voskaya In reply to Lymacal1 [2012-12-31 06:57:04 +0000 UTC]

Oh no problem! I love your "Dear Jack Frost" letter since I completely relate to it. I live in the bay area part of California, so we NEVER get any snow! The closest thing we get is hail and it's really not that fun when you're getting hit in the head with pieces of ice~ lol Anyway, I really enjoyed reading your writing You did a good job!

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Lymacal1 In reply to voskaya [2012-12-31 21:15:06 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! And hail? Oh, that's rough! We get hail in Buffalo sometimes and it's NOT fun! lol

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voskaya In reply to Tsu-la [2012-09-30 19:49:02 +0000 UTC]

No problem! It's absolutely perfect; I thought it was official art when I first saw it :]

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Tsu-la In reply to voskaya [2012-10-01 04:32:53 +0000 UTC]

Awww! Thank you so much for the compliment. That means a lot to me.

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voskaya In reply to Tsu-la [2012-10-03 02:20:40 +0000 UTC]

If it's not too much to ask, but can you please tell me the process you went through making that image & what program you used?

I'm in high school & hoping to go to an art college soon, so this would really help coming from someone with great skills :]

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Tsu-la In reply to voskaya [2012-10-03 07:16:31 +0000 UTC]

Congratulations on getting to go to art collage. And thank you for thinking my skills are great. I hope my explanation is not too long for you.

So, first I start with a sketch on paper with pen or pencil. Whatever is handy. I've even drawn on post it notes. Sometimes, I just skip the paper all together and sketch in paint programs. I usually use Corel Painter IX. I find it feels more like I am actually painting. Plus it takes me forever to use Photoshop like three times as long to finish a piece, lol. Usually I have up various references in separate windows while I work. This reminds me of what it should look like especially for fan art. Or if I need a particular palette of colors, this also helps with picking out colors. I open the sketch (if it's from a piece of paper and has been scanned) inside a paint program and start on the line work on a different layer. Then, I block in color per area of the piece on separate layers like skin, clothes, etc. Next, I work on painting textures and blending colors. Lastly, when I feel like I've completed a piece or gone as far as I can with it, I usually open the piece in Photoshop Elements 3 for any clean up work and flattening the image and then saving it in a jpeg Internet friendly format.

If you have other questions or you want me to explain something more in depth let me know. I think you're the first person to actually ask me about this. I am sorry for the huge block of text.

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voskaya In reply to Tsu-la [2012-10-06 22:45:30 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!
And please don't apologize for the long text [I actually like reading, so that wasn't a problem at all~]

Anyway, thank you for telling me the process! I've never actually drawn using any program before -- I just draw on paper all the time -- so I've been seeking advice, tutorials, programs to use, etc so this helped me a lot :] Thank you for taking your time to explain that to me~

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Tsu-la In reply to voskaya [2012-10-07 01:51:32 +0000 UTC]

You are so welcome! It was my pleasure. I should probably put some type of tutorial together at some point.

Here is my process for paper drawing: Usually sketch a pose with boxes of the form sometimes using reference for a character, then contraction lines on top to get proportions and anatomy just right. Then I draw on features, hair and the outline of the body to remind me of the thickness of the form. Next I draw on clothing and hair. If it's gotten too messy I use a light box to draw the character onto another sheet of paper. Here, I tighten up the line work making thick and thin line choices based on where the light source is. Making to add all the juicy details in the costume and on the character. After I have the character where I want it, I begin coloring. I use either markers or color pencils. I like Prisma and Copic. Prisma markers has great gray sets (warm, cold and neutral) that work well if you just want to show a contrast rather than color. Just keep in mind light source as you color. It's also good to add color in your light source gives depth to a character. Last thing to do would be if you want it on the internet. I either take a picture with a digital camera, if I'm not near my scanner. If you scan and are familiar with it make sure to save your image at 300 dpi at least. That's so you get pixels per inch as high as you would need it for professional work. If you need more of explanation let me know. Then after that I might clean it up in Photoshop, I use Elements 3 (it has all the basics for fixing photos). Then I use a watermark (signing my piece) and save it as a .jpeg extension. If I intend to work on it more then just saving it for the web I save it as a .psd to be able to work on it further in any paint program I want.

I whole heartily recommend trying out different art programs to find what you like. The art school I went to had me start out in Illustrator. That's how I got started digitally. I'm not sure what your major is going to be, but personally I was in the Illustration department. So, I actually learned how to draw and paint on paper and canvas before I even really got into digital. Strong foundational courses in anatomy, color and design (uses gouache), acrylics/oil painting in fine arts, figure/clothing/heads and hands drawing. There are so many classes to take and tons of reading on technique and technical aspects. If you really want to get good then make sure to draw every day even if you don't want to. Doodling is good on those days. Look at everything. From the way clothing is constructed and wraps around different kinds of human bodies. How larger forms are constructed and what shapes shadows and lighting make on faces and other forms. There is so much to learn, but you just have to make it an obsession. As far as paint programs go, Photoshop is the favorite program for the Gaming industry along with 3D Studio Max, Maya and ZBrush for textures and rigging for 3D and sometimes 2D. Personally my favorite paint program is Painter any version after IX.

I hope that helps you further.

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