Art Tips Please?

[The Shadow]

Okay I really admire a lot of your guys' fan artwork on here. The contests and Redesign threads especially. I've got to ask though. How? I mean I think I can draw the characters on paper fairly well but when it comes to putting them on the computer they look like crap. Like this. I made i recently and its just not like everyone elses'.

Its not good like that. I realize I made some mistakes in drawing it, but like its something else. Is it the coloring? Also, what do you guys use to ink your drawings before you scan it? I used the finest tipped marker I could find and when I scanned it looks really thick and then I have to shrink the drawing and the line looks all wavey. So please tell me, how do you do it?

 

[Spider-Who?]

First off:

NEVER compare yourself to another artist. There will ALWAYS be someone better then you, no matter how good you are. Everyone has their own style. Its what makes art so interesting.

Second:

Alot of what your scanned image looks like has to do with HOW you scan it. Check your DPI (resolution) settings on your scanner. I'd suggest going with 300dpi. Second, play around with scanning in color, greyscale, or black and white - they too will have an effect on the scanned image quality. Choose what looks best to you and stick with that.

Shrinking the drawing WILL pixellate your image alot of the time - IF you scanned the image with low resolution. I'd try to not shrink your images if you don't have to.

When opening your image in a painting program (I'm assuming you're using ms paint?) try making the canvas size the same (or larger) then your scanned image - this way you won't have to shrink your picture and and the quality won't suffer.

Third:

Most people on here are using "proffesional" digital art programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator to create their artwork. When using a cheap program such as MS Paint, you're basically using a log to brush your teeth - its that useless. You can check out free trial versions of the aforementioned programs at www.adobe.com

Fourth:

Instead of comparing your work to others - and risk getting frustrated - STUDY others' work. See how they blend colors, how they use light and shadow to give depth to their characters, how they compose their images. Then try it yourself. Check out Mattchew's work. He's one of the best here at the Hype.

Your work isn't bad. You've got potential. And I think you would do best to study, practice, and most importantly enjoy it regardless.

Good luck.

 

[The Shadow]

Thanks I appreciate the advice.

 

[Spider-Who?]

No problem. You should make a thread for your art if you don't already have one - it'd be a good way to document your progress and get helpful advice from others.

 

[The Shadow]

Okay. Perhaps I will. Thanks again.

 

[MessyPandas]

Hey Shadow. I just want to echo some of whats been said and also to say I really like your posted drawing, and if developed, you'll easily develop your own interesting style.

Try not to compare your work too closely to others, and definitely don't try to emulate it. You are good at proportion and composition, just work on your colouring. Even with MS paint, you can alternate between a light tone (for the main body of an area) and a dark tone (to create the illusion of shadowing) to give a work a bit of depth. Just use the slider in the colour chooser to alternate between the two, when you get a bit confident, you can include a few more. Photoshop is better for blending colours, but I use MS paint primarily myself and find it just as dependable (I find photoshop complicated). Heres a video of one of my colourings in MS paint:

[YT]CcRfMGr0pRk[/YT]

Just keep at it dude and make your own thread so we can see your progress!

 

[The Shadow]

The thing is, I don't really like my style of art. There are ways that I'd like to draw like. Some of my favorite styles are Bruce Timm, which I can kinda do and Darwyn Cooke whom I really admire. I don't know its just not the way I want to draw. And I try other styles and they don't work. Like the style where the muscles are kindof exaggerated and the head is somewhat smaller than it should be and it just doesn't turn out right. The way I draw seems to generic.

 

[The Shadow]

P.S. I made my own thread and thanks!

 

[Green Lantern]

Also, if Photoshop is too expensive for you (and it very well probably is...) You can download Gimp, which is a freeware photoshoplike editor.

 

[webhead731]

www.deviantart.com

Look at their art. Type in Rocketeer, find something you really like, and take ideas. Don't copy. Like if you think the background is cool, try to imitate the colors. I do that sometimes.