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So how do you arty folks "catch up" when you have to go some time without drawing? I haven't drawn in a week because I've been busier than poo poo. Are there any exercises you do? Any "rituals?"
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Apr 24, 2014 06:30
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I'm making a silhouette portrait of my daughter for a Mother's Day gift to my wife. I found some inspiration online and I'm trying to replicate the scalloped border seen in the example below. I'm using a similar approach - dark portrait on a white circle, set against a patterned piece of paper. Using Illustrator I was able to create a circle with a scalloped border of 120 .25" circles. But after I was done I quickly realized it would be a very major pain in the rear end to cut out that shape. Even if I were to increase the size of each circle, I would still be left with a very daunting task which would require a great deal of precision (and I've got unsteady hands). When I was at the paper store to get the patterned background, they had a Fiskars circle cutter which would produce circles but the clerk had never used it and didn't know how well it would work. But even with that, I'd have to cut out X number of circles, and then perfectly align them against a circular shape. Any other ideas how I might achieve this effect? I've got access to the full Adobe suite of products, but no fancy cutting equipment.  The only other thing I can think of is to just create the whole damned thing in Photoshop/Illustrator (I'd have to find a pattern online for the background). I was hoping to go handmade on it though. me your dad fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Apr 24, 2014 |
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Apr 24, 2014 17:52
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 You could use decorative scissors with a scalloped edge like these. Might be able to find a pair with mounds the size you are looking for. Usually circular stuff like that is punched out with big machinery or carefully done by hand. Doing it all in illustrator would be really easy -- you can scan in the silhouette and pattern and just vectorize it. Since they will be solid, it will vectorize cleanly with live trace.
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Apr 24, 2014 18:17
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Baldbeard posted:
Thanks - they had similar scissors and I wasn't sure how they'd work with a circular design. That image is good to see.
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Apr 24, 2014 18:32
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How do I enlarge a selection in all directions? So liike I want each one of those selected bits to enlarge individually, rather than as a whole. I thought there was a really easy way to do it but I don't remember it at all. edit: oh there was an option in the dialogue box. 
Koramei fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Apr 24, 2014 |
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Apr 24, 2014 18:47
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le capitan posted:Do some google searching for tutorials online. Ctrl alt paint is a good website that covers some basics. Understand too that digital art is just a different media like charcoal or pencil or watercolor or oil painting. So there's learning how to use the medium and also learning things like design, color theory, composition, anatomy, etc. Photoshop seems to be the program of choice though, right? I figure I'll start with learning how to use that before I learn how to use it well. 
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Apr 25, 2014 20:58
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Anatharon posted:Photoshop seems to be the program of choice though, right?
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Apr 25, 2014 23:21
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Manga Studio 5 is like $25 on Amazon right now and is arguably a better digital art program than Photoshop. It's more limited in what it can do- mostly just lineart and comic art (e.g. manga making things, go figure), but at those it is significantly better. Its line stabilization will definitely help beginners too (although might arguably be too much of a crutch if you're just starting out I dunno). Although I'd also plop down some money for a good set of brushes like Frenden's, so it's more like $30 in total, but that's still like a tenth the price of Photoshop if you don't go for a subscription. its controls are also pretty similar in most respects to Photoshop's, so switching isn't as much of a pain as it is to go from something like Sai or GIMP.
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Apr 26, 2014 02:22
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I'm an extreme hobbyist at 3d modeling, and I made a low-poly spider, then discovered that it has 8 legs, so it's been sitting for a while aggravating me by its lack of animations, but I think it's time to face up to the fact that 8 legs is 4 legs too many, and maybe putting it in a good static pose would be an ending satisfying enough, except I've got no idea what the pose would be. Any advice, or where I could find such?
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Apr 26, 2014 19:21
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I'm thinking about buying a tablet in a few months so I can do some digital art outside of my house. Do you guys have any recommendations? Mainly, I'm looking for something on which I can use a pressure-sensitive pen/stylus and where I can just install the ArtRage app and go to town. I might also use it as a second computer, but my first priority is digital painting and whatnot. Also, money is a bit of a factor.
