Thanqol Learns To Draw Five: Polymath

[Cuthalion]

Fair enough, but once you've found your place you need to go and try new things. Your art seems pretty much the same, albeit a lot better behind the scenes, than it did a year or two ago.

[Thanqol]

Fair enough, but once you've found your place you need to go and try new things. Your art seems pretty much the same, albeit a lot better behind the scenes, than it did a year or two ago.

I for real agree with you, this past year's been pretty stagnant. A big part of that, though, has been I've had much, much less time than I used to when I was a university student/unemployed, and I've been setting up a house and dealing with a computer meltdown for the past six months. It has been a source of no small amount of frustration for me.

Excuses, blah blah blah, the point is that I'm mad and I'm gonna fix it.

[Artman77]

I wish I could help you with your brush settings issue, but I'm a paint/pen-and-paper guy. The only program I use for digital stuff is Photoshop, and if you haven't tried it; I highly recommend it. There are textures and filters and opacity and jitter and all sorts of fun stuff to play with for just the brush tool, not to mention layers etc. But I've noticed a lot of the pros don't use any of that extra stuff. They use two or three layers, no less than 70% opacity, swatches, and the eyedropper tool.

Oh! And congrats on the house!! I was hunting for the last 3 months, and have decided to take a break. It was added stress to babies, and art and business endeavors.

[Thanqol]

I wish I could help you with your brush settings issue, but I'm a paint/pen-and-paper guy. The only program I use for digital stuff is Photoshop, and if you haven't tried it; I highly recommend it. There are textures and filters and opacity and jitter and all sorts of fun stuff to play with for just the brush tool, not to mention layers etc. But I've noticed a lot of the pros don't use any of that extra stuff. They use two or three layers, no less than 70% opacity, swatches, and the eyedropper tool.

That was much the reason why I stuck with SAI so long. It gives you all the tools you need and none of the fancy crap you don't. I may end up re-purchasing it depending on if I reach an accord with Corel, which does painting better but sketching worse.

Photoshop, though, costs an eye-watering $20 a month, forever, as opposed to SAI's $30 once. It does offer a free trial, though, so my current plan is to wait till I have my month off (hopefully March) and try and output as much as I can then to get the most out of it.

I have actually been doing a bunch of pen and paper stuff but I have been endlessly procrastinating about uploading it.

Oh! And congrats on the house!! I was hunting for the last 3 months, and have decided to take a break. It was added stress to babies, and art and business endeavors.

Thanks! It's really exciting! The last pieces are coming together - this weekend I get my bed base, next week I hopefully get my internet FINALLY fixed, I've been moving across my books two crates at a time, and I should be living there properly before Christmas. I am infinitely glad that I have had no time pressure on when the move happens. Being able to stay with my parents during the process has let me confront numerous disasters and setbacks philosophically.

When I finish the process I'll have pictures; the place is starting to look gorgeous.

[Madcrafter]

Photoshop is good but expensive, and most of what it can do is duplicated in other programs. Though it does have the occasional thing I haven't seen elsewhere (transform selection I'm looking at you! Actually, I should put in a feature request for that).

I find fancy brushes great for specific tasks that would be hard to do otherwise. For example the default brush for starfields is great, because to get a good high density one otherwise requires a lot of work with filters and things. I had a good brush for grass in PS. Most stuff can just be done with pretty basic brushes though; after all, it works pretty well for traditional artists.

[Thanqol]

Day 1653: Here's To Novelty

I found out that I quite like the calligraphy brush in Corel. It's a distinctive enough effect for me to want to see what I can do with it.

Links

[DigoDragon]

Photoshop is good but expensive, and most of what it can do is duplicated in other programs. Though it does have the occasional thing I haven't seen elsewhere (transform selection I'm looking at you! Actually, I should put in a feature request for that).

I find fancy brushes great for specific tasks that would be hard to do otherwise. For example the default brush for starfields is great, because to get a good high density one otherwise requires a lot of work with filters and things. I had a good brush for grass in PS. Most stuff can just be done with pretty basic brushes though; after all, it works pretty well for traditional artists.

The one thing I wish Photoshop would do is have an easy keyboard shortcut to rotate the screen. Paint tool Sao does that really well.

[Thanqol]

Day 1654-1657: Aw C'mon!

First the forum's down whenever I try and upload art, now imgur is down? Bah! Humbug! I'll try again tomorrow!

[Anarion]

Day 1654-1657: Aw C'mon!

First the forum's down whenever I try and upload art, now imgur is down? Bah! Humbug! I'll try again tomorrow!

All work and no forum make Homer...something something.

[Thanqol]

I post that and the very next day my old computer burns out and shuts down forever. Way to jinx it Thanqol

Day 1654-1659: Elegance

I love doing these. They're simple, relaxing, fun, focusing. I want to do 30 days of these in a row, let's see how that works out!

