March 29, 2024, 02:06:49 AM

------------------------------------------

If you have Login Problems Use the Login in Top Menu Bar


------------------------------------------
If you have a problem registering here, Leave a msg at our FB Page >> Here.

Plz Don't use Hotmail to Register. You might not receive Activation mail. Use Other free mail provider like Gmail or Yahoo.






Author Topic: Legos How-tos  (Read 21225 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline legomaestro

  • High Chancellor of Righteousness
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 20383
  • Gender: Male
  • real life has wack graphics
    • View Profile
Legos How-tos
« on: November 21, 2019, 05:08:57 PM »
I'll be posting 'tutorials' or 'tips' from my side of doing art. Absolutely go to the greats on youtube and everything to see how things are done properly, but I hope that I can give some interesting insights of my own.



How To Build A Fantasy World With Cola, Pen and Paper



Ingredients: Coke (or any drink that stains. Wine works great I hear), Paper and Pen.



Step 0: Randomly generate the map name


I typed out adiohfou gob

and came up with  Adio - Land of Dead Gods

Step 1: Spill coke
Step 2: Use intuition to draw out major landmasses.

After it dries it looks like this





Step 3: Fill in details and add names as you wish





Step 4: Build lore

Now that I have this map before me the lore comes itself. I'll make my pitch now.



Adio - The Land of Dead Gods
Spoiler

The name actually commemorates the Creation Story of this land. In order to fight off A Grand Evil so beyond concepts of darkness and bad that  all the gods of the land sacrificed themselves to destroy It. Thus, the inhabitants of this land can live on. Adio is a prayer and a rememberance of this great deed.


Adio Magic System

After the gods left, spellcraft has been reduced to weaving mana from nature itself.

 There are various schools of thoughts as to how this works and which is more effective, but the canonical reason (As in I'm telling you) is that The Caterpillar God, an evil god decided he would lower himself so that his followers always had access to his power without any of the other gods knowing.

He sacrificed three quarters of his mana and weaved it into the fabric of the land unnoticed, which cursed some of the land when too strong but otherwise became the basis for mana in the whole land. Without this deed humans would have no way to tap into magic, as magic could only in ancient times be accessed by supplicating the many gods that roamed the land.



Kingdoms


In Adio, there are 2 Major Kingdoms worth mentioning. 1. Akamonia and 2. Oruk  (The 3rd, Hopt was destroyed by an unknown disaster and is so haunted by ghosts, demons and other creatures no one knows exactly what happened there. Even Fineus failed to discover what happened there.)


1 Akamonians are a human race that uphold the values of The Dragon Goddess Akako. She was a dragon who breathed golden flame that burnt eternally - in fact the last flame still burns in a temple at the heart of the Akamonian kingdom.

Heirarchy
Their domain is highly clerical and religious, with constant triple-check systems that enforce absolute discipline and forsight. Typically, there is the Main office, the Higher office and then the Shadow office. 

From Government to Church to School Systems this three-tiered system presents itself everywhere.

In all cases The Shadow Office is always staffed by two kingdom-trained assassins who deal solely in death or life-long imprisonment. If the Higher Offices in place cannot prevent corruption then the Shadow Office steps in.

Fineus 

Though now a highly aesthetic warrior race, Akamonians are travelling merchants and documenters at heart. Fineus is their national hero: He's the only man to have travelled the length of the continent to and fro without dying, circumventing the catepillar pass, the Ruins of Hopt and reaching even the Elf Gate before age and the importance of his carried documents prompted him to return with all the things he had seen and mapped. All future advancement owes itself to the pioneering states of Fineus.

Basics
Akamonians are olive skinned, but their dominion is so great there are other colours within their races. Of note is when albinos' appear, they are revered as holy clerics and typically scouted by the religious sides of kingdom.

Akamonian warriors are knights that depend on steelwork embued with 'holy' runes.

Akamonians have precise language and speak very fast.

Akamonians believe strongly in prayer despite the knowledge that the gods are gone. It is in every aspect of their daily life and part of their orientation in the world.



2. Orukians

I got lazy. Sue me they're orcs. Basically.

Heirarchy
Orukians have a caste-based system that shuffles every 4 years where a great battle royale takes place and new blood rises to the top. Only special outsiders such as wise men, craftsmen and honoured heroes are left alone. Otherwise every man, woman and child is forced to fight or yield to another, with the severity of servitude wholly dependent on the victor.

