Periwinkle Imp

I’ve taught drawing and painting for 10 years now. I’ve seen a lot of portfolios. I’ve critiqued thousands of assignments. And the problems I saw in student work back when I first started teaching are the same one’s I’m still seeing now. These are fundamental issues that don’t change with the latest version of photoshop or even what century you live in.

Before we jump in, I want to quickly mention that I’m working on a drawing basics course. It’s meant to be a new artist’s first course, to get you started doing the right things and hit the ground running. If you don’t want to miss it when it comes out, get on the newsletter.

So, here are 5 shading mistakes you’re probably making, and how to fix them.

#5 – Icing Before Cake

I meet artists all the time who are just starting out, and they’re practicing techniques and anatomy and shading details and all this really cool stuff… But it’s not making their drawings better. Why is that?

While they’re focused on all the fancy fun stuff, they’re making huge proportion mistakes, their perspective is off, and their gesture is stiff. That’s not even icing before cake, that’s icing without cake. You’ve got to build your pictures and your skills with the fundamentals first.

Each concept builds on the last. Surface stuff like anatomy, techniques and rendering details are all at the tippy-top; awesome but initially unnecessary and less important than the stuff at the bottom. You can’t shade correctly if you don’t know the simple form; you can’t draw the simple form if you don’t understand perspective; The forms don’t matter if you can’t draw a straight line, keep your proportions in check or establish a dynamic pose.

Below are some drawings I did a few years into my studies. If you think it’s really good, you’ve fallen for my tricks. At this point in my development I got good at shading. But it’s filled with structural errors. I didn’t really understand form. I just learned some effective tricks to make the drawing appear 3D. An exaggerated core shadow, some reflected light, and a bright highlight as a cherry on top. Wow, it’s so easy! But it’s all just a cheap distraction from the uninformed construction.

The icing might be the part that makes it look pretty or makes it stand out, but icing by itself is gross… It’s empty calories. Remember this every time you want to draw eyelashes before the eye socket.

#4 – Bad reference

Whoa, hold up guys, I just got tagged and I’ve got to take a selfie… let’s see… First, camera up high, very slimming. Kinda dark in here, turn flash on… Click… Alright, now I’ve got to choose a nice filter… Hmm… Tweak that a little bit… Perfect.

A photo like that is distorted and edited. It might be flattering or maybe even a good photo, but photography and drawing are two different fields. Something that makes a good photo won’t necessarily make good reference for drawing.

Drawing from bad photos is super common, and super easy to fix. I wrote a blog post about it ages ago, so you can go there for a more detailed lesson on what makes good photo reference. But to paraphrase… 

When looking for reference, look for photos with good lighting and clear shadows. This will translate into a dimensional drawing. Drawing from a flash photo with no shadows makes it much harder to define the forms in your drawing. It’s possible, I’ve done it, but it takes a trained eye and ability to use subtle halftones to define the forms. Beginners usually end up with flat, muddy looking patches of tone. If you’re just getting started, I recommend sticking to photos with lighting that clearly defines the forms.

You can find photo packs made specifically for artists that have good lighting and minimal touch-ups. I’ve got some here. In the long run, the best thing to do is learn how to take your own reference photos. And if you can draw from life instead, that’s better than any photo.

#3 – Outlines

There’s always a silver lining, but there’s also not, because the real world doesn’t have outlines. Yet as beginners, we all start by drawing thick, dark outlines around everything. Now, there’s nothing wrong with linear drawing or cartoons if that’s your intention. But if you’re trying to draw realistically, you need to be thoughtful about your outlines. It’s ok to use them. It’s a mistake to overuse them, or use them as a crutch.

Stop thinking of 2D shapes and start thinking of 3D planes. Knowing the structure of the nose – that means the planes of the nose, which are based off of anatomy, will help you place patches of tone that make it look like a convincing nose. No need for outlines. You can draw a whole picture without any outlines, since that’s how we actually see things.

Masters like John Singer Sargent, know how to use both. In the face of this drawing, he’s not using outlines, just tone. It’s the center of interest, so he makes it more realistic. In all these secondary elements, he uses outlines. The outlines are deliberate. The tonal face and the outlined parts have a nice contrast. And the outlines don’t look boring. They have a variety to their weight. The jaw and neck are outlined. But the ear isn’t. The edge is lost into the background. He used the outline sparingly only in areas where he wanted the forms to pop. The left side of the figure is separated from the background with a value difference.