Just to be clear, these are traces. I'm just getting the hang of the brush right now and I don't wanna deal with sketching for a little while.

One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six

[Thanqol]

Day 1660: Shotgun Shine

Ah! All worn out.

Links

[Thanqol]

Day 1661: Questing

Tried combining the calligraphy brush with some watercolour brushes. Not sure what I think yet.

Links

[Cuthalion]

I approve that you've at least figured out armor. That stuff is annoying.

[Thanqol]

I approve that you've at least figured out armor. That stuff is annoying.

Again, these are traces, but I do think I'm getting a good handle on line width and shape which is a big plus.

Day 1662: Battleships

I'm really enjoying these. They're zero stress and they're teaching me to think differently about what kinds of lines are necessary.

Links

[DigoDragon]

Day 1662: Battleships
I'm really enjoying these. They're zero stress and they're teaching me to think differently about what kinds of lines are necessary.

Links

This battleship, while quite majestic, is missing 'guns'.

[Thanqol]

This battleship, while quite majestic, is missing 'guns'.

It's a trace of this. For some reason Japan decided to make a dating sim for battleships.

Day 1664: Straight Out Of Fury Road, Nottingham

Yet another Great War secret invention that I am endlessly sad never took off.

Links

[DigoDragon]

It's a trace of this. For some reason Japan decided to make a dating sim for battleships.

Not quite the 'guns' I was... hmm... you know, it's like Japan has this ongoing bet to find the one niche market that no one wants. Cause I can't think of any reason else why this is a concept.

Day 1664: Straight Out Of Fury Road, Nottingham
Yet another Great War secret invention that I am endlessly sad never took off.

This reminds me of the cannon-mounted military Vespa.

[Thanqol]

Day 1665: The Inky Way

Inking is cool and fun.

Links

[Thanqol]

Day 1666: JFK did 9/11

Pleasantly moody.

Links

[DigoDragon]

Day 1666: JFK did 9/11

Pleasantly moody.
Links

Is that a teen picking his nose with a handgun?

[Anarion]

Is that a teen picking his nose with a handgun?

I guess it's just the right size.

[Thanqol]

Is that a teen picking his nose with a handgun?

Oh man, you haven't seen the picture?

Spoiler

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[Thanqol]

Today is the day!

For the past three months I've been moving in and accumulating furniture for my very own house! And now, after so long wishing, so long saving, and so much working I'm finally here for reals! I've moved all my crap across and my ultimate achievement - named Samsara - is complete!

I have photos!

Spoiler

Show

Life goal is to keep this place as clean and uncluttered as it is now.


Exterior. A lovely metal set of chairs and tables, rosebushes, and an enormous overgrown Eucalypt tree with a nest full of screaming bastard evil magpie spawn.

Room #1: Room of Becoming

The Room of Becoming is for active things. Music, video, painting, drawing, creating! My philosophy is to create a flexible room where I can sit, stand, lie down, beanbag, sit on couches and generally move from one state to another without pause. This room embodies the element of Fire.


The Comfy Chair Zone. That couch was a steal at the price.


Meet Colossus! My brand new xyber-hueg death machine, complete with brand new art tablet and mechanical height-adjustable standing desk! I made no compromises when it came to my workstation.

Room #2: The Rooms of Renewal

The Room of Renewal is for cleansing, refreshing and repair. The bathroom is included in this. The goal is to keep these rooms clean all the time so that whenever I enter I can wipe away the muck and fatigue of the external world. This room embodies the element of Water.



The kitchen! Still incomplete in terms of silverware - I have one plate and one cup - so Monsieur Microwave shall be my chef for the immediate future.

Room #3: The Room of Void

Bed. Clothing. Nothing else. I've lived the past 25 years in one tiny bedroom and had to fit my entire life within five feet of my bed. None of that now! The Room of Void is for sleep and storage and stillness. This room embodies the element of Earth.



Lovely cotton sheets, they're smooth and breezy. The top half of the bed can lift up so I can store things underneath. If you look closely you can see my douchebag sunglasses.

Room #4: The Room of Being

Emptiness. Open space. Books. Breath. The Room of Being is a room kept as open and spacious as possible, giving me space to exercise and meditate without intrusions on my focus. It's a place to sit and be without distractions. Its deliberate emptiness and openess means that it embodies the element of Air.




As you can see, I don't have my shelving worked out right now, so the Room of Being is currently the Room of Books.

It already feels like home.

[Artman77]

Jealous. I can't wait to buy a house. I want my own place so bad.

...And, what? No paint??

