Aki's Art ☆ (Noctos)

[noctos]

Hello! I think I've been here long enough to make my own art thread. ;;

My name is Aki and I've been mixing lines and colors ever since I could hold a pencil. The last few years I've been stuck in this unfortunate cycle where I only draw Vaguely Annoyed Characters Facing Left. This has understandably halted my art progress and I'd have it undone if I could.

Unfortunately one can't change the past, so instead I'm doing my best to catch up and work harder in the present. One of the things I've been bad at is criticism. I really want to get better at receiving feedback, and using it to improve my work. It would mean a lot if you took the time to comment on my art!

Problems I'm aware of:
- Anatomy
- Lights + shading
- Perspective
- Composition
aka every single aspect of art help me

I'm in the middle of an intensive anatomy study, so that's my main focus right now! But I also want to get better at understanding light and perspective.

To start things off I have this quick thing I made earlier today:

A tiny bun! I usually just draw people, but while digging through childhood art, I found a design based on my favorite stuffed animal. I made a sketch and then threw on some crayon'y line art and colors!! I flipped it and belatedly realized how wonky her left ear is omg

Anyway, thanks for reading & looking! ★★★

[noctos]

Today I went to the botanical garden and did some sketching!

The last week has been really rainy, and as much as I love that, it's no good for outdoors drawing. Today it was finally sunny, so I took advantage of it and went on a lil trip.

Unfortunately it got super windy when I got there. I couldn't create as detailed sketches as I wanted to, but at least I did something!




I like drawing leaves a lot.

[noctos]

Yes hello I am here once more

Today I've been practicing sprite making. It's hARD?! Working with really thin lines has me both frustrated and tired. For some reason I seem to exert more energy when the lines are thin. I can't post the sprite here yet, since I need to shade him first (and I need a break before that. Shading always takes me a long time.)

Instead I'm posting this WIP that will probably forever stay a WIP.



The image is originally bigger, A4 size, with full body and a Frick ton of flowers. My plan was to make an individual poster for each of the main characters in my VN, but this one took so long I kinda gave up. I've tried shading him six times and it always ends in frustration. I think I'll practice on other pieces before returning to him. I'm sorry Zuan ;^;

[Chibisaso]

Nice to meet you aki ! I dont usually reply to posts but I feel I could relate to your current situation since I've been through similar to what you are feeling and facing right now.

Unfortunately one can't change the past, so instead I'm doing my best to catch up and work harder in the present

You go girl ! These are such encouraging words that it made me want to go and draw right now, usually people would be hesitant and underestimate themselves but I'm glad to see that you're motivated and not as distressed as one might be.

And let me just start by saying that your art looks gorgeous, your sense of lineart is amazing, that bun looks so clean and smooth, I love it. I actually didnt notice the ears thingy until you have pointed it out.

My plan was to make an individual poster for each of the main characters in my VN, but this one took so long I kinda gave up

Just a little advice, if you plan on doing a set of cgs or sprites or whatever, it's better if you work on all of them at the same time, and not individually.
For example sketch them all first and then lineart them etc. Because if you do one by one, once you finish a couple of them you'll feel a sense of achievement, and thinking that you'll have to exert the same effort or even more and going through all of that work again will only get you tired and more likely drop whatever you're working on. So doing them at the same time will make it easier and you'll prob feel like they're less work to do.

I've tried shading him six times and it always ends in frustration. I think I'll practice on other pieces before returning to him.

This is not good, from my experience this usually ends up as an art block and you defenitely dont want that. Don't compare your art with another, this will only make you feel that your art is not as good as it actually is, I've been through this recently and I've only been able to get up on my feet again with others' help, like my mum once said, improving your art (or any other field for that matter) is like climbing a mountain, if you reach for a rock that is too high and out of your reach you'll only slip and fall.
Like you said, you should try coloring and shading on other pieces first, try doing something new and going out of your comfort zone, dont try to be 'as good as someone'
Try doing some free art for anatomy, or read books and tutorials, maybe watch speedpaint. There are so many ways that you can improve.
You should also understand whats your weakpoints, not just shading or anatomy but why, why does your shading seems off and his doesnt, what are you doing wrong, watch his videos and understand how he thinks , read theories and understand, that's what you need to be aiming for.

I know this is really long and not as helpful as you need but I just felt like giving you a small push to keep you going and maybe give you a hint on where to start.
Good luck with your journey~ I'll be updated with your posts so keep em' coming!

[noctos]

And let me just start by saying that your art looks gorgeous, your sense of lineart is amazing, that bun looks so clean and smooth, I love it. I actually didnt notice the ears thingy until you have pointed it out.

My plan was to make an individual poster for each of the main characters in my VN, but this one took so long I kinda gave up

Just a little advice, if you plan on doing a set of cgs or sprites or whatever, it's better if you work on all of them at the same time, and not individually.
For example sketch them all first and then lineart them etc. Because if you do one by one, once you finish a couple of them you'll feel a sense of achievement, and thinking that you'll have to exert the same effort or even more and going through all of that work again will only get you tired and more likely drop whatever you're working on. So doing them at the same time will make it easier and you'll prob feel like they're less work to do.

