CrimsonDreamer

Sanku for the support her, and on Dev Art (crucifix). Here's the first and second of a three piece set I am entitling "Inferno." [url="http://ic1.deviantart.com/fs5/i/2004/285/7/5/Inferno_Part_1__Aaron_by_CrimsonDreamer.jpg"]Inferno Part 1- Aaron[/url] [url="http://ic1.deviantart.com/fs5/i/2004/285/5/e/Inferno_Part_2__Vladimir_by_CrimsonDreamer.jpg"]Inferno Part 2- Vladimir[/url] [color=teal]EDIT:[/color] Sorry I've been out of the loop guys, school was kicking my butt for a very long time, but I am back now, and I should be posting up more art soon. I might even have a website up and running here in a bit... for now, here's a piece that I've been doing...a web comic called "Sharing the Moon." The pages can be seen on Deviant Art as I post them up, but here's the first chapter divider, so you guys can have a peek.... I warn all right now, it's Shonen Ai, so if you don't know what that is or don't like it, don't complain, that's why I am posting it on Dev.... [url="http://tn7.deviantart.com/300W/fs5.deviantart.com/i/2004/336/2/2/Sharing_The_Moon_Page_1_by_CrimsonDreamer.jpg"]Sharing The Moon Page 1[/url] :devil: Bwa ha ha ha! I have returned! [color=teal]Even when bringing back a thread, it is against the rules to double post. If you really want to bring it back, post and then use the Edit button to delete the previous post and add it to the beginning of your new post. -Syk3[/color]

[quote name='ScirosDarkblade']I was speaking in relative terms. The reason the anime style was developed was because it allowed for simple replication. It was borrowed from Disney cartoons, after all. The style IS formulaic, as far as drawing people goes. I consider Oh My Goddess! to be one of the best-drawn manga out there, and even there the characters are only somewhat challenging to draw because of their intricate hair.[/quote] You might wanna take a history lesson here, because manga was developed as a teaching aid way back after the end of Wold War II because much of the populace had an educational level that made complex manuals and systems materials hard to fathom. The impending recession and rebuilding called for skilled workers that could get the job done qickly and porperly, and the best was was to make illustrated manuals. Many humourous mangas started as workplace humour meant to lighten the spirits of people too poor to afford things like TVs. These were four panel strips that eventually got compiled into miniature mangas, much like our modern day funny strips. That said, Lumping all manga into a single category is simply wrong. Saying it is formulaic is just as bad. Saying that all manga characters look alike or seem alike is understandable, because that STYLE has been ingranged into the culture. The same is true for American comics. All American comics could be categorized under hyper-sexuality. We feel the extreme need to display hyper-masulinity and hyper femininity in the form of big boobs and huge hips, and torsos on male body that are not anatomically possible. Take a look at Superman lately? His pectoril muscle is bigger than his head. As for the crack at Disney, did you watch, oh, Treasure Planet? Or Titan A.E. (A don Bluthe Film)? Each of those full length features was most definitely manga/anime influenced. American most certainly is taking back from an evolving art. Even lesser known cartoon that may be brought to light would be Warriors of Luna or Molly, Star Chaser, two beatiful pieces done in France. And if you STILL think that drawing manga is easy, take a look at ANYTHING done by CLAMP. Their character designs (true character designs before simplifacation for the televsion) are as complex and beautiful as they are needed. Each character's wardrobe is specifically suited to their personality. The shoulders on more masculine characters are precisely three heads wide (despite not being of human properties, are consistenet and look strange whenever they are done wrong). All characters have standard porportional legs for fashion design (20% longer in length) and all of which are carefully crafted for effect. If any one of these elements are done wrong, the characters are no longer their characters. Think of all the character elements that have gone into Ghost in the Shell. Have you taken a look at the characters designs for Masume Shirow's Bullistics, or Intron Depot. You cannot base your judgment of an entire artform just off of a few popular series (AKA Pokemon and DBZ) and yes, even Oh My Goddess is realatively popular.

