Hand Drawing

[DiM]

so yesterday i got my first graphics tablet and i started doodling and practicing.
i know several of you already have tablets and use them at map making so perhaps this would be good thread to talk about this and share tips and tricks.
so far i've learned the following:
1. don't use black, use a dark brown. for some reason it looks much better
2. don't use the brush at 100% opacity go for 10-50% depending on what you do

so far i've only done images using one colour and it's various shades (from the pen pressure and the opacity) and i've attempted a colourful version too (that kinda sucks).
anyway what troubles me the most are the shadows.i'm trying to learn how to do shadows but i can't find anywhere an answer to this question: should shadow lines be true to one direction throughout the whole image? or can i have them horizontal in one place, vertical on another? or perhaps they must follow the shape of the object?
for example if i make the shadow of a ball, should i make it of round lines or can i do it however i want?
i don't know, i'm torn and i feel like my shadows are inconsistent.
also, how the heck do i draw a straight line. and i'm not talking about perfectly straight cause that's easy, just hold shift . nope, i want something to be nearly straight, hand-drawn straight.


anyway post images here and let's discuss.
[spoiler=hand 1][/spoiler]
[spoiler=wolf skull][/spoiler]
[spoiler=marilyn pinup sketch][/spoiler]
[spoiler=marilyn pinup coloured][/spoiler]
[spoiler=skull][/spoiler]
[spoiler=natty without hoodie][/spoiler]
[spoiler=hand 2][/spoiler]

[The Bison King]

Funny I always use black lines but I mostly use the tablet for less rendered/realistic stuff.

should shadow lines be true to one direction throughout the whole image? or can i have them horizontal in one place, vertical on another? or perhaps they must follow the shape of the object?
for example if i make the shadow of a ball, should i make it of round lines or can i do it however i want?

There's no official "rule" but in my experience shadow lines look best when they follow the shape of the object. I think Hand 2 is pretty good about this, it would look better if the lines curved just a little bit with the finger, but that can be hard to do and be consistent about it.

how the heck do i draw a straight line. and i'm not talking about perfectly straight cause that's easy, just hold shift . nope, i want something to be nearly straight, hand-drawn straight.

Wish I could tell you I'm still trying to figure that one out

[natty dread]

Drawing straight lines is hard with a cheaper tablet... a lot of them have a very slick surface which causes wobble. Especially as they wear down with use. Professional level tablets (eg. Intuos) often have exchangeable surface sheets for this reason.

Usually when I need to draw things with accuracy, I just place a sheet of paper on the tablet and draw through it. It gives the pen tip some friction which helps keeping the pen steady, and also gives a more natural feel for drawing.

[DiM]

actually it wasn't about the tablet's surface it was more about my hand. anywhere from 0 to 90 degrees i can draw perfect horizontal lines, once i get past 90 all the way round to 359 my straight lines become crappy and wobbly.
but i discovered something so freaking simple it eluded me so far
i can simply turn the tablet to whatever direction i want so that the line i'm supposed to draw is at the angle i'm most comfortable with.
so since a horizontal left to right motion produces the best results i just turn the tablet around until it matches the position.

[natty dread]

Or, you could try MyPaint, it has a neat function that lets you rotate the canvas while you draw.

http://mypaint.intilinux.com/

[DiM]

that does sound interesting but i'll stick to photoshop for now. it's a programme i'm comfortable with

not too happy with this one. it should have been a lot more detailed but i'm not that good and/or patient
[spoiler=arc de triomphe][/spoiler]

[AndyDufresne]

Nice work on these, I am always amazed by people who can draw or paint or sculpt, since I always stunk at art classes in school. Heck, I remember trying to draw from those 'learn how to draw with these easy steps' books, and things never turned out right!


--Andy

[DiM]

i've done more practicing but it feels weird to be the only one posting

[The Bison King]

I recently tried making a comic strictly on the computer with my tablet... ok I didn't just "try" I actually did it this is what it looked like:

[bigimg]http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/2276/badcatcomicwebw.jpg[/bigimg]

I still don't think I can draw as well n the tablet as I can on paper but I recognize the conveniences.

[DiM]

that actually looks awesome. the shading is superb. and the facial expressions. i love it. post more.

[Victor Sullivan]

That is awesome, TBK.

-Sully

[army of nobunaga]

looks good man.. .talent is going to shine on any media, I believe Picasso said something like that.

[RjBeals]

here's a banana i drew with my tablet just practicing. straight lines are always hard for me. for coloring, i learned to set my opacity real low, and sample colors using a 5 point sample with the eyedropper, instead of a 1 point sample.

[natty dread]

Ok, here's my first try on a new software (Krita)... I'm basically in love with this program already, particularly the sketch brushes - they're just plain awesome. That's all there is to say about sketch brushes.

This is really just a doodle, I was basically just trying out different brushes and effects at random, so it's not very refined...

[bigimg]http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/6973/dev2e.png[/bigimg]

[koontz1973]

Self portrait.

Love it and nice considering you have just started on this new programme of yours. Going to ask how is it different but in the other group.

[natty dread]

Here's more experimenting... this one didn't quite turn out like I wanted but meh.

[natty dread]

Did I happen to mention this software is amazing?

Here's something I did using sketch brush + symmetry tool:

[bigimg]http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/1921/girlg.png[/bigimg]

[DiM]

i worked on more images some turned out nice, some turned out decent. still need loads and loads of practice though.
here are a few:

[spoiler=orc][/spoiler]

[spoiler=sexy][/spoiler]

[spoiler=superman][/spoiler]

[natty dread]

Nice!

[Victor Sullivan]

This thread is awesome.

-Sully

[natty dread]

I've been drawing sexy demons today

[The Bison King]

well... you've been drawing demons today.

[koontz1973]

I've been drawing sexy demons today

[grifftron]

you guys got some mad skills.. good job

[The Bison King]

[bigimg]http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/3699/skiaticananimals.jpg[/bigimg]
You know so long as this threads called "hand drawing" I suppose there's no reason I can't post some actual hand drawings done with pencil and paper. These are from when I was real into making up fictional animals for Thyseneal. Mostly just adding horns or tusks to pre-existing animals.