Art LESSONS and ART ADVICE..want to Learn to DRAW?..

[RaptorART 258]

Thanks for the tips, friend. It all makes sense now that someone went and helped me along personally. 

 

Went back and reworked her a bit more. Something about the left side of her face seems a bit...wonky to me. I can't put my hoof on it... Plus I still need to work on how manes lay around ears.

 

herdderp.png

 

I'm getting closer, though!

your left eye is a tad to high, and the right eye is slightly to big

but your biggest problem is that your not following a concave skull line, it's lumpy

also, Derpy's mane is covering up some of her skull, so you wouldn't have to worry about a top portion of getting the eye right

[Pencil Hoof 169]

your left eye is a tad to high, and the right eye is slightly to big

but your biggest problem is that your not following a concave skull line, it's lumpy

also, Derpy's mane is covering up some of her skull, so you wouldn't have to worry about a top portion of getting the eye right

 LOL that's what I said (minus the hair thing XD)

Oh well, great minds think alike

Or in this case mediocre minds (mine) think like great minds (yours)

[RaptorART 258]

Every time I try to draw eyes, they always look weird. I only seem to have that problem when drawing on a computer, when I use pencil and paper they look fine. I seem to get tunnel vision whenever I draw on the computer, somehow I can't find mistakes until I take a look at my drawing as a whole. Maybe it's because I tend to zoom in for precision, so I lose sight of the big picture...do you have any advice for this?

 

Here's a sad Chrysalis for reference, I copied the facial expression of Fluttershy from Hurricane Fluttershy. I'm still not satisfied with the eyes and I keep trying to add tears but it always comes out wrong...

 

 

Sad Chrysalis.png

 

 

post me a picture of what your trying to do exactly

and go out and find a reference from DA and search for a sad crying pony if you must

 

The description on their website seems very vague and I have no idea what the differences are between wacom bamboo and intuos besides the price tag.

 

Is wacom the best brand on the market?

Wacom is indeed the best brand on the market (that i know of )

the bamboo tablet's are smaller than an intous tablets

just watch the video's on the site, and you'll see people using the tablets

also your not gonna be instantly god-like because you decide to get one

its gonna take you like 2-3 weeks to adjust

a tablet is a mere tool, it only works as good as the person using it

[Terg_the_Electric_Wizard 51]

Hmm, do you happen to have some advice's when it comes to drawing landscapes and such? My latest drawing is one where it's kind of in the middle of the afternoon - night 

 

Just check out if you find something that you would correct.

 It's not finished yet, have to make it even darker than this.

 

[Pix3M 607]

and our fluttershy here is a 3d image

whats the difference..well obviously Fluttershy here has a Light source, and Shading

lisght and dark source.png

 

Be aware that body parts can cast shadows on other body parts, so the lighting is not as accurate as it can be. The lighting suggests a light source that is farther away from us than Fluttershy, but if that's the case, the mane should be casting a shadow on the wing. Especially with the shorter layer of feathers, there should not be any highlights because her head and mane is blocking the way.

 

It's great to see people help out, but be aware that there's always somebody better at what we do.

[RaptorART 258]

Hmm, do you happen to have some advice's when it comes to drawing landscapes and such? My latest drawing is one where it's kind of in the middle of the afternoon - night 

 

Just check out if you find something that you would correct.

 It's not finished yet, have to make it even darker than this.

 

unfortunately landscapes and backgrounds are my weak points, lol

but I would advise for you to go out and google, or just search for a reference for what your looking to do

once you got your reference, then you can more accurately piece together a scenery better

also, posting your reference, and your actual drawing, so we can see both, is a great idea

that way we can see what you were going for

here are some BG's I did early this year

 

Edited December 23, 2012 by RaptorART

[Doctor-Whooves 288]

YOU, sir, deserve a medal.

 

*Hands Raptor a very shiny medal*

 

Also, if I may, what pointers would you give to a beginner, on basic things Ike anatomy and the basic outline?

[RaptorART 258]

YOU, sir, deserve a medal. *Hands Raptor a very shiny medal* Also, if I may, what pointers would you give to a beginner, on basic things Ike anatomy and the basic outline?

