This is what I do in my free time instead of reffing ASB or homework

So I have enjoyed drawing on paper a lot but, getting to college, have found myself without the use of a scanner, and (even though I hadn't really ever scanned/uploaded my drawings before) I found myself not drawing at all. So to remedy this, I bought myself a Wacom tablet for an early birthday present a couple of weeks ago, which came packaged with Photoshop Elements.

This is the product of about a week and a half's worth of drawing things, being unhappy with them, trashing them, and drawing new things (repeat ad infinitum). Eventually I resorted to tracing which I know is a big artist no-no, but coloring/shading was really what I was concerned with teaching myself anyway so whatevs. Here we go.

(I'm pretty sure if you click on them they should come up bigger in a second window.)


The original image


My lineart


Coloring (pre-shading)


Post-shading


Finished

(I'm totally new to this whole drawing-on-the-internet thing and it's been ages since I sprited, so I've forgotten most of what's good and what's not so just tell me if for example I shouldn't be saving as JPGs or if ImageShack is a bad host.)

(I'm still pretty unhappy with my large-area shading - esp. on the hat and jacket and skirt - and with my inability to draw straight lines. Any advice?)

Comments/criticisms totally desired!

OKAY, I am glad you are drawing because art is good! As are tablets! As are little monsters! Etc. etc. okayso. Advice.

In general, tracing is actually not a huge no no, but it has its very specific places. If you are doing it to learn, then the important thing is just to trace the image, learn what you can, and trash it. If you are doing it as a photomanipulation, the important thing is to really manipulate that image. Like. Completely. ... This is hard to explain without... showing... things, eh. Whatever, basically, tracing is not 'wrong', as long as you're doing it for a purpose and not for like, to steal or something! So. (Personally, when I'm stuck on some kind of anatomy, I grab photos as trace over them until I get what the anatomy over there is, but I don't use those tracings for anything. My art teacher likes to trace photos and then completely rework them into like... legit paintings that are not recognizable as the original photo. So... tracing happens!)

Anyyyhow. :| Okay, advice. Since you're working on the colouring; in the original image, there's a lot of blue. You took the background too, so there's a lot in your final as well. But you didn't use much blue in your colouring; you shaded Gaga with grays, which tends to look very un-life-like. Shading is always better when it's done with colours than with er, grays. And since the background is very blue, shading with blues would work well.

Mostly though I think you're good and just need to get used to the photoshops. Like, most of what I know is just cause I spent so much time playing around in photoshop. So. Oh, and imageshack is the site I use, but er, try clicking links to share this image > direct link. So you can see the full size. And jpg is good if you're using photoshop since it saves nice quality, unless you want a transparent background, then save as png (or gif for sprite/pixel-work).

Okeydokes.

Hyde said:

Anyyyhow. :| Okay, advice. Since you're working on the colouring; in the original image, there's a lot of blue. You took the background too, so there's a lot in your final as well. But you didn't use much blue in your colouring; you shaded Gaga with grays, which tends to look very un-life-like. Shading is always better when it's done with colours than with er, grays. And since the background is very blue, shading with blues would work well.

Click to expand...

As far as coloring, I was trying to edit the colors I picked up with the eyedropper to make them kind of more yellow-er shades (but then at the last minute i decided to use the original background so all that blue made that go out the window) and I guess I kind of desaturated them somewhat too. When I was changing the original hues to darker ones I was kind of going toward the bottom-right corner of the color box (gah I know nothing so my explanations suck) but I guess I should have been going to the right without going down? or maybe down without going right i don't remember which side was desaturated and which side was darker but still saturated but yeah.

(Part of why I'm frustrated with myself is because I spent a year in a digital graphics class last year and learned all of this already and promptly forgot it by not using it for six months.)

ETA: and by the way if anyone's interested this is the tutorial I was using.

Not serious artwork but another thing I did hooray for cartoons!



I seriously did not realize that until about three days after I bought that scarf.

Only 6 realtime hours from conception to completion!

(Is this the first time TCoD is {sorta} seeing real life me? I think maybe. lol.)

THAT HAPPENS TO ME /ALL THE TIME/. I fucking hate the heat. >| Impossible to wear anything nice!

More doodles.


(direct link)

This is my D&D group's Barbarian. His name is Dr. Esquire the Third. He wears a monocle and top hat and has several hundred kobolds which worship him as a god. One of them is his squire, Cappuccino, who fights alongside him with tiny nunchucks.


(direct link)

I shouldn't have to explain this. Derpy Hooves. That is all.

DERPY DERPY DERPY DOO

I officially love you now.