Character #2, also I cant shade right

[Misery]

Okay, so, here's today's creation.

I'm getting better at this. This now takes 1/5th of the time it previously took to draw a character like this... my original one, that pink-haired girl, took a couple of days. This was done in like 2 hours. The line art part of this takes hardly any time at all to do... I've gotten a handle on not only how I want my style to look, but how to actually implement it onto the paper without it taking 5 billion years. I've learned that sometimes, changing up the order in which I do different parts can drastically alter how long it takes to make something... that's a lesson to remember.

The issue that I run into is still the blasted shading/coloring. I went for a darker skin tone with her, or at least I tried to... it really doesnt matter what skin tone I choose, it never looks quite right. It's always a bit off. My previous character had the same issue, though a light skin tone. Also just didnt look right.

And yeah, there's a LOT of "white space" within the shading. I did not choose the right paper, that became apparent about halfway through. But... ya know what, I've got like 500 types of paper, I'm gonna get it wrong from time to time. Granted, the shading is usually scratchy like that on any paper, but it's just way more pronounced and much harder to fix on this paper.

Getting the colors right for the shadows that define the nose & brows, and the bit right under the mouth, was also tough. It's meant to be a more subtle effect, instead of harsh, obvious lines. But it isnt QUITE right here. Tip of the nose looks a tad off. Not bad, but I do feel like I didnt pick *quite* the right color for the deeper shading.

But hey, that's fine for now. So far I'm leaning pretty hard into the "scratchy" look in a lot of the things I've been making in recent weeks. But that's a series of screwball experiments, as I try to get it down.

Best part of all though: Nothing hurts right now. Or at least, nothing hurts beyond my usual default level of random pain. Doing lots of my board games, plus the art practice, is helping a ton with range of motion and all that fun stuff. Previous times I'd make something, I'd be hurting like heck for some time afterwards. Not today!

Ya know what though, I need a name for this character. I'm not good at picking names. If anyone might have any suggestions, that'd be lovely.

 

[tree]

Are you employing the *holding the pencil horizontal* method,
when you're doing the shading?

 

[Misery]

Are you employing the *holding the pencil horizontal* method,
when you're doing the shading?

View attachment 130401

On and off. It depends on what I'm doing. I'm not used to that yet so when I do it I'm pretty inaccurate, so, colors getting outside of lines and such. Didnt want to chance it on this specific drawing.

I'm practicing at it though, slowly. But as of yet it's super awkward.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

I love the green eyes. The skin color looks right to me. It may not be what you were going for, but looks good. I see what you mean about the nose, but I didn’t notice it until you pointed it out.

 

[Aspychata]

Like the person's expression, like they may jump to life right off the paper. I now need to see what they are looking at, because of the intensity of their glaze. I can never draw people, but have drawn cats and dogs using colored pencils. The picture feels very balanced, the face size to the neck, the eyes are the perfect size for the face.

 

[tree]

On and off. It depends on what I'm doing. I'm not used to that yet so when I do it I'm pretty inaccurate, so, colors getting outside of lines and such. Didnt want to chance it on this specific drawing.

I'm practicing at it though, slowly. But as of yet it's super awkward.

Did you have art classes in high school?
Or at any time?

 

[Judge]

Shading is dependent on two things:

1) Understanding your immediate light source, its intensity and how it casts shadows.

2) The angle in which light falls on the subject you are drawing.

Bottom line: Shading should remain consistent relative to the angle of light. How light actually falls on a three-dimensional object can make a two-dimensional drawing look amazing.

A consideration I most often run into with digital photography on occasion. Though it's equally critical with drawing images as well. Particularly when it comes to the human form whether a full body or just the face.

Using a sophisticated 3-D graphics rendering program like "Blender" might give you some practical insight into learning about how light works. Something I discovered as well in using Photoshop over the years. Not to actually create a drawing so much as to simply view how light works and how consistent it is depending on direction and light source.

 

[Misery]

Like the person's expression, like they may jump to life right off the paper. I now need to see what they are looking at, because of the intensity of their glaze. I can never draw people, but have drawn cats and dogs using colored pencils. The picture feels very balanced, the face size to the neck, the eyes are the perfect size for the face.