Anatomy is very basic stuffs

you quite literally go back to your stickman drawing days, but its a bit more complex

don't worry about the outlines until you learn how do draw from the INSIDE--->OUT

not the other way around, lol

if you do skeleton work, than your body shapes will look more believable

a lot of the time, if your drawing JUST the Out line, than chances are you are either

A. Really good at what you do

B. are guessing what your doing

 

even with portrait work you still need skeleton

 

 

[Agent505 661]

I'm seeing a lot of useful tips coming from this site, the only thing im concerned about when it comes to threads like this is that people dont get to be creative with their works. Very often the OP gets too carried away with making things what they envision to be "right" and ends up telling people what they want their works to end up looking like every time.

 

(Dont get me wrong, your advice so far all seems to be very unbiased and fair without being soft, it's good stuff) 

[LunarBrony 13]

would you happen to have something for front view ponies? I can't see to get it right. nothing seems to fit. i think it is mostly that i havent seen a good enought drawing guide for the front perspective.

[Winterbass 763]

First of all, thank you so so much for making a thread like this!

 

There's a bit of a problem I've been having when it comes to digital drawing and that's shading, it's the bane of my existence. I can't shade even if someone held a gun up to my head. I've got some pictures I practice my shading on, but it never seems to work out. I use Paint Tool Sai but I can work with Photoshop too. Shading on paper isn't that big of a deal, but I simply can't shade digitally, the techniques and the order of doing things just doesn't feel natural to me nor do I get when to use what and how. Even shading eyes with different colors seems to big of an undertaking to complete. So... any tips for shading?

 

 

For a reference, this is one of the pictures, non-shaded. The light source comes from the upper right corner, but I try different light sources from time-to-time. 

 

 

 

 

 

There's also another thing I've been having troubles with, and that's details. I'm able to draw simple stuff, but adding details to a picture is something I've never been able to do in my whole life.

 

When I see stuff like this

 

 

 

 

 

Compared to my simple, kindergarden doodles like this

 

 

 

 

I just lose hope in myself, pick up what's left of it and start practicing again. But no matter how much I practice, my drawings become too muddy and ugly because of the details. Do you perhaps have any tips or tricks up your sleeve that you use in your art?

[Agent505 661]

I can totally relate to the last part of that thread. 

You see other peoples works and you just stare in awe, then you compare them to your own and you kinda feel like flushing them down the toilet would be a waste of water. At least that's how I feel when I look at my own things.

 

I can offer some advice on the shading, but I use GIMP for digital images. 

It's simply a matter of filling in the area you want shading (same shading areas as by hand) with a dark colour, then adjusting the transparency until it looks good to you. 

 

The only thing else I can think of is just practice everything you want to do, and dont try to rush it.

Of course you need to progress, but take it step by step. 

I dont like the drawings I produce myself, but I have a book of all of my drawings, so I compare my most recent drawings to my first ones - doing that is a great motivation to see how far you've come. 

[Zygen 6,065]

ok, so i used 2 references for this piece

so here is what i ended up doing for this piece of yours

I used the first ref to figure out the head turn

 and position of the left hoof

 

then using the 2nd base ref

I was able to figure out the proper anatomy for the back left leg

mess up on purpose.jpg

Head practice

pony tut.jpg

more pony anatomy

lets draw twilight.jpg

Is that the drawing I made of twilight a long time ago? o-o?

Just curious .

Speaking of this, I really need to get back into drawing after vacation. I stopped even bothering drawing.. Maybe I'll put one of my drawings up here after I get back into shape a bit . I'm sure I have a lot to learn.

[Fluffy Pinkie 417]

Does anybody have any suguestions for tablets that are good for all around purpose but are mainly for trying to draw? I'm curious because i wanted to try out animations but i'm not sure of a decent tablet. 

[SweetJeans88 408]

Brilliant thread btw!  we all need fresh eyes sometimes to catch the things we miss.  (i like the "flip it over horizontally and see whats wrong with it" method haha)

Id like to ask your opinion/input on a few things:  

 

first, im terrible at backgrounds.  ive been through school and understand its a setting, sometimes that your focus or main thing would interact with, but i cant gauge a good one from a bad one--an in depth critique of WHY one works and another does not.

 

and do you know any good methods for foreshortening?

 

 

 

a decent tablet. 

 

 

i started with a bright blue bamboo fun that came with a mouse.  theyre not bad for beginners, but they rattle a bit.

 

 

What is the best drawing tablet on the market atm and how much does it cost? I'd prefer em to be bigger as smaller ones gives me wrist pain.

 

 

 

 

weeellllll.... me and the beau pooled our money together for about a year and a half and bought a 24hd cintiq.  you draw directly on the screen, so its more intuitive than me trying to get my hand-eye coordination down like a regular tablet.  also, you can adjust the slant of the thing, and actually twist the screen around like you would a notebook.  its cut our production time down by a lot, but haha we fight over this thing constantly.  its about 2000 USD.  very expensive.  it took us a long time to save up for it, and then they were out of stock for like 6 months.

