advice to a new illustrator

[kengar]

So, I am totally in awe of you people who can actually draw. I love using visuals for my campaign (maps, portraits, etc.) but I don't really have much skill at drawing. As a result, I spend WAY too much time online searching for images that might work for what I need.

So I've decided to try and learn how to draw. If I can can do line drawing PC portraits HALF as good as something like Liquide's kobolds, I'll be ecstatic. Not to mention making a decent looking map or sketch of a weapon.

I don't want to have to spend a fortune on art supplies (my mini painting setup already drained the budget severely). Eventually, I want to be able to take what I've drawn, touch it up & add color, etc. on the computer. I have full versions of Photoshop & Illustrator on my mac plus a scanner. Learning the software will mostly be a matter of sitting down and playing on it with a "Dummies" book in front of me (and actually listening to my wife when she explains the software to me! )

So what I'm asking for is advice on how to start. Any good tutorials, books, etc. on learning that folks would recommend? Thanks.

 

[Warduke]

Here's a link to a whole bunch of tutorials, from the basics to the advanced:

http://www.gfxartist.com/features/tutorials/

Also, all you need to get started is a sketchpad and some pencils plus an eraser. If you want crisper pictures that are easier to scan, ink markers.

 

[Thresher]

Well, Photoshop will cover up a multitude of evils so dont worry too much about your skill just yet with the pencils.

Its sort of hard to give you advice as Im not sure what type of style youre wanting to acheive?
A pure-sketch style with pencils, I wouldnt bother with the photshop too much unless you want to do some cartoon type inking on them, which PS will do quite nicely.
If your out to do a full CGI type of affair then youre going to have to either learn to draw really well and spend hours hacking it out in PS. Or, convince friends and relatives that they want to pose for you and you take pictures and butcher them in PS

Straight up, before you go any further it might be worth your while to see if theres a life drawing class somewhere at a local TAFE or other type of place that offers them. People say that "artists are born with talent" is simply not true in 99.9% of people you meet, anyone can draw and paint if they are taught and they get really good when they practice it a lot, until the proverbial fingers bleed.
If nothing else though you will learn about lighting, shading and composition. All 3 are very important in making a good piece of art and while your sitting there in class thinking 'wtf is this' it will eventually click at some stage and you'll understand when you go back into PS just where to put light sources and how to arrange figures.

On Photoshop, well theres lots of tutorials out there on the web, google will turn up a few million, I havent bothered looking at any of them for a few years so Im not sure whats there.
However, it is a very powerful tool for an artist and you wont find much better. On Illustrator, I have a copy myself but Ive not updated since v7 because I just didnt find any real use for it, maybe its gotten better since.

About the only real advice is to be patient, it takes time and lots and lots of practice.

 

[Kip the Bold]

Here a few vague suggestions...

The best book on drawing I ever had was How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. Other good books I can recommend are Dynamic Anatomy and Dynamic Figure Drawing by Wayne Hogarth ( I think that was the name, anyway).

As for equipment and supplies; try out a bunch of different types of pencils. Get one of those sets (they go for like $10 or so) with a whole bunch of different grades of hardess and softness. I personally like to use just a 2h pencil because its harder to smudge, but you should experiment to see what you like.

I'll second Thresher's suggestion on taking a life drawing class. With a good teacher it can help immensely. And plus, you get to look at naked people

Well, thats about all I have to say for now. Good luck, and post what you draw

 

[Oni]

Personally I would recommend skipping on the Dynamic series by Burne Hogarth, I think they can be a bit confusing as a reference for people starting out. Dynamic Anatomy was my first artists anatomy book, in some ways I think it may have been more of a hinderance than a help. If you can find a copy I highly recommend Figure Drawing for all it's Worth by Andrew Loomis for anatomy.


Other than that, I recommend drawing from life as often as possible, it will sharpen your skills faster than just about anything.

 

[Kip the Bold]

Personally I would recommend skipping on the Dynamic series by Burne Hogarth, I think they can be a bit confusing as a reference for people starting out. Dynamic Anatomy was my first artists anatomy book, in some ways I think it may have been more of a hinderance than a help. If you can find a copy I highly recommend Figure Drawing for all it's Worth by Andrew Loomis for anatomy.


Other than that, I recommend drawing from life as often as possible, it will sharpen your skills faster than just about anything.

Eh, I hear what you are saying about those books being a little confusing, but I must say I found them pretty helpful. I totally agree with you on Figure Drawing for all it Worth by Andrew Loomis, though. And hey, I happen to have a link to where you can find it and some other books at Online Anatomy for 3D artists...http://fineart.sk/page_01.htm

 

[rpace]

Stay away from the computer when you're learning how to draw. Play with it, learn techniques and do fancy stuff all you want, but don't try to learn how to draw when using it.

It's kinda like teaching yourself how to spell while writing in iambic pentameter.

The Loomis book is an excellent recommendation. I also think Burne Hogarth's books do more to confuse than educate -- many of his anatomical references are, well. . . . non-existant. His lighting and drapery info is pretty solid, though.

I usually suggest George Bridgman's books --
http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0486227103/ref=ed_oe_o/701-8167007-7605918

It's a link to Amazon.ca, but it should give you the info to find them on your own. The Dover paperbacks are cheap and durable. I've had mine for 20 years.

One of the first pro artists I met told me to get them -- the selling point was that Frank Frazetta used them. I used to go through all 5 books copying nearly each page into my sketchbook then starting again -- I did that about twice a year for a few years. It really hammers home the basics and makes everything that much easier to do.

That might sound like a lot -- it wasn't -- really just an half hour or so a day and I really think I benefitted from it.

Good luck,

Richard

 

[Kilmore]

Well, the bad news is that my art teacher told me we all got a couple thousand crappy pictures in us. But keep at it and every now and then a gem would show up.

I am not the artist I want to be, and I've been doing this for years. But I'm at a point now where I'm trying something different and challenging myself each time I draw, and I feel like I'm learning.

 

[s/LaSH]

Here's what I (and a 1500-member cartoonists mailing list) have discovered:

Practice practice practice practice practice practice practice.

It will help. I SUCKED ROYALLY five years ago when I picked up a pencil, and now I'm making a living (kind of) at it. You WILL get better.

Also try http://.saveloomis.org for Andrew Loomis stuff, there's a little more there (PDFs of massive size and all that). I haven't paid it much attention yet, and some say he's out of date, but when I read the books they seemed to have some very useful info in them.

Finally, some hints on computer colour. I always, always go over my horrible-looking pencils with ink - whether from a pen or marker, or the (more challenging but more organic) brush. Then I erase the pencil. If I then scan in black-and-white, it aids the colouring process later on. Oh, and always scan bigger than you need - shrink the finished product down, it looks smoother.

Good luck!

 

[Storn]

I'm going to come in on the Hogarth issue as "yes, get it".

You are right that the anatomy is "stylized" Rpace. However, it is not confusing. And it presents a framework to do anatomy in perspective that is so useful to illustrators. Because we cannot get poses for every action, nor can photos be exactly right (and are actually, never right...they are myopic, after all, we are bioptic)

Wally Wood, Frazetta, Eisner were students of Hogarth. They don't exactly suck.