Arts and CraftsThe place to talk about stick figure avatars, graphic design, fan art, or any application of the visual arts and creative writing--or just to show off your latest masterwork!
Constant practice without thinking about what you're doing just reinforces bad habits. Draw piss-poor figures for 10,000 hours and you'd get really good—at drawing piss-poor figures.
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ice cream doodles
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Last edited by flyingchicken : 10-13-2012 at 09:35 PM.
Well we can't be inspired all the time. I know some days doing my drawing feels like a chore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flyingchicken
Constant practice without thinking about what you're doing just reinforces bad habits. Draw piss-poor figures for 10,000 hours and you'd get really good—at drawing piss-poor figures.
Both of these have truth to them. My recommendation is, in the event of being tired and uninspired, try something completely random and experimental. Just scramble all the settings on your brushes or throw down paints without linework or something. Odds are it'll be a mess but you'll learn something interesting from it.
When I'm bored and tired of drawing I just play video games or something; inspiration to me usually comes with frustration as not being as good as one artist or another.
I'd be ok with being able to draw anything really well, even if they were piss-poor figures.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flyingchicken
painted one of the ice cream doodles:
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I like this one, but I can't figure out exactly what happened to the ice cream in the non-existent frame before. Did she accidentally crush it or something? (The push noted in the original seems unlikely to result in said image) Not that it actually matters at all.
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Day 111:
TS and Spike, in the dark.
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Time: another few hours watching TV (The Mr. T German dub VA for the A-Team sounds soooo white)
Music: None
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Day 112:
Disco Duck. Originally was going to have wings, but I realized I didn't know how to do the sleeves in that case, so I went with the anthro hands instead, a la Donald Duck.
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Time: Dunno
Music: Pony
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This is going to be one of those times everyone disappears for a while then suddenly all come back at once right?
Day 113:
A statuette, found in my room. Didn't finish it, since I had already gotten too far and it didn't look right.
Spoiler
Time: 30 minutes
Music: Pony
__________________
Devoted artificer of the church of Scorching Ray.
Last edited by Madcrafter : 10-16-2012 at 12:33 PM.
I won't ask for pictures of OC's. That would be wrong.
Draw the anthropomorphic personification of Autumn, Diego.
Or, you know. a pony. Whatever works.
So anyway, stuff.
Flat colours, no shading, simple splodges of colour to tell something resembling a story (admittedly one told through the prism of an OC's understanding of events and tendancy to blur the truth. Think of it as the propaganda version of something that basically happened in ponythread once upon a time). A number of different poses though, and tried to keep work on each panel relatively breif.
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Averaged out at something like half an hour per panel, give or take and probably weighted quite heavily to the first couple.
I won't ask for pictures of OC's. That would be wrong.
Draw the anthropomorphic personification of Autumn, Diego.
Or, you know. a pony. Whatever works.
So anyway, stuff.
Flat colours, no shading, simple splodges of colour to tell something resembling a story (admittedly one told through the prism of an OC's understanding of events and tendancy to blur the truth. Think of it as the propaganda version of something that basically happened in ponythread once upon a time). A number of different poses though, and tried to keep work on each panel relatively breif.
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Averaged out at something like half an hour per panel, give or take and probably weighted quite heavily to the first couple.
The great thing about drawing people, even if you don't get it looking exactly like your original, someone out there does look like that probably. The features may look a little small, but to my eyes, they definitely seem to be within human norms (helped by you drawing the head a little thinner as well). Otherwise the main thing to fix would be the symmetry of the glasses, since being manufactured, they are the only part of the image that *has* to be symmetrical. I think that would go a long way.
Also, love the comic Tiki Snakes. Astounding work that. (Though the science in me says that water beats fire unless fire is super hot).
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Day 114:
Here's a humanized Autumn (or going by the germanic "harvest" root). Finished, but not cleaned, lined, detailed or shaded.
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Time: a little over an hour
Music: Pony
That prompt also reminded me I did a copy of Arcimboldo's Winter in elementary school. Been a long time though.
__________________
Devoted artificer of the church of Scorching Ray.
Last edited by Madcrafter : 10-17-2012 at 12:40 PM.
