The Art Help Thread!!

[Spike Spiegel]

Have any of you ever felt really excited about taking an art class?:D :D

Like really excited?:lol: :P :)

Only when you got to take the class, it wasn't fun at all?:o

That is what has happened to me this past semester. For all of my life I have drawn cartoons and comics--I do at least a full page of something cool in my sketchbook every day if I can--I have managed to fill up five of them since 2003 (I started drawing seriously right after the Hulk movie came out). Seeing as this was my first year of high school, I thought, "Art class for first semester?! AWESOME!" Now the semester is ending and I will be lucky to pull of a B minus in this class, and now I am doing this project for Georgia O'Keefe style paintings of flowers. This class has frustrated me all year long--we barely have time to plan our projects, my teacher is a snotty, rude yuppie who can draw and paint very well but does not seem to be interested in the spontaneous aspect of art at all, and most of my classmates don't pay any attention to me at all. They are actually rather rude to me. :| :cry: :roll:

Has this sort of thing ever happened to any of you or is it just me?:(

[Kid Icarus]

In my art classes any style that wasn't 'modern' art or classical wasn't acceptable to hand in... pissed me off quite a bit. Comic, cartoon, and anime styles are all pretty heavily frowned upon by those serious art types. I just laugh at them though. Art's about having fun with what you're creating, regardless if your intent's to pass an hour by or to change the world.

Thankfully I was able to convince my teacher that I had enough 'artistic vision' that I got out of planning every project. Now that was nice.

[Dr. Doom]

Art is such a vague concept these days, it's really quite antithetical to classify it so specifically and from upon it just because of the style. IF they wanted to name the class "Modern Art" or "Classical Art" or "Fingerpaint Art", then they could be as picky as they want, but too much else falls under the vail of "art" by itself.

[Draconic]

You'll get used to it.

I usually passed art classes with Bs and Cs. Funny thing though, in college (for video game art & design) I get the highest grades in the class, and a lot of people just don't seem to "get it". Your time will come, just don't give up the dream.

[Masked Ninja]

Oh, high school art classes suck, unless you're lucky enough to get a teacher who knows what he's doing. I had one of those sophomore year, and then the school split and he stayed at the building while I went to the new school.

I took some computer graphics classes afterward, and I knew how to use the programs better than the teacher did. :dead: College classes are cool, though. Especially since I'm an animation major, so we're under no delusions that only "fine arts" crud is really art. Unfortunately, a lot of high school art teachers don't think that way.

[Brodie]

Yeah, you'll get used to it. I did terrible in art classes throughout elementary school, and in middle school. Then kicked ass in highschool, and get some of the highest grades at college. Illustration courses are awesome when you can take them. Drawing classes are boring if you have an imagination. Depending on the teacher and if they let you add your own stuff, or if they only allow still lifes, its the same boat.

[Spike Spiegel]

Yeah...

I want to study art in college someday, but can anyone tell me what kinds of courses are good for someone like me? I greatly respect the Da Vincis and Michelangelos of our times, but I don't want to just copy them....I want to create my own masterpieces.

[Cascadia]

I struggled with art in middle school. In high school, I took a semester of art in order to fill up my course-load with a relatively easy course. I managed to get a A- in my art class. I went off to college for science degrees and had to take some art history courses to fulfill the requirements. I got B in Art History 1 & 2, which I ended up taking at the same time (I do not recommend it). It was hard to remember which artist goes in which period. You can study the modern artists and learn their style then apply it to your own work.

[Jester]

Yeah...my high school art teacher always wanted me to do more "Traditional" art pieces and I wanted to cartoon...go fig.

[Draconic]

We all know the saying,

"Those who can't do..."

[Spike Spiegel]

"...teach.":lol: :lol: :lol:

That pretty much sums up my art teacher. She's not even fun, she's just BLAH.

[Hannah]

Last year, I won the "best in art" award. I got a C in art class this year.
High school sucks. ):

[Peanut]

OK, Marty. That sig is way too big.

[Cascadia]

I am sorry that you feel that way with school, Hannah and everybody else. I am student teacher at the secondary level (middle and high school). I do not see why high school is so bad. Yes, I have had some bad teachers over the years but that does not make the school bad in my opinion.

[Masked Ninja]

I for one enjoyed high school. Hated getting up early, but 90% of my teachers were at least tolerable, and there were some great ones in there. And the sports I did were fun.

I just hated the art classes. I think they need to hire some actual artists to teach those. Like that one teacher I was lucky enough to have.

[Raven]

High school wasent my best time but I got a lot out of it. I was lucky that my art teacher actually worked within the art world. She had quite a resume, she was a ad designer and a architect. She didnt just teach us how to make art but how to study the meanings put behind a painting and why it was made. She taught us about critiquing and self expression, she very much taught with a college sense but unfortuntly alot of the people in my class were....well they needed every thing spoon fed to them....

heh I always got a lot of hell from her, she always put more pressure on me then others.

[Spike Spiegel]

I have drawing seriously an accumulation of nine sketchbooks for quite sometime now (since 2003). I have had a LOT of difficulty drawing women, particular more curvy ones. Can any one give me tips??

[Mecha Cow]

I'm guessing you already do this (If not, make a habit of doing so), but sketch out the basic shape of the body using ovals and circles. This will help you lay down the 'curved' areas.

Also familiarise yourself with what you want to draw, so maybe check out some tutorials and do some basic anatomy study. Look at pictures of women for reference (This is tough, I know).

Oh, and practise, practise, practise.

