need recommendations for character art tool for aphantasia artist

[Janx]

Now and then you learn something new about your favorite person. In this case, my wife learned about aphantasia and that she's got it.

Basically, she can't visualize. Like imagine a room with a ball and a light over your right shoulder pointed at it, and see how the shadow falls. She can't do that.
Explains a ton of things over the decades. It is mind-boggling that this existed, but it explains zillions of odd interactions. And for her part, she had no idea people were being literal when they said "picture in your mind"

Here's the problem. She's an artist. can paint or draw in several mediums so long as she's got reference material. Painstaking detail. Weeks to get it done.
But she cannot make up stuff she can't see. She likes doing fan art of game characters, but if the char isn't in the right pose, she can't extrapolate that.

She's bummed, because this is what's been holding her back, despite the skills she has.

My idea is to find out what kind of dress your character tools are out there, and if they let you pose them. Because if she can screenshot it, print it, she can transform it onto paper. But she can't fill in details on armor she can't see or change the pose or viewing angle in her head.

She has no problem playing with the character settings (and adding mods for more hair, etc) in her favorite games to get the limited set of looks, but she's stuck playing the game and hoping for a good pose in a cut scene to screenshot.

What's out there that might help her out?

 

[J.Quondam]

(I don't really know anything at all about art software, so take all this with a grain of salt...)

Has your wife considered a 3D rendering software like Poser? I don't know about capability, learning curve, or alternative software, but it lets you build characters' bodies and facial features, dress them, and pose them against a background. It's like a really, really, really amped up version of an avatar builder on a game.

If you look through DMsGuild for character art packs (and a lot of the computer art and covers in lower-end PDFs, too), I believe a lot of that stuff is done with Poser or something similar. The resulting models from the software are (imo) often flat and dead-eyed. But they might be a decent starting point for your wife, to get the general features and pose down as a mental "canvas" to build her own art from?

I hope she can find a helpful tool!

 

[Ryujin]

I wonder if something like Unity might not be of help? I know very little about it, myself, but it's used in game design. It can create 3D image models and I'm pretty sure that it will do lighting/shadow, which sounds like it would help a lot. It's not cheap but, then again, good tools rarely are. The current version of Fantasy Grounds, for example, is based on Unity.

Unity Real-Time Development Platform | 3D, 2D, VR & AR Engine

Create and grow real-time 3D games, apps, and experiences for entertainment, film, automotive, architecture, and more. Get started with Unity today.

unity.com

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I don’t know about tools, but as a non-aphantasic artist, I’ve always found the more reference material I had, the better. At least, in terms of breadth.

Perhaps…finding out what kind of art topics she wants to explore could inspire you to find a couple of reference sources?

I’ve seen some posters on Imgur, for instance, who upload reference galleries of humans in various positions.

 

[Mad_Jack]

As mentioned, programs like Poser and Blender are very useful... You can get all sorts of sets of preconstructed figures, clothing, and items to use with them.
(There's also a 3-D sculpting program called Z-Brush used by a lot of professional miniature sculptors these days that you could use to make renders of things she can find anywhere else.)

I used to do a lot of PhotoShop-type work. and was always hunting for source material. I used to have several gb worth of fantasy images to borrow things from.

It's not always cheap. but places like PhotoStock sell sets of reference pictures of people in various poses, holding different objects... Nude art websites are also a good place to find black-and-white shots with interesting lighting to use as anatomy references.
Also, check out deviantArt and other places like it for fantasy art that she can use for references. And the websites of all your favorite artists, as well as web searches and Pinterest.

One thing you personally can do to help her is taking your own reference pictures - once she's decided what she wants to draw, one of you poses in the exact position of the subject and holding any objects needed for the shot, and the other takes a picture from the required angle. You can use floor lamps to set up the right lighting conditions.
I find this helpful a lot when trying to visualize reflections of light off of metal.
Another thing you can do is get fully-posable action figures, equip them with an approximation of the necessary gear, and then use them and some desk lamps to compose the shot with the appropriate lighting and camera angle.
Video games like Skyrim are also good for setting up reference poses, especially if you can find the right mods to give you access to the type of objects and costumes you want. Don't just use the character creator or wait to get a good screen shot. Use them just like an actual photographer would - orient the character so the lighting is right, adjust the camera angles and focus, etc. When cranked up to their highest settings on things like shadows and lighting, they're almost as good as a real photograph, and you don't have to wake up at 4am to catch great light.

