I just realized my card ideas are all either corny as hell, or wildly inappropriate. I'm gonna end up doing something corny and it'll go to JoeTheToucan who will call me a fag. Or I'll do something I think is funny and it'll end up in the hands of a 13 year old who will be scarred for life.

Needs to think.

Hell yeah! Count me in.

At 11/22/09 06:27 PM, Spaghetti14 wrote:

At 11/22/09 03:25 PM, big-jonny-13 wrote:

At 11/22/09 03:07 PM, Spaghetti14 wrote: What the fuck.
Like seriously.
I want some damn updates or something.

I love how you keep needlessly bumping this thread, begging for updates. If there are updates, they will be posted.
Now stop being impatient.

I'm bumping it in the hopes that he'll see it if he's on the forums and go "Oh, maybe I should work on it some more". So it's not needless.
Now stop being a dick.

Ok, man you're wrong. There's nothing worse than being ridden to finish a project you volunteered to do. Luis is doing this for fun. A little good natured ribbing is ok. But you're crossing the line. If you wanted to convey some levity you failed. I wanted to tell you to calm down. You are being impatient, and Big-Jonny isn't a dick for saying so. Don't suck the joy out of this.

Thanks J-QB

Hey guys. This is obviously traced. Anyone know where from?

My proof.

1) He's traced before. This Lili/Lain piece was in the portal, but he took it down after I called him out in a review. This makes him double the asshole, cause he took down one stolen piece but not all of them.

2) Look at the hands. Does that look drawn from understanding. Or do the lines look arbitrary with no understanding as to why they are there?

3) The use of perspective and proportion is waaaaaay out of this guys ability. Look at his other work.

4) The shading on the cloak. Shows an ignorance of where the sleave stops and the body begins.

At 11/20/09 03:06 AM, JoeTheToucan wrote:

At 11/20/09 12:43 AM, Kinsei01 wrote: damn that toucan thread was awesome, we gotta do it again some time :P

The perfect counter to an art thief- toucan spam. :o

Well then I direct you to the art of one Synnyr. And the original he copied. He also posted it in the Anime thread.

I'm positive he copied this but I can't find the source if anyone wants to take a crack at it.

At 11/18/09 11:03 PM, Synnyr wrote: This is Lili.

Don't you mean "this is a picture of Lain I traced" ?

Download all 3 as 'png's here.

So I originally was going to do 5. I bet you can see the trend. Anyway. This was an interesting experiment.

Download all 3 as 'png's here.

Damn you double post message.

Download all 3 as 'png's here.

GMoose14

I wish we'd had google when I was learning to draw. I learned by looking at comic books. Which are horrible references. You need to start looking closely at the what you want to draw. There are references for these elements out there.

How do feathers look? How are they configured? Notice how they are grouped biggest furthest out. Smaller as you get closer to the bone.

What's a scythe really look like? What does a skull really look like? A robe?

ReNaeNae
Thank you muchly.

At 11/15/09 01:04 PM, ornery wrote:

... never come close to the glow of oils.

OIls definitely have a look.

To my knowledge there aren't many fluorescent oils, but I have seen them. Glow in the dark I think could be possible with oil but the elitists who use and make oils would never allow it :)

Yeah, I've never much cared for purists in anything.

I am a slow painter...

I always thought I was too, but oils took too long for me.

Get ready to hate: Honestly I've quit both for the most part, and just paint digitally now.

I dont hate you at all, I hate painting actually. Both acrylic and oil. Digital would be my choice if given one between the 3.

I looked at your art when we first started the back and forth. Got to say that's some damn fine rendering ability you've got. I'd love to see some of your digital work.

At 11/15/09 12:32 PM, ornery wrote: critique system

Yeah I know it's not an art site. That's me just projecting my desires. I think it would be cool though. And I think this site has the capability to become a major art portal. I think that a critique system would be a major draw. Well it would be for me, but then again I'm already here so...

Box Rechecking

I get it now that you've said it. It just never crossed my mind to toggle that.

I'm not going to resubmit. I will take your advice and work on something better. It's what I should be doing anyway.

Thanks.

GMoose14

Check your inbox.
[art101] Critiquing Thread

At 11/15/09 12:05 AM, GMoose14 wrote: Hey I just joined about a month ago...

