Aldrich Crescent's Tutorials

[AldrichCrescent]

Ok.. I'm gonna start this thread as a teacher. I'm gonna tutor you on how to draw better than meh.

Requirements:
   1. For starting/aspiring artists only
   2. For the novice only
   3. Those who can draw better than meh are not allowed to ask for questions 

Ask the Genius now. 

[AldrichCrescent]

Hello Jamie and welcome to Crescent Panda Studio Tutorials. Ok, so it's guidelines then. As someone who is amateur, i always use guidelines and such. There are lotsa guideline technique out there and i only use these three because its the easiest for me (IMO).

Now, I will be showing you which guidelines I use and how to use them. First, we will have to use this Loli girl i drew for a workshop.

The images that is used for the tutorial are animated pics.

1. Body frame guideline - this is the most common guideline used by many artists. It consists of making the basic frames for the body. By having the frame lines, it is easier to draw the lineart of the image detials itself.
It also helps maintain proper proportions and symmetry of the body and thus corrects the anatomy.

2. Stick figure guideline - the most basic of all guidelines. Every artist started from stick figures. But, when using this guideline, it's harder to put the details and more mistakes are done on the anatomy.

3. Grid lines - this is the least of the guidelines I use but is really effective if you want to copy an image with 87% accuracy rate. This is the nearest to tracing and i have only used this once way back elementary years when i was drawing my favorite physicist Albert Einstein. You only need to draw even lines (not line mine, coz i was in a hurry drawing it) on your paper and also on the art you wanna copy. Use a ruler of precise lines.

Feel free to ask more questions. 

[Rojas]

Ooh awesome Aldrich. Seems legit, good job :p.

[Zealapeal]

Alright, so I've got a few questions here:

Do you ever conceptualize your art before you draw it, and what is your process for doing so?

How do you deal with perspective and the changes in anatomy accordingly? Does it come with time and practice, or do you use references or guideline techniques?

How do you "sketch" your work?

[AldrichCrescent]

@ Zealapeal:

1. Do I conceptualize? Yes. I do it by thinking of the description of the art i do. I sometimes even write what i wanted to draw and imagine the outcome. The ratio of what i imagine it to be and the reality of how it looks like after drawn is 2:10. My artistic capabilities cannot match the degree of imagination i use so it depresses me sometimes.

2. So how to deal with perspective and changes in anatomy? Reference and Guidelines are necessary for these. Some professional Mangakas use a pose doll/ pose figure/ pose toy or something, i forgot the proper name for it. And since i don't have that tool, i use poses drawn by various professional and amateur artists.

So, is it time and practice? There are two origins of a good artist. The First one is through patient constant practice. By doing so, the hand will become accustomed to the micro motor function and it will be able to memorize the process of drawing your best. The Second one is Talent. Talented artist only need a few doodles for practice and they're all set.

At some point, hard working artist will envy talented ones but in the end, both of them are equal in their pursuit. Coz in the end, what matters for the artist is not how awesome their work is but how they loved to draw them.

3. So how do i sketch? Ok I'll show you.. hehehehe.. This is a simple sketch using something simple as reference.

We're gonna use this cute girl as a reference              So, here is my art. It's an animated pic with a 5 second delay.

         

Ok ok... so i have the habit of turning real life pics in semi-anime like... hehehehe

[AldrichCrescent]

@ ilikedrawing68

Welcome to Crescent Panda Studio's 1 on 1 tutorial sessions. In here, i will teach you on what i know on how to draw manga style art. As i have said earlier, i'm still a neophyte in drawing manga so you'll only be learning the things that i know of.

So... Let's start!

TUTORIAL SESSION 1 for ilikedrawing

We are going to skip on the foundation of drawing because as i know, you already have background and experience in it. (such us how erase errors lol) So we will go to the return demonstration part.

There are 2 ways to draw a character. 1st one is Direct Idea Imagery Application -Where you draw from raw imagination. No using of references (poses, ref materials and etc) upon creating the image. Well, were not on this part yet so well come to that later on. The 2nd one is Data Referencing Imagery Application - where you use references such as images created by other artists, pose figures and etc.

On Data Referencing Imagery Application (DRIA) there are 3 types of usage.

