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Today is the first half of the current assignment for Saeyan's art improvement. I'd wanted to knock this all out in one sitting, but that did not end up happening. In the interest of not passing out in the middle of this, I'm packing it in for tonight and doing the second half tomorrow. Feel free to tear me down and say it's horrible in the meanwhile, hehe. Be back tomorrow folks!
The second half of yesterday's first half, this time taking my lineart and imagining a light source, and shading it up nice. However, it occurs to me that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with shading/coloring as a whole. I sort of know the basics in theory, but when I'm sitting down to fill it in, I'm pretty much clueless. I'm deeply looking forward to being able to pick up photoshop proper, so that I can have actual control over the brush presets like I did back at school. Elements brushes are no good at all for this, or at least if they are that's a black magic which escapes me. Bluh bluh. This is going to be one of those entries that I hide away and try to forget...
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
My old nemesis strikes again, ye olde artists block! I think I ended up sitting and staring at blank canvas for the better part of an hour. Fortunately, I said forget that and went to my trust idea well to see what I could fish up.
Of course my idea well is the internet, and of course the internet told me "ponies". Not really sure why I ever think it'll tell me something different each time I ask
Day 74 - Yarrtist's Block
Spoiler
Time spent: 1ish hours
Music: Renard/Dartmouth Aires playlist
Y'all get three guesses as to which member of this forum suggested this, and the first two don't count.
Anywho, tried something out different for me with the coloring. I needed something light and fun after yesterday's gloomy shadow failure practice, so this works well actually. Not the best thing ever, but eh, I feel like I'm in a bit of a slump right now, so anything that I don't hate is welcome 6_6
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
Just a few notes from what I can see:
-The neck looks awfully long. I remember your last big derpy picture, you had the same issue. Just something to watch out for
-On a similar note, the legs look really short.
That being said, I do like the way you drew the face on this one. It's not traditional pony, but it's adorable nonetheless. As far as stuff to draw, here's a bunch of random stuff I thought of:
-Random tech things (headphones, detailed mice, that sort of thing)
-Dancing robots
-Layout of a room (yay perspective)
-A panda bear
-Jazz hands
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eakin
We're like the weeping angels from Doctor Who, except with cuddling and friendship instead of horrible death. Don't look away.
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheAmishPirate
Just a few notes from what I can see:
-The neck looks awfully long. I remember your last big derpy picture, you had the same issue. Just something to watch out for
-On a similar note, the legs look really short.
That being said, I do like the way you drew the face on this one. It's not traditional pony, but it's adorable nonetheless. As far as stuff to draw, here's a bunch of random stuff I thought of:
-Random tech things (headphones, detailed mice, that sort of thing)
-Dancing robots
-Layout of a room (yay perspective)
-A panda bear
-Jazz hands
Thanks sir! Yayyy input!
I'm not certain on the legs, but you are totally right. I think I seem to subconsciously rather want to prefer to watch My Little Giraffes or something to that effect, because I'm not even aware of the super long necks until well after I've posted The legs *might* be too short, but that might be just the appearance with the long neck, I'm not sure. Definitely a chance you're right though...
I'm glad you liked the face! I felt like mixing it up a bit. Speaking of mixing it up a bit!
Day 75 - Solution
Spoiler
Time spent: 45 minutes
Music: Party Rock Anthem/Winter Wrap up
So this is the result of my own thought process. This was the ultimate endpoint off the starter idea of "dancing robots". After a couple of false starts, I ended up with this, which is, I suppose, simultaneously an anatomy study as well as a concept for a character I've been trying to get some polish on for years. I dunno, I kind of like it? Favorite thing I've drawn all week. The arm feels about right, and I am totally practicing with varying line depths aren't you proud of me, Saeyan??? :D
Last edited by Capt. Ido Nos : 01-20-2012 at 02:20 PM.
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
Oh man you guys. So it turns out having a massive outbreak of viruses on the company network at 4pm on a Friday afternoon doesn't correlate to super great creativity when I sit down to make something! I'm really not feeling doing a clean version of this sketch right now, but I feel like I will in the future, so I will leave this mess here as a launching point in the future. It's actually related to yesterday's piece if you can believe it. Gotta love how my brain works. In any case...