Also, love the comic Tiki Snakes. Astounding work that. (Though the science in me says that water beats fire unless fire is super hot).
Thanks. The science in you can rest easy by the way. The comic is written from the perspective of a (slightly ridiculous) OC of mine and contains metaphorical stuff.
Did you know the average pony is something like 70% water?
I particularly like the autumnal leaves falling from the outfit.
EDIT - So, during our game of Victorian Age vampire-the-masquerade, we obtained a description of our suspect in what might eventually be called the Jack the Ripper killings.
It has been a long day, and the silliness overtook me.
This is the result.
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A Victorian lady-of-the-night is alone on a dark street when a sinister figure approaches.
"Why the long face?" She asks.
Last edited by Tiki Snakes : 10-17-2012 at 05:56 PM.
Say whatever you will of the style, but I very much like how this turned out. Twilight (clone) is happy to see you.
Getting a look at the current prototypes was totally worth the trip to the earthside labs.
And a closer-to-completion-than-last-time WIP shot of Tectonic's latest OC, Sera the seraphim pony. I'm still thinking about how the wings should actually be.
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Bearer of the Psionic Flame
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Current occupation: Considering drawing a better Psionic Flame avatar.
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Skills: Competent Modder, Proficient Programmer, Accomplished RTD Game Master, Adequate Artist, Dabbling Writer
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Last edited by Sean Mirrsen : 10-18-2012 at 09:25 AM.
Ah, impostor! That's no Twilight! I'm guessing its either the clone part or the fact that the hair is falling strangely around the horn and shoulders, but nothing about it would tell me its TS without being told its a member of the six.
Seeing as ponies are visually defined by mane-style, colour, and cutie mark (in that order IMO), and the sketch lacks two, I don't find my reaction unusual. Would need straight bangs and ends to visually identify (or colour).
The other one is nice too of course, saw that character crop up in the avvie request thread as well.
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Day 115:
Dai Blackthorn, the sample character used throughout the 4e GURPS Basic Set book.
Spoiler
Time: Dunno actually
Music: Pony
I'm glad my camera didn't break after I took a picture of my laser at work today.
__________________
Devoted artificer of the church of Scorching Ray.
Last edited by Madcrafter : 10-18-2012 at 01:04 PM.
Ah, impostor! That's no Twilight! I'm guessing its either the clone part or the fact that the hair is falling strangely around the horn and shoulders, but nothing about it would tell me its TS without being told its a member of the six.
Seeing as ponies are visually defined by mane-style, colour, and cutie mark (in that order IMO), and the sketch lacks two, I don't find my reaction unusual. Would need straight bangs and ends to visually identify (or colour).
Yeah, unfortunately the show has fairly little in terms of defining facial features save eye design (and base template/gender), so any shot that's mostly a face done without color would have the identification trouble - compounded in this case by a somewhat confusing attempt at hair in motion. Also, physics limiting creative hairdo design. I can assure you, the actual specimen is quite recognizable, even sans cutie mark. (Seeing as the labs have yet to get even the basic telekinesis working properly, at least three of the main six special talents wouldn't apply anyway, so they're saving the trouble for later. They'll work on the system once they're sure they can actually pull the whole species trifecta off.) So it's less a design problem and more a quirk in my rendition technique that I'll have to work out. Thank you for the input.
I'd be happy to offer something constructive regarding your own sketch, but I am, as is evident, no expert on facial features. (which is why I don't actually work at the earthside labs) All I can think of as critique is "why the long face?". :P
__________________
Bearer of the Psionic Flame
---------------------
Current occupation: Considering drawing a better Psionic Flame avatar.
---------------------
Skills: Competent Modder, Proficient Programmer, Accomplished RTD Game Master, Adequate Artist, Dabbling Writer
--------------------- Join Dropbox! It's free! And useful!
Looking at the original, it seems I inadvertently gave him fuller features, thus collapsing the view of the side of his head/neck into nothing. Also why it looks a little 2D.
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Day 116:
GURPS books seem to be full of vaguely bizarre images. I still can't decide if this guy is made of hardened flesh or stone. (Also somehow got a weird strobe effect on the picture).
