|
Post by Yangi on Sept 16, 2013 2:47:27 GMT -6
Since I'm already at the point where I reveal the most terrible sketches (e.g. the Taranee disaster!), I thought I might as well go all the way to explaining how I actually work. Usually I claim that most of the pictures that I drew in color took around 3 days. The "Sweet like Honey" took 3 and a half. That means 8 hours each day of concentrated work. To get you a good glimpse of what I do in that time I decided to take each of those three days and explain my work with examples. So sit upright and listen careful my dear fellows, the lecture is about to begin!
If you have questions about something I write here or something entirely different don't bother, just ask I'll see if I can help you.
|
|
|
Post by Cole on Sept 16, 2013 2:49:25 GMT -6
"Raises Hand" Oh, teacher, teacher, do I need to take notes? Will this be on the test?
|
|
|
Post by Yangi on Sept 16, 2013 3:58:24 GMT -6
XD of cause! But it will come with surprise! So pay close attention as I'll introduce you to the magical art of... developing a digital picture.
|
|
|
Post by Yangi on Sept 18, 2013 4:37:28 GMT -6
Day 1:
Concepts and Research: After receiving a commission, I mostly have to research. I have to ask about the features of the character, choose a drawing style, eventually research a certain outfit the client wants me to use, and check if a specific background is needed. With own ideas it's very much the same, just that I don't have to ask the client about the character features, but myself or get it via research.
Then I go for reference material, like Witch comics, when drawing WITCH or a picture of the character, the outfit, or background I want to draw. That can be one portrait or a dozen pictures of landscapes that will be combined.
If no outfit is chosen (which is mostly the case) I have to think of one. That means again some research to get inspired, and lots of sketching. Depending on how fast I get inspiration this part is one of the two, that can take longest. I might sketch and re-sketch just to throw it all away after all and start anew. But I also like that part most. I can go all out, creating new clothes, play around with hairdos.
When that is done and set, sometimes even meanwhile, I concept the picture. I go for several ideas mostly around 3 different ones and sketch them really roughly to see if they work for me. Eventually one of them turns out just right and until then at least one day went by.
Clothes and concepts influence each other a lot. Sometimes I had a concept idea that got cancelled because it didn't cooperate with the outfits I came up with later. Sometimes it's the other way around or I change outfits after concepting. I do this completely classic, by which I mean that I sketch on paper. I skribble on a cloth or draw into my book of ideas, sometimes using stick figures. Practically anything to get my idea onto paper.
In total you could say, this is the most interesting and long lasting phase. If the ideas don't come it can take several days of twisting and turning pictures, inspirations inside my head until I'm content with one.
|
|
|
Post by Yangi on Sept 18, 2013 4:50:12 GMT -6
Day 2
LineArt:
The second day is all about working up the concepts of Day 1: I take the sketches and finalize them as far, that the body lines are correct concerning proportions and then start with the face. The face is, what influences the most and what might even cause certain changes during the drawing process.
As soon as that is done I go for the outfit, at least the out lines so I can see the effect and how face and outfit match. Next is finalizing the body lines and then drawing the hair. That can take a while, and is one of the things that change the most while drawing.
If that is done, most of the day is up. Only thing left is to check everything once more, do a little here and there to make it cleaner or the lines thicker and maybe do something with patterns of fabric, add some more wrinkles and details and Day 2 is used up.
|
|
|
Post by Yangi on Sept 18, 2013 5:35:17 GMT -6
Day 3
Coloring, Shading and getting it over with:
Don't get me wrong, coloring the picture is a very interesting process but the rest can be very tiring and turn into true work. The coloring is great because the LineArt I had worked out before suddenly turns rel. It feels that way, I can't find any better words to describe it. It's as if the picture would finally come to life. Slowly and with caution, but it's on it's best way of turning into something great. I guess everyone knows the process of coloring from the typical coloring pages of our childhood days. digital it's not any different. You choose the color and start filling a field with it. That's all there is. If the color doesn't match you erase it to start over. That's all there is. Well okay, you have to take care not to paint over the lines or that the strands in the hair look nice and smooth but that's only a matter of how well you use the eraser and work with levels within Photoshop.
The difficult part turns up when the coloring is finished. You have to decide where the light comes from in the picture. Does it come from the lower left corner? Does it shoot directly from the back? The mean thing is: You have to picture it 3D. That means to fully ensure the correctness of your shading you need to think a 2D picture 3D, which is hardly spoken: A nuisance. Luckily I learned quite a deal about lights, how they influence when positioned where to an object or character so I got used to it but that doesn't mean I'm particularly fond of it. So! I've decided where my light source is at, that means I'll know where the shadows appear. At least I can try to guess where. And that's what I do. The kind of shading differs a lot from picture to picture. Sometimes I like hard edges, sometimes soft. But is for sure: Using a colored light source is a true pain! I Sure it looks cool, once you're done with it, but the way to get there is a whole mountain climb! I did that a lot when magic was used in my pictures. After all magic often means light and light means there should be some reflections of that light somewhere. Terrible thing, really. When the source is colored red-ish, you have to find a red-ish tone for a green sweatshirt that doesn't stand out to much and doesn't look like crap. It's really hard and annoying. Same goes for every other color. You can't just use the color of the source to reflect on things that would look irrealistic. You have to take it and blend it with the one it reflects on, lighten it up and hope it works. So what did we learn?: Be cautious about colored light sources! It might turn out a disaster.
