Helpful Tips/Tricks for Drawing Digitally or on paper.

[newwiseman]

Draw, then draw some more, then draw stuff you normally wouldn't, then draw some more.

If you can't think of anything (my very frequent problem), find a dictionary, flip to a random page, point, and whatever definition you pointed at is the subject of your next drawing. You could also use a random number generator with the limit being the number of words in your dictionary but I like to make things overly complicated.

Beyond that there are basic drawing techniques everyone should learn, most of them are how to train your eye for perspective (like holding the pencil out at arms length and counting notches to measure). You should also practice a drawing grip (a.k.a. violin bow grip) as it makes use of your whole arm and is better for all but the smallest detail work.

I would also recommend studying visual literacy but that's just more perspective, composition, balance, and focus... the key is to draw.

 

[Bashful Reaper]

Loads of good advice here. I'd also suggest doing life drawing to anyone who wants to draw figures, human or otherwise. It may have gone a little out of fashion these days, but accept no substitute for getting proportions right. And Eclipse Dragon is right about drawing by hand and digitally going hand in hand, an observational and analytical eye is needed for both.

Sketchbooks are a great idea, if you date things, you can see how you improve over time. I will also second the use of ink to force one out of their comfort zone and be more assertive as an artist. Not all the time though...

 

[SweetShark]

Btw, A good source for good books about anatomy, digital drawing, etc is here:

http://www.parkablogs.com

This site is my GOD, I am serious.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

Btw, A good source for good books about anatomy, digital drawing, etc is here:

http://www.parkablogs.com

This site is my GOD, I am serious.

This is a good topic Mr. Shark.
If we're listing resources, these two tools are also very good for life drawing, figures, faces, hands, animals, cats, dogs, horses, lizards, birds, fish...

http://artists.pixelovely.com/
http://lovecastle.org/draw/

 

[SweetShark]

Btw, A good source for good books about anatomy, digital drawing, etc is here:

http://www.parkablogs.com

This site is my GOD, I am serious.

This is a good topic Mr. Shark.
If we're listing resources, these two tools are also very good for life drawing, figures, faces, hands, animals, cats, dogs, horses, lizards, birds, fish...

http://artists.pixelovely.com/
http://lovecastle.org/draw/

Thank you very much for your good words

Also I like these sites you posted, thank you for that.

 

[SweetShark]

I also want to post some general rules for how to use a pen properly so you can sketch more effectively:

http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/2006/08/21/inking-tutorial-part-i/#more-181
http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/2006/08/22/inking-tutorial-part-ii/#more-210

Personally, I read only the first part, cause I just wanted to see how I can hold the pen more correctly or how to draw long lines

 

[Cpu46]

snip

Have you ever tried drawing with pen?
Nothing like not being able to erase to force you to get it right the first time.

I've tried but it is an exercise in frustration every time. I like drawing the abstract shapes first then going on to detail everything.

Spoiler: Kind of like this

I know it looks like pen but it is actually pencil. My scanner kinda sucks so I mess with the color correction settings to make the lines darker.
[img (height=400)]http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/038/d/a/snow_sketch_by_ninjawarpath-d5u5sgl.jpg[/img]

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

snip

Have you ever tried drawing with pen?
Nothing like not being able to erase to force you to get it right the first time.

I've tried but it is an exercise in frustration every time. I like drawing the abstract shapes first then going on to detail everything.

Drawing the shapes first is actually the best way to go about it (even in pen). It gives you a good starting point for the relationships (the eyes to each other, the eyes to the nose, the nose to the mouth, the mouth to the chin, ext...). Not being able to erase is always frustrating, but with practice you get even better and then you can really know how good you are because you drew it without ever erasing.

The only difference with pen is you should draw the shapes lightly, so they don't show up so strongly in the end, and maybe learn how to fudge a few mistakes... If you get very good at it, no one will even know there was a mistake in the first place.

