One More Tutorial

This will be a big help, thank you

Faces! Part 1- Specifically the ‘circle-thing’

Remember this? If you’ve done any classes or seen any tutorials, you’re bound to see this thing. I personally fell in love with it. It’s very easy to get a feel for the movement of the face & jaw, the general placement of the head and how the character will look.

There’s not too much of a wrong way to do it. Just remember this:

The circle is not the whole head, it only encompasses what would be your skull without the jaw attached (if you wanna draw a skull tho, you need a bit more than the circle. Those things are more complex than you think.)

Add a jaw before placing the guidelines. 

The neck connects to the jaw with a small pouch, important for profiles. (See an example below.)

The guidelines, to me, are really for seeing the width of the motion, the placement of the features. Occasionally, I don’t even use the guidelines. Sometimes I put features like the eyebrows, eyes, and mouth to remember the expression later when I go back and finish the linework (which tends to change slightly).

Use the guidelines in whichever way you want. I tend to do one of two things:

Put the eyes on the line, using the end of the triangle to find the end of the nose

Put the eyes under the line, using the triangle more for determining the size of the eyes and expression.

Whatever feels right it what you should do. More you fiddle with it the better you get:

Remember this when making expressions- squash and stretch.

The longer the jawline, the wider the mouth is, the thinner the face is.

Look at references of real people with different expressions. How does their face squash or stretch? 

Common expressions with stretch: Gasps, Yawns, Ear-to-Ear Smiles, Any Time They Yell.

Common expressions with squash: Pouts, Frowns, Closed-Mouth Smiles, Clenched Jaws, Furrowed Brows.

The only time I don’t make the circle first is when the head is tilted up and I need to see some of that little area under the jawline.

Reminder: This is my personal shortcut and what works for me might not work for you! Don’t worry if it doesn’t work for you!

I start with the jawline then curve up to the top of the head and make the circle last, just to get a feel for where everything will go and the curve of the head -I usually make the back of the head too small- then you can add the features. I suggest always connect the head to the neck before doing anything else.

(It all gets easier with practice.  Look at references- I don’t suggest looking up ‘drawing reference’ or you’ll get a bunch of drawings, which may help for in-style work, but, looking at real humans always beats drawings. look up ‘figure’ ‘face’ ‘head’ and ‘art reference’.)

A related point:

Children have tall foreheads and a small area for their facial features. I remember one tutorial that helped me with children was that you don’t put the eyes in the circle like you would with an adult/teen, but under it.

Welp, that’s about it. The best teacher is time, and the more you do it the better you get! Have fun and just keep at it!

Part 2 for faces: Guidelines & Features

Want to see more tutorials? Tell me what you’d like to see me cover. This confuse you or you’re stuck on something? Tell me and maybe show me what you’re working on and I can help to the best of my ability!

well for a little animation exercise that I found online I took a live action video and animated every 4th frame to better understand movement and I must say I learned a lot form this. For the reference I used a video of guixdasilva doing a 720 degree kick. If anyone has any critics let me know Reference: https://www.instagram.com/p/CRj4R_2hp2p/...

I LOVE MECHA’S

How’d you learn to draw mechas? I’ve been wanting to try that myself for a while, and I know as an artist that the only way to learn is to just Do it, but it’s so daunting! I have no idea where to begin. Do you have any advice or tips? Thank you for your time!

Okay first of all, sorry to take so long to answer. I really wanted to draw some pics for this, and the last weeks have been quite busy. 

1. Draw from the reference

Drawing is like learning a new language: You can’t say you wanna learn English and then just start making up your own words because you think that finding words in the dictionary is cheating - It doesn’t make sense. Find a super cool robot picture and try to copy it. These are called “studies” for a good reason. You’re studying the vocabulary of those drawings. Many times people don’t share their studies since it’s only for the practice. But don’t study just one person. You don’t want to become that person - you want to become better! And if you post your study online, don’t forget to credit the original artist!

