I made a blog specifically for animal anatomy/tutorials/reference/etc.
Feel free to follow if you want, I’ll try to be as diverse as I can (*´・ｖ・)
Really great blog full of amazing reference. Do check it out.
WATERCOLOUR CHEAT CODES
I made really quick tutorials full of swatches to send my mom who wants to take up watercolour painting for a hobby. I’ll share them here as I find time to type what I wrote her.
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The first two pictures illustrate discoveries in mixing skin-tones. I try to find paints that make it faster/easier to mix skin colours - even if you’re adept at making these tones out of other colours, the right combo of purple and yellow can cut out a lot of time and money. The one I have most success with is “violet gray”, then “permanent magenta” for darker and wider ranges, and “purple lake” when I was cheap and it was on sale.
Mix these (sparingly) with raw sienna. The darker the purple the less you’ll need to add to your yellow (yellow ochre works as well). Ultimately, watercolour is tricky to mix so if you’re not confident right away make sure to paint swatches before putting a loaded brush to paper, otherwise be ready to mix with water on the paper.
For a lighter, paler, redder skin tone, raw sienna + brown madder is what I prefer, although as you can see in the first image (about half-way down the page on the left), “cadmium yellow pale hue” and “cadmium red deep hue” work just as well, and might be cheaper on you. With that combo, however, it’s easier to get stuck mixing a ton of orange.
Back to permanent magenta, it’s great with browns to get darker tones, not just for darker skin but for shading. I keep three browns on my “skin” palette (last pic), “burnt umber”, “burnt sienna”, and “vandyke brown”. Mix it with some skin-tone, even just a little, to keep it from looking straight-out-of-the-tube.
So mix your skin tones, make a few test swatches to figure out how much water you need (every brush behaves differently), and lay down some washes.
In the middle of the first piece of paper is a gradation in a skin tone (violet gray + raw sienna) from really warm (“brown madder”) to really cool (“turquoise”). This was done wet in wet, to show what kinds of tones you get from adding warm and cool colours.
To the left on the bottom are a couple light washes of colours painted over a skin tone (same ol’ raw sienna + violet gray) to show how different colours look on this mix when applied dry on dry. Blue (I used turquoise again) is great for some shadows, implied stubble, and veins close to the skin, reds and most browns for warmer shading, yellow for jaundice or boogers… you get it.
On the bottom right is an example of really warm vs. really cool shading on the same skin tone mix (just guess). The initial skin tone wash is a bit warm for the cool side, but the contrast makes the shadows really evident. Different colours in shading will have different effects that way. The only surprise here is the use of dark blue “indigo” which is great for coming close to black when mixed with other colours.
On the second page are two more noses, different skin tones, and just three extra passes with skin tone washes - although difficult to tell because I was lazy and didn’t wait long enough for them to dry after the 2nd pass. The extra passes aren’t particularly warm or cold leaning, but simply draw off of the initial tone I placed.
IMPORTANT: These little quick studies serve to be as economical as possible, using few colours but still not looking just like an awkward mix of red and yellow or brown and yellow. For a more detailed or accurate representation of skin tones, a ton more colours might be added - for instance the darker skin tone on the right would have more pinks, and of course different parts of the body appear to be tinted differently. Also never forget no matter what colour or how dark skin is, skin is shiny. Be mindful of even diffused light. At the same time - perfect representation of skin is hardly necessary. More expressive colour treatment rules.
But ultimately - colour in skin - who cares! Just play around with colours you like, build a base that’s easy for you to mix quickly for wet on wet or however you prefer to work. Play with colours on different planes or surfaces of the body, with light, and take everything I say as a tips - not rules - ‘cause watercolour is really unpredictable and that is often the best part.
Another note: I use pencil tins for palettes, it keeps things portable, easy to mix, minimal paint waste, and I can rearrange paints easily to make mixing easier. I usually have three but you could get away with one or two. If you try it out, keep the paints and empty space clean with jut a bit of water and the wipe of a cloth/kleenex.
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The third picture shows a really quick, easy, natural black mix I make. It’s simply “Hooker’s Green, Dark” and “Dioxazine Violet” at almost equal quantities. You can mix it with a blue or red or yellow for a warmer or cooler black, depending on which you need. I included some gradation and overlapping swatches. Just keep in mind black can be very powerful in watercolour, or any opaque application of the paint, so use it sparingly and with a plan in mind.