Gladrider
Gladrider was an Orukian who fell in love with an elf and left the land. His whole family was massacred and eternally shamed, until he returned with a glowing sun-stone that grew an entire forest on the once rocky plans of the land of Oruk.

The Orukoru forest is a sacred land full of beasts that the Orukians hunt for sport and for food. Their diet had mainly consisted of cannibalism and fish at first until then.


Gladrider also constructed the Babylon pass (it's in perfect alignment with a magical leyline that passes through the Elf Gate that crosses the continent up to Fineus's arm. While Fineus's arm is on the right place, it's constructed with the wrong alignment, an unfortunate fact as this leyline is a magical defence barrier if constructed properly.)


Basics

They are basically orcs in appearance and clothing style. They speak the same tounghe as the whole land, but just deeper. Their art expresses itself in silent dance and stone-craft. Their martial arts focuses on good armour and guantlets spiked elbows, knees and feet for killing strikes and blows. They can jump 10 times their height and are hell to fight against, but their exposive energy exhausts them if they overdo it.

Orukians praise all the dead evil gods, but know that they are not around.

Orukians equate honour to life. Even words can injure someones' honour.






Some places


The Witchery, The Wizards' Catacomb and The Wizards' Tower all refer to a singular Hermit of the name Hyl. Hyl is the first trained wizard who comes close to the nature of spellcraft and magic on the world. He also investigated the reason why there are no elves on the world, and went as far as building a Twoer near the Elf harbour, the famed place full of strange magicks and dangerous technologies - its greatest feature being a port build for gigantic ships that obviously sailed away.

The Wizard travelled far through the land and Fineus met him once during their journey. The two were very friendly on a scholarly basis, but neither truly understood the other.

In his old age The Wizard left clues around the continent that lead all those intelligent enough or skilled in spellcraft to find his gigantic home and library at The Witchery. There, a group of witches have taken it upon themselves to teach the magic arts and use the library for good.

The Wizard is said to have left north to build a necropolis for himself (Canon explanation: He's been messing around with magic so much when he dies he'll unleash a curse in the area. The Catacombs are now full of demons and wraiths.)


The Devils' Mouth

A Volcano and a strong source of mana

Tower of Insight
Tower is a misnomer, because it goes underground to a chamber lighted with dull crystals and a brackish shallow lake. Here, the acoustics and smell are enough to trigger 'eye opening' hallucinations as reported by several travellers. However, not so bad enough that one cannot leave when they wish.

Not many people visit the place, as the nearby Ruins of Hopt are too dangerous to circumvent.


Elf Gate

Canon: The Elf Gate was built by the Elves to seal off the Adio continent in the East from any massive invasion. It's connected to the reason they built the massive ships and left the continent altogether.



And I've made my pitch. It goes on and on and on. The more I think about things the more details come up in my mind, and I haven't even really labelled that much in the story, let alone started working on the characters. Don't bother too much reading what I've written down, but with this simple method you can have a map and a world ready to go. Maps are powerful things





« Last Edit: November 21, 2019, 06:03:02 PM by legomaestro »

Offline Suuper-san

  • Level 0 Writer
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6899
  • Gender: Male
  • Anyone need a wall of text?
    • View Profile
Re: Legos How-tos
« Reply #1 on: November 21, 2019, 05:45:20 PM »
You did not just write all that off a coke stain.........serious props man.
I think it still takes skill to interpret the information in a way that sound realistic, natural, and story worthy, but its an awesome idea. Also great to see youve got a tips page too, cant wait for more ideas. Ive got a couple lined up that i need to get around to haha

I'll definitely give this idea a shot or two. And quite possibly write a program to do it for me haha.

PS is that second picture meant to be the same as the first? I expected to see placenames etc. Also isnt the lore meant to be on step 4, not at the end? Minor points for sure.
« Last Edit: November 21, 2019, 05:48:30 PM by suuper-san »
Art: Illustrations / Fanart / Requests (closed) / Other Art | Manga Stories & Projects
Other Stuff: Tutorials / Craft / Cosplay | Feedback & Critique Welcome!

