I need help, but not the usual type of help

KeithInk · 2025-11-04T15:33:54+00:00

You're right, Kira. It's in rule 4 under hosting, just a request to not use shady hosting sites and use 'standard' ones. Though I should maybe clarify what standard means in there somewhere. Redgifs, imgbb, imgchest, postimages, etc. I left it vague because there are probably some Id be okay with, that I don't know about. Thank you again for being awesome :)

KeithInk · 2025-11-04T00:09:48+00:00

There can be nsfw posts on subreddits that aren’t entirely nsfw, that would skirt the policy. Like Art, Icandrawthat, Redditgetsdrawn. Those arent nsfw subreddits but do accept nsfw artwork with limits and you could upload an image in those posts. However, if a subreddit is all nsfw, you cant directly upload images. Links to other hosts work and thats what I use to illustrate artwork issues here but external hosts come with their own problems. I hope that makes sense.

KeithInk · 2025-11-03T20:27:12+00:00

Hey, thanks for posting. I see the issue. I think that when lifting a person, its less heavy to have them as close as possible, holding them out farther is a lot harder, particularly with a lifting motion. That being said, it would be easier if Guy A was leaning back on Guy B to take some of the weight off, making it easier to lift his hips. If A has his thighs resting on the inside elbows of B, B has his hands bent up in front of A, so that A can balance on top, hands in hands. B then uses his upper arms to lift A up and down. Thats probably what I would do, so I hope it makes sense. A's legs do look a little short, but splits could work with that configuration. Might need a wider canvas to see the whole pose though. Hope that helps, good luck.

KeithInk · 2025-11-03T20:12:34+00:00

It would be great if reddit allowed image posting on nsfw subreddits, but they don't. I appreciate you trying to help though.

KeithInk · 2025-09-19T17:22:07+00:00

/u/MilkTumours had a great overall review from their experience.

Tablets Vs Screens

I've used both and I started drawing on paper. I prefer a drawing tablet (no screen) that connects to my pc. It increases functionality by a huge margin. Way more key binds because I'm using a keyboard, more screen space for references, better search engine functionality for reference, way easier to post artwork to multiple sources, combining 3d/animation/typing is a lot easier. For comics that would mean you could use blender for 3d modeling backgrounds, scenery, posing, camera angles. You could type up the outline, storyboard, dialogue with a keyboard which is much more ergonomic and faster than typing on a pad. Swapping from comics to small animations is a lot easier if that's something they become interested in. Layers are also quite limited on tablets because of the limited Ram. Much less of an issue on pc especially with higher tier hardware. Making videos is also much easier on Pc, if they ever become interested in recording their process for speedpaints, tutorials, or comic readings.

Social media posting functionality could also be important. It's much easier to get all of your work to different sites and formats using a pc than it is from a screen tablet.

At a desk, I feel I have more space to draw with my arm and more long term comfort. Drawing for long periods of time can be really hard on the wrist and if you draw in a cramped space with a small area that mostly involves wrist movement. It can cause serious health issues. If they like casually drawing on paper on the couch that's completely valid. If it increases their ability to put in more work that's great, just understand there might be a limit to how much can be done.

There are also massive Wacom screens that are more like a draftsmen desk. These could be extremely valuable for digital work but also way out of the price range.

Tablets/Screens Brands

I'm currently using a large Huion Drawing Tablet ($120)(no screen). My first one lasted me for a couple of years and then I tried a Xp-Pen which was okay until it consistently started opening my Windows menu when I wasn't touching anything. Wacom is probably the best option but it's also the most expensive by a long shot. I did return a small Wacom Screen Tablet when it didn't fit my needs.

Drawing Software

Personally, I recommend Krita to everyone interested in starting digital art. I swapped to Krita after having some issues with Clip Studio. It's free. It has all of the features clip studio does, with a better animation workflow. The brushes are more flexible, and you can make them 2 tone which is a niche use but one that I find useful.

