Thanqol Learns To Draw!

[Thanqol]

Day 109: Half and Half

Both are bad, so updating twice.

I was trying a thing where I combine anatomy skeletoning with action poses. Arm's off in 1, so are the legs a bit, and I could work more on my shrapnel. 2's coat is wrong, as are the legs and face shape, but the colour scheme looks good. Both are pretty ugly but they were experimental.

EDIT: In retrospect, I see a bunch of fixes I could do without much trouble. I often do, looking back on pictures after a few hours. I have a feeling my process will change when I change up this daily schedule.

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Time: 30m + 45m
Music: All Across The Sky

[Thanqol]

Day 110: Signature

I figure I should at least be able to draw my own mask, right?

Line 1: Basic shapes
Line 2: Emotions
Line 3: Variations
Line 4: Advanced
Line 5: Pony concepts
Line 6: Pony final

Wound up using one of Inkwell's designs for the pony version of the mask rather than kairaven's from the avatar; it's significantly easier to pull off and looks cuter. I can variate between the mask's design and shape in order to convey different emotions and such.

It's both simple and very tricky to use that mask, and it's something I need to practise more.

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Time: 1 Hour 15 mins
Music: Runaway Train

[Trazoi]

I've been meaning to ask: what exactly is your avatar, other than a masked pony?

I'm unsure of what emotions you're trying to convey. I can guess a few, like maybe forlorn for the second in row 2, but for most they look neutral. You could try Nancy Lorenz's 25 Essential Expressions Challenge and see if you can get 25 unique, identifiable expressions from that mask. I think you might need to fudge it and go with expressive eyes though (that's a cheat I have to use with my masked characters).

[Zorg]

Good to see you working with anatomy (and that it's working well for you ).

Day 109 (I'm not really going to go over the others to much as they seemed more technical to me [I was down in Canberra as it happens]) - I'd take heart from the fact you're learnign to pin down the exact elements that aren't working in your composition by yourself.

For the first one shrapnel is something very hard to do, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. The overall pose and dynamism is still good, and aside from the already admitted proportional issues the overall sense of movement is there.

In the secon one the thing that bugs me the most is the hood. The closer edge of the hood should be covering more of the face, especially above the left eye. It probably shouldn't be covering as much of the right side of the face either.


Day 110 - Being a mask it's a challenge to give expression to what is essentially expressionless. You're lacking eyebrows, mouth and pupils/irises to give a vast range of visula cues there. Obviously using a lot of anime tropes helps here, but I don't really see much of a variance between the ones in line 2.

[Domochevsky]

About expressions...

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[Thanqol]

I've been meaning to ask: what exactly is your avatar, other than a masked pony?

I'm unsure of what emotions you're trying to convey. I can guess a few, like maybe forlorn for the second in row 2, but for most they look neutral. You could try Nancy Lorenz's 25 Essential Expressions Challenge and see if you can get 25 unique, identifiable expressions from that mask. I think you might need to fudge it and go with expressive eyes though (that's a cheat I have to use with my masked characters).

Aha! I knew that 25-thing existed in some form or feature but I couldn't find it with my weak google fu. I'll give that a definite try.

And yeah, expressive eyes seem to be the way to go. I evidently wasn't able to pull quite enough out of the angles and such itself.

And my avatar pretty much is a masked pony. Based off a commission I had done a while back. The Arcani, which is what the original monster I came up with was called, is a kind of Inevitable that exists to responds to minor crimes with absolute force. It'll murder a child for dropping a candy wrapper, for example. Used the design for a few other things and characters though.

Good to see you working with anatomy (and that it's working well for you ).

Day 109 (I'm not really going to go over the others to much as they seemed more technical to me [I was down in Canberra as it happens]) - I'd take heart from the fact you're learnign to pin down the exact elements that aren't working in your composition by yourself.

For the first one shrapnel is something very hard to do, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. The overall pose and dynamism is still good, and aside from the already admitted proportional issues the overall sense of movement is there.

Yeah, it's something that'd be significantly improved by another hour spent on fixing the details.

In the secon one the thing that bugs me the most is the hood. The closer edge of the hood should be covering more of the face, especially above the left eye. It probably shouldn't be covering as much of the right side of the face either.

I didn't even pick up on that as a thing! I'll take a closer look at that and figure out how to fix it

Day 110 - Being a mask it's a challenge to give expression to what is essentially expressionless. You're lacking eyebrows, mouth and pupils/irises to give a vast range of visula cues there. Obviously using a lot of anime tropes helps here, but I don't really see much of a variance between the ones in line 2.

Yeah, line 2 I was still more or less flying blind on getting the design constant and working out basic arrays.

About expressions...

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And this is why I'm going with expressive eyes now. Thank you sir!

