_darque_

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This is just awesome - I'm guessing you can put art there just as easily?

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As mentioned...absolutely. I did one for both me and Wyld with art featuring our toons...looks really nice

Okay, I'm game:

My work: Felis non Grata, my kin/elec. My most recent picture, and my favorite.

Someone else...Liz, whose work I've always loved. This is one of my favorites of hers. It's soft and peaceful

Classic...Not a painting, but still one of my favorite historical pieces of art. The statue of David by Michelangelo.

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Is it because I don't advertise?

I'm open for requests. I always have been.

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Don't feel bad...I never get remembered either.

Got it, and sent

Whipped a little something up for you...where should I send it?

You may want to try both Renderosity and Renderotica...both sites do have a substantial amount of freebies that can be downloaded for Poser. Just a suggestion if you're looking for a little more raw material.

And I really like the pictures...I especially like the one of Sixty. The shine on the clothes is beautiful.

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Does anyone know if there are any reference shots of Ex Libris running around, I heard it was her birthday.

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Funny, I was looking for the same thing

Blink in Color

Finished her this morning.

Polykarbon's a great site

There's this tutorial, that I think was actually linked on here originally. I also like Manga Revolution . A lot of really good tutorials on drawing, coloring and everything

Good luck.

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Does anyone know how to make fliers to promote events. I'm looking for a cool looking flier to promote a PVE event we're planning on doing on Infinity server. Ex Libris told me to ask here.

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Destiny, shoot me the info via PM and I'll see what I can work up for you guys.

I don't think I have the tiger pattern on any of my catgirls...but most of them still have the collar.

Beautiful I love Liz' work

Happy birthday, ski

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Really raw, with little clean-up. But I figure that can come during the inking/coloring phase

Blink

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Very nice... but sometime hard to add for JAM without a full body.


Here's my Colossus

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She'll have a full body when done...

Meh, I was criticized a lot for doing anime when I first started out. Like you say, you didn't force them to look.

I always try to follow the advice: If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. Unless specifically asked for a critique, and even then, I try to be as nice as possible.

Not sure if this might be someplace else to go, but Artuproar.com was at one time a fairly decent place to go. Again, I haven't been there in a long time, so I don't know how it is now.

Really raw, with little clean-up. But I figure that can come during the inking/coloring phase

Blink

Other than deviantArt? Which I know isn't 40k specific, nor probably offers the kind of traffic you're looking for.

I've been known to go to The Drawing Board. Although I'm at best an infrequent visitor there lately, there are quite a few that will offer decent advice and critiques, and trolling/spamming is kept to a minimum.

That's one of the few other art sites I visit that's all-age appropriate.

A quick google showed a few 40K-specific sites, but I couldn't tell you what the community's like there.

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I agree with Goldbricker...99% of the work I do is erotic art, and if someone wants to tell me I'm not an artist because of that...their loss. You do some damn fine art, and don't let anyone tell you you're not an artist because your work isn't always safe for work.

That said...very nice work on Mr. Wrong. Can't wait to see it colored

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I don't think ANYONE said she wasn't an artist <O.O> I was in the thread where this was suggested! (And indeed, one of the people making the suggestion!)

In no way was that what was implied.

Rather, we were saying "it's good to spread your range". I believe I even mentioned quite explicitly that erotica is a very good form of art - it deals with something very innate and human.

But nevertheless, its good to have some breadth to your abilities ya know?

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I was more responding to Gamma's comment in the original post: "If I want to be an artist..." rather than anything said in another thread...especially since I don't think I saw the other thread you mention. Just trying to offer encouragement and speak from personal experience.

Didn't mean to step on any toes

I agree with Goldbricker...99% of the work I do is erotic art, and if someone wants to tell me I'm not an artist because of that...their loss. You do some damn fine art, and don't let anyone tell you you're not an artist because your work isn't always safe for work.

That said...very nice work on Mr. Wrong. Can't wait to see it colored

I like it a lot...especially the feet (that's something that always gives me trouble...hence white ankle socks =P) A mirrored reflection of her face? I think it's a brilliant idea

Advice on her back? Maybe a slight darkening to indicate her spine. I really like the way it's turning out though, and can't wait to see it finished

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I'd suggest you simply trust in two innate skills: the coordination in your arm (shoulder-elbow-wrist-fingers-drawingtool), and the coordination in your mind (desire-imagination-perception-learning). Your style will generally come from a combination of what you want to think about and what kind of strength and precision your arm has to work with.

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I think this is where part of my problem comes into play, mostly in part due to my Asperger's Syndrome I believe. This connection that most people share between these two, the body and mind doesn't work as it should with me. Even just speaking is problematic. I can say things very eloquently in my mind, but when I go to speak those words something gets lost between the mind and body (or somewhere between one part of the mind and another) and things come out worded entirely differently, awkwardly, slurred, sometimes stuttering.

It wasn't until recently that I noticed that this was happening with my art as well. I used to be really clumsy in gym but never took notice of it until I learned more about my Asperger's. I'm sort of surprised that I didn't make the connection with my artwork until recently as it's the same sort of thing.

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This sounds like: you want to draw realism, but can't quite keep the visual in your mind while you're pushing your arm around.

I find that it's common to focus on the target in mind up until the last second before the arm starts to draw the first line, and then the target blanks out of the mind while watching the line being drawn. You end up focusing on the line, how thick it is, how the curve is coming out, all the imperfections of the surface, how it cuts through the whitespace. The goal is completely out of mind over those few seconds.

