first attempt at OotS style

[Prak]

Baragos:
avatar file: http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c233/koomori/BaragosOotSAvatarcopy.png

Original file: http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c233/koomori/BaragosOotScopy.png

Like I said, first attempt at this, done all in Photoshop, rather than Illustrator.

edit: Not new avatar, not yet... it looks like crap and I'm not using it till it's fixed...

[Wreckingrocc]

...Well. If you have photoshop, there are a great number of features available. If you have a tablet, then you have uncountable power at your disposal. If you don't, I'd personally just stick with Illustrator or Inkscape. I don't mean to sound harsh, but it looks like it was done in paint... Or, if it was done in Photoshop, entirely with the pencil tool, which is a pretty crappy tool.

First, it looks like you're trying to do OOTS style. This is very, very hard in Photoshop, unless you figure out how to work Vectors in it, which I haven't bothered to do. Photoshop is much, much better for being able to shade, draw realistic characters, draw slightly more realistic characters, and doodling. Inkscape is much better for clean cartoons.

It seems pretty choppy right now, so I'd try to slow down and make sure you know what you're doing. Even in OOTS style, people should have realistic arms; his right arm seems to be at an odd angle, and he looks like he's been dressed as a ten-year-old superhero. Again, I don't mean to be harsh, but make sure you can visualize what you want to do.

If you have a tablet, I can stress three main things.
1. Use layers. When drawing cartoon characters, you should always have at least two layers apart from the background; one for stroke, and one for fill.
2. The paint brush is best for drawing stroke, the paint bucket and brush for fill.
3. Shading can be done in one of two ways: selecting the color and manually adjusting, or selecting a white/black color and setting the opacity down.

You can mess around with it for a little while to develop a real sense for what you're doing. Gradients can add cool effects, but make sure to use many, many layers. I can't stress this enough. Make many small brushes, and work very closely zoomed in.

It's not really comparable as a first attempt, since everyone starts out at different places. The hilt of the sword looks like you're starting to get there, but again: If you're going for OOTS style, follow the guidelines, and if you're not, adjust your methods.

If you don't have a tablet, I'd try making the leap to Inkscape or Illustrator. They're thousands of times easier without having to manually draw by hand. Since they use Vectors, the outlining, filling, and sketching are much simpler.

[Prak]

...Well. If you have photoshop, there are a great number of features available. If you have a tablet, then you have uncountable power at your disposal. If you don't, I'd personally just stick with Illustrator or Inkscape.
got a tablet.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but it looks like it was done in paint... Or, if it was done in Photoshop, entirely with the pencil tool, which is a pretty crappy tool.
yeah, yeah it is a crappy tool, and a lot was done with it.


First, it looks like you're trying to do OOTS style. This is very, very hard in Photoshop, unless you figure out how to work Vectors in it, which I haven't bothered to do. Photoshop is much, much better for being able to shade, draw realistic characters, draw slightly more realistic characters, and doodling. Inkscape is much better for clean cartoons.
What is inkscape exactly?


It seems pretty choppy right now, so I'd try to slow down and make sure you know what you're doing. Even in OOTS style, people should have realistic arms; his right arm seems to be at an odd angle, and he looks like he's been dressed as a ten-year-old superhero. Again, I don't mean to be harsh, but make sure you can visualize what you want to do.
I can visualize it just fine, I have several very nice drawings I've done of this character. That doesn't mean it'll translate very well... so the OotS style is more what I need to work on.


If you have a tablet, I can stress three main things.
1. Use layers. When drawing cartoon characters, you should always have at least two layers apart from the background; one for stroke, and one for fill.
done, except I didn't do separate layers for fill, though this sounds like a damned good idea, so I'll try that next time I do this. I just did separate layers for each piece of clothing and each major body part (head, torso, arms, legs)

2. The paint brush is best for drawing stroke, the paint bucket and brush for fill.
I used pencil in the advice of someone doing a guide for illustrator, I'll stick to paintbrush in photoshop now..

3. Shading can be done in one of two ways: selecting the color and manually adjusting, or selecting a white/black color and setting the opacity down.
again, will think about shadowing next time.


You can mess around with it for a little while to develop a real sense for what you're doing. Gradients can add cool effects, but make sure to use many, many layers. I can't stress this enough. Make many small brushes, and work very closely zoomed in.
what kind of brushes are you thinking here?


It's not really comparable as a first attempt, since everyone starts out at different places. The hilt of the sword looks like you're starting to get there, but again: If you're going for OOTS style, follow the guidelines, and if you're not, adjust your methods.
I was definitely going for OotS style, if I weren't, I can draw real people just fine.

[Wreckingrocc]

OK. Well, for perfect circles and such, I can't give much advice. CTRL+Z is great if you mess up with a brushline...

Keep all the outlines on one layer, and generally click twice with the paintbrush set to Anti-Aliasing, Contiguous, and All Layers. Make sure you're in the bottom layer, so it doesn't carve out of the stroke layer. I like 3-5 as a brush size, with hardness set to 100. It makes very clean lines, so if you're not too shaky with the tablet, it should come out beautifully. Work slowly and don't be afraid to backtrack if you mess up.

Practice makes perfect.

As for inkscape, it's like a weaker, free version of Illustrator. It's vector-based, so rather than drawing, like normal, you just click to place nodes.

It might be nice, if combined with Photoshop, for creating OOTS characters.

Something I did, for example, combining the two:
http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq84/TiredNDrowzy/PriolyBanefire.png

Make sure to make your stroke thick enough to be seen, but thin enough that the inside colors can be seen, too.

Coping and pasting other people's art, then tracing or drawing over it is a good way to learn. Don't copy exactly, and, after you do it, try drawing another next to it, using the first as reference.

[Prak]

well, after asking what Inkscape was, I figured I might as well look it up as I figured it was probably free, so it's downloading right now. I've done some Illustrator, though it's not my favorite thing, I'll give Inkscape a shot. Thanks for the advice, and hopefully I'll have a better version of baragos that doesn't look like crap.

[Prak]

heh, yeah, photoshop sucks at this, apparently.

Second Attempt, using Inkscape:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c233/koomori/BaragosAvatar1_0.png


original file:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c233/koomori/BaragosAvatar.png

much better, I think, it at once makes me less and more embarrassed for my first attempt.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Pssh, a really handy guide on how to draw in oots style. (http://www.trazoi.net/tutorials/inkscape/oots/)

[Prak]

actually that's what I used.

[Elder Tsofu]

Then you had a good start. :smallsmile:
(Trazoi is responsible for me beginning to draw in inkscape too)
Now its just practise, practice, practice and some more practice untill you're comfortable with the look of your figure. (regular looks in the "Request an OotS Style Avatar XV"-thread might also serve as a source of inspiration)

And as a little critique

Try to use the same thickness on the lines, or about the same anyway. (I use 2.0 as standard and 1.6 in the spots where I can't get away with 2.0. Others prefer thinner lines down to 1.5 as standard thickness, it's just about taste really).
Don't be afraid to use larger parts for extremities. (Like the hands and coat-arms, compare to Tireds example)
You might want to move the left coat-arm up a few layers so it comes in front of the coat, as for reference Vaarsuvius right arm in panel 4. (the recent comic)

[Prak]

alright, original file 1.5:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c233/koomori/BaragosAvatar1_5-1.png
fixed the sword, the hands, and the front arm