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Welcome to the FAQ Pack

Listed below are various headings for all your needs ranging from all the various programs there are out there to how to use them, and even how to draw a person several different ways. Please, PLEASE, look through here thoroughly (means real well) before posting about how to do something in the AD. Try hard, you feel better when you figure something on your own.

If you have more to add please PM me with notes on which heading it belongs under and a link (or appropriate FAQ Q&A) to the tutorial/program.

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Art Programs & Tablet Info

Collected here is a list of quite a few programs and their price status as of the writing of this FAQ.

Tablet information is listed at the bottom of this post.

There is no "best" program, just what's best for you. I've seen people who use Open Canvas and can put Photoshop'ers to shame. I've seen Flash works that rival manga. I've even seen a picture done in MS Paint which you'd swear was an oil painting (but it's not). However the popular choices now adays seem to be Photoshop, the GIMP, and OpenCanvas.

Please remember to support the software industry and buy, rather than pirate any software you use. If you don't want to pay $600 for Photoshop, then use another program that's free. Once you learn to use one piece of software properly all of the others begin to look and act the same (with a few different features here and there).



Other Programs:

IrfanView - free - IrfanView is NOT a drawing program. It's a small, simple-to-use program for viewing and processing images. You can shrink or condense images and convert them to web-friendly formats.


Student Discount Sites:

There are several sites on-line that sell programs at discounted rates to students. Most of these require some kind of proof that you attend a particular university or school. The following sites have not necessarily been tested by Gaia staff or Art Discussion regs. So please use them at your own discretion.

Tablet Info:




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Anatomy Reference/Tutorials
Need more links, send them in! Single pitures, galleries, I don't care!

Here is a listing of various links to places with either reference pictures of anatomy or tutorials on how to draw specific body parts. This is not a collection of "pr0n" (ahem, porn) but may involve some nudity.

As always, if you have a link or three to share feel free. Short of sexual acts anything is ok, and I'm sure anyone looking for anatomy references would thank you (even for those little "things" we're too embarrassed to ask about). And I mean anything, be it human, animal, or something inbetween (because hey, furries and demons are people too).

GENERAL ANATOMY

HAIR

FACIAL FEATURES (eyes, nose, mouth, and ears)

HEAD & NECK

HANDS

FEET

POSES

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Computer Art Tutorials

Here you'll find everything you need to do computer art in order. Scanning techniques, how to use the pen tool or trace your image by hand without it looking bad, and how to do CG colouring and shading. A lot of what's listed here will work with any art program that uses layers, can support very large pictures without crashing (itself or your computer), and in some cases has a pen tool type function that will allow you to draw vector based lines, but for the most part these tutorials assume you're using Photoshop. There's a lot of redundancy here because there's only one real way to draw with the pen tool, or one way to colour with layers, but there's a couple dozen ways of telling you how. Each way may reveal some different technique that another doesn't cover, some small nuance that another doesn't that to you will instantly mean enlightenment to that technique.

Here's a bit of a quote I find appropriate:
J. Cathryn Feinberg from Start Art

When using these tutorials please keep in mind that there is no one "right" way to do most creative things! These tutorials are not intended to be used as exact directions but rather as guidelines for developing your own techniques.

In other words, don't learn by rote, learn by understanding.


GENERAL CG:
SCANNING
This is where it all begins, unless you're working straight off the computer. Most of you will have some line art of some kind to work with which you put time and effort into. Tired of seeing the scanner butcher it like 4kids has your favourite anime? Well these tutorials will help sew some of the meat back on.


LINE ART
You've got your drawing and it's come through with just a few scrapes on the scanner, now you can ink it on the computer to make it look better. There are three methods available to you: Inking by hand, inking by path (pen tool, or paths in the GIMP), or auto tracing as done by programs like Inkscape or Adobe Illustrator (or many others, one of which is built into Inkscape and is actually a stand alone program developed seperate of it called potrace). From most organic to least respectively, your lines will come out a solid black which will make your future work on the picture easier (or maybe this is the last step for your picture).

Some of these assume you start here. Perhaps you're playing the oekaki scene, or perhaps you're confident that today your stylus will dance and a beautiful picture will appear without ever needing the paper and scanner step. Whatever the reason, these tutorials are all about making lines on the computer with a mouse or a tablet.


COLOURING/SHADING
So now you're done with the fancy lines and all is crisp and pretty... and mono-colour... What follows handles CG colouring and in most cases shading as well (hence why it's a two for one heading). The topics range from the mundane (simply adding colour and shadows) to the advanced (those hair gloss lines, natural ambient lighting in shading, and adding texture to skin, hair, and clothing).


And with that you're done, you know all you need to know to produce great artistic pieces (assuming you start with a great artistic drawing) on the computer. A wise person once said, "don't make things harder than they need to be, they'll get that way without your help," and they were right. It's really not that difficult once you know what you're doing, people just make it seem that way.


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Miscellaneous Tutorials

Here is where the random assortments of tutorials and tutorial sites go. Anything and everything interesting about art in a helpful sense can be found here; from how to do glows to motion blurs. Also general tutorial sites like Start Art, Polykarbon, and Eugene Arenhaus' tutorials. Again there's no real exclusions for content except of course porn. Also keep in mind that things you learn on furry sites can help with drawing humans, and vice versa. Techniques for CG work aren't limited by subject; you colour a car just like you would a cat, signpost, or human.



