#Tutorials

[sabrebash]

I have to draw a lot of gold and metal for my work, but wasn't happy with any of the metal tutorials i could find around. I prefer really specific instruction, so after some research i put together what i think works as a generalist's guide/tutorial. Not perfectly accurate, but i hope it's helpful!

[schweizercomics]

Hello, friends!

I reworked the ol' "Schweizer Guide to Spotting Tangents" lecture from my comics-teaching days, figured I'd share it here. If you want a free, printable PDF for yourself or to share (especially if you're an educator), you can find it at the bottom of this same lesson on my website.

-Chris

[iraprince]

gonna show u guys a little opalescent highlight hack i threw together today

rainbow gradient above your main figure (i usually have all my main figure folders/layers in one big folder, so i can clip gradient maps + adjustments to it!). liquify tool to push the colors around a bit. STAY WITH ME I KNOW IT LOOKS STUPID RN I'M GOING SOMEWHERE WITH THIS

THEN: set it to add/glow (or the equivalent in ur drawing program), lower the opacity a bit, and apply a layer mask. then u can edit the mask with whatever tools you like to create rainbow highlights!!

in this case i'm mostly using the lasso fill tool to chip out little facets, but i've also done some soft airbrushing to bring in larger rainbow swirls in some areas. it's pretty subtle here, but you can see it better when i remove the gradient map that's above everything, since below i'm working in greyscale:

more granular rambling beneath the cut!

u could also just do this with a brush that has color jitter, but what i like about using layer masks for highlight/shading layers is how simple and reversible it makes everything. i can use whatever brushes i want, and erasing/redoing things is super low stakes, which is great when i often approach this stuff with a super trial-and-error approach.

example: have u ever thrown a gradient w multiple colors over an entire piece, set it to multiply etc, and then tried to erase it away to carve out shadows/highlights? it's super frustrating, bc it looks really good, but if u erase something and then change ur mind later, u basically would have to like. recreate the gradient in the area u want to cover up again. that's how i used to do things before figuring out layer masks!! but masking basically creates a version of this with INFINITE undo bc u can erase/re-place the base layer whenever u want.

anyway, back to rambling about this specific method:

i actually have TWO of these layers on this piece (one with the liquified swirls shown above, and another that's just a normal concentric circle gradient with much broader stripes) so i can vary the highlights easily as needed.

since i've basically hidden the rainbow pattern from myself, the colors in each brushstroke i make will kind of be a surprise, which isn't always great -- but easily fixable! for example, if i carve out a highlight and it turns out the rainbow pattern in that area is way too stripey, i can just switch from editing the mask to editing the main layer and blur that spot a bit.

also, this isn't a full explanation of the overall transparency effect in these screencaps! there's other layer stuff happening below the rainbow highlights, but the short version is i have all this character's body parts in different folders, each with their own lineart and background fill, and then the fill opacity is lowered and there's multiply layers clipped to that -- blah blah it's a whole thing. maybe i'll have a whole rundown on this on patreon later. uhhh i think that's it tho! i hope u get something useful out of this extremely specific thing i did lmao

[barnlarn]

Working on another poster! Here's part 1: facial structure and eyes. Nose and ears up next.

Simplifying Horses for Drawing Part 1

[randomgods]

someone asked me a while ago how I draw slugcats and I wanted to make a huge guide going into how I rationalize their anatomy but I’ve been so busy w college I haven’t been able to touch it in like a month! So I decided to post these few notes I had! One day I’ll get back and make an entire guide but for now have these little notes :)

Animals I tend to gravitate towards for slugcat references are: otters, weasels, cats, and monkeys!

Also this isn’t me saying this is what their anatomy is, more so how I think of it and what landmarks I use when I draw!

[lackadaisycats]

Hi, Tracy! Can you please tell me... what that hell is the context of this drawing? Found this on here, Tumblr, and i have been asking myself ever since. Love your work <3

Hehe.. It's from a tutorial I made about drawing clothing wrinkles.

(The tutorial is available to my Patrons. It's also in the Lackadaisy Essentials Book + eBook.)