Day 76 - It is the Dark inaccessible
Spoiler
Time spent: 30 minutes
Tunes listened: various by Mayhem
References: lots of bugs, take my word for it
I have to deal with gross bugs all night apparently translates to me making the rest of yall deal with the same.
In any case, super messy sketchy sketch tonight, but I can actually see a direction for this to go. I'm going to file this under the "revisit" pile and take another shot at it one day when my sanity doesn't resemble my lineart, haha. Still feel free to tell me it looks stupid though, as always.
Last edited by Capt. Ido Nos : 01-21-2012 at 01:52 AM.
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
Actually I think it looks pretty cool. I vote you come back to it at some point in the future and colour it, it would be interesting to see what type of colour scheme you'd use for it.
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kyouhen
Actually I think it looks pretty cool. I vote you come back to it at some point in the future and colour it, it would be interesting to see what type of colour scheme you'd use for it.
I'm glad you like it! Not going to lie, I get really sheepish showing off things that I essentially create from whole cloth like this. Once I figure out how to do coloring past cell-style shading, I will come back and finish this bug
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Tonight's drawing is a deep introspective piece that I've mulling over in the back of my mind for some time now. It sort of represents my culminating self within the self and DERPY HOOVES
Day 77 - Perfect Joy
Spoiler
Time spent: 1 hour 20 minutes
References: a few minutes worth of poniburu, Days 60 and 62
Tunes: Mayhem
Really, there was no way that today was going to be anything BUT a Derpy picture. I sat down to fill a page with lots of little doodles, then something weird happened - I drew a perfect circle for her head. After that I couldn't do anything but fuss and bother over this single piece. Oh well! Plans go out the window more often than not, but more often than not I like the direction I end up taking.
I'm staring at this, I'm pretty sure the neck isn't too long. Gonna have to sleep on it again and see what happens tomorrow. These always change on me overnight
I am really liking this coloring method. It's so fast! Maybe only 20 minutes to get the whole thing filled in, with a lot of that spent on fussing over the eyes. Before that would have taken me a full our of scribbling and mucking about. This time, I had my color reference filled out, boom boom boom done. Love it!
I'm thinking there might be a use for this one yet...
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
D'awwww, she's so cute! Her neck looks fine to me. Actually I think the problem with the pirate one might have been that her head was a little small or squishy or something, and with the sitting pose it just made her neck look longer. This one looks great though.
Any chance you could post a bit of an explanation for this colour method of yours? I like to see how different people do things to see if there's any way to improve my own efforts. (Though in this case it won't really help me, but I plan on getting a tablet eventually and it's never too early to learn. )
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kyouhen
D'awwww, she's so cute! Her neck looks fine to me. Actually I think the problem with the pirate one might have been that her head was a little small or squishy or something, and with the sitting pose it just made her neck look longer. This one looks great though.
Any chance you could post a bit of an explanation for this colour method of yours? I like to see how different people do things to see if there's any way to improve my own efforts. (Though in this case it won't really help me, but I plan on getting a tablet eventually and it's never too early to learn. )
Fortunately, it's actually fairly simple and straightforward! In fact I suppose I've known about it for years now, but I haven't been able to do it any justice without actually owning a tablet (or being proficient to ink properly) to have a prepped image to work with.
Here it is:
Spoiler
Step 0: Do a little cleanup/config first. Have only your layers of final lineart visible. Make sure your lines are unbroken and continuous, with a smidge of thickness, a bit thicker than if you had just used a single light pencil stroke, at least.
Step 1: Magic wand tool out, set it to select across all (visible) layers. Go ahead and select the areas you want colored. Shift+click to select multiple areas if you know it's all going to be one color.
Step 2: Now that you have selected some whitespace, go and modify your selection. Modify>Expand, and choose an amount that will move the edge of your selection to be somewhere in the middle of the actual lines in your lineart. I find that 3-5px does the trick for me.