The jaw, neck, shirt, bowtie, and jacket are all very similar in value. To separate them with tone, would require very subtle shading. In a quick drawing like this, too much detail in secondary elements could look overworked. A well placed outline is clean and simple. It does the job.

#2 – Afraid of the Dark

The next mistake is not going dark enough with your shadows. I see this all the time, especially on portraits. People are afraid to put dark shadows on fair skin, because they know that the local color of the skin is pale, so they think light skin, light values. But the shadow is just a shadow. It’s the lack of light. It’s supposed to be dark. Or some people are afraid to go too dark because they might not be able to erase it, so their shadows end up being just as light as their halftones.

By removing the shadows, you remove the mood that the lighting created. And you’re losing the 3-dimensionality of the forms. If you didn’t like the lighting in the photo, why did you use the photo? Retake it! Don’t make it that hard on yourself. Inventing a new light setup on a face is really hard. If you’re advanced you can do whatever. You can draw a pretty girl while looking at a beaver! But if you’re a beginner, don’t.

So, to avoid muddy or cartoony drawings, learn how to see values correctly. When you’re drawing, make sure you separate the light family from the shadow family. Remember the rule: the lightest dark is darker than the darkest light. If you’re not sure what that means, this next mistake is for you.

#1 – Sloppy Values

The most common shading mistake I see is not organizing your values correctly. Not making your shadows dark enough like I mentioned in the last mistake is one way, but making your halftones too dark is just as bad. So, general sloppiness with your value control is the bigger issue.

The first thing that is important to understand is that the value on any particular point on the surface is mostly determined by the angle of the surface in relation to the light source. Unless you’re dealing with highly reflective surfaces, then they act more like a mirror to the environment. For now, let’s stick to surfaces like skin, which are slightly reflective.

I did a lesson on “How to Shade a Drawing” a while ago. I highly recommend you watch that next. But generally, the part of the surface that points directly toward the light is called the center light. 

It will be the brightest spot, excluding any reflected highlights.

As the surface turns away from the light source, those planes will get progressively darker. These are known as halftones. The more they face away the darker they are.

After we pass what’s called the “terminator” the planes don’t receive any direct light from the light source, since they are facing away from the light.

Everything in there is shadow. Unless you’re in space, shadows won’t be pure black.

Light will bounce off other things in the environment. So, within the shadows you’ll have bounce light, or reflected light. But those are still darker than the halftones in the lit side. That’s the general concept. There’s also occlusion shadows, cast shadows, core shadows and highlights, but you can go watch the other lesson for the full explanation.

Ok, now that you understand form and how light reveals form, it’s important to stay consistent throughout your drawing. Light reveals the 3 dimensional forms because the value of a plane tells the viewer the angle of that plane. If you make your halftones as dark as your shadows, then you’re not communicating the correct plane angles and that breaks the illusion of form. That brings us back to that rule: the lightest dark is darker than the darkest light. Let me rephrase that a little. The lightest shadow is darker than the darkest halftone. Make a little more sense?

You might think that the reflected light under the jaw would be lighter than the halftone on the side of his check, but you’d be wrong. Just sample the colors and extend them out to see.

So, if it’s in the shadow family, it should be darker than anything in the light family. Organize your values and use them correctly in your drawing.

And the key is to stay consistent with that throughout your drawing. If you break that, it should be intentional.

There’s also incomplete shadows: scratchy shading that has all these little holes of light in the shadow.

The holes are as light as a highlight, and they break up the shadow and ruin the effect of light on form. So the shadows don’t actually look dark, they just look spotty. Shadows look like halftones and halftones look like shadows… The result is dirty looking skin. You can fix this by filling in the holes manually, blending, or preventing it from happening in the first place by shading with tight, close-together lines.

When the shadows are consistent and clean like the image below, it has a much more realistic and 3-dimensional feeling. The goal is to clearly communicate what is light and what is shadow. That makes clear 3D form.

Check out Stephen Bauman’s patreon and instagram.

Below is another example of a master breaking the rules. Harry Carmean doesn’t always fill in his shadows with clean tone. But, he’s still clearly communicating what is shadow and what is light. He uses the dark pencil only in the shadows. He uses the white pencil only in the lights. This clearly distinguishes the two. His mess is extremely well controlled. It’s full of energy and fun to look at. It’s skillfully designed, the anatomy is accurate and dynamic. It all holds together.

Again, if you want to participate in the Drawing Basics course, make sure you’re subscribed.

and exomis:

Notably, in most of those, it’s stated flat-out within the first couple of minutes that the character in question is dreaming. It’s not a big reveal, it’s a fundamental detail of the setting.

