfor your dreams.Even though you might not be able to reach them, they can guide you.

[Thurosis]

Wow.... the last 2 posts left me rather speechless.

hehehe... ^^

And in need to defend my fellow Germany even though this is a very difficult task. There are many people who are easy to manipulate, who think only with their eyes.

true true...

However there are others: interested people with Allgemeinwissen, who do not follow every trend.

I know that but there arn't many like this -.-

There are also people who do not mention how much they learn because they think others might consider him/her uncool.

(offtopic sorry)
In my opinion there nothing "uncool" about to be intelligent... the problem is there are too many dumb teenagers who think to get more knowledge are....ARGHH (sorry i don't know how to they it in english...SORRY)

Meiner Meinung nach gibt es nichts "Uncool"-es daran mehr zu wissen! Das Problem in Deutschland ist, dass es zuviele unterbelichtete/dumme jugendliche gibt, die glauben mehr zu wissen sei "uncool". Diese jugendliche wissen meistens nicht deren Umgebung zu schätzen, die sind meistens auch noch so armselig, dass die andere bzw. im Schulunterricht stören zu müssen um "cool" zu sein. Dadurch fehlt es denen, dann an Bildung und lassen sich leichter durch den Medien manipulieren.

Die jenigen die klug/Intelligent sind, aber trotzdem sich so leicht durch andere beeinflussen lassen, durch das Wort "uncool" sind aber auch nicht viel klüger/intelligenter...
Denn meiner Meinung nach ist es besser "uncool" zu sein und dafür das Wissen zu haben beziehungsweise (bzw). einen Job zu haben, als dafür "Cool" und kein Wissen bzw keinen Job zuhaben...
Außerdem wenn man es gut und geschickt macht kann man beides haben/sein.  

I wish you lots and lats of luckfor your dreams.Even though you might not be able to reach them, they can guide you.

thanks a lot

[Kami-Tux]

Well, in a restaurant one 3 year old is louder than 100 adults... I still believe or hope that we just do not notice those who do value intelligence and knowledge. Call it wishful thinking if you want. And being noisy in class can have oher reasons.

[Thurosis]

This is true there can be other reasons ... but i still don't like those guys

[SleepyD]

man, I can't wait til spring break, then I'll have the time to read all the posts in this forum.

But, I think I should have my say here:

I'm not sure if I'll end up talking in paragraphs, but I may.  We'll see when we get to the end of this reply. heh

As for your histories, I can relate a bit.  Not entirely, since the days of my  being a social outcast ended when I got to high school.  I had a passing interest in art as a young kid.  I would do whatever came to mind when I was in art class, and somehow, those ideas were at times... different. (eg: 1st grade, I use drops of glue to make stars due to the lack of a white crayon)

Anyhoo, as I got older, my sister got really into drawing anime.  I joined in of course.  Well it was a bit discouraging seeing how much better she was, but I kept drawing.  I figured that it didn't really matter if she was better cuz she's been drawing this stuff for a long time now, and I hadn't. She had more experience, basically.  So I kept at it.  Of course, my terrible time management skills kept me from drawing as much as I'd like, but I kept at it.  

I still think she's better than I am, but I don't really care. I mean, it's not like I think about that when I draw. ^^ I think up stuff with my own characters, often when music is playing.  Nothing like an action scene and some rock music. XD OS/2-tan I think was drawn with Inner Universe playing. Well, enough about me.


Ok, maybe a little more about me. (but involving you too. XD)

I did a lot of imitation back then.  I still do.  I drew in the style of the people who I admired.  Also in the style of those who made manga/anime tutorials (in books and online).  

I didn't really think about it at the time, but as I kept doing that, my characters would be drawn using little bits and pieces from other people's styles.  I basically began to see what I liked and didn't like about people's style.  Usually you don't notice what you don't like about the style until you draw it yourself. You have to "feel" it really. Draw what's most appealing and comfortable to you.

Now for coloring. It depends on creativity, talent, and equipment.  First off, I'd decide on either cel-style coloring (like C-Chan's) or a more paint-like coloring (with all the blending and stuffs) I think the latter is what your drawings are leaning toward.  

Looking through your gallery, I am liking what I see. ^^ I'm pretty sure you're using markers, correct? I have little experience in that area, really.  So, sorry if you don't get much technical help with this. How many colors do you have?

In any case, I am loving how you're blending the stuff. All I have to say is, experiment. Do something different every now and then.  If you can't think up anything, I have a suggestion: try and see what happens if you draw lineart in a color other than black. It might be good for backgrounds, so you can bring out the other parts of the pic inked in black.  


Random points on other things:
I avoid the media.  I don't understand why people get sucked into those things.  Find the information yourself, darn you.  Don't let other people tell you what to think you lazy butts.

Ah, the Japanese. I was there for a week. I rather enjoyed it. (I'm not speaking from a position of authority here, but this is what I think)
Yes, many people are nationalistic, hence their "ego".  Now about their polite nature, really it's just how they were taught to act, what's "proper" in their society.  It's not a very individualistic one. It's unlikely to see a person showing their frustration in front of people they don't know. But they were genuinely curious at the antics of my gaijin friends. And that was fun. XD

[C-Chan]

OS/2-tan I think was drawn with Inner Universe playing. Well, enough about me.