Day 111: Functional Wings

Broadly solid, I think, but still annoyed by a few things. I don't like how the hair turned out so I'm probably going to leave behind that style as a thing, the shirt detail could do with a lot more time, the lips gave me huge trouble and took up a significant amount of time and even then I went for a less challenging application, and it's kinda minor but the title on the book should have been arranged differently. Skin's reflective of the background because I haven't figured out how to colour skin right yet, but I don't mind the effect here.

I am happy with the shape of the face, though. I reckon that worked.

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Time: 2 Hours
Music: Eve

[Kaytara]

On the subject of expressions, I wanted to share the best tutorial I've ever seen on the matter. Not just useful, but hilarious to read.

And another one for company.

The artist is absolutely kickass.

She is able to, say, switch fluently between this and this.

...Yeah, let's wallow in our amateurishness together. ~_~

[Helanna]

Okay, for a while I've been trying to decide whether I wanted to jump on the bandwagon and learn to draw. I finally decided to wait for a while and see how school affected my schedule - I'm just not sure I'd have the time, energy, or willpower to keep it up consistently.

Then I got to my first 2D Animation class today. No textbooks are required - just sketchbook so we can practice drawing.

Soooo . . . Now that I have the impetus, I may as well jump on into it. Just a question. I picked up a (fairly cheap) sketchbook (turns out my school bookstore has a nice art section!). Now, what sort of pencils would I use? Would regular old No. 2 pencils work okay, or is there another sort I should use?

Anyway, thanks for making this thread, Thanqol! At least it's given me confidence that if I work at it, maybe I won't humiliate myself during this class.

[Thanqol]

Those Lackadaisy tutorials are the coolest things ever and the artist is fantastic. Thanks for relinking them, I'd forgotten to save them!

Okay, for a while I've been trying to decide whether I wanted to jump on the bandwagon and learn to draw. I finally decided to wait for a while and see how school affected my schedule - I'm just not sure I'd have the time, energy, or willpower to keep it up consistently.

Then I got to my first 2D Animation class today. No textbooks are required - just sketchbook so we can practice drawing.

Soooo . . . Now that I have the impetus, I may as well jump on into it. Just a question. I picked up a (fairly cheap) sketchbook (turns out my school bookstore has a nice art section!). Now, what sort of pencils would I use? Would regular old No. 2 pencils work okay, or is there another sort I should use?

Anyway, thanks for making this thread, Thanqol! At least it's given me confidence that if I work at it, maybe I won't humiliate myself during this class.

Hurray! Welcome!

I found that a 2B pencil or a 4B pencil is good for sketching, and a H pencil is good for skeletoning and silvery/metallic colours. Regular, random writing pencils are crap and they knock at least two points off your art score. IMPORTANT: Get a good sharpener.

So kick up a thread and join us! You're in good company!

[SiuiS]

Those Lackadaisy tutorials are the coolest things ever and the artist is fantastic. Thanks for relinking them, I'd forgotten to save them!



Hurray! Welcome!

I found that a 2B pencil or a 4B pencil is good for sketching, and a H pencil is good for skeletoning and silvery/metallic colours. Regular, random writing pencils are crap and they knock at least two points off your art score. IMPORTANT: Get a good sharpener.

So kick up a thread and join us! You're in good company!

Butbutbutbut mechanical!

The harpies take you, Thanqol, don't make me have to invest money into this! why would you suggest that?! I'm still reeling from lack of a good skeleton-making pencil!

... Fine.
Fine. I'll actually start drawing. I will declassify my big sketchbook from "Nellie ladies only" to actual sketching. I may even give a hoot about what pencil I use.

You're lucky I'm in fear of your superior Kung Fu...

[Thanqol]

Butbutbutbut mechanical!

The harpies take you, Thanqol, don't make me have to invest money into this! why would you suggest that?! I'm still reeling from lack of a good skeleton-making pencil!

C'mon, man, a decent set of pencils will cost you $10, tops. A mechanical pencil is like a cross between a 2B and a H, which makes it kinda good maybe, but you can't really shade at all ever.

... Fine.
Fine. I'll actually start drawing. I will declassify my big sketchbook from "Nellie ladies only" to actual sketching. I may even give a hoot about what pencil I use.

You're lucky I'm in fear of your superior Kung Fu... [/color]

First you must fill your head with wisdom
Then you can break blocks of ice with it

[Trazoi]

I'm using mechanical pencils mainly out of habit - they're what I have with me for writing, so that's what I use. I've switched to using 2B leads though because they're more versatile. However they are nigh impossible to do shading with. Cross-hatching yes, shading no.

[Thanqol]

I'm using mechanical pencils mainly out of habit - they're what I have with me for writing, so that's what I use. I've switched to using 2B leads though because they're more versatile. However they are nigh impossible to do shading with. Cross-hatching yes, shading no.