 

id like to note tho, a bigger better tablet wont improve bad drawing habits.  i still draw on paper and scan most of my stuff in.

 

 

Edited January 5, 2013 by SweetJeans88

[RaptorART 258]

Does anybody have any suguestions for tablets that are good for all around purpose but are mainly for trying to draw? I'm curious because i wanted to try out animations but i'm not sure of a decent tablet. 

Bamboo tablets are always really nice, and also very affordable!

you can go to www.Wacom.com and get one for 80-100$

on spend more money and get an Intous 5

 

Brilliant thread btw!  we all need fresh eyes sometimes to catch the things we miss.  (i like the "flip it over horizontally and see whats wrong with it" method haha)

 

Id like to ask your opinion/input on a few things:  

 

first, im terrible at backgrounds.  ive been through school and understand its a setting, sometimes that your focus or main thing would interact with, but i cant gauge a good one from a bad one--an in depth critique of WHY one works and another does not.

 

and do you know any good methods for foreshortening?

 

 

 

 

 

i started with a bright blue bamboo fun that came with a mouse.  theyre not bad for beginners, but they rattle a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

weeellllll.... me and the beau pooled our money together for about a year and a half and bought a 24hd cintiq.  you draw directly on the screen, so its more intuitive than me trying to get my hand-eye coordination down like a regular tablet.  also, you can adjust the slant of the thing, and actually twist the screen around like you would a notebook.  its cut our production time down by a lot, but haha we fight over this thing constantly.  its about 2000 USD.  very expensive.  it took us a long time to save up for it, and then they were out of stock for like 6 months.

 

id like to note tho, a bigger better tablet wont improve bad drawing habits.  i still draw on paper and scan most of my stuff in.

 

 

I am not "great" at foreshortening, but not god awful at it

I prefer to stay away from it, unless i want to do an action shot or something of the like

 

As far as BG's go, also not a strong suit of mine, but with a decent photo to view while i draw

I can normally do ok at it

 

Use a REFERENCE for both of those is my advice, and if it still looks wonky or bad, than ask for another opinion

 

would you happen to have something for front view ponies? I can't see to get it right. nothing seems to fit. i think it is mostly that i havent seen a good enought drawing guide for the front perspective.

pretty sure i did a front view pony on the first page or so

that post can be harder to deal with, due to the fact that you gotta add foreshortening sometimes, lol

 

First of all, thank you so so much for making a thread like this!

 

There's a bit of a problem I've been having when it comes to digital drawing and that's shading, it's the bane of my existence. I can't shade even if someone held a gun up to my head. I've got some pictures I practice my shading on, but it never seems to work out. I use Paint Tool Sai but I can work with Photoshop too. Shading on paper isn't that big of a deal, but I simply can't shade digitally, the techniques and the order of doing things just doesn't feel natural to me nor do I get when to use what and how. Even shading eyes with different colors seems to big of an undertaking to complete. So... any tips for shading?

 

 

For a reference, this is one of the pictures, non-shaded. The light source comes from the upper right corner, but I try different light sources from time-to-time. 

 

 

 

 

 

There's also another thing I've been having troubles with, and that's details. I'm able to draw simple stuff, but adding details to a picture is something I've never been able to do in my whole life.

 

When I see stuff like this

 

 

 

 

 

Compared to my simple, kindergarden doodles like this

 

 

 

 

I just lose hope in myself, pick up what's left of it and start practicing again. But no matter how much I practice, my drawings become too muddy and ugly because of the details. Do you perhaps have any tips or tricks up your sleeve that you use in your art?

I'll jump on shading that fluttershy in a bit once i get these commissions outta the way for the night

its actually rather simple

[Lucifer 212]

I... I still can't believe I am actually doing this but, okay.

 

I need some advice at art...

So, yesterday I drawed a human for my first time... Well, it was more like a mage than a human...

 

So, here it is:

 

 

YEH. IT'S SIDEWAYS. DEAL WITH IT, BECAUSE MY MOBILE IS STUPID.

 

Anyways... Is there any way I can improve this...?

[RaptorART 258]

I... I still can't believe I am actually doing this but, okay.

 

I need some advice at art...

So, yesterday I drawed a human for my first time... Well, it was more like a mage than a human...