Shading can go really fast, but might as well take long. That varies a lot. Sometimes I shade very roughly and sometimes I go very close to details and not only add shadows but also little light reflections. (examples simple shading: Family pictures in JROCK; example complicated shading: Sweet like Honey in WITCH) If that is done I add few effects like sparkles, reflections I had missed or a little more texture on patterns, hair, stuff like that. When that again is done, I have to go for the background. That's what I despise the most. I'm not too good with backgrounds and I don't do much to change that to be honest. So I click onto the white bg and dive it into one color in total, skip through colors until I like one of them most, the one who harmonizes with the rest. Then I think about the stuff that might show in it, sketch that out, color it, shade it and add effects. If that is the case I mostly add things into the foreground as well to give the picture a certain depth. If I choose a simple colored background I mostly use two colors and fade them in some way, play around with effects like the honey bubble thing until I like what I see. That's annoying and sometimes I go over it too roughly.
Finally I add my sign if I hadn't done it before, get some final effects done or corrections and post it somewhere. Of cause saving is a big issue. Save all the time! Save even while your saving! It's the most terrible thing to loose a days work just because you've forgotton to save, trust me!
Okay that's basically it. Now you might have learned some interesting things. Or you just skipped over the text bored to death Anyways thanks for reading and feel free to ask questions! I'm out'a here! (for now)
|
|
|
Post by Cole on Sept 18, 2013 12:38:12 GMT -6
It's rather interesting to know what you and I'd assume many other artists go through in the process of drawing something. It kinda gets me thinking though. Sometimes I have this specific idea in my mind that just won't leave, I just have to see that idea come to life in a visual means, which is something that I know some artists prefer that you have an idea of what you want to be done, normally detail for detail.
However sometimes, I don't have a specific idea, I'd just like to see a drawing of a certain character and I for the most part don't care what the artist does, I really prefer to just let them treat things however they want with virtually no limit, especially with attire as I've never been good at that, I've always had the thought that its something the artist may prefer to do, to take their own approach to something. [The only issues I'd have with that is if they did something horrible to my characters, never happened before, but I wouldn't like it unless I specified it.] But sometimes I've come to wonder if maybe in such situations I've actually made it more difficult to the artist instead of easier like I'd assumed.
I do have two question, although neither of them have anything to do with their specific topic.
The first is a minor one. Would you like me to change the name of this whole Board? Instead of saying Yummingdoe4, I could have it say Yangi instead, since it is the name you go by here.
The second is a more important question and that is can you now see the art on NIkly's W.I.T.C.H Thread? Or are you still having problems seeing them?
|
|
|
Post by Yangi on Sept 19, 2013 4:40:11 GMT -6
Well of cause on the one hand, it saves the artist a lot of time if he gets an exact sidcription of what he's supposed to draw. On the other hand it cages his/her mind a great deal, since that would mean to only draw that and nothing else. In that sense it's good letting the artists having influence on the pieces you ask for, that way it makes it more interesting, even though it also means more work. Don't forget: Artists of all kind (wether it's a 3D Animator, a writer, a painter, etc etc.) may curse about their work, may throw their drafts and plans out of the window in frustration, but the truth is: They love it. That's just what they do. Some more, some less but it's part of our work. You've experienced that too with your stories. Now to your questions: 1. Well sure I guess you could do that People from DA who havn't seen my new name yet might not know where to go but I really don't care about that XD So yeah I guess I would like that 2. I still can't see them. I can see the one with Rifel and Endarno but that's it. It's strange, some days ago I was still able to see the ones after that, but now I can't. Have you changed the size maybe? It might take too long to open them then. I went to the edit mode to see if I just can't see them. The strange thing is: In the preview I can't see any picture. In the BBCode though, it tells me, that there should be.... Really weird. Somethings messed up there... HAve you changed any settings since uploading that one sketch of Irma? Because since then I can't see the ones following or before... So mabe you can check the size of the pictures. Maybe one is too big and blocks the other ones...
|
|
|
Post by Cole on Sept 19, 2013 4:48:53 GMT -6
Maybe then a type of compromise could work in such situations, maybe give some descriptions for certain aspects of it and let other things be up to the artist. Yeah, I've experienced things like that before, heck just certain ideas. I used to have a document with over 500 pages and over 300'000 words, but I deleted nearly everything on it and decided to start over from scratch on most ideas.