 

[Meatspinner]

Draw
Draw some more
Draw from life
Draw even more
Be critical of your work and be open to criticism <- this is a big one
Seek out objective criticism (preferably from professionals if you can)
Keep drawing
Get familiar with anatomy and structure
You're still drawing? Geez take a break once in a while before you burn yourself out like I did

 

[Amaria]

Sadly for me, because most of the time I am at work when I am out, I don't have time to sketch even if I wanted -_-...
At least I can use my computer, like just now

Doesn't have to just be when you're out and about. Even at home, try to keep up your drawing. It's a practice thing, and the only way you'll get better is to improve and always be ready in case you have the urge to draw something.

But if you're at home with digital stuff - combine and layer colors, don't just go with one that you've created/found on the palette. Paint one color with a brush, then lessen the opacity and paint a different color over it. Do this over and over again with different colors. This has several purposes; one, it breaks up the color there, keeping the entire drawing from being exactly the same color - life's not like that. Everything's all different shades, tones, and mixtures. Skin has blue tints in its shadows, pink tints where the blood's close to the surface, yellow tints where it's not, highlights depending on the light in the room... You get the idea. Adding the different layers of color makes it both more interesting, and more realistic.

Another purpose here is to keep everything that you make a bit more unique. You might have added a bit more green in one drawing when compared to another, making a color that you don't normally use - that's a good thing! Learning's about doing new things, testing things, seeing if they work. If you find something you like, whether for the interesting effect or because it captures what's really there more accurately, remember what you did, and then work off of that with other tweaks. It's all a matter of trying new things,

The final purpose here is that it keeps you from using the standard 'burn and dodge' tools. Someone already mentioned it here earlier, but you really should try to stay away from using those as your shadows/highlights. Shadows are more than black or a darker shade of the earlier color, and the same for highlights with lighter colors. It's not accurate, it never quite looks right alone, and most artists can instantly tell you used dodge/burn because it has this overly-saturated, samey shading look.

I would like to agree with Eclipse Dragon. This is a wonderful topic; I've never really been a pen person, so the tutorial there was interesting and enlightening. ^_^

 

[viranimus]

Hrm...

If using windows XP or before, and in MS paint... there is an additional "hidden" zoom level between x6 & x8 supposedly.

Technique, Some people have difficulty with symmetry in free hand. If you have to you can create symmetry by drawing only half the image intended, then scan it, copy and mirror flip it provided the intended design can be perfectly symmetrical

Back in the day the same "techique" was used by drawing the first half then flipping it and tracing it twice. Computers cut one complete step out of the equation.


Thats all I got.

 

[Vault101]

if you happen to spill cider on your tabelt pen and it doesnt work just blast that fucker with a hairdryer...should be fine then.....

I probably cant draw for crap on physical media, when I was starting out I went for digital so could focus on the draw and not fucking around with anything else.....

snip

snip

thats interesting...I havnt really gone far into coluring because I'm still working on the other stuff...I tend to just use light/darker shades of the surrounding colurs...but that said so far Ive only really put in "flat" colurs because the style is kind of comicy/cartoony..anyway I might try this

snip

Have you ever tried drawing with pen?
Nothing like not being able to erase to force you to get it right the first time.[/quote]
0_0....perhaps the ease of photoshop can be a crutch sometime but damn....that sounds waaay too frustrating

 

[SweetShark]

Sadly for me, because most of the time I am at work when I am out, I don't have time to sketch even if I wanted -_-...
At least I can use my computer, like just now

Doesn't have to just be when you're out and about. Even at home, try to keep up your drawing. It's a practice thing, and the only way you'll get better is to improve and always be ready in case you have the urge to draw something.

But if you're at home with digital stuff - combine and layer colors, don't just go with one that you've created/found on the palette. Paint one color with a brush, then lessen the opacity and paint a different color over it. Do this over and over again with different colors. This has several purposes; one, it breaks up the color there, keeping the entire drawing from being exactly the same color - life's not like that. Everything's all different shades, tones, and mixtures. Skin has blue tints in its shadows, pink tints where the blood's close to the surface, yellow tints where it's not, highlights depending on the light in the room... You get the idea. Adding the different layers of color makes it both more interesting, and more realistic.