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Frequently Asked Questions


This is an attempt to answer some of those oft repeated threads and questions about this sticky, some of which are being pre-answered because I can read your minds! @.o
(note: cannot actually read minds, see below)

Q: Why did you make this thread?
A: Because there once was a tutorials thread but it was eaten by a horrible glitch in the forums a few months ago (from the present Oct/2005). Also because I'm sick of telling you people to go find the GIMP when you ask for free art programs! scream

Q: OMG therez pix of nekkid ppl!
A: Drawing n***s is a part of learning anatomy and it's not evil or 'porn' or 'perverted' so try not to judge when people explore that phase of developement.

Naked bodies in art are essential for up and coming artists as a reference. Old people, fat people, models, or your significant other (who likely isn't thinking about art when you ask them to remove their clothes for you. o.O ), they're all useful references to learn how the body moves, ages, bunches up, or stretches. Where are the important muscle groups in a person's back? Their thighs? How can you see without them being naked? How about thin people, how do you see how bones show through on a person's skin when they're really lean without them removing some of their clothes? Artists who study people actually doing stuff improve significantly faster than those who just think "I know what a person's supposed to look like." Sure you can draw an arm with a pair of lines, but it's the subtile extra lines that transform those flat two lines into a natural looking arm that seems to have substance, actual meat and depth.

Draw what you see. Compare what you see to internal anatomy (see Gray's anatomy) and understand why things are shaped as they are. You'll be glad you did.

Q: Why no porn in the anatomy section? Porn is art too 'cause it's got naked people just like you said above!
A: Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. Naked bodies are natural, it's clothing that's the reason that people are so touchy about seeing people in the nude. Of course without clothing we'd freeze or burn in the variety of harsh climates in the world, plus without pockets we'd keep losing our keys. Sexual acts however, while sometimes beautiful, are a rather intimate experience for those involved. Would YOU like it if someone snapped a shot of you twisted in the forms of the Karma Sutra? Well even if you would, most people wouldn't. Porn often times doesn't give you a proper view to see how muscles flex during sex anyways. And no, drawn porn isn't acceptable either dispite how detailed some of it might be.

Moderator note - Porn also violates Gaia's PG-13 policy and is against the terms of service.

Q: Why isn't my favourite program <insert name here> on your list!?
A: Because you haven't submitted it to me! It's just that simple, I'm not omniscient nor telepathic. I don't know about these programs you know, love, and use unless you tell me. If you have and it hasn't made it into the listing yet then just chill out and wait, I'm also not omnipotent so I can't bend time to my whims just to make you happy. It'll get there when it gets there.

Q: Why aren't there more reference sites/pictures in the <insert heading> of the anatomy section?
A: Because no one's sent in sites yet and really if I'm not out at a mall staring at people to the point of physical uncomfort on their part, I'm looking over Gray's Anatomy. There can be no better reference material than the real thing and I heartily suggest you take your pencil and paper and just go out there and draw people. [comedy]Ignore their suggestions to leave them alone and draw them until they start hitting you with their personal effects or call security![/comedy] Malls, buses, bus stations, restaurants, libraries, dojos, all of them are ideal places to look for people in motion.

Since furries are more or less human, this same principle applies to them as well, though like the animals they're based on you might want to just sit and observe the original animals in action as well as humans. Zoos are a good place to see the rarer examples of wild life for your area (like lions and rhinos, we don't get many of those in the frigid pines of the North), while examples of various canines and felines are found as readily as your neighbours or maybe even your own house.

As to why there's MORE than just Gray's anatomy, well I've been researching just for you folks. ~.^

Q: How can I help?
A: Give me more information to add to this sticky. Spread links to this sticky to others who want to know what art program they should use, or where they can find help on hands, or anything else covered here. Hell, put it in your signature in a nice sized 14 pt or 18 pt font link so they'll be SURE to see it. The idea is to reduce the number of commonly repeated questions out there.

Q: There aren't any tutorials for <insert name of program>, could you add a few?
A: Actually there are more than you think, because just about everything you can do with one program can be done with any of the others. For instance in the Photoshop tutorials there's mention of using the pen tool to draw paths for vector art. In the GIMP (for an example of another program) there's a paths tool which, shockingly, does the same thing! So pretty much anything that applies to Photoshop in that case would work for the GIMP as well. Some programs lack a pen tool equivilant (oC 1.1 for instance), which means you'll have to find one that does. But it's not unusual for an artist to have three or more programs at their disposal just like it isn't unusual for an artist to have three or four different brushes, pencils, erasers, or canvases (read: paper or actual canvas) to work on. It sucks when you meet a program's limitations and it's your favourite, but thems the breaks.

Q: What's with all those extra U's, like in colour?
A: I'm Canadian eh. Pull up a two four and watch the hockey game with me.


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User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.



Save loomis took thier books down.

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Thanks for the heads-up, Amour+Fonce. Edited.

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Just a note... if you have something to add, please PM one of the active AD mods.
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