Dandy1

Wow, Gaderath, That's quite a post. I'm gonna see what I can do to help you out.

First off, the picture itself. It's obvious to me, from looking at both this picture, and the MS paint pic you did of the same toon, that you understand some of the basics of creating a work of 2-dimensional art: the use of shading, and of perspective. However, like many beginning artists, I feel that maybe you're not sure how to apply them, and others, in a way that lends itself to a dynamic composition.

Judging by your two pieces, it seems to me that your concern right now, is being able to to create a figure drawing that looks believable, "real", and like it has a tangible place in reality. That being said, I think the number one thing you could do would be to invest some time and money in a "drawing from life" class, or similar books. These can help you begin to understand the finer points of how to make a character look "real", such as proportion, and the physics of how the human body works. If this is not an option, then your best bet is just to draw, draw, draw.

If you're in school, and in an art class, take advantage of it. Pick your instructor's mind. If you're not in school, sketch on your lunchbreak at work. Sketch the people in the breakroom, go outside and sketch the building, draw anything and everything that you have access to. When you get home from school or work, ask a friend or family member to let you sketch them. This doesn't have to be a fancy schmancy modelling thing, where they dress in a bedsheet, and then lie on the couch in an uncomfortable position, just sketch them doing whatever it is they're doing at the time. The important thing here is that you're consistently exercising the connection between what you see through your eyes, what you perceive in your mind, and then pencil (or stylus) in your hand.

I feel it's important to note, that the human body is a very complex machine, and understanding how it is put together will go a long way to making it easier to draw a lifelike image of it.

Now then, moving on to your concerns with Photoshop. PS is a complex tool. Like any artists tool, there are many things you can do with it; some you'll find useful, others you wont. My number one recommendation is that you experiment with it often. Make note of the things about it that you like, or find usefule, and explore those further.

You had mentioned using PS for layering. For me, I find that to be probably the number one most useful aspect of it. Imagine painting on several separate sheets of glass, and then stacking those on top of each other. If you were to look down on them from the top, the paint on each sheet would obscure anything on the sheets below it. By creating a picture this way, it allows you to edit each layer independently of the others, making it easier to control the look of each layer.

Trying to explore all of the uses of PS in a post like this probably wouldn't be especially useful, as it would take so much text that the post would just be cluttered, and I think the end result would be too much info at one time, and would just be confusing.

For useful PS help, I recommend that you look into online tutorials, like the ones I'm listing here.

Sketchpad.net
Webmonkey.com
Good-tutorials.com

As time goes by, if you find yourself using PS frequently, then I might suggest purchasing a tablet for use in your work. This is drawing tablet that you plug into your PC, and you use a stylus on it, like a pencil on paper. Probably the most well known and respected brand is Wacom. I find that using a tablet greatly increases the usefulness of PS.

Boy, I've kind of rambled a bit here. I hope that you can find some use from all of this. Regardless, I hope you continue drawing, and develop a passion for it!

Oh man, that is freakin' hilarious!

Happy Birthday!

Sure thing, LJ.

The animation is basically a brief hunching down, then leaping straight up, several feet. The arms and hands are brought up directly over the head, with the hands apart, and the elbows slightly bent.

Then, the toon brings their fists down onto the target, landing with the knees bent, feet a good distance apart, bent at the waist and upper back, and arms bent, with their fists in front of them.

They stay that way for several seconds till resuming the default animation. The glow around the hands begins as soon as the animation begins, and lasts till about 10-15 seconds after it is complete.

Here's some screenies.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

I saw in another thread, that someone else had pasted a video they had made, and I thought "Hey, videos are a form of art too." So I decided to post this one that I made a few weeks ago. In retrospect, there a few things that I probably would have done differently. But hey, live and learn right?

Critiques are welcome and appreciated, as this is something I'd like to get better at.

Dandy Rocks!

[ QUOTE ]
Everyones advice has been useful as a learning tool even if I didn't make every change suggested .

[/ QUOTE ]

Well said. Some years ago a was regular poster on the art forums for the Puzzle Pirates MMO. Each week the lead game artist would provide a theme, and then each forum user, who felt inclined, would do a piece based on that theme. Most of us would post WIPS as we progressed, and we'd generally critique each other's work.

I learned a lot of things by doing that on a regular basis. Sometimes it's hard allowing people to say critical things about the art that you put your heart and soul into, but it's also a great learning process. Sometimes it takes another viewers criticism for us as artists to see the flaws in our work.

