[Art] Kumiko's Artwork (UPDATED 7/16/12) The Two Are Friends

KumikoTsumi · November 25, 2011, 05:29:53 PM

Alright, so I made the thanksgiving picture and it fails. Happy Belated Thanksgiving!
Kumiko: KumikoTsumi
Kipiru: Kipiru
Arroyo: Arroyo Milori
E: e_voyager
Cain: justacritic
Zora: VAE

And here it is! (11/25/11)

Behold, the epic fail! Comment on the fail please!
P.S I hate coloring.

Kipiru · November 25, 2011, 05:39:59 PM

It's not a fail

Your stile is just still unrefined. I actually like your depiction of Kipiru

Beyond the obvious need of straightening out lines and applying more precision in render, the poses are actually pretty well done. You just need more practice. One question- do you draw directly on the computer or do you do pencil first?

Arroyo Milori · November 25, 2011, 06:28:06 PM

Very piece of coal has a chance to shine as a diamond with the right amount of pressure and time. Just invest in some time studying anatomy and such and you will go a long way.

...Why do I have wings? : D

Kipiru · November 25, 2011, 06:34:39 PM

Quote from: Arroyo Milori on November 25, 2011, 06:28:06 PM
Very piece of coal has a chance to shine as a diamond with the right amount of pressure and time. Just invest in some time studying anatomy and such and you will go a long way.

...Why do I have wings? : D

Cause you're next on the menu

VAE · November 25, 2011, 06:38:50 PM

That's actually pretty neat stuff, especially given your age.
For one thing, there's nothing grossly deformed I can see there - you got stuff like the heads of the different species down right, which is a thing I sometimes just bloody can't do.

justacritic · November 25, 2011, 07:28:54 PM

Sis has her strong points, which she has refined through constant sketching of anime characters, that being said I've told her she still needs more practice on hands. And Kipiru she draws on paper first, then I scan it for her, then I motivate her to do lineart or at least try to, and if she doesn't she colors it in directly. And why is there a weird block man next to Cain?

e_voyager · November 26, 2011, 12:09:19 AM

i'd have to say it's very decent. i like how you were able to group the characters together like that. E seems to be wondering how her got a glass of alcohol instead of tea or motor oil which is right up his ally for unexpected surprises happening to him. did you ever see him at the hatter tea party? it was a scene much like this

WhiteFox · November 26, 2011, 01:08:01 AM

Good news and bad news...

Bad news first: Perspective and anatomy are essential skills, and they take a lot of time and effort to learn.
Good news: All it takes is time and effort. As long as you make the effort, it's only a matter of time.

Your characters have a sense of liveliness and personality. There's good body language there, particularly with e, and even though the expressions are simplified stylizations, they still express well. The proportions generally look okay, too.

Quote from: justacritic on November 25, 2011, 07:28:54 PM
...that being said I've told her she still needs more practice on hands.

I really need to finish that guid/tutorial/thing I've been working on. Bluh.

KumikoTsumi · November 26, 2011, 03:37:59 PM

Hmm, yes I do need more practice on the hands, they always look too fat, too thin or just plain...off....I need to study that anatomy book more. But I stare at the first page and fall asleep whenever I do... Thanks for the comments though...
To Arroyo Milori-Well, you see...my brother gave me the idea that I paid your character and Cain to do odd-jobs. You're job was a mascot, and therefore Arroyo has clip on wings!
To Justacritic: It's a flamethrower box thingy, I don't know...blame Pokemon for giving me the idea. >.>
Well now that I'm done this, I got two contests to enter and Kipiru's drawing to finish...
I'll be posting any other art on here too i guess...

Merlin · November 26, 2011, 06:52:17 PM

Well! You're much better than I was at your age, but what are you using to colour? I ask because of the white areas around those brown wings. Depending on what you're using you'll need to turn up the "tolerance" of the fill tool, I use Photoshop and usually hover between 50 and 90.

Or you'll need to touch up the colouring by hand, which I also do in pointy areas like that. It helps if you have the lineart on its own separate layer, makes tweaking the colouring so much easier.

To eliminate those white bits entirely, as well as doing the above I usually work at crazy-high res so when I shrink it down for posting on the web they disappear.

Depending on your setup, it doesn't take too long to fix colouring like that, and it's always worthwhile.

Tapewolf · November 27, 2011, 08:49:46 AM

There is another colouring technique which I use, and I believe Amber does as well. What you seem to be doing - and what I think Merlin does as well - is to have the lines fuzzy, either because they've been scanned or because they were drawn on tablet with a soft tool.

An alternative technique which I use is to use a threshold filter to convert the lines into black and white with no intermediate levels.
This allows you to use the flood-fill without any messing around afterwards, except for the odd separate region. The downside is that it looks kind of blocky at full-res, but scaling down with linear interpolation anti-aliases it and it looks pretty decent.

http://www.project-future.org/stuff/things/pf183_5.png

Artists who work with soft lines usually seem to draw the lines on a top layer and then colour on a layer below, but that is rather too fiddly for my taste.

