Bought a cheap tablet - Pez tries art!

figmentPez · Mar 1, 2011

I used to love drawing and making stuff, but that kind of fell by the wayside when my chronic illness started in my teens. I've really been feeling like I want to get back to being artistic, so I grabbed a no-name tablet for $25 and it came in the mail today. I haven't installed GIMP or any other real programs yet, but just trying to get used to the tablet I mocked up a couple of concepts in MSPaint. I like the idea of a mash-up cosplay of a Green Lantern as a ninja in the Naruto universe. I made up a couple of logo ideas, and I'm thinking I might try and sketch up a full costume later:

This lantern would go on the back of the coat, or possibly on the chest.

I'm not completely happy with the proportions on this one, but it's on the right track for what I'm thinking should be engraved on the headband's metal plate.

I also like the idea of a kunai made of translucent green plastic with an LED hidden in the handle. I have no idea how such a thing would be made, but it would be totally awesome.

strawman · Mar 2, 2011

figmentPez said:
I also like the idea of a kunai made of translucent green plastic with an LED hidden in the handle. I have no idea how such a thing would be made, but it would be totally awesome.

I could make it, but it would be, like, $800. I'm sure you could do it with some molding compounds from smoothon, clear casting compound with green dye, and the remnants of a single AAA LED flashlight.

Do you visit the replica prop forum? There's lots of info there about prop making, and I'm sure you could get a lot of advice about making a translucent green light-up kunai there as well. Look at the videos here: http://www.smooth-on.com/Encapso-K=-Water/c1276/index.html Given that the dyes are flourescent, using an ultraviolet LED might give an even more fantastic look.

figmentPez · Mar 2, 2011

First Lady Puffinstuff said:
I could make it, but it would be, like, $800.

Yowch! I knew props sold for a lot, but I had no idea.

Do you visit the replica prop forum? There's lots of info there about prop making, and I'm sure you could get a lot of advice about making a translucent green light-up kunai there as well. Look at the videos here: http://www.smooth-on.com/Encapso-K=-Water/c1276/index.html Given that the dyes are flourescent, using an ultraviolet LED might give an even more fantastic look.

I'll keep that in mind for the future. This is kind of long-term dreaming. Right now I'm still not capable of a lot physically. Just being healthy enough to feel creative and want to sketch is a pretty big milestone for me. I'll probably be sticking to ideas for a while, and not execution.

Thanks for the info, though.

drifter · Mar 2, 2011

Re: kunai, I'll mention polycaprolactone, which is available under many brand names (Shapelock, InstaMorph, Friendly Plastic), and is also available in color, or you can dye them yourself. The ones I've seen are usually white when solid, and slightly translucent. There's a video of one brand in Krisken's Warhammer thread that shows its capabilities pretty well (at least I think it's polycaprolactone). Very neat stuff, and reusable.

Ah, here it is:

figmentPez · Jun 22, 2011

I'm trying to learn to use Inkscape, so I picked what I thought might be a fun project. I'm going to turn this movie poster:

Into some fan-art for Obscurus Lupa. I'm not very far, but I'm feeling a lot better about the results so far than I would have expected:

I've also started to work on the dragon in the background, but that's not looking as slick. Actually, I started that first, but I'm probably going about it all wrong. Still, it feels so good to just create something, anything. I've had an itch inside to create for years, but my illness kept me from doing so.

Any advice? (Besides "stop using Inkscape".)

drifter · Jun 22, 2011

1. Draw a lot.
2. When drawing, try not to copy too many comics/cartoons
3. Draw more.
4. Try to really look at what you're drawing; don't assume what's there, really look at it and draw it.
5. Keep drawing.
6. Don't forget to take a break every hour or so (assuming you're spending a long time drawing)
7. Draw some more.
8. Eat snacks! They're yummy!
9. Try colored pencils or something. Color is your friend.
10. Fart a lot. It keeps people away so you can concentrate on drawing.

figmentPez · Jun 25, 2011

Making some progress:

I'm going for a wolf's head on the dragon. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep the horns or not.

Krisken · Jun 25, 2011

I love my Instant Mold, though sometimes I just can't get the detail I want. Sometimes it just doesn't get into the space proper. Works best as a single mold than a 2 part one.

figmentPez · Aug 17, 2011

I'm not going to start a new thread for the draw every day, since it's obvious I'm not going to be able to draw every day. Still I'm going to do what I can.

Some people may remember one of my old avatars:

I decided that I need a new version of it:

The hat colors are just temporary, but it's all I've got time/energy for this evening. I'm totally using this as my Twitter avatar when I'm done with it. (and a TF2 spray... and maybe elsewhere.)

figmentPez · Aug 19, 2011

Finalized the colors:

I think I'll switch my avatar here as well.

figmentPez · Aug 26, 2011

I've been feeling kind of guilty because I bought this tablet, but so far all I've done with it I could have done with a mouse. As much as I love my new jester, there's nothing drawn freehand on it.

So, I decided to be brave today and start work on my Ninja Green Lantern concept. I relied heavily on tracing.

I think I'll move the logo lower, and I need to add in a headband, and I think I want a sleeveless black coat. Plus some pouches and other stuff.