[jhonskii]

Made a quick tutorial on how I do Kremy's head for the peeps from the official avantris discord and now Imma share it here too :3

[tawnysoup]

fuck the hero's journey you don't need all of that you only need 4 points to kickstart a story basis you can build on top of

who: want: obstacle: need:

define your character. tell me what it is they want in this story. what obstacle is preventing them from getting what they want? now, what do they need to realise in order to resolve their conflict? in some cases the need may result in the story ending without them getting what they want, and that's real bc they still went through an emotional arc. examples + rambling under the cut

i will bullshit something right now just to show you

who: a gay bartender. want: to get with the guy he's serving. obstacle: no matter what the bartender mixes and serves to try and impress the guy, the guy doesn't seem invested. need: to realise the guy wasn't interested in the drinks bc he was more interested in eyeing up the bartender, and that he only ever needed to ask the guy out in plain terms.

who: someone who sinks into the background and is very shy. want: to become famous and the life of the party, for everyone to know and like her. obstacle: talking to people is scary! and really hard to do consisently! need: to realise she didn't really desire attention from all sides, but just wanted one friend she could grow close with. turns out the quiet life is quite pleasant! and even more pleasant with a pal.

sometimes throwing down stuff like this will lead u onto more developing thoughts which tie stuff together more. such as: maybe girl in example 2 learnt she only wanted 1 friend bc she found someone who thought her shy personality was charming. so now you wanna develop who this friendly friend is, and so on.

you can apply it to stories you already know too. try and reverse engineer some stories you enjoy to figure out their basic structure.

ofc this method has its limitations, it kind of relies on some sort of moral throughline to tie things together instead of just letting things naturally exist and progress and find complexity, but as a way to kickstart writing a story from scratch it tends to help me out so i hope it helps u out toooooo

also just so we're clear dont worry hero's journey u are brilliant as u are and a fantastic tool for story-making. i just dont have enough braincells to do all that when i need to just chuck something out as a foundation which i can then play with and reiterate upon asap

[prokopetz]

Halfway through a Tumblr art tutorial on how to draw horses, squinting at the screen with furrowed brow like, okay, is this a very high concept autobiography piece, or is it really just about how to draw horses?

[hattiestgal]

If you don't mind my asking, how do you go about drawing fat? :3

JUST THE EXCUSE I WAS LOOKING FOR

So, for me personally, a lot of the time when I draw fat characters, I'm not looking to specifically capture the specifics of fat as much as the feel of fat. Bulkier, rounder shapes in the right places that has a feeling of weight to em! A lot of that is intuition and simplification at this point, but it all works on the same frame as just any ol' person. Like take this-

For example. This is the basis for any body shape, not just the more average one that it may imply. Sure- it can be that average body shape:

But also a fat one too!

And a big part of that is knowing where fat usually tends to bunch up on the body, so lets take a look piece by piece! (Please keep in mind this is very simplified, and not completely precise in some parts)

THE FACE: Cheeks (in purple) and especially the chin (in light blue) are the places where a lot of the fat is gonna wanna gather and round out on your face! Additionally, theres a small pocket of fat beneath the cranium on the backside of your head. It's small, but it is there. I believe fat can build up elsewhere like the bridge of your nose and forehead, but generally speaking, you're gonna have a whole lot more buildup in other places first.

THE TORSO: A lot of the fat built up on the torso is gonna be sent to your tummy. More cushioning for vital organs, mostly out of the way, it just makes sense. Additionally, the lower backs fat builds up and joins with a patch of fat on your sides that forms what is typically referred to as the love handles to make that double belly look. Along with this, the immediate next target for the torso is the breasts, followed by the upper back!

THE ARMS: For this limb, a VERY notable amount of the fat present builds up on the tricep and bicep areas, lessening once you get towards the flexor and extensor areas. You can almost think of the arm as a sort of triangular shape, wide side starting from the shoulder and tapering towards the hand, which itself mostly builds up fat around the back of the hand and the fingers. The shoulders themselves don't build up too much fat unless you got a lot

THE LEGS: And finally, you can think of the legs having pretty similar curves to what you're probably already used to thinking. The front of the thighs getting a big buildup, along with the back of the calves, the other parts being flatter in turn. As far as the feet go- similarly to the hands, the top of the feet, along with the heels get most of the buildup, as fat on your soles would impede mobility. The glute, hip and crotch area will also especially build up fat, lending to the same triangular shape that you can see in the arm!

A big thing to note with fat is that it tends to taper off towards joints. Your knees, elbows, shoulders, hips, and all the other places are gonna have significantly less fat so that you remain mobile and flexible, as that's important!