This was done with colour-under: We were trying for a different style for the flashback, so I used the original pencils and converted it to an alpha layer. I could have done a less sloppy job of colour-isolation but I was deliberately doing that for artistic reasons.

http://www.project-future.org/stuff/things/pf165_7.jpg (650k!)

VAE · November 27, 2011, 09:48:42 AM

One thing to mention - the above method quite often results in small, pixel or two sized cuts in the lines, especially if your pencil work is as horrible as mine. Therefore don't be surprised if you have to seal up quite a lot of the lines made due to fill suddenly seeping out.
Pushing the threshold to higher levels decreases the likelihood of it quite a lot, that is, if it doesn't introduce artefacts (i.e. if the drawing is well clean)
I know , this might be trivial, but well, there's a reason why tech support folks tend to ask "Is it plugged in."

KumikoTsumi · November 27, 2011, 12:51:10 PM

Er, well...I don't really understand how to do all of that, I just use Paint Tool SAI to make a lineart and and then I color it. I never actually messed around with the extra tools...

KumikoTsumi · November 27, 2011, 02:23:37 PM

Hooray, I finished Kipiru's request!

I still suck at coloring though, and the background was supposed to show some sort of gothic store but it turned out horrifying...

Anyway....
I think of Kipiru as a calm guy

But nobody would be calm if you've been mistaken as a crossdresser 16 times...

Shopkeeper: So...I guess this is your hobby?
Kipiru: I'm just buying something for a friend!!!
Kumiko: Heheh...

I hope Kipiru doesn't take any offense...it was just a joke..

Someone help me get some humor...o_o
.....Here's the link, if it doesn't work....http://sinxasin.deviantart.com/#/d4hh7sp

Kipiru · November 27, 2011, 03:10:06 PM

AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Thank you so much Kumiko- this made me laugh so loud I probably scared the neighbours. I love this picture and it's backstory- that is so what Kipiru would do! Great job! And your coloring isn't all that bad- it's just flat and that isn't technically a flaw. Concentrate on figure depiction, coloring will evolve on the way.

KumikoTsumi · November 27, 2011, 05:01:32 PM

Phew, I'm glad you liked it!

And guess what...I GOT A TABLET!!!

Hopefully now I will be able to make better pictures! IM SO HAPPY I COULD JUMP OFF A CLIFF!!!

Kipiru · November 27, 2011, 05:07:05 PM

Quote from: KumikoTsumi on November 27, 2011, 05:01:32 PM
Phew, I'm glad you liked it! And guess what...I GOT A TABLET!!! Hopefully now I will be able to make better pictures! IM SO HAPPY I COULD JUMP OFF A CLIFF!!!

Hold on there- it's a tablet, not a jet-pack

Congratulations! Can't wait to see what you do with it

KumikoTsumi · November 27, 2011, 05:12:08 PM

Hmm...okay, not the cliff maybe my bunk bed!

I shall be spamming art now!

Merlin · November 28, 2011, 05:49:09 PM

Quote from: KumikoTsumi on November 27, 2011, 05:01:32 PM
Phew, I'm glad you liked it! And guess what...I GOT A TABLET!!! Hopefully now I will be able to make better pictures! IM SO HAPPY I COULD JUMP OFF A CLIFF!!!

Mmmm, congrats on your tablet, they are very fun to use once you get used to using them! But they are not magic draw-better machines. They do help speed things along if you get really good at them though (and lol soooo useful if you just have a laptop and no mouse, I use mine for everything)

Quote from: KumikoTsumi on November 27, 2011, 12:51:10 PM
Er, well...I don't really understand how to do all of that, I just use Paint Tool SAI to make a lineart and and then I color it. I never actually messed around with the extra tools...

Learning the tools already at your disposal however, is a good method for improving your art. I definitely suggest messing around with the tools. I've never coloured in SAI myself, so I can't give you any tips for that in particular, sorry.

KumikoTsumi · November 28, 2011, 07:03:22 PM

I guess I'll read more tutorials and screw around with the tools when I have the chance...
Still, tablets must be the best invention ever made...

Merlin · November 28, 2011, 08:24:55 PM

Pretty much anything you can do with a tablet you can do without one. But if it helps you draw faster, it'll help you get more practise in - always a plus.

KumikoTsumi · November 28, 2011, 09:37:17 PM

Yep!

And maybe I'll be able to color better

WhiteFox · November 30, 2011, 10:25:54 PM

Quick note on proprotions for hands: in general, the distance from the wrist to the first knuckles is equal to the width of the palm, the width of the wrist is equal to the width of the palm minus the the pinkie. The first knuckle of the thumb, when held close to the palm, ends up about half way between the wrist and the knuckles. I'll see if I can do a redline of Kip's Request with a few suggestions.

Quote from: KumikoTsumi on November 28, 2011, 07:03:22 PM
Still, tablets must be the best invention ever made...

A tool is only as good as your skill with it... but they do make a lot of things simpler to do, and they're awfully versatile tools. What model is it?