Spoiler
Time: 40 min-1 hour
Music: Pony
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Day 117:
Because pulling off the dual pistol side dive is easier in zero-G.
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Time: 30 minutes?
Music: Pony
Found the strobe is just the camera picking up the frequency of the light for some reason.
__________________
Devoted artificer of the church of Scorching Ray.
Last edited by Madcrafter : 10-20-2012 at 12:58 PM.
I made another picture of a Pony. It's kind of involved.
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A breif rundown of the conceptual ingredients, for the so inclined;
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It is a ponified Pontiac Firebird Transam. Specifically the one my character in Thanqol's Detroit Mage game owns. Aparently that type of car has been called a "pony" car before. The Pheonix/Firebird angle is relevant to the game.
The armour is to signify that Firebird Pony is a knight. Because I couldn't resist a hidden reference to Knight Rider given that it's more or less the right type of car. (also hence the reddish eyes).
Madcrafter, do you draw from detail to detail or constructing the figures first with simpler guide-shapes (shapes with volume, mind), before refining the contours then adding the details? Former bad latter good.
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Though most of my time in the past few days have been spent playing Dota 2, I have been filling pages on and off, mostly tackling faces and heads since i suck at drawing faces and heads:
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forgot to set the size of this page right...
I think drawing an underlying (simplified) skull is absolutely helpful. And yes, those were supposed to be Marceline and a wizard Lucca in case you were wondering.
Sneak preview of my first ponythread-tumblr post in a while (Featuring amongst other things my first effort at Sean Mirrsen's version of/temporal clone of my most tentacular OC).
Sneak preview of my first ponythread-tumblr post in a while (Featuring amongst other things my first effort at Sean Mirrsen's version of/temporal clone of my most tentacular OC).
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It's, yeah it's kinda complicated.
I anticipate much confusion for that post.
While I'm here, here's Tect's OC, Big Coat the semi-wise buffalo shaman.
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And the full art for ShadowFireLance's avatar. Bat wings are of the devil. There are sixty-three different elements and thirteen layers in this one image.
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Allons-y!
"Everything I see is total, unblemished reality...Except for the flying carrots. Those are probably fake." ~Trixie
I have just plain not been in the mood for this. :/
The "inspiration brick" I was hit with turned into a dud Chrysalis pic that I made a half-hearted attempt at cleaning up before colouring.
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How do I do smooth lines with a tablet? I just can't figure it out.
"I don't know how to foot"- a squirrel drawing, by Diego Havoc
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Old Man picture will come when I decide that I care again.
Oh wow Diego, hot darn. That's really good.
Smooth lines?
You start with a huge canvas, and you zoom out. You use slightly too big a brush size, and then, when you have the general idea, you use fine eraser work to get rid of excess.
It is totally different from using a pencil, and quite frankly is a pain in the plot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flyingchicken
I think practice is absolutely detrimental without proper thought and direction.
Yep. Perfect practice makes perfect. Practice makes rote.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Madcrafter
Hmm, this Mage system sounds interesting. What's it like (if anything)?
On its surface, it's an underground society conspiracy theory game. Only instead of spies and guns you have mages and powers.
It lends itself immediately to being whacky PIs doing goofy cases, similar to being the Doctor. Like, a motley of Doctors all doctoring together.
At its core, it's a game about the morality implicit in heavy hands D&D magic. You can eventually achieve everything a D&D Mage can, but so what? You know souls exist. You know morality exists. Why does money matter? Who are you in a world where you know the truth is a thing worth revealing, but that truth could destroy the world? It hinges on religion, hubris, pride, an uphill battles. It is a game of indulgence and sacrifice, solely because such is humanity's nature.
It's pretty Fun.
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Spoiler
Health
Magic
Will
Charlotte Blanc, Spring court Chatelaine
7/8
5/11
5/5
Flouresce, Adamant Arrow Thyrsus
7/8
0/11, 8/10, 2/6
3/7
Kamau, Nuzusul cahalith
5/8
11/11
5/5
Vanessa Owens, Crime Scene Investigator
5/5
—
6/6
"One may not discriminate as to where to apply compassion, only how."
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