Offline legomaestro

  • High Chancellor of Righteousness
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 20383
  • Gender: Male
  • real life has wack graphics
    • View Profile
Re: Legos How-tos
« Reply #2 on: November 21, 2019, 06:04:00 PM »
Woops I made a whoopsie so yeah the map was actually drawn haha.

And thanks suuper! I haven't gotten the chance to do this in a while so this was really fun to be honest. I want to try it out more. And I think I saw a character generator from you somewhere? I'll take it out for a spin. By the way, the timer program is working.

Offline Suuper-san

  • Level 0 Writer
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6899
  • Gender: Male
  • Anyone need a wall of text?
    • View Profile
Re: Legos How-tos
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2019, 05:48:53 AM »
cool, nice map!
I've not made the character generator public yet, it's completely unfinished unfortunately. This is as good as it got, with about 5 options for each XD

But glad to know the timer works, any other stuff I make I'll know will work too which is great. Just gotta make it :P
Art: Illustrations / Fanart / Requests (closed) / Other Art | Manga Stories & Projects
Other Stuff: Tutorials / Craft / Cosplay | Feedback & Critique Welcome!

Offline bossx5

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 464
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: Legos How-tos
« Reply #4 on: November 22, 2019, 09:28:39 PM »
I have a question so to explain i use stick figures and the bubble methods to sketch which when i was refreshing my skills awhile back and as you can see they are good for stiff poses not talking about my work but they get confusing after awhile so SUPER SAN AND LEGO sensei how do you guys flesh out sketches.

By the way i see you huys and girls have leveled up once again good stuff.

Offline Suuper-san

  • Level 0 Writer
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6899
  • Gender: Male
  • Anyone need a wall of text?
    • View Profile
Re: Legos How-tos
« Reply #5 on: November 23, 2019, 12:28:11 AM »
For me at least, I draw parts of the body from memory, so I skip part of the construction. You can see in my figure sketches in this animation that I use circles and lines as guidelines for my body, arms and legs, but I'm not rigid in following them.
I can only do this because I spend a lot of time copying figures and doing gesture drawings to capture the flow and details of the body, so really it boils down to how well you know the body from memory. In that way, my guidelines are just place markers for me to draw the body from memory, not to build it up by constructing it with shapes.
I then build up layers of information and details such as the face and clothing afterwards, almost dressing my figures as it were.

Spoiler

« Last Edit: November 23, 2019, 12:31:08 AM by suuper-san »
Art: Illustrations / Fanart / Requests (closed) / Other Art | Manga Stories & Projects
Other Stuff: Tutorials / Craft / Cosplay | Feedback & Critique Welcome!

Offline legomaestro

  • High Chancellor of Righteousness
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 20383
  • Gender: Male
  • real life has wack graphics
    • View Profile
Re: Legos How-tos
« Reply #6 on: November 23, 2019, 05:57:57 AM »
I'm the last person to be asking boss hahahaha! But here is my step by step process. Suuper is much more refined so look into his things, as for me it's always a question of 'feeling out' the image. I usually start with the head but it doesn't matter really, I add lines to the old lines and try to erase as much as possible so that it's not TOO messy.


Spoiler
Spoiler
Spoiler
Spoiler
Spoiler
Spoiler
Spoiler
Spoiler

Usually if I were with MS Paint I'd be screwed here, but thank goodness for rotate function in photoshop
Spoiler

It's still not refined as one would normally expect, but this is where I tend to stop.



The best way to know what works for you is to work on as many sketches as possible. You can make a 'sketch' folder full of say 10 sketches then forget about them, and work on them later with a fresh mind, adding what you like or don't like.


I've also heard that using large brushes first before smaller brushes helps you focus on motion and sketching rather than details. You should try that out.

Offline Suuper-san

  • Level 0 Writer
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6899
  • Gender: Male
  • Anyone need a wall of text?
    • View Profile
Re: Legos How-tos
« Reply #7 on: November 23, 2019, 07:26:44 AM »
That's a nice sketch Lego, nice to see your sketching order too.

Quote
You can make a 'sketch' folder full of say 10 sketches then forget about them, and work on them later with a fresh mind, adding what you like or don't like.
Or, you know, like 1000

I completely concur with working on images after letting them rest a bit. A fresh mind does wonders for your creative ability.