It's coming out cartoony because you're effectively focusing only on the lines being drawn, and you're good at visualizing a couple of lines on a page into a cartoon. (This is actually a good thing, but it does severely undermine attempts at realism.)

How do you turn this around? Well, it requires a lot of willpower initially, and a lot of motivation to practice. You kind of have to reject the natural tendency to focus on the line being drawn, and continually reimpose the image of what you're aiming to draw in your mind.

Working on strengthening your arm is good too, because lessening any flaws it brings to the table will also lessen mental distractions.

Unfortunately, this kind of process is slow and frustrating because it's really hard to go against one's natural mentality. But if you want to draw any particular style, you have to be able to get those images into your head and to lock them in while you draw.

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I think that this most explains why I am having such a hard time with my art. My art has simply been just an application and evolution of lines on paper. I haven't been able to keep an image in my mind for very long while drawing. As soon as I begin drawing that image is lost and it's simply become mad scribbling to assemble anything that looks good, whether it looks anything like my initial concept or not. I wonder if this is due in part to the ADHD facet of my Asperger's or some other aspect?

I'm still learning to focus on one thing at a time and not let my mind spaz from one thing to the next. Is there anything I can do to help me maintain a mental image long enough to get it down on paper? Should I also try developing my skills outside of this practice so that I at least have some foundation skills to work with while trying to get my mental image down on paper/canvas?

As it is it's become very frustrating to draw. I get very apprehensive even just thinking of drawing again. My practice became less and less over time until it became non-existent and trying to start up again fills me with wave after wave of anxiety. I'm just noticing as I type that it seems like my mind is running on hyperdrive while my body seems only capable of running at impulse. It's like my mind is much to fast for my body to cope with. I'm finding this very frustrating, watching s the imagery in my mind evolves at amazing speeds and as the evolution of my ability to express myself not only fails to keep up but seems to be burning out and failing.

Is there anyone out there that knows of anything that might help me escape this metal trap I seem to have caught myself in and find a way that I can begin expressing myself again? I don't know if I'm ready yet to simply dive right into to the practice, practice, practice method of things at this point in time in my life. If there isn't anything that I can do in the meantime I think that I'm going to go insane as this mountain of creativity wells up inside of me without any way to express it. It feels like it's eating away at my insides, much like when people hold their anger in rather than let it out in some constructive manner. To think that creativity could be so destructive to oneself.

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Do you use photoreference at all? That might be a way to break through. It might not be exactly the picture that you have in your mind, but it will discipline your hand/eye to a degree to work together (I always use photoreference, because my mind gets too jumpy and I lose the mental image once I start putting it on paper, because I just don't have the skills yet to translate what my mind wants onto the paper. So I make due with what I have.)

Another suggestion? When I get mentally blocked from drawing, I try another creative outlet. Generally writing. All of the characters I draw regularly for myself and my bf have rich backgrounds and intertwined stories, so I go write for a while. I don't have all of the backgrounds down on paper, so I work on that. It's a creative outlet, and gets the mental juices flowing. And I find that before long, I want to draw again. I need to express visually what I've been describing in words.

I don't know if this will help or not, but it helps me.

I started drawing realism in college when I took life drawing classes. Real life intervened, and I never finished the class. In fact, I walked away from drawing for a long time. When I came back, it was because some friends were looking for anime-style art to go with a story they were writing.

I thought it looked easy. It was anything but. I struggled with anime for a while before moving back to basics (one of the critiques I had of one of my pieces suggested getting a basic anatomy book, or a nude figures book...I got two. And practiced a lot. Another person suggested getting Victoria's Secrets catalogs and practicing. I did that as well)

My style? It's hybrid. I don't do realism, I don't do anime, I don't do cartoony. It's a blend between, and it's mine. I cite Doug Shuler, Deacon Black, Royo, Lindsey and Jared (Cutepet) and Sorayama as influences in my art (all for different reasons), but don't draw like any of them. Although to my eye, I can look at some pieces I've done and say: This is because of this artist, this is because of that artist.

I use photoreference on a great many of my pictures. Those that I don't have a stock photo for, I pose Wyld. Some of what I've been working on lately is more realistic...and I sketch him live for that (usually when he's sleeping. I can stare at him for long periods of time and draw what I see...usually the interplay of shadows and light rather than forms in this case.)

Also, check out different tutorials. I've probably got a few dozen different books on How To draw various styles, and even more online that I've downloaded or sites that I've bookmarked and gone to. Try drawing in someone else's style. Chances are you're not going to like it, but there's also a good chance that you might find something of value that you can incorporate into your drawing style and technique.

It takes a long time to develop a style you're comfortable with, and it will keep evolving as long as you keep learning.

And as others have suggested, draw EVERY day. Even if it's only for a few minutes. One of the earliest people that influenced my work suggested trying to draw a figure a day. Even if it was only a stick figure, since stick figures were the basis for his work (he built his up from a basic stick pose).

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Well as close to art as I can get

Souldumb from F.U.S.I.O.N.

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I like it Really excellent work on the hands.

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It's good. Certainly better than some art I've seen on this forum!

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Pretty f'd up to compliment someone by insulting other members of the forum.

You could have just said "It's good" and left it at that.

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Some of those characters I've never heard of, like Maggot and Blink.

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Blink's in eXiles, Age of Apocalypse, and is always being killed by the Phalanx. Maggot and Marrow were introduced at around the same time. Toad was an X-man in Age of Apocalypse.

(sorry, Wyld's an X-fanatic, and Blink's one of his favorites, along with Nocturne)