The art Q&A Thread. [Archive] - Anime Academy Lounge

Sashi-senpai

03-03-2005, 10:42 PM

Sometimes I get Private Messages from people asking how I did things in my sigs and such, so I'm betting that others do too. So I asked myself, why not start a thread for this?

Got a question or need some tips? Ask them here, and maybe some of AA's talented artists can help you out.

Let's try to keep this thread spam-free, please - Don't comment saying "that's cool" or "I like that". Only say something if you have a question or can help someone out.

Ritalin

03-03-2005, 11:01 PM

I'm willing to help people, always get questions too. Stickied.

Zee'd

03-03-2005, 11:37 PM

ShinoMatrix

03-04-2005, 04:04 AM

How in the world do you do the effect where you have very mild tone lines cross the entire picture like it would look like if you stood very close to the TV and began to see the individual refresh lines?

I have provided an example of what I mean below and a couple of pics that I have seen it illustrated in:

http://img229.exs.cx/img229/4996/tvblending5zn.jpg

http://img58.exs.cx/img58/6692/finalx1110249rh.th.jpg (http://img58.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img58&image=finalx1110249rh.jpg)

http://img211.exs.cx/img211/982/finalx5010242bh.th.jpg (http://img211.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img211&image=finalx5010242bh.jpg)

Oh and yeah, though this may diminish my credibility that I am asking a question myself, I too would like to volunteer my relative 'knowledge' of any thing I can help with here... particularly, let's not forget, AMVs (Anime Music Videos)... If you want credentials just ask me... I won't bite :D

Phelddagrif

03-04-2005, 05:54 AM

driso

03-04-2005, 05:18 PM

Does this thread apply only to digital-based art (e.g. sigs, wallpapers), or to all types of art (i.e. drawing)? The thread title seems pretty broad.

Ritalin

03-04-2005, 05:42 PM

Does this thread apply only to digital-based art (e.g. sigs, wallpapers), or to all types of art (i.e. drawing)? The thread title seems pretty broad.

"Art." :p It's supposed to be broad.

Linuts

03-04-2005, 06:11 PM

To the next artist guy/gal who comes along: How in the world do you draw the region between hand and chest? (shoulder/armpit areas). Preferabily with some illustrations.

I always have trouble in that area...

I don't really understand.

Are you talking about how the arm should be attached to the torso? Or just the shoulder?

Perhaps the "The Body" section of this tutorial may help. At least the diagrams might.

http://www.mauigateway.com/~donjusko/human.htm

driso

03-04-2005, 11:59 PM

"Art." :p It's supposed to be broad.
I think it's too broad a topic for one thread, but what do I know? :bik:

Amohs

03-05-2005, 03:20 AM

To the next artist guy/gal who comes along: How in the world do you draw the region between hand and chest? (shoulder/armpit areas). Preferabily with some illustrations.

I always have trouble in that area...

Your query is tragically unspecific! I'm afraid there's not much anyone can say without going into horrific detail regarding human anatomy. Linuts did the right thing by pointing you to a good source. I'm too goddamn lazy to look up stuff for anatomy referrence, but I can tell you that the quickest and easiest way to learn how to draw something involving human anatomy is to just look in the mirror and draw it off your own body. Need to draw a foot? Take off you shoe and look. Most of the time it's that simple.

I say to draw it off your own body because you're the only model you have who's readily available at all times. Drawing from other people is fun and informative, but not everyone's going to pose for an hour any time you want. So when it comes to emergency lessons in anatomy, your mirror's your best friend.

ShinoMatrix

03-05-2005, 04:30 AM

Shino:

Scanlines?

Create a new document 2 pixels hich by 1 pixel wide. [ Image ] (http://www.amgreviews.com/Images/TutorialImages/Tut1.jpg) Make sure it's transparent. Then select one of the 2 pixels, and color it black. [ Image ] (http://www.amgreviews.com/Images/TutorialImages/Tut2.jpg) Go to the Edit menu and define new pattern. [ Image ] (http://www.amgreviews.com/Images/TutorialImages/Tut3.jpg)

Than find your paintbucket tool [ Image ] (http://www.amgreviews.com/Images/TutorialImages/Tut5.jpg), and go to the paint pucket options palette, [ Image ] (http://www.amgreviews.com/Images/TutorialImages/Tut6.jpg) and select pattern. Create a new layer and scanline away. [ Image ] (http://www.amgreviews.com/Images/TutorialImages/Tut4.jpg)

[ Final Product ] (http://www.amgreviews.com/Images/TutorialImages/Tut7.jpg)

I hope that was easy enough :)

That's the word I struggled to remember; SCANLINES! :p Thanks a bunch... this really helped. I've been trying various methods and at best, all I could do were really horribly chunky blotches on the work.