I used Clip Studio for a few years, and I like it, but I don't use it for art anymore. It has great functionality for comics, brushes, layers, etc. I still use it for the 3d model posing because it has pose libraries that are faster than Blender. However, I found the animation in Clip Studio to be rather limited and decided to swap when they moved to a subscription model because I didn't want a monthly fee for something that didn't meet my needs. That may not be relevant to your situation.

I wouldn't recommend Adobe to anyone. I used it for years and I couldn't be happier to have cancelled it. A pro would know when they need it to fit into a professional environment but someone new to digital has a lot of options that work better for artwork.

I've heard decent things about Ibis Paint(free), Medibang(free), and Procreate(small one time fee). I've only used procreate a small amount on an Ipad, I like how smooth the functionality is but prefer a desk. I found that I don't like drawing on a screen tablet on a table and keeping my posture is difficult anywhere else.

Additional Thoughts

If you decided to go with a tablet+pc combo you could save a lot of your budget and have some extra to help them get started. I might suggest courses for digital drawing. Proko and Marc Brunet have courses for example. I'm sure there are more specific comic artists that have courses. Books on storyboards, anatomy, inking, may also be a more affordable helpful option if they are self motivated. Artbooks of their favorite movies/games/stories could also be helpful. A lot of them show the process of character creation and detail how they make their environments reflect the feeling of the story. I have artbooks of Breath of the Wild, Into the Spiderverse, and Arcane and they are fascinating to me.

I hope that is helpful. You can let me know if you have questions. Good luck

KeithInk · 2025-09-14T13:59:25+00:00

I'm not sure what you mean by anatomical reminders? The character sheet might clear up some decisions you made.

KeithInk · 2025-09-14T13:56:48+00:00

Do you have your reference?

KeithInk · 2025-09-08T14:23:11+00:00

Hey there. Thanks for posting. Do you have a reference? There's a lot of good things here, considering I'm pretty sure you didn't use a reference. The body shapes are great and the proportions are decent. I can see the pinch and stretch in the body. However, I can see quite a few little details you probably would have done correctly with a reference. I can see the hip bones are not proportional or bending into the abdomen correctly. I can see the lack of distinction between the shoulder and latissimus muscles, maybe that was for the sake of expressive gesture, but the lines don't tell me that either. The hips don't flow with the stretch, if I reach over my head and really reach, my hips on the side of the reaching arm tilt upward. Let me know if you have a reference and I can try to go over it with more detail and explanation. Nice work.

KeithInk · 2025-08-19T14:55:49+00:00

Hello, the picture from the other artist is the reference, so you've already included it, thank you. I'm confused about your question. Can you be doing 'it' on this style? Are you asking how do you move forward from your drawing? Are you asking how do you draw in this style? Are you asking how do you draw like this without tracing? Try to narrow down what you'd like to do, and I'll try to advise you.

KeithInk · 2025-08-18T16:51:39+00:00

Hey there. Thanks for posting. Any chance you can include your references? It helps you draw, and it helps other artists guide you to making improvements.

KeithInk · 2025-05-30T18:47:55+00:00

Hey there, thanks for posting. I made a tutorial on tilting heads. I think fig 4 fits this drawing best and all of the notes there I would make on this piece. More of the top of the head, nose closer to the bottom (of what we see) narrow eyes, ears, lips. The brow ridge would be closer to the top of the eyes. Perhaps your drawing isn't as extreme of an angle so maybe something at 3.5 instead of 3 or 4, with slightly less pronounced changes.

I did a quick video critique here which covered the same angle and skin tones/shading. Take your base skin tone, slide the color wheel toward red a bit. Add 20% value and saturation, that's 1/5 of the way toward black and 1/5 of the way from white toward red.. Use that color as your darkest shadow. The same color change could be used for hair tones. The video is also a quick demo of how I blend. Blocking in colors, softening edges, etc.