I wouldn't scout you. That doesn't mean you suck. I like the textures you got going on. I think your anatomy needs some work. He has kinda stumpy legs. You can upload your art into the Art forum there is an official critique thread. I've just asked someone to bump up. I'll PM you with it when it comes up. Or you could start your own art thread in the art forum, and ask for critiques. Don't expect a lot. If you post in there be humble. Don't make demands. Don't threaten. Don't get defensive. And don't throw a pity party. People there are accepting as long as you play nice. They can also be vicious.

I'd go to the library or a book store and start reading up on technique. Look at pictures and try to copy them without tracing. Start thinking about your subjects inhabiting a space instead of just presenting them facing full front toward you.

So what I came here for. Could someone bump the critique thread? Or PM me the link.

Thanks fellas

At 11/14/09 05:54 PM, ornery wrote:

At 11/14/09 02:15 AM, Occluded wrote: Personally. I would go with acrylic paint. It's more versatile.

Not really, oil can do much more than acrylic can, it just takes more chemistry.

Apologies ahead of time. This is just personal experience talking. I'm not trying to be "this is the way it is period".

Any effect I want seems easier and more consistent with acrylic. Gels. Phototransfers. Collaging elements. Playing with spraypainting elements. I suppose you can do these things with oil, but takes twice as much work. And then after you've done all that work you still may not get what you want and half the time you can't really tell until it's dry. Maybe I was doing it wrong. I didn't take too many fundamentals classes. The only thing I liked about oils over acrylics was the oil 'crayons' (proper name?) my teacher Jon used in his work. I thought the concept of drawing with paint was righteous.

Oil paints do not play well with synthetic materials. Say you want to paint on a plastic bowl. Doesn't that make acrylic more versatile? In a traditional painting Oils and Acrylics may be equal in a masters hands. But if you want to push beyond the traditional, acrylic can go where oils can't. Again I could be wrong. That was my experience. I'm open to being made the fool.

What can you do with oils that you can't with acrylic? I'm not trying to be snarky I'm seriously asking. I'm always willing to learn.

There are more color varieties.

Where are you shopping? Most places I go have about equal color options between the two.

I know they're tacky when used incorrectly (as is often the case) but fluorescent paint. I've never seen any and I was told it was because oils lack the lightfastness for it. You mix a little fluorescent paint into you piece can really make some elements pop. A group of students I studied with organized their own gallery. And every year they have an "Art in the Dark" show around Halloween. Glow in the dark paint. Never seen glow in the dark oils. I'm not saying they don't exist I've just never seen them.

It's cheaper and the time it takes to set is more controllable.

Cheaper definetly, more controllable not at all. You will never get acrylic paint to stay wet for more than six hours or so no matter how much medium and retarder you add to it unless you are sealing it up and constantly mixing the stuff to keep it flowing. Oil you can add certain mediums to to get it to dry as fast as acrylics, and on its own it stays wet for about 3 days, you can lengthen that time by adding stuff as well.

I won't ague with you that oils have more potential to stay wet. I've just never needed anything to be wet longer than overnight. Which I did (admittedly varying success) with acrylics using plastic tubs, a humidifier and and some old towels. But I will say that it takes a lot of work to get the balance right. The same side of other side of that coin is, if you push for longer wet time oils can start acting weird chemically. One of my classmates had a painting that took the better part of a month to dry. I've had oil paintings that didn't dry right and yellowed. I was painting in a basement. I know I fucked up. That's not the paint's fault. But the worst that happened with acrylic is it dried, and I had to start whatever part I was working on over. Well that, and if I overdid it on the water pigment would leach out.

You can water it down to make it act more like a watercolor. And then there are the gels you can use with it.

Same applies for oil except you dont use water, you can dillute it in various mediums and gels or just use plain paint thinner if you want a really watery look, it just weakens the paint is the only downside.

You're probably right I've never even tried to use oils in this way. Have you?

Get ready to hate: Honestly I've quit both for the most part, and just paint digitally now.

I'm not trying to be an asshole, and I'm sorry if I come off that way.

At 11/14/09 01:18 PM, JoeTheToucan wrote: *Throws bottle of beer violently hitting Jonny's head*

Sitting on an angry chair
Angry walls that steal the air
Stomach hurts and I don't care

At 11/13/09 09:48 PM, ornery wrote: Its because it dosent have enough votes yet. I dont know the exact number that piece needs, but its somewhere around 15 votes I think, might be more. Once it gets that many votes it will show up under score.