Another purpose here is to keep everything that you make a bit more unique. You might have added a bit more green in one drawing when compared to another, making a color that you don't normally use - that's a good thing! Learning's about doing new things, testing things, seeing if they work. If you find something you like, whether for the interesting effect or because it captures what's really there more accurately, remember what you did, and then work off of that with other tweaks. It's all a matter of trying new things,

The final purpose here is that it keeps you from using the standard 'burn and dodge' tools. Someone already mentioned it here earlier, but you really should try to stay away from using those as your shadows/highlights. Shadows are more than black or a darker shade of the earlier color, and the same for highlights with lighter colors. It's not accurate, it never quite looks right alone, and most artists can instantly tell you used dodge/burn because it has this overly-saturated, samey shading look.

I would like to agree with Eclipse Dragon. This is a wonderful topic; I've never really been a pen person, so the tutorial there was interesting and enlightening. ^_^

Wow, I really didn't knew this trick with the opacity of the layers. Thank you very much for your advice!!!
This also mean you use this Technic to blend similar colors to create highlights and shadows in an object you drawing, right?
Or you are using other trick?

Also about the tutorial. Do You mean the one I posted?

 

[Vault101]

Also, it's worth noting that plenty of digital artists (myself included) use Paint Tool SAI, which is much (MUCH) cheaper than Photoshop (approx. $66 US vs approx. $99 US for the *weakest* version of Photoshop, which only really has the Photoshop brush system as an improvement over SAI, or upwards of $700 US for a *good* version of Photoshop), and has nearly all of the same functions, usually with the same default keybinds, which means even if you find a tutorial for one or the other on something, there's a very high probability you can do it equally well in the other program.
.

I use photoshop elements (the "weak" version") since it came with my tablet...how would it compare to Paint tool SAI?

 

[Flutterknight]

Also, it's worth noting that plenty of digital artists (myself included) use Paint Tool SAI, which is much (MUCH) cheaper than Photoshop (approx. $66 US vs approx. $99 US for the *weakest* version of Photoshop, which only really has the Photoshop brush system as an improvement over SAI, or upwards of $700 US for a *good* version of Photoshop), and has nearly all of the same functions, usually with the same default keybinds, which means even if you find a tutorial for one or the other on something, there's a very high probability you can do it equally well in the other program.
.

I use photoshop elements (the "weak" version") since it came with my tablet...how would it compare to Paint tool SAI?

I have Photoshop Elements 10 (came with the tablet) as well as SAI, and I *literally* only use Photoshop for the special brushes if I need leaves or something and I'm feeling particularly lazy or if I want to look at what an image would look like with a specific color scheme with a gradient map or such. Other than those specific uses, I find SAI to be better than PS Elements for basically everything. Also, since SAI can use *.psd files, you can easily move images between it and PS and back if you need to switch for something specific, with the only potential problem being if you're using layer groups since Elements doesn't support them. SAI is also *far* easier to use than PS because it isn't cluttered up with all of the functions that are really only useful for photo editing and have little, if any, use in digital art.

 

[Vault101]

I have Photoshop Elements 10 (came with the tablet) as well as SAI, and I *literally* only use Photoshop for the special brushes if I need leaves or something and I'm feeling particularly lazy or if I want to look at what an image would look like with a specific color scheme with a gradient map or such. Other than those specific uses, I find SAI to be better than PS Elements for basically everything. Also, since SAI can use *.psd files, you can easily move images between it and PS and back if you need to switch for something specific, with the only potential problem being if you're using layer groups since Elements doesn't support them. SAI is also *far* easier to use than PS because it isn't cluttered up with all of the functions that are really only useful for photo editing and have little, if any, use in digital art.

so it has layers and oppacity and blur tools? I assume it doesnt have lens flare or other stuff? (I know gimmicks like that should be a crutch..but still)

 

[Flutterknight]

*snip*

so it has layers and oppacity and blur tools? I assume it doesnt have lens flare or other stuff? (I know gimmicks like that should be a crutch..but still)

It has layers, layer groups, opacity, several different kinds of brushes (the water brushes make great blur/blending brushes), and, though it doesn't have photo things like lens flare, it does have layer types that can make it quite easy to replicate them should you feel the need with only a little bit of work. SAI has everything you need to make great digital art, just a few less shortcut options than Photoshop because of its simpler brush system and lack of unnecessary photo editing based stuff.

