Resources, References, and Tutorials.

Oh shit, the Handy app added a head model for angle and lighting reference.

So I did a kind of tutorial thing? Although it’s less of a tutorial and more of a ‘hey, this is how i personally do this thing’ step-by-step.

Mutations in Plains Zebra (Equus quagga)

Nicknamed Marble, this zebra has an area of small scrambled stripes on it’s back, giving it a marbled look. [x]

A reconstructed quagga-like animal, it’s legs clean, and it’s rump and belly nearly free of markings. The stripes it does have are fairly narrow for a plains zebra. It’s tail and mane are much lighter, and has a faint brown wash along it’s back.[x]

Two reduced striped animals, the middle with a few stray stripes on it’s rump and legs, the one on the right has a nearly all white body and legs. Both have a fewer number of facial markings as well.[x]

A diluted, brown striped adult zebra. Zebra foals are born brown and white, but this one didn’t seem to lose it’s baby colors. [x]

An erythristic, gingery-brown striped beauty. [x]

Blonde is a term applied to leucistic zebras. Albino is sometimes used for the really light animals, like this blue eyed and creamy tan striped one, however I keep reading that true albinism has not been recorded in equines, so I’m hesitant to use that term.[x]

This abundistic has stripes that thicken and meld together on it’s back and neck, forming white spots.[x]

Dotted and dashed with white on a black background, this heavily abundistic zebra has a very unique and striking look.[x]

The back of this abundistic Burchell’s (E.q. burchellii) is so densely marked, it’s a nearly solid blanket of color ticked with a bit of white. The rest of it’s stripes and brown shadow stripes are jagged and messy.[x] 

Pricelists Industry vs Fandom.

Finally made.

If anyone would care to donate a coloured comic page for the comic industry standard list I’m willing to accept one and will give credit c8 I would’ve made one if I had an example but I don’t -A-

But yes that’s off my chest.

Of course this is based off my own browsing over price lists and how I work unfortunately my commissioner homie went idle so I can’t confirm the most vs the least one can spend.

I’ve only found one artist thus far that charges nearly as close to industry standard. Even then it’s under the standard. As far a I’m concerned anyone under the standard shouldn’t have complaints about expensive art. Fandom average is hardly one you can live by.

Would you like to get paid $30 for 3-7 days worth of work?

Edit:No I’m not saying what you should/shouldn’t charge for your pieces. That’s up to you. I’m talking to supposed commissioners that think it’s too expensive. This is the hours of your life they’re spending.

If you’re gonna put a price tag on that make it worth that time and effort. For your own sanity. I wanted to post this so those artists that have been discouraged by “too expensive for me” comments.

I do really want that handbook though, gosh. I charge minimum rates, fandom style. But I also make customers wait a fair bit recently so I guess I just don’t value my own effort highly enough right now.

I know a ton of you have been waiting for this one. Teaching you to make your own plastic keychains!

To start off, I think the biggest question everyone has is what I use to make them. I work with shrink film. You might be familiar with Shinky Dink brand shrink film as a kid. I use Grafix brand white inkjet shrink film. The inkjet kind is relatively pricey compared to the regular kind. If you’re using regular, I don’t recommend you stick it in your printer. Sharpie markers would be good for that.

Alright, now open up the file with the images that you’re working with. Make sure your images are a lot bigger than you want your finished product to be since they shrink significantly.

You’ll also want to lighten the opacity to about half. I go somewhere between 50-60%.

Now print your image out! I’ve found that it works best for me when I have it at the plain paper setting, and standard print quality.

Holepunch with a 1/4” holepuncher BEFORE you shrink them. It’s so much more work to have to punch holes when your plastic is thick!

Cut out your design, leaving the amount of border you want.

Set them on a tray for convenience. An aluminum foil sheet works too, but I recommend cookie trays because they are easier and quicker to get out of the oven.

Preset heat. Your shrink film package will tell you what temperature to set it at, but I find that it isn’t always accurate for me. I generally set temperature to 350 degrees or so.

Put them in the oven. Remember to keep track of time! I leave them in for about a minute and a half.

After time is up they should be super small! Magic!

If your charms are not flat, put something heavy on it right out of the oven when they are still hot and malleable.

If you’d like to, you can seal them now. In my last two batches, I used clear topcoat nail polish. The problem with that is that I need between 3-5 coats of it, and it takes a while to dry. I’ve been experimenting with modpodge.

For lariats, you can use jump rings or lobster clasps.

Here is one that I made that wasn’t sealed. The finished texture after shrinking is a little bit rough. There’s nothing wrong with leaving them unsealed, but because they are inkjet printed, the colors wash right of without protection.

This is one that was sealed with modpodge. The colors become a little more vibrant and smooth and water resistant. Things often get stuck on when applying or drying so be careful.

These ones down here were sealed with clear nail polish. They come out shiny if you put enough coats, but the grainy texture will still be there.

First, there’s the “I can create and want to create but I don’t know what to create” form.

This one can be beaten by giving yourself a break or shifting gears.

Then there’s the “I cannot create at all everything is coming out horribly” ‘bad art’ form.

This one literally just requires that you keep ‘wasting’ materials and time and work. Even though you want to throw everything across the room. This version is universally experienced…. Even professional artists have days when everything comes out mediocre at best.

You’ll want to stop.

Don’t.

Usually, it’s right after the point where you tell yourself, “I’m giving up today is just not a good day” that you make good art. It may not be brilliant art. It may not even be very good art. However that isn’t the point.

My hands have always been a bit shaky, but lately I’ve noticed that even with the stylus held completely still, I get cursor jitters. So, since I pride myself on my nice lines, I decided to find something to fix that.

LazyNezumi is a noise/interference reduction and smoothing tool that works with most Wacom tablets, and can be bound to nearly all drawing software. It doesn’t stop the jitters, but it predicts the amount of noise behind them and smooths your lines to match. I’ve tested it here in Photoshop CS6, and it works frigging wonders.

Tomb Raider ~ Concept Art & Artbook

Writer Beware makes posts on which publishing houses to avoid at all costs, which words to look for and which words to watch out for in contracts, and several other things that will keep you in control and knowledgeable about the publishing process.  I’d suggest reading through the website if you want to avoid getting ripped off, cheated, or scammed.

CALL TO ARMS!!! Save the Higgins Armoury Museum

The  Higgins Armoury Museum has an official SAVE ME page. 

PETITION - please take a second and sign it HERE.

DONATE - those who can and want are free to it HERE.

SPREAD THE WORD - reblog, share on Facebook, tweet, make journals, send e-mails, etc.

For more news, updates, and ideas on how to help out you can turn to their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter.

The book does have a basic breakdown of the hands, but I felt that references like these were much more needed.

Source: FOERVRAENGD