2. Try different techniques

One of my favorite techniques is something I call color blocking - I’m not sure if it’s an actual term or just something I came up with. I kind of carve the silhouette of the robot with one color and then I add a second color and carve the details in. I do this also if I have a picture with lots of characters and I want to make sure everything reads correctly. But these are all personal matters. Try different techniques until you find a one that works for you. And remember to flip your canvas!!

3. Try different brushes

My favorite brushes vary, but these three are the ones I keep using more than the others. Kyle’s brush I got used to while I was working on my freelance work - it just feels good to draw with. The square one is really fun to work with in mecha designs, and the basic one also feels surprisingly good while drawing. Sometimes I just grab a new brush, start doodling, and end up with a decent piece.

4. Symmetry vs. asymmetry

This one I included especially because I’m talking about robots. Breaking up the machines with asymmetrical parts gives them more character BUT it’s important to keep the symmetry in mind. If I do a robot that has a one big arm and one small arm, I later make sure that most of the other parts are symmetrical. This way the asymmetry is the choice rather than a mistake.

5. Draw from the reference (!!!)

Yes, I added this the second time because I really feel it’s important! I use Pinterest all the time - I have a board with over 1000 pins of robots! There are paintings from my favorite robot artists, 3D models of super cool robot designs, and even photos of real robots all collected in one place. And for anyone who feels “wrong” doing this: Finding reference DOESN’T mean copying - it can be just an idea or inspiration: It’s finding the language you want to use. Sure you won’t need  the reference as much later on as you build your own “shape-vocabulary” - just like you won’t need your dictionary after you have learned the words you use.

6. It doesn’t have to be perfect

I’m never 100% happy with my work. But I have learned to say “oh well” and move on. Next time I’ll do better.

7. BE PROUD! 

Don’t talk down your own work no matter how much you’d like to. If you’re not standing behind your drawings, who will? Sure you do see the mistakes, but it’s still a great piece of art you made!

ok so yes I watched the KDA music video... 27 times or so. And like everyone else I just loved the special effects they used with the Dark Light and then that one scene from Spongebob when Patrick was turning the light off and on came into my head and well. The rest just played out in my head. 

Alright so last week I was at Cincinnati Animatic con and had the time of my life. One of the best events was seeing all the people dress up as characters and the first one I wanted to do to remember that time was this guy right here who cosplayed as one of my favorite superheros Static Shock. With all due respect this drawing this was as fun as meeting the guy who dressed as Static. BTW he won the ribbon in a beyblade tournament not a costume contest. not sure if he won that

God this animation is gorgeous isn’t it?

She’s puttin’ the SPIN in Spinel!!!

I heard of the octo expansion and I figured Tetrox would greet all the new octolings with a party and not tell Arnick because that how she rolls. 

Fyi you can Sr. Potter getting all the action

Tetrox and Arnick belong to Tamrinfrog

Splatoon is owned by Nintendo

There is a really great story behind this drawing, So I went to Louivile SuperCon and I met the Voice actor of Bowser AKA Kenny James. And at a QnA I asked him /along with the voice actor of Mario, Charles Martinet/ that if they would see there character in any play what would it be? and he said Kenny said he would love to see Bowser as Scar from the Lion King, but I think that's because he loves Cat Bowser lol. So I got an idea to draw Bowser in Scar's most iconic scene where he drops the king into a stampede. P.S if you want to see me draw things like this give my Picarto a chance P.S.S for Charles he said he wanted to Mario as Ieata as in I-Eat-A-Lot-

After watching RWBY Chibi S02E13, where Sun and Blake are trying to record a makeup video, I thought it’d be a really cute idea if I drew them doing that ‘Boyfriend Does My Makeup Challenge.’ 

I’d imagine that when they live together Blake would suggest this challenge to Sun, and it turns out that Sun actually does a pretty good job with makeup. Probably from closely watching Blake do her makeup so many times and being enthralled by the whole process. x)

As the dust settles the lone wander see’s the atom through the clouds, while it’s only just one proton. he knows it could spell disaster