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Apr 26, 2014 22:58
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CloseFriend posted:I'm thinking about buying a tablet in a few months so I can do some digital art outside of my house. Do you guys have any recommendations? Mainly, I'm looking for something on which I can use a pressure-sensitive pen/stylus and where I can just install the ArtRage app and go to town. I might also use it as a second computer, but my first priority is digital painting and whatnot. Also, money is a bit of a factor. Wacom's probably the gold standard, and you can get a tiny one for around $100. But I've heard that the Monoprice ones are legit, and are crazy less expensive.
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Apr 26, 2014 23:16
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dupersaurus posted:Wacom's probably the gold standard, and you can get a tiny one for around $100. But I've heard that the Monoprice ones are legit, and are crazy less expensive.
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Apr 26, 2014 23:31
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CloseFriend posted:Oh, sorry, I meant a tablet as in a tablet computer (like an iPad). I have a Wacom tablet and I love it, but I'd really love to draw directly on the screen. Whoops, my bad. I should have context clued that. iPad has some pressure-sensitive pens for it (I've been looking at the Jot Touch 4), and I bet you can get used/refurbished ones at a good price. Gabe of Penny Arcade has been raving about his Surface, but I don't know about them (or Androids) at all.
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Apr 27, 2014 00:06
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Are tablet computers really very good for drawing on? (genuine question) If not, you might want to splurge out for a cintiq or yiynova (the non-wacom cintiq alternative; at every other level I would say don't go with wacom they're overpriced as poo poo, but for cintiqs they might actually be worth it) if drawing on a screen is all you want since I can't imagine they're more expensive than a half decent tablet computer. But how long have you been drawing on tablets, CloseFriend? Unless you plan on doing art professionally it might be worth just training yourself to use a normal tablet, they can do just about everything a cintiq can do.
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Apr 27, 2014 00:18
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CloseFriend posted:If you're cheap like me, GIMP will work for learning digital art. I use GIMP for all my digital art and I'm able to apply most, if not all, the stuff I've seen in tutorials thereto. I don't have a tablet yet but I'll keep that in mind. I've had a more realistic art style before from mostly drawing still life pictures but I want to branch out. Hopefully I can change that a bit with a new medium, I feel in a rut. Incidently, things like coloring seem really hard as a person whose just used black and white pencil and paper.
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Apr 27, 2014 02:43
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Anatharon posted:Incidently, things like coloring seem really hard as a person whose just used black and white pencil and paper. Learning to use color is tough even when you don't have to deal with pigments & medium. You can put down values in black and white and then use a multiply layer to glaze color over it, adding an opaque layer as necessary. Basically oil painting without all the waiting for things to dry. http://krita.org/ is another free alternative to Photoshop you might like.
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Apr 27, 2014 02:59
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I can't seem to find it again and I've looked through every thread dealing with publishing or writing. EDIT: Finally had the name pop back into my brain: http://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/ Crain fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Apr 28, 2014 |
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Apr 28, 2014 15:48
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I need to design a family tree for a book my professor is writing. I've tried using programs like SmartDraw and MS Word, but this family tree is rather, uh, convoluted (marrying cousins and such), and they don't let me connect branches that shouldn't connect. My only other option is using Illustrator or Photoshop, but drawing all the lines and text boxes manually would take forever. Does anyone know of a more malleable program that would let me enter everything into a template and then muck about with it?
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Apr 30, 2014 15:05
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How technologically literate are you? There was recently a discussion in Yospos about drawing diagrams that you might find relevant. It starts here: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3481275&pagenumber=857&perpage=40#post428941391 If it is for academic use I would recommend TikZ: http://www.texample.net/tikz/examples/family-tree/
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Apr 30, 2014 18:28
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I'm doing my own version of that "one second a day" video project of my son. As Google gives me a million results all recommending different programs I thought I would come here to ask. What is some (preferably free), easy to use software on PC for snipping hundreds of videos in to one second clips and stitching them together? The option to put annotations (dates etc. in the corner) and include a soundtrack would be ideal as well.