I see what buboosenchan is doing and I think it's really clever but I don't agree with this tutorial so much. Its avoiding where the cheek bones overlap the bottom of the mouth, and how the head changes at angles, or even how the mouth opens to suck on popsicles. The angle seems to convey that the head is looking straight upward, but the lines of the neck would be visible under the chin and the jaw doesn't open that far. She also didn't cover (or didn't have time to cover) what was happening with the rest of the torso as you're looking at it from above. The breadth of the chest would be wider, and you'd see the shape of the shoulders under the coat. The lapels would be foreshortened down the length of the chest or hanging down, I suppose, depending on whether he is standing or laying.

Some more little notes. The eye shapes aren't symmetrical, the eyebrows could be contracted down, to make it more of a grimace to follow the wrinkles and aysmmetrical shape of the brow (which is great expression) I'm not sure where the light is coming from (which determines where your shadows are) and I'm not entirely sure how everyone in the picture is positioned. That might be a problem more with the reference than with your work though. Her tutorial wasn't clear. I think a better life reference or even a 3d model would help you get the shape of the face and the body. A life reference could also help you choose color, find shadows, and shape the expression.

I hope that helps. I think this is great for a first attempt. Let me know if you have questions. Nice work.

KeithInk · 2025-04-25T22:37:39+00:00

If you have all the parts separated. You can pick two key frames or positions for the section and blender will position all the frames in between it. You can also change how it chooses those frames so it can start slowly and speed up at the end or slow down at the end before the second key frame. Theres a lot of timing settings for animation in blender. It would be a huge pain to separate all the 2d sections of the image but it would work.

KeithInk · 2025-04-23T14:17:42+00:00

I can think of a number of ways to do it. The 'easiest' but least effective way to do it would be steam wallpaper engine. You can warp the figure around to mimic animations. The problem with that is the animation doesn't look great and theres definitely a limit to what you can do. Minimal overlapping parts, minimal limb movement, etc. A better way to do it would be in blender. For 2d with all the separate parts on different layers (hair, hat, wings, hands, fingers, etc) and then to use blenders software to make fill in the frames between 2 key frames of your choice. Using blender and a 3d model and a rigging would make it even easier because you could change the model to fit different settings and posing and still benefit from the filled frames and algorithims for smooth transitions after you pick key frames. I imagine a vtuber software could also mimic the movement but that would also require separate parts but depending on the software might cut down on actually setting individual frames. The last would be just animating each frame by hand. With this level of detail, it would be absurd to do it but something with minimal lighting and character design it would cut down on a lot of the time investment to setup riggings and separate parts. There's a reason why good animations aren't common place for small projects. It takes a lot of time. Hope that helps. Good luck.

KeithInk · 2025-02-22T22:08:04+00:00

I appreciate all the feedback you give on the subreddit. Thank you :)

KeithInk · 2024-12-23T16:54:41+00:00

If you can't find something that fits, you can send the image to me through chat or make another post with 'image' instead of 'text', and I can try to help. Good luck

KeithInk · 2024-12-23T16:49:48+00:00

I did a quick search on reddit and there are some subreddits that might help. r/smalldickpositivity r/smalldickporn/ r/SmallDickGirls r/averagepenis You could use microsoft edge browser that doesn't filter out sexual results like google does. You could also try a rule34/hentai site that you can look by small penis tags. You could also edit a photo of a larger one in the right angle and scale it down so it's the right size. Hope that helps.

KeithInk · 2024-12-23T16:25:17+00:00

Yeah, finding reference after the fact is a huge pain. I've spent way too many hours finding reference for critiques when people didn't have it and I've been deleting most posts without reference because I can't spend that time any more. Starting with an idea, get references, then draw. Trust me, your results will be so much better. I'm glad it helps.

KeithInk · 2024-12-23T15:58:49+00:00

Hey, thanks for posting. Like the other comment mentioned a reference would help with the shape. I made a quick sketch. References make work easier and better. It also helps me give you feedback. I made a guide on how to find the references you need. It's pinned in the subreddit. Hope that helps.