Hmm... I don't know if this should be a problem in the future or if it's covered by what Sashi already said above, but perhaps 'thank you' posts aren't that great of an idea if you intend on making this spam free... I know the irony of what I'm pointing out, but I just wanted you to know about this, but I thought I might as well thank Pheld ;)

Sashi-senpai

03-05-2005, 04:42 PM

Well, I guess thank you posts are alright...you know, to let them know that they helped you and to tell others that you no longer need help...but like I said, no one should post just saying "that's cool" or whatnot.

Ninja Realist

03-06-2005, 01:40 PM

Does anyone know how to make borders in GIMP?

Ritalin

03-06-2005, 04:50 PM

Does anyone know how to make borders in GIMP?

Grab the Marquee tool (Marquee (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/marquee.png)), then click and drag it around the image (it doesn't matter how far around it, it will select it, click & drag (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/select.png), selected (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/selected.png)).

Right click on the image, then go to Edit -> Stroke selection (Edit->Stroke (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/edit-stroke.png)). A box will pop-up (Border (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/border.png)). Fill out to whatever you want, blah blah.

It will now have a border.

Eh.. I don't mind thank-you posts. This thread should be quite productive, so it isn't spammish then. It's usually best too because then hopefully all questions are answered and can be used for future reference...

Veraca

03-06-2005, 04:57 PM

Does anyone know how to make borders in GIMP?

Grab the Marquee tool (Marquee (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/marquee.png)), then click and drag it around the image (it doesn't matter how far around it, it will select it, click & drag (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/select.png), selected (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/selected.png)).

Right click on the image, then go to Edit -> Stroke selection (Edit->Stroke (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/edit-stroke.png)). A box will pop-up (Border (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/border.png)). Fill out to whatever you want, blah blah.

It will now have a border.

is that how you make those fancy avatars with boxes and lines of the picture while some is transparent ? like this i mean (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/veraca/11.gif) or even to have some parts transparent (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/veraca/banner10.jpg) ?

Spilled Milk

03-06-2005, 05:42 PM

I'd like some help in coloring...how in the world do people get such a nice soft look for their coloring?? like this chick!
http://www.deviantart.com/view/10143385/
( i use open canvas and ps7)

Ritalin

03-06-2005, 06:28 PM

(To Veraca, since I'm slow and just ate dinner o: )

Yeah, that's part of it. The avatar like you linked requires some effort, so I'll type that up later. For the button though, that is easy.

This is assuming you're in The GIMP, although the pen tool works the same in Photoshop. The short-cut keys are different.

Ok, I'm going to use one of my TW banners for a test subject. Open the image, then right click -> Layer -> Transparency -> Add Alpha Channel (link (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/pen-alpha.png)). Grab the Pentool (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/pentool.png). Now I must teach you how to use the pentool! :p

Don't let go while making shapes, you must keep the mouse button down to get curves! Click outside the image (not required, but I'm doing so for this example) once, then click somewhere else, like so (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/pen-click.png). Still holding the button down, drag your mouse around, you should begin to see the line curve, ta-da (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/pen-drag.png). Note however, that it curves to whichever way you move your mouse, so go ahead and play around a little.

Now make some shapes like this, using the instructions as above (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/pen-shape.png). Just make sure to enclose it like I have.

In the "Tool Options" box, click Create Selection from Path (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/pen-options.png), a portion of the image should now have the marching border see? (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/pen-select.png) With it selected, hit ctrl+x to cut the selected part out, it should look something like this (http://caffeinated-dreams.net/gimp/pen-cut.png).

There you go, a smooth transparent cut. Oh, if you're wondering why the curves look different in each image, that's because at some points I accidently let go of the mouse button... yours should be consistant. :D

Let me know if I need to clear something up... I'll try my best to help.

Edit:: Forgot to mention, to make it transparent save it as a PNG (recommended), but it will have a grey BG in IE, so if you use that browser save as a GIF. GIF will loose some image quality though.

Veraca

03-06-2005, 06:32 PM

thankies Rit ^^ i'll give that a try. it's been bugging me like crazy to figure that out

Linuts

03-06-2005, 09:18 PM

I'd like some help in coloring...how in the world do people get such a nice soft look for their coloring?? like this chick!
http://www.deviantart.com/view/10143385/
( i use open canvas and ps7)

Open Canvas should already have a good set of brushes to choose from. To get that water colory feel, you want to play with the watercolor brush. When you select any brush in the Pen Window you should see a whole lot of bars here and there. The three slide bars to the right affects the overall brush density (move your mouse over the bars to get a tooltip description of what they are). Depending on your adjustments, you can get a brush that starts off light and then darkens in the end. Like a light brush stroke. If you slide all the bars to the left, you'll get something like a brush tip pen where the colors are always deep. Slide them the other way, and you'll get a really soft brush.

The one thing that's great with Open Canvas is that you can paint almost like real paint. So if you try to paint over a previous stroke, you'll get deeper colors and flow. Sometimes your strokes may not blend well, and that's when you can try using the smudge too, or air brush in between the strokes to smooth them out.