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Despite my shitty watercolour sketches up here, I spent a huge amount of being a child working at a cooperative gallery with some contemporary and purist watercolour painters alike so I picked up a lot. If anyone wants me to be more specific about something, or maybe produce a more specific guide or sketch for a problem you have, let me know and I can try to help out.
These were things my mum asked for and that I produced with her knowledge of the medium in mind, so if it really did interest you but you’re stuck on something, or found something I said vague and confusing, let me know.
EDIT: A tutorial I made to talk about paper. It’s important stuff. [link]
Tips on color & light from The Artist’s Guide to Color by Wendon Blake
READ THIS!
It depends on your approach to the study. Sometimes students are taught a technique called “gridding” to paint from reference. This breaks the reference picture down into manageable puzzle pieces so you don’t get so overwhelmed by a large canvas. However, in doing this, sometimes students lose sight of the big picture and it becomes… flat. When drawing or painting from a reference (whether it’s a photograph or art), you’re working on something that has already been rendered 2-dimensional.
Take into consideration that the image you’re referencing is of a 3-dimensional subject. Use references as references, and copy other work for practice.
Naturally, if you completely rely on reference work, your work will be handicapped, but in my personal opinion there is a lot to learn from other people’s work and references.
Just be aware of what you’re studying, and don’t simply photocopy.
-macchabee
The most important part in addressing the copyright issues is “credit”. Sure, with old masters’ works, you can’t really email them and ask for permission, but copyright is violated when you take an idea or composition without permission and claim it as your own original idea. This gets foggy with influences, but if you are influenced heavily by another artist or a specific piece, it’s always a great idea to mention it.
On one hand, it’s good art etiquette. On the other hand, it gives you the opportunity to share a source of inspiration with other people.
-macchabee
As long as you aren’t claiming credit and/or profiting from it, then yes it is fine. However, I would strongly recommend not copying someone else’s stuff because you won’t learn as much that way. It’s fine to look at art while you work, especially if it inspires you, but instead of directly copying a piece, try incorporating ideas or techniques from your reference in to your own work. Figure out how to make it work for you and learn from it instead of just trying to copy it. If you just trace something, you disengage your brain and you aren’t focusing on how the object you are drawing works in a 3D space, you are just focusing on recreating it in a 2D space. You can also pick up an another artist’s bad habits if you just trace from them.
Also, some artists don’t like if you copy/trace their stuff, even if it’s just for yourself. Ask and accept if they say: ‘No, please don’t’
-JediPanda
Some people may need this: Ever since I’ve started drawing in realistic style, I never had an artblock because there’s just no need for a muse to kiss me when I want to just draw what I see, so I suggest that, if your brain is clogged up you just look at something in your reach or look up a photo and just try to draw what you see. Another thing that helps me get my head free is figure drawing, done best with a figure drawing tool that a few sites like pixelovely offer, I just set it to a short intervall like 1 minute and try to capture the gesture. You din’t have much time to think about it, you really just do. It’s very fun and both alternatives also help improving your art!
If you have been paid and you’ve tried your hardest, I’m afraid there’s little you can do to console your client! Send them fond regards and thank them for their interest in your work, be clear that you don’t offer refunds (or do you?) and you’ve worked several hours outside your pay. This sounds like a private personal commission, this is a client who has come to you of their own volition.
Be courteous and stay professional, best of luck!
-Macchabee
robosuplex replied:
About the unhappy client ask: It’s also good to lay out a set number of reworks/adjustments in the initial arrangement. Anything over that would be an additional charge for them. This deters frivolous changes and keeps you from getting ripped off at the same time!
Are you tired of feeling like your art just isn’t improving? Do you want to do a 30-day challenge that’s actually useful? Welcome to 30 Days of Improvement Hell. >:D
I made this because I’ve been feeling super ‘blah’ about my art these days, and I needed something to kick-start myself. Who wants to do this with me!? Start now or whenever you can (now you procrastinators!). Challenge yourself and have fun at the same time!
Tag your posts with #Improvement Hell so everyone can follow along and see each other’s awesome artwork.
What are you waiting for? START!
- Self-Portrait - Introduce yourself
- Draw a figure using a reference - link to reference
- Draw a figure that’s in action, using a reference - link to reference
- Draw a part of the human anatomy you have trouble with. x20, with atleast 5 being skeletal/musculature studies.
