my art

[Hiroki8]

I'm currntly thinking of which type of artform I'm more suited to...I've made a lot of different stuff these are two of the most comon types I've made, which one do you think looks better?

a sample of my sprite work


a sample of my sketch and color work

my dev account : http://hiroki8.deviantart.com/

[GhostMachine]

Wow!

Let me put it this way....your sketch and color art is a lot better than that of some people I've seen sell stuff on eBay. And I mean stuff that actually sells.

That Elektra reminds me of a particular artist, but I can't think of their name at the moment.....

[Hiroki8]

WOW thanks! I still feel there are a lot of stuff I can leran although its kinda hard to learn considering the fact that I don't know a lot people who like to draw..any comments on my style will be really appreciated so I can improve..I currently having a hard time trying to paint using my tablet (no idea how to use it properly..sensitivity adjustment and all)

[GhostMachine]

I can't give you any advice because I'm not much of an artist, except to say the old adage "practice makes perfect" is pretty true. I've been reading some of the How To Draw Manga compilation books put out by Antarctic Press (not be confused with the How To Draw Manga books here: http://www.howtodrawmanga.com/ - I've heard these are pretty bad), and in one of them David Hutchison advises to draw in your sketchbook every day. I'm pretty sure that would apply no matter what art style you use and what medium\drawing device you use (ie, computer, eisel, etc).

If you need any advice on techniques, see if any of your favorite artists have message boards - NOT fan boards, but a board the artist actually runs or at least posts heavily at - and see if you can find any advice there. I'm a fan of a particular comic book artist and have learned quite a few things from looking at their message board. I asked a question about using a toothbrush as an art tool a few days ago, and three different professional artists responded, and there have been several discussions about using PITT pens and brushes there in the past, as well as one or two about using tablets. I seem to recall one of the people mentioned getting a tablet and having problems with the sensitivity, and I believe he just had to get used to it.

[psychopanda]

Nice work Hiroki8! If you want practice, I would suggest signing up for one of the Artistic Challenges on the board here. It's pretty fun!

[zuludelta]

currently having a hard time trying to paint using my tablet (no idea how to use it properly..sensitivity adjustment and all)

Don't worry if an inability to use the tablet is causing you problems. I never did get used to working with a tablet myself but found that drawing with a mouse was more suited for me. Most of the images in my art thread were drawn with a mouse (and all of them were coloured using one), and I think it's actually a lot easier with the mouse (for me, at least) since all the movements are just exaggerations of the fine motions you do with your hand when drawing/painting on paper. 

[UnkoMan]

Wow, everything is... so adorable. Personally, I'd say shy away from "how to draw" books... unless they are giant and floppy. I'd especially shy away from "how to draw manga" books. Also, anything the "marvel way" or by DC. Most how to draw in comic styles are awful. And the other ones... you honestly don't need. It won't teach you anything that you won't learn better from life drawing books. Toss in a few highly detailed animation books, and lots of references from your favourite artists, and then you develop a unique style. You actually seem to have a fairly cute one going for you now.

Tips? I'd say watch your hand poses. Some of them look a bit unnatural. They are interesting, but occasionally awkward. Some are really good though, so it's a mixed bag. Poison Ivy's got an awkward hand, and her toes seem a bit long. But mostly? Keep it up! You're going places, drawing wise.

PS: That is the sweetest Scarecrow ever. I would give that Scarecrow to my baby, had I one. To cuddle.

[Hiroki8]

thanks for the tips, I have been having trouble with hands and fingers. one question though, I'm sure you have noticed that my line art is a bit too jagged and pixelated..is there anyway to remove this? most of the art I really like doesn't have this problem..is there anyway to counteract this?

[zuludelta]

I'm sure you have noticed that my line art is a bit too jagged and pixelated..is there anyway to remove this? most of the art I really like doesn't have this problem..is there anyway to counteract this?

The best way to get rid of "the jaggies" is to work at a much higher resolution. In Photoshop, I usually work at the same size I would if I were drawing on paper. So that means if I'm working on an image that would fit on an 8 ½" x 11" sheet of paper, that means working at 2550 x 3300 pixels (in 72 dpi if I'm just drawing it for display on computer monitors, in 300 dpi if I'll be sending it to a professional printer). If I have to make the image smaller (to make it fit on a display server like Imageshack or Photobucket), I make sure to save the raw .PSD file as a JPEG of the same size and then resize that JPEG file (this yields better results and less detail lost than if you re-size the .PSD file directly and make a JPEG of it).   

[Hiroki8]

but my drawings are already at 300dpi...but it still looks like the ink blotted and looks very jagged...what I do usually is to just adjust the levels(wich makes it more pixelated) then blur it...but it still seems off..

[zuludelta]

I think I should clear up what I mean by resolution in the context of this discussion. When I say resolution, I mean the number of pixels in an image (800 x 600, 1024 x 768, etc.), and not the dpi (dots-per-inch). A lot of people confuse the two terms, because of the way they're labeled in Photoshop. DPI refers to the print resolution of a document and it's what it says it is, the actual number of dots of ink per square inch that will be used when the image is printed. This means, for all intents and purposes, that there really are no significant differences between a 72 dpi image and a 300 dpi image when viewed on a standard computer monitor. The only reason you'd want to work and save at a higher dpi is if you plan to print the image on paper. The actual onscreen display resolution of an image is its pixel dimensions (the number of pixels). Using higher pixel dimensions (i.e., display resolution) results in smoother images. 