...

Try doing some free art for anatomy, or read books and tutorials, maybe watch speedpaint. There are so many ways that you can improve.
You should also understand whats your weakpoints, not just shading or anatomy but why, why does your shading seems off and his doesnt, what are you doing wrong, watch his videos and understand how he thinks , read theories and understand, that's what you need to be aiming for.

I know this is really long and not as helpful as you need but I just felt like giving you a small push to keep you going and maybe give you a hint on where to start.
Good luck with your journey~ I'll be updated with your posts so keep em' coming!

No, no, no! Please don't apologize, I'm really thankful for your comment, and it was helpful! it actually made my day.

First of all, thank you so much for the feedback (and compliment on my art), it means a lot to me. When I start working on sprites for my game, I'm planning on doing all of them at the same time, like you said - sketch all, ink all, color, shade, etc. I hadn't thought about applying that to my other works though ;; thank you for the reminder, I'll definitely do that.

I took at look at some of your work, and I really admire your shading, especially on sprites. I'm going to work really hard to get a better understanding of light and form, so my own rendering looks more realistic. I'll check out speedpaints on youtube too, thanks for the tip! Do you have any favorite artists that I could look into first?

Again, thank you for taking the time to write this. I'm feeling even more motivated to pick up the pen today ;_; Your support and advice means a lot.

[noctos]

I'm a bit........ reluctant to post this. I decided to finish the sprite practice from yesterday, and it's tough to realize you're nowhere near where you want to be. There are aspects of it that I like, but I really don't understand how to shade clothes!



I think I'm on the right track with the hair and the eyes, but the rest feels sort of random. I tried keeping a light source in mind but I find it hard to produce believable shadows from hair and clothing. I know different textures react differently to light, and that practice makes perfect, but I just!!! shading?!?! hLEp.

Hrgrgr I'll go observe and practice how clothes work.

[YuukiCrossPudding]

Hi there noctos!
I really like your drawing especially those two up there!

For the bunny, she's really cute! I like the pose and everything, including the fur! Sharp lines, but the bunny still have the fluffy look!

What bugs me just for her face features, probably her eyes...? or mouth I guess
it looks belonged to human, maybe you can try experimenting (when you have time) and try change them into something that more.. animal-like? but that's just my preference and opinion!! >< ignore these if it become scary if you did change them lolol and sorry in advance...?

For the second drawing, I love him and your flowers drawing are really nice, you should finish coloring him, I do tend have a lot of unfinished drawing because I'm thinking my coloring is not good enough, but recently I found that in the end what matters is we finished something! Even if we do unsatisfied with the results, it's alright, that means we can see our faults and try to fix it so we can improve in the future.
When we did half-finished drawing, we'll keep doing that, and in the end we can't move from that spot, because we know that something is wrong, but we can't fix them because we're stuck in that spot, pondering what to do. I did this a few years ago, and that's why my improvement pace's stunted :"D

If you're lost of motivation, I suggest to watch some speed-paint videos, or tutorials, I did that and it motivates me a lot, listening to your favorite music or take a break by watching movies or playing games works too, I tend to search for a game or movie that have a lot of visual effects.

Sometimes simplicity is the answer, you don't have to over shade in coloring! a lot of art applied simple colors on them and still looks good because they know how to put the colors in the right way, I'm still searching and experimenting with my coloring style too, so let's improve together! Can't wait to see more of your art!

[noctos]

What bugs me just for her face features, probably her eyes...? or mouth I guess
it looks belonged to human, maybe you can try experimenting (when you have time) and try change them into something that more.. animal-like? but that's just my preference and opinion!! >< ignore these if it become scary if you did change them lolol and sorry in advance...?

Oh my gosh, now that you mention it --- I definitely should have gone for a more bunny-ish mouth, shouldn't I? Something like :3 hahaha. Thank you for that feedback, I'll play around with it some more, so it doesn't look like a chibi human in a bunny suit :'D I hadn't even thought about that!

If you're lost of motivation, I suggest to watch some speed-paint videos, or tutorials, I did that and it motivates me a lot, listening to your favorite music or take a break by watching movies or playing games works too, I tend to search for a game or movie that have a lot of visual effects.

I've been playing a lot of Final Fantasy lately. I want to draw pretty faces like that grgrgr... *shakes fist. I absolutely love getting lost in games that are visually stunning. It just awakens all my creative energy. I'll check speed-paints for sure, though! Haven't watched a lot of those actually.

Sometimes simplicity is the answer, you don't have to over shade in coloring! a lot of art applied simple colors on them and still looks good because they know how to put the colors in the right way, I'm still searching and experimenting with my coloring style too, so let's improve together! Can't wait to see more of your art!

You are absolutely right ;_; I think the issue is that I don't understand where the shadows are supposed to go, so I just wildly spatter them on and hope I hit the jackpot. I know this is very unproductive don't lOOK AT ME I'm making it my next mission to thoroughly learn about light & shadows.

