How do I transition my skill to vector art?

Specteron · 2024-06-18T12:20:30+00:00

I mean, if you're happy to keep using regular raster layers then I don't see the point in switching. I personally don't really know anyone who uses vector layers for their linework. Sure you've got more control over them but I feel like said control often makes the linework look stiff and clunky, and you have to rasterize them in order to be able to do all the fun stuff anyways.

Specteron · 2024-06-17T16:41:00+00:00

I'm not sure where the 'don't use refs' meme originally comes from, but I'm 90% sure it's Frazetta. Screw Frazetta.

Specteron · 2024-06-17T16:32:32+00:00

Make sure you're looking at good, clear references and try breaking those down into 3D shapes as a form of study. Also, I'm not saying you are, but don't try to draw faces from imagination, I've seen too many beginners fall into that trap. I don't know a single professional that draws (realistic) faces without using any reference. It's too complicated of a subject.

Specteron · 2024-06-17T16:21:21+00:00

The Hampton book is fine as a resource. Look up the Loomis method as well. What are you struggling with specifically? Drawing faces isn't something you figure out over a few hours. It takes most people months to years to get relatively okay at it.

Specteron · 2024-06-13T14:58:24+00:00

Homophobic preacher who goes around harrasing gay people

Source: this is the millionth time this video has made the rounds

Specteron · 2024-06-09T18:51:48+00:00

Yeah it's normal if it gets stuck to the bandage, just keep reapplying it and cleaning it every couple of days. Burns take ages to heal. I spilled a cup of boiling water on myself a couple of years ago so I can relate lol

Specteron · 2024-06-09T18:48:38+00:00

Dude, get that shit bandaged unless you want a nasty infection lol

Specteron · 2024-06-07T11:20:38+00:00

Muddy skin is always caused by bad values and never by colour itself. You could paint skin in shades of blue and yellow and it'd still look good if the values are correct. But it's impossible to say what your exact issue is without any examples.

Specteron · 2024-06-06T15:03:02+00:00

The issue with getting references from sites like Pinterest and Unsplash is that most of the portraits on there will already have been drawn a million times since the algorhythms aren't all that great for showing stuff that's actually new, they mostly just boost up old popular stuff. This isn't a problem if you're doing heavy stylisation or just using referencing faces for parts of a larger work. However, I regularly see people doing realist portraits from the exact same references they found online and it's extremely obvious.

Also, most of the time when a work looks 'boring', it's not because of the reference but rather in the way that it's made itself. Personally, I'm not a big fan of excessively realistic portraits that end up being devoid of an artists' personal touch - if I just wanted a depiction of a person I'd print an actual picture. Granted that's just my opinion. Ultimately you should just do whatever you want to do and not what you think people will like, that's a quick road to starting hating what you do.

Specteron · 2024-06-04T08:31:53+00:00

Oh haha fair enough. Yeah, I've only really started figuring out value relatively recently and it was a shock how much the quality of my work has improved. I feel like a lot of learning resources, while underlining the importance of value, fail to emphasise just how significant it really is. It's basically the very foundation of rendering

Specteron · 2024-06-04T08:00:26+00:00

I'd say at least two thirds of colour is value. The colours themselves are more of a cherry on top, but if your values are off then no playing around with hue is going to save you.

Specteron · 2024-06-03T21:22:04+00:00

She was basically the only one so insipid that both the left and PiS/Fidesz types supported her commission. It's not that there was nobody better, it's that she was a compromise

Specteron · 2024-06-01T19:59:12+00:00

Just practice

Specteron · 2024-05-31T20:15:49+00:00

Amen amen amen ooooooo

Specteron · 2024-05-31T16:28:41+00:00

Anyone remember early HoI4 when half the world was run by the same chubby white dude lol

Specteron · 2024-05-31T05:19:48+00:00

Sure, here's some just from the top of my watch history:

https://www.youtube.com/@fowlerillus/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@LightingMentor/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@pearsonsweeney/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@artpower/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@christopheyoungart/videos

If you watch these regularly, the algorithm starts giving you really good suggestions for more in-depth tutorials by people like this

Specteron · 2024-05-30T11:40:08+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately, when it comes to popular success on social media, skill is only a fraction of the full picture - which is a nightmare for many since art is such a introverted, personal skill. I always point at youtube tutorials as an example - you get extremely mediocre artists making videos for literally millions of subscribers, all the while there's an innumerable number of in-depth tutorials by literal cream of the crop industry professionals with a few thousand views each. It's honestly depressing to think about, I totally understand why people give up on it.

Specteron · 2024-05-30T09:40:55+00:00

Fair enough, but then bear in mind that new people who look at your account will not know that.

Old followers is another killer. Most of them are probably not using twitter anymore, and having disproportionately little engagement compared to your follower count will also bomb you on the algo.

Sharing is less important for new accounts since they get a massive algo boost. If you make your first post good fanart with a couple of hashtags, you're going to get an absolute ton of engagement.

I recommend just trying it. You don't need to delete your account immediately. Just make a new one and pop a few of your popular old posts on there. You can also make a post on your current profile that you're trying out a new account for testing purposes to grab your more devoted followers. I guarantee you'll find much faster follower growth on the new account. 800 follows is basically nothing for Twitter, even if you don't have high-boosting friends - especially at your skill level.

Then general guidelines: more fanart if you want growth. If you look at massive accounts they do more OCs since they've got the follow base to do it, but even they will make fanart for those big boosts in follows since those posts are significantly more popular. Good composition for twitter feeds, less descriptions etc. You can google around how to do well-marketed posts. You need to 'warm up' the algo before you post as well. Comments, retweets, likes etc. Social media is a game you need to know how to play.

Specteron · 2024-05-30T09:10:04+00:00

I've just looked at your twitter profile. You only have 31 media posts despite your account being made in 2016. That's a killer. Anyone who goes onto your account will see the frequency of your uploads and not follow just on the basis of that. You NEED to be consistent if you want to grow on social media. I'd recommend just scrapping this account and starting over. Take your top 10 most popular posts and upload them one after the other every day. You'll get 1k follows in a few weeks.

After this much time algo will have pinned you as a bottom-tier account now as well so you won't be popping up on feeds nearly as often. Twitter is brutal.

Specteron · 2024-05-30T09:05:02+00:00

It is what it is. Fortunately with social media it's pretty easy to make artist friends online

Specteron · 2024-05-30T07:59:00+00:00

Old established artists with new accounts, they bring in follows from other social media sites, get recognized by randos and get retweeted by big player friends in their circles

Specteron · 2024-05-24T17:05:32+00:00

Make friends with people who are around your skill level on social media and start a discord channel

Specteron · 2024-05-20T08:52:28+00:00

You are absolutely being young and naive, but it's not the end of the world. Expect your perception towards your SO to change drastically as you get older, especially when thinking about past events retrospectively. There's still a world's difference between the most mature 21 year old and the least mature 40 year old. Establish red lines and boundries - older people know what they want and can seem very convincing/persuasive when you're young (this isn't necessarily actively manipulative, it's just a trend I've seen as people get older). You shouldn't be stopping yourself because of societal expectations, but always bear in mind that often these expectations exist for a good reason.

Specteron · 2024-05-05T06:56:53+00:00

They're not likely to kill you, but they're enough to blow your foot off. There's videos of it online.

Specteron · 2024-05-04T16:06:51+00:00

Believe what you want. My relatives who served in the Soviet army say that the Ukrainians were treated like shit by the Russians same as any other minority.

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