I use my tablet exclusively for colouring. I like to do as much as I can on paper, which is why I have this incomprehensible love for india ink and dip pens, but colouring is the one resounding exception.

I'd like to see your pencil art some time, by the way. Don't be afraid to post it.

justacritic · November 30, 2011, 10:38:21 PM

Quote from: WhiteFox on November 30, 2011, 10:25:54 PM

A tool is only as good as your skill with it... but they do make a lot of things simpler to do, and they're awfully versatile tools. What model is it?

The model Sis and I bought is a Bamboo Connect pen CTL470 version, and she said that it was around $99 at Staples. It's size is 10.9*6.9*.4 inches with an active area size of 5.8*3.6 inches, it's not that bad for the price I think.

Turnsky · November 30, 2011, 11:03:37 PM

okay, like anything a tablet is an investment. I'm going to be the mean sod here and simply state "don't" at least, not yet anyways.

why? People seem to ALWAYS be under this mistaken impression that a tablet can make you better, it doesn't. more efficient? yes. but better? that takes practice. Your money would be better spent on standard art supplies like paper, pencils, pens. and a buttload of practice. a reasonable mechanical pencil, a wad of standard photocopy/xerox paper, and a white vinyl eraser should be all you need to really kick off things.

You're still young, you've got a lot to learn, invest in the things that'll let you learn from people whose actual profession is to teach you these things, let them help you build a foundation with which to build upon your own, unique style.

I've held my tongue until i saw folks throwing tablet specs and tools at you, when all you really need is paper. pencil. eraser. Everything else can wait until then, don't try and get everything right at once, work on one aspect, then move forward.

WhiteFox · December 01, 2011, 11:58:24 AM

Quote from: Turnsky on November 30, 2011, 11:03:37 PM
...I'm going to be the mean sod here...

Or... don't. Really, Turnsky, you could just not be a mean sod. It's easy, just... stop doing it. It's bad for your health, and as long as I've been on the forums, it has never done anything to help an artist improve. Ever. It makes things worse, actually, since people start to pick up your habits. You teach people to be mean sods by being mean sods to them.

So Kumiko has a tablet. That's pretty awesome. Congrats, Kumiko. We can either berate her for this awesome event, or give advice on how to make better use of it, once she starts posting arts.

KumikoTsumi · December 01, 2011, 01:12:23 PM

I'll mostly post on the weekends....I understand that even though I have a tablet, it won't make my art look better....(although the coloring would probably be neater....) so....yeah

Lore · December 01, 2011, 01:19:17 PM

Quote from: WhiteFox on December 01, 2011, 11:58:24 AM
Quote from: Turnsky on November 30, 2011, 11:03:37 PM
...I'm going to be the mean sod here...

Or... don't. Really, Turnsky, you could just not be a mean sod. It's easy, just... stop doing it. It's bad for your health, and as long as I've been on the forums, it has never done anything to help an artist improve. Ever. It makes things worse, actually, since people start to pick up your habits. You teach people to be mean sods by being mean sods to them.

So Kumiko has a tablet. That's pretty awesome. Congrats, Kumiko. We can either berate her for this awesome event, or give advice on how to make better use of it, once she starts posting arts.

I wouldn't say Turnksy *is* being a "mean sod" so much as... realistic. Maybe a tad pessimistic, but it's good to have both sides expressed. Tablets are a great tool but they're *just* tools. In my experience, learning to use a tablet was like learning to draw all over again. I hated it. After a couple months I put mine away and didn't touch it for years. Drawing while looking in a different direction is disconcerting at first and can be frustrating. That said, different people probably have different learning curves. *shrug*

Personally, I have found that it's best to learn on paper and then get a tablet. I love my tablet and drawing on it, but I *still* can't sketch well on it and usually sketch on paper. I use the tablet for inking and coloring mostly.

But this is just my experience, and everyone is different. If you put enough effort and practice into it, anything is possible. I *don't* recommend putting your tablet away in frustration, in any case.

As others have said, you've got a good start, and you're only going to get better.

KumikoTsumi · December 01, 2011, 01:28:33 PM

I agree, after all...everyone has their own opinions....I can sketch easily with the tablet but I can't seem to ink well on scans....I guess I'll have to practice more....

Mao · December 01, 2011, 02:10:37 PM

Quote from: WhiteFox on December 01, 2011, 11:58:24 AM
Quote from: Turnsky on November 30, 2011, 11:03:37 PM
...I'm going to be the mean sod here...

Or... don't. Really, Turnsky, you could just not be a mean sod. It's easy, just... stop doing it. It's bad for your health, and as long as I've been on the forums, it has never done anything to help an artist improve. Ever. It makes things worse, actually, since people start to pick up your habits. You teach people to be mean sods by being mean sods to them.

So Kumiko has a tablet. That's pretty awesome. Congrats, Kumiko. We can either berate her for this awesome event, or give advice on how to make better use of it, once she starts posting arts.

So you made that whole post to pick apart one thing that he said. Even though the rest of his post wasn't actually mean at all, you decided to take that and just use it to rant at him. Great post. Quality even. I applaud you and your master work. Now don't do it again.