Honestly I still dont really feel like I can draw people either. I've a lot yet to learn.

I am pleased with the proportions element, though. Though I'm not too clear on how I'm doing that.

Did you have art classes in high school?
Or at any time?

Technically I had art classes during school, but... well, those never went well. I had trouble learning anything in any class due not just to attention issues and autism aspects, but also because my allergies were very frequently going berserk. It's the #1 thing I most remember about school in general, is, well, mucus. It was just as gross as it sounds. I didnt find allergy meds till well after graduation.

So school in general was just not very useful. The only class that REALLY had an impact was the keyboarding class, because of the extreme simplicity of how it worked.

I havent had any sort of art classes past that. In recent months, I have tried looking to see if I could find some around here that I could do, but there's nothing like that anywhere nearby. And my spinning sleep cycle would make classes very hard anyway.

So far, everything I've made has just been the result of me drawing whatever seemed like a good idea at the time. Rather than drawing from any sort of previous training.

Shading is dependent on two things:

1) Understanding your immediate light source, its intensity and how it casts shadows.

2) The angle in which light falls on the subject you are drawing.

Bottom line: Shading should remain consistent relative to the angle of light. How light actually falls on a three-dimensional object can make a two-dimensional drawing look amazing.

Aye, this is generally what Iv'e heard.

So far, my best attempt at dealing with light and shadows was this thing:

Well, aside from the ears anyway, they arent exactly meant to look transparent, but mistakes were made.

This has also been the most well-liked thing I've made so far. So I tend to feel this is the best show of what progress I've made at this point. Even if it is still scratchy.

Also I do indeed actually intend on learning Blender. I've got Things(tm) that I want to attempt with it. Sure looks hard though.

 

[Aspychata]

I had the same issue in high school, seasonal allergies, it was horrible. You reminded me of that. Oh boy.

 

[Judge]

One thing you might experiment as well with is to use something with a far less sharpened point to draw with. Like charcoals where you have much greater control over light and dark areas exhibiting more contrast. Though it also requires a much lighter touch, as pressure plays a big part as well in terms of whether what you draw is rendered darker or lighter onto the paper.

Another thing to consider as well. All of such drawing dynamics ( and many more) are available in the form of digital programs. Whether one chooses to use a digital stylus and pad, or use a mouse. Though it does take a lot of dexterity in using a mouse to draw. But even with an ancient version of Photoshop I still find it fascinating that a computer program can offer ways of rendering a very light touch as well as a very dark touch based on pressure (gauged through a number rather than actual physical pressure). That all sorts of physical considerations of drawing can and are expressed mathematically with drawing/graphics programs.

Using such programs gave me a much greater understanding of how light falls on objects than using my own physical sense of observation. I can't really explain why, but for me it worked. (I'm just thinking with your crazy-powerful computer you can use the software of your choice which might give you more answers than simply relying on your own eyes to see how light flows over objects.)

Another possibility that you might find interesting, is to use a mirror you can place on your desk or whatever surface, and apply a light over the mirror to see how shadows and highlights are formed and how they can change. And of course, to attempt to draw your own face. And to start out with doing it in a monochrome fashion rather than attempting full color.

Portrait Lighting: 7 Best Techniques, Examples & Setups

Discover 7 portrait lighting setups that every photographer should know, including tips and examples of great face lighting you can do at home or in the studio.

shotkit.com

Basic considerations I somewhat learned from my cousin, who was once a promising student personally coached by artist John Gnagy many years ago. Known for his tv show long before Bob Ross or personal computer drawing programs. But using things much later like Photoshop really allowed me to better understand various types of light and angles in which it falls onto objects.

Though I've never really considered myself an artist...but just someone who dabbles in it. Much like I never considered myself a computer programmer either. Yet I became a corporate web designer.

Jon Gnagy, Who Taught TV Viewers About the Joys of Art Before Bob Ross

Long before Bob Ross and his happy little trees, Jon Gnagy was teaching art to the masses.

www.mentalfloss.com

 

[Misery]

One thing you might experiment as well with is to use something with a far less sharpened point to draw with. Like charcoals where you have much greater control over light and dark areas exhibiting more contrast. Though it also requires a much lighter touch, as pressure plays a big part as well in terms of whether what you draw is rendered darker or lighter onto the paper.