I'm worn out. This is even more tiring than I thought it would be.

fennewalde · Aug 27, 2011

Nice first attempt at free hand. Part of the process of tablet work is learning the actual program you are using (Even if you're familiar with the program using a mouse, holding a stylus in your hand changes the tools you use and the frequency at which you use them. Learn your hotkeys!) so going back and forth can take time and be tedious.

As you can see, the magic wand tool sucks ass. Use it sparingly. A good exercise for someone new to using a stylus would be to simply fill in the lines free hand using various sizes of brushes. It will help your control much better than drawing within the magic wands selected space carelessly. If all else fails, polygonal lasso > magic wand.

Using a stylus just takes time. You gotta put your hours in!

figmentPez · Aug 27, 2011

Magic wand? I'm not familiar with that tool. I was just using the paint brush and the paint bucket. I'm too tired to do anything fancy. I'm sure that was an even dumber way to do it than what you're thinking of, but new stuff is draining for me. Just using a tablet is giving me a splitting headache (which is pretty much normal for me when I learn anything new). I'm trying to keep from taking too many big steps at once.

I did this using Paint.net, all my other work has been in Inkscape. Overall I think I like Inkscape better, because vector seems to mesh more with the way my brain thinks about shapes and colors (working in B&W is difficult for me). I'm going to go back to that for a retry on what I just did, see if I like that option better.

Thanks for the encouragement, and the advice.

fennewalde · Aug 27, 2011

Gotcha. Not familiar with either of those programs.

Magic wand selects the area and the paint bucket just colors in the selected area the wand would have selected. Both tools have trouble filling in all the pixels which is why you are usually left with bucket/wand dust which is just unselected pixels (seen on the top of his shoulder, inbetween where you used the brush tool to define his shoulder and where the paint bucket ends it's fill)

I have no idea how vector works. It's like magic to me. I just look at it and go, "OOOOOHHHH!" :aaah:

figmentPez · Aug 27, 2011

Just a quick doodle to get more comfortable drawing lines.

fennewalde · Aug 28, 2011

The profile line for the nose, lips, and chin is silky smooth. I might have to check out this program for inking stuff.

figmentPez · Aug 28, 2011

fennewalde said:
The profile line for the nose, lips, and chin is silky smooth. I might have to check out this program for inking stuff.

That was done in Inkscape, which is a vector graphics program. It handles some things very very differently than something bitmap based like Photoshop. I almost gave up on using it when I realized how the eraser tool works. (It erases objects, so you can't use it to just wipe out the end of a line that went too long.)

figmentPez · Oct 2, 2011

I liked this so much I'm posting it here too:

figmentPez · Oct 12, 2011

Working on the backdrop for the monstdurrs wallpaper I'm thinking of making:

Monstdurrs _ Wallpaper _ 1920x1080 testA.png

House silhouetted against the sky towards the middle of the horizon, a bare branched tree off to the side (possibly with a skeleton hanging from it's branches), plus a full moon and some clouds in the sky with maybe the milky way if I can pull it off. Then scatter the monstdurrs around... er, floating in mid-air for some reason... makes about as much sense as just putting them in a grid on a gradient background.

figmentPez · Oct 15, 2011

I'm nowhere near finished with the mummy, so I'm posting it here. I knew it would be tough, but it's even harder than I thought. I'm having a ton of fun, though. I'm having to learn about masks and clipping and I'm gonna have to do some strange cheating to get bandages to go over one eye and underneath the other.

The mouth is a total placeholder, I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing there, probably something with individual teeth.

I'm liking what I've got going with the eyes. Still trying to figure out just how much to do with the blurred edges and the darkness oozing over the edge of the face. (I had to do something to have the eyes bulge out of the face, when there aren't any eyeballs to bulge.)

Any suggestions are welcome.

LittleKagsin · Oct 15, 2011

Ee, I like it! It makes me happy. =^^=

figmentPez · Oct 20, 2011

Still working on the backdrop:

Monstdurrs _ Wallpaper _ 1920x1080 testB.png

Not sure if I'm going to keep the moon as is or make a simpler version. Right now it's a bitmap auto-converted to vector. It looks good, but inconsistent with the rest of the style.

I have no idea where I'm going with the house. Just playing around with lighting right now.

figmentPez · Nov 28, 2011

Getting my Christmas avatar on:

2011 Christmas Santdurr Claus 320pix.png

Krisken · Nov 28, 2011

Dig it

figmentPez · Feb 1, 2013

Kicking off my draw every day, the monst-durrs return:

figmentPez · Feb 3, 2013

Progress from last night:

Constructive criticism is welcome.

figmentPez · Feb 3, 2013

Reworking the Jester Pumpkin:

Monstdurr _ Jester Pumpkin _ 2013_02_03.png

Before:

Monstdurr _ Jester Pumpkin _ 2011_10_18c.png

I'd appreciate feedback if you've got any.

Bumble the Boy Wonder · Feb 4, 2013

What program are you using for these? The line work is all very smooth and seems like they would all make for some sweet logos and such

figmentPez · Feb 5, 2013

Bumble the Boy Wonder said:
What program are you using for these? The line work is all very smooth and seems like they would all make for some sweet logos and such

I'm working in Inkscape. It's an open source vector-based graphics program. I use it because it's free and vector makes more sense to me than bitmap.

Right now my work still feels to me like it's a little sterile. I think I want to learn how to make things a little less even, a little less perfectly geometric, without tons and tons of work tweaking bit by bit.