4B's excellent for general shading, 6B for heavy shading. 4B can even be used for lineart if you like kind of dusty or vague lined drawings.

[Trazoi]

4B's excellent for general shading, 6B for heavy shading. 4B can even be used for lineart if you like kind of dusty or vague lined drawings.

It's slightly harder to find at the newsagent though. They've usually got 2B and 2H leads, but 6B isn't as common. Plus you burn through them pretty quick for general use.

Anyway, turns out I'm full of rubbish and you can shade with a mechanical pencil. I must of used a stupidly hard pencil the one time I tried it and didn't try it again until just now.

[Kaytara]

Soooo . . . Now that I have the impetus, I may as well jump on into it. Just a question. I picked up a (fairly cheap) sketchbook (turns out my school bookstore has a nice art section!). Now, what sort of pencils would I use? Would regular old No. 2 pencils work okay, or is there another sort I should use?

Whatever you do, if you start getting serious about sketching, make sure to get yourself a little thing called "archivist's gloves". They're thin white cotton gloves commonly used to handle glossy prints and are sold at photo stores. Cut off the tips on the thumb, the forefinger and the middle finger to keep your tactile sensitivity with gripping the pencil.

If you don't want to run the risk of ruining a good drawing, get them even if you're NOT "serious" about sketching. The problem with drawing is that, when your hand touches the paper, skin oil can work the graphite into the paper and make an ugly, impossible to remove stain. With the gloves, it might still smudge, but at least it will be erasable. So, use the gloves, and use a transparent sheet on top of them (well, not literally, you want the sheet between the paper and your hand) to eliminate smudging completely.

I found that a 2B pencil or a 4B pencil is good for sketching, and a H pencil is good for skeletoning and silvery/metallic colours. Regular, random writing pencils are crap and they knock at least two points off your art score. IMPORTANT: Get a good sharpener.

The other school of thought is that the skeletoning is something you want to be able to easily erase later, which means it's best to do the guidelines and the rough sketch in a soft pencil, pressing very lightly, add detail in a much harder pencil, and go back and easily erase the soft pencil. Of course, that depends entirely on what kind of drawing you're working on.

C'mon, man, a decent set of pencils will cost you $10, tops. A mechanical pencil is like a cross between a 2B and a H, which makes it kind of good maybe, but you can't shade with it at all, ever.

No, because it's possible to buy different leads for a mechanical pencil. I usually use H, since it's soft enough not to scratch without smudging much.

I use a mechanical pencil for all my sketching or drawing, period. I love mechanical pencils. They're amazing. And if anyone thinks you can't shade with them, I have only to point them to Saimain's work.

(Having one of those white paper-y things to smudge with helps too, of course.)

It's slightly harder to find at the newsagent though. It's slightly harder to find at the newsagent though. They've usually got 2B and 2H leads, but 6B isn't as common. Plus you burn through them pretty quick for general use.

I don't know. When I use regular, non-professional pencils, I burn through them pretty quickly because I need the tip fine and sharp, but sharpening them to that extent makes the lead break or tilt too easily, which makes me keep sharpening them just to get a workable tip.

Mechanical pencils don't need sharpening, and none of the lead is wasted.

[Helanna]

Hurray! Welcome!

I found that a 2B pencil or a 4B pencil is good for sketching, and a H pencil is good for skeletoning and silvery/metallic colours. Regular, random writing pencils are crap and they knock at least two points off your art score. IMPORTANT: Get a good sharpener.

So kick up a thread and join us! You're in good company!

Thanks! I probably won't put up my own thread, since I still may not have the time to update nearly as often as I'd like, but I probably will go through the beginning of this thread and the other drawing threads and collect tips and exercises.

Now I just gotta find a time to get back to the bookstore and get some decent pencils . . .

[Thanqol]

Day 112: Signed

Significant improvement!

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Time: 1 1/2 hours
Music: Symphonia in Duos Competitores

[Trazoi]

That's a decent range of expression you've got on that mask there.

Not sure what's going on with "flirty".

[Thanqol]

That's a decent range of expression you've got on that mask there.

Not sure what's going on with "flirty".

You don't find that sexy?

Weirdo.

[Kaytara]

That's a decent range of expression you've got on that mask there.

Not sure what's going on with "flirty".

The hood's down, so I'm going with "striptease". >D

[Thanqol]

Day 113: The Resistance

Content with this. Didn't have time to finish it, but it looks good for what it is.

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Time: 1 1/2 Hours
Music: The Holy and the Divine

[smuchmuch]

Legs seems a bit short and alrge at the end but the top part is very nice.

[Kaytara]

Ooooh, *very* nice. The pose looks solid, the proportions realistic, the clothes give the figure a nice sense of alive-ness and movement, and I like that jawline.

