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Ana's Art Returns!


Anacybele
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Better as in I've improved a lot and have taken a lot more critique, of course. :3

Anyway, my old art thread is just old and outdated, so I decided screw it, I'll make a new one. I've done a lot of new art since then anyway, and made changes to some older pieces. For example, I changed the parchment background of my Fire Emblem fanfic character concept art. I also completely remade Bryan's art as well. Remember him, anyone? ;D Lastly, I also deleted some old stuff that I no longer wanted in my gallery. They were just...well, trash compared to the pieces I make now.

While we're still on the topic of my Fire Emblem fic, though, here's all the various art I've done for it, via the group I made for it at DA (so what if it has no members other than myself and my co-founder? lol I don't really care. Some DAers have read and liked the story anyway).

Character Gallery

Scenes

Misc

There are sprites and a sprite comic series as well, but since this isn't meant to be a sprite thread, I'll leave those links out.

Next, I've also got a gallery for art related to my Zelda stories as well. Click here to see it. Yeah, there's not much there right now, but I'll add more...eventually. xP

Also, I like My Little Pony too! Specifically Friendship is Magic. So I also have a folder for my pony drawings. I created a couple original pony characters as well. :)

Lastly, here are my latest pieces. :)

soldier_of_strength___morris_by_great_aether-d59z5fo.png

Morris, the Armor Sword, from my FE fic. Read more about him here. Yeah, I know the lines are a tad choppy. I apologize for that. My desktop PC has issues right now and I can't find my stupid Photoshop disc, so I had to switch to GIMP 2 and I was working on getting the hang of it. Also, I must confess that hands, more specifically fingers, are my weakness. Blargh. xP

sara___the_violet_wolf_by_great_aether-d5ajb8g.png

Sara, the purple wolf laguz, and younger sister of Kiel. Read more about her here. Again, I hate drawing hands and fingers. I'm not a master at toes either, but they look better than my hands lol. I also apologize for Sara's markings not showing up on the watermark. I couldn't for the life of me find a way to fix that. >_<

pony_ike_and_pony_elincia_by_great_aether-d5bk4ut.png

Ike and Elincia as ponies! ^^ And they're in very much in love! I would've added a background, but I couldn't think of any good ideas for one. So I just left it white.

And that's all for now. :)

Edited by Anacybele
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  • 1 month later...
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Latest sketch!

kieran__s_proposal_by_great_aether-d5gx6rl.png

Kieran's proposal to Marcia, as it will currently appear in an upcoming short story I have in mind. lol

I'm aware my capital letters suck and I didn't add enough lines on the one L down below. xP

Read more here. :3

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I'm not sure, actually. I work on other stories as well, so yeah. Also, I forgot to mention, this short story is also going to be the direct sequel to an already finished short story. xP

But thanks! I'm going to alter the wording some, though.

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  • 2 months later...

So, after not drawing anything in awhile, I've done a new character concept sketch. :)

Wencelissketch-1.jpg

This is Wencelis, one of the characters of my FE fic, Dawn of Darkness. He's the king of Talgria and a master of the magic arts (and as such is equivalent to the Archsage class, though his actual class is King Talgria). His preferred type of magic is wind and he wields a unique and very powerful tome called Hurricane. He wouldn't actually be playable if the story were a game, but he does enter combat for awhile and later, his Hurricane tome can be given to actual "playable" characters. The reason Wencelis gives it up, I shall not reveal for the sake of spoilers.

I thought Wencelis would be the perfect character to draw for the holidays because his name comes from the Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslas." I just slightly altered the spelling and pronunciation. :P I also decided to make up a Wencelis version of the carol as well, but I'll post the lyrics in the DA description after I color the pic and upload it there.

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No replies? Oh well, I've colored that sketch. ^^

the_king_of_wind___wencelis_by_great_aether-d5nrxdn.png

Yeah, I know, I still need a little more work on hands, and the tome is a tad misshapen. xP Also, this is my first attempt at any kind of facial hair, so bear with me on that. Read more here. :)

Edited by Anacybele
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I think the details are fine, if not a little stiff. I realize you're drawing with a mouse but your lines have no tapering, which makes everything more dull. Some of the details have dimensionality like the bits hanging from the robes, but others are really flat like the scroll and the headband. I would also adjust the bottom gems anyway so it's clear if they're hanging over or behind the shoes. On the right shoulder (your left), there's some suspect shading on the shoulderpad so I don't really understand if the trim decals are supposed to be embossed or sunken. His eyes also seem very young and so's his facial shape in general. You could push the angles more and give him a more prominent brow especially, but right now he looks like a young teen with some lines drawn and a beard.

