What is your method? (Drawing)

[Gundam Zero Force]

Ok Just wondering for all you Anime fans who draw your Favorite Characters or create your own:

What is your method of making an Anime Character? Do you only Draw? Does it involve Scanning? Or the Computer?

I think my method is one of the wierdest . . . but it works for me . . .

I first draw an outline of my Character (no tracing of course! duh!) weither it be made up or off of a real Character. Then I ink it with a Sharpie, next I scan the picture to my Computer . . .

Next you would probrably expect me to use Photoshop CS2 or Illustrator CS2 for a proffesional level . . . I have those programs but I don't use them "oh my!" . . . I use (drum roll) Adobe After Effects 7.0 Pro . . . . ever heard of it? well I bring my Drawings into AE (After Effects) And "Key out" the white on my paper . . . then I put a peach colored layer behind my drawing for the skin . . . then I digitally paint away! I add all the shadows and clothing colors on . . . then I save the frame and that's it . . . It is more complicated than that but timewise for some reason I find it easier to do in AE than Photo CS2 . . .

Also I could just create a complete digital charcter only using the computer . . . but that just kills the fun for me

So what's your method?

[celcius]

About half a year ago, I used to do the same method you mentioned but with CS2.
Nowadays, I do everything in OpenCanvas. First a preliminary stick figure. Then I go over the body shape, afterwhich an addition layer of blue is created for that. Then I go over the clothes of the person, and a red addition layer is for that. Finally, I do the final ink. Then colors and shades.

[Gundam Zero Force]

That's cool . . .

I am still experimenting but I found out that this way was easiest for me . . .

I do want to use my CS2 program more though . . . . it is getting lonely lol

[Aoie_Emesai]

I don't use sharpies. I use my 5$ pen i got from Michaels to trace my line arts adn then scan them and use Coral 10 to edit them. But i use lined regular loose leaf paper to draw on so i gotta do much editing to remove all of the lines. CGing, i haven't thought about that yet, still learning photoshop.

[seiftis]

I only draw, usually original characters.

Sticking to pencils as medium, still have yet to do the inking (as it need steady hand and a bit of uh... confidence?)

Spoiler:

[Sunabouzu]

huii thats awesome seiftis

realy good work...keep on

[Gundam Zero Force]

cool!

I am not that good, I still need to learn a lot. But hopefully I will get better the more I practice . . . . I want to be able to not rely on the computer as much and have my drawing abilities dictate how my images will turn out in the end

[Gundam Zero Force]

Ok here is a drawing I did just now . . . it took about an hour to do the digital work . . I did not ink it either . . . so I knda

NOTE TO SELF: Don't draw on a peice of paper that has words on the back When I scanned it into my computer the words made all my lines choppy . . . . uh well, I learned my lesson.

I know, you don't need to tell me about all the mistakes . . . . it is not that good but I have only been drawing Anime characters for like a week now . . . I have drawn a lot of mechanical stuff . . . but drawing Anime Characters is new.

She really isn't based off of any character . . . I just made her up, though she does look somewhat like Relena (one of my favorite characters from Gudam Wing) . . . go figure LOL

This is the original drawing . . . I made the contrast a bit greater so you can actually see it

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...Drawing1-1.jpg


Here is the finished rendering after working with it in Adobe After Effects

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...E/Drawing1.jpg

as you can tell I have a lot left to learn, but hey, I am getting better . . .

any suggestions/comments on what I can do to improve would be nice

[Lnzy1]

I never do the skeleton thing a lot of ppl do. I'm lazy and start with the head. The the Hair, eyes, nose, and mouth. Then I draw the body. I concentrate a lot more on the face so a lot of my unfinished pics are just heads.

[Zero Shinohara]

Originally Posted by Gundam Zero Force

Ok here is a drawing I did just now . . . it took about an hour to do the digital work . . I did not ink it either . . . so I knda

NOTE TO SELF: Don't draw on a peice of paper that has words on the back When I scanned it into my computer the words made all my lines choppy . . . . uh well, I learned my lesson.

I know, you don't need to tell me about all the mistakes . . . . it is not that good but I have only been drawing Anime characters for like a week now . . . I have drawn a lot of mechanical stuff . . . but drawing Anime Characters is new.

She really isn't based off of any character . . . I just made her up, though she does look somewhat like Relena (one of my favorite characters from Gudam Wing) . . . go figure LOL

This is the original drawing . . . I made the contrast a bit greater so you can actually see it

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...Drawing1-1.jpg


Here is the finished rendering after working with it in Adobe After Effects

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...E/Drawing1.jpg

as you can tell I have a lot left to learn, but hey, I am getting better . . .

any suggestions/comments on what I can do to improve would be nice

That one was quite nice, although I do have a little tip for ya. On the right side of her shoulder ( viewer's right side ), try making it a little more convex, curved to the left, since necks ( and other body parts ) tend to be flexible enough to bend a little bit.