 

[Amaria]

Wow, I really didn't knew this trick with the opacity of the layers. Thank you very much for your advice!!!
This also mean you use this Technic to blend similar colors to create highlights and shadows in an object you drawing, right?
Or you are using other trick?

Also about the tutorial. Do You mean the one I posted?

Mhmm. Happy to help. The opacity of the brush is helpful, too; sometimes you want one area of something to be more of a color than another. Essentially, tweak both until it seems right. Layers are always your friends!

I usually use this for my shadows and highlights, yes; that way there can be highlights that are more iridescent than a single color. Shadows are much the same, since light tends to have a certain tint of color, too; the absence of that color would change what color the shadow looks like. For example, if the main light were... Say... Yellow-tinted, the shadows (in an absence of the yellow) could look a bit more blue in comparison, something that wouldn't happen if you stuck with a darker shade of the original color. I hope that makes sense, I'm trying to make this simple xD

I did mean the tutorial on inking that you posted. Thanks for that! When I work in pen I tend to rely entirely on crosshatching, rather than line weight; I pile up lines and lines until it looks right - I've been told that I sketch/draw like a painter, which I think is rather accurate. I add layers on top of layers on top of layers, and work in the details slowly rather than starting with them. It's always fun seeing how artists that don't use my painterly method go about things - line weight, using a brush and a pen in tandem, doing it carefully the first time and getting it exactly right. It's an interesting look on how other artists do stuff, and I want to try it for myself, now. Maybe get better at line weight...

 

[SweetShark]

Wow, I really didn't knew this trick with the opacity of the layers. Thank you very much for your advice!!!
This also mean you use this Technic to blend similar colors to create highlights and shadows in an object you drawing, right?
Or you are using other trick?

Also about the tutorial. Do You mean the one I posted?

Mhmm. Happy to help. The opacity of the brush is helpful, too; sometimes you want one area of something to be more of a color than another. Essentially, tweak both until it seems right. Layers are always your friends!

I usually use this for my shadows and highlights, yes; that way there can be highlights that are more iridescent than a single color. Shadows are much the same, since light tends to have a certain tint of color, too; the absence of that color would change what color the shadow looks like. For example, if the main light were... Say... Yellow-tinted, the shadows (in an absence of the yellow) could look a bit more blue in comparison, something that wouldn't happen if you stuck with a darker shade of the original color. I hope that makes sense, I'm trying to make this simple xD

I did mean the tutorial on inking that you posted. Thanks for that! When I work in pen I tend to rely entirely on crosshatching, rather than line weight; I pile up lines and lines until it looks right - I've been told that I sketch/draw like a painter, which I think is rather accurate. I add layers on top of layers on top of layers, and work in the details slowly rather than starting with them. It's always fun seeing how artists that don't use my painterly method go about things - line weight, using a brush and a pen in tandem, doing it carefully the first time and getting it exactly right. It's an interesting look on how other artists do stuff, and I want to try it for myself, now. Maybe get better at line weight...

Thank you so much for your advices.
So is not just simple put the light or darker tone of a specific color just to create shadow and highlights.
I must use differemt kind of colors to create the highlights or shadows.

 

[shadow_Fox81]

INK DRAWER

drawing advice(that hasn't been said), read alternative comics.

proabably sounds heretical on a geek culture site but artists like Bastien Vives, Fredrik Peeters or Cyril Pedrosa (read his book 3 shadows changed my life) really give you intersting ways to respresent the world in vivid and engageing ways beyond what you see.

on the side, can any one give advice on scanning black ink cartoons. I use sumi, india, quink and standard water based markers with quills and brushes and i cant get them to digitally look as sharp as a drew them. My scanner is relitively cheap so recomend me a better one or tips for photoshop or illustrator to sharpen things up post scanning (currently i just fiddle with the brightness and contrast. and the balance)