Ninsheart said:

I’ve done (more or less) realistic portraits digitally, with acrylic, oil, watercolor and pencil. Digitally I only use a simple hard brush (in SAI, Photoshop is harder). Oil paint is a lot easier than acrylic since it doesn’t dry as fast so it’s possible to blend in new tones afterwards. Both are quite similar to digital painting though.

Watercolor is the hardest because you don’t have much room for mistakes. I always do a faint pencil sketch and then slowly flesh out the features with multiple layers. You should start by determining the light areas and then applying a thin layer accordingly. You can always make areas darker, but not lighter. Unless you want mix new colors into the wet paint for various effects, you should let the layer dry completely every time, before going over it again.

I guess it really comes to down to experience with watercolor. It seems I always learn new things with it, which makes it a lot of fun. Also, there’s plenty room for experimenting.

I don’t like smudging pencil strokes, though that’s pretty much the only way to make really realistic portraits with pencils. Cross-hatching is more fun and looks nicer, imo.

As for photo references, you shouldn’t just simply try to copy the colors you see. Especially for skin I recommend using tons of different hues to make it seem more alive. By that I don’t mean painting a rainbow over the face, but moderately using warm colors for the lighter and colder colors for the shaded areas etc.

Okay, so I barely ever post here, though I lurk a lot. A button would still be nice.

jamesownsall said:

Of course, if Peter can give all would-be illustrators a detailed guideline for what he wants in his characters' designs, personality quirks, etc, that would really help. Simply playing the demo is not enough, and as far as I'm concerned, eroge illustrators don't read the whole script anyway; You just give them what you want things to look like.

Peter has helped me a lot with every design. Since they’re his characters, most visual elements were his ideas. I got more or less detailed information on every character.

My involvement with the project is very uncertain at the moment because I’m busy with real life stuff. For now, I aim to retain my position as the main artist though.

Any help from other artists is appreciated and if there is someone better suited for the job, that someone should probably take over.

It kind of makes me happy to see all the different iterations of the characters, so keep them coming!

<blockquote><cite>tychan said:</cite>

</blockquote>
The torso is really well drawn – the biggest issue are the legs which are too long and weirdly positioned.

I'm not a pro either though so I probably included tons of new mistakes. Legs and especially feet are difficult for me (I think the feet are too small). And I'm not really sure about the way I drew the pose… Maybe someone else can help out?

<blockquote><cite>Ninsheart said:</cite>
There's this one drawing in my scrapbook on deviantART that has suddenly gotten a lot of attention. It's not all that good, but I guess the character is popular. But it feels kinda painful that it has received more favourites than most of the pieces in my gallery have, hahah. But I guess I can't complain. Maybe I'll do a quick picture of Whitney again tomorrow, since I can actually get proportions and hands right now.

</blockquote>
Yeah, I'm also getting tons of favs on that one old Cynthia fan art (and other Pokémon stuff). Original drawings get barely any views at all.

I just saw someone on DA do this, so I decided to draw something as well. I can't believe I didn't come up with it. (It's the back of the trainer card in Pokémon Black, in case you don't know.)

Everyone here with a DS and Pokémon should do this.

<blockquote><cite>M I N N said:</cite>
February Draw A Day !

</blockquote>
I do multiple drawings/sketches every day anyway so there's no point for me I guess.

Here's what I drew yesterday for some silly Pokémon OCT on dA(finished like 15 minutes before the deadline). I hate backgrounds and perpectives.

Ninsheart said:
Vinzent invaded my oekaki board.

I seriously had no idea you used that board!

<blockquote><cite>Neko_musume said:</cite>

Thank you Mr. Pollock. lmao…

</blockquote>
Drawing, not Pollock-style. Like this:

<blockquote><cite>koinohisoka said:</cite>
Finally done~ It sucks, but yeah…

I'll do some more fixing later on, like detailing the tiara some more… but I'm really tired of drawing right now.

</blockquote>
Try using less vibrant and not primary colors. Also, I would recommend drawing blood splatter yourself instead of using brushes. If you can't do it, practice (it's really fun). The red eyelashes are also bothering me, but I suppose that's a matter of taste.

Other than that, I think it's pretty good.

Here's just some quick adjustments to give you an idea what I meant about the colors:

<blockquote><cite>maid said:</cite>
Well, I don't know how it's called, but it could be like, day X at time Y, artist A has 30 minutes to make a drawing and show us how he makes live, using his webcam. I'm not really aware of how you do this, but I don't think it's impossible.

</blockquote>
I really like the idea. I've always wanted to do a livestream. Problem is, there would be no one watching.

http://www.livestream.com/
I've never actually used this apart from watching channels so I don't know how to set anything up, but apparently it works quite well. It's also possible to stream your desktop and let people watch you draw in Photoshop or whatever.

Also, some drawing:

maid said:

The hands, as you probably should know, are supposed to be roughly the size between the chin and the forehead (try with your own hand).

That rule doesn’t really work with manga, though.

ichiro_ino said:
The nose-mouth alignment seems awkward… I don’t know if you meant to do that but adjusting it would certainly make it look better…

You mean like this…? I thought it looked a bit strange, but I didn't know how to fix it.

I don't think I've shared anything of my new style here. Well, I've only recently managed to get accustomed to it.

Doredia from Pokémon generation V. One of my favorites among all the new horrible designs.

Jakuryusei said:

Oh-ho? ^ ^

So then is it like; the subject mater that you’re liking and the art style that you be haten’ OR-OR-OR is it the other way round! With my style going more more and more to your liking but the subject mater going down the pooper and away from your sphere of interests?

Ah well, ether way at least I must be doing SOMETHING right. He he Thanks Vince!

The subject is rather interesting, so it’s more the style that I don’t like. I just thought your pieces were well executed. I dunno, it’s that little something… or something. xD Anyway, keep it up!

Peter Barton said:

Yeah. Where’ve you been?

School. And stuff. Don’t hate me.

Jakuryusei said:
I probably could've done a lot better with pencil, but this is plenty fine as is. ^-^

I like your recent work a lot! Though, to be honest, I’m not really a fan of your style.

Really nice, Nin. The collarbones though turned out too… sharp. And the shading on the arms seems too soft in comparison to the rest. Other than that, I like it, especially the water.

Great, I suppose some of my artwork is about to become illegal. And I thought this kind of bullshit wouldn't reach Finland…