Curse

frostkisses · Nov 25, 2010, 04:44 PM // 16:44

aww its cute thistle! ^^
practice makes perfect,keep trying and im sure you'll be doing amazing things soon.

Thistle Xandra · Nov 25, 2010, 05:30 PM // 17:30

thanks frost

I hope so! I'm having so much fun drawing, but it would be so cool to get some really amazing stuff to pop up

InfestedHydralisk · Nov 25, 2010, 06:34 PM // 18:34

The Assassin is very well done.

Tommy's · Nov 25, 2010, 07:21 PM // 19:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by frostkisses

practice makes perfect,keep trying and im sure you'll be doing amazing things soon.

This. You improve really quickly. Great work, keep rocking ^^

Ravenhawk · Nov 25, 2010, 08:08 PM // 20:08

Looks great Thistle! Keep it up!

Aeronwen · Nov 25, 2010, 08:34 PM // 20:34

I like that sin Thistle, she has kind eyes

Thistle Xandra · Nov 26, 2010, 01:43 AM // 01:43

Thanks for the support, all

I decided to give another line-free painting attempt. This time, used a dodge layer for highlights and a color burn layer for shading.

This one's of my monk since I wanted to update my avatar

Perynne · Nov 26, 2010, 06:34 AM // 06:34

Dodge and burn is fun to play with. However, try not to rely solely on it, because you can always tell when only dodge/burn has been used on a painting (the shadows never vary their colours, and highlights are always white instead of colours). Shadows always have other shades in them, not just a variation of the skin tone, and same goes for highlights. For example: http://fav.me/d2efaai and http://fav.me/dk41bc (two good skin colour charts from DeviantArt).
So yeah, the short version is that dodge/burn works great for greyscale drawings where you don't need to worry about colour (and as such you can use them to tweak the greyscale drawing during the colouring process of it), but can make a colour drawing look flat and lifeless if you're not careful.
As practice, you should perhaps try doing a drawing with really, really strong light and shadows, where the shadows are blue-purple and the light is yellowish-orange. I've noticed that it helps to learn new things sometimes when you completely go overboard with what you're learning.

The monk is looking awesome though.

I loooove the contrast of the bright blue with her skin, and she looks so happy too. Her hair also looks more detailed than what you usually do.

If you're still doing commissions, I'd be interested in having my dervish Cassia drawn:

Basically, she's small and peppery (smallest height a dervish can be, which is very close to the minimonk height). She has always felt that she's overshadowed by her dervish sister, and so is driven to prove her strength time and time again by saving various countries and the world. At the end of EotN, she's settled down with the Norn, gotten married (with a Norn) and is always eager for a punchout extravaganza or a hunt for something big and dangerous.

Tommy's · Nov 26, 2010, 08:31 AM // 08:31

I, like Pery said, wouldn't use burn and dodge too much. I only sometimes use it on like gems or golden ornaments in an armor, to give them some shine. Other then that, I would not use the burn and dodge tool. As for the face colour. Yes alot more contrast might be nice. But I think thats for later, better first get the hand of using the brushes and quickly getting shapes down.

Eastern Magik · Nov 26, 2010, 11:27 AM // 11:27

i wanted to post this yesterday, but since my friends on DA were missing for a couple of hours...

Anyway, im not really an expert when it comes to coloring gray-scale pictures, but perhaps those video tutorials will help you

http://herodees.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d31nzze
http://kaizendesign.deviantart.com/a...ndesign&qo= 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMH6CYLZ6v8

http://aquasixio.deviantart.com/art/...2F8808807&qo=2
http://aquasixio.deviantart.com/art/...F8808807&qo=10
http://aquasixio.deviantart.com/gallery/8808807#/dgtp1x

^not video, but you can find a lot of useful advices

Aeronwen · Nov 26, 2010, 12:44 PM // 12:44

lovely picture, I like the colours.

Thistle Xandra · Nov 27, 2010, 01:08 AM // 01:08

Thanks so much for the tips

I really am in love with color burn though, I think it's because I don't really understand shading and coloring so color burn makes it soooo easy to see how I want the picture to come out! Pery, that color swatch tutorial is amazing, thanks for pointing that out for me. It'll really help me figure out coloring more so I don't have to rely on burn mode. Thanks, Magik for those links, too

I haven't had a chance to watch the vids yet, but the DA links are so helpful! Those tutorials are amazing!

Oh, and I'll add Cassia as my third model, thanks for the screenies

Verene, sorry, I gave up on the other one

and decided to do a different pose! Here's a super rough sketch so you can see I haven't forgotten about you <3

I like to think she's fierce in this one and about to kick someone's butt. Haven't figured out if I'll line art this or try line-free painting with the new tips. I originally had a hissing lynx in the background, but I was lovingly told that it looked like a freaky Hannibal Lector cat

Verene · Nov 27, 2010, 04:25 AM // 04:25

That pose is awesome <3

Thistle Xandra · Nov 28, 2010, 06:09 AM // 06:09

Glad you like it

This is what I have so far for you... still have a long way to go! Curly/wavy hair is so hard to do D: I'll finish it off last I think

Perynne · Nov 28, 2010, 07:54 AM // 07:54

The wavy hair is looking good so far.

To finish off the illusion of wavy hair, you might want to draw a few, thick individual strands that kind of fight against the wave, to wave against it so to speak. It'll help give the hair a more natural feel.

I love the face and the way you've used stronger shading in it! Good work!

Charlie Dayman · Nov 28, 2010, 08:27 AM // 08:27

Don't be afraid to experiment and really familiarize yourself with the brush settings. That menu alone is probably one of the most significant tools in Photoshop, IMO

Ravenhawk · Nov 28, 2010, 03:53 PM // 15:53

Love that pose Thistle. It's really captivating. As for the hair, here's a simple hair tutorial that I got. I think the person is using SAI as a tool but you can grasp the general steps he/she did - which is just three step process. I don't follow any particular tutorial for hair anymore for the longest time..I just have an idea on the steps pretty much. It's always fun to experiment.

http://leejun35.deviantart.com/art/H...hair-156271917

Thistle Xandra · Nov 29, 2010, 12:38 AM // 00:38

Thanks, Pery! In case you couldn't tell, I'm using one of the color palettes in that link you gave

It's so helpful!

omg, charlie, there really are so many brush options

I'm using Elements though, so there are some options I can't change that some tutorials with CS2+ talk about

like brush flow. I usually just stick to soft and hard circle brushes and sometimes venture off to the natural brushes.

Thanks, Raven! I love that link

The problem I'm having is that a lot of tutorials talk about straight hair instead of wavy/curly. I downloaded a non-DA tutorial so I'll see how that one works. Seems like hair is just really hard to draw and will take time.

GeminiJuSa · Nov 29, 2010, 12:45 AM // 00:45

I really like to see how fast you're progressing! One can tell you're learning a lot in every new piece you make

Verene · Nov 29, 2010, 05:42 PM // 17:42

http://foxbane.deviantart.com/art/Tu...in-PS-39739048
http://rach-resources.deviantart.com...orial-78726124

Try taking a look at those tutorials if you're having trouble with curls, Thistle.