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May 1, 2014 12:33
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xcore posted:I'm doing my own version of that "one second a day" video project of my son. As Google gives me a million results all recommending different programs I thought I would come here to ask. I don't know what 'windows movie maker' is like these days, but I used that when I was a kid and it was very easy to pick up. Looks like you can download it here. It's free, too. You can add a soundtrack with movie maker, but I don't know if it would let you put dates over the top. You might need something like adobe premiere for that (you can download a free trial of this but the learning curve is a little more steep than movie maker). I haven't used movie maker in about 10 years, though, so it could very well have this feature by now. raging bullwinkle fucked around with this message at 13:16 on May 1, 2014 |
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May 1, 2014 13:06
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Do you happen to have an iPhone? I know this guy made an app specifically for one second a day movies.
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May 1, 2014 14:17
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I have the app on Android but the movie maker thing is super lovely. It's really hard to select specific frames on a 4 inch screen and fat thumbs. It also doesn't allow music.
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May 1, 2014 14:50
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Maybe this is the place to ask? Trying to market myself locally since work has been reeeaal slow recently. Do people still dig skateboard decks as 'art'? Wondering if it would be worthwhile putting some of my calligraphy & design work on decks and giving them to charity auctions and such to try and get a bit of publicity whilst doing (hopefully) some good. Always found plain old prints to be a bit lacklustre at event auctions, and clothing is a bit too 'fragile'.
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May 1, 2014 18:49
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Hello, chums. Just wanted to ask, does anyone have recommendations for a good brand of white pen? I've tried white sharpies and one of those milky gel-pens, and while they start off well they start to get cruddy or run poorly after a while. Any suggestions? Preferably not "nib pen and white ink" because I am parlous poor with using one of those effectively and can't afford the mistakes or learning curve at the moment.
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May 1, 2014 23:28
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Actually they make solvent based acrylic markers that work really well. There are a ton, people use them for tagging. Moltow is a good brand but any graff/paint shop will have 4 or 5 brands you can try. I'm definitely going to use the word "parlous" next time I update my online dating profile. Holy poo poo.
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May 2, 2014 23:15
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So I just dug up some medium format negatives I took with a holga in the Badlands. Some of them look great in the 5x5 prints I have. Now, I'd love to blow one up to say 24x24ish - is there a good mail-in option to have it printed? I found a local printer and when I took it in they were going to just scan it and print it, but I want some actual photographic processing here. I'm in southeast Michigan, if that helps.
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May 3, 2014 00:40
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raging bullwinkle posted:I don't know what 'windows movie maker' is like these days, but I used that when I was a kid and it was very easy to pick up. Turns out it's actually kind of decent. I was a bit turned off trying it because when I think "Windows movie maker" I think "Hideous blue title cards with scrolling Comic Sans". Either it's improved a bunch or people have zero talent.
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May 5, 2014 04:27
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Beat. posted:Actually they make solvent based acrylic markers that work really well. There are a ton, people use them for tagging. Moltow is a good brand but any graff/paint shop will have 4 or 5 brands you can try. Thanks for the suggestion! Also yeah, thank A Midsummer Night's Dream for putting that word in my head forever.
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May 5, 2014 15:40
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Creepy Goat posted:Maybe this is the place to ask? If you do some deck art you'll probably pull in mostly more deck art. So i guess it depends what kind of work you want to do... Things that you might want to look into: -murals -finding local businesses you think could afford you and need lettering or design work done. -local magazines, doing covers or article images. -see about getting some of your work displayed in a local gallery or art store. (I work in an art supply store part time and people come in fairly often looking for an artist to do work for them or see a painting on the wall and want to buy it.) Hopefully this is helpful, hang in there!