I suggest checking out the tutorials at http://www.portalgraphics.net/oc (go to openCanvas space). And also download some of the event files from the pictures people usually post there. Event files are another great feature of OC. It's like a replay video. You get to see every move the artist made when they worked on a pic. The brush settings and everything are all there. All these should help you painting with OC. Just play and practice ^^.

As for "painting" in photoshop. The best way I've found is to brush in the primarily colors and shades, and just smudge the stroke lines to smooth things out to get that soft painting feel.

Which version of open canvas are you using? I believe version 3.0 and up allows you to save .oc files as .psd so you can do finishing touches with ps7, which is what I usually do.

Hope that helps ^^.

Spilled Milk

03-07-2005, 09:14 AM

thankyou linuts! I'm using 1.1 T-T but OC isn't that expensive is it?

Linuts

03-07-2005, 10:07 AM

thankyou linuts! I'm using 1.1 T-T but OC isn't that expensive is it?

Not as expensive as Photoshop or Painter, that's for sure. I think it's around 60 - 70 USD at the moment.

Veraca

03-08-2005, 12:42 PM

thankyou linuts! I'm using 1.1 T-T but OC isn't that expensive is it?

Not as expensive as Photoshop or Painter, that's for sure. I think it's around 60 - 70 USD at the moment.

THAT'S not expensive?! wow.....

Linuts

03-08-2005, 01:08 PM

THAT'S not expensive?! wow.....

Just think of Photoshop or Painter to be around 2x - 3x the price of OC.

/me shivers

Ninja Realist

03-08-2005, 01:24 PM

Just think of Photoshop or Painter to be around 2x - 3x the price of OC.

* Linuts shivers

Psssh, if you want expensive try buying some video editing software. Anyway, I got a qnother question. Does anyone know of a good book/website that teaches you how to make flash animations?

xamdbz01

03-08-2005, 01:34 PM

try here (http://www.flashguru.co.uk/tutorials.php).

Just think of Photoshop or Painter to be around 2x - 3x the price of OC
Photoshop 7 was about $600 when it came out

Ritalin

03-08-2005, 04:20 PM

I foresee something not so good about this thread...

Before coming here with questions, always always use Google (http://google.com) first. Most of the people here who will reply with the answers to your questions had to use google. :p

Asking for sites is something you can find on google with ease. Sometimes even techniques can be found on the first search try... I don't know about everyone else, but I think my point is well-founded. We aren't your google, :|

If you did google, and google well, then I feel the question can come here.

This is to prevent spam, of course. Such as "where is X filter/button/option in X program?" Not to rid all questions.

Hey wait! I think this may be a good link to sum up what I just said, http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html :XD: *forgot she had that bookmarked*

furi_kuri

03-23-2005, 08:49 PM

Yo People! I have a great Anime tutorial recommendation! http://www.bakaneko.com/

Linuts

03-23-2005, 08:59 PM

Yo People! I have a great Anime tutorial recommendation! http://www.bakaneko.com/

Hmmm I think this fits in Resources better. ^^

furi_kuri

03-24-2005, 09:48 AM

Can anyone help me out with digital inking? I'm really confused with the pen tool o.o;;;

Ritalin

03-24-2005, 09:59 AM

Can anyone help me out with digital inking? I'm really confused with the pen tool o.o;;;

You don't need to use the pen tool for colouring, just make a new layer above the original scan/image, set the layers bledning to "Multiply", then begin colouring with a brush. Repeat for every new part you begin to colour (i.e., new layer for eyes, skin, clothes, etc) Think of it like painting on a canvas, but and each new layer you create is like another layer of paint. XD

This site gives a basic overview of colouring, but only with one color and one layer (it's a good starting point):
http://neondragonart.com/dp/tutorials/buildup.htm

If you're using The GIMP, layers and brushes act the same way as in Photoshop. If you're using a program like Open Canvas or Painter... I can't help you there. =X

furi_kuri

03-24-2005, 12:31 PM

Ha...ha....ha I guess I was a little bit vague. >_>;;; I meant, how can I create a smooth outline for my sketches. The one taken right from the scan usually isn't as smooth as I like, and I've seen many people use some tools to create really smooth black lines for their outlines, not normally available direct from scanning.--- I hope it makes more sense.. ._.;;; and this is in photoshop btw---

kiyone

03-24-2005, 02:55 PM

Open an adjustment layer, Curves works best, to try to get your image as black and white as possible.

After, go to your channels, hold the command key, (I think its the alt key on the PC) and select RGB. This will select all the white background. Next select the inverse and it will select all the black lines in your image. Create a new layer and paste you new lines, onto the new layer. Clear your background layer, or make it invisible to view only your lines.

Finnally finnally sharpen, while your lines are still selected, and it should make the lines look a little more fine.

deosvx

04-13-2005, 04:51 PM

Is the original art that you are scanning as sharp as you want it, you just have a cheap scanner? Or is it just a pencil drawing that you want to appear inked?

