Bagh! Drawing Is Annoying

Cyborgguineapig · February 2003

<div class="IPBDescription">need help, (mentally)</div> First off I consider myself a descent drawer but when it comes to shading I can really screw up my work. I seem to have a difficult time shading in my work and I know i'm partially because I am using too many lines in my drawings. This "sketch" I have uploaded is simply a few minutes work and I am quite happy with it, But I always seem ot ruin my art once I try to ink it in or add too much detail from the pencil. The only thing I ask is advise and suggestion of fellow drawers. How do you start out and what techniques do you do, what is your tactic to shading once a drawing is made up of lines.

I used to draw hours on end as a little kid but nowadays I am simply unmotivated and am lacking of confidence. Thats probably my major problem with drawing, along with my inherited Perfectionism. If I do one thing wrong I sometimes throw the paper away, and most of the time I won't draw for another year if the drawing feels wasted. You know what people say about art being of your own and that anything original can be considered art,...well I have a hard time with that.

Simply in all my post, I can't get myself to make the next step towards this drawing in fear of messing it up <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'>

Then again the Sistine chapel(spelled wrong probably) took like 14 years or something, I guess good art takes time and historical art can take years if not maybe a lifetime <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'>

EDIT: updated drawing next page... (saving forum space) <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'>

Infinitum · February 2003

Looks like the bunnie out of Donnie Darko

Rue · February 2003

ok im running in 16 colors , but from the little i can make out it looks sweet , looks like something from BG <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'> add i big bag **** axe to it <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'> , anyway as for advice dont draw it on paper use a draing program and use it to shadein areas or even scan it in and use the computer to touch it up a little.

CrouchingHamster · February 2003

I'd disagree with that..unless you have access to a top-notch graphics tablet, drawing anything on a computer is pretty tricky...( not talking about 3d models, technical diagrams , that sort of thing btw..)

Doing it on paper then scanning is your best bet, from there, drop it into a paint program and play around with it. Dont feel like you have to stick with simply pencil or pen drawings either, try using pastels, charcoals, inks etc..

( although if you do use other materials, make damn sure they are "fixed" properly with a suitable coating of transparent fixative before you put that thing NEAR a scanner..)

Oh yeah, and don't <i>worry</i> about messing anything up. You <i>will</i> mess up, this is unavoidable.

Talesin · February 2003

Shading should be handled like every other part of the drawing... believing that it has volume. Start out shading by crosshatching.. just trace along the curve of the bone, adding depth slowly as you go. Then you can work up to smoother shadings, just using swaths of value to pull a skull off the page.

I'd also take a look at the front of that muzzle.. looks like he had a high-velocity argument with a wall, and at least partly lost.

(Oh.. and drawing tablets really don't help, until you get REALLY used to them, or just put down a regular sheet of paper on 'em so your hand will glide naturally. Besideswhich, you shouldn't learn to draw, using the computer as a crutch. It's a tool... you shade in Photoshop without learning how to do it right, and it'll look like badly-done photoshop shading. You learn how to do it right, and it'll look proper.. instead of having unintended conflicting light sources, for example.)

DOOManiac · February 2003

neato. definately better than i could do..

anybody else reminded of that one texture from DOOM? heh.

Thansal · February 2003

ok, I blow when it comes to art (I wish I was better) however I got a few tips from my bro on shading (he is a good artist)

somethings you might want to try are:

1) you have a scaner, if you also have a good printer, make reproductions of MrEvil there and test stuf our on him

2) make some simple drawings (take a few pencils, put em on the table, sketch em and then shade,)

3) Charcole pencils can be realy nice for shading, if you have a nice set of artists pencils (they aint that expensivwe and are simple to find, just get a wide range of lead types) you can get realy good gradients going.

4) As far as I can see you main problem is shading (I think you art looks great), so you might honestly want to try just silly little shaing exersizes like I said.

yah, just stick with it man, you realy do look like you can do some nice stuff <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'>

RoadMaster · February 2003

There is no way to "ruin" your picture if you want it shaded, it's just another learning process. Practice a bit, observ, etc and you should be fine. Don't worry if it doesn't come out the way you wanted, because it's just another step in learning how to do things correctly. Practice makes perfect as they say, so just take a stab at it. If you really want quality take your time, and especially thing about where the light would fall, which parts of your face go out more than others, and how it effects the rest of the shadows. For example if your nose is long and there is a light source from the left of you, your nose might cast a shadow on your right cheek, depending upon the angle the light is coming from. If you are worried about using pencil making your picture too sketchy there are a few things you can do. For one thing keep an assortment of pencils, different softnesses and whatnot. A lot of people shade with the side of their pencils which is good too. As a final step for me I actually keep a little paper tube thing, I forget what they are called, but they are like a pencil made out of newsprint paper which you use to smudge pencil marks so everything blends. You can use a kleanex for this too.

