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GoblinQueeen — Bringing Drawings to Life

Published: 2005-09-04 01:28:15 +0000 UTC; Views: 104066; Favourites: 2775; Downloads: 20883
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Description A tutorial focusing on bringing more life to still works such as character designs, illustrations, and sculptures.
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For a while now I've been wanting to put together another tutorial I thought might be able to help some people. Unfortunately, almost that whole time, I wasn't sure what I could really offer that hadn't been done a hundred times already by people far more qualified than me. Then, in my animation class the other day we were talking about the 12 Principles of Animation and keeping them in mind with our current projects. I was working on some concept development art, not animation, but that's when it hit me, I use those same principles all the time, with illustrations as well as animation.

Well, I figured since I used them all the time, it might be helpful to other people as well who might not have been exposed to the 12 principles, or who just never thought of applying them into their still illustrations. I am by no means a master of these ideas and have never claimed to be. I'm sure someone could go through my gallery and pull up a hundred pieces where I've failed to follow my own advice here. So no, my art is by no means the perfect example, I'm just an artist who wants to share what she can. If you find this useful or informative in any way, then I'll be happy my time was well spent.

As always, if you have questions on something I talked about or want some clarification, by all means, ask and I'll try to answer. Along those same lines, if you want some advice (along the lines of what I've done with the drawings in here) on a specific piece, you can post it in my forum here: [link] but be forewarned, it is for serious critique only.
One last thing, if you are looking for help with any art medium, check out It's a relatively new club bringing together artists of all mediums and skill levels to help each other and give support to those that would like it. Whether you want to give help or get it, everyone is welcome
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Comments: 314

P-I-L-L-Z [2009-05-10 21:05:00 +0000 UTC]

vert informative n helpfull.thank u

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

alexandra-dobra [2009-05-05 19:11:19 +0000 UTC]

Very explicit and usefull! Thank you!

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Ciclopropano [2009-04-28 03:51:12 +0000 UTC]

you missed the silhuette principle but you applied it to your drawing anyway

silhuette-a drawing must be understandable even if you can only see its silhuette or negative space around it

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Ciclopropano [2009-04-28 03:47:17 +0000 UTC]

you missed the silhuette principle but you applied it to your drawing anyway

silhuette-a drawing must be understandable even if you can only see its silhuette or negative space around it

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Ciclopropano [2009-04-28 03:46:06 +0000 UTC]

you missed the silhuette principle but you applied it to your drawing anyway

silhuette-a drawing must be understandable even if you can only see its silhuette or negative space around it

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Nemurire [2009-04-04 03:52:38 +0000 UTC]

!! i finally're-found' this again.
now that my cpu memory's cleared i can add in this as a 'icture' kukuku

just as helpful now as it was then^^

and although our 'styles' are distinctly different, even now re-reading this while reviewing one of my own scrappy doodles can help me improve so much!

thank you very much for this; your few illustrations help very much in conveying what you're trying to communicate^^

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Kikaruu [2009-03-19 20:10:57 +0000 UTC]

This is superb. Thanks for giving back to the community with such a nice tutorial. This is definitely going to come in handy.

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Solenbum [2009-02-09 23:56:07 +0000 UTC]

Great tut! Thanks so much
Love your gallery

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AnawielDewdrop [2009-01-24 21:52:07 +0000 UTC]

Woaw, i found this ages ago and to my annoyance lost it, i'm so glad i've found it there are so many helpful hints and tips here that will really help me to improve.

thanks for making this

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Tina-lori [2009-01-17 20:41:42 +0000 UTC]

this is great

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rama9114 [2009-01-13 04:07:55 +0000 UTC]

Amazing.
I've never quite found a tutorial that's helped me THIS MUCH. I find myself constantly going back to it.

My drawings have always been dull until studying from this tut. I'm proud to say that I've improved a lot with your help.

Thank you very much~!

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yeahgirl11 [2009-01-07 05:31:19 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much for making this tutorial!

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smattyc010ur [2009-01-04 21:48:53 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much for this!

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Xx-Kellyn-xX [2008-12-31 11:33:34 +0000 UTC]

Very interesting comments. I always want to add more to my drawings. I'll try and keep these points in mind.

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Neurquadic [2008-12-12 15:40:12 +0000 UTC]

Nice tutorial. Thanks for sharing.

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Emoticonsmile In reply to ??? [2008-12-09 17:22:48 +0000 UTC]

This is amazing. It's nice to see a tutorial that goes into the theory instead of just telling you what to do.
Definitely faved!

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tenseone [2008-12-06 01:43:55 +0000 UTC]

I really like this tutorial as it reminds me that I don't do half the work I need to with getting a good pose.

Thanks for showing us your process, it really helps in seeing how you think it through.

I'll be giving it a try

peace

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BlueRibbonWinner [2008-12-04 00:19:11 +0000 UTC]

Um...thanx for the helpful hints!
But her fingers scare me!They're
bending the wrong way...lol
but good pic...Mind if I use the
position she's in for one of my
drawings?

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

NearlyHeadlessPup [2008-11-08 16:37:23 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for making this!! I will upload a picture I did before this tutorial, and then re-draw it while trying to follow this tutorial!

