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At 1/30/11 10:01 PM, Kinsei01 wrote:

At 1/30/11 09:45 PM, speedgame wrote: Well I Have Submitted Alot Of good artwork...

no.... these are nothing but filter raped sprites, I was going to hunt them down and report them, but I thought getting drunk was a better waste of my time...

^ Massive trust.

At 1/30/11 04:44 PM, PinkRose11 wrote:

Ok let's start with the pic. If you want an awesome face on the sun, then it's fine I guess, that's not the problem. The grass does not really look like grass. It seems you used some kind of texture from the art program you are using and drew the grass with that.

Thanks so much for the suggestions, I was originally going for a grass look on my sketch but in the end got rid of it, do you think it would make it look any more intresting? I made the grass in my first post by a combo of brushes in photoshop. And Im very good at tracing things, and Im OK in photoshop but im trying to make my own illustrations and I suck at it xD So any suggestions on that?

You know, I actually like the original one better. Tell you what, if you're going to go for wacky cartoon stuff, don't go for realism. If you really wanna paint realistically choose realistic subject matter - if you're going to stick to stuff like Awesome Face rising over hills, why not go for a cartoony, minimalistic and abstract style?

At 1/30/11 09:28 AM, MasterMerol wrote: Wow. I LOVE THOSE!!
Have you ever tried working with watercolor pencils?

Yeah. They were alright although I had trouble controlling them, in terms of opacity and concentration etc. Usually I do stuff in pencil and digitally add colour if necessary, most stuff in my gallery works like that. I just switched to paint because it looks like an interesting medium and after a previous foray into soft pastels I decided I wanted to be able to do something with colour.

At 1/30/11 01:26 PM, Evasis wrote: Are you using watercolour paper? Normal paper will warp and buckle and make painting more difficult. Sometimes it will clump and rip and form little dark balls on your paper. Believe me,
trying to pick them off is super tricky.

Your best bet is a good watercolour paper, or my beloved illustration board. Depending on the quality of these, they seem to absorb the paint better and will allow more experimentation.
It will make a world of difference (i.e. less frustration and screaming).

I think you're making great progress. You have some really great work. I really like the two faces on your third post, especially the one done in skin tones. It really pops out. Like my painting teacher would say, it has a "sculptural feeling". :D Awesome stuff. Great style! Keep going. :D

Thanks for that :) Yeah I'm still working with regular paper. It's extra thick so it won't warp and buckle but it does flake if I apply layers too quickly. I did buy a book of WC paper but it's pretty expensive at $3 AUS per sheet, so I decided to save that for proper works and just use my regular journal for experimenting.

Haha really? That was playing around in my usual cartooning style. I guess I'll eventually start using WC to paint in that style, but for now I'm trying to hit realism before cutting down. Thanks :)

Day 6. Here's a new one. I managed a lot of improvement from the previous, although it would be really really good if anyone could offer me some tips. With watercolours, that is. Don't say stuff like "the model looks manly" because, well, not all women are perfect.

Day 4: Attempted to paint using a reference at last, specifically a self-portrait. I think I gave up all pretenses of realism around about the time I started crying tears of liquid cobalt. I am, however, rather pleased with a lot of the fading and bleeding effects, and am growing more and more comfortable with mixing colours and playing around with opacity using water and brushstrokes and whatnot. Need to work on my highlights - will start experimenting with white paint as well. It's interesting to explore the potential that WC has to create very abstract looking portraiture - a branch worth exploring.

At 1/29/11 08:12 PM, AROSOFTHEDESERT wrote: If i shouldn't uise dodge and burn, (which i do) what should i use?

Oh, yeah, definitely don't use dodge and burn for shading. Use layering and brushes at varying opacity. For shading set your layer to multiply, highlights use soft/hard light depending on what you're going for. Don't be afraid to go layer crazy, a lot of my digital stuff ends up with hundreds of layers. I like to set my brush and eraser opacity to less than 50%, and my layer opacity between 20-50%.

Work on your anatomy a lot more. Do Gray's Anatomy style studies of musculature. It really helps a lot, particularly with the that shirtless picture at the start. A lot of your major muscle groups are off. Proportionally you're alright, but try to plan out a lot more, especially for poses - break down the body into blocks and shapes first (I like to use spheres, ovals, etc.) as pictured below.