Another thing to consider as well. All of such drawing dynamics ( and many more) are available in the form of digital programs. Whether one chooses to use a digital stylus and pad, or use a mouse. Though it does take a lot of dexterity in using a mouse to draw. But even with an ancient version of Photoshop I still find it fascinating that a computer program can offer ways of rendering a very light touch as well as a very dark touch based on pressure (gauged through a number rather than actual physical pressure). That all sorts of physical considerations of drawing can and are expressed mathematically with drawing/graphics programs.

Using such programs gave me a much greater understanding of how light falls on objects than using my own physical sense of observation. I can't really explain why, but for me it worked. (I'm just thinking with your crazy-powerful computer you can use the software of your choice which might give you more answers than simply relying on your own eyes to see how light flows over objects.)

Another possibility that you might find interesting, is to use a mirror you can place on your desk or whatever surface, and apply a light over the mirror to see how shadows and highlights are formed and how they can change. And of course, to attempt to draw your own face. And to start out with doing it in a monochrome fashion rather than attempting full color.

Portrait Lighting: 7 Best Techniques, Examples & Setups

Discover 7 portrait lighting setups that every photographer should know, including tips and examples of great face lighting you can do at home or in the studio.

shotkit.com

Basic considerations I somewhat learned from my cousin, who was once a promising student personally coached by artist John Gnagy many years ago. Known for his tv show long before Bob Ross or personal computer drawing programs. But using things much later like Photoshop really allowed me to better understand various types of light and angles in which it falls onto objects.

Though I've never really considered myself an artist...but just someone who dabbles in it. Much like I never considered myself a computer programmer either. Yet I became a corporate web designer.

Jon Gnagy, Who Taught TV Viewers About the Joys of Art Before Bob Ross

Long before Bob Ross and his happy little trees, Jon Gnagy was teaching art to the masses.

www.mentalfloss.com

Hey, these are really good ideas.

I went and had a look at the video of John Gnagy there, I'd never heard of him before, and watching him do that, a couple of things clicked, really. I rewatched that a couple of times and then spent some time just sort of pondering it. The shape concept is not really something I'd grasped before at all, but seeing him do that, it makes a lot of sense (and looks like it's probably easier than what I'd been doing up to this point).

Also, the charcoals, that's a good idea, I do happen to have some that I havent tried yet, got them in the monthly art box thing.

I'll give the Blender thing a try too. I decided either today or tomorrow I'm going to start with some basic tutorials on that. Looks complicated, but then, so is the fractal software I use, so...


As for drawing digitally, I do have my iPad with the pencil thing, though I'll admit I tend to get really frustrated at it really fast. It turns out that apps where 99% of the UI is freaking HIDDEN get on my nerves really quickly (Procreate). I still just havent found a non-infuriating drawing app on there.

 

[Judge]

As for drawing digitally, I do have my iPad with the pencil thing, though I'll admit I tend to get really frustrated at it really fast. It turns out that apps where 99% of the UI is freaking HIDDEN get on my nerves really quickly (Procreate). I still just havent found a non-infuriating drawing app on there.

Have you heard of Krita 5.0.2 ? A nice drawing program, though quite sophisticated for freeware, ported to both Linux and Windows. I've always though of their UI as being rather open- and helpful. Though most if not all of the better graphics and drawing programs are not what I'd call simple to use right off. Take a peek:

Download

krita.org

 

[Misery]

Have you heard of Krita 5.0.2 ?

I've attempted it before, on Windows, but I quickly discovered that I dont mix very well with Wacom tablets and whatnot. There's a disconnect between the fact that I'm doing the drawing part on the tablet itself, but there isnt anything ON the tablet itself and it's all on the screen instead.

Also I cant hold the thing properly. I really need my slanted surface for drawing and such and this desk here isnt exactly great to begin with.

I looked up Krita to see if there was an iOS version, but there is not. Which at this point isnt exactly a surprise. I tend to find that if there's something cool available for tablets/phones, it wont be available on Apple devices specifically. They dont like fun or usefulness, or something.

I swear that iPad has been almost entirely useless since I got it. Mostly it just serves as a noisemaker for when I sleep. Bloody stupid device.