[Skuda]

Okay guys and gals, if you're new at character art, or just need a good tutorial, I guess this one will have to do.

My personal advice, is to go out and buy one of those wodden art dolls. They are good for positionas and proportions. after you get more advance, you might not need one anymore, but basic human shape helps.

a little bit of odd advice, and may not be appropriate for this forum, but it is sometimes good to look at a naked person for good human preportion. Biology books are good for this, and they usually show where the muscle and bones are set... just... try not to use pornography.

So, to start, you may need:

• - a light pencil
  - a normal HB pencil
  - a good black ball point pen for line art
  - maybe a blue art pencil (I personally have never used one, but I hear the blue color doesn't show up for line art through scanning)
  - paper (the kind of paper is up to you, but I prefer normal printer paper)

Here we go!

• - first, perhaps on a seperate piece of paper, pick what kind of pose you are going to have your character in. I usually sketch a wee little stick man for this
  
  - next, on your good paper, lightly sketch out your characters preportions (light pencil). you don't need to go full out here, just a big circle for the head, oval for neck, limb parts, and little circles for joints, like elbows and shoulders. if you have an art doll, you can see aproximatly what size the preportions of an average human would be. you could also draw a cross on the head, the horizontal line going across the eyeline, and the vertical down the center of the face.
  
  - After that, still with the light pencil, outline your characters body structure, and add on details like armor, and clothing. these don't need to be the most detailed things, just the basic idea.
  
  I usually come here (class information) for PSO clothing designs and details. I find it very helpful, although I wish some of the pictures were bigger.
  
  - now, with an HB pencil, go over all the details you want. add in eyelashes, detail to the armor/clothing and anything else you want. you can also add in weapons, mags ect.
  
  being creative is always good, so maybe draw something origonal on your character, like a scarf, or different armor design.
  
  - If you just want solid line art for scanning, you can go over all your details with the black ball point, and erase all the pencil marks. then just scan away and color as you like.
  
  - if you want a pencil sketch, just try to erase all your light pencil marks with an eraser, and add in really fine details, like shadow, light, creases in clothing, and anything else small. These little things all add up.

anyway, I hope this help some of you, and I'm contemplating putting up step by step example pictures.

I'm probably missing something, and if you'd like me to add it, Please PM me instead of posting it here, to keep it free for questions.

enjoy!






<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Scott_Kuda on 2004-10-09 08:14 ]</font>

[odie2088]

w00t! this helps...but little wooden person? never seen those...lol or are they like the buff stickmen?

[Shadowpawn]

On 2004-10-09 12:20, odie2088 wrote:
w00t! this helps...but little wooden person? never seen those...lol or are they like the buff stickmen?

More like a little doll you can use for refrence when you're drawing. It's to make sure you get preporitions right.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Shadowpawn on 2004-10-09 12:22 ]</font>

[RequiemHC]

- maybe a blue art pencil (I personally have never used one, but I hear the blue color doesn't show up for line art through scanning)

Blue pencil is a GREAT tool. sketch everything in blue pencil first, then go over the lines with a darker pencil..and the blue lines shouldn't even be picked up, unless you made them a little dark. One thing I like to do with a finished drawing is photocopy it so I have an original, and a few copies to color. the blue pencil won't show up at all in the photocopies if there are darker lines present. I swear by Blue Pencil.

[Garanz2]

This deserves to be made a sticky, hmm?