GAAAAAAAAH!!!!  SLEEPYD - YOU - ARE -THE -MAN!!!!  ^V^

I too had a lot of action-themed or gloomy music playing when I first drew OS/2-tan (including the soundtrack to 28 days).  ^.^

Coincidentally, 'Inner Universe' was one of them, although I can see it being more useful in that awesome pic you did.  ^v^

Was hoping to make that her theme, but eventually decided to port it over to a CIOST-tan instead (likely VMS-tan).  ON THE OTHER HAND, I would like to use 'Rise' (the opening for GITS 2nd GIG) as OS/2-tan's theme!  ^.^

Anyway, sorry if I might sound a little trite,... I definitely appreciate how much you've all opened your hearts on this thread, and I guess that does reinforce that we all have a lot more in common than we think.  ^___^

Nonetheless, a lot of stuff has come up so my time is limited; besides, I do prefer to keep the focus on the artwork, otherwise the goal-oriented approach I'm trying to emphasize to Thurosis will get lost.  -v-

I think somewhere he approved this thread as a Picture Thread, so i guess I should get started then... ^__^

(BTW, I also approve finding information yourself,... perhaps it could save your life, but it WILL definitely save you money.  ^__^)

*begins typing tutorial*

Added after 34 minutes:

CHAPTER 1:  SHADING IN INKSCAPE [HEADS]

As you know, Inkscape is my favorite vector graphics program that allows you to cimbine and manipulate strokes, paths, shapes and other special effects to create artistic imagery.  Traditionally, the vector graphics have always been precision-based, so except for the introduction of blur tools, pictures have always looked too sharp and cartoony for most purposes.  Fortunately, the modern Anime style builds on this look, making Inkscape a very efficient tool for Anime cel-rendering.

Now then, for this lesson, we're gonna focus just on shading the head.
Below you'll see the half-finished 3.1-sama I drew a little while ago.

First thing is to think like a director, and start to imagine where the light source is coming from (or if there will be more than one).
Notice that I added a 2 o'clock sun to give you an idea of where I want to position the shading.  The length of the shadows are very moderate, indicating that the light is coming slightly forward; if it came from behind her, the shadows would be either too long, or her whole face would be covered in darkness.

I won't go into details on how I constructed her,... just know at least that she's built from various pieces of different shapes, sizes and colors superimposed.



Next, select all components that make up the hair bordering her face (in this case 5) by holding the SHIFT key while you select them.
Once the selection is done, press CTRL+D to duplicate them all and CTRL + + to Unite them all into a single image.  Change the color to better differentiate it from the original hair below:



Next, remove the stroke and convert the path color to a reddish hue (to blend better with the face).  Then, reduce the transparency to about 40% or so, depending on how strong you want your shadows to look.  High contrast between light and dark areas is a staple in Anime, but don't go too overboard.  ^__^



Next, select the original head shape, and press CTRL + D to duplicate it.  The duplicated shape will automatically appear on top of the transparent hair shadow.  



Next, SHIFT select both the duplicated head and the hair shadow, and go to Object>Clip>Set.  The shadow is now confined within the shape of the head.



Next, hit PageDown to move the new shadow down to just shy over the original head shape.  If you miss it (it disappears under the head), just press PageUp to position it over.  Each shape in Inkscape is the equivalent of a Layer in Photoshop, so you can reposition the shapes without necessarily affecting those above or below it.  

While Inkscape does have Layers, I rarely use them except to hide jobs that take up too much memory to display (e.g., heavy blur effects).



Once again, duplicate the head, but this time do it TWICE.  Leave the first duplicate alone, but change the color of the second one and shift it slightly to the right.  (we'd shift it more if the shadows were more dramatic)

Since chibi 3.1-sama has no nose, we needn't worry about nose shadows for this tutorial.  ^.^



Next, select both duplicate heads, then hit CTRL + - to create a boolean Difference cut which leaves only a sliver of the duplicated head.  



Next, reselect the hair shadow, press CTRL + C to copy, reselect the face sliver, and press CTRL + SHIFT + V to paste JUST THE STYLE of the hair shadow.  This means that the sliver inherits the same transparency, giving you an idea of what the shading would look like.  Do any fixes you want here (for example, this would've been an excellent time to add in nose shadows... ^.^).



Finally, select both the sliver shadows and the hair shadows and press CTRL + + to unite them both.  The sliver is automatically pulled down to the level of the hair shadow, and now one massive shadow exists over the face.  



Even though it does look flat, this is standard Anime fare (a good cost-saving measure for animation production).  Moreover, some Anime series go the extra step and create further subdivisions of shading, meaning you would have to add shading over the shading in places where light reaches the least.

Anyway, this concluces today's lesson,.. I wanted it to be simple since it's a very simple time-saving technique, but forgot how long I can make tutorials span.  ^^;

I might do the Photoshop version on Monday.

Added after 10 minutes:

BTW, Thurosis, if you don't mind,... can you please change the name of this thread?  It kind of.................................... worries me  ^^;

Try something like "Anime-Style Drawing", or something like that.  ^.^;