[FFNeX]

I'm working on a comic that probably only me and my friends will get to see, I want to keep the characters simple yet I want them to look cool. I'm going for a mix of Comic+Anime look.

I'd really appreaciate any C&Cs on the design, I know I'm not 1/3 of the caliber that post here but I also know there's no other place where I can get better feedback

[saladbowl]

Here's the picture...



Well I like the character but the colors are to blurry for my taste... .
Keep working on it!

What's her name?

[FFNeX]

lol she's the only nameless character so far in the comic

I agree about the colors, but my tablet really sucks and it looks wiggly (Notice the outlines on the bow and right hand fingers) if I do it sharper. I'll keep working on it though

[Ian Jones]

I like the pose, interesting position.

A comment about the visible lines though.

Look at any good comic book and you'll see that there are lines that vary in width all the time. This is for a good reason, it helps to add character and define the form (the shape in 3d). So when you have a simple ball for example... like the one I made quickly here...



You need to vary the line width so that it looks 3D. Notice that the top left ball has shading, but the line around it is just a simple same width the whole way round. Then look at the top right one. It has a thin line at the top left which gets progressively thicker to the bottom right. Why? well it's all to related to the light source. The ball is lit roughly from the top left. That's why my shading is light there and dark in the bottom right. The ball in the top right has a line that is complimentary to its form. It is sensitive to the shading of the object and therefore looks more 3D. The form is better!

I hope you understand so far. Go and pick up a comic book and observe this for yourself. That should clear up in your mind exactly why line width needs to vary.

Hope that helps.

[FFNeX]

It does help a lot, I've been reading comic books all of my life and I've never applied that to my drawings.

I'm working on another one right now and I'm going to try to apply that effect.

Do you have any good PS tutorial links where I can learn more about shading like the one you applied to the balls? I love the shading you used there but I don't know how to get it since all I know about photoshop I've discovered by myself. I started reading on-line tutorials this week and they do help a lot.

Thanks for the help and the C&Cs everyone

[Ian Jones]

Great! glad I could be of help.

Keep learning more about how to use PS. The more tutorials you do and understand the better you will grasp concepts and techniques that will allow you to create your own imagery. I did the same as you when I started... I went to places like Designs by Mark, and Thinkdan.com etc... they are great places to learn.

As for the shading I did, it's really very easy. Like anything though, it does require persistence, it all looks crap to start with but you just keep tweaking it and improving it and your finished in no time! It's amazing how everything comes together in the end.

This is quite simple, here's how I did it.



Just consider your object first. What is it? a ball... its round. What sort of lighting environment is it in? a single source of light, from the top left. Once you have considered those things you can move on.

I basically made a round selection and filled it with a middle value red (value means how dark or light). So being a middle value red as a base, step 2 just involved adding some shadows, really rough... In the layers pallete I checked 'preserve transparency" for the layer with my new circle on it. This meant I couldn't paint outside of it! tis useful...

I work by putting shadows down first, and finishing on highlights. Generally people suggest this method. Work from dark to light.

I just used the paintbrush tool, picked a darker red (close to black), and with my Wacom Tablet I put light strokes down and built up some shadow, refining it a bit over the next steps. (if you dont have a Wacom then just set the opacity of the brush really low, and work by building the shadow up.)

I then did some highlights with a very light red, not quite white cos I didn't need it. Built them up and realised I needed to dark some of the shadow, so I did, and it looked better.

simple really.. by no means the only method of course, so do it your way if you want to.

Of course the shading I did is very basic, it does not even consider the effect of bounce light and reflections... something you'll learn about another day! I'm a tease...

For a much more complex tutorial go and visit Yaz Studios, tutes....

there are staxx more tut's out there, go to the digital art discussion forum and do a search for them. The search button is up the top right.

[Sukhoi]

Just thought I'd contribute with this one.

Sukhoi

[Ian Jones]

ahh.. yes Sukhoi raises a good point.

Different objects and their materials behave differently in light and shade. His exmaples show that because metal is usuallly very smooth, shiny and highly reflective, we see a brightly, and clearly defined highlight... actually its probably a reflection of the actual ceiling light itself.

So how do you then figure out how cloth should be rendered? well if a smooth object like metal shows a good reflection, then a rough and bumpy object (we are talking even at a miniscule scale in terms of surface texture) must have a bad reflection. Because cloth is a bumpy surface, it reflects the light in thousands of different directions, so ultimately those reflections of light won't be so clear or bright becuase they wont concentrate in one area like metal.

Its all logic. Just observe, look around you. If you get stuck with something, break it down into simple tasks. Not so hard afterall hey!?

[FFNeX]

Wow, I've learned more with you guys in 15 minutes that I've learned by myself since I have photoshop.

I really appreaciate the help and the time you spent explaining all that Ian, and I'm definetely going to start using different shading for different materials.

I already finished a second concept drawing but I'm thinking about redoing it now with all of these and the post the results for more C&Cs from you guys.

[Gil Agud�n]

Ian, sukhoi, thanks a lot for sharing those tips with eveybody in this forum!!! : )