I see a lot of white and dark gray, and by a lot I mean ONLY. I would put a little red or orange in your workstation area and/or your couch/fire room. I might do brown, warm or cool gray (not true gray, you got a lot of that already) or maybe blue in the bedroom. I would suggest a video gamer rocker chair for the empty reading room to keep it simple yet comfy. Congrats again man! Super cool.

[Thanqol]

Jealous. I can't wait to buy a house. I want my own place so bad.

...And, what? No paint??

Houses are super expensive, dude. Furniture is crazy. Paint is gonna come after things like washing machines, pots and pans, etc. But for sure, it is coming. Depending on how forays into trad art go I might even like to paint the walls myself, maybe a bit of a spatter style I dunno.

I see a lot of white and dark gray, and by a lot I mean ONLY. I would put a little red or orange in your workstation area and/or your couch/fire room. I might do brown, warm or cool gray (not true gray, you got a lot of that already) or maybe blue in the bedroom. I would suggest a video gamer rocker chair for the empty reading room to keep it simple yet comfy.

This is pretty much my shopping list to a T, you have the exact same eye for this I do! The orange pillows are the first step towards a more consistent red/orange/white theme for Becoming. I expect given current finances I'll have it all done by... July, maybe? After that I'm gonna start to think really hard about what I wanna do with the back yard which is just kind of flat brickwork.

Congrats again man! Super cool.

Thanks!

[Thanqol]

Day 1667: Antiquities

I've hated inking for a long time before this but I think I'm finally at a point where I get it.

Links

[DigoDragon]

Oh man, you haven't seen the picture?

Hmm, don't think I have.

Jealous. I can't wait to buy a house. I want my own place so bad.

I need to move out of this place ASAP, but it's an uphill climb to buy a home. Renting isn't really feasible though. I'm trying to get the state to help me with a down payment. Hopefully that'll help get me a place.

[TheAmishPirate]

Today is the day!

For the past three months I've been moving in and accumulating furniture for my very own house! And now, after so long wishing, so long saving, and so much working I'm finally here for reals! I've moved all my crap across and my ultimate achievement - named Samsara - is complete!

I have photos!

Spoiler

Show

Life goal is to keep this place as clean and uncluttered as it is now.


Exterior. A lovely metal set of chairs and tables, rosebushes, and an enormous overgrown Eucalypt tree with a nest full of screaming bastard evil magpie spawn.

Room #1: Room of Becoming

The Room of Becoming is for active things. Music, video, painting, drawing, creating! My philosophy is to create a flexible room where I can sit, stand, lie down, beanbag, sit on couches and generally move from one state to another without pause. This room embodies the element of Fire.


The Comfy Chair Zone. That couch was a steal at the price.


Meet Colossus! My brand new xyber-hueg death machine, complete with brand new art tablet and mechanical height-adjustable standing desk! I made no compromises when it came to my workstation.

Room #2: The Rooms of Renewal

The Room of Renewal is for cleansing, refreshing and repair. The bathroom is included in this. The goal is to keep these rooms clean all the time so that whenever I enter I can wipe away the muck and fatigue of the external world. This room embodies the element of Water.



The kitchen! Still incomplete in terms of silverware - I have one plate and one cup - so Monsieur Microwave shall be my chef for the immediate future.

Room #3: The Room of Void

Bed. Clothing. Nothing else. I've lived the past 25 years in one tiny bedroom and had to fit my entire life within five feet of my bed. None of that now! The Room of Void is for sleep and storage and stillness. This room embodies the element of Earth.



Lovely cotton sheets, they're smooth and breezy. The top half of the bed can lift up so I can store things underneath. If you look closely you can see my douchebag sunglasses.

Room #4: The Room of Being

Emptiness. Open space. Books. Breath. The Room of Being is a room kept as open and spacious as possible, giving me space to exercise and meditate without intrusions on my focus. It's a place to sit and be without distractions. Its deliberate emptiness and openess means that it embodies the element of Air.




As you can see, I don't have my shelving worked out right now, so the Room of Being is currently the Room of Books.

It already feels like home.

Awesome! I hope you picked a good place to hide the entrance to the secret underground lair.

[Deadly]

Ooh, looking nice. Congrats on getting there. Like everyone else, you're making me jelly!

A kitchen that's always clean is a dream of mine too. *sigh*

I like your tree, and I'm used to screeching hell beasts, so I wouldn't mind a few magpies. Besides, I always kinda liked magpies. They look pretty.

I'm still waiting for my home upgrade, which hopefully will happen soon. Since I already know the layout of the place I'm waiting for, I've been carefully mapping out exactly how to fill it with furniture and stuff, but dammit, I can't keep staring at my plans and dreams on the screen! I need the real thing naaao!

[goto124]

Those are some sweet pony plushies.

Not quite the 'guns' I was... hmm...

Spoiler: You mean these guns, right?

Show