Your lines need more work. Not so much where they're going, but the lines themselves. They're too short and harsh and thin. Work on varying thickness of line to achieve certain effects, and also make your lines more fluid and longer. Really helps.

In terms of colour, do a lot more research into lighting. Check out some of Monet's colour theory, his style may not be up your alley but his mastery over light is unparalleled. Establish a clear light source instead of just shading around the edges, and vary your shadow colours - don't be afraid to play around with colours. You'd be surprised how much better a shadow looks if you incorporate touches of blue and purple and the like. Don't smudge your shading too much because it loses sharpness and definition - smooth shadows imply smooth gradient, sharp shadows imply sharp gradient. Work on finding a balance of the two.

And look at more pictures.

Day 3: Big improvements in understanding of the fading and layering properties. Got a lot more comfortable with the paint, and how much water is necessary for a specific opacity and brightness etc. Combined with pencil as well - cubist forms on hand helped establish the light/dark areas and toning. For the rest played with softer shading and spot colouring, still need a lot of practice on highlights. Skull motifs for kicks.

Day 2: Played around a bit more, tried to be more specific with my shapes and shading. Wet on wet has really interesting bleeding effects. Need to work on more control over the thinness and lightness of applied paint, and layering etc. Also used watercolours in a more calligraphic style that prioritized line, interesting and I like the texture - will keep in mind for future. Also, goes without saying, but black is very overpowering - will have to be careful in applying it on top of other colours.

Day 1: Experimenting with the properties of watercolours. Surprisingly hard to control. Was not able to achieve the desired opacity, fading and texture that I set out. Need to learn how to effectively fade/bleed watercolour; perhaps properties of the paper? Some of the effects resemble calligraphic ink - one possible use, although somewhat redundant (more efficient to use actual calligraphic ink). Not comfortable enough to mix and tone yet; need to learn how to apply multiple layer to create depth, tone and gradients. Tomorrow will attempt simple monochromatic shape e.g. leaf or flower.

Hey guys. I picked up watercolours about a week ago, and I've been trying to get good at it. It's the first physical paint I've used, aside from acrylic washes and block gouache and such, so trying to grasp concepts of colour and layering is a bit difficult. Usually I use digital but I want the versatility and beauty of being able to paint traditionally well.

I'm chronicling everything I do every day on Facebook, this is my latest, and I'll post the other few afterwards. Here's the description:

"Day 5: Another self-portrait. Great success! This time I took what I learned from yesterday's portrait and worked really hard on improving it. Specifically, I applied the background wash first this time instead of after painting the face. Additionally I used dry-brushing a lot more, and took a lot more time between layer, reducing the bleeding effect and thereby creating a much softer gradient. Really really pleased with the textures in the hair as well, whips of ink look like calligraphy. Inoue influenced? Probably. Need to work on saturating colours more; black is too overpowering, and once it's applied the other colours pale, particularly the pinks on the lips. Really pleased with highlight on nose though, splotch of white paint helped established the point of light. Area around eyes too dark and flat. Tomorrow I want to try working on a portrait without using thick black outlines to define the outlines; that is, defining them with shading alone."

If anyone could offer tips and whatnot that would be terrific.

Well I shall look into all these things. Ty Johnny.

At 12/2/09 05:41 AM, hdxmike wrote:

via _root.

thats the way I'm gonna go.

Shame, good luck with that though

If you have a better opinion I am all ears.
=D

At 12/1/09 10:27 PM, Johnny wrote: You can actually code on the first frame of the clip itself, referencing itself and it will have access to all of the global variables via _root.

Not the most efficient/organized way, but incredibly easy to implement.

Yes I thought that myself. It is abit messy but I think thats the way I'm gonna go.
Thanks.

Thanks guys,
I'll try out these methods.

I'm also wondering, when u duplicate a movieclip, does the movieclip keep all it's code, since I'm probably going to try and have all the movieclip's keep there code, and since the code has to be on the mc itself, does that mean I have to put an mc in an mc, if you know what I mean.

I'd love to hear suggestions on how to attempt that.

This is just a small ask? but say I was exporting a flash game as an swf, and it had external script, how would I apply the external script to the swf if on a site like newgrounds.
=D

At 12/1/09 06:54 AM, ProfessorFlash wrote: Read about classes and arrays. You should create a class file for the different enemies you have, and when you create the enemies on stage you should add them to an array from which you can control them.