I like the hairstyle and the general idea that you have for the outfit plus the details, but it lacks in your own personality and finesse. You should invest in a tablet to make your life easier, and then get a demo of Paint Tool SAI, which I think would suit you with its simple pen tool and help you play with line weight.

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I think the details are fine, if not a little stiff. I realize you're drawing with a mouse but your lines have no tapering, which makes everything more dull. Some of the details have dimensionality like the bits hanging from the robes, but others are really flat like the scroll and the headband. I would also adjust the bottom gems anyway so it's clear if they're hanging over or behind the shoes. On the right shoulder (your left), there's some suspect shading on the shoulderpad so I don't really understand if the trim decals are supposed to be embossed or sunken. His eyes also seem very young and so's his facial shape in general. You could push the angles more and give him a more prominent brow especially, but right now he looks like a young teen with some lines drawn and a beard.

Yeah, I have little experience drawing older people, even though Wencelis is only in his mid thirties. xP And what the heck is tapering? Also...

there's some suspect shading on the shoulderpad so I don't really understand if the trim decals are supposed to be embossed or sunken.

I have absolutely no clue what you're saying here.

You should invest in a tablet to make your life easier, and then get a demo of Paint Tool SAI, which I think would suit you with its simple pen tool and help you play with line weight.

Nah, they're too expensive. There are a lot of other things I want more anyway (like a newer version of Photoshop, for one. I've actually been using GIMP since my PS disc is missing and my laptop doesn't have PS on it, but that PS disc is Elements 7, which sucks because it lacks the pen tool). I also have no interest in this Paint Tool SAI program. Photoshop is good enough for me.

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tapered.jpg

Tapering is a transition of line from thick to thin.

The shoulderpads have weird shading by the trim that suggests the trim is not flat.

Also SAI is significantly cheaper than Photoshop and is specifically for drawing. SAI is also easier to handle on most computers. And if you aren't going to invest in a tablet, then the extra power of SAI or Photoshop is going to waste. A low grade tablet can be had for less than $100. That's about two days work at minimum wage. By comparison, Photoshop CS6 without an education license is thousands of dollars *ahem* or you can get it for "free" and save all that money and just buy the tablet. By all means, you should prioritize hardware unless you really aren't interested in improving.

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I can't see the image you posted. xP

And the trim ISN'T flat.

I didn't say it had to be CS6. It could be an older version as long as it's newer than what I have and it isn't Elements. And of course I'm interested in improving, I've been improving for years. You sound like I have absolutely no experience or something. :/

EDIT: Now I see your image. I understand now. You're right, I should be tapering more of those lines. I forget to sometimes. Thanks for reminding me.

Edited by Anacybele
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I can't see the image you posted. xP

And the trim ISN'T flat.

I didn't say it had to be CS6. It could be an older version as long as it's newer than what I have and it isn't Elements. And of course I'm interested in improving, I've been improving for years. You sound like I have absolutely no experience or something. :/

I don't think he is saying that dear.

I think what Samias is saying is that you can further improve by using a tablet. :)

And I like the latest drawing, by the way!

Edited by eCut
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I don't think he is saying that dear.

I think what Samias is saying is that you can further improve by using a tablet. :)

And I like the latest drawing, by the way!

I understand, but I can't afford a tablet right now and I don't mind using the pen tool in GIMP. And thanks! Could you please not call me "dear" though? I just feel immature when people do that. It's me, not you. xP

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Could you please not call me "dear" though? I just feel immature when people do that. It's me, not you. xP

Haha, of course~

You wouldn't be the first to ask that, haha. Some people just don't like it.