And heads up for everyone who can actually use markers and inkpens. Unfortunately, that's something I can't do, due to my huge deficiency in doing straight, solid, thin lines. I've got to say, though, that I'm old-fashioned. I start out with the head, then work my way on to the body, clothes, clean the unnecessary and ugly lines, and then scan it. Depending on what I want to do with the drawing, I either use Manga Studio to outline/ink the picture, or Adobe Illustrator to outline and then paint it in Photoshop, though my past CGing experiences left me pretty disappointed.

I did try using opencanvas, but I have the same inkpen problem with my tablet, so that program didn't work out for me.

[Gundam Zero Force]

Originally Posted by Zero Shinohara

That one was quite nice, although I do have a little tip for ya. On the right side of her shoulder ( viewer's right side ), try making it a little more convex, curved to the left, since necks ( and other body parts ) tend to be flexible enough to bend a little bit.

And heads up for everyone who can actually use markers and inkpens. Unfortunately, that's something I can't do, due to my huge deficiency in doing straight, solid, thin lines. I've got to say, though, that I'm old-fashioned. I start out with the head, then work my way on to the body, clothes, clean the unnecessary and ugly lines, and then scan it. Depending on what I want to do with the drawing, I either use Manga Studio to outline/ink the picture, or Adobe Illustrator to outline and then paint it in Photoshop, though my past CGing experiences left me pretty disappointed.

I did try using opencanvas, but I have the same inkpen problem with my tablet, so that program didn't work out for me.

Thanks for the info on my drawing . . . I know it is not that good but thank you for the kind reply. I actaully drew a better drawing today . . . maybe I will post it later.

I think it is cool everyone has different methods in making thier Anime Characters . . . most if the time during College between classes I now draw . . . . I am slowly improving my skills

[Lord Raiden]

My freehand artwork is utterly horrible, so I spend a lot of my time in Photoshop doing my drawing. I use the line and marque tools a lot.

[Gundam Zero Force]

Originally Posted by Lord Raiden

My freehand artwork is utterly horrible, so I spend a lot of my time in Photoshop doing my drawing. I use the line and marque tools a lot.

Evertime I hear Photoshop CS2 It makes me want to use it more . . . . I am just so used to After Effects I barely use CS2 . . . .AE (After Effects) has all the paint tools like CS2 does plus a lot of other things so I am not missing too much . . . . but I do need to learn to use my lonley CS2 more

[Zero Shinohara]

Thanks for the info on my drawing . . . I know it is not that good but thank you for the kind reply. I actaully drew a better drawing today . . . maybe I will post it later.

Not at all, don't worry about that. I just pointed that out because sometimes, when drawing, some small things stick out, so being prepared for them is the best thing you do.

And I wouldn't recommend Photoshop to do outlines, though. Illustrator ( and some Opensource, Freeware programs ) has many nice tools for outlines, besides the fact that it uses Vectoring technology ( awesome for linearts ). BUT the downside is that, unlike photoshop where you can learn the basics in just a few hours, Illustrator requires a damn lot of work to get it right, so yeah.

[Gundam Zero Force]

Originally Posted by Zero Shinohara

Not at all, don't worry about that. I just pointed that out because sometimes, when drawing, some small things stick out, so being prepared for them is the best thing you do.

And I wouldn't recommend Photoshop to do outlines, though. Illustrator ( and some Opensource, Freeware programs ) has many nice tools for outlines, besides the fact that it uses Vectoring technology ( awesome for linearts ). BUT the downside is that, unlike photoshop where you can learn the basics in just a few hours, Illustrator requires a damn lot of work to get it right, so yeah.

Yeah your are right, the smallest curve that doesn't look right does stick out.

About that Vectoring stuff that Illustrator does . . . . I have Illustrator CS2 as well . . . but (shaking my head) I use that even less than I do Photoshop CS2 . . . .

[Zero Shinohara]

Well, just to illustrate how much of a difference I see between Manga Studio and Illustrator, here's a comparison:

Spoiler:

[Gundam Zero Force]

wow that is impressive!

And to think I have Illustrator CS2 sitting on my computer I guess I should use it once in a while

[Zero Shinohara]

Yep, though I'm still a huge noob with it. That was my first attempt.

http://www.deviantart.com/view/18008695/

http://www.tutorialfx.com/forums/ind...showtopic=8841

Are pretty interesing tutorials if anyone wants to check that out.

[Gundam Zero Force]

Originally Posted by Zero Shinohara

Yep, though I'm still a huge noob with it. That was my first attempt.

http://www.deviantart.com/view/18008695/

http://www.tutorialfx.com/forums/ind...showtopic=8841

Are pretty interesing tutorials if anyone wants to check that out.

I used my illustrator CS2 this morning . . . . wow I am going to need some practice lol

[Lord Raiden]

Originally Posted by Gundam Zero Force

Evertime I hear Photoshop CS2 It makes me want to use it more . . . . I am just so used to After Effects I barely use CS2 . . . .AE (After Effects) has all the paint tools like CS2 does plus a lot of other things so I am not missing too much . . . . but I do need to learn to use my lonley CS2 more

Pfft. I do all mine with Photoshop 6. I refuse to use 7 or higher after Adobe did a wet willey on all its customers. I'm very happy with 6 and plan to stay there until Adobe gets its collective head out of its *** and starts acting more mature instead of like some power hungry spoiled child.