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July 10, 2012
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Replies: 24

I could use some art advice. . .

Forums > Art Related > General
:iconnickey989:
~nickey989 Jul 10, 2012  Student General Artist
Well to start off, I'm 15 years old, about to turn 16 and I've been drawing for roughly 11 years.. I'm self taught through and through. Lately I've been having concerns. I've studied anatomy and perspective quite a bit on my own but I'd like some advice from someone who knows what they're doing and isn't just an image I've found on Google.
You can check out my art in my gallery if you'd like to see what I've done before.

Problem 1: I have tendencies to change styles very often, up to the point where I don't really know which style to use on some pieces. (Is this bad?) I've never noticed anyone else who does this as much as I have.

Problem 2: I've managed to try different media this year and step out of my comfort box with what I draw but I'd like to know, from anyone who does single layer-digital art, semi-realistic paints, or even landscapes; if you've started with line-art, how did you make the transition to flat out digital paints? (I'm not really sure how do describe this style but check out the artists I study from in the next sentence.) I'm trying to study art from *MelloLover and *Mezamero but I can't make the change to a style without line art. I'm not sure how to step out there. I haven't even been able to find any tutorials/video drawings on how an artist paints like that. ;-;

Lastly, if you have any tutorials that you think have helped you, anything involving lighting, movement, more anatomy?, etc. Please share them. I'd like to learn anything to span my horizons as a growing artist. Thank you for your help. ;u; <3

:iconcrazyblushplz: Sorry if this is a tad long.
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:iconomnipotentmiku:
*omnipotentmiku Jul 11, 2012  Hobbyist General Artist
Haha. I'm fifteen too.

Well, I've heard and been told that changing your style is fine while you're still learning since you're still getting the hang of things. Once you find a style you seriously like, it'll stick with you. I've been drawing a bit too and I don't even think I have a style.

For digital art I don't know how to answer so I guess I'll just tell you what I do. ^^; I use the free program GIMP for my digital art. I usually upload my traditional piece first then I trace it on a transparent layer. I always keep a white layer on the bottom and put all my color layers in the middle. Other than that, I can't say much since I'm still learning different techniques and don't want to give false information.
Dragoart.com has really good tutorials on almost everything art related. That's where I'm trying to learn realism from at the moment.
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:iconnickey989:
~nickey989 Jul 13, 2012  Student General Artist
No way!! :'D -highfives- 15 yeah!!
And okay. I think I understand my style dilemma now. x3
Gimp? Wow. ;-; I've never used it. I just use SAI but I'm trying to learn a bit of photoshop. And I've done that before. xD I wish I scanned my stuff more though. :0 Thanks for the website! It's really helpful!! ;u; Thank youuuu!! <3
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:iconomnipotentmiku:
*omnipotentmiku Jul 13, 2012  Hobbyist General Artist
FUCK YEAH!! *Epic high five of epic awesomesauceness*

Glad I could be of help.

It doesn't matter the quality of the picture since you make the layer with the traditional drawing invisible/delete it, so a lot of that's from my phone. I should scan more often too, though, but mine is being stupid and I have to use my mom's computer for it to work for some odd reason.

A lot of my friends use SAI. One who has used GIMP in the past says it's better, but I dunno yet. I just got used to digital art so it's still my training wheels. I might eventually get it, is it free?
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:iconrainydaysmiles:
~Rainydaysmiles Jul 11, 2012  Hobbyist Digital Artist
You don't need to worry about style. That comes naturally as you continue to draw and it will constantly change over time.

Switching from linearts to paintings for me just felt natural. I hated doing line art but I loved working with colors so eventually I just stopped using line art (I still color others' line art from time to time though). :p
What I do is build up a color palette of colors I want in the piece, I don't always use all of them and sometimes I through in extras. I pick a background color, then with my skin color on another layer I paint a rough outline of the face/body and fill it in. I start with rough shadows and highlights and gradually refine them and add more details like eyes, hair, clothes, etc. Start generally and build up to the specifics.

Your art does look very nice right now, just keep practicing! :)
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:iconnickey989:
~nickey989 Jul 13, 2012  Student General Artist
Ok gotcha. ;u; I was so worried that I'd be a late bloomer in the art world because I still can't seem to find one yet. :c (I've seen artists around my age who seem to know what they're doing already.)

I have to agree with the line-art thing. I hate doing line-arts unless it's for chibi's or something. I tried the paining style last night and I was in love.
Me: "OH MY GOSH WHATHAVEIBEENDOING???" I love it!! I think I have a habit of loving to single-layer paint unless I want to add something new to the design (like clothes. xD). I'm going to try to use more than one layer soon. c:
You said you started with a skin base? Wait, should I be painting with base colours and move to shading? Or just start working in detail at the skin part? I'm sorry. I'm so new to this. x-x It's nothing like the normal way I've worked but I love it.
Thanks so much for your advice!! c:
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:iconrainydaysmiles:
~Rainydaysmiles Jul 13, 2012  Hobbyist Digital Artist
No problem :)

For a "base" I just pick a midtone and fill in the entire area that's that color, and then go into details. I usually do detailing on the skin first (particularly the face) and once that's fairly well established I move to other areas, like hair, clothes, etc.
If that makes any sense.
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:iconnickey989:
~nickey989 Jul 13, 2012  Student General Artist
Alright, gotcha!! Once again, thanks so much. ;u; People like you make dA a great place. :icondesucraiplz: <3
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:iconrainydaysmiles:
~Rainydaysmiles Jul 13, 2012  Hobbyist Digital Artist
You just made my day, seriously! :hug:
:iconmega-la-plz:
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:iconnickey989:
~nickey989 Jul 13, 2012  Student General Artist
Really? ;o; I'm so happy. ^0^ You made mine!! :iconcrazyblushplz:
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:icondoodler95:
~doodler95 Jul 11, 2012
[link]
[link]

These two helped me out a lot, but I think this one has the most effective pointers for people transitioning from anime: [link]

Those are all in regards to anatomy, in some way, shape or form. For perspective, it's best to draw from real life, preferably live models or just friends who are willing to pose for you. This is key since different parts of the body can look RADICALLY different from different angles (especially the jaw, arms, and legs), so it's best to see what they all look like from those perspectives, as well as knowing the underlying structure.

And, as always, :icontutorial-city: has a lot of resources you can use. :)
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