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Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 2:32 pm
by DiM
so yesterday i got my first graphics tablet and i started doodling and practicing.
i know several of you already have tablets and use them at map making so perhaps this would be good thread to talk about this and share tips and tricks.
so far i've learned the following:
1. don't use black, use a dark brown. for some reason it looks much better
2. don't use the brush at 100% opacity go for 10-50% depending on what you do

so far i've only done images using one colour and it's various shades (from the pen pressure and the opacity) and i've attempted a colourful version too (that kinda sucks).
anyway what troubles me the most are the shadows.i'm trying to learn how to do shadows but i can't find anywhere an answer to this question: should shadow lines be true to one direction throughout the whole image? or can i have them horizontal in one place, vertical on another? or perhaps they must follow the shape of the object?
for example if i make the shadow of a ball, should i make it of round lines or can i do it however i want?
i don't know, i'm torn and i feel like my shadows are inconsistent.
also, how the heck do i draw a straight line. and i'm not talking about perfectly straight cause that's easy, just hold shift :). nope, i want something to be nearly straight, hand-drawn straight.


anyway post images here and let's discuss.
show: hand 1

show: wolf skull

show: marilyn pinup sketch

show: marilyn pinup coloured

show: skull

show: natty without hoodie

show: hand 2

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 2:59 pm
by The Bison King
Funny I always use black lines but I mostly use the tablet for less rendered/realistic stuff.

should shadow lines be true to one direction throughout the whole image? or can i have them horizontal in one place, vertical on another? or perhaps they must follow the shape of the object?
for example if i make the shadow of a ball, should i make it of round lines or can i do it however i want?

There's no official "rule" but in my experience shadow lines look best when they follow the shape of the object. I think Hand 2 is pretty good about this, it would look better if the lines curved just a little bit with the finger, but that can be hard to do and be consistent about it.

how the heck do i draw a straight line. and i'm not talking about perfectly straight cause that's easy, just hold shift :). nope, i want something to be nearly straight, hand-drawn straight.

Wish I could tell you I'm still trying to figure that one out :?

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 3:28 pm
by natty dread
Drawing straight lines is hard with a cheaper tablet... a lot of them have a very slick surface which causes wobble. Especially as they wear down with use. Professional level tablets (eg. Intuos) often have exchangeable surface sheets for this reason.

Usually when I need to draw things with accuracy, I just place a sheet of paper on the tablet and draw through it. It gives the pen tip some friction which helps keeping the pen steady, and also gives a more natural feel for drawing.

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 3:59 pm
by DiM
actually it wasn't about the tablet's surface it was more about my hand. anywhere from 0 to 90 degrees i can draw perfect horizontal lines, once i get past 90 all the way round to 359 my straight lines become crappy and wobbly.
but i discovered something so freaking simple it eluded me so far :)
i can simply turn the tablet to whatever direction i want so that the line i'm supposed to draw is at the angle i'm most comfortable with.
so since a horizontal left to right motion produces the best results i just turn the tablet around until it matches the position.

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 5:01 pm
by natty dread
Or, you could try MyPaint, it has a neat function that lets you rotate the canvas while you draw.

http://mypaint.intilinux.com/

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 6:08 pm
by DiM
that does sound interesting but i'll stick to photoshop for now. it's a programme i'm comfortable with

not too happy with this one. it should have been a lot more detailed but i'm not that good and/or patient :)
show: arc de triomphe

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 3:19 pm
by AndyDufresne
Nice work on these, I am always amazed by people who can draw or paint or sculpt, since I always stunk at art classes in school. Heck, I remember trying to draw from those 'learn how to draw with these easy steps' books, and things never turned out right!


--Andy

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 3:53 pm
by DiM
i've done more practicing but it feels weird to be the only one posting :(

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 4:24 pm
by The Bison King
I recently tried making a comic strictly on the computer with my tablet... ok I didn't just "try" I actually did it this is what it looked like:

Click image to enlarge.
image


I still don't think I can draw as well n the tablet as I can on paper but I recognize the conveniences.

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 4:36 pm
by DiM
that actually looks awesome. the shading is superb. and the facial expressions. i love it. post more.

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 4:43 pm
by Victor Sullivan
That is awesome, TBK.

-Sully

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 10:47 pm
by army of nobunaga
looks good man.. .talent is going to shine on any media, I believe Picasso said something like that.

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:36 pm
by RjBeals
here's a banana i drew with my tablet just practicing. straight lines are always hard for me. for coloring, i learned to set my opacity real low, and sample colors using a 5 point sample with the eyedropper, instead of a 1 point sample.

Image

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 7:24 am
by natty dread
Ok, here's my first try on a new software (Krita)... I'm basically in love with this program already, particularly the sketch brushes - they're just plain awesome. That's all there is to say about sketch brushes.

This is really just a doodle, I was basically just trying out different brushes and effects at random, so it's not very refined...

Click image to enlarge.
image

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:13 am
by koontz1973
Self portrait. :P

Love it and nice considering you have just started on this new programme of yours. Going to ask how is it different but in the other group.

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:23 am
by natty dread
Here's more experimenting... this one didn't quite turn out like I wanted but meh.

Image

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 10:26 am
by natty dread
Did I happen to mention this software is amazing?

Here's something I did using sketch brush + symmetry tool:

Click image to enlarge.
image

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 7:13 pm
by DiM
i worked on more images some turned out nice, some turned out decent. still need loads and loads of practice though.
here are a few:

show: orc


show: sexy


show: superman

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 7:32 pm
by natty dread
Nice!

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Thu May 03, 2012 7:35 pm
by Victor Sullivan
This thread is awesome.

-Sully

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Sun May 13, 2012 8:51 pm
by natty dread
I've been drawing sexy demons today

Image

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:05 pm
by The Bison King
well... you've been drawing demons today.

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Mon May 14, 2012 12:42 am
by koontz1973
natty dread wrote:I've been drawing sexy demons today

:shock:

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Mon May 14, 2012 1:10 am
by grifftron
you guys got some mad skills.. good job

Re: Hand Drawing

PostPosted: Mon May 14, 2012 1:46 am
by The Bison King
Click image to enlarge.
image

You know so long as this threads called "hand drawing" I suppose there's no reason I can't post some actual hand drawings done with pencil and paper. These are from when I was real into making up fictional animals for Thyseneal. Mostly just adding horns or tusks to pre-existing animals.