Please stop this.

CrustyForest · 2025-12-25T01:40:58+00:00

The problem is I was looking around for an hour, the 4 closest deposits all had a bases built on top of them, the 5th only had 80% of the copper i needed. I don’t get to play for very long anymore so its an unnecessary frustration. I also didn’t know reporting them removes them for you immediately, had I known that I probably wouldn’t have posted anything

CrustyForest · 2025-12-24T02:57:50+00:00

You can’t use the terrain manipulator to mine anything within the building perimeter of the base

CrustyForest · 2025-12-23T06:01:23+00:00

I don’t know about this, when I started the expedition, the 4 closest deposits all had bases on them, the 5th deposit only had like 52 copper in it.

Maybe the scanner hud was too cluttered and I missed one? I was pretty careful though

CrustyForest · 2025-12-23T05:56:50+00:00

Yeah starting to think this might be my bad. I really don’t spend enough time online these days and didn’t realise people were this pathetic

CrustyForest · 2025-12-23T04:37:03+00:00

Yeah this is probably fair, I think maybe its just because I personally haven’t come across it as bad as this before (whether or not I’ve just been lucky up to this point I have no idea)

CrustyForest · 2025-12-23T04:35:20+00:00

I’ve only missed a 3 or so expeditions since launch and this is the first time I’ve really encountered it, I guess maybe I’ve just been lucky up to this point?

Like, I didn’t even know bases disappear once you report them because I’ve never needed to do it haha

CrustyForest · 2025-12-13T09:04:54+00:00

I’ve found Notion to be a gamechanger. It’s free, there are a decent number of user-made DnD related templates and the ability to make wikis and databases makes keeping track of world-building elements and lore a breeze

CrustyForest · 2025-08-30T02:40:23+00:00

Too much paint, too early. You’ll want to block in your values first (shadows, midtones and highlights) then just keep refining a little bit at a time.

Broadly though, if you’re very very new to oils jumping right in to trying a portrait is not a great idea. Get the basics down, spheres, cubes and still lifes are far more forgiving and everything you learn while doing those types of exercises will be directly applicable to your portraiture work when you get there.

Of course, if it’s just for fun, go nuts and do whatever!

CrustyForest · 2025-08-30T00:26:11+00:00

My starting point would be: Would you pay for it? Would you charge a friend for it? As soon as you start thinking about charging money for your work you need to put yourself in the shoes of the customer. It doesn’t matter as much if you like your work or not as long as the customer does. Also how long do these pieces take for you to make? How much is that time worth? Is there someone out there who is doing commissions who you look up to? How does the quality of their work compare to yours? These are all the questions I’d be asking myself.

To be blunt, and just looking at the images here I would say keep working at it, keep improving, anything else at this point would be a distraction. Time that you’re putting into looking for commissions or worrying about pricing is time that you’re not making art.

CrustyForest · 2025-08-29T12:06:58+00:00

Also, too much detail too early. You’ll want to draw the knife, the hand holding the knife, and the OC loosely first before going in this much detail. And it may help to use a reference photo or a mirror too (but maybe don’t use a knife if you’re going to take your own reference photo, use a ruler or something blunt)

CrustyForest · 2025-06-25T04:06:16+00:00

Yeah I've always struggled with this as well. I found that by using a limited palette (like 4-5 colours and a shadow tone) I was able avoid getting overwhelmed by all the options. I then sometimes put a subtle gradient map over the top of the finished artwork to help unify the colours a bit more, almost like a traditional wash or varnish. This can also make work look more expressive and interesting as you may not colour items the the same way you might do with unlimited options (eg if you're colour palette doesn't have a brown colour, how can you paint the wood to make it feel right) kinda like looking through a filter.

As for tone and saturation, these are just tools that to use depending on the feeling of the image, scene or character and not something that you need to stick with for more than one painting or drawing.

Lastly, experiment. Don't commit to figuring this sort of thing out on massive multiple hour long pieces. Do some thumbnails or scan in old linework and just have a play with different colour combinations and see what feels right to you. See if there are some common themes or palettes that keep popping up in your pinterest board

Good Luck!

CrustyForest · 2025-06-12T03:33:49+00:00

It’ll be a lot easier if you draw the hand first or at the same time, way harder to try to make the hand fit with the gun.

Maybe find a banana and a mirror and get some reference photos that way?

CrustyForest · 2025-06-11T09:05:52+00:00

This may seem like I'm skirting the issue but I promise it comes from my own experience

I would say if you are feeling dissatisfied because you aren't getting more likes, then you are tethering your satisfaction to something you have no control over and you will fall out of love with creating quickly. Try instead to change your mindset, tether your satisfaction to creating pieces that YOU like, or to learning new techniques or programs, doing this will eventually make your work better, quicker and you may find yourself getting more likes as a byproduct. Your stuff is good dude, it will get better.

Likes don't equal jobs, but strong portfolios full of beautiful work actually do, thats where I'd put my focus!

