Exactly! To me guys are 10 times more harder to draw..... Guys I drew are just too feminine.... most of the time

oh hi there.

self-study ... yeah lol

well.. i guess art is not something easily learnt XD.. tho with proper techniques one can be even better.. especially the transition to digital. not everyone knows how to use photoshop straight away. infact i myself only know how to use brush, change brush type, layers and eraser thats about it untill i started using burn, dodge and smudge.

man.. after moving back to my rented house and found out there's alot of flaw in my artwork T.T ... monitor calibration is also very important.

well of course,took me months to get used to photoshop,and still need to learn more.

lol chill dude, practice makes perfect ^^ altho i am not a digital-art-er, we will jz need more practices to improve ^^

you should try digital too .. i kena poison by those youtube videos and deviant art and decided to try it myself and get caught up into it. cuz i like painting portraits and i can do it rather cheaply on digital (no need paint, canvas and most importantly odourless and not messy)

tho im a lil frustrated with the precision.. start to feel like its my wacom's fault (its the cheapest bamboo afterall).. must find someone's intuos and give it a try lol.

@ Bonchi

It's not really all that noticeable, that "angularity" LOL. It MIGHT be a concern if you are, say, going to make a billboard-sized print, but at the average view resolution, it's not really a concern. That's why I prefer working on a large canvas, you see: when I resize it, all those itty-bitty problems won't really make a difference.

I like how you're progressing with the image. As Agito mentioned though, the eyelashes and eyes could use improvement. I will recommend to actually remove the lower highlight on the iris, and put some detailing into the iris itself, since no normal person has all true-black eyes. The eyelashes look a bit stiff and plastic-y, might want to use a smaller brush, and use the Blur tool to soften the tips a little.

Speaking of WIPs, here's one of mine that I'm working on for a Kink Big Bang collaboration:

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Added on October 13, 2011, 11:04 pmMale and female figures require QUITE different mindsets to tackle, really. It's not just a matter of form and shape, but also the rhythm and posture. Men tend to be stiff and "tough" in movement, ladies are softer and more graceful. Rather like comparing how a dog and a cat moves, where a dog = man, cat = woman.

This post has been edited by DragonReine: Oct 13 2011, 11:05 PM

dragonreine is active producing arts,if this is part of your job,can u sustain life out of it?

Uh.... maybe? IF I move in back with my parents, where they're the ones responsible for the rental and utility bills, and I live off instant noodles for the rest of my life.

Frankly, though, I'm what some artists may call "active" with regards to producing art, but...

1) my art takes time to produce, so I can't work on a lot of artwork;

2) I rely entirely on freelance work, which isn't reliable income.

As it is, its mostly a hobby, although it's at the moment a mostly paid-for hobby.

Still, I keep my full time job, which is responsible for all my living expenses and savings; the art is what I use when I want pocket money to buy "nice" things, like going to the movies, video games, or "unnecessary" computer upgrades .

wah so nice...u must be great in life.
whats ur full time job?
so how freelance actually works?

LOL i admire ur art dedication. I think ur enjoying ur every moment of life being doing wat u love and at same time earn some money =) for me i cant reli draw and draw and draw(altho it's my hobby) need some time to refresh before i start another one XD...

i draw non-stop for like 20 years only can get this level.... ><

@ Adam:

Full-time job? Human resources clerk. Rather low pay, but has nice benefits.

Hmmm... I started by posting a price list on my deviantArt journal, showing what I'm capable of and the prices for the different complexities of art (simple portrait with plain background, all the way up to a full multiple-character action illustration). I then go around working on my own work and submitting them to the relevant groups to showcase my work, as a form of "advertising".

Eventually someone approaches me for a commission, where we work out the subject matter and therefore the price. Client pays the agreed price (paid in full for anything below $20 USD, more than that can be paid in instalments according to the work progression), usually through Paypal for international, or a bank transfer if the client is Malaysian. I then work on the art, submitting the necessary WIPs through e-mail for approval and to check with the client that the art is according to their specifications. I try to get as much detail about the work as possible before even starting, so I don't have to make corrections, but inevitably there are times where the client changes their mind or I simply deviate a little too much from the client's "vision", so I have to be ready to make changes if necessary.

Once the art is done, I send the signed, full-resolution copy to the client through e-mail, and then I submit the low-res, watermarked image to deviantArt, so I build up my portfolio of completed, commissioned works that way, and start the process of building exposure through groups again.

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@ acefreakz

Let's just say that I've been in a very, VERY dark, bleak place in life before. The sort of dark place that involves sitting on the edge of a very high bridge over a very deep river, and wondering about life expectancies. The art is pretty much the only thing keeping me from going back to that particular path over the bridge again, so I'm lucky to actually discover that I enjoy it. Otherwise you wouldn't be talking to me right now

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@ Agito

Can't say I'm very good yet. Just extremely stubborn about improvement, I suppose. Art is a necessary obsession for me; I pretty much eat, breathe, and make myself live for art. Not sure if you consider it a healthy thing, either; I'm practically a hermit. A happy hermit, but still.

why am I keep forgettingggg,knew that u are a clerk,dam why my memories is like this.thanks for the explanation

@DragonReine

Nice one! No Art No Life cheerz!

@dragonreine...great one!.. eventhough its a wip.. its already really awesome.

guess ive got a long way to go :| being too stuck up to follow 100% as the photo reference.. i have to change that habit.
also what i meant earlier was monitor colour calibration.. the one i worked with was somewhat over saturated.. so the shades i applied arent appearing on my current monitor. which is somewhat frustrating that i have to do all over (or i can just use the saturation settings XD)

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Added on October 14, 2011, 3:42 amthis shall be my complete work after applying all the advises here thank you sifus especially dragonreine

what i did here was throw away the photo ive been referring all this while and do my final personal touch ups


shall leave it as it is already time to move on~

This post has been edited by Bonchi: Oct 14 2011, 03:42 AM

@ Bonchi

Welcome! Painting looks great, and it's a good thing you decided to deviate from the photo reference a little An artist's main strength over photographers is the ability to take reality and make it "better", so don't be afraid to add stuff of your own that you think will help with the artistic value of the image. Good luck!

There are no obvious distinction between man and women when drawing them. It depends on how used you are in drawing them. If you draw shoujou type style for too long, your artwork tend to stay that way without you realizing it. Your definition of man tend to be stiff and tough are just general perception or "guideline", and need not necessary follow them. There are sissy male types and also muscular female aka Helga. Just like marvel or dc artist idea that all superheroine need to wear tight suit costumes to show their genders. It's best to break from that perception if you want to expand further in your artwork and be different from the rest.

This post has been edited by DaddyO: Oct 14 2011, 08:38 AM

dont take it seriously

the reason why im sketching and drawing is mainly because of a freak accident 6 years ago
i broke my right hand and elbow, i was on a motorbike, ......... and no! im not into rempit, it was a hit and run case

it takes 6 month to properly use my right hand..... its not that hard really... i was playing sony PS2 day and night, (with doctor approval )

its all screw and wire on my right elbow and hand,

during that time also i started to take drawing seriously, but i realize that not going to happen
but just for my hand sake, i sketch away for fun, and not long after that i go digital


and learn everything from watching video on youtube,

and i found a special talent .........

"i can absorb any drawing style if i watch the whole process once or twice"

its like stealing other people trademark and style ........... its creepy

i like to think it that way,....... true or not ....... i just glad that i can have fun drawing