Ahhhhh. Cool. Thanks. Now I feel dumb. I already PMed Rob.

We need a link to alot of topics and updates in the FAQ, currently the staff is busy with other things, hopefully someday it will happen though.

Other things? Is that a euphemism? ;)

What? I dont quite get whats different about that over reviews. Maybe Im not noticing exactly whats going on there.

Well perhaps if I had explained it better. Why can't you just read my mind.

First of all the critique area is hidden to everyone but other artists in critique too. This encourages everyone to critique. So, if you want to get people to give you a critique you're obligated to critique their work first. Critiques also show up on the user page which was how I linked to this one.

Tangent- Maybe you could implement a critique debit/credit system. You can't submit a new piece for critique until you've given the required number of critiques. But I digress.

If you look at the page I linked to you'll see (above the design) arrows next to v1 v2 v3. They refer to versions of the design. If you click on the v1 title then the first version of the design will appear along with the critiques for that version. Along with a rating system that lets other artists indicate how finished they think this piece is. You can see growth, and the process and allows for a very insightful comments. For me it was the most educational, and encouraging creative experience I've had online.

Too easy to abuse, people would keep rechecking stuff for public to reset the date to get it up to the front.

I guess I thought checking that box was a one time deal. Hadn't even thought to try doing it again. This kind of abuse could be cut off with a whistle option. As it stands it discourages me from submitting anything as a sketch. I know it's kind of a dick move but I'm thinking about deleting and resubmitting Violent Encounter. From my perspective I feel a bit cheated out of reviews and votes as it started off buried.

This absolutely, but again staff is busy, it may be implemented in the future.

You're building WMDs over there aren't you?

Seriously though, thanks for taking the time to answer. I appreciate it.

I'd go to a book store and look through the art technique section. Pick up an browse through different uses of acrylic, and oil. See what suits you.

Personally. I would go with acrylic paint. It's more versatile. There are more color varieties. It's cheaper and the time it takes to set is more controllable. To make the paint take longer to dry (if you want to push the paint around more, spend more time blending, making nice gradients) simply add a retarding agent. Otherwise it sets fairly quickly letting you work faster. You can water it down to make it act more like a watercolor. And then there are the gels you can use with it.

Good variety here fairly cheap but shop around. Sometimes you can find starter painting kits for cheap.

At 11/13/09 03:11 AM, Occluded wrote: Suggestions
1) You need a link to this topic in the Help/FAQ. Or at least refer to finding it in Where is/How to?. It may seem obvious now, but I was looking for this in the art forum. I know, I know but it made sense to me.

Or if not in the FAQ then in the 'New to Art? Read this first' header topic in the Art Forum.

At 11/13/09 12:08 AM, Kinsei01 wrote:

At 11/13/09 12:00 AM, Occluded wrote: Hey I got a question about the art portal. Where should I send that bitch? Would asking here be inappropriate? I've already read the faq it's not in there.

Actually a question and suggestion.

Right here buddy
Although, what was your suggestion anyway?

Thanks Man. You might want to just go there. It's long. Well, there's more than one suggestion 'cause I'm a know-it-all asshole.

Thanks ahead of time.

Question?
?) I moved a piece from sketch to public. I mention this because I think there's a bug. When I sort by score it doesn't show up. This happens on both my user page and in the art portal proper. Piece in question is Violent Encounter. If you follow those links and then change the sort to 'score' you'll see my piece disappear. I know this could be fixed by resubmitting, but it's a bug.

Suggestions
1) You need a link to this topic in the Help/FAQ. Or at least refer to finding it in Where is/How to?. It may seem obvious now, but I was looking for this in the art forum. I know, I know but it made sense to me.

2) A threadless style critique system. What am I talking about? Like this. Bitch to implement? But I think it fosters a good atmosphere. It might even encourage artists to make this their site of choice.

3) If not then when it moves from sketch to public it's creation date should be reset. No one will see it if it starts off buried back 4 days. Again fixed by resubmitting, but...

4) Art Favorites should be viewed as icons instead of as a list on your user page. I don't know what my favorites are called this kind of defeats the purpose.

