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Personal Drawing skullgirls is a metaphor

I dunno what it is, but the color on his arm guard there doesn't look right. Like it's either too bright or what I'm percieving as shadows are too bright. I dunno, maybe it's cause I'm partially color blind, but it's buggin me.

Still another Ace peice, though.
 
Kai said:
I sometimes wonder what it's like to imagine something in your head, and then be able to draw it. That must be nice.
There was an episode of Brain Games partially about that
 
Chicken's drawings kind of set a standard, for me. I'm not really sure what it is, I just like it so much more than most other representational pop art.

And the feel isn't like anything I've really seen out in the wild. It's not anime, and it's not western. Is post-webcomic a thing? The geometric nature of the forms give every piece such intent, and there's a real sense of a unified style across all the pieces, regardless of format.

I think we're only at the Bends phase, if that. I'm really interested to see what her OK Computer phase looks like, or her Kid A era.
 
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Amen to that
 
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Kai said:
I sometimes wonder what it's like to imagine something in your head, and then be able to draw it. That must be nice.
Interesting question. I'm by no means an artist, but I did my share of drawing over the years and noticed that what I had in my head and what I ended up with were usually two different things. Like the brain had a half-abstract vision, while the hands and eyes took unexpected liberties with interpreting said vision. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.

I'm curious whether the deviation between plan and result diminishes to the point of disappearing the more experienced and skilled you become, or is the element of being surprised by your own work always there. How is it for you, @chickenwithtie?
 
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I'm not quite the person asked, but a lot of the time what I have in my head is mostly a pose and the main details. I don't envision the entire piece, but I do see the main components of the drawing.
So yes, a lot of times the art will look completely different from what I started with in my mind.
 
It is actually impossible to recreate what the brain creates. Artist have a vision, inspirations and ideas and try to do something from that. The result would be somehow around 10% of what they had in their mind. Sometimes there are no real "vision" at all, just blury ideas driven by some random inspirations, so we let ourselves get driven by these inspirations and feelings and something happens, but it didn't start with a clear mind.

The most frustrating experiences are when you have a more or less clear idea or vision in your mind because you will never be able to recreate it as you see it. We see famous paintings and we come with the idea that "the artist saw that and they recreated it, how a genius they are" but it's wrong. If the artist was honnest with you, they would admit that they would judge their work something between "yeah not that bad" and "that is shit" because that was absolutely NOT what they wanted to do at the beggining. And I think that is the reason why you have some people like famous movie makers that speak like they are never satisfied about their work.

Still, experienced artists can force themselves to imagine something that would fit they constraints (skills, time and medium) which is really cool for planning but you can't prevent your brain all the time from getting crazy (especially when you are about to sleep and you can't write or doodle anything that comes from your mind) And seriously, you need to unleash that from time to time, otherwise you won't try to go beyond your limits.
 
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Oh man where to begin
Kai said:
I sometimes wonder what it's like to imagine something in your head, and then be able to draw it. That must be nice.
It's the best thing about it, and comic strips are the epitome of it.

Kai said:
Kid A era
My poor school diaries man
http://i.imgur.com/gHjJWOP.jpg
2004
http://i.imgur.com/te3H0hH.jpg
2006
When I was a kid I never gave a fuck, drew a ton of stuff everyday, and loved it. From age 12 to last year I never liked my art and I've never been very productive

Kai said:
OK Computer phase
The fantastic "I hate anime" phase
http://i.imgur.com/HAktqhA.png
2009
Drew on paper, copied on flash with mouse and then ""special effects"" done in Photoshop
http://i.imgur.com/v8fWHnO.png
2010
Drew with callygraphy pen on paper and then coloured using mouse on Photoshop with infamous dodge and blur tools (they're two kind of tools PS has used to adjust light on photos, but it's also a cheap way to put shadows on drawings. The result is always kind of terrible because, well, they're not valid instruments for drawing)
http://img00.deviantart.net/d8a9/i/2011/172/1/5/red_n___fabolous_by_refluxiana-d3jjha1.png
Middle 2011
After receiving an harsh critique that opened my mind I rejected those cheap tools and shadowed with colours. I still didn't know how color contrast works, tho.

Kai said:
Bends phase
I don't understand what Bends means, but thanks a lot Kai!

Also as Fumako asked some time ago, here's the edgy 2013 stuff

Muro said:
I'm curious whether the deviation between plan and result diminishes to the point of disappearing the more experienced and skilled you become, or it the element of being surprised by your own work always there. How is it for you, @chickenwithtie?

As for me right now, me and my art really are one thing only. When I think a thing, I draw it. The subject comes exactly or almost as I want it. What surprises me is the technique: if I don't impose myself a stardard technique in the piece I'm workin on (as I do for commissions because that's what the costumer wants and of course I can't give them something else), I'll end with new experiments, like here and here.
My worst phase where things almost never came out as I wanted were those months where I studied anatomy and tried to apply in my cartoons drawings, resulting in awkward stuff like this *
I wanted semi-realism to become my thing, but it was never meant to be; and pop art such as cartoons, anime and videogames, as much as I always loved them, where not enough source for inspiration. Modern art was the missing piece that saved me. All hail Futurism

*Anatomy study was very important, but the simplicity of many modern artists taught me to transform those complex anatomy models into simple forms assembled. That's also why my sketches are simple and mostly clean.