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May 5, 2014 15:42
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Magazine covers is a good call! Hadn't thought of that despite their being quite a few independently run publications around here. I might have a look at doing a mural, although that sort of thing is massively frowned upon by the council here even when on private property that is viewable to the public. Just seems people are less inclined to pay for totally custom hand-drawn typographical work than if I just chucked a Microsoft font under a picture. I don't understand why, I'm insanely competitively priced compared to the local competition who only seem to have New Garamond installed on their machines. It's really tough but I'm not quitting, can't go back to working in the design studio equivalent of the Gulag.
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May 6, 2014 19:53
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xcore posted:I'm doing my own version of that "one second a day" video project of my son. As Google gives me a million results all recommending different programs I thought I would come here to ask. A lot of people don't know this, but Blender has a built in movie strip editor. The learning curve is quite steep, but you can get some great results, especially if you want to 3d modelling stuff, or make gorgeous titles.
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May 7, 2014 13:56
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Question about rendering in Adobe Premiere CS6. I'm just trying to understand what it actually does. My understanding is that rendering your timeline allows you to see playback at full speed (ie. no dropped frames). So does this mean that NOT rendering your clips will result in a less-smooth, exported video file? Or is the end-result the same, whether or not you render your timeline?
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May 7, 2014 18:18
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melon cat posted:Question about rendering in Adobe Premiere CS6. I'm just trying to understand what it actually does. My understanding is that rendering your timeline allows you to see playback at full speed (ie. no dropped frames). So does this mean that NOT rendering your clips will result in a less-smooth, exported video file? Or is the end-result the same, whether or not you render your timeline? Rendering your timeline is for smooth editing playback. When you export your sequence it will render everything out at the frame rate you choose.
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May 7, 2014 21:23
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blackmanjew posted:Rendering your timeline is for smooth editing playback. When you export your sequence it will render everything out at the frame rate you choose. So when you're exporting your clips, why does it give you the option to use the 'Maximum Render Quality'? Why the heck would I care about this during the export process? 
melon cat fucked around with this message at 06:10 on May 8, 2014 |
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May 8, 2014 06:03
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If someone wouldn't mind helping me out, I'm working on a drawing of a character in comic book-esque style that is supposed to be "dirty" but I don't know how to render dirt and scuffs on a body very well and I'm having a hard time finding a good reference. Could anyone hook me up with a decent reference of a scuffed up, dirty character?
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May 8, 2014 20:24
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Esroc posted:If someone wouldn't mind helping me out, I'm working on a drawing of a character in comic book-esque style that is supposed to be "dirty" but I don't know how to render dirt and scuffs on a body very well and I'm having a hard time finding a good reference. Could anyone hook me up with a decent reference of a scuffed up, dirty character? Lots of comics I see, after someone gets dirty/beat up, make heavy use of # crosshatches. Put a # on his face, put a # on his elbow, just a bunch of #s and it should get the point across.
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May 8, 2014 20:48
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Mine's a very specific question that should be stupidly simple. I hope. I made a paper template I made for cutting a section of sheetmetal out of a car to fit a snorkel. I have a friend who also purchased said snorkel and I would like to email the cleaned up version of the template that I scanned to him. The problem I have is the image is huge. I realised I have no idea how to keep the same image size (mm) whilst changing the dimensions and dpi to something more sane for a simple shape to be emailed and printed out. I'm using the GIMP. While it's not the most suitable program it did the job. All I can think is resize to a smaller size then make sure the print size hasn't changed / change it back to the old value. Is that really the best way to do it?
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May 12, 2014 07:52
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I've never used Gimp, but can't you just set the size of the board before staring a project like you can in CS?
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May 12, 2014 09:35
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Illustrator CS6 question: I'm just starting to play around with Illustrator, and I'm using the Type on a Path tool. For some reason, it's not letting me type characters more than the "123". For instance, if I add "4", it won't show up, but if I change the font size to a smaller font, it may show up. The path should be long enough. I'm pretty positive it's not a mask affecting it. I've tried a bunch of different fonts.
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May 13, 2014 02:23
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