The only problem is the legs, and that they start too far down.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Looks very good, Thanqol! I'm really impressed with how you've got the clothes folding over themselves. It looks like they're blowing in the wind too, very nicely done :)

That said, his right leg looks smaller than his left leg. If anything, it should be switched, since the right leg is in the foreground, if only by a little bit.

[Thanqol]

Yeah, when I said 'unfinished' I was referring to the legs. They could certainly have benefited from another 30 minutes of fine tuning, which I might wind up doing sometime in the future.

[Thanqol]

Day 114: Commisiarioned

No time to talk, gotta run.

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Time: 1.5 Hours
Music: Silvertown

[Thanqol]

Day 115: Giggle At The Ghostie

Just look how happy he is!

Was an attempt at expressions (in particular, the creepy laugh). I think my ongoing problem is I'm not entirely sure how to do skin details and textures. I should start researching this.

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Time: 1.5 Hours
Music: In Flames

[SiuiS]

The other school of thought is that the skeletoning is something you want to be able to easily erase later, which means it's best to do the guidelines and the rough sketch in a soft pencil, pressing very lightly, add detail in a much harder pencil, and go back and easily erase the soft pencil. Of course, that depends entirely on what kind of drawing you're working on.

No, because it's possible to buy different leads for a mechanical pencil. I usually use H, since it's soft enough not to scratch without smudging much.

I use a mechanical pencil for all my sketching or drawing, period. I love mechanical pencils. They're amazing. And if anyone thinks you can't shade with them, I have only to point them to Saimain's work.

(Having one of those white paper-y things to smudge with helps too, of course.)

I don't know. When I use regular, non-professional pencils, I burn through them pretty quickly because I need the tip fine and sharp, but sharpening them to that extent makes the lead break or tilt too easily, which makes me keep sharpening them just to get a workable tip.

Mechanical pencils don't need sharpening, and none of the lead is wasted.

This is consistent with my own experience. I believe I have 2B lead because it's been the most versatile, but I haven't bothered to actually check the hardness in years.

Thanqol, skin is one of hoe funny things that's not what it looks like. For example, coloring? Skin is mostly a weird yellow and turquoise combination with some others mixed in. Next time you get the shot, stare at someone's skin. Look for the yellow and blue, it will be like having a muted bruise all over. It may disturb you, but I suspect you've seen worse.

As for texture, I've got nothing.

Finally, don't mean to badger you about the anatomy thing (responding from like, forever ago). I just knew you'd have his magical moment of "oh **** I totally see howthis works now!" and I wanted to rush you there so we could enjoy it sooner. It was immature on my part, but it benefits you, so we're even.

[Thanqol]

This is consistent with my own experience. I believe I have 2B lead because it's been the most versatile, but I haven't bothered to actually check the hardness in years.

Thanqol, skin is one of hoe funny things that's not what it looks like. For example, coloring? Skin is mostly a weird yellow and turquoise combination with some others mixed in. Next time you get the shot, stare at someone's skin. Look for the yellow and blue, it will be like having a muted bruise all over. It may disturb you, but I suspect you've seen worse.

As for texture, I've got nothing.

Art is weiiiiiiiiiiiiird.

I need to find out how to save custom colours in Corel, if it's possible at all. I'll look at that later. I know Photoshop can do it; I'll look into it.

Finally, don't mean to badger you about the anatomy thing (responding from like, forever ago). I just knew you'd have his magical moment of "oh **** I totally see howthis works now!" and I wanted to rush you there so we could enjoy it sooner. It was immature on my part, but it benefits you, so we're even.

Haha no worries! Being badgered about doing stuff wrong is the raison d'etre for this entire thread, and now I know what to look for. Please, badger me when I do stuff wrong, it's not like I'm making the decisions consciously or knowingly

Also, teeth. I need to look at how to do teeth.

[Zorg]

Day 113: The Resistance

Others covered most of it already, but I've just got to add that it's like you levelled up here something crazy!
You got the folds on the clothes, the collar works and the proportions are prettymuch spot on. So yeah, well done overall

Day 114: Commisiarioned

He doesn't look as old as his moustache would suggest. For age there would be more lines around the eyes at the edges. His hat should probably be lighter on teh right side of it as well a bit.

Day 115: Giggle At The Ghostie

Gah!

Those are some craaaaazy eyes he's got there. The shading around his mouth is well done too.
The lines at the root of the nose should be going out rather than up/in, however. He's also got very pointy nostrils.

Part of the thing with teeth is that you've got them very square, particularly the incisiors, but teeth are rounder and not perfectly straight.
The lower right (of frame) molars are the best in some way as they overlap and have more shape to them.

It's kind of hard to pick out more details because he's staring into my soul.