[QUOTE=ScirosDarkblade]I draw manga because I'm one of those pathetic Americans who thinks he'll be more Japanese or something by emulating the easiest-to-emulate artwork out there. No, just kidding. I draw a tiny bit of it, but yeah mostly because it's easy. Seriously. Manga is easy-as-heck to draw, for the most part (the exception being that the backgrounds are often as detailed as anywhere, and then there's Oh My Goddess! which is overall very intricately detailed). That's why people do it so much. There's "entertainment-purpose" art out there that is hundreds, thousands of times better. But it's friggin hardcore awesome art, the product of true professionalism.[/QUOTE] I personally draw manga because of the story. Like any good story-teller of any era, they feel a drive, a compelling to tell a story that is trapped inside of them. I feel the manga style is formatted perfectly for these kinds of stories. It expresses a characters emotions in a way that American comics simply don't do. Most of the comic work that goes on nowadays that is the most dynamic is either cartoon/Disney based,though more realistically done (i.e. the new Spiderman), or done in at least a semi-anime style (ie, Mike Weringo, of Torch and Fantastic Four fame). I also think that manga has better design qualities and panelling than almost any other form of comic art (with the obvious exception of manhwa and mangwha, Chinese and Korean manga that is obviously based off of the style.). But GOOD manga is in NO WAY easy to draw. Manga, unlike any other comic, is like a collection of carefully integrated graphic designs. Right down to the panelling. Bad art is far easier to come by nowadays, but anyone reading lesser known manga like Under that Glass Moon and Les Bijoux, or even popular CLAMP novels like X/1999 or Tokyo Babtlon, is essentially reading a story within the confines of a carefully plotted graphic layout. This is the reason that in Manga panels, the speech bubbles are drawn in along with the frame, because to do so afterwards would add a previously unrelated design element that could offset the balance, a balance that is all to easily shifted and makes the page look "funny." As for being quick and easy, it may take the average comic book artist a day to finish a single page and get it ready and off to print ( from concept, to sketch, to ink, color and copy...) but good manga artists may take weeks to deisgn a singel page, hours upon hours to do a single panel (from concept, to sketch, to ink, to copy, to tone, to set, to copy), and in good mang it shows. There are grades of manga just as there are grades of comics. Some suck, some don't. Lumping all manga into the "quick and easy" categaory is wrong and very unfair to the artist that carefuly craft each panel for information as well as emetion and mood. After three combined years of art school (and three left till graduating with two degrees...) at two different universities in two different states, experimenting with hundreds of different styles, I find that I cannot wholly get rid of the anime/manga influence in my work. But that does not bother me. Because I know WHY manga is so appealing, I also know why I do WANT to get rid of that influence. No matter how much I do with Modern, Post Modern, Sci-Fi/Fantasy or even Portrait Art, I still come back to manga because it is the some of the most graphically stunning works I have ever seen. Not to say that every other form of comic in the work is inferior, but it's like comparing pointilism to realism...it's no less beautiful, just different.

[QUOTE=eternity][COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=1] Write/sketch your ideas down on paper. And when I say sketch, I mean a light impromptu drawing. That way, you're not pressured to finish the drawing and you'll have reference material for your later works. It also solves the problem of you forgetting your ideas. Love and Peace! :love2: [/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE] Eternity is right. Even if they are just gestures (a spine/action line and stick arms and legs) they still get the basics down. Another good idea is to keep a tiny reading light and a sketch book in the oddest places (ie, next to your bed or toilet) or even carry a pocket sizr wherever you go. You get ideas in the strangest places. -^_^- If you seriouly want to start on the right foot on the artistic track, try drawing life. It really does help in drawing anime, even if you might not think it. Porportions become more real, features less vague. Also, just people watching let's your brain imagine more than you think it would. Filling yourself with ideas is the best way to make more -^_^- Good Luck!

Ah, sanku sanku all! *sniff sniff* You're too kind here. I am still really trying to improve. This one is (hopefully) a portfolio piece... render in a little over 3 hours with Prismacolor Marker... [URL=http://ic1.deviantart.com/fs5/i/2004/281/c/1/Nine_Lives_Morrigan_by_CrimsonDreamer.jpg]Nine Lives Morrigan[/URL] And as requested, a link to my DA Account...oooh...linky... [URL=http://www.crimsondreamer.deviantart.com]CrimsonDreamer[/URL]

Aw...but i wanna take random pictures of crappy art school decorations that cost an arm and a leg! *sniff sniff* Anyways, another piece...I like how this one turned out...Vladimir, a character that belongs to the same story as Phelan...

[URL=http://ic1.deviantart.com/fs4/i/2004/196/2/a/Gray_Matters___.jpg]Bloody Shao[/URL] Thank you so much for the intorduction/welcome VR. -^_^- I hope I can cntribute whatever minute artistic advice I can to Otaku Boards, now that i have the time to post someplace other than the school forums... The above is a link to a piece i did in Graphite (both pencil and powdered).

There's potential there. I would say that the primary thing you have to work on is anatomy. Even though drawing anime has it's own set of anatomical rules, there is still a structure to it all. Maybe practice on underdrawings, or even check out a book that your favorite anime artist has compiled. Secondly, I agree (though not as bluntly as vegeta rocker) that the lineweight could be better. The basic principal of line is thick to thin as you move back on space. Things that are further back should have a thin, light line, and things that are close up need a thicker, darker line. Even consistent lines are nice when they are solid (either black marker or pen, or colored lines like in cartoons). Just keep trying. 90% of being a great artist is persistence.

New to Otaku Boards, but always ready to give soemthing new a shot. A lot of this I have posted up in my Deviant Art Account, but the more feedback the better, I always say... Here's the first of many. An original character of mine that has been chibi-fied for the sake of my own twisted mind...