Here's my little try at shading your picture in photoshop, I hope you don't mind me doing this
<img src='http://members.rogers.com/roadm/images/cybguineapighead.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>

DOOManiac · February 2003

el diablo! el diablo! vamanos muchacos!

Thansal · February 2003

blech I know what you said, bah

and that looks rather nice

all in all, see we are all behind you man, just don't give up ;D

Cyborgguineapig · February 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (RoadMaster @ Feb 6 2003, 05:24 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> There is no way to "ruin" your picture if you want it shaded, it's just another learning process. Practice a bit, observ, etc and you should be fine. Don't worry if it doesn't come out the way you wanted, because it's just another step in learning how to do things correctly. Practice makes perfect as they say, so just take a stab at it. If you really want quality take your time, and especially thing about where the light would fall, which parts of your face go out more than others, and how it effects the rest of the shadows. For example if your nose is long and there is a light source from the left of you, your nose might cast a shadow on your right cheek, depending upon the angle the light is coming from. If you are worried about using pencil making your picture too sketchy there are a few things you can do. For one thing keep an assortment of pencils, different softnesses and whatnot. A lot of people shade with the side of their pencils which is good too. As a final step for me I actually keep a little paper tube thing, I forget what they are called, but they are like a pencil made out of newsprint paper which you use to smudge pencil marks so everything blends. You can use a kleanex for this too.

Here's my little try at shading your picture in photoshop, I hope you don't mind me doing this
<img src='http://members.rogers.com/roadm/images/cybguineapighead.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'>
Holy ****, Roadmaster. I think I will start sending you my line drawings for you to shade <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'> You made it look nice and pretty close to how I imagined it too look <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'>

Thanks everyone, I just needed the motivation. I'm in a bit of the discovery age for I am not sure where I want my life to go at the moment so I'm trying new things. I can model in 3D with lightwave and cinema 4D but know **** when it comes to game modelling so i just recently tried drawing again, only had little inspiration. I hope to oneday illustrate and write my own scary story novels, but thats far from now obviously if you can tell by my terrible grammar. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'>

Tzarcon · February 2003

You have to imagine light coming from somewhere, and try to figure out which parts of the face would be blocking light. Also, you have to cover the entire character in a light shade anyway, so it doesnt look so bland. The side of the face that is opposite the light is always darker. Some parts like the nose cast a shadow on the face. Heres an attempt I took at shading it...

Liku · February 2003

It does look like the Donnie Darko Bunny! RUN!

RoadMaster · February 2003

Tzarcon: what's with your eyebrows and cheek bones? The left eyebrow has a shadow to make you think the light is coming from the right, while the right eyebrow casts a shadow down to the right, meaning that the light source would be coming from the left. The same applied for the cheekbones. I can tell the light source is from the left, but than why have that odd shading on the left parts of the head? it's as if the eyebrow and cheekbones on the left are actually going on an inward slope, allowing the skin beside them to cast their shadows onto them.

Cyborgguineapig · February 2003

Um oooookay, They look nothing alike <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'>

<img src='http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/2002_10/images/donnie_darko.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>

Cyborgguineapig · February 2003

This is so-far. I'm not happy with the way it tured on on scan, the drawing is much nicer I guarantee, it has much richer shades than seen in the scan. I am looking at it right now and the darkness of the shading didn't really come out good in the scan so it looks too contrast around lines rather than the actual shading. I tried playing with the scan settings but it seems like It doesn't get better than this, or I haven't wiped the ugly fingergreese off the scan window. I still need to add the fine details but just wanted to show how my progress was.
Oh yeah, I also cheated the system <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'> by making a copy of my original and working on the copy.

EDIT: removed pic

DArtagnan · February 2003

And you were asking for ADVICE? That's some of the nicest shading I've seen in a while, and I'm in a design field so I've seen a lot. Ummm that's all I felt like saying. Nice. Beauty.
Skillz.