As mentioned, the difference between a 72 dpi and 300 dpi image isn't really all that evident if it's just being displayed on a typical monitor so if your work looks jagged in 300 dpi, your best bet is to work at a higher file size and like I said in my previous post, work in the same size as the paper document (legal size = 2550 x 3300 pixels, comic book page size = 3300 x 5100 pixels). Don't upsize an existing image, as it will just look even worse, you have to start the image already in the larger size. An 800 x 600 pixel image, for example, will look worse if you resize it to 1024 x 768, even if you use bicubic resampling, but a 1024 x 768 image won't lose a lot of detail and get all jaggy if resized to 800 x 600.

A very important thing to remember is that JPEGs, being raster images, depend on the total number of pixels and colour depth for quality. More pixels equals higher quality. The same holds true for colour depth, but as with the dpi issue, the difference between 8 bits/channel and 16 bits/channel is significantly evident only when the image is printed (and sometimes not even then).

Anyways, here's a demo showing most everything I talked about:

Susan Storm (118 x 139 pixels, 300 dpi)   Susan Storm (118 x 139 pixels, 72 dpi)
                                 

Notice that changing the dpi (print resolution) doesn't really significantly alter picture quality as it's displayed on screen.

Now see what happens when I change the actual display resolution (the pixel dimensions):

Susan Storm (58 x 70 pixels, 300 dpi)



So far so good, there's some unavoidable blurring, but the quality translates well. When I re-scale the smaller image back to its previous size using bicubic sampling, however, this is what you get:

Susan Storm (118 x 139 pixels, 300 dpi, re-sampled from 58 x 70 pixel image) 



My point is, using higher pixel dimensions (and not higher dpi) is the key to having smoother images display on screen (it's another matter if you're printing it, of course). The Sue Storm drawing I used for the demo images was originally 1500 x 2000 pixels in size, the head was about 400 x 460 pixels (and see how well it translated when I shrunk it down, no jaggies or anything). My advice is to work at the highest possible pixel dimensions that you're comfortable with and that your computer's GPU will allow before it starts slowing down if you want to minimize jaggedness.

[Hiroki8]

uhh one more question..how do you raise up the pixel resolution in an image? does it have to start when you scan the image? I have no idea how to do this, this is the first time I've heard of this thanks for the tip by the way

[Mr. Hamrick]

In Photoshop, you can look under image settings.

I imagine most scanners have a similar adjustment under the scan settings or preferences.

[zuludelta]

uhh one more question..how do you raise up the pixel resolution in an image? does it have to start when you scan the image? I have no idea how to do this, this is the first time I've heard of this thanks for the tip by the way

Yup, you start at the scanning stage. Again, this is where it gets confusing because Photoshop uses the term "resolution" interchangeably to mean either dpi or pixel dimension (which we've established as two different things... dpi is the print resolution while pixel dimensions refer to the display resolution). I don't know what scanning software you use but I've always just used Photoshop to run my scanner. Here's how to scan directly into Photoshop 7 (Photoshop CS2 has a similar interface):

1. Start up Photoshop, go to File ---> Import, and then select your scanner from the list (it should show up there if it's installed properly) 

2. Once you select your scanner, a new dialogue box will appear asking you what settings you want to scan in (black & white, grayscale, colour, etc.). Choose what setting you want. You will also see an option to "adjust the quality of the scanned picture". This will take you to the "Advanced Settings" dialogue box which will let you set the scan resolution by adjusting the dpi (Confusion Alert! In this case, Photoshop is using the term "resolution" to refer to both dpi and pixel dimension! So if you scan an 8 ½" x 11" sheet of paper at 300 dpi, it will appear in Photoshop as a 2550 x 3300 pixel sized document in 300 dpi. If you scan the same document in 150 dpi, it will appear in Photoshop as a 1275 x 1650 pixel sized document in 150 dpi and so on and so forth). Scanning in at 300 dpi generally gives the best results since it results in a 1:1 ratio between the scanned image and the Photoshop file you'll be working on. The only reason you'll want to work in a print resolution higher than 300 dpi is if you'll be printing the image on a very large scale, like a huge banner or a theatre/movie poster.

3. Don't worry if the file you're working on is too large to display on a website or forum... as we've already seen, reducing a large image in size doesn't really detract from the image quality as long as the pixel dimension reduction is within reasonable limits. Just be careful when using the "Image Size" function under the set of "Image" commands: remember to use the pixel dimensions (not the dpi) to change the image size. You'll find that changing the dpi actually affects both the pixel dimensions along with the dpi (so halving the dpi will also halve your pixel dimensions... just like in scanning, this is just another case where Photoshop uses "dpi" to mean both pixel dimensions and print resolution). However, if you change just the pixel dimensions, you'll find that you can preserve the dpi (so halving the pixel dimensions will not result in halving the dpi). If you want to change the dpi without affecting the pixel dimensions (say you want to keep the file at 2550 x 3300 pixels but you want to go from 300 dpi to 72 dpi because you don't have any plans of printing the image ever), the easiest way would be to just select and copy all of your image (use the Ctrl + A and Ctrl + C shortcuts), open a new file (making sure to change the resolution to 72 dpi in the "New File" dialogue box that opens) and then paste your copy of the image onto the new document. This will result in a copy of your original image with the same pixel dimensions but with a lower dpi. 

[daglob]

Be sure to save the original PSD file, high resolution, hidden layers, warts and all, when you make a printable copy under another name. Then burn that big ol' PSD to a CD, and take it off your hard drive. Once you flatten the image and reduce the resolution and save it, you can never go back again. I've had people come back a month later want want stuff changed