Aqacia's art thread- please critique + accepting requests

[MaiMai]

Have you tried using FireAlpaca? It's free and it's kind of like Paint Tool SAI lite. It makes pretty smooth lines.

But for good lineart, you basically need to train yourself so you can draw well. There's a stickied topic where I compiled a list of tutorials about coloring and lineart that you might be interested in taking a look at.

[Aqacia]

Have you tried using FireAlpaca? It's free and it's kind of like Paint Tool SAI lite. It makes pretty smooth lines.

But for good lineart, you basically need to train yourself so you can draw well. There's a stickied topic where I compiled a list of tutorials about coloring and lineart that you might be interested in taking a look at.

No i haven't, it looks interesting i'll give it a try and i'll check the tutorials out.

[LIZM]

I want to go for Diabolic lovers kind of style- https://littlecloudcuriosity.files.word ... ep-2-6.jpg

Nice! Does that include the coloring style? Because so far it seems like you've been using a lot of air brush or similar tools, and the shading is actually very hard to notice. I feel like a lot of people are afraid to use contrasting colors when they're still starting out, but darker, more solid shading might add a lot more "life" to your art.

I have a tablet and use it the majority of the time but sometimes settle for just using my laptop pad.

No matter what, please try getting used to only using your tablet. Even an experienced artist will need some time to get used to a new tablet, so this isn't necessarily limited to beginners either. Pen pressure helps a lot.

As for programs i have photoshop but never really used it as i cannot figure out how to make the lines smoother and instead use chibipaint which i feel satisfies all my needs.

The funny thing is, your lines don't actually need to be smoother, you just need to know how to make them look smoother. Almost every artist I know draws their pictures at least twice the size they're supposed to be in the end. For instance, if you draw on a 2000x2000px canvas and then resize it to 500x500px once you're done, the lines will seem much thinner and smoother than they actually are. Plus, if the lineart isn't super clean (I know mine sure as heck isn't), some of the little mistakes that slip in will be harder to spot, if they're even visible at all.

[Aqacia]

Nice! Does that include the coloring style? Because so far it seems like you've been using a lot of air brush or similar tools, and the shading is actually very hard to notice. I feel like a lot of people are afraid to use contrasting colors when they're still starting out, but darker, more solid shading might add a lot more "life" to your art.

Yes, i adore the Diabolik lovers coloring style. I'll give it a try, my shading is probably the worst part of all of my drawings which is why i try to keep it as light as possible.

No matter what, please try getting used to only using your tablet. Even an experienced artist will need some time to get used to a new tablet, so this isn't necessarily limited to beginners either. Pen pressure helps a lot.

Alright. Unfortunately no pen pressure for me.

The funny thing is, your lines don't actually need to be smoother, you just need to know how to make them look smoother. Almost every artist I know draws their pictures at least twice the size they're supposed to be in the end. For instance, if you draw on a 2000x2000px canvas and then resize it to 500x500px once you're done, the lines will seem much thinner and smoother than they actually are. Plus, if the lineart isn't super clean (I know mine sure as heck isn't), some of the little mistakes that slip in will be harder to spot, if they're even visible at all.

Thats quite the opposite, my lines are smooth at the moment beacuse of the program i use that lets me change the brushes so that i can draw without it all looking wonky and well bad. If i were to not use it at all then my lines wouldn't be like they are in any of my drawings at all.

I was a traditional artist for the longest time and while my lines are fine on paper drawing digitally always ends up with lines that aren't smooth at all and in fact just look like child scribbles.

[Aqacia]

Just a small doodle before going to sleep although it did take quite a bit of time. Tried to make the shading a little lighter but also more noticeable not sure how i feel about it. I like the character design it looks cute and simple with a few tweaks and changes i could potentially make this guy a character, maybe.

[Aqacia]

Here is a very very rough sketch of what i'm working on right now. Once i finish it i'll post it here but this is just the rough idea of what i want to draw.

[Aqacia]

I decided to work on the sketch later and drew this little lady to experiment some other ways of coloring that came to my head, i kinda like it but not too sure how i feel about it completely. It does seem to fit with my lines quite a bit so i might keep it.

[Aqacia]

Decided to draw again and tried out different eyes, don't like them and will be changing them to something else. I see a pattern of similar colors being used o-o time to abandon the oranges and browns i guess. Might try out more vibrant colors or maybe just more greens as i seem to be avoiding them quite a bit. I love the coloring style i'm using now, i just feel like my arts more alive then it was before- now it's just a matter or using different colors and not the same thing over and over again.

[alexwhite]

i like that you are using building lines. its a good habit to get into

[Aqacia]

Thank you ^-^ I didn't always used to use them but they really help out and once i tried them once they just stuck around.

[Aqacia]

Yep still holding that sketch off, i started this last night and finished it today i'm quite proud of it but i seriously need to lay off the oranges and browns. I should probably have a look at more colors as not everything and everyone has orange and brown ish colored outfits, furniture e.g so it would be good for me to actually draw things in a variety of colors.

[salt]

Keep up the good work! I like that you're trying to give them more active poses, instead of standing still with arms snapped to their sides. I can already see the improvement from your most recent work from the first two. Post more

[Aqacia]

Thank you so much ^-^

[n0tgin]

Hi there! I see you're trying to imitate DiaLovers' style and so far you've already improved since your first post! Aside from practicing anatomy (look at stock photos/real life or yourself to practice) so you can have something to work from if you choose to pursue an art style in the future, a thing I find useful in adapting my art style into something else is to find a piece whose style is similar to what I'm trying to do and compare it to what I currently have. I normally look for features that especially appeal to me (colouring? shapes? lines? etc.) and try to see how it's different from what I've done so far. Then, I try to imitate the features.

However! It's not entirely ethical to just copy someone's art style, one tip that has stuck with me is that you should take favourite features from different art styles and try to weave them together to make your own! Good luck, keep practicing!

[Aqacia]

Thank you i'll keep all you've said in mind.