 

So, here it is:

 

05012013167.jpg

 

YEH. IT'S SIDEWAYS. DEAL WITH IT, BECAUSE MY MOBILE IS STUPID.

 

Anyways... Is there any way I can improve this...?

your good for the most part

nothing really stands out and screams "FIX ME"

the only thing it really needs is maybe shoes and tips of fingers coming out the sleeves

and if your clothing in long enough, than it's understandable

your pose is a bit "stiff" but that's really the only thing besides the feet and hands

[Pencil Hoof 169]

I... I still can't believe I am actually doing this but, okay.   I need some advice at art... So, yesterday I drawed a human for my first time... Well, it was more like a mage than a human...   So, here it is:     YEH. IT'S SIDEWAYS. DEAL WITH IT, BECAUSE MY MOBILE IS STUPID.   Anyways... Is there any way I can improve this...?

 

Third time writing this, so sorry if I sound short or critical -_-
Anyway, like I said.
The first thing is, his right shoulder is slanted. If you want to fix that, then just make the lines more horizontal and less diagonal.
Keeping on the subject of shoulders/arms, his right arm could benefit from being brought forward a bit. Right now, as it goes from the shoulder toward the hand, it slants towards the body. That makes it look like he's just slightly pull his arm backwards, which, if you try it, is really quite uncomfortable, and unnatural .
I also noticed that the bottom "half" of his body (below the waist) is too short. If you visualize, or better yet, sketch legs that fit in that robe, you'll see it's not quite right... I think...
The last thing I really noticed was his robe is a little weird on his bottom left (the right side of the drawing). The robe is slanted outward, but it doesn't look like there's any reason it should be. If it's supposed to be his leg making the robe slant, then it's easier to actually draw the leg, then just erase it's inside. However, if it IS supposed to be his leg, then that's also a bit unnatural. If it's suppsed to be the wind, then you should try drawing a consistently angled line from the belt to the end of the robe. Then you can try drawing some dramatic folds in there (the whole drawing would look cooler with folds of some sort). I would tell you how to do that if I was very good with folds myself
Anyway, hope this helps.
P.S., sorry for any bad spelling, but I'm typing on my Wii U, and me + touchscreen keyboards = BLECH.
P.P.S., if you don't understand anything I said (whether it's because of previously stated reasons for bad spelling, or just bad explanations on my part (or even just something in the picture that looks wrong to you that you want a second opinion on), just ask.

Edited January 6, 2013 by Pencil Hoof

[Modphase 1,271]

Aye, hello there. I might as well dump my drawing of Angus Young here for you all to see. Criticism and pointers would be very much appreciated, as I yearn to improve my drawing skills. So here he is. And yes, I know his left arm looks very wonky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope I can get some good pointers from you guys.    I especially want criticism on the face because I know I messed up the most there.

 

And thank you very much, in advance.

 

 

 

This might be a bit much to ask, but it's possible other people may benefit from it. Can someone please share a chart containing samples of anime eyes? I honestly wanted to make his eyes open but I didn't feel like doing realistic eyes and I don't quite know any anime eyes. 

[Agent505 661]

This might be a bit much to ask, but it's possible other people may benefit from it. Can someone please share a chart containing samples of anime eyes? I honestly wanted to make his eyes open but I didn't feel like doing realistic eyes and I don't quite know any anime eyes. 

 

 

This might not be exactly what you're looking for, but I would SERIOUSLY consider checking out MarkCrilley if you haven't already. 

When it comes to drawing almost anything, that man is a god in hand form I swear. 

 

 

 

 

 

Those are just two of his eye-works. He normally commentaries his tutorials, but I dont think they are commentated.

(Listening to music as I post this...so...eh) 

[Pencil Hoof 169]

This might not be exactly what you're looking for, but I would SERIOUSLY consider checking out MarkCrilley if you haven't already. 

When it comes to drawing almost anything, that man is a god in hand form I swear. 

 

 

http://youtu.be/KYHzcM32f1I

 

http://youtu.be/NOHAPxldtI4

 

 

Those are just two of his eye-works. He normally commentaries his tutorials, but I dont think they are commentated.

(Listening to music as I post this...so...eh) 

 I found this guy recently, and can definitely vouch for him. Great artist, and great videos. I would subscribe to him again if I could. 

Not really, I don't like him THAT much, but hey, I had to say something to get 100 characters 

[Modphase 1,271]

this thread is brilliant! It must be kept alive. Therefore, I will ask again if anyone would be so kind as to critique my above artwork.