1. I'll get to that soon then.
2. Hmm, I'm really not sure what to do. I haven't done anything different then I normally did, the Irma sketch isn't any bigger then certain other pictures on here. I've checked over everything in the Admin section, but nothing is different there and I don't have any problems seeing anything here. Would be a lot better if I could see the exact thing that you were seeing, might be able to see what the issue is that way.
|
|
|
Post by Yangi on Sept 19, 2013 4:57:00 GMT -6
I'm currently on a mac computer, but on friday I'll be back home and I can send you a screnshot.
|
|
|
Post by Cole on Sept 19, 2013 4:58:46 GMT -6
Is it possible that the computer you are on is having issues here? It's not just some Admin thing as even when I'm logged out, I can still see all of the pictures.
|
|
|
Post by Yangi on Sept 20, 2013 8:20:17 GMT -6
I wouldn't rule it out completely, though my home computer is a true racing horse in the field and I've been on the mac the last few days. So two different computers, who couldn't show them. Did you try viewing them on a different computer?
|
|
|
Post by Cole on Sept 20, 2013 13:05:13 GMT -6
No I haven't tried that yet, I definitely will sometime soon though. I did ask a friend to scroll through the section and see if he has any issues or not. It is just NIkly's section, right?
Thing is, I'm not really sure what to do. I check my Admin section daily, numerous times I double, triple and so on and so forth every little thing for the site, but everything is always as I expect it to be so for you to just suddenly not be able to see the pics seems rather odd. The Endarno and Rifel pic is the only one that you can see, right? That just makes things even odder as it and every pic before it are attachments, so to be able to see one attachment and not others seems weird to me.
As an Admin there is a certain set of things you can do, honestly not sure what all you can do, but from what I've gathered in making you an Admin you have close to the same level of control that I have, do you have your own Admin section? If you do maybe there is something you can do there to help the matter?
If nothing else works then I could make the Irma pic and attachment and see if that helps as from what you've said me posting the full version of it was the time that you have had trouble seeing the other pics there.
|
|
|
Post by Yangi on Sept 23, 2013 8:12:23 GMT -6
No I can see all the pictures from the first you've postet UNTIL that picture of Endarno and Rifel. So far it only concerns NIKly's section, yes. I was able to see the few pictures, like the older Will before but since last week or so I can't the that or the other ones who followed the Endarno-Fight picture. Well I can check my admin powers but I'll need a little time for that since I'm in the middle of moving right now and my own computer isn't at my new plance yet So I need to wait until I can go here again with a little more time than a fast-check. Maybe 1-2 weeks not more. I'll try to stop by frequently anyways. Other than that I would try that Irma pic to get a smaller version or only post it like the others not in it's total size. That might be the cause.
|
|
|
Post by Cole on Sept 23, 2013 12:23:43 GMT -6
Well you shouldn't have any trouble seeing the pics now, since I added all but like three as attachments. If you still can't see any of them, then I have no idea what the problem and I'll have to ask proboards directly what the issue is.
I really would have preferred to not use up the MB for attachments unless absolutely needed, but nothing else seemed to work. I was able to find a way to get them from DA, but then I was told the pictures were too big, so I had to changed them from that size and make them as attachments.
|
|
|
Post by Yangi on Sept 25, 2013 3:05:15 GMT -6
I can see them now Thanks again. I know it might be annoying but at least this way everyone can actually see the pictures.
|
|
|
Post by Cole on Sept 25, 2013 12:06:15 GMT -6
Can you see all of them?
I don't think its annoying pointing out you can't see any of the pics, I thought the only annoying point to it was finding a way to fix it so everyone could see them.
|
|
|
Post by Yangi on Sept 26, 2013 3:31:53 GMT -6
I can see all of them now. Two of them are really huge but I can see them perfectly well
|
|
|
Post by Cole on Sept 26, 2013 4:14:49 GMT -6
Huh, that's rather weird. I had a theory as to why you weren't able to see them, but if you can see it then my theory is complete off base.
The two huge ones, I'm assuming you mean the Flying Will one and the one under it of a slightly older, Will, right? I could make them both a little bit smaller, about the size they were when I first posted them. They wouldn't be a great deal smaller, bit still smaller then they are now.
|
|
|
Post by Yangi on Sept 28, 2013 2:31:53 GMT -6
That might be a good idea. I mean they really look great in that size, but when I open the page all I can see of the flying Will for example is her foot and a bit of her leg. I had to scroll over to see the actual picture so to say.
Well, I don't think it really matters, as long as everyone can see the pictures now. Computers can be weird and pretty random some times...
|
|
|
Post by Cole on Sept 28, 2013 2:39:22 GMT -6
How about now? Are things better or are they still hard to see?
At this point all I have left as options I can do is try to add them as attachments, which I'm not sure about their size as if its over 1 MB I can't attach them, hence why the one under the slightly older Will is always bigger then others.
The other option is to change it to where all pictures and forced to a certain size, not sure what it is though. I gave the option for scrolling as that one the picture would be at its full size.
I have from time to time consider just adding a link for a picture instead of the picture itself if I have too much trouble with the pic.
|
|
|
Post by Yangi on Oct 25, 2013 4:40:22 GMT -6
|
|