Spilled Milk

04-23-2005, 01:47 PM

Linuts

04-23-2005, 05:59 PM

erm..I have a question...I've been thinking of getting a tablet for sometime now...but I still am not all sure if it'd be worth it. I was wondering if a tablet is somethng you should wait to get untill your skills are to a certain level or not. and how hard are they to use?

Depends on what you intend to do with a tablet. They are great for touch ups for any graphical projects. As for drawing, I don't think skills really matter. Drawing on paper and drawing on a tablet is a little different, though. How well you adapt to what you draw on the screen depends on the size of your monitor, and the size of the tablet board. Sometimes it's a little harder to draw accurate curves with a tablet... But maybe that's just my lack of skills :P. I'd suggest you try to borrow one from someone and try it out. Or just buy one and then return it for a refund if you don't like it :D. A tablet will probably help you create cleaner drawings... But it will not make you a pro-artist overnight ^^.

Spilled Milk

05-05-2005, 12:38 PM

thankyou much linuts that was very helpful

erm hehe heh sorry to be a pest but people of the art thread I ranmagirltype present to you another question...-_-;;
ok so I'm looking at these markers called copic...like WOAH can we say money???
and than I'm looking at these markers called nepiko and prismacolor witch..while they still cost alot of money are a whole lot cheaper than copic...so yes my question is..would it be worth paying the extra money for copic or would something like prismacolor or neopiko work just fine?

boy I sound stupid ....

Alex San Lyra

05-12-2005, 01:49 PM

erm..I have a question...I've been thinking of getting a tablet for sometime now...but I still am not all sure if it'd be worth it. I was wondering if a tablet is somethng you should wait to get untill your skills are to a certain level or not. and how hard are they to use? I know this was answered already, but I though that I'd pitch in a second opinion.

I've used tablets only a few times actelly, but I can tell you, they ROCKS BIG TIME! I agree with linuts, adapting from pencil and paper to the tablet isn't all that easy. But you have to consider that drawing isn't the only thing you will be doing with the tablet, coloring hand drawn (and scanned) pic. for example. is great with the tablet. That's why I'll say, wayting to have better pure drawing skills to buy the tablet is a negative! Buy it as soon as possible (if you can)! I know a few guys at college that actally draw better on the tablet, not hard to belive since they use it a whole lot. So you see, the more time you have to practice the better. Buy now!!! =^.~=

Veraca

05-12-2005, 01:55 PM

erm..I have a question...I've been thinking of getting a tablet for sometime now...but I still am not all sure if it'd be worth it. I was wondering if a tablet is somethng you should wait to get untill your skills are to a certain level or not. and how hard are they to use? I know this was answered already, but I though that I'd pitch in a second opinion.

I've used tablets only a few times actelly, but I can tell you, they ROCKS BIG TIME! I agree with linuts, adapting from pencil and paper to the tablet isn't all that easy. But you have to consider that drawing isn't the only thing you will be doing with the tablet, coloring hand drawn (and scanned) pic. for example. is great with the tablet. That's why I'll say, wayting to have better pure drawing skills to buy the tablet is a negative! Buy it as soon as possible (if you can)! I know a few guys at college that actally draw better on the tablet, not hard to belive since they use it a whole lot. So you see, the more time you have to practice the better. Buy now!!! =^.~=

ok i'll ad in my stupid question

What is a 'tablet' and how does it work?

i first thought it was something you hook into your computer with USB port and draw on it directly, then i thought it was a program on the computer you buy and install, then i just thought it was something like scanner... @_@

Alex San Lyra

05-12-2005, 01:58 PM

ok i'll ad in my stupid question

What is a 'tablet' ?

i first thought it was something you hook into your computer with USB port and draw on it directly, then i thought it was a program on the computer you buy and install, then i just thought it was something like scanner... @_@ The tablet is a kit, with a pen-like mouse and a plastic board so to speak... you use the pen to draw on the board, but the drawing comes out on the screen... that's why it's a bit wierd to use at first. You have to draw in one place and look to another.

I think you need to install a program to use it and it does need to be connected to the PC in some way. =^.~=

Edit 01: Just remembered... I've heard of tablets that come with a screen on which you can draw directly... buy they must cost 10 times more.

Edit 02: Here in Brasil, the price goes from R$ 450 to R$ 5.000 or more... that's in Reais, don't know how much they cost in dollar in the US.

Veraca

05-12-2005, 02:04 PM

ok i'll ad in my stupid question

What is a 'tablet' ?

i first thought it was something you hook into your computer with USB port and draw on it directly, then i thought it was a program on the computer you buy and install, then i just thought it was something like scanner... @_@ The tablet is a kit, with a pen-like mouse and a plastic board so to speak... you use the pen to draw on the board, but the drawing comes out on the screen... that's why it's a bit wierd to use at first. You have to draw in one place and look to another.