I still have a ton to learn, but no hurry.

To end it all, good artist or not, everyone should try to draw or screw around with paint. Maybe it won't be a job, but it's a nice hobby to relieve stress. I saw some photos by Kai of his son playing with paint, A+ dad keep it up
 
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I've started out just schlubbing around with pencil and paper, but what kind of paint do you recommend for beginners?
 
Use material for children. We have Giotto in Italy, dunno there, Crayola? Does crayola make paint?
Avoid chinese/cheapest brands because you never know what sort of chemicals they have, and some even turn to dust/pieces in a few hours.
Stuff like Crayola is safe and cheap, but not too cheap.

The best and easiest paint to start with is watercolour. They're versatile and can last for years if you take good care(which means take a tiny pigment and paint with mostly water, or they will last two months or less)
Packs with pill shaped pigments are the most durable and practical. I use Faber-Castell which is half-cheap for sketches, and Winsor&Newton for more professional stuff.
A 12 colours pack is enough, you can obtain secondary colours by mixing.
Don't use white, you must leave white spaces on your paper.
Don't use black, its pigment is not pure and gives a dirty effect. To obtain black mix blue and brown; to make your other colours darker mix them with blue or brown, not black.

Another versatile, more solid paint is acrylic, because you can use it in different ways to imitate the three main paints:
more water few paint: watercolour
50/50 water and paint: tempera
mostly pure paint: oil
Acrylic though can't obtain the sheen oil colours have, and they're better to use for flat shadows than soft painting.

Ink is my fave, it gives a glass-like effect. It's not easy to control since it expands. You can have a ton of fun with it if you're into a rough, fast spontaneous look.
There's difference between ink for writing and ink for painting. Ink for writing is glossy and more solid, while ink for painting is lighter and mixes good with water and other ink colours.
I use Pelikan ink, which is half between them.
Ink paint is selled in tiny bottles with droppers in the cap. Put ink in a tiny plate and add water till you like the effect.

Ecoline is a specific product between ink and watercolour. Pricey and pretty, better used in a patch style.

Oil is the God of visual art. Its sheen and smoothness are almost unbelievable. They're very very pricey and need pricey canvases, insanely fun to use and amazing to look at. I only got to try them once in my life. I am not worthy

Start with synthetic brushes. Never leave them out of the water. After you finish, wash them with generic body soap. Don't use hand soaps, they're aggressive.
Brushes have different thickness and shapes based on their use.
Pig hair brush: white, very thick, plain colour on canvas, for acrylic and oil.
ox hair brush: brown, soft and smooth for blending and soft colour on canvases, good for acrylics, oil and sometimes watercolour
Marten hair brush: the best for watercolour.
Another great tool for watercolour are Pentel's watercolour pens, made of rubber, a bit expensive but very versatile.

I went over my head for this holy shit
 
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Omg I never seen that rem he looks soooo good
 
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That was so beautiful. It always, unfailingly, surprises me how close the VAs actually are to these projects. Honestly, sometimes I assume they become part of the project, do their lines, and then just kinda float off to the next job.

Always great to be wrong about things like this.
 
North888 said:
That was so beautiful. It always, unfailingly, surprises me how close the VAs actually are to these projects. Honestly, sometimes I assume they become part of the project, do their lines, and then just kinda float off to the next job.

Always great to be wrong about things like this.
Some of the VAs ;)
 
Honestly loved this so much, Chicken, just like I love all your at, you have to be one of my favorite artists ever, and not just because you do a lot of skullgirls related pieces, but the way you use color, the way you play with anatomy just odd way you use shapes is so inspiring and unique, I just love it.

Whenever I look at your at your art i feel like I see all sorts of amazing and wonderful influences from different art styles that either you've seen, learned, and grown from, even in just the short amount of time since you started posting here I've seen you grow so much as an artist. One of the main reasons why I love seeing every new piece you upload.

sidenote: loved the carol writing poetry on her bed frame in skullgirls is done lol
 
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I deny the ending of Skullgirls. For it is my way.
 
DDB said:
I deny the ending of Skullgirls. For it is my way.

It's not the end, it's only the beginning.

So shut yer face.

>:c
 
Skullgirls isn't ending.

its just finished.

Skullgirls was a really well done early access game.
 
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Nah it's just that "early access" is a mean word.
 
I would say more tainted by the market...

Anyway Chicken I really loved the video. It was really well done.
 
I had fun with this, even though it was killing work I had to get done in three-four days before leaving for Sicily, so there might be some errors; but I'm super happy to have done this with Kai, for Skullgirls. The developing is done, and the game is a ton of fun; I hope I'll find you all in the next adventure, which is Indivisible.
Once I get home I'll post some stuff in here!

Oh and as I always have to point out: please stop shitposting, there's no need to keep this thread constantly alive with overused jokes and big meme images. Seriously :V
 
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