- Draw more figures. Quick gestures and silhouettes. x20, with atleast 10 different body shapes
- Let’s have some fun. Design a character from this character generator. (created by PreservedCucumbers)
- Pick the weirdest object in your house/room. Draw it. Shadows and Highlights.
- Find 2-3 objects, make a scene with them. Draw it. Bonus points for creativity. Double points for dramatic lighting.
- Draw a landscape of a place you’ve never been or drawn.
- Draw a BG with 1pt Perspective. Negative points if it’s a railroad or an empty street.
- Draw a BG with 2pt Perspective.
- Look out a window. Draw what you see. Bonus points for adding something interesting.
- Draw an interior setting with the character you designed on Day #6 in it.
- BG with either bird’s eye or worm’s eye view.
- Halfway there! Draw three ‘action’ scenes with different compositions in each. Quick sketches are fine, just make them interesting and understandable! Bonus points if it’s the same scene, but different composition.
- Draw a single page comic with 5-7 panels (the story begins and ends on one page).
- Draw an animal you’ve never drawn before. x10 Link references.
- Draw a car. Negative points for whining. Hint: Use a perspective grid.
- Think of the thing you hate drawing the most. Guess what? Draw it! Negative points for lying to yourself.
- Pick an object in your house/room. Now design a character from it, color scheme included. (often known as a gijinka). Also link/post the object you used. Negative points for using a humanoid action figure.
- Draw a character/object/scene, and shade them using ONLY solid blacks and whites. Bonus points for good use of lights/shadows
- Draw a different object/scene/character. Shade using hatching, crosshatcing, and/or pointillism. Bonus points for lights/shadows and textures.
- Colors! Pick a color palette, and paint a scene/character/object using only those colors (some blending allowed). Bonus points for good use of lights/shadows.
- Draw and color a scene/object/character - no lines allowed! (aka - lineless art). Don’t forget light and shadows!
- Draw a scene/character in a style you’ve never drawn before. If emulating an artist, credit+link. Bonus for color style.
- Draw a character. Draw 10 emotions/expressions. Bonus points for ‘uncommon’ emotions. (i.e. anxiety, guilt, despair, loneliness etc.)
- Draw three random shapes using your opposite hand (or your foot). Now design characters from those shapes.
- Turn on the tv (or load your illegally download movies). Pick an actor and draw them.
- Almost done! Let’s have some fun. Draw some fanart. Bonus points if it’s super obscure and unknown. Make people guess what it’s from.
- Last day! Find a drawing you did within the last year. Now draw it again using what you’ve learned! Link it for comparison!
Look at all that amazing improvement! Congrats!
Looking for something to do for the new year? Try this art challenge I wrote for a good kickstart!
If you’re looking at getting into Sheridan’s Animation program and don’t really know where to begin with preparing your portfolio, you’ve come to the right place!
This blog has been set up to help give you an idea of what your animation portfolio should be like and guide you when applying to the Animation program at Sheridan College.
This can also help those applying to other colleges. Above all else, check with what the college(s) want to see before you apply. Each one is different, but this is a great place to start. Each school will have portfolio requirements posted on their pages and if you have any questions, you should be able to email their admissions staff.
Having problems finding a lipstick color for your cosplay? Look no further. I just found someone’s video tutorial on how to make lipsticks out of crayons. In the video she says that she found out that all of her favourite lipsticks had lead and that she found out that she could make lipstick out of lead free crayons. The entire time I was watching this video, I thought that it would work amazingly for someone looking for some cerulean blue lipstick for Vriska or Jade green lipstick for Kanaya or maybe some other cosplay character who has a weird lipstick color. In the video she also says that you could mix crayon colors to make weird colors.
I don’t even wear lipstick ever, but learning you can make it out of crayons now got me all excited to try it. o-o
I thought this was interesting for all you fangirls/cosplayers on a budget. Seems like a really cool idea.
Wow, this is crazy awesome, especially considering makeup brands that carry “weird” lipstick colours are usually the expensive artsy ones that charge like $17-$25 for a tube
A different sort of tutorial, but certainly an useful one. Great cheap alternatives for costumes, cosplay, or whatever you may want to use crayon paint for.
(Source: youtube.com)