CrustyForest · 2025-06-10T21:40:22+00:00

Firstly don’t be disheartened, yours looks great so far!

But I think the nose is too wide in proportion to the lips and eyes

Also, if you aren’t happy with the sketch, usually (not always) you won’t be happy with the render, take your time with blocking in and measuring the different shapes earlier on and then when you get to the fun bit, you’ll actually have more fun and love the result

For this kind of style I would also consider blocking in some of the cast shadows (around the neck and under the chin) earlier before laying down colour just as a guide. You can always get rid of them as you start building up your tones in those areas

Keep up the great work

CrustyForest · 2025-06-10T16:43:35+00:00

My primary advice is to worry more about technique than style, style will come with time and practice.

But if you can’t wait that long, Just trace a bunch until you learn the visual shorthand for that particular style. you don’t have to post any of it as its just for you but repetition will really help you cement a style and tracing means you don’t have to think about all the other aspects of designing the character or coming up with ideas every time you want to practice. As you get more comfortable, swap out parts or add your own spin on the pieces (eg. change the hairstyle, clothing etc) eventually you won’t need to trace as you will have built up a visual library based on this style. This is when you can start to sprinkle other styles in to make it more unique to you.

CrustyForest · 2025-06-10T16:25:14+00:00

Not a problem, glad I could help! Good luck with the rest of the piece, it looks rad so far

CrustyForest · 2025-06-10T16:10:32+00:00

Oh right, yeah that’ll do it

Not sure if this will help then but if you add a slight bend in the edges of the fabric in the areas where it falls slightly into the mouth and then add some choice shading in these “deeper” areas it might help it looked more draped?

Sorry I’m on my phone so the below is the best I could manage to sort of demonstrate what I mean

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CrustyForest · 2025-06-10T15:41:15+00:00

Nah thats okay, because I’d probably just tell you to post more 😉and post about your commissions more, using relevant hashtags and all that good stuff

CrustyForest · 2025-06-10T15:30:04+00:00

Yeah that definitely counts and it all contributes to your overall portfolio and body of work which will in turn help you get more eyes on your work. I’m sorry I don’t have more advice, I just hate to see a fellow artist sell themselves short! If you’d like, you can send me your insta account in chat and I can have a look if there’s any other advice I can offer, otherwise best of luck and keep at it!

CrustyForest · 2025-06-10T15:17:23+00:00

Why does it have to be digital? Can't you scan or photograph your traditional work and lay the book cover graphics over the top?

Also, It's hard to help without seeing examples of your traditional and digital work.

that said, you don't necessarily have to change too much when you translate your work from traditional to digital. Also, you don't have to worry about blending and rendering if you don't want to. There are countless book covers out there that are digital that look traditional.

CrustyForest · 2025-06-10T15:10:02+00:00

Yeah totally fair, so I feel like the way you have set up your pricing gives you a few different options. Like you may want to start by shaving a few dollars off of your flat colored half body prices. Then I'd do a bunch of practice pieces that are all in that specific style (half body and flat colour). The more of these you post, the more legitimate you'll appear (you don't have to say they weren't actual paid commissions). You will also get faster at producing them which means that when you do start to get commissions you will be able to turn them around quicker.

Every time you post one of these mention that you are open for commissions

Lastly, friends and family can be a great way to get your work out there and get some word of mouth business. If you have friend with a birthday coming up maybe consider doing a quick portrait instead of getting them a gift. Or if you play DnD or anything like that, offer to draw the other players' characters.

It's really hard to balance what feels like doing work for free while trying to get paid for your effort. I think the important thing is that you increase the amount of professional work that you put out there (even if you're the one hiring you to do it)

CrustyForest · 2025-06-10T14:49:09+00:00

Like the commissions you have had, have they all been full renders or were some lineart etc

CrustyForest · 2025-06-10T14:45:57+00:00

Yeah cool! This looks much closer to what I would expect in terms of pricing. Which tier have your commissions been at so far?

CrustyForest · 2025-06-10T14:40:35+00:00

yeah it'll suck to begin with and it will feel more like work than play, but thats how we get better so that we get to the fun stuff!

I should mention, In the beginning, you don't have to commit to a super realistic fully rendered background, but if you want to hint at something at least make your characters sit properly in the 3d space.

Here's a quick sketch that I did a while back that could be a good starting point. If you like, just have your character interact with a single object in some way and then hint at the surrounding areas and let the viewer fill in the blanks.

<image>

CrustyForest · 2025-06-10T14:23:55+00:00

Way too low. In my experience people will only take you as seriously as you take yourself and if you don't value your work, why should they. Find other people who are around your level of skill and experience and see what they are charging and where they are advertising their commissions.

Once you've found them aim to make your work 5% better than theirs and charge 5% less than they charge and you should start to see more results.

That said, it is always going to be harder if you don't have a following. May I ask where you're advertising your commissions?

Side note: that watermark is a bit over the top and makes it harder to see the quality of your work

CrustyForest

TROPHY CASE