Art Help

Okay so I thought I'd make a topic where we can ask each other questions/advice on artwork :).

So for starters, I have a question. I want to somehow get my sketches from my sketchbook to look like this: http://bri-chan.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=0#/d32pfq5 in terms of line smoothness.

I have managed to get it at one point to look like this: http://loyalsubject.deviantart.com/gallery/8478047#/d33vkrc but as you can see, it still isn't the same.

the description in the art example i showed says the artist just used pencils....so im still trying to figure out how to do that. i've looked for some tutorials on this but can't seem to find a good one. so yeah...if anyone knows how to do that or has some other questions, post them here :)

You first need to create the line art, erasing only goes so far. After much trial and error the results will show. So what you should do is copy the perfect lines onto a new piece of paper. Try putting a light underneath an opening so you can trace it carefully.

Also Bri-Chan is a more developed artist on DA, so she or he's had a lot of practice. Practice makes perfect or better, whichever you prefer.

As for my art, I'm always trying to better myself. So if you see something that could use some more work don't hesitate to tell me.

^so by creating line art, you're saying i need to create thicker pencil lines on the perfect lines?

i also did this a while ago as well: http://loyalsubject.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=48#/d2mx39g. in the scan, the lines look completely different than how they are drawn in my book. they don't appear as jagged in my sketchbook. im sure there's got to be some tool on photoshop to fix this problem but what it is i don't know.

i only started to question this further because of the last thing i scanned into my computer (the tinkerbell pastel). i mean, the scanned image looks horrible compared to the actual thing. im sure im not the only one with this problem but ive seen a lot of traditional art that looks really good being scanned in. im not sure if it's because of the scanner im using or if there's some sort of effect they put on their artwork in photoshop to make it look cleaner that i just don't know about.

im pretty sure there's a way to do it on the computer. only because i can't imagine so many 'clean' artists on dA when there's a lot of messy 'top notch' animators like glen keane: http://photos1.blogger.com/photoInclude/blogger/508/2740/1600/untitl26%20copia%202.0.jpg

Yes, I just did that with my latest DA art piece. The amount of detail noticeable was way better than the original piece.

If you're afraid of messing up the original, scan it, print it, and than work on the copy. If you mess up, no biggie you can always print another!

Also scanners make a difference as well. The one I have just sucks. It's an all in one hp printer, which I've heard some rather undesirable comments about on Amazon and other places. If you want perfect scans you need to be willing to fork out the extra money.

I'm actually considering doing that eventually lol. I'm just tired of my hard work being ruined by bad quality products.

Some animators go back and clean up or retrace their original animations. They look smoother, but some like that messy result. I actually like it to, it has it's own charm.

http://freedombrigade.deviantart.com/art/Airship-Engineer-190640643?q=gallery%3Afreedombrigade%2F7859028&qo=0

^ That's the piece I'm referring to. It's an idea that's been stuck in my head for ages. I have lots of papers of all sorts of stuff for it.

This in particular is a military engineer for airships preferably and other types of machinery.

I tried to make her look feminine, but I'm not sure if it just looks like a man with long hair. People always tell me to just draw large breasts, but that's such a stupid suggestion. (I refuse to do that)

Does it look like a female? Also anything else you want to critique or comment on, be my guest!

^ omg i think we have the SAME printer/scanner. I have an hp all in one too!

i can't really make copies because my mom doesn't want me using ink on that stuff. she has to buy ink all the time because of my sisters...they use ink like crazy. they also don't anyone when the ink is gone either =p.

i also prefer messy sketches over clean ones. which is why it's super annoying to work with them when you want to scan them with a crappy scanner lol XD.

as for your picture, you don't have to necessarily make her have big breasts. they just need more shape to them. right now, it looks like she should have big breasts but they're not shaped enough. so you can either give her big breasts or you can give her smaller ones but they need more shape. unfortunately, i don't completely know how to do that. it only works sometimes for me XD. sometimes you have to shade her clothing to give them more shape. and sometimes it just works on its own. honestly, the best way to practice is to draw a girl with skin tight clothing first. and i mean really skin tight. or do a skeletal type of sketch first.

but yeah, that's what i would suggest doing. making breasts bigger just because you want to show someone is a woman is degrading and stupid. that's part of the reason why so many women now want breast additions <_<. if it's part of their character, that's another story =p. <= sorry, that was a mini rant type of thing XD.

Damn computer...

