SagittaryGold

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I've taken numerous art classes, but unfortunatly none on the human form. I find myself trying to draw just the outline for the face about 20 times before I'm even moderately happy =\

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That's good. But remember to look back at those 20 sketchs and study them to see -why- they aren't good. Compare them to similar poses from other artists to see what maybe you missed.

But as others have said, learn the basics first and learn to draw from real life. Every single style whether anime, superhero, or what have you all comes from a foundation of real life. Stuff in particular you -need- to learn is anatomy, foreshortening, perspective, and when -not- to draw something but leave it implied.

I will repeat what Rowr said. Get a cleaning kit from the store. It only will cost about 10 bucks and it is the best and safest way to keep your LCD or CRT clean and protected and non-streaky.

Hover your pen tip over the surface - not touching but not far enough to make the cursor go away. Also, there are options to make the tablet work like infinite space (ie your mouse and mouse pad). It may also help to think of the tablet as your screen and to maximize your PS window; more so if you use the full screen option in PS which will minimize all the UI. This may be a more comfortable starting point.

Don't forget that, at least according to the map, there are sections between the zones - the zones don't necessary touch each other edge to edge. If you want to de-emphasize the walls a little, you can play up the space between to add a visual barrier that may (in your opinion) be less forceful.

http://www.gimp.org/ - It's a free open source image editor. Similar features as Photoshop

If you don't have access to Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro (probably a reality as both cost a bundle), GIMP is a free alternative and Photoshop Elements is a cheap (if feature lite) version of Photoshop.

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Until I get a fancy idea, or sumthin. here's my current project.

this is still a work in progress. no background or effects yet.

Will probably have Jack in the pic eventually

original screenshot cut out on the left, my edit of it on the right. She needs more work too, obviously, the scarf ends need to be frayed, etc. and she needs some detail work done.

But should be cool when finished.
Snowlily

I want a swirly scarf like Dragonberry's! *sniff*

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Very nice start. Let's see more!

The lack of shading on the legs contrasts with the shading elsewhere making the legs look flat. And the shading on the face is a little too bright unless there's a second light source from below her head level (inwhich case you need to add hints of this else where to even things out). Other than that, very nice piece.

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And a new mini comic featuring a female AoT and TA lol


TA's penance for wandering hands - by syrusb

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BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

*deep breath*

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Pure awesomeness.

*can't wait 'til after the wedding and I can maybe get some art stuff done (though hopefully not gender-bending stuff)*

*snickers*

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Yay wedding! Congrats!

And awesome stuff, TA.

There's several things you need to be aware of Rowr. The first is brightness and contrast - these will affect your shading; you can find guides to eyeball this and programs like Adobe Gamma. The second is how a monitor displays color - this can be done in basic ways such as through Windows or through calibration programs/profiles. Adobe also does this and automatically does this when it's open I believe - keep using the same profile and you can be sure your pictures are consistant in color (though they may appear different on other mediums). The third is monitor warmth - this is how warm your monitor makes colors. Not all monitors have this but most, by default use a 9500K setting - this makes everything 'brighter' and and whiter/bluer - it's best used for office work and the like where black and white are frequent ie written documents. Most guides that I found recommend using a setting of 5600K which attempts to more accurate replicate real lighting; just as forewarning though when you first set your monitor to use this (or any other setting), the colors -will- look different (more yellow in the case of 5600K). This is normal as this is how your monitor is adjusting the colors. After a little time, the image will turn back to 'normal' as your eyes adjust. Lastly, and less related is the color profiles of your printer if you happen to end up printing everything out. Printers can also adjust and effect how colors will appear on a printed page.

Good stuff - good use of perspective and foreshortening. His fingers could use some work though as they seem slightly less worked on than everything else. Granted, they are fingers so there's not much to do with them.

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* Ability to drop missions. Coming soon!(TM) I know this will make a lot of players happy that they don't need to contact Customer Service just to continue thier story arcs.

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This one actually scares me the most...it means that there are so many bugged missions, it would be more efficient to make a way to drop a mission than fix em (I hope not....ouch! Thatza lotta bugs!)

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Or, it could be that it's a feature that players have been requesting for awhile.

You know, at first glance, that panel in the lower left looks like it could be rather adult oriented... I'm not sure if that's intended but it certainly threw me off guard for a moment.

Ack! *gets smacked in the face by the huge AT icon* X_X

Just ask Cuppa (who can ask Cryptic and the various legal departments). While it may be a very harmless use and they may not have any complaint about it, it never hurts to cover your assets. Besides, at least on your end, it'll take all of 30 seconds to shoot a PM and that isn't exactly hard to do.

How big are you looking for?

Spelt Aura not Aurora. For the youngums, Aura was CuppaJo's predeccessor and was so for quite a bit of development and beta. Grandma Mod as it were though she's long since moved on to other things. I suppose, Zloth, that there should be extra bonus points for Awry and Gil as well?

Fansite kit I believe. ftp://ftp.cityofheroes.com/CoH_Fansite_Kit.zip

I treat it like I do plagerizism - unless it's pretty much an exact copy or close to, there's room for benefit of the doubt so long as there seems to be something somewhat unique or original about it (a unique thought basically). Beyond that, I suppose it's somewhat of a case by case basis. As someone else said, I'd really have to know more to make any sort of judgement. For instance, on website design, websites tend to flow towards a few general design templates, however if one website is functionally and contentually the same (or close too), then it's probably a copy.

In general though I'm in the overall realm of thought that imititation is not flattery in all but a few cases. In part, this is because of intent - usually the imitator isn't doing so harmlessly and yet knowingly copies without (if possible) telling/asking the originator.

Between Cuppa's post and the nifty art, I don't think I can stand any more emotional up and downs today.

It sucks to see you go. But on the other hand, I do have your email so I can bug you all the time still. <_< Plus, you know, stuff.

Good stuff. Semi-advanced tip - in the upper right of PS, there's a brush effects tab. You can change what pressure will do with the brush. So in addition to size (the default), you can change opacity (less pressure, more transparent), fill (less pressure, less fill), jitter, and what not. You can even combine effects to control multiple things.

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Yeah, I think you are kind of right. Although I love to do the "straight on, frontal, look-at-me" type of shot, maybe people want to see something not so ordinary.

Part of the reason I am looking at this is because I always try to see the piece through other people's eyes. I know what "I" think it looks like, but we all have different perspectives on things, and I'm curious as to what other's are.

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The only thing about "straight on frontal look at me" poses is that they're plain. They typically contain no story and take the character out of a piece (the character is looking at the viewer rather than something within the world). They're also easy to do (it's usually the first sort of pose people do) and the pose doesn't say much about the character. A well done SOFLAM pose is one where it has a good context that firmly places it within a world and with action. They don't really show off a lot of artistic flexibility and can usually end up lacking in interesting perspective (or if its there, then the character is disconencted from the perspective). For instance, the classic pose of Superman standing in mid-air looking down at some bad guy - it's a SOFLAM pose but it's usually set up such that there's something interesting about it, visually and otherwise.

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Hospital shot [...]

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That pic was taken 2 months before I started at Cryptic.

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I think the original for the pic seen in the hospital was taken at E3 before CoH launch. I am the dev furthest to the left.

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o_o the Poz speaks! its been so long!!!

<.< >.>

what next? pohsyb?

*waits just in case, to steal the box*

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Poz, you have quite the heroic jaw on ya. And don't take this the wrong way but in the picture, you kinda look like a mix between a football player, Donny Ozmond, and Bruce Campbell. Maybe it's just the heat though frying my brain...

If you're hand isn't hurting, you aren't drawing enough.