Step 3: Bucket tool out! Pick the color you want, and fill 'er up!
Repeat 1-3 as much as you like, on however many layers you choose. After you are finished coloring, move your lineart layer to the top. Use a regular brush for touch-ups.
And that's it! You're done! The idea here is that this solves the problem of the ugly white border when you just directly bucket-fill white spaces. Instead of filling up to a vaguely defined area around your lineart, this places the borders of the colors to within the area of your lines, if that makes any sense. I wasn't able to get this done for the life of me when photoshopping paper and pencil scans, since my pencil lineart is actually fairly faint with thin lines that pick up poorly. The tablet lets my line be as fat and happy as I want, which lets me have easily selectable areas, and plenty of fudge room for the colors to be.
Of course this might not be valid for anything outside of Photoshop, but I haven't really used any other program, so I can't say with certainty >_>
If you have any questions, or if I horribly botched that, please let me know! ^^;;
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheAmishPirate
Hey Ido? I know what you should draw tonight...
Ido => Pick up hat in VICTORY
Quote:
Originally Posted by Domochevsky
Has it been 14 days already?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheAmishPirate
I think so. He restarted on with Day 64, tonight is Day 78, and I haven't seen him miss a day.
The Amishm'n is right, today is the 14th day since my return to regular postings like the good little artist I really wish I could be :D To be safe though, I will not retrieve my hat until tomorrow. Not going to lie, it doesn't feel like it's been two weeks, but the maths speak the truth!
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Day 78 - Jazz Hands!
Spoiler
Time spent: 30 minutes
Tunes: More Mayhem I will run this playlist into the GROUND
Reference: via poniboru
Being a little silly today! Going for something fun and colorful, rather than strictly neat or tidy. Also: I like abusing the letter of the law/Amish in general. I'm pretty pleased with this all the same, I think I'm on to something...
Last edited by Capt. Ido Nos : 01-23-2012 at 12:39 AM.
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt. Ido Nos
Fortunately, it's actually fairly simple and straightforward! In fact I suppose I've known about it for years now, but I haven't been able to do it any justice without actually owning a tablet (or being proficient to ink properly) to have a prepped image to work with.
Here it is:
Spoiler
Step 0: Do a little cleanup/config first. Have only your layers of final lineart visible. Make sure your lines are unbroken and continuous, with a smidge of thickness, a bit thicker than if you had just used a single light pencil stroke, at least.
Step 1: Magic wand tool out, set it to select across all (visible) layers. Go ahead and select the areas you want colored. Shift+click to select multiple areas if you know it's all going to be one color.
Step 2: Now that you have selected some whitespace, go and modify your selection. Modify>Expand, and choose an amount that will move the edge of your selection to be somewhere in the middle of the actual lines in your lineart. I find that 3-5px does the trick for me.
Step 3: Bucket tool out! Pick the color you want, and fill 'er up!
Repeat 1-3 as much as you like, on however many layers you choose. After you are finished coloring, move your lineart layer to the top. Use a regular brush for touch-ups.
And that's it! You're done! The idea here is that this solves the problem of the ugly white border when you just directly bucket-fill white spaces. Instead of filling up to a vaguely defined area around your lineart, this places the borders of the colors to within the area of your lines, if that makes any sense. I wasn't able to get this done for the life of me when photoshopping paper and pencil scans, since my pencil lineart is actually fairly faint with thin lines that pick up poorly. The tablet lets my line be as fat and happy as I want, which lets me have easily selectable areas, and plenty of fudge room for the colors to be.
Of course this might not be valid for anything outside of Photoshop, but I haven't really used any other program, so I can't say with certainty >_>
If you have any questions, or if I horribly botched that, please let me know! ^^;;
Excellent. Was already aware of that method to be honest, but I still like asking just to see if anyone's doing anything different. Never hurts to ask. And congrats on getting your a hat!
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kyouhen
Excellent. Was already aware of that method to be honest, but I still like asking just to see if anyone's doing anything different. Never hurts to ask. And congrats on getting your a hat!