Edited by eCut
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Yes, my point is that you end up hitting a ceiling when working with a mouse. If not a skill ceiling, you'll hit a time ceiling where every task is tedious to do. I use a 6x4 tablet at home and it's been my buddy for over 8 years, and while it's not perfect, I would never go back to using a mouse. A Bamboo tablet is around $80, which in the grand scheme of things is pretty cheap for a massive ramp up in productivity power.

Any version of Photoshop that is "Not Elements" is going to run hundreds if not thousands of dollars if you're looking to actually buy it. I personally just use Photoshop 7 because I found an old disc laying around. That's why I suggested SAI. A license is cheap and the program is a little more friendly as far as digital art goes. It does lack a font tool and doesn't have a filter library, but it's much friendlier as far as colouring goes and I think it would wean you away from burn/dodge because of its extremely user friendly colour wheels and sliders.

Edited by Samias
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eCut: Ah, great, thanks. :)

I was afraid I might have offended you there for a moment. I get afraid of offending people a lot these days, what with my small habit of mistakenly saying something inappropriate when I really mean no harm. >_<

EDIT: I understand, Samias, but I just don't have the money to buy a tablet right now because of other things I'm looking to buy first. And I've used Photoshop for years, so I'm much more used to it. If I go to a new program, I have to take the time to get used to it and learn my way around it. It took me long enough just to learn GIMP. Also, I need the text tool to add the text to my concept art, as you can see. My FE character concept art mimics how real FE character art looks (the character on a parchment background with their name on it), so yeah.

Edited by Anacybele
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Thanks, but those are way too small. I don't see how a screen that tiny would benefit me anymore than using a mouse and pen tool.

Edited by Anacybele
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I'll actually vouch for those Monoprice tablets that kdanger mentioned too--I do all of my work with an 8x6 one, and it was only 35$. Size is really not very important with tablets, I could use a smaller one and be fine. And I think you'll be surprised when you eventually use a tablet (keep an open mind lol), and see the difference between mouse/pen tool and being able to draw to a screen naturally :v

But hey whatever you're just gonna say you can't afford it again and I feel ya. Money is the pits. D:

Edited by Mewiyev
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Wencelis looks a little too boyish to be 36. Maybe if his jaw was longer and more squared out? And maybe he looks dainty because his mouth looks small hidden by his beard. XD

But anyway, he has a good design, though I'm not sure if you want to just go for your own style or for more of an FE-style (which means your characters need to be much taller for one. LOL--I've had to stretch out my drawings a bunch more than usual when trying to imitate sometimes). I think thinner lines would make your art look nicer too.. less of a "cartoon" and more of an illustration, if that's what you want to go for. Your lighting/shadowing is a little inconsistent, but that will come with practice, and it's not like I'm really good at that either. xD Shading is hard work..

Thanks, but those are way too small. I don't see how a screen that tiny would benefit me anymore than using a mouse and pen tool.

The small active drawing area (not screen!) will still benefit you 100x. Don't even worry about it. (Although if you start madly colouring, it will cause cramps, and a bigger size would be better--but your mouse would give you carpal tunnel too). The 8x6 Monoprice tablet is a VERY decent size for ~$35 (I use a 6x8 Wacom Intuos now--I used to use a 4x5 Graphire for years). Monoprice are known to make good tablets too and they are not crazy expensive like Wacom. The only downside is that the pen needs a battery (but it lasts a really long time according to reviews).

What Photoshop do you use right now?

Let me just say, unless you are really into photography manipulation and realism/mending, Photoshop is NOT worth the ridiculous prices, and you're better off staying with whatever version you already have (if it's Adobe Photoshop 5, that's good enough, I think! lol)

And this is coming from someone who used her student discount to get Master Suite Collections (I bought CS4) 75% off and it still costed ~$800. My sister bought CS6 years later and that was the same thing. Some tools gets upgraded, sure, but the tools you are using have probably not changed much and the newer versions would more likely crash your computer trying to render a filter than anything (unless you're thinking of upgrading your computer too, but that's also +$$$$$$).

Even if you were JUST to buy an older upgrade version of Photoshop, like Photoshop CS4 UPGRADE, you are looking at ~$400 at least. With student pricing, MAYBE you will get it for $200...