As you very correctly put it, the artist is under no obligation to lend any credence to the opinions of others, and sometimes there's just a point where a piece is "finished", no matter what anyone says. However, I've found that the pieces I like most, are the ones where I allowed the thoughts of others to influence my direction.

[ QUOTE ]
Best way to take out the UI is to record your session using the game's DEMORECORD session, then use FRAPS to record the playback of said session.

[/ QUOTE ]

/Seconded. I wish I had thought of that my few times around with fraps. Also, here is a thread with a link to a video that is an excellent example of editing. With editing, keep in mind that with most viewers, the ratio of boredom and distracted-ness correlates to the duration of the video as a whole, and the length of the individual clips within it. That is to say, use lots of different, shorter clips, and keep the video short and sweet; no more than about three minutes.

Keep working on it, before long you may be the next Jerry Bruckheimer.

This is great! Your sketches are really emotive.

I was never any good at watercolors.


...Now, crayons were a different story. Especially the big fat ones.

I hope you realized just what you were getting into when you posted this, Scarf. And if not, I'm sure you do by now.

...Man, I need a backstory.

Thanks, Sayterra. I'll have to see if I can find it.

Very cool. I give it two thumbs up!

[ QUOTE ]
one of these days you'll have to do a reverse picture of Rowr in her costume fighting a nude version of your character :P

[/ QUOTE ]

/seconded

Thanks, Dark! IIRC, I had probably been reading a bunch of Youngblood at the time, so that probably carried through into the pic. Nuthin' wrong with that though. Leifeld FTW!

[ QUOTE ]
Post more artz, Yo!

[/ QUOTE ]

More Artz, you say?

*Rummages through collection of artz*

Ah ha! Found it!

This is a good one, and different from my usual style to boot. It's also not CoX related, but I think most people will be able to tell who it is.

Uber-Artz Goodness

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the feedback.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're very welcome. I'm sure that whatever you decide to do with the pic, it's gonna look great!

It's looking great, Scarf! I hope you finish it so we can all see how awesome it is!

[ QUOTE ]
I've been using Illustrator to sketch and ink since July, and loving it, check out this industry pro Brian Denham, he does some amazing stuff, and if you check his back blogs, he made some amazing free brushes ala Jack Kirby power effects... you'll frickin love em! Enjoy!

LJ

[/ QUOTE ]

Very cool, LJ. His stuff is really freakin' great! I'll definately be trying out some of his ideas over the next few days.

[ QUOTE ]
Does it ever end?

[/ QUOTE ]

Doubtful. Like many an Artwhore, you'll find yourself awash in a downward spiral. "It's no big deal", you'll say to yourself at first, "I can quit any time I want". But soon you find that it just takes more and more to get your fix.

Before long, you find yourself sleeping in the dumpster behind "Joe's House O' Gravy", with only your tears for warmth. You'll eke out an existence selling your body, and despise yourself for what you've become, until one day you snap, and the world goes black.

...On the upside though, you'll have lots of really cool art. So, it's probably worth it.

Nice concept, LJ. I'm eager to see how it turns out!

[ QUOTE ]
If anyone has any suggestions on how to make it look more like it is underwater, like how to add little particles for depth and more realism, I would greatly appreciate the feedback.

[/ QUOTE ]

I really likee. As far as making it look more "underwater", two thoughts come to mind.
One, for the particles, try drawing some shapes, and dots, keeping them fairly indistinct, and maybe at a low opacity. That might simulate the effect of water between them and the viewer.
Also, I might try making the water more blue, and less green. Underwater colors come in a variety of hues, but I think most people associate water with the color blue.

Hope that helps!

[ QUOTE ]
...saying "PsySpider" aloud makes me feel like I have a speech impediment.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oooh, maybe that could be one of his powers? Yeah... he makes his opponents ashamed of their speaking abilities, so they just curl up in the corner, instead of fighting back.

Excellent Tute, Sayterra. I've just recently begun working with Illustrator, so after reading this, I ran like a madman to go mess with my brush settings and see what I thought. I gotta say, this is a pretty effective way to lay down those lines.

Nice sketches, Cosmic! I especially like the one of Positron. I like that it's actual pencil on paper. There's something very warm and pleasant about the look and feel of graphite on paper.

Cheers to you!