If you’re gonna do a dreamworld, actually commit to doing a dreamworld.

To agree with this entire thread: In my third year at uni, my fiction professor went through clichés and plot lines that are overdone, and/or should avoid. She said either don’t write them, or, as last post says, “ACTUALLY COMMIT TO IT.” When done right, it works.

When we write stories, the beginning is our contract to the reader as to what to expect. This doesn’t mean there can’t be twists in the story line, but the bones of the story that keep a reader grounded, basic facts about the world, are contracted at the beginning of the story. Therefore, the best “absurd” story lines will come right out and show they’re crazy. Take The Metamorphosis, a German novella by Franz Kafka. The first line reads, “When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed into a monstrous vermin.” (In this case he was a cockroach.) We, as readers, never question the absurdity of this, because we are told and contracted to this information at the beginning. 

It’s the same with language like jargon and slang in stories. That’s why books like Feed, a YA novel by M.T. Anderson, works so well, and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Anderson brings up the crazy slang and lingo of the time period on page one and starts explaining the idea of the brain implants they use for computers on page three.  “I don’t know when they first had feeds. Like maybe, fifty or a hundred years ago. Before that, they had to use their hands and their eyes. Computers were all outside the body. They carried them around outside of them, in their hands, like if you carried your lungs in a briefcase and opened it to breathe” (pg 10, paragraph 2). He starts his story on the fucking moon for Christ’s sake. 

There are even instances in manga where we find this. Tokyo Ghoul by Sui Ishida starts with his main character Ken Kaneki, in the first chapter, commenting on his own tragedy and foreshadowing his own eventual “death” at the end of Tokyo Ghoul. (This excludes anything past TG, such as TG:RE) “If you were to write a story with me in the lead role, it would certainly be… a tragedy“ (chapter 1, pg 46). If we didn’t know this was a tragedy, and he just fucking dies at the end, we’d be pissed off that we rooted for him for 14 volumes! Ken telling the reader his life is a tragedy sets it up, so as we root for him, we know there is a big fucking chance this kid is toast.

When this contract is broken, and the writer changes the very bones of their story, the reader can feel betrayed. They may ask, “What was the point of me reading this if it was only a dream?” or “If the main character was just going to kill themselves at the end without warning?” You shouldn’t write an absurd story and play it off as just a coma patient’s dream, or some fantasy novel a character was writing. You can’t say this entire fiction world isn’t actually real, because we are reading a book, or watching a movie. Readers and viewers already know it isn’t real. People want the immersion in fiction, so if you are going to create absurdity, I would say, COMMIT TO IT. If not, tell the reader at the beginning that it’s all a lie.

SenshiStock’s gallery consists of millions of pictures that are free to use as reference.

As a trans guy who’s been working out for a few years now and has learned a lot about their body and building muscle and whatnot in the process, here’s something I don’t see mentioned, like ever. 

Abs don’t really look Like That™ when they’re relaxed.

Here’s a few examples from a Reddit thread asking for pictures of people both flexing and not flexing their abs

I rarely see male body positivity posts in general but I’ve never seen this mentioned, and honestly? Call me stupid for it if you want, but I genuinely thought that super defined look was something that was achievable in a relaxed state, simply because I’ve never seen anything to the contrary. 

As someone with body dysmorphia as well as dysphoria, you can imagine the damaging effects that might have had on my mental health trying by to achieve the impossible. I can only imagine how many other masculine folk out there could be struggling with the exact same thing.

It’s A Giveaway!

To celebrate passing 600 followers , I’m having another giveaway! Just like this post between now and 11:59 PM Eastern on Wednesday, June 13 2018 and you will be automatically entered into a random drawing for this adorable Yeolume Blackberry. Yeolume Blackberry is a beautiful doll, and even comes with a cute big bow and tiny tote bag.

Winner will be notified via tumblr messaging and has 24hrs to respond. If there is no response in that time another winner will be selected.

Giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere in the world, I’m covering postage cost. If you are under 18, get your parents permission.

A stray dog in Bolivia joined a monastery and became a monk. The resident monks of St. Francis Monastery, named for the patron saint of animals, decided to adopt a dog they call ‘Friar Bigotón’ from the Cold Nose Project, which hopes the dog’s story will now inspire more monasteries to take in homeless pets. Source Source 2 Source 3

So one of the most common things I see on my Mead posts is “I’d love to do that, but I don’t have the stuff”

We’ll sit down and buckle up. Because I’m about to show you how to make a $12.56 traditional mead.

Here’s the recipe:

1 gallon Deer Park/spring water. You don’t want distilled.