I think you need to install a programe to use it and it does need to be connected to the PC in some way. =^.~=

how much do they normally range in price? i've seen some for a mac, but i have a normal windows dell PC

Spilled Milk

05-12-2005, 02:07 PM

The one I bought is a Wacom Graphire its 4X6 I think and it was 99 bucks

BTW thnx for all the help you guys I heart my tablet! so far all I've done on it are doodles but I'm getting used to it n_n

and yeah I was looking at a website and they had a tablet with a screen for like a thousand bucks! O.O

Tyrdium

05-12-2005, 02:17 PM

Yup, that's Wacom's Cintiq. Only a thousand? It must've gone down in price...

Anywho, question! Where'd you people learn to draw? Or rather, how should I learn to draw?

Veraca

05-12-2005, 02:26 PM

Yup, that's Wacom's Cintiq. Only a thousand? It must've gone down in price...

Anywho, question! Where'd you people learn to draw? Or rather, how should I learn to draw?

well, it's not talent for some of us (ie: me). it's pure practise before it becomes talent. i learned how to draw by first mimicing the Egyptian carvings i saw in books, then i moved on to simple things like flowers and stick people. in fourth grade i started drawing stuff like sailor moon and DBZ. fifth grade i spent perfecting the faces with sailor moon, dbz and pokemon. sixth grade i worked on Sonic characters and digimon styled people. then i continued with the sonic characters until 8th grade, but i had started more difficult things in 7th grade. and now i try anything and just work on it a lot

basically, if you want to learn to draw and not by yourself, then go to an art class that teaches all the principals (shading, coloring, shape, form, abstract, eye movements) so that you can get a good feel for all types of mediums. a community college is a good place to try if you're old enough and have the money, but otherwise just take ART CLASS as an "elective" at school- since they teach the simple basics there normally

Alex San Lyra

05-12-2005, 03:00 PM

... Where'd you people learn to draw? Or rather, how should I learn to draw? I can't remember a time when I didn't draw... I draw since I was a baby. They say I was born with pencil and paper in hand... heh.

Now seriously, I have to agree with Veraca. I'll have a really hard time telling you it's a question of tallent. I mean, when I was a kid I drew ALL the time, but my art sucked... just like any comon kid. It was only after years drawing that I started to get on paper what I had in my head. In the begining I copyed just about anything that got my atention, Disney, dinossaurs, comic books, etc... and I've always found it hard NOT to give up when some other kid came up with a better drawing then mine (thanks goodness I didn't). When I was a teenager I did some drawing courses, learned perspective, volume, etc. I also read alot of books on "How to draw" this and that...

In short I'd say this: I'm 26 years old now and I WOULDN'T draw the way I do if I hadn't prectised for all those years... so "practise makes perfect" (there's that frase again)... and don't ever give up.

Linuts

05-12-2005, 03:28 PM

Yup, that's Wacom's Cintiq. Only a thousand? It must've gone down in price...

Anywho, question! Where'd you people learn to draw? Or rather, how should I learn to draw?

My best advice to you is practice as much as you can. Find a style that you like and try to explore with it. Learn to be more obervant about everything you see and simplify them into easier shapes... That is, of course, if you are aiming for realism/figure drawing etc.

High school art courses are fine... I personally thought they were useless but they at least gave me an excuse to draw during school time :D. So yes, draw as much as possible.

And don't worry... I think I've posted my old stuff here before, so people should know how terrible they were :P. I don't think I had an "art boom" until I was 16 or something ^^.

Tyrdium

05-12-2005, 03:32 PM

Bah, practicing requires effort... :D

I assume standard printer or binder paper and a Bic disposable mechanical pencil is fine for starting with?

Linuts

05-12-2005, 03:34 PM

Bah, practicing requires effort... :D

I assume standard printer or binder paper and a Bic disposable mechanical pencil is fine for starting with?

Anything that you can draw with is fine. Although I will not recommend using your own blood as ink :D.

Tyrdium

05-12-2005, 04:42 PM

Anything that you can draw with is fine. Although I will not recommend using your own blood as ink :D.
Curses!

Veraca

05-12-2005, 04:46 PM

Anything that you can draw with is fine. Although I will not recommend using your own blood as ink :D.
Curses!

nice try there boys -.-

normal lined paper should work fine at first, then you can move onto sketch and printer paper

and any michanical pencil should be ok (i highly say a normal pencil w/ a sharpener works better for shading) though i don't suggest BIC..

Ritalin

05-12-2005, 05:19 PM

Yup, that's Wacom's Cintiq. Only a thousand? It must've gone down in price...

Anywho, question! Where'd you people learn to draw? Or rather, how should I learn to draw?

I've been drawing since I was first able to handle a tool, heh. Mind you it didn't start out good at first... but I loved it anyway. I learned just by doodling whatever popped in my head. Later I drew animals A LOT, mostly reptiles (dragons, dinosaurs, lizards) and sea mammals (dolphins :D) when I was in elementary. Then I began learning how to draw people from my mom, she is also an artist and taught me most of what I know about art.