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azscriblr [2008-11-07 05:05:14 +0000 UTC]

amazing amount of information in a short amount of space...I happened upon this
tutorial as I was trying to add some "LIFE" to my drawngs. I am just learning and
have a long way to go ..this should help immensly(sp?)...would love to hear more on
a place to have my work critiqued..(im a big boy I can take it)..

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LittleAcara [2008-10-15 01:52:51 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, this is totally helpful!
I love these tutorial where there's no step-by-step, only general information to think about while drawing.

Thanks agian, I'll keep that in mind!

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klomp123 [2008-10-15 01:12:19 +0000 UTC]

Amazing! So helpful and clear, bonus points for the list at the beginning.

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jbrown67 [2008-09-28 04:57:15 +0000 UTC]

wow, i got this from the art tutorials wiki. This is possibly the most helpful tutorial i have read so far, and that's saying alot! Thanks so much!

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LindseyMichelle [2008-08-15 18:00:36 +0000 UTC]

thank you soo much! I've been trying to figure out how to get more life with my drawings, and this helped a lot. I've been trying to find that book, but I can't find it anywhere! TT__TT

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marendins [2008-06-09 16:36:35 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot for sharing this with us ^^

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bladesfire [2008-04-14 02:35:11 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much for this tutorial! This is definately something that I could use. I've reached that point in my work where I now know how to draw and make it look decent, but it lacks depth and personality. Hopefully this will help me out of this rut I'm in. Anyway, thanks again for the well designed tutorial. :3

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lolasiannodel [2008-03-31 22:56:04 +0000 UTC]

This is very helpful! Thanks!

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shedra [2008-03-31 01:55:28 +0000 UTC]

Ya know, all of this is fairly obvious. But without a good level of thought all of this ends up being overlooked.
I appreciate this. Thanks for posting.

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Hunter-Wolf [2008-03-18 18:29:25 +0000 UTC]

That was pretty helpful and detailed .. thanks a lot ^_^

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wolfiq [2008-03-09 08:04:01 +0000 UTC]

It's rl helpfull

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HeyCuzin [2008-01-07 18:54:19 +0000 UTC]

Yes Extremely Helpful! A new Generation of family is growing. We don't Die... We Fly!

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ThesnOOze [2008-01-02 12:10:44 +0000 UTC]

That's just awesome! People like you are the real spirit of this website! You use the fact that everybody's connected here for it's real purpose! I highly appreciate that!
Thank you!

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GoblinQueeen In reply to ThesnOOze [2008-01-03 05:10:53 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for taking the time to read

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Zoza [2007-12-07 10:22:08 +0000 UTC]

This looks like it will be helpful to me

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GoblinQueeen In reply to Zoza [2007-12-08 17:10:56 +0000 UTC]

Oh good, I'm glad you find it so

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jhubert [2007-12-04 11:41:13 +0000 UTC]

Added to the Art Tutorials Wiki .

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

GoblinQueeen In reply to jhubert [2007-12-09 17:06:54 +0000 UTC]

Much thanks, I'll have to go check that out

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jhubert In reply to GoblinQueeen [2007-12-09 18:05:35 +0000 UTC]

Feel free to add any other good tutorials you know to the wiki as well - I've set permissions so that anyone can edit it.

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rAbIDMCRgurl [2007-11-27 04:36:32 +0000 UTC]

This is pretty!
^-^
I approve this tutorial!!!!!

Really it's good!

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AngelusNoir [2007-11-23 08:15:54 +0000 UTC]

/very/helpful...thanks for sharing...particularly helpful for the self-taught,like myself,who tend to muddle along...I'm sure I'll refer to this next time I'm working on a character

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GoblinQueeen In reply to AngelusNoir [2007-12-09 17:42:59 +0000 UTC]

Happy to be of help

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Mihoshi-TD [2007-11-18 13:52:58 +0000 UTC]

Excellent tutorial! It helps the artist to think more about the pose and not just go with the original idea,very original and useful. Thanks for taking the time to do it.:3

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GoblinQueeen In reply to Mihoshi-TD [2007-12-09 18:01:38 +0000 UTC]

You're very welcome, I'm glad you find it useful

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oupelay [2007-10-12 02:30:09 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! I will surely use it!

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TKGentry [2007-10-10 15:22:50 +0000 UTC]

Very clear and well taught. I'll be visiting again. It brings up some stuff. That even a seasoned artist needs to remember.

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Manchy007 [2007-10-10 15:20:47 +0000 UTC]

Awesome tut! I'll definetly use it a lot of times!

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Cindi-Khieu [2007-09-26 15:53:23 +0000 UTC]

This is going to be a very useful tutorial for me, my poses are very stiff.

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GoblinQueeen In reply to Cindi-Khieu [2007-09-27 16:09:41 +0000 UTC]

Oh good, glad it''ll be of use

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Tiger-89 [2007-09-23 02:52:36 +0000 UTC]

I like this tutorial, I know most of this already and can apply it to my art but whenever I feel my art is drifting off course it is usefull. A kind of "remember your basics" thing.

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GoblinQueeen In reply to Tiger-89 [2007-09-27 16:14:52 +0000 UTC]

lol, well, as long as it's useful

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