3 lb or 32 fluid ounces honey.

One package of yeast.

a party balloon.

The cost total is $13.49, but you only need one pack of yeast. So -$0.90.

Let’s begin:

Everything together on a clean work surface, you will need a clean glass. And while not entirely necessary, a measuring cup will be handy.

Pour a cup of water for yourself and drink it. Hydration is important. Also this will allow you headspace.

Remove about ehhhhh, a quart or so of water to drink later.

Trust me. You’re going to want it

You have two options for yeast, that bread yeast we bought, or professional brewer’s yeast.

They’re both the same price. You can get brewers yeast off of Amazon.

I already have brewer’s yeast, so I’m using brewer’s yeast

Stick that in that honey water.

Stick your honey in some hot water.

Go outside. Breath the free air. Know what it is… To truely live.

Enough of that bitch. Honey’s hot. Put it in the water.

Put the water in the honey too.

Shake the sin out of it.

Shake the sh*t outta it.

Hydrate yourself with the water you removed earlier.

Shank a balloon with a pin.

Add your yeasty honey water.

Balloon it.

Label it.

If your trad mead says anything racist, or anything positive about Hitler. Straighten that sh*t out.

And there you go. $12 (.56) traditional mead. Stick it somewhere dark and leave it alone for a while.

Here we go then!

Freeware

Alchemy - this is a really fun program. You play around making abstract shapes until you start to see something in them, kind of like a Rorschach test. Then you use the shapes as a base to draw it from. MyPaint - a pretty decent painting program that also has the benefit of working on Unix systems. openCanvas 1.1 - I haven’t used openCanvas in years but it was a nice program with a pretty unique feel to it. ArtRage - Only used this a couple of times donkey’s years ago just before I got oC, but I’ve heard good things about it. The GIMP - In a similar vein to Photoshop, but free. I couldn’t get on with it when I tried it out a few years ago, but it’s pretty popular and is available on Unix systems and Macs.

Sketchbook copic: a bit different program

Not-free-ware

Photoshop - Standard painting fare. Probably the most flexible program (particularly the latest versions) but not designed to act in a “natural” way. If you’ve used it for painting versus something like Painter you know what I mean. Who the fuck pays for it though? Google “Photoshop tumblr masterpost” and take your pick. Paint Tool Sai - Far more affordable and definitely worth paying for if you can. The brushes are very decent (especially when they’ve been tweaked a little), the gui is simple and intuitive, and I dare you to find a program with which making smooth lineart is easier. Corel Painter - My program of choice for most things. More tools than you could ever possibly use and pretty cheap on a student license, providing that you can prove you’re a student! It’s got a few bugs but if you want realism or a more natural feel than PS or SAI this is the program for you.

Anatomy

heads from different angles

anatomy and rotation of the head

human anatomy for artists

speed drawing studies

nude references

hands

arm and wing movement

beer bellies

body types

noses

box and egg/run of the stroke

a trick for arm proportions

body diversity

anatomy of the waist

feet

hands and forearms

Expressions

emotions and facial expressions

expressions from different angles (love this site)

body language

Poses

figure drawing examples

posemaniacs

gesture drawing

flexiblity

hand poses

Skin tones

handy pallet

painting skin

paint some life into your skin tones

ethnic skintones

Colouring

gamut mask tool (very nice!)

colour does not have to suck

5 easy ways to improve your colouring

fucking gradients, how do they work

light and shadow

painting crystals

achieving a painterly look in SAI

painting forests

colour scheme designer

kuler (more colour schemes)

portrait lighting cheatsheet

Brushes

a very nice setting for the sai acrylic brush

photoshop fur brushes (and tutorial)

lots of photoshop brushes

Other peoples masterposts

handy art link megapost

art references

stock artists

cocks and how to draw them

love your fellow artist (anything from prompt generators to animation background here, very nice)

e-books

art e-books (mediafire download)

even more e-books (including human anatomy, animal anatomy, cartoons, animation, composition, design, scenery, perspective…)

Andrew Loomis’s books

the art of drawing

cutting edge anatomy

Tutorials

drawing 101

how to paint realistic hair

how to paint realistic eyes

conceptart.org tutorials

creature design

folds

glasses

a pretty extensive general art tutorial

tumblrs

fucking art, how does it work

wannabe animator

anatomical art

artist problems

Sesame Seeds

Cranberry

Pineapple

Peanut

Cashew

Pistachio

Brussel Sprouts

Cacao

Vanilla

Saffron

Kiwi

Pomegranate

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