@Bambasa
Posted on your thread c:

@Castiel
Well...I mean, I can try to help, but I'm no master artist myself. If looking at hundreds of tutorials hasn't helped you, I'm not sure that my limited knowledge can either.

I'm not going to go over the basics of shading. If you've read the tutorials, you know the basics - lighter where it's light, darker where it's in shade - but I can try to give you tips!

I've found that it's easier to make a layer for shading by copying the color layer, setting the copy to 'multiply', and then erasing where the light would hit. It's the same concept as adding shading on a separate layer, but for whatever reason it comes more naturally to me (and combats my problem of undershading a piece).

What I've also found to help a lot is just knowing the basic shapes of things. The sooner you know how to break down a body into simple shapes, the better you'll understand where to shade. If it seems difficult at the moment, here's an idea - look up Pokemon (even if you're not into the franchise) and pick some of the easier ones to draw and practice shading on. I recommend Pokemon since the easier ones are very simple shapes and are generally far away enough from real animals and such to get caught up on what it 'should' look like rather than what it actually looks like.

You have liked this post!

@Scyllarus

Thank you do much for your critique. I use Sketchbook Express on my iPad because I no longer have a laptop :P I'm afraid to draw without a heavy reference most of the time because I feel like my art never comes out like I want it to. As for shading, shading scares me because I'm not 100% sure how it works! which is why I've never been able to do any actual realistic pieces of art. And alright, I will try to use different colors in my shading, and see what happens ^^ and as far as the lines go, do you suggest I use different opacities to make them flow?

As for pricing, they are somewhat low and I was hoping for a 1 GB price range but those are also fine with me because they will bring in income nonetheless. Thanks so much!

You have liked this post!

@Harleyquinn

It's cute c: That being said, you could probably neaten up the lineart and just in general do more practice. For example, the forelegs on your dragon commission are really wonky :/ Imperials don't have horse-like forelimbs. The shading you do have is decent, although like much of your art it just needs more practice and more cleaning up.

@Bambasa
Ahhh, that would explain it. No, I mean different line thicknesses. For example:
http://www.deviantart.com/art/Lineart-by-Cleopata-002-112346612
I just pulled a random one off DA, but you can see how the lines are different thicknesses and how they taper off. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that the iPad has pressure sensitivity, so that might not really be an option for you :/

The reason why I don't think it's a good idea to reference things so heavily is because it just....looks wonky unless you have the skill to make it very realistic. Using thick lines to denote muscles and such draws a lot of attention to the lines and ends up making it look strange because our eyes are used to seeing muscles and contours shaded in. And if you've ever heard of the Uncanny Valley effect, it's a similar issue - we see a cartoony lion and we don't expect it to look exactly like a lion, but if you try to trace the contours of a picture of a real lion, you end up with something very odd looking because we expect to see the rest of the realism.

I'm not saying that referencing is bad, or wrong! It's a great learning tool, you find out a lot about the creature you're drawing. But there are problems with it, and if you're already using a program that's not exactly sympathetic to art, it's just going to be worse.

...And I'm sorry the prices were low. You could probably price it at 1GB, but I'm just not sure a lot of people will buy from you.

You have liked this post!

Scy how do you do the thing



Just kidding! I was actually wondering what program you usually use? Do you have any general tips for someone like me who just wants to improve (aside from staring at references)?

How do you do fur like the yellow and blue Pomeranian in your profile pic you used to have? I've been struggling with that the most and I feel like it's something I need to figure out to really take my work to the next level.

Thanks!

You have liked this post!

^^ I made a new one. It still kinda sucks (Ignore my horrible colouring) but it's a bit better!

Clicky!

You have liked this post!

Hey! I'm really really late, but I wanted to thank you! :D Yeah, kinda effed up real bad on the leg, thanks so much on the redline! I wanted to try and do the feathers more 'glossy' and 'shiny' than usual, as they're part of an experiment I'm doing with AUs and such, but I'll follow your advice on searching how feathers and wings do the thing~! Again, thank you very much! <33

I'll be back, though. <3

You have liked this post!

@Jack
I personally use MangaStudio! Don't be fooled by the name, it's a lot more versatile than just doing comic stuff. I really like its lines and its paints c:

I think the thing that's helped me improve most is just being able to take a reference and break it down into shapes. Knowing things like muscle groups and how they all interconnect helps create believable creatures and characters. It also helps you figure out where to shade and such c:

Fur is a little weird, ahah. I didn't draw the pom icon, it was from a friend of mine. Most of what she did was create chunks of fur using shading rather than lines. Any lines she used inside the body are also a lighter line weight (thinner) than the lines used to outline the whole thing.

@Lia-Lin
Looks much better c: The shading's a little rudimentary, but I like that you can tell it's meant to be backlit!

@Arkkael
Gloss/shine is probably best done with high contrast and highlights. You can see it best here on this person's hair:
http://tophairstyletips.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/h1.jpg
Notice that it's still got dark areas and regular color, there's just bright highlights. Also this bird:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cdn.phys.org/newman/gfx/news/hires/30-researchersd.jpg&imgrefurl=http://phys.org/news/2010-12-feathers-ideas-gloss.html&h=205&w=300&tbnid=Pd-_rZ_URqBaBM:&zoom=1&docid=5BSIB3xiYklzOM&ei=u9tOVdm_GYedsAX-94HYBQ&tbm=isch&ved=0CC4QMygSMBI

You have liked this post!

Thank you!!!

You have liked this post!

How's my work? :3

Tumblr

You have liked this post!

It's certainly very cute! it's also kinda messy, and I get a sense that you're on a touchscreen. I don't know what program you're using, but I do know that drawing on a touchscreen is...interesting, at best. I'd say try to neaten up your art some - it's cute now, but the messiness kinda detracts from that.

You have liked this post!

So i have taken your advice and I've started drawing for myself, I don't trace over anything and I don't rely too heavily on a reference anymore (in my opinion I'm improving a bit, seeing as the WIP doesn't look like it is someone's lineart).

My WIP: Click Here
My Ref: Click Here

Let me know what you think! ^.^

You have liked this post!

It's looking good! It definitely looks more natural now, the lines are fuzzy but every thing looks more dynamic overall. It'll get better as you practice more c:

You have liked this post!

.

You have liked this post!

@Scyllarus
Hello Scyllarus, I was wondering if you would be able to give me some critique/advice on a few traditional doodles I did :3

Clean Sketch
Rough Sketch
Completed Doodle

You have liked this post!

It's very cute! You've got a very good grasp on anatomy and design. Your style is nice and bold and clean, though I can't really tell much about the coloring from the quality of the images.

The only advice I've really got is to saturate the colors more/figure out a way to deal with the loss of quality when scanning/taking a picture of your stuff. That's the worst part of traditional art online, unfortunately dealing with blank white space and the loss of quality :/

You have liked this post!