Quote
I've also heard that using large brushes first before smaller brushes helps you focus on motion and sketching rather than details.
I also concur with this, and also, working at a lower resolution seems to help as well, at least it prevents adding too small details too early on. I resize my image larger several times through the drawing so my brushes stay the same size but seem smaller and sharper. I have tried using super fat brushes for planning the "flow" but didn't have much luck. I've only found them to be helpful in planning ropes and stuff, as in my tutorial here
Art: Illustrations / Fanart / Requests (closed) / Other Art | Manga Stories & Projects
Other Stuff: Tutorials / Craft / Cosplay | Feedback & Critique Welcome!

Offline legomaestro

  • High Chancellor of Righteousness
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 20383
  • Gender: Male
  • real life has wack graphics
    • View Profile
Re: Legos How-tos
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2020, 07:14:40 AM »
Making details super early is my eternal problem haha. I saw the rope thing though. Definitely going to use that.

And hahahaha 1000 for life.


Okay I was told my flow with planning a page might be useful to some, so this is how I make a page (at least in this case)



Spoiler


I come up with the idea for the page and write them down. I forget how easier it is to do everything on the same page. It prevents jumping back and forth between traditional and digital too much and streamlines the process.
Spoiler



I then go to panelling. The rule of thumb for any of my manga, as much as I hate backgrounds is to always start with a large panel that establishes a shot.

I then estimate how many panels will be needed. I went over the top here and I think it would have worked better with two pages. (The characters have ended up pretty squished as a result.)




Spoiler


Accepting my loss, I've decided to sketch out the elements. I work very shape-based. As I am right now hunting for references makes me lose motivation to finish the page, so I  throw in as much as I can into each scene with a very simple shape-based thought process.

You can see how majestic the aeroplanes are: They're down-right symbolic doodles of what a plane typically looks like.

 If I were smarter I'd use 3d models of aeroplanes or do studies to make them more 3d, but in the interest of flow I immidately draw them and move on.


Ideally, I'd use this thumbnail to then collect references and improve upon the looks, but I pretty much ignore that stage and decide it's my final shot.



Spoiler


I finish the page.

Magnificent linework and complete panels as you can see *cough*

I fill in extra elements I might find useful to tricking the reader into accepting the background. I try to keep it as intuitive as possible, because it takes the slightest disturbance to get me out of the flow. In fact, in the space of making these pages I got 3 interruptions that almost made me postpone making this 'How-to'. The chances of me rage-quitting increase the more time I let myself think about things.

Offline Suuper-san

  • Level 0 Writer
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6899
  • Gender: Male
  • Anyone need a wall of text?
    • View Profile
Re: Legos How-tos
« Reply #9 on: February 04, 2020, 04:06:14 AM »
Useful tips indeed, especially as I'm not great at stuff like this.
Aye switch between digital and traditional isn't great for flow
And tricking the reader the believe the background? I think that's a great way to put it.
For an initial sketch I think symbolic sketching is awesome to get an idea down as fast as possible. With a visual library your symbols just get closer to the real thing.
Looks great finished.
Art: Illustrations / Fanart / Requests (closed) / Other Art | Manga Stories & Projects
Other Stuff: Tutorials / Craft / Cosplay | Feedback & Critique Welcome!

Offline legomaestro

  • High Chancellor of Righteousness
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 20383
  • Gender: Male
  • real life has wack graphics
    • View Profile
Re: Legos How-tos
« Reply #10 on: March 22, 2020, 03:46:05 PM »
So I've figured out 'Stick figures for buildings'

Step 1 Draw silhouettes


Step 2 Draw 2 windows and 1 door according to what makes sense. You can make a house out of anything



Extra Tips:

I) No need to plot perspective. Simply start with the 2 d form then extend whatever shape you see to one direction or the other. They will not always align but it gives the illusion of 3 dimensionality

II) Use 'pillars' for when you notice the building would fall over otherwise. Just draw a line to connect the parts the building would fall to.



If I've really solved this conundrum then I think I may have found a key to my background making problems. I'll see how it turns out for me.