After I learned how to draw realism I moved onto cartoons and original characters. Took my first art class my Junior year of high school and got bumped to advanced the 2nd week. =|! I only learned a little more in the advanced class, namely techniques. I learned from my mom afterall, who is an amazing artist. :)

The best way to draw (IMO) is to learn the rules of art first - realism, perspective, values, etc. Then once you are comfortable with those you can break the rules and begin original creations such as cartoon-like drawings. You don't learn much by drawing cartoons, cartoons, and more cartoons and never try anything else. ;)

Zee'd

05-12-2005, 08:03 PM

Unlike all these high and mighty artists, I seriously started drawing say... 4 years ago?

But then again, with my "on and off" fasination with the art, you could say I've been drawing for about a year or two now... still, you could really see the improvement from "then" and "now. It is as they say, practice makes perfect....

/me looks at his earlier comic strips (available here), and shudders...

Oh, and drawing instruments: usually a mechanical pencil, drawn on printer paper (for scans) and scraps/used paper/exercise books (for practice)

Ninja Realist

05-12-2005, 09:02 PM

I draw with an eraser.

jiffyjimbothe3

06-13-2005, 01:30 PM

Try as I might, I cant figure out how to download new brushes using GIMP. Can anyone, that is perhaps a bit more knowledgable, help me out?

soundchazer

06-13-2005, 02:01 PM

#2 pencil, a good eraser and a blank piece of paper are the best tools to start.

Lots of repetition helps. A good understanding of anatomy (porportions, balance) is also very helpful. You can't really do successful superdeformed until you know what you are deforming in the first place.

jiffyjimbothe3

06-14-2005, 06:32 PM

Try as I might, I cant figure out how to download new brushes using GIMP. Can anyone, that is perhaps a bit more knowledgable, help me out?
Well...I figured it out now and I feel stupid. :migrane:

Zee'd

06-14-2005, 11:47 PM

Linuts

06-15-2005, 06:35 AM

I recently got myself a (not so) cheap Tablet, the better to whore myself out to the trends with... and I got one major question to ask:

Should it be feeling like I'm murdering the darn tablet everytime I use it? Or am I supposed to tweak it somewhere? I swear to god, everytime I draw a solid, thick line in Photoshop, an entire colony of ants get wiped out from the downward pressure I used on the pen-to-tablet...

I'm not sure what tablet you got, but I'm going to assume it has pressure sensitivity. There should've been a software or something that came with your tablet. You can probably adjust things to your liking from there.

Photoshop automatically adjusts to most tablet's sensitivity, so you should be fine. I'm not sure about any other software, but the tablet's driver should've taken care of everything.

Either case, you're probably not used to the tablet yet. It should eventually be no different from holding a pencil.

Spilled Milk

08-15-2005, 07:29 PM

does anyone know how to make an animated GIF out of a video file??

Zee'd

08-15-2005, 10:40 PM

does anyone know how to make an animated GIF out of a video file??
First, you gotta get a whole lotta screenshots. Say you want character A while jumping, you get one shot of him on the ground, another about 3 frames later, another when he's just about to jump, another when he's in the air, etc, etc.

Then you erase what you don't need (That's the hard part).

Last, you arrange all the pictures you have collected/edited together in a editor of some kind, and set it to change between scenes.

Example: I use Photoshop's "brother" for that one, for my avy. Its only 2 frames, running at about 0.1sec per frame, set to endless looping...

Finnf00

08-15-2005, 11:29 PM

Example: I use Photoshop's "brother" for that one, for my avy. Its only 2 frames, running at about 0.1sec per frame, set to endless looping...If you have access to an expensive software like Photoshop, I'm sure you have access to After Effects as well. Load the video in after effects and save as a gif. There, you're done.

AqueousMessage

08-16-2005, 06:51 AM

Spilled Milk

08-16-2005, 10:02 AM

Saya-biki

08-16-2005, 10:15 AM

Zee'd

08-16-2005, 04:08 PM

Most Photoshop software comes with ImageReady (unless you downloaded Photoshop off the internet. Tsk tsk). You can open up a video file in that, select the frames you want, and edit it to your leasure.
yeah thats what I was trying to do but for some reason... the frames never work...I just get one frame ;-;

Then you most probably are making the same mistake I did in the past: for ImageReady, you CANNOT have one layer and modify it between each Frame ("per-movement") in the GIF. ALL THE OTHER FRAMES WILL BE AFFECTED. Instead, you need several layers of different shots/frames, and switch between visibility for each, in order for the whole thing to work...

Font question!
my font folder has been empty since my first font dl...but yesterday I dled some new fonts for a sig
They went to my documents first
I cut one and pasted it in fonts
and it "wasn't a valid file type"
and I couldn't delete them
so I moved the folder and deleted them...
then my friend sent me THIER font folder and I used it to overwrite mine
and I can't use the spiffy fonts...

she said something about messing up the file structure or something...
any ideas?