RoadMaster · February 2003

oooh shiny..... very nice shading there guineapig

Thansal · February 2003

lol, he was just playing us ;D

dude, you come here asking for help and then we see what you did and we all want to kill you, lol

Cyborgguineapig · February 2003

Well I guess the compliments help, you see as I mentioned my main problem is lack of confidense and or/motivation. Oh and I just discovered that Roadmaster and Surge are regulars over at Polycount so I trust I got some good Crit and help.

"shiny"

Yeah see, its like really smooth looking and not really textured. Oh well, thats the way I've always shaded, I guess thats whta makes my drawings a little unique. Its got an unrealistic look but does its shading job.

RoadMaster · February 2003

actually I just meant by shiny that is was nice looking. I like how your cheeks were made to look kind of flat. When I coloured it I made the cheekbones very voluptuous, but your method on them look more natural. And I don't frequent polycount that much. I'm registered but I hardly post. Surge is more frequent there than I am, I'm just a lurker...

Surge · February 2003

Reminds me of that rabbit thing from.... Donny Darko.

Cyborgguineapig · February 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Surge @ Feb 8 2003, 11:33 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Reminds me of that rabbit thing from.... Donny Darko.  </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> 
Didn't you see the first page <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'> and how that rabbit looks nothing like my drawing. I dont see where people see the similiarities, the eyes maybe but the rabbits eyes are like the size of its face. Please reconsider by looking at the rabbit on the first page. I wasn't even thinking about the rabbit from DOnnie darko when I drew it. I was listenning to a lot of hardcore rock music and it was like 3:00 am after a hundred rounds of NS.

Tzarcon · February 2003

You were asking for advice? Jeese, you're better than both me and road

Thansal · February 2003

road, where did you pick up Shiny as meening good/cool?

lol, my GF is the only person I know who uses that word (wel that and the tons of people here at college who are now picking it up from her ;D)

Cyborgguineapig · February 2003

Well I'm calling it done from here, I know the shading looks incorrect in some places and I know this, I'll have to work on getting shadows right next time. As of now, it seems like theres more than one light source <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'> Oh well, like I said, I have to improve on that. Right now I am not concerned about shading problems for I'm just happy to have actually finished my first complete drawing. This is a big accomplishment for me and if you ask too see anything else I have drawn you will find nothing for this is my first ever "finished" drawing. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'>

I've added a little color tint to make it look nicer also. I was planning on doing some quick texture for the backround but decided that it would clutter the drawing too much. Also the eyes have very contrast lines outlining them, but this was on purpose because I think the eyes are whats makes the mood of the image and plus I "always" start my creature drawing from the eyes, I just can't make something without starting from the eyes out.

I guess just getting the motivation from this forum helped me to finish it, like I had an obligation to complete it.

Delarosa · February 2003

*imagines on a body of marine armor....*

that would make an awsome MvM model...

situation:
mutagen released into one part of the base... somone's gunna have to kill the mutant marines...

anyway, nice! would make a nice mutant skin or maybe even a fade replacement...

DArtagnan · February 2003

That's really beautiful.

And the tint works nicely... makes it look like you used some sepia conte crayon on white paper... which in turn makes you look like a pro! Keep going, you have a gift, and remember that it's never easy, and it's never quick.

Cyborgguineapig · February 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Delarosa @ Feb 10 2003, 07:23 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> *imagines on a body of marine armor....*

that would make an awsome MvM model...

situation:
mutagen released into one part of the base... somone's gunna have to kill the mutant marines...

anyway, nice! would make a nice mutant skin or maybe even a fade replacement...  </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> 
Actually the Fade's shoulders are close to its head and it has a shorter neck, but I guess...

Don't suggest this for I will have to create something else for all the other aliens <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'>

GaN2-Vs-KIRBYs · February 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (DOOManiac @ Feb 6 2003, 07:48 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> el diablo! el diablo! vamanos muchacos!  </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> 
DOOManiac, is: ¡El diablo! ¡El diablo! ¡Huyamos muchachos!

What the h*ll means "vanamos" xDD

Cyborgguineapig · February 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (GaN2-Vs-KIRBYs @ Feb 11 2003, 06:38 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> </span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (DOOManiac @ Feb 6 2003, 07:48 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> el diablo! el diablo! vamanos muchacos! </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'>
DOOManiac, is: ¡El diablo! ¡El diablo! ¡Huyamos muchachos!

What the h*ll means "vanamos" xDD

M  </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> 
DOOManiac may be El Diablo but I am a crazy person, so be afraid!

Bagh! Drawing Is Annoying

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