Yeah, it is a pretty common way of doing it. I had tried something like it and failed miserably years ago, since my lineart scans were always too faint to make the wand work out in any stretch of the imagination, heh. Science marches on though, and now it works for me! I'm stoked.
And thanks! I think this hat suits me quite well.
Day 80 - Just a taste
Spoiler
man, what is this mare's deal i don't even knowSTAY POSTED WINKY EMOTICON ;D
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
Day 81 - Breadcrumbs
Spoiler
Today marks the start of a new challenge for me. It in no way directly impacts my challenge here, that is, to draw something new each day and post it here. This is still happening and takes precedence over this new challenge. I feel like I'm at the point where I am comfortable enough to undertake this particular route, and so begins another grand experiment.
As for my drawing today, I have taken a portion of this thing which I'm intentionally being vague about and posted it here, to fulfill that basic requirement of posting something, no matter how small. Now for something new. My challenge to all of you is to go out from here and find the rest of it.
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt. Ido Nos
Day 81 - Breadcrumbs
Spoiler
Today marks the start of a new challenge for me. It in no way directly impacts my challenge here, that is, to draw something new each day and post it here. This is still happening and takes precedence over this new challenge. I feel like I'm at the point where I am comfortable enough to undertake this particular route, and so begins another grand experiment.
As for my drawing today, I have taken a portion of this thing which I'm intentionally being vague about and posted it here, to fulfill that basic requirement of posting something, no matter how small. Now for something new. My challenge to all of you is to go out from here and find the rest of it.
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kyouhen
Done.
So you did! Impressive! Grats to you, good sir
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So between staying late at work every night for the last two weeks, working on side projects and main projects, and the odd instance or accidentally playing mass effect, today I present to you a snapshot of my current mental state:
Day 82 - Work Weak
Spoiler
Time spent: about two weeks lack of sleep
Listening: way too much ska, slayer, and beatles
Referenence: bloody awful api documentations
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
There are few things that supersede this challenge, and on that short list includes my job, and my health. For both of these reasons I have not posted yesterday or today. For that reason, I am really very much itching to draw, because it is now a need as well. Tomorrow is Sunday, a day or rest. My rest will be three drawings. :)
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
Picture one for today!
Day 83 - Illumination
Spoiler
Time spent: 45 minutes
Trying my hand as some abstract shaping styles. My wizard needs a cover for her campaign journal, I figured this could be a nice touch to it, eh?
edit: two for tuesday:
Day 84 - The Goods
Spoiler
Time spent: 15 minutes
This one's a bit fast, but I wanted to get a quick shape practice out the door before I had to. At this, I've gotta run, but I'll crank out my last entry after I get home again
Day 85 - Playing with Power
Spoiler
I did it! Three in a day! Awesome sauce. Well, that's enough of that for today, time to go pass out and hopefully have some energy for tomorrow. Big week ahead of me...
Last edited by Capt. Ido Nos : 01-30-2012 at 01:16 AM.
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Domochevsky
I approve of the lighting and feeling of size there.
Awesome! I only set out at the start to try and convey the size, but the lighting was an added bonus at the end. Strangely enough, the art improvement project helped out a lot, since I was looking at him in terms of his smaller shapes, and how light would fall on each of them. Am I... actually learning something? That's weird
Day 87 - Pallet Cleanse
Spoiler
Time spent: 1/3 of total time spent arting tonight
Music: Sombody to love
Tried my hand at drawing from memory tonight. No references! My computer screen felt so empty...
And no, apparently I can't go a full week without drawing ponies or specifically Derpy. They're just so darn fun!
Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
Quote:
Originally Posted by the_druid_droid
As a robot, I approve this sentiment wholeheartedly!
He seems to have a druid staff there, he a relative DD?
Also if you don't like working on backgrounds, have you tried colouring/shading them instead of just doing lines? I find that using shapes instead of just outlines in backgrounds tends to result in them looking a lot better and doesn't really take any more time. That and they tend to be more fun to work with.
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Re: Capt. Ido learns to steal thread ideas (and also draw)!
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Bleeeeh! Alfalfa Monster!