1. TRACING - you trace the image you want to draw exactly as how it was drawn by the original artist. TRACE as in TRACE. (Well i really don't use this but this is effective for training) Use tracing materials to draw this such as transparent film, paper with oil, this waxed paper and etc. Other people may say this is cheating coz its the easiest way to copy an art. But mind you, this is hard work. By tracing, youll be developing the following: Accuracy, Control and Foresight. There is 75 - 89% accuracy in creating an exact duplicate. Meaning, it might look same but not. So tracing involves Accuracy as you have to accurately follow the lines and details of the image your tracing. Control for when you trace, you'll have to control your hand very well for it to be successfully copied. And Foresight is developed when you think ahead of the lines your gonna follow. This helps you have a bit of photographic memory as you will remember what you traced. Then again, this is only good for practice. Never use for other things.

2. MODEL COPYING - you copy via from what you see. In this, you will be using a model or a reference. You have to copy exactly what you see. Well, its like taking a picture then printing it. Just that its only picture by your mind then drawn on paper. Most artist including me use this type. You will develop the following: Independence, Eye Precision and Natural measurement calculation. All are self explanatory.

3. DETAIL REPLACING - You use either of the two previous styles when doing this. This is to make your original character based on the reference you used. (I use this) For example: You copy Son Goku, change his clothes, change the hair, draw new details and name him Son Aldrich. He is now your Original Character taken from a reference. Gets? 

Step One: Ok, so now we will proceed with your RD. I want you to Trace this girl below. For now, just trace.... Don't add don't subtract. Just trace exactly what you see.

After you can post it here, we will move to the second step.

[guigui]

Whoa, interesting, I try it 

[Monsterful]

I must say something very important:

DO NOT USE TRACING OR REFERENCES
FOR ANY KIND OF COMMERCIAL WORK.

You must make sure that you're using royalty-free material, or images for reference that you bought a license for.

I know most of you guys are hobbyists, but this is an important point.

For personal practice only, there's no problem.

[legomaestro]

I lost that site of free character reference pictures monster, could you post it again?

[ilikedrawing68]

Thanks a lot for the tutorial Aldrich! I'll try to be a serious student. :)
My printer didn't do a very good job so I think I'm missing some lines in my tracing... I re-printed the image twice and tried to look at both versions while I was tracing to see if I was missing some lines.

I hope my picture looks okay, I did my best!

I used my new scanner for the occasion, hopefully this will help with the training. :)

[AldrichCrescent]

@Monsterful: yeah, i specified it in the description that tracing is only good for training (practice) hehehe. And it's only intended for copying an object or drawing, not for making OC's.

@ilikedrawing68



Ok.. so here's what you need to change...

1. Extra intersecting line
2. Don't trace shadows
3. Unfinshined details
4. Unnecessary Parts
5. Missing Parts
6. Use thinner yet sharper lines next time.

So i guess the pic is i small and lines are no clear enough. So I'm gonna change the picture. It's the same girl but has different pose. Trace it again. But now, watch for the errors i've written above.

Tip: After you done tracing, you have to look at the pic you've used and try to see the difference. If there are errors, change them without tracing anymore. And again, use thinner lines. So sharpen yah pencil. 

[ilikedrawing68]

Thank you so much for the personalized advice!  I'll pay attention to the issues you mentioned for this next drawing.

I've already started tracing the new picture, and it's going much better because the lines are clearer.
I'm also starting to understand how to get the best results out of my printer and scanner, which should make things easier!

I was using one of my cheap 0.7m mechanical pencils to draw. I love these mechanical pencils, but they don't give such great results for tracing. I think I should keep them for basic sketches instead.
I've switched to a sharpened 3H pencil, so hopefully my lines will be thinner now 

[AldrichCrescent]

Oh... my bad... it's not the same girl... lol but it's from the same anime and game.

[ilikedrawing68]

This took me over one hour and a half, I did my bestest. :p
I hope it looks okay! 
Oh, and I have a question: what should I do when my eraser is not precise enough and erases whole lines instead of details? 

[AldrichCrescent]

Ok Very good.

There are different kinds of erasers for art. What kind are you using?

For standard erasers:
To make your eraser do its job with accuracy, you'll have to cut it to the size you need. I know i'ts hurting for your best bud mr. eraser but it's the easiest way to do it. By edging your eraser, youll be able to erase the small details you want gone.

Now let's go to the next step.

1. Use any Ink pen (like fountain pen, permanent ink pen...) and thicken the lines of your drawing like what i did below.

2. Smoothen the rough lines.

Tip: Remember the feeling of your hand when you traced her the first time and when you thickened the lines. Remember the feeling of how your hand moved when you did the tracing. This is very important for the 2nd part of our tutorial.