Now that we have an idea of where fat builds up on the body, you might have something that looks kinda like this

Which yes, does demonstrate a solid understanding of the places fat builds up, lacks the weight you're probably trying to convey, which brings us to out next point! Fat is well... heavy! Gravity is what gives fat much of it's shape, especially as you tread towards larger and larger bodies.

This is demonstrated really well on the arms especially-

Those big ol' bits of fat'll really start to sag when left hanging, and they will squish like hell if they run into something. I like to think of these bits of fat as big ol' ovals that squash and stretch depending on if there's an obstacle in their way or not

These are the important shapes to remember when it comes to the weightiness of fat! If you take all of this into mind, you should be getting something a lot closer to that shape you've been after!

Oh, and always remember that fat bodies come in all variety of shapes and sizes! Play around with a whole lot, and seek out all the resources you can! it'll really lend to your knowledge when it comes to this kinda stuff!

And as I always recommend when it comes to learning art- look at what your favorite artists do with fat bodies. See what you really like about the fat bodies they draw and try to replicate it in your own work, I promise you it's one of the most helpful things ever.

This is like the most basic of basics when it comes to drawing fat bodies though. If there's any additional thing about fat bodies, or maybe you want clarification on something, don't be afraid to ask! If there's enough to cover, I'll make an addition to this post!

[spicymotte]

⭐ How to Draw Comics - a helpful guide for beginners by spicymotte is a 20-page booklet on how to make comics, even if you have never touched this subject before! My guide for comic newbies is now available on itch.io!

[fadeintoyou1993]

Hello! I've decided to make an updated tutorial on how I gif, since some of my giffing methods have changed since I made my first one (and this one is still valid, by the way! I've just changed a few things and I thought the update would be good.)

In this tutorial you'll find:

A download link for Photoshop CC 2020;

Step-by-step instructions on how to make gifs and color them;

A sharpening action for your gifs;

A base psd for gifs.

Get the tutorial here (just type 0 to get it for free, and if you'd like to support me, any amount is extremely appreciated).

I accept commissions for tutorials + support me on ko-fi?

[androdragynous]

wheelchair, cane + forearm crutches, walker 90% chance if you're hesitant to draw mobility aids you're overthinking it. start somewhere. obviously these are not detailed references.

wheelchairs and walkers should be proportioned like chairs. in most cases canes are held on the opposite side of the painful leg because you want to put weight on the cane instead of the leg (dr house lied to you) but depending on the reason for the cane this can change!

[ image id: a title image that reads "learn how to draw mobility aids very fast" followed by three simplified drawings of different mobility aids broken down into two steps each. the changes made in each step are colored red.

the second image shows a wheelchair, with the steps "1. seat with footrest", showing a simple chair shape, and "2. wheels", which adds two large wheels to the back and two small wheels to the front.

the third image shows both a cane and forearm crutches, with the steps "1. stick", showing a single line of color, and "2. add handle", which shows a hand grip and a forearm rest on two different sticks. and additional label below this step reads "handheld stick height is where the hand rests at the hip" and "forearm stick height is the forearm".

the fourth image shows a walker, with the steps "1. platform with wheels", showing a backless chair shape with a wheel on each leg, and "2. add handlebar", which shows a handle raised above the seat. end id ]

✨ edited to remove italics for screen readers + also pointing out that I missed the handle on the forearm crutches! always use real reference photos when you can, this is just a starting point to help you understand the basics if you're not familiar :3

[hansoeii]

hi, I'm a big fan of your art! especially the good omens ones, they make me cry.

one question, how do you draw eyes? i am a beginner when it comes to drawing, so any tips or...?

Hey!

Thank you so much! Happy to hear you like my work!

When drawing eyes I usually go about it like this:

It helps me to imagine the character I'm trying to draw with a mask. This especially helps when trying to draw an expressive set of eyes and eyebrows! David Tennant is the best example for this:

The shape of an eye can be simplified with just four lines, like this:

These four lines can be manipulated to whatever shape of eyes your character has. One line can be longer or rounder.

This is what it would look like:

(sorry for doing this to you, david)

And once you've understood these basics, you can draw some eyes!

Hope this is somewhat helpful!

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

How to wrap chinese jiaozi饺子 （dumplings）