Hey Bear remember the detailed art where it’s a place and there’s a just filled with different bears, I think it will be a great excuse to practice but idk how to approach it. Any tips?? Or just things you learn when you started drawing those
I have a feeling you asked this a while ago, but I only saw it now
If it's the case, sorry must be a tumblr glitch💥
👏a wall of text warning👏/silly
First thing I usually do is - I plan a lot beforehand
Especially if it’s a drawing with existing characters
Ironically TSP/STP drawings were easier to do for me
Even though bear megadrawings look simpler (I think?)
Basically when you already have a list of character you want to include - you just need to think where to locate them
When you just draw a lot of random characters - you need to design every single one
Which is kinda a nightmare on your brain 💥
The second type is a lot more flexible tho (you can add or remove characters at will, no count needed)
I will use TSP + Undertale reblog chain drawing as an example
1) Collecting references - if you plan to draw existing characters, it’s better to gather all the references
Making an additional list of all characters helps too (this way you can track which character you already drawn)
Photobashing or finding a good location reference really helps here
Sadly don’t have a photobash I did for this, I deleted everything 💥
This is just an example to demonstrate things 👆
I usually just do a rough sketch on a small piece of paper
You don’t have to have it 100% planned, if characters don’t fit, you can just extend/edit the area
You have to determine where your characters will be located
The common mistake I see when ppl draw detailed drawings: they draw a singular character and move on to add others
If you’re doing it digitally, this may not be a problem for you (ya know just make a character smaller or move them, problem solved)
But what I recommend doing:
Is drawing shapes where you plan to put characters in
This will help you plan out the composition more and regulate the character amount in different parts of the drawing
Also keep in mind the size of you character
I struggle with it to this day tbh
Usually the characters on the foreground are bigger then the ones on the background (this is one of the art principles used to showcase distance)
But an interesting thing you may notice when looking at illustrations like “Where’s Waldo” series
This principle often may be ignored
It’s still kinda present, but you can pretty much say many characters are -+ the same size
My theory is that it’s done to make every character equal, so the purpose to find Waldo is still challenging
+ I think to keep the whole picture harmonious
I may not know certain principles (the nitty-gritty of detailed art like this)
So keep in mind this is just my experience, do your research too >:D
This one is a bit vague, but I will try to explain it the best I can
When you have a specific character, who, for example, is way bigger or has brighter colours then the rest
You need to give them more attention
- Big creatures on da background - they were drafted first, bc they required a lot place
- Spider Barry - a special area for spider characters
- Thierry - active action, running, led to a chain of characters interacting
- Narry Grilby’s, Bearline, Pixel Alphys - themed areas for certain characters
(my apologies if I made a mistake in any character name here, let me know, I will fix it)
+ Advice for colour: try to keep them the similar saturation, so the image looks harmonious
You don’t really have to have key characters, it’s just my method that makes the process easier to plan out
This part is up to you obviously, different ppl draw differently
For me it’s usually > small draft > sketch > line art > scan > colour
Advice for my traditional artist - ya’ll need a big paper sheet
I usually work on A3 format, bc it’s easier to scan
But the bigger the paper the more detailed characters you can draw
Too many characters, not enough paper
I used A3, but looking back A2 would work way better here
I used a really thin line pen (005) and didn’t realise the consequences of that 💥
As a result scan turned out not the best quality (+ if you zoom in on the faces 🐻❄️🔫)
It was impressive at the time, but rrrr I wish I just bought a bigger piece of paper back then 💥
Just to illustrate the issue
On the top are pens I usually use for comics lineart, the bottom one is 005
And my finger as an obscure reference lmao 💥
As you can see the lines are REALLY DAMN THIN and everything is smol, tiny even
So just keep that in mind 👍
And for my digital fellas
🫵 Big canvas 🫵 big 🫵 the pixels will eat u 🫵
Practicing concentration and patience is important 💥
This may sound silly, but it does help with finishing stuff
Projects like those require a ton of patience and focus
So just mentally prepare yourself for sitting on your desk for hours™️
From my experience I would recommend to start with small drawings with a small amount of characters
And then gradually build up to bigger amounts and more details
My first ever megadrawing was this piece
Line art took 2 weeks, colouring -+ a week I believe
This was exhausting the first time 💥
After practicing the process became faster and less tiring
The TSP x Undertale took about 4 days (but like full 4 days)
Remember doing lineart in 1 day, taking breaks just to like eat
🫵Ok don’t worry about me🫵
I have a tendency to concentrate on things for a really long periods of time, so it’s not a “🔥I WILL BURN MYSELF OUT WITH THIS PROJECT LET’S GO🔥” type of deal, this is pretty much how I am
If I enjoy a specific process I can spend an entire day doing just that, without getting tired (the only problem could be not enough movement and eye pain, my eternal enemy 👿)
But 🫵 don’t expect yourself to do the same 🫵
Start small, practice, don’t push your limits right away
Take breaks and care about yourself fellas 👏
Good luck with your projects🫡
Hope it was helpful, thank u for you question ❤️
For new ppl here, you can check the megadrawings section in navigation (pinned post), if you got interested