 

[Janx]

Thanks for the tips and ideas so far. I knew ENworlders could think in and outside of the boxes.

Poser looks like the closest to what I was thinking initially. Though its pricey ($249 not counting add-ons). there's also free program called MagicPoser that sounds similar. I think Unity would be a bit deeper in than we're ready to go.

She hasn't drawn any Skyrim chars, I think that game's not her current obsession, but that game's a good candidate otherwise.

We'll have to figure out what to do next. But I figured if she had a posing tool, she could remake the chars from the game she wants to draw in the tool, but in new poses, outfits that she can't get readily in the game because they'll move or something will get in the way of the shot.

At least now we know there's tools that do that for sure.

Thanks!

 

[Mad_Jack]

As an additional thought, one fairly cheap analog way to get reference shots would also be to get a ton of cheap plastic miniatures and chop them up for parts, then mix and match them to get what you want. Swap heads, arms and legs, weapons. You could even make a sword out of the blade, guard and hilt of three different weapons. Take a picture, then use something like Photoshop to color them and cut-and-paste the pieces you want into a new image... Has the benefit of being reusable if you pin the stuff together or don't use to much superglue, and you can get tons of parts like wings, guns, and magic effects from HeroClix figures and other stuff...

 

[Janx]

Mins aren't high res enough for her work. Here's a sample:

 

[Khelon Testudo]

ArtStation advertises collections of posed people for artists. Not expensive, either.

 

[pming]

Thanks for the tips and ideas so far. I knew ENworlders could think in and outside of the boxes.

Poser looks like the closest to what I was thinking initially. Though its pricey ($249 not counting add-ons). there's also free program called MagicPoser that sounds similar. I think Unity would be a bit deeper in than we're ready to go.

DAZ3D is probably where she's going to end up. ( Daz 3D - 3D Models and 3D Software | Daz 3D ). It's free and can be used as is. You can also go head first into the Store and spend a few thousand dollars if you want all the stuff people put out for it.

DAZ themselves are a decent enough company, but they do tend to be a "Lets do this!" and if they get board with it they kinda just put it aside and let it collect dust (re: Carerra, Hexagon, etc...you'll see that stuff when you're crusin' around the website).

I've used DAZ products for over a decade now and have found DAZ Studio, Poser, Bryce, Carerra and Hexagon to be very useful...and fun! Then again, I am a "trained and ex-pro 3D guy", so there is that.

She hasn't drawn any Skyrim chars, I think that game's not her current obsession, but that game's a good candidate otherwise.

We'll have to figure out what to do next. But I figured if she had a posing tool, she could remake the chars from the game she wants to draw in the tool, but in new poses, outfits that she can't get readily in the game because they'll move or something will get in the way of the shot.

At least now we know there's tools that do that for sure.

Thanks!

Ok, now PAST the "3d" side of things...

A 2D digital program that I use is called "Clip Studio" ( CLIP STUDIO PAINT - The artist's software for drawing and painting ). I mention it because it has the capability to use fully posable 3D characters and props to help get a 'scene' down. Not sure if it would work/help your wife, but figured I'd toss it out there.

Lastly, there are websites out there for artists. Specifically for references for artists to use.

EDIT: Just realized these are "artist sites"...meaning nudity is pretty much guaranteed. So the two links below are probably NSFW!
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SketchDaily Reference Site

reference.sketchdaily.net

Line of Action

line-of-action.com

Are two sites I use all the time when I need to hunt down some particular pose or when I just want to practice sketching. There are paid sites, fee ones, and ones in-between. Pretty sure there will be something your wife can use.

^_^

Paul L. Ming