Erm...part of her thickness of her whole body (upper body) is because of her uniform. Or at least I tried to convey it that way. It's a wool uniform, not the fuzzy warm wool blankets, but real quality wool. If you look at a real wool uniform, you'll notice how extremely thick it is. And how brutal it can to wear one at Summer lol.

http://www.reww2.com/images/UNM40new.JPG

http://www.astronomy-pictures.net/telescopes/telescope-image-large/ww2-us-army-od-wool-uniform-great-coat-overcoat-lot_120642344085.jpg

http://cdn3.ioffer.com/img/item/169/450/099/FmTvaj1nnY8Fv6X.jpg

Pants:

http://www.sewingcentral.com/images/106front.jpg

http://www.butternuts-and-bluecoats.com/jeanclothtrousersback1.jpg

As you can see by checking these pants and shirts out, you'll notice that they are thick. The pants are thicker than that of jean material and when someone wears them, they look more awkward and or larger.

It's sort of because wool is a more difficult fabric to work with and sew. Maybe it didn't work out as well as I would had hoped.

Oh yeah and the stripes on her front aren't being pushed or bent due to her breasts. (If you're using that for a measure of her girth or whatever)

http://www.fielddrums.com/uploaded_images/CW-Drummer-703040.jpg

I more or less referenced off of the drummer boy's uniforms during the Civil War, but not this photo.

^ oh then i have no idea lol. i get what you mean though in terms of how certain clothing covers that. i wouldn't have any other suggestions then.

Her breast size doesn't really concern me. That's probably like the least...if she appears female, great!

Though thanks for the comments and taking the time! I have some others as well, I might upload them to.

(This might be my idea for my senior project, which I talked to you about earlier in the year.) Do you think this style or character design looks adequate?

the only thing I would say is her eyes look crossed-eyed. try moving them or adding to the eye so that they don't look that way.

I tried spacing the eyes out and lol...it looked like the opposite way of cross eyes. Way too goofy. I'll have to work on that later lol.

Also what do you think about these hats? I've been trying to work them out so that they're sort of like a time period of the 18th/19th century military, but not by copying a design.



Top to bottom and left to right.

Engineer, Admiral (for airships), Artillery (mostly manning airships), and Infantry.

those are really good Lee! the first one and the bottom left look the best I think. i dont know what the actual hats look like but the top right one looks like it might be just a tad bit too big on the person's head.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Thanks! For the bottom right, I actually kind referenced a Civil War hat of mine. I love wearing it at reenactments, even though it's for the Mexican American War. (They still used them, if they were still in good condition during the Civil War)

The bottom left is a shako, the longer version without the puffy plumes, and I tried to make the Engineers hat the least flashy.

There's actually two versions for the Engineer (the one the full bodied girl is wearing, which is more formal, a Kepi and this one.)

As for the hat you mentioned, I like the design. I'll just have to shrink it or enlarge the guys face next time lol.

Also Merry Christmas! I hope everything goes well for you!

^ yeah, i like the design too, the head and hat are off a little in terms of proportions.

and same to you. i hope Christmas is going/went well for you :)

okay, i have another question!!

does anyone by any chance know what types of brushes these artists are using?

http://loyalsubject.deviantart.com/#/d38amdo

http://loyalsubject.deviantart.com/favourites/?offset=24#/d35lr8t

ive been looking in photoshop but i can't figure out what brushes they are. i watched some of the artists on livestream but the screen was so small i couldn't see what brushes they were using.

if they downloaded extra brushes, what types of brushes are these? like, are they oil brushes, acrylic, etc? cause i haven't got a clue XD.

They're using the pumpkin and motoroil brush...I don't know lol. Bonus points for me if you ask what those are!

Lee you're the artist, you're supposed to know these things XD.

im guessing they're some sort of oil brushes. >.<

Hey! I'm a traditional artist. I don't know much about software. I'm still learning...though if you need to know, why not ask them?

because they usually don't answer right away cause they're popular. and i need to know asap because i want to color a picture i did for my mom's b-day using those brushes ._.

Try going to a software or photoshop forum, preferably adobe and asking the question. They're more likely to be of better help than a too popular member or me lol.

oh yeah...i didnt think of that.

i just wanted to let everyone know, my 'friend' showed me a program called Paint Tool Sai. in my opinion, it focuses more on traditional painting. like, the apple tree watercolor i did, when i mixed colors, it acted as normal paint would rather than what photoshop does. so, if you want that more 'natural' way of painting without buying the actual paints and making a mess, i recommend doing it in SAI on one layer.

Sounds interesting, I'll have to look into it. Although I have the entire Adobe suite, so I think I'm good for now lol.

oh you do? can you tell me what the heck Illustrator is then? i mean, my sister's been using it in her class but every time i ask her what it is, she doesn't explain it very well. like, what's the difference between illustrator and photoshop?

Illustrator is for typography and text illustration. There's just more features for text and photoshop is for imagery.

oh ok