Thank you for your kind words and feedback <3 Looking at your art made me happy, and I look forward to following your stuff as well! Yes, let's work hard and improve ❤❤

[Chibisaso]

No, no, no! Please don't apologize, I'm really thankful for your comment, and it was helpful! it actually made my day.
First of all, thank you so much for the feedback (and compliment on my art), it means a lot to me

glad I could help <33

I took at look at some of your work, and I really admire your shading, especially on sprites.

Thank you ;a; *hides in a corner*

Do you have any favorite artists that I could look into first?

Hmmm, well I have many, not sure if they're what you're looking for.
•Hirunaka no ryuusei - it's one of my favourite mangas, I especially love to look at the hands, the artist really gets the proportions exactly right from many prespectives. Turns out she actually got models to pose for her. ( thats why I think life art is the best way to improve in anatomy)
•19 days by oldxian - his style is so unique! Like urgh it's so amazing , eventhough it's so simple.
It feels like his art is so effortless and unbouded. I really also love how his coloring is so simple, I tend to stare at the backgrounds while reading. They are so simple and usually with only 1-2 layers of shadow & light, yet it doesnt feel like it wouldnt be used for a game. Does that make sense to you ?
Dramatical murder - again, hands. I really need to practice hands. And I love their cell shading, I've tried many times to cell shade in a way similar to theirs but failed, I feel like I'll just forvever admire their art from afar. This was the most that helped me with anatomy and postures after free art, the artist is def. In control of how everything bend and turn.
I also watch some of sycra's videos on yt, he has some helpful tips and unlike most other tutorials he doesnt tell you do that and this, but gives you an idea of the principles and shows you a variety of examples from different prespectives.

but I really don't understand how to shade clothes!

Imo I think your shading is just fine! Only the jeans seems a bit off to me, I think the problem here is your lighting. as you said, different textures react differently to light. The light on the cardigan/jacket is too concentraded, personally I would only make it this strong on metals / very reflective surface, maybe try blurring out the light strokes a bit.

(Credits to the owner of this picture)

The more there is light on something the more glossy it looks.
If you already understand my point you dont need to read the rest.

As you can see in the example above, concentration of light on metals is high eg high reflective material. While on the cloth a bit blurred eg less reflective material, while on wood you basically dont see any light stokes at all eg no reflectivity.

Also I feel like his left shoulder should be wider ? Did you try flipping the image before posting it ?
Try googling for similar real life poses.

I really love how you did the hair, looks so simple and smooth, you really have a thing in doing fur/hair that just attracts me.

I think the issue is that I don't understand where the shadows are supposed to go, so I just wildly spatter them on and hope I hit the jackpot

This is completely normal believe me! Try watching sakimi-chan's speedpaint videos amd you'll see how much she keeps changing the shadows and the way something look, there's nothing wrong with changing how something looks or whatever you want to change until you feel like this is the most accurate you could do or the most realistic.

I've been playing a lot of Final Fantasy lately. I want to draw pretty faces like that grgrgr... *shakes fist. I absolutely love getting lost in games that are visually stunning

I am the same <3 god final fantasy XV is amazing, and bioshock as well, urgh I wish I could create characters like these *shots*

Again, long reply. I hope I dont bore you with my excessive blabbering.

[noctos]

Dramatical murder - again, hands. I really need to practice hands. And I love their cell shading, I've tried many times to cell shade in a way similar to theirs but failed, I feel like I'll just forvever admire their art from afar. This was the most that helped me with anatomy and postures after free art, the artist is def. In control of how everything bend and turn.

I think the issue is that I don't understand where the shadows are supposed to go, so I just wildly spatter them on and hope I hit the jackpot

This is completely normal believe me! Try watching sakimi-chan's speedpaint videos amd you'll see how much she keeps changing the shadows and the way something look, there's nothing wrong with changing how something looks or whatever you want to change until you feel like this is the most accurate you could do or the most realistic.
...
Again, long reply. I hope I dont bore you with my excessive blabbering.

I'm so sorry for the SUPER late reply. I assure you, I find your blabbering very useful and I'm extremely thankful that you've taken the time <3 The reason I haven't replied is because I wanted to create something before I posted heh.

I've been drawing every day lately. Whenever I feel down about my art I tend to take all my drawing to a sketchbook. It feels less scary, y'know? I love my tablet but I feel pressured whenever I'm sketching digitally for some reason. I've finally sketched, lined and colored something now, though!



... Twice, even. Grrrrr lighting is my biggest enemy, but I will desTROY it one of these days. I did the left one first because I wanted to practice atmospheric light, but I didn't understand where the shadows should go, which prompted me to do the second one. I'm making it a habit to observe light around me nowadays. I watch how it hits people and buildings and I want to continue drawing until I nail it.

But!! This child up here is actually the protagonist of a KN I'm making. I have another huge project in the works, but I realized it might be overkill for a first-timer. I did some thinking and decided to test myself with a KN before I tackle the other one. I think this is a good project, since it's forcing me to work harder on character design, and I'm sketching things I've never drawn before. (My sketchbook is full of moose??)

[King-sama]

This looks pretty good! o: maybe you can add shines to the hair for the left ver?

..actually I did a color over something ^^' hope it helps!