[KROW]

Yes, references and practice is the key. Anatomy books help and there's also some books that show the figure in different forms and poses. Search for books on female figure drawing and you should be good to go. Using other comics for reference will give you various versions of the female body, some of them vastly disproportioned yet eye-catching. Whatever helps helps, though.

[Spike Spiegel]

I have started at least two threads about art questions, and as an aspiring comic artist, I know that there must be other members of this forum that like to draw as much as me, so any questions that we have can answered here! Let's put our heads together and help each other out, shall we??

[Spike Spiegel]

I am trying to take my art to a new level, and I have often wondered about inking...are Sharpie markers ok to begin with, or should I just go straight for the expensive inking tools??

[Ra]

It really just comes down to what you are trying to do. Sharpies are good for trying to get those big, bold lines in. The inks are very much needed for the detail that Sharpies can not provide. Really, if you've tried to draw fine detail with a Sharpie, you'll quickly realize that it's a very dumb idea.

I honestly don't know what scale you are working on, so I can't give solid adivce. If you are working on canvas, like I am at the moment, Sharpies are a godsend since they give you solid lines quickly. If you are working on paper, however, definately go with the inks. You can practice with them and, although they may be expensive, make your works look that much better. But if you feel that you need a Shaprie, pick one up and play around with it a bit to see if it suits your style or the effect you are going for.

[Bigfoot]

I am a graphic designer here in Milwaukee WI, so I have had my fair share of "art" teachers and professors. I do remember my first high shool art teacher, she was a hippie that was totally into getting dirty. We made this mural using our hands only, made clay ashtrays, we even made a still life painting with our toes... she was pretty out there now that I think about it. Then computers became more popular, and so did image editing programs. My art teachers started pushing the graphic design and visual communication aspect. I went to college, and it was a completely new experience. Every student got their own computer and drafting table area. Many of the classes, the teacher would give an assignment, and leave it up to the student to ask questions on how a task was accomplished. It was nice, because I would read online tutorials the day before, and know exactly what to do the next day. Sad to say, but teachers in college were pretty useless to me. They were good contacts for people in the outside world, but I really thought I knew more than some of them, not all of them. I guess thats why my carreer took off, and they are still teaching abnoxious high schoolers, no offense. I have actually thought of being an art teacher but I can't stand kids. Pretty funny considering I am probably the biggest kid in the world. If you want to make money with your art, you will have to conform to what a client wants. If you want to make art for fun, do whatever you want, and call it a masterpiece.

[KROW]

I am trying to take my art to a new level, and I have often wondered about inking...are Sharpie markers ok to begin with, or should I just go straight for the expensive inking tools??

I never use Sharpies for art. Whenever I need to ink, I use art pens of various widths. They're not that expensive, I don't think. They last a long time if you don't use them excessively, so the price balances out with longevity.

However, if you're going for bold outlines, a Sharpie (or better yet, an ink pen with a wide tip) would be okay to use.

[Spike Spiegel]

Looks like I'll be buying some pens soon...although I still use my Sharpie for outlines, sometimes...very hesitantly.

The last time I used one the "bleeding" was just out of control :(

[Raven]

I am trying to take my art to a new level, and I have often wondered about inking...are Sharpie markers ok to begin with, or should I just go straight for the expensive inking tools??


Another thing to note on inking in general is lines, after you have the tools you'll want to think about these things. A small pen will of course be used for small lines. Seems simple right? Well practice it until it just comes to you.

You'll want to play with the width of the line and figure out how light affects it. Theres alot that goes into inking if your going to take it serious, but try to have fun with it also.

I dont know about you but I find that I need to be more patient when inking over a drawing, when drawing I can be quick but inking I have to be right on.

[Masked Ninja]

Yeah, the problem with even the thinnest Sharpies is that they bleed like crazy. However, expensive inking tools aren't always necessary either. I tend to just go with normal liquid ink pens myself... like Uniball ones or whatever. The thing you need to watch out for is making sure the lines have plenty of time to try before you erase the pencil, or it smears the ink. I suppose more expensive, specialized inking pens dry faster, but yeah.

Something you might want to check out in the way of inking pens at a hobby/craft/art store would be Microns or one of their similar brethren. I have one really thin one that I use sometimes because I draw small and sometimes a 0.5 Uniball tip is still too thick. :)

[Fledermaus]

Sharpies work beautifully if you use em right. They're way cheaper and very effective tools IMHO. I draw with them a lot, often straight with no pencil. BTW here's the blog of an old teacher of mine, John Mahoney (http://johnmahoney.blogspot.com/). Scroll down and observe just what can be done with sharpies. I kid you not, it's a kickass medium. But like with all mediums, don't use a sharpie marker like you would a pencil, or a quill pen, or a toothbrush, or even one of them fancy sakura pens (which recently I've stopped using because their ink isn't all that great considering their price).

A tip: working with sharpie is great if you want to do detail work and make interesting contours. Great for linework, and even the comic book look. I'll see whether I can get some scans in to show you some recent work I've done in sharpie.

I use ultra fine point or extra fine point, which gives a pencil thin line.

[Spike Spiegel]

A tip: working with sharpie is great if you want to do detail work and make interesting contours. Great for linework, and even the comic book look. I'll see whether I can get some scans in to show you some recent work I've done in sharpie.

I use ultra fine point or extra fine point, which gives a pencil thin line.


Thanks.

BTW, I looked in the gold mine that is my recently acquired Wizard: How to Draw book, and saw a shading technique that treats the pencil like an inker's pen.

Good practice until I get some more advanced tools, I suppose.

[Masked Ninja]

That's true... Fled does do some kickawesome stuff with Sharpie. I suppose my problem is I draw so small that the bleeding really does ruin stuff.