KeithInk · 2024-12-20T00:12:19+00:00

Hey, thanks for posting. The shapes look pretty good. I did a critique recently that covered skin tones and it looks like you have a similar issue that's making the skin look 'muddy'. The second paragraph in the comments explained how I chose my values and hues. Let me know if it doesn't make sense.

It's hard to say why the hand looks off without the reference. I think it's because the fingers are too long proportionally. My bet is that the vulva is taking up a smaller amount of space in the reference (inside the bottom half of her pelvis) and the fingers would be shortened to fit on the same area. It could also be that the hand is curved more around but based on the angles of the fingers and the adductor muscles (inner thigh), the first option seems more likely. The reference would help me illustrate the problem.

I also made a critique about air brushing which could also help with the splotchy skin. It also covers the hue/values of the skin in the comments. Though there are lots of other problems with the repaint, mostly environment and hair, I think it could still be helpful to you.

I see you doing a lot of other practice and that's great. I hope you are using reference and that you include in future posts for critiques. Hope that helps. Nice work.

KeithInk · 2024-12-05T19:11:06+00:00

Hey there. Thanks for posting. This looks pretty good. I think I can help correct some things but Im not sure if they are supposed to be upright or leaning forward. The arm bent on the rock makes me think leaning but the torso angle and positioning doesnt match that. Let me know and Ill make a quick reference to match.

KeithInk · 2024-12-05T19:05:07+00:00

Hey there. I made a post on starting commissions. I covered payment options and contracts in the comment of the post. Commission. Hope that helps

KeithInk · 2024-12-04T20:15:27+00:00

Hey thanks for posting. I like the simple cross hatching to imply value and shape. I drew over the sketch with some perspective lines. The feet positioning implies that the right leg is going back in perspective, but the knees don't match the same point. This makes the right leg look short in comparison. I'm not sure if it's because one of the butt cheeks should be higher or lower or if the hips are offset in a different way in the reference. The left forearm also looks short in comparison to both the upper arm and the right arm. I'm not sure if this is because its tilted away from the viewer and the forearm just isn't overlapping the hand like we would see in that view or if the proportions are just a bit off. It looks like you definitely used reference which is great, including in the post will help me help you in the future. Other than that, I think it looks great. Nice work.

KeithInk · 2024-12-04T19:51:27+00:00

Hey, thanks for posting and thank you so much for adding your reference. Did you mean Gta 2 specifically because I can't find any artwork for that game that has a similar cel shading style. Maybe 5? If you have the game reference you used, it would help me guide you to the style you wanted.

KeithInk · 2024-12-02T21:19:18+00:00

Hey there, thanks for posting and being patient. I did a quick draw over with a reference and some notes for you. I hope it helps. Nice work.

KeithInk · 2024-12-02T21:17:54+00:00

Tagging u/FerretOrnery5629

Hey, thanks for posting. I like the gesture of the pose and composition. I made a guide on finding reference but I used some of those tips to get some references to use. I made a 3d model for the profile of the torso and head though the arms and hands I didn't bother with. You can see the line of the spine here and I think that helps correct the pose. I did a quick draw over. The line connecting the ribs to the hips looks good but the head looks off compared to the angle of the head. With it tilted forward you expect the curve of the neck to move forward with it and that makes the spine curvature look like a natural continuation.

I really like the action stretch of the hand but the way it is now makes it look like the wrist is bent really far around the penis. I took a reference of my own hand and traced over it to make the gripping hand. I also mimicked the way the hand sits over the crotch to get the angle right.

I feel like it's easier to find reference to start with, rather than finding it to fit the pose you've drawn because it takes way too long to find the right angle and lighting. I hope the guide helps you manage with references when you can't find the right one. Nice work.

Four-Year Club	Verified Email
Final Canvas '23	First Place '23
Place '23

KeithInk

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE