Drawing/Animating

[Nesirb]

Hello

*Warning! Wall of text.

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Long time lurker here. I enjoy the content made at the LOK forums, and i respect this community, you guys are really helpful towards eachother. I've recently started with Flash CS6, hoping to one day make my own H-Games, however, i'm facing some problems. I'm familiar with Actionscript 3, and the coding is not an issue for me, however i'm not an experienced artist. At the beginning, i was faced with two options; team up with another person who could draw and animate for my projects, or learn how to draw myself. Seeing as i am not comfortable working with other people, in addition to not wanting to invest any money (I only want to do this as a hobby, so i'm not intending to gain/spend money) in my projects. So i chose the last option.

Two weeks ago i started learning how to draw from scratch. It was hard at first, but it was somewhat rewarding once your drawings took shape and actually started to look like something, instead of just some incomprehensible rabble. I've made some slight progress, but i obviously need some help as where to go from here.

OK so what i need help with is utilizing the drawing tools in Flash CS6, and how to draw certain bodyparts, mainly hands, feet, hair and eyes. I would also really appreciate some feedback on my latest drawings, as its really hard to jugde your own creations by yourself. Yes i know it's not pretty, but we all had to start somewhere.

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- I may have rushed the head/hair on these two, as i'm mainly focusing on the body.

The tools i'm currently using is the Brush, Eraser, Pencil (For shading certain parts), Fill bucket and the Eyedropper tools. When i animate, i do it frame by frame, as it gives better results and just generally feels better. And at this point you might start laughing uncontrollaby, so buckle up; i'm using a mouse to do this. Yes, i'm stupid/retarded/dumb/ but i really don't like the alternatives, and i can't afford a drawing tablet quite yet.

My intentions isn't to draw high resolution CG's or creating highly detailed drawings. I want to be able to create a sidescroller game where the art is simple/cartooney. Hope this information helps

Thanks in advance!

[Terrantor!!!]

I'd say my biggest mistake in becoming an artist was starting with something complex like the female form. I know this sounds boring, but I recommend starting with the basics. Learning to freehand shapes and shading. Perspective is important, too. Lotsa stuff on the essential level will really improve your complex stuff in the long run. So draw a cardboard box, first. Then something round like a soccer ball. Slowly work your way up to something like an airplane, then start working on organics.

[Nesirb]

So ideally i should just start simple and work my way up? Fair enough, if you want to get good at something, you'll have to invest a fair amount of time. I guess it would be wise to practice perspective and shading, as you won't get that depth in your drawings if these two things aren't facilitated. I'll take up on your advice, and maybe when i feel i've improved somewhat, i can post results and get some feedback. Until then, back to the drawing board.

[Terrantor!!!]

That said, a good fast way to draw humans is to trace your favorite artist's work. The only problem with that is that it's better to discover your own style rather than just copy. But you can make adaptations and whatnot. I used to trace dragonball characters when I started. You can kinda see it in my art still, lol.

[Nesirb]

I have been practicing drawing simple stuff now, trying to go slowly in order to learn, but it's not really easy when you are impatient. I did make some objects that i could possibly use in my next game, but unfortunately my computer crashed and i lost most of it. However, i remade two of the platforms i made:

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photo hosting

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images

- I think the grass platform might be useable, but the stone platform looks like shit, and i can't figure out how to make it look like an actual stone slab. Help would be greatly appreciated.

Tracing other people's work has proved to be a great way of learning how to draw complex shapes. I've drawn the outlines of a female character looking sideways like a character would in a platform game. Hopefully, this might be better than my earlier attempts.

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- This would be part of a walking animation. I think i would use another pose for the idle animation.
I know she doesen't have that ideal female shape that you would see in a typical H-Game, but it's a style i personally like, and you said i should try to discover my own style. I'm having trouble drawing her face sideways, and i would appreciate help with that.

I'm thinking maybe i should start doing walking animations and idle animations at this point. I'm aware that i'm not very good at this, but i know that experience is the best teacher. I also don't expect my first game to turn out to be anything good, but hopefully i'll get better with time.

Offtopic: Is it just me, or is this boardreally empty? There's not many people posting/commenting.

[Terrantor!!!]

I'm digging all three, actually. I like your platforms. Yeah the forums have been dead since forever. If u want to go to a place with more activity, I'd recommend hong-fire.