5) I read through this topic and I know it's already been said, but I'd like to second it. You should be able to see who favorites you.

Again a lot to get through thanks.

Hey I got a question about the art portal. Where should I send that bitch? Would asking here be inappropriate? I've already read the faq it's not in there.

Actually a question and suggestion.

At 11/11/09 12:58 PM, JoeTheToucan wrote:

At 11/11/09 05:40 AM, Fatchaos wrote: Oh well... sketchbook 2010...

...Will be exactly the same.

We all want to be judged on our potential. It's like if my whole family were murdered I could potentially train hard for a year to be a ninja and avenge their deaths. But in reality I would just sit at home and cry while I played final fantasy and ate ding-dongs.

At 11/2/09 06:07 PM, J-qb wrote: I also dont think the lounge is for asking critique about your drawing.... so occluded, I really value that you are trying to improve, and you seem to be at a fair skill level already. Maybe you should just accept that poeple are not going to critique the drawing, and make another.

And because Im not a total bitch, I`ll suggest removing the lightning on his back and on the back of his head. It may be correct, but it doesnt look good. same goes with the fishman, giving just light on one side and dark on the other gives it more atmosphere.

No you're right. It doesn't belong here. And I see now that I've opened a door better left closed on this thread. Next time I'll just ask someone to bump the critique thread. Sorry, I disobeyed lounge etiquette.

Thanks for your honest critique. I've got a bunch of differing views on what needs improvement on the piece. Everyone seems to agree 'lighting'. Exactly what about the lighting is unclear. I'm just going to submit this as is now, and try to do better next time.

Thanks all

At 11/2/09 02:59 PM, big-jonny-13 wrote: Where is that light on the guy's chest coming from?
The angle of light on his chest suggests something from the top right, but there's no light source there.
If the light is from the moon, then there would be less shine on his front.
If the light is glow from the fish, or a reflection off the fish, then the light would shine much further along the guy's right side.

Yeah, It's supposed to be the moon. I guess I assumed you mean to make it less shiny, but now upon rereading I think you might have meant it wouldn't cast light over as much of his chest. I was cheating the angle. I didn't think it looked outright wrong.

I repeat I initially thought you meant less shiny so I did this...

Ok, I'm being a lazy sh*t. I can't find it. I'll have to post in it next time I see it so it's in my posts.

Anything about this piece really bother you guys? (and gals? lets be gender sensitive)

Would it be cool to ask for a critique in here? Or should I take it to the critiquing thread and bump it back up from obscurity? I think I just answered my own question. That's why it's called the critiquing thread.

Hi Captian-Ben

At 11/1/09 01:01 PM, jagondudo wrote: i like the drama in yours occluded but your characters relating to one another looks very flat. i think its because of all the blue glowing highlights you used. also your lighting is a bit weird. your main light seems to be the moon? then shadows should be cast by the window on the guy and the guy's shadow should cast on the fish man. it makes it look like there's another bright light source inside with the same color as the moon eliminating all shadows [which is a bit hard to do unless there's more than one light source]. if there still IS such a light source inside then if it cast a different color of light would help with contrast.
the depth from moon to trees to window to the man is good where you lose it is from the man to the fishman. the light is messing it up.
your anatomy has really improved and choice of colors are really nice too. i like the the design on the fishman's head. the texture on him gets a bit repetitive tho [shoulder area].

Thanks for the outside eyes man. I reworked it. Pumped up the light and pushed the hue of the light a little more. The idea behind the lighting is the primary light (cool & bluish) coming from the moon through the window. You can see the the shadow of the + shape in the middle of the window run over our hero's abs. There's also a reflected light coming from the fish-man's scales; bathing our hero in a golden light from below, and casting a little light all the way to the wall under the window. A third unidentified light source is lighting fish-mans face from the front.

It may look at first like I just upped the contrast. But I didn't. I went back in and painted over the top. If it looks no different try refreshing. I'm not sure I'm seeing the shoulder the way you are. I'm not saying you're wrong. I just don't see it.

If you got time to look at the update, I'd love to get your thoughts.

Thanks for the thoughtful critique.

So I know the contest is over, but can I get a critique before this goes out of sketch and up to submission?

I'm actually pretty happy with it.