Sorry, cant help you there

jiffyjimbothe3

08-16-2005, 05:25 PM

Font question!
my font folder has been empty since my first font dl...but yesterday I dled some new fonts for a sig
They went to my documents first
I cut one and pasted it in fonts
and it "wasn't a valid file type"
and I couldn't delete them
so I moved the folder and deleted them...
then my friend sent me THIER font folder and I used it to overwrite mine
and I can't use the spiffy fonts...

she said something about messing up the file structure or something...
any ideas?
Hypothesis 1:I was talking with Elric and he was having a similar problem, he downloaded the font and then moved it to the fonts folder, but it didnt show up. Then I downloaded it straight to the fonts folder and it worked. Its possible it wont work unless you download it straight to the folder rather than moving it later.

Hypothesis 2:I guess it might be a zip file and you didnt run it through winzip or something.

Hypothesis 3:If your using photoshop then you have to load the fonts once their in the fonts folder.

Hope one of those helps.

EDIT: I think I might of mis read your problem...I have no idea about that...sorry.

Veraca

08-17-2005, 08:33 PM

Font question!
my font folder has been empty since my first font dl...but yesterday I dled some new fonts for a sig
They went to my documents first
I cut one and pasted it in fonts
and it "wasn't a valid file type"
and I couldn't delete them
so I moved the folder and deleted them...
then my friend sent me THIER font folder and I used it to overwrite mine
and I can't use the spiffy fonts...

she said something about messing up the file structure or something...
any ideas?

It sounds like you need to delete the files that you didn't add before. Or rather, download the files you wanted originally AGAIN and this time save them/download them to the Desktop. then open up the Fonts file and drag and drop the files into the window. if they files are of the right file type they should install imediately and you can delete the one on your desktop. if not, you might want to contact the person who distributes the files on their site or look for the same font from some other site.

Spilled Milk

09-27-2005, 07:24 PM

Most Photoshop software comes with ImageReady (unless you downloaded Photoshop off the internet. Tsk tsk). You can open up a video file in that, select the frames you want, and edit it to your leasure.
yeah thats what I was trying to do but for some reason... the frames never work...I just get one frame ;-;

Then you most probably are making the same mistake I did in the past: for ImageReady, you CANNOT have one layer and modify it between each Frame ("per-movement") in the GIF. ALL THE OTHER FRAMES WILL BE AFFECTED. Instead, you need several layers of different shots/frames, and switch between visibility for each, in order for the whole thing to work...

well...I don't really understand XD I'm trying to make a GIF by opening a quicktime movie...and then that thing opens were you select the portion of the movie you whant made into a gif...and it only gives me one frame instead of numerous.

A-R@D

10-25-2005, 09:18 PM

Question: How do you vector an image in flash?

Miaka Lee

10-26-2005, 11:33 PM

Eyes
What are the steps to drawing good eyes?
Like how do you draw highlights to the eye and make it look good.
Everytime I try its just: circle, pupil, eyebrows, and blah.
Tips would be great too.

C0MPL3X

10-27-2005, 12:43 AM

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a258/L4lN/eyes.gif
any questions?

EDIT: yes, I know this is soooo helpful, haha...

Miaka Lee

10-27-2005, 03:52 PM

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a258/L4lN/eyes.gif
any questions?

EDIT: yes, I know this is soooo helpful, haha...
.......yeah ok...........o.O
Any other takers?

A-R@D

10-27-2005, 07:51 PM

http://www.bakaneko.com/ ---> Check out the eye tutorial.
http://www.cablenet.ne.jp/%7ejapanime/tutorial/generalface.html ---> another good tutorial.

Maybe someone will answer my question.

How does one use flash or whatever to vector an anime screencap?

Ritalin

10-27-2005, 11:57 PM

How does one use flash or whatever to vector an anime screencap?

I'm not sure about Flash, since I got scared of Flash when I first used it a year or so ago... but I was commonly linked to this site: http://www.vectorkid.com/

I personally like most Shiver7 tutorials, and there is a vector tutorial for Flash 5 right here (http://www.shiver7.com/tutorials/76/) but it doesn't really cover much in your interest I think.

For anime, whenever I vector I just use the freehand tool to outline in Inkscape. In The GIMP, I use only the pen tool and fill bucket. I prefer the pen tool in GIMP to the freehand tool in Inkscape, unless you have a tablet. Just resize the screencap to a super-high resolution (I resize to 1920x1200) and create a new layer over it to begin tracing the outlines. Then below the outline layer just begin coloring with pen tool+bucket (or fill options in vector programs).

The same can be said for Photoshop/Illustrator.

Gigadi

10-29-2005, 09:54 PM

I recently made a tournament thread, minutes later when I was attempting to make a tournament ladder I encounterd problems.
My question is is there a progam that can just spit out a 30 man tournament ladder, if not, is there a image I can edit and feel put as needed.