I shall have a look at them, I do understand arrays, but how would an array control them?

Also thanks for the two links Bogoblin.

I'm a capable coder so am not asking for the code of what I am about to ask, but how to structure it, and how to come about actually doing it.

What I want to happen, is have enemies (MC's) which randomly spawn in a certain place (I can manage controlling where they spawn)
My problem is that I want them to have their own code which they execute, and other objects in the stage must be able to react with them.

I want to know how using a controller MC (or a better way) to cause them to spawn, give them a name which is unique to them, (by adding 1 to the name of the spawned enemy), and have them execute their own code using _global. variables.

Once again, I am not asking for code, just a structure to how to come about doing it (like where to put the code that I want all the mc's of the enemy to spawn with and run)

Thanks for your help, I will mention you in the credits with a link to your Newgrounds Page (or your site) but only if you are helpful in solving my problems.

Thanks NG

God complex much? I like the cel-shaded colouring, but really, the proportions are off and the lineart could do with some more detail. It's good work, but doesn't really call for phrases like "awesomeness".

Great design. Beauty in simplicity. Lovin' your style, great cartooning. The design is all fine, but it depends on the context; does the character fit in with the rest of her world?

It seems the Art Forum Lounge has ignored you, guy. :(
Keeping in mind that your proportions and hair and eye and whatever else, I do like how you've drawn that. I think you're definately on the way to drawing more realisticaly. :)

Thanks a lot. I'll keep working on it.

At 2/25/09 04:43 AM, ArthurGhostly wrote:

At 2/25/09 12:07 AM, Ashed-Dreams wrote: i'll myself a 3/5 score.. but erm... I don't think it's suitable for NG. Coz it's most of the times like blood and gore here.

That's quite a shallow view of it. You often see blood and gore movies are popular because it's easier to make high-action movies entertaining than say... A goat legged monster hopping about some forest.

That little anime thing you just posted was actually really good. I'd add in some more interactivity to it before I'd consider uploading it, myself. It'd make a nice little gadget but right now it's not really that entertaining.

It's true, that. I'm still waiting for the day when people start submitting serious, though-provoking stuff onto NG. So far, the There She Is series is the only one I can think of that addresses real world themes and issues (in that case, inter-racial relationships and discrimination).

Hey, I'm working on drawing more realistic people/objects quickly. Here's one I did in 8 minutes. Can anyone give me advice? I know the hair is horrible (c'mon, 8 minutes), and the proportions are off, and the left eye is totally skewy. How would you shade hair quickly but effectively? Thanks.

At 1/10/09 11:07 AM, MightyBoomkin wrote:

At 1/8/09 11:37 PM, UndefinedArt wrote:

blah blah blah blah blah , really amazing picture of a reveolver here

that gun is freaking awesome , i wish i could draw like that

Thanks. The lineart was slightly unsatisfactory though; I did the picture free-hand, originally intended to be a sketch, but later, decided I was too lazy to create a proper lineart. I may just redo it using the pen tool some day.

At 1/10/09 04:29 PM, Josh-B wrote:

At 1/10/09 02:37 AM, UndefinedArt wrote: When my weapon thread was rejected in favour of yours.

This one was older sooo...

I ain't blamin' ya. I'm just saying, because my weapon thread was rejected, I posted my one on yours.

Gun is decent. Luigi is not. Work on anatomy. The body is all out of shape and the head is far too large. If you were going for a cartoony style, it doesn't fit together very well. Colouring is mediocre; experiment with the different tools and options in photoshop, especially how to create layers on multiply mode to add shading. In regards to hands, look up "Hand tutorial" on deviantart.com, there's some very good ones.

At 1/9/09 08:29 PM, UMREE wrote: umm what is it?

how about some realism before i can judge your skill.

Still preaching the realism?

At 1/10/09 02:06 AM, Josh-B wrote: Damn, when did this thread make a comeback?

When my weapon thread was rejected in favour of yours.

At 7/17/08 10:07 PM, MooImmaHamster wrote: this is a work in progress

Not bad. I can see you have good skill with shading, but I would recommend a bit of work of the clothing folds, as well as some aspects of anatomy and perspective.