Offline Suuper-san

  • Level 0 Writer
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6899
  • Gender: Male
  • Anyone need a wall of text?
    • View Profile
Re: Legos How-tos
« Reply #11 on: March 22, 2020, 04:38:31 PM »
That's absolutely brilliant! I will do a page of these to see how it turns out. I had a similar idea back in Inktober '18 when I did this set of houses, but I never went past basic shapes. I always planned to explore the idea more, but it sort of merged with my masterplan for generating themed sketches, and consequently got backlogged because characters>backgrounds.


I'll have to have a fresh crack at it. Might make a good before and after comparison.
Yours are very Dr.Seuss worthy XD

PS. what happened to Inktober 2019? did we all miss it?
« Last Edit: March 22, 2020, 04:42:49 PM by suuper-san »
Art: Illustrations / Fanart / Requests (closed) / Other Art | Manga Stories & Projects
Other Stuff: Tutorials / Craft / Cosplay | Feedback & Critique Welcome!

Offline legomaestro

  • High Chancellor of Righteousness
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 20383
  • Gender: Male
  • real life has wack graphics
    • View Profile
Re: Legos How-tos
« Reply #12 on: March 22, 2020, 05:21:12 PM »
Hahahaha we totally just sort of ignored it. I think I tried towards the end of the month but I just wan't in the mood at the time.

HECK YES suuper! Seeing you churn these out is even better haha! I actually avoided chimney and roof becaus I considered them the 'hair' of a stick figure, but they're basic enough to warrant adding. Oh god this really is the key. Check this out: If you feel they're too simple there's many ways to add complexity to the simple Door, Window, roof, chimney formula

Like what if it's a mechanical sliding door? What if it's a giant metal door? What if the windows have fancy curtains? Or the roof sort of curves? What if the roof is made of grass? What if the chimney is massive- like a nuclear reactor? 

That plus patterns and you can infinitely add onto these basic buildings as much as you want haha.

(Clock house, bendy house and wedge house are my favourites btw)

Offline Suuper-san

  • Level 0 Writer
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6899
  • Gender: Male
  • Anyone need a wall of text?
    • View Profile
Re: Legos How-tos
« Reply #13 on: March 22, 2020, 05:30:20 PM »
thanks
Quote
Like what if it's a mechanical sliding door? What if it's a giant metal door? What if the windows have fancy curtains? Or the roof sort of curves? What if the roof is made of grass? What if the chimney is massive- like a nuclear reactor?
Those sort of thoughts are the basis of my masterplan - creating variations of every single concept on a simple level and then combining all the varied ideas back into a single complex concept.

I even have variations of the masterplan itself haha

It is totally infinite which is also a warning to not try and create an exhaustive list of all the details and possible variations, but to create just enough to seem like it is infinite. Nowadays I'm trying to work on a looping system where I generate, say, 20 patterns, and it goes into a larger idea pile of patterns, which is my library, which I use for inspiration for my characters clothing, etc. That's also part of my masterplan and hasn't started yet. The 1000 figures are the first and currently only entry into my "library"

One of my more stupid ideas is to generate 1000 logos for fictitious companies that will appear in my mangas, products like ramen brands and stuff. Design them all in one go and then randomly pick them to put into the manga.

I just had a great idea, one thousand 1000x Regimes!!
I'm a genius, I'll see myself out.
« Last Edit: March 22, 2020, 05:35:50 PM by suuper-san »
Art: Illustrations / Fanart / Requests (closed) / Other Art | Manga Stories & Projects
Other Stuff: Tutorials / Craft / Cosplay | Feedback & Critique Welcome!

Offline legomaestro

  • High Chancellor of Righteousness
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 20383
  • Gender: Male
  • real life has wack graphics
    • View Profile
Re: Legos How-tos
« Reply #14 on: March 22, 2020, 06:00:34 PM »
Oh god that'd be insane. But I would bet good money that at the end of that you'd have become skilled. I don't care how naive or self taught the regimens would be you'd be a good artist haha.

Say for arguments sake and through some hijinks you can complete a regimen every month (this after a 'buffer month' where you jump start all your regimens and put them in a cycle of rotation that'll build up all regimens across the board over time.

So 12 regimens per year

Oh god I'm at 83 years.

I quit math. I think I was hoping for a lower number than that hahaha.

The brand name plan sounds awesome! Could be fun for some design tests for sure haha.

The more I hear of it the more I'm convinced your master plan is really something insane and huge hahaha. Would love to see it at even 30% completeion