If you are in a college that will get you student pricing, the better deal would be to try to get one of the bundle upgrade editions, like Design Standard (comes with Photoshop, Illustrator, inDesign) just because it's a better value than the individual product (plus you can play with more vectors in Illustrator and make books and stuff with inDesign!). But since Adobe keeps bringing out upgrades all the time anyway, maybe even joining the Creative Cloud program they have will be better (it's a monthly or yearly subscription thing and you always get access to the newest version--should be around $20 a month for just Photoshop access). If I were a design professional, I'd join that instead of buying.

However, a cheap Photoshop-like alternative is Corel Paint Shop Pro X. Only $99~! (it regularly goes on sale too)

To be honest, I still use Paint Shop Pro 7 (it's REALLY OLD AND BASIC!) to this day because it does the basic photoshop things, but in a less complicated and faster way. I use it to crop stuff, resize, add text to finished drawings, even to colour basic things. It also has dodge and burn tools and some vector tools.

Paint Tool SAI is usually suggested because it's pretty cheap (~$60) and an overall great program when it comes to brushes and colour blending/palette.

Plus, for you especially, it also has the BEST and EASIEST to use "pen" tool you will ever use! Seriously! I don't even know how to use Photoshop pen tools properly because they are so stupid and confusing. For serious!

Here is an example of a picture I inked using SAI's pen tool (I think this was one of my first times playing with the widths and colours), and it actually looks like how I might ink in real life with technical pens:

space_girl_sai_inking_by_meibatsu-d33mnw4.jpg

You don't need to use a tablet for it, technically. But it would just take you very long with a mouse to do. Of course it will take a while for you to learn to feel natural with a tablet, but it's a lot better colouring with pen pressures to change the brush widths than it is with a mouse and one uniform pressure.

Edited by Prax
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Wencelis looks a little too boyish to be 36. Maybe if his jaw was longer and more squared out? And maybe he looks dainty because his mouth looks small hidden by his beard. XD

As I said, I haven't much experience doing older people. I tried to use Wence's mugshot for reference (since Elbert was my base for him), but I guess I need more practice. There are a couple other older people in my fic that I plan to make art of, so I'll definitely be getting that practice.

But anyway, he has a good design, though I'm not sure if you want to just go for your own style or for more of an FE-style (which means your characters need to be much taller for one. LOL--I've had to stretch out my drawings a bunch more than usual when trying to imitate sometimes). I think thinner lines would make your art look nicer too.. less of a "cartoon" and more of an illustration, if that's what you want to go for. Your lighting/shadowing is a little inconsistent, but that will come with practice, and it's not like I'm really good at that either. xD Shading is hard work..

What, I can't alter the style just a little? xP I really don't like how some characters are drawn out to look so tall. It looks unnatural to me. Not all characters are like this to me, only some, like Gareth (that guy is a giant, I swear). I've also taken some design features from GBA games, not just Tellius ones. Basically, I'm playing with RD's style, but adding my own twists to it. And yeah, shading can be tough and I agree that anyone can improve at that.

And I don't remember why I started using 2px thick lines. I think it might be that thinner ones disappeared under the darker colors often, making the drawing look like I pasted in parts of a computer generated 3D model. I believe it had something to do with that, but I don't entirely remember. xP

The small active drawing area (not screen!) will still benefit you 100x. Don't even worry about it. (Although if you start madly colouring, it will cause cramps, and a bigger size would be better--but your mouse would give you carpal tunnel too). The 8x6 Monoprice tablet is a VERY decent size for ~$35 (I use a 6x8 Wacom Intuos now--I used to use a 4x5 Graphire for years). Monoprice are known to make good tablets too and they are not crazy expensive like Wacom. The only downside is that the pen needs a battery (but it lasts a really long time according to reviews).

I'm sorry, but a tablet is just not on my list of things to buy right now. It might be in the future though.

What Photoshop do you use right now?

None. I said my disc was missing, so I couldn't install it on my laptop. It's on my desktop PC, which hasn't been booting up properly for a long time. I've been using GIMP 2 instead.

