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@nnnnnnnadie
added comment inPanels 3-6: Lineweight, Shadows, and Backgrounds
1yr
This is very good, thanks
Dude, I feel your frustration. One of the problems with digital anything is that there is a thousand ways to do the same thing! So frustrating, it's the reason I never wanted to do computer animation. So, This is what I did-
I do it exactly the way I would traditionally. I start with a line drawing, including the lines that define the shadows.
I fill the drawing in with a mid value gray, like if you are working on toned paper.
Then I fill in my shadows with a dark, but not black, shadow value.
Then I put in my darkest dark
Then I work from my shadows to my lights. I do this by just using the color box all the way to the left were there is no color, just black and grays. The way I know what value to use is by comparing it to my shadow values, just like I would in a traditional drawing. Is it as dark as my shadow? is it as light as the highlights? I just compare and adjust as I go.
Then I start to render the light using the same comparisons until it's all rendered.
Then if you want to color it- go to blending modes, and create a color layer, and paint right over your b& w painting.
I included the steps I just described in a digital painting I did recently. I hope this helps and eases the frustration a little bit. Good hunting :)
@nnnnnnnadie
2yr
Thank you for sharing your method, this is very helpful! Do you limit your values to a palette and then blend? or just find the value you need on the go.
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How do i block my values on a digital painting?2yr
I truly dont understand this and everyone seems to have a different approach. What do i do first???
I have seen some people start with a midtone grey over a sketch on a light grey canvas and then erase the midtone grey with a brush in order to get the lights (ctrl+paint method). Should i do that always? Other people start with the shadows and then add a gigantic blob of midtone grey with some weird gradients and then reorganize the values in a weird order like in the proko Digital painting course.
Other people like moderndayjames and sinix recommend starting with 1-2 values, focusing on shapes and then going from there... but there is no refinement and it looks like an out of focus representation, i get how to do that but it doesnt look good and dont know how to advance from that.
Where do i get the values from if i dont use color picker? If i try to invent them they seem wrong. Where do you get the value scale for every color? you add a red robe and everything changes, because you cant use the same value scale for it.... how the hell do i get my values? I have used the color picker but it feels like a clutch now, feels like i dont know what the hell im doing, and cant find a simple deconstruction method of the STEPS i need to follow in order to paint and learn.
For example, if i need to start with a midtone grey, where the hell that midtone grey comes from, supposely you have to separate your values in lights and darks. Do i get a midtone grey from my lights or from my darks? or should i break the rule and get one in between?. And then after that, should i start blocking the lights? the darks? the different color values first and then the light and the dark with blending layers? I dont know everything is confusing, every single instructor likes to go right into the refinement of values instead of explaining where the hell did they come from, please, help me out, im lost.
Just posting my current level, gotta get better at hands and anatomy... and learn how to shade, and composition, and color. Hopefully i get better.
2yr
Funny, i got the same isssue, always making the eyes bigger than they are.
2yr
Can you post a photo of yourself drawing, so we can see your chair, arms, head and everything? I struggled with this for a long time and maybe I can be of help.
2yr
My position is terrible, drawing tablet on legs, thats it, i know its wrong not only conceptually but physically, it feels unconfortable. Would like an example for a setup to do this.
added a new topic
How do you make a setup ergonomical?2yr
im trying digital art with a tablet without screen... dont know what is a recommended setup so i can draw a long time, it feels like every position i try is terrible for my joints, on traditional (pen and paper) i dont have the same issue, how do you grab yor pen, how much do you tilt your drawing tablet? how is your posture? laid back on the chair? you rest your hand fully on the tablet? please help me.
2yr
Fantasy poses request an ideation of kinestesics of the body throught the use of tools/weapon from (usually medieval era), So, the first thing you have to do is to ideate a character and contextualize. for example a barbarian warrior, how do you create a natural pose for him/her? you contextualize your character, when do you want to capture the pose? after battle? how would a person who is swinging a sword all day looks like? his/her face has a fierce look? then search for reference, look at videos of how the heavy lifters body rest after a lifting or something like that.
Bottom of the line i suggest you use your own body and an "avatar" (like a boomstick) for the weapon and start feeling the agressivity and start mashing pillows or whatever makes you feel a warrior, get all on video (important) and try to get a pose out of it, funny yes, but its a way, another way is to observe 1000 poses from comic books, there are a lot there, look how jim lee hush has a lot of it. Draw constructions of the poses from reference first, and after you have drawn 100, imagining them becomes easier.
2yr
Really opened my eyes to the light desing, the decition of not "shadowing" the pipes in favour of the compositional influence they have on the image is very valuable, not everything has to be chained to reality.
