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Rock-On-RocketLlama In reply to 3Fangs [2015-05-30 00:12:45 +0000 UTC]

Hahaha!! It's okay it's okay; photo reference ALL THE WAY!!!

I have a whole collection of awkward selfies on Photo Booth in multiple dumb positions trying to get a shot of a hand or a jawline or whatever at JUST the write angle so I can draw it the way I want :-p Sometimes I get the shot I want and just plug it into an opaque layer in pixelmator so I can trace the damn thing!

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3Fangs In reply to Rock-On-RocketLlama [2015-05-30 10:36:07 +0000 UTC]

Aye, photo references are an artist's best friend. (Yet for some reason I still have trouble with them.)
Do you ever have a hard time working from reference if you don't want the end result to be hyper-photo-realistic?
I find that it seems like in a drawing, one has to over exaggerate on the stretch and scrunch aspect, and be aware that following proportions precisely can sometimes hurt the end result.
Or, at least, that's the sort of trouble I've had in some of my photo-trace experiments.
Every time I try to follow proportions exactly as they're laid out, measure with eye and pencil, they come out looking sort of stiff and weird.
Yet when I use a photo ref as a rough guideline, the end result comes out better for me.

Hmm. I suppose it depends on the artistic style used as well...hmm:
You have an admirable mix of realism and cartoon. Your delightful spaghetti arms and/or legs never come out looking strange in context with the rest, same with the outrageous facial expressions. Yet there's so much depth and beauty to the backgrounds! (Never would've assumed this was your first major attempt at a comic--you've got a knack.)

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Rock-On-RocketLlama In reply to 3Fangs [2015-06-19 09:01:56 +0000 UTC]

Hmm, yes actually o_o  -to the proportional trouble bit. I actually just dealt with this on the most recent page (page 51!) when I was drawing that first panel with the backpack straps - I hadn't drawn ol' Hiking Llama for a while so I was trying to figure out where the backpack straps sat on my body, and I pulled up an old photo and tried to match it exactly but it just didn't work! Proportionally. The proportions that were "real" weren't "right" and it was frustrating for a second until I realized I needed to stop trying to rely on the photos so much.

Roughing photos out into a sketch layer definitely makes it a lot easier to stylize. I like to pick and choose the bits I need help with, like positioning an arm but still keeping a cartoony noodle-body.

I should say that Shinyako and I spent a lot of time building words and writing scripts and practicing the foundational elements of launching a webcomic We talked a lot about our plans for comic ideas while we were growing up and drew a lot of terrible but educational concept art. Later on, a few college-level drawing classes hammered some technical skills into my head, and the PCT gave me the story and the patience to actually sit down and start drawing!

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3Fangs In reply to Rock-On-RocketLlama [2015-06-19 11:17:41 +0000 UTC]

Aye, that's the one thing I caution my sibs about using references--never get to the point where you HAVE to rely extensively on them.
It's hard to build up confidence in your OWN visual abilities when using photos. I think it's superb in this day and age how an artist can grab photo references for themselves real easy, what with all the phones and mobile devices out there, but it's still nice to be able to just "eyeball" things in your own mind. (Guess it's sort of a balancing act.)

The other thing I hate to see is when an artist will sort of disparage their work because they used a reference.
(Like they're ashamed they couldn't draw something from scratch without having seen it first.)
I keep telling people that using a reference does NOT make you a lesser artist! Professionals do it!
That's why a lot of people with their own studios have models come in and stuff!
(Although that's not so necessary with the internet and cameras now.)

Ooo, speaking of comics and Shinyako...
Do you know if SHE has any plans to pick up comicking any time soon?
(If not going back to any of the old ideas, is there going to be anything new in store?)
Blerg. Why does life have to be so busy? I misses her art.

I'm really glad you've picked up inspiration and patience to jump on the webcomic bandwagon--it's been GREAT to see your art helping to tell your story.

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