If you are in a college that will get you student pricing, the better deal would be to try to get one of the bundle upgrade editions, like Design Standard (comes with Photoshop, Illustrator, inDesign) just because it's a better value than the individual product (plus you can play with more vectors in Illustrator and make books and stuff with inDesign!). But since Adobe keeps bringing out upgrades all the time anyway, maybe even joining the Creative Cloud program they have will be better (it's a monthly or yearly subscription thing and you always get access to the newest version--should be around $20 a month for just Photoshop access). If I were a design professional, I'd join that instead of buying.

I'm not in college either. College just didn't work out for me, unfortunately...

However, a cheap Photoshop-like alternative is Corel Paint Shop Pro X. Only $99~! (it regularly goes on sale too)

To be honest, I still use Paint Shop Pro 7 (it's REALLY OLD AND BASIC!) to this day because it does the basic photoshop things, but in a less complicated and faster way. I use it to crop stuff, resize, add text to finished drawings, even to colour basic things. It also has dodge and burn tools and some vector tools.

Paint Tool SAI is usually suggested because it's pretty cheap (~$60) and an overall great program when it comes to brushes and colour blending/palette.

Plus, for you especially, it also has the BEST and EASIEST to use "pen" tool you will ever use! Seriously! I don't even know how to use Photoshop pen tools properly because they are so stupid and confusing. For serious!

Here is an example of a picture I inked using SAI's pen tool (I think this was one of my first times playing with the widths and colours), and it actually looks like how I might ink in real life with technical pens:

space_girl_sai_inking_by_meibatsu-d33mnw4.jpg

You don't need to use a tablet for it, technically. But it would just take you very long with a mouse to do. Of course it will take a while for you to learn to feel natural with a tablet, but it's a lot better colouring with pen pressures to change the brush widths than it is with a mouse and one uniform pressure.

I see. I have heard of Paint Shop Pro before, but never considered it. I only turned to GIMP because I knew it was free and I had used it before. I was confused by it the first time I used it, but back then, I was making signature images with it rather than coloring drawings. But anyway.

Also, $60? That's not cheap, that's about average for a computer software. Also, nice pic you got there. Maybe I should reconsider dumping GIMP for one of these other programs. I just don't want to end up making too many changes to how I color, or else the style in my future character art won't match what I already have anymore. If you know what I mean. I'm not sure I explained that right. xP

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Also, $60? That's not cheap, that's about average for a computer software.

Mmm, no. Video editing software like Camtasia and Vegas, run $300 and $800 respectively. Most all versions of Photoshop are incredibly expensive in the $1000 range. In the relative spectrum of editing software, $60 is pretty cheap. I realize it might not be cheap for you, but I believe Prax was talking compared to stuff like Photoshop.

Also I'll vouch for a tablet as well, even I have one and I rarely draw.

Edited by seph1212
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Mmm, no. Video editing software like Camtasia and Vegas, run $300 and $800 respectively. Most all versions of Photoshop are incredibly expensive in the $1000 range. In the relative spectrum of editing software, $60 is pretty cheap. I realize it might not be cheap for you, but I believe Prax was talking compared to stuff like Photoshop.

Also I'll vouch for a tablet as well, even I have one and I rarely draw.

Mmm, yes. All the software I've seen in stores, not just games either, are less than $100. Including Photoshop.

And how many times do I have to say it? I AM NOT PLANNING TO BUY A TABLET RIGHT NOW.

Edited by Anacybele
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Then all you're seeing is the cheap stuff, or the software that doesn't include the entire package, like Vegas's movie studio 11. Just because your stores have most programs in the $60 range doesn't mean that's the average. That just means they store the cheaper programs. I assure you that good editing software is not that cheap. please don't argue semantics with me, I pretty much know this as fact, and I'm sure you don't want to cloud up your art topic with a pointless argument over prices.

and okay, have fun shooting yourself in the foot~

Edited by seph1212
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Then all you're seeing is the cheap stuff, or the software that doesn't include the entire package, like Vegas's movie studio 11. Just because your stores have most programs in the $60 range doesn't mean that's the average. That just means they store the cheaper programs. I assure you that good editing software is not that cheap. please don't argue semantics with me, I pretty much know this as fact, and I'm sure you don't want to cloud up your art topic with a pointless argument over prices.

Well, whatever then.

and okay, have fun shooting yourself in the foot~

Uh...what? o_O

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