If all else fails, is there a simple way to make a ladder?

kiyone

11-03-2005, 08:51 PM

30 man tournament ladder????? Do you mean a ladder, like a family tree??

A-R@D

11-03-2005, 09:13 PM

Zee'd

11-05-2005, 03:51 AM

All you need is patience, and a whole lot of typing...

Just write all teh names at the bottom of the "paper", then repeat the 2 steps:
1) Draw vertical lines upwards from all names/points.
2) At a suitable point, draw horizontal lines connecting vertical pairs together. The center of the connection becomes your new 'point' to draw the vertical line

Do that, and your ladder will be finished in no time.

Miaka Lee

11-09-2005, 08:26 PM

I want to buy my first art software but I don't know which one to pick. Right now I have PhotoStudio 2000 SE(not much I know).

So my question is which art software is the best to buy?

Shadowmage

11-09-2005, 08:29 PM

I want to buy my first art software but I don't know which one to pick. Right now I have PhotoStudio 2000 SE(not much I know).

So my question is which art software is the best to buy?
Photoshop is probably the best but it can cost several thousand dollars for the full version. Personally, I recommend a free program like GIMP, but it all depends on what you want to do...

Linuts

11-09-2005, 09:13 PM

Or go for Open Canvas

http://www.portalgraphics.net/en/index.asp

The cheap Painter 7 :D, and offers some cool brush options.

Ritalin

11-09-2005, 10:21 PM

I want to buy my first art software but I don't know which one to pick. Right now I have PhotoStudio 2000 SE(not much I know).

So my question is which art software is the best to buy?

It really depends on what you want to do. Photoshop is good for a lot of things, it will cost roughly $700 (which is a rip off.... ugh). openCanvas and Corel Painter are great for painting. Macromedia Flash is good for Flash, uhh well, it's the only software for Flash anyway! For vector/design work, Adobe Illustrator; I'm not sure of it's price though.

There are also free/open source alternatives. Instead of Photoshop, you could download The GIMP (which is what I use). openCanvas used to be freeware, and I think they still have the older versions downloadable for free. Instead of Illustrator, you can download Inkscape (also use this).

Because Photoshop is so expensive I would recommend GIMPshop, it's a modified version of The GIMP to look and feel like Photoshop. If you end up liking it, you could go and get Photoshop.

If at all possible, check your school if you are in Uni. Universities/Community Colleges supply student versions for extremely cheap. Usually about $50 to $100.

Edit: Nevermind about checking your school. Obviously you aren't in uni yet.

Miaka Lee

11-10-2005, 07:16 PM

Thanks, this helps a lot.

ShinoMatrix

11-15-2005, 04:54 PM

Ok, I have a Photoshop job that I need some help with.

What I need is to turn your average screen capture of an anime into a black and white manga picture.

Yeah, I know it seems as easy as taking that picture and then hitting the "Mode" button and clicking "Greyscale" but it doesn't always look as manga-ish as you would like. Particularly in high detail shots, it ends up looking quite like a 1950s cartoon rather than a comic book picture.

I've also tried a "Halftone" effect, using dots, and that sort of got the picture a bit better but again, it's still not as fine as I would like.

Essentially, what I want is to be able to make it black and white. To get rid of most of the gradients that would occur when you swap colour to greyscale, as would happen for example in facial features. And I know the only way to do it is by manually erasing them, but I also want to get rid of massively detailed backgrounds, because manga tends to have less detail in backgrounds sometimes.

Sorry I couldn't provide examples of what I mean, plain and simply because there are going to be a lot of these images that I need to make owing to the fact that I need them for several frames in my next video production. That also brings to mind another thing, which is, anyone know of a simple way to do this? I don't want have to be brushing each picture just to get the right effect. I have a November 30 deadline and I have just about 2 weeks now... nonetheless, I still want to hear all the ideas, regardless of how long it will take just so I have my options.

Thanks in advance.

Linuts

11-15-2005, 08:09 PM

Shino

Have you tried playing with the contrast? Or play around with Curves in Adjustments? Try playing around to exagerrate the shadows and use halftones again. Also, try the Grain texture filter if you want more control over your tone dots.

Also, maybe some samples of what you DON'T want may help. As in, perhaps, some of your past attempts.

jiffyjimbothe3

11-28-2005, 06:44 PM

Javer

07-06-2006, 02:16 PM

Can you enlarge an animated GIF?

Ritalin

07-06-2006, 02:20 PM

How would you make a .gif animated sig using a short video clip of an anime? Ive been wanting a new sig for a while and I had an idea for one, I just dont know how to go about making it.

Any help would be appriciated.

You can use Corel Animation Shop (http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel3/Products/Display&pid=1047024390003). There are others I'm sure, but this is all I really know.

Can you enlarge an animated GIF?

Yes you can, easiest way being with Adobe ImageReady (it comes with Adobe Photoshop).