02 8 / 2012
I admit, I like to draw things that I find aesthetically appealing. I’m not above that.
That said, it’s important to me that a character is able to emote. When I’m drawing a guy, I usually know how to draw him emoting while still keeping the set of visual symbols that make the character attractive. If I only drew a ‘default’ anatomically correct face that couldn’t emote, I’d get bored. It would be easier, but, yeah. Very boring. I suspect other people looking at my work would feel the same way.
Illustrated women, on the other hand, often seem much more limited in their ability to “emote while being attractive”. Since our Western idea of what makes a woman attractive is much more limited than our idea of what makes a man attractive, we have been given a much more limited set of “attractive female” facial symbols to work with, than we have been given for men. It makes the prospect of drawing a woman really emoting daunting, challenging, and for some people, apparently not worth the effort. Since it’s so important to many illustrators that their females be attractive at ALL times, a lot of people don’t even bother with trying to give their women a little more… well, character.
I understand whya lot of illustrators shy away from drawing women making “crazy” faces. Yeah, it’s tough to do, especially if you’re concerned with maintaining aesthetic appeal. For me, as an illustrator, it’s worth the trouble. I gotta say, looking at galleries and comic books full of women making the same two bedroom eyes/sweet smile faces is incredibly boring. And asinine. It might be worth it for you to learn how to draw women emoting, too.
I think sticking with the bedroom eyes status quo is lazy. And, it’s a copout. And, you can do better. Yes, you CAN learn to do it. The alternative is that your women are as boring as paste. They look so generic that they fade entirely into the background and stop even registering as “attractive” after a while, which defeats your point entirely, doesn’t it?
These are all taken from the same Nicki Minaj video. I hope someone out there finds them as inspiring and useful as I do.
(via twintastic)
02 5 / 2012
Handy Art Link Megapost
Handy Art Link Megapost
I take no credit for any of this, all I did was assemble them togetha’.
Hellooo friends, I was just handed a couple of useful links from a talented friend, and seeing some posts on Facebook and around the internets inspired me to share them all with you in this handy place.
Bookmark them all, or bookmark this note, idc, just keep track of ‘em!
ALSO IF YOU HAVE MORE TO ADD PLEASE LET ME KNOW. (Also, apologizes for the wall of text. I CANNOT SEEM TO GET THE “READ MORE” BUTTON TO WORK.)
ArtsyPoses - http://artsyposes.com
Relatively new, but very cool. The 30 second drawing tool seems to be glitching a little but that could be my computer being a dumb. Lots of unique poses and they’re looking to expand to other body types (if you read the FAQ they even said there are too many fit models haa)
PoseManiacs - http://posemaniacs.com
Everybody knows this one! Great poses, you can interact with them (rotation, etc) and has a very cool 30 second drawing tool. Also I belieeeve this is available on iOS.
Pixelovey - http://www.pixelovely.com/gesture/figuredrawing.php
Another fantastic drawing tool - I prefer it over PoseManiacs’ but I can NEVER FIND THE LINK :( Lots of options here, too.
CedarSeed - http://www.cedarseed.com/fire/tutorials.html
The drawings here aren’t great but there is so much information here. SO MUCH.
Color Is Value - http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/2010/09/color-is-value.html
Handy coloring tips and things!
Ctrl+Paint - http://www.ctrlpaint.com/
So many digital painting tutorials. SO MANY. Ridiculously helpful in everything ever, and constantly updated.
Lackadaisy Expressions - http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=333
This artist is incredibly talented and even though they are cats there is so much to be learned here.
+ more - http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/210/1/5/lackadaisy_construction_by_tracyjb-d422uo7.jpg
The Angry Animator - http://www.angryanimator.com/word/2010/11/26/tutorial-2-walk-cycle/
Because come on, all sorts of handy animation tips. I linked directly to the walk cycle because I found it to be most useful but there are other things floatin’ around there if that’s your thing~
Constructing the Head/Face - http://amberblade.tumblr.com/post/11177240121/tutorials-done-by-stanislav-prokopenko-who-is-an
Done by Stanislav Prokopenko, an instructor. Also really seems to know what he’s talking about. Saving images off of Tumblr seems to be hit-or-miss so keep this link handy as it may not save correctly. :(
And so begins the dumping of handy tutorial images that should all be on your harddrives soon :
How to Draw All Kinds of Shit - http://coelasquid.blogspot.com/2009/01/muscle-tutorial-thinger.html
Some of you may remember this from all of James Phegan’s classes ever! Super handy, and this is a printable version of the giant jpg he used to e-mail us.
How to Draw Beef - http://coelasquid.deviantart.com/art/Abdomination-How-to-draw-beef-132538271
The same artist; she’s really damn good at drawing beefy dudes.
Drawing people in perspective and other handy things - http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/125/9/9/IFX___Strike_A_Pose_by_WarrenLouw.jpg
http://alexds1.deviantart.com/art/Fellas-Tutorial-104865472 - Fellas Tutorial
http://alexds1.deviantart.com/art/Ladies-Tutorial-98311607 - Ladies Tutorial - NSFW
http://alexds1.deviantart.com/art/Pose-tutorial-72010406 - Pose Tutorial
http://alexds1.deviantart.com/art/Expression-tutorial-77399204 - Expressions/Head Tutorial
http://alexds1.deviantart.com/art/Hand-tutorial-83785318 - Hand Tutorial
http://alexds1.deviantart.com/art/Foot-tutorial-90158269 - Foot Tutorial
Resources :
http://lockstock.deviantart.com/ - Nude models and drapery!!
http://ictoa.deviantart.com/favourites/42274937 - Lots of nude models in all sorts of poses
http://www.japanesestreets.com/photos/ - All sorts of clothing styles!
http://tobyshelton.blogspot.com/2010/10/ive-got-to-hand-it-to-you-2010.html - Amazing amazing hands
http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m148/squidsmanphotos/?start=all - Coelasquid’s “manbucket”
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lsmtnfmnJV1qa8bb7o1_400.jpg - haaands
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lshg8hi59P1qjozoyo1_500.jpg - HAAANDS
Other neat things :
Color Scheme Designer - http://colorschemedesigner.com/
Allows you to quickly and easily create specific color schemes for a wide variety of purposes! If you’re like me and terrible with color, this will help.
Make your brush in Photoshop look like Flash or Paint Tool SAI - http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa104/ResultGraphics/screenshot20100331at728.png
Things to keep in mind while gesture drawing - http://hospitalvespers.tumblr.com/post/8712840616/gesture-drawing-basics
Super Obvious Secrets I Wish They’d Teach In Art School - http://philmcandrew.tumblr.com/post/5588480161/super-obvious-secrets-that-i-wish-theyd-teach-in-art
The Complete Guide to Not Giving a Fuck - http://inoveryourhead.net/the-complete-guide-to-not-giving-a-fuck/
How to Steal Like an Artist - http://www.austinkleon.com/2011/03/30/how-to-steal-like-an-artist-and-9-other-things-nobody-told-me/
Also, psst. - http://www.mediafire.com/?z7c401x9fdwqx - Ten art books that we should all own already.
For artsy fartsy types like me. I’ve got A LOT of this book marked already if that says anything about how useful this stuff is.
ALSO! Side note, there are a few very kind asks in my inbox regarding my artwork and inquiries about webcomics. I HAVE read them, and I WILL answer them. If the comic is any indicator, I haven’t had the time to sit down and do personal work as of late, and that includes responding to folks that would take a little longer than a quick “Hey! Thanks for that! I appreciate it!”
But, yes! Bookmark Miss Addy’s post and give this stuff a genuine look.
