oh hey not to discourse but if youre drawing trans girls there…is a happy medium like you don’t have to draw hulking men in dresses but drawing a cis girl and tagging it as trans for hashtag representation points is…..also iffy especially if you the artist are not trans like….look at real trans girls and their bodies and use that as a reference…research things like how hrt and ffs can affect peoples looks and use that knowledge to further your diversity in your art instead of drawing offensive caricatures or tone deaf pictures of cis girls passed off for performative representation
a good place to see the effects hrt and transition in general has on various types of bodies is the transtimelines subreddit. dr bart van de ven has an image gallery for before and after facial feminization surgery, as does dr spiegel. if you are looking for body references the transpassing subreddit has a lot of variety. of course that’s not mentioning the tumblr tags (which probably have nsfw in so be careful). the thing to take away from this is that when you are drawing trans girls you aren’t drawing men in dresses nor are you drawing cis girls with no boobs; trans women are as varied and as unique as cis women in their appearances and this deserves to be recognized and accounted for, and not as a lazy afterthought.
i’m getting a lot of salt and angst over that post almost entirely from young, white artists so i’m just gonna drop one statement on it.
obligatory “i’m white”. obligatory “i’m not the best artist and am still always learning”. obligatory “i was a beginner too”. fact of the matter is, though, that what i brought up in that post is not endemic only to beginner artists. it’s something i see very technically skilled people doing, and it demonstrates a very fundamental flaw in the notion of “aesthetic”.
altering a character’s features as portrayed in their canon (or god forbid, an actual real actor) so their complexion is creamier, their features are narrower, and their hair is smoother is a deliberate choice. art is translating lines and shapes into something cohesive and recognizable. you choose to make those lines.
if you are using the wrong ones, you lose cohesion.
stylization does not mean recognition is lost.
the situation described by my post can range anywhere from ignorance to the notion that the human face is not a template with interchangeable potato head parts all the way to a malicious belief that non-white features are ugly.
i’m not making accusations one way or another.
but i am saying that it’s very, very noticeable and the hurt you might feel by me calling you a fucking gremlin doesn’t really compare to people seeing themselves be erased in art. i am not engaging anybody directly over the matter because quite frankly 90% of the angst on that post is from teens. get better. use references. don’t be defensive when someone points out offensive behavior.
I actually don’t know how to make accurate gem-y things but the trick is to group the highlights and shadows in general areas so make it look like you know what you’re doing yanno
always start off with simple shapes, trying to tackle complex shapes from the start will skew proportions
– to start guideline sketches, i usually make a box for the palm, then drawing the thumb as reference, and then adding the rest of the fingers
FINGER NAILS ARE YOUR FRIEND, DONT BE AFRAID TO DRAW THEM!!! THEY ADD PERSPECTIVE, CHARACTER, AND DEPTH TO YOUR HANDS!!! I LOVE DRAWING FINGER NAILS
GO HAM!!!!!!!!!!!
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO GET GOOD AT DRAWING HANDS JUST WATCH MOB PSYCHO 100 HONESTLY LMAO…. even if the hands arent proportional to real life, the movement and gesture can REALLY REALLY HELP
AND DRAWING FROM REFERENCE AND OBSERVATION IS YOUR BEST ADVICE
Hey comic-makers! Looking for funding or short/long term studio space to help you make your comics? I put together a list of grants, fellowships, and residencies with an established, positive track record for accepting cartoonists! (There are also many, many arts grants/etc. out there that have not accepted any cartoonists yet, and I absolutely encourage you to apply for those too! But I’ll be limiting this list to ones that already have demonstrated interest in comics.)
I’m sure there are ones I’m missing, so feel free to drop me a line if you know one I should add! I’ll keep updating the list periodically 🙂
Okay first of all, sorry to take so long to answer. I really wanted to draw some pics for this, and the last weeks have been quite busy.
1. Draw from the reference
Drawing is like learning a new language: You can’t say you wanna learn English and then just start making up your own words because you think that finding words in the dictionary is cheating – It doesn’t make sense. Find a super cool robot picture and try to copy it. These are called “studies” for a good reason. You’re studying the vocabulary of those drawings. Many times people don’t share their studies since it’s only for the practice. But don’t study just one person. You don’t want to become that person – you want to become better! And if you post your study online, don’t forget to credit the original artist!
2. Try different techniques
One of my favorite techniques is something I call color blocking – I’m not sure if it’s an actual term or just something I came up with. I kind of carve the silhouette of the robot with one color and then I add a second color and carve the details in. I do this also if I have a picture with lots of characters and I want to make sure everything reads correctly. But these are all personal matters. Try different techniques until you find a one that works for you. And remember to flip your canvas!!
3. Try different brushes
My favorite brushes vary, but these three are the ones I keep using more than the others. Kyle’s brush I got used to while I was working on my freelance work – it just feels good to draw with.
The square one is really fun to work with in mecha designs, and the basic one also feels surprisingly good while drawing. Sometimes I just grab a new brush, start doodling, and end up with a decent piece.
4. Symmetry vs. asymmetry
This one I included especially because I’m talking about robots. Breaking up the machines with asymmetrical parts gives them more character BUT it’s important to keep the symmetry in mind. If I do a robot that has a one big arm and one small arm, I later make sure that most of the other parts are symmetrical. This way the asymmetry is the choice rather than a mistake.
5. Draw from the reference (!!!)
Yes, I added this the second time because I really feel it’s important! I use Pinterest all the time – I have a board with over 1000 pins of robots! There are paintings from my favorite robot artists, 3D models of super cool robot designs, and even photos of real robots all collected in one place. And for anyone who feels “wrong” doing this: Finding reference DOESN’T mean copying – it can be just an idea or inspiration: It’s finding the language you want to use. Sure you won’t need the reference as much later on as you build your own “shape-vocabulary” – just like you won’t need your dictionary after you have learned the words you use.
6. It doesn’t have to be perfect
I’m never 100% happy with my work. But I have learned to say “oh well” and move on. Next time I’ll do better.
7. BE PROUD!
Don’t talk down your own work no matter how much you’d like to. If you’re not standing behind your drawings, who will? Sure you do see the mistakes, but it’s still a great piece of art you made!
If you’re like me, then you guys love shading your sketches or lineart. Like this:
But if you erase a bit and shade more with black on low opacity it’ll look all wonky so you use the color picker. Or hell you scan or take a photo of a drawing you made on paper. But then this happens if you wanna put color under it!
Oh no! Now I have to set it to multiply to color it in! And then I can’t color in the lineart! 😦
Fret not, my dear friends! I found the solution! Go to [Edit] > [Convert brightness to opacity]
And suddenly you have this:
This way you don’t need to set the lineart to multiply and can color it in! It also works perfectly, if you use this nifty little trick on traditional drawings that you scanned.
I hope this helped you guys, because I sure as hell didn’t know about this until yesterday! ♥
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