batwynn:

A few people have asked for tips about clothing design. These are just some things to consider while designing outfits for characters. 

I would also like to add that the best thing you begin with is gorging yourself on costumes, historical clothing, current fashion, etc. Take some time to look around, collect information, and get a good idea of what works. Then, apply what you know, and have fun with it. 

5 steps to victory over the blank page - starting a new project

victoriaying:

“Many painters are afraid in front of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the real, passionate painter who dares and who has broken the spell of `you can’t’ once and for all.”
Van Gogh

A blank canvas can be exhilarating and intimidating. There’s a world of possibility but also a chance that what you put down might not work out the way that you want. The first step to anything is always difficult and we’re here to help encourage all of you to stop dreaming and start DOING, not by sheer force of will, but by having a path to guide you! 

DON’T DOUBT

One reason it might be difficult to start might be because you don’t know what step to start with. Should you do small thumbnails? A big perspective drawing? Maybe a 3d Model?

Procrastination has always been the fear of failure, but if you have a simple roadmap, it is much easier to begin knowing that you have a destination and a path to get there. 

TRUST THE PROCESS 

You may have heard in school or in interviews with animation people to “Trust the Process.” What does that mean? How can you apply that to your work? Sometimes when we wander off into the process of making art we can get lost without following the process, getting lost can be frustrating and cause you to give up on the painting which is the last thing we want! 

A basic Roadmap to Get from Start to Finish 

Everybody’s “Roadmap” is different but here’s what ours looks like, The first few steps are very important though and we feel that they are essential to creating a good plan.  

1) Determine the problem. 

What are the design problems you are trying to solve? Are you designing one object in a  scene or perhaps are you trying to tell a story with multiple characters? Once you determine your problem it will help guide you towards what kind of art you should make

2) Research Research Research! 

The web has made it incredibly easy and fast to do research, even if you’re just doing a piece for yourself, it’s very helpful to have real life things to to refer to. 

3) Generate Ideas

This could come in a few different ways, you could sketch out your ideas or you could write them down with words! I often have trouble when I just start with a drawing so I like to start with words based on how I want whatever I’m designing to ‘feel’

4) Sketching

Now that you have your ideas, time to get them more tied down! If the first three steps have been followed than this step should be simple. Take your ideas and thumbnails and start sketching in the details. 

5) Take it to the finish line!

Again if you have followed the process well this step should be simple, take all of the information that you have used to get you to this point to inform your decisions: for example, What colors should you use? That should be determined based on the mood you have determined. 

Your personal roadmap might look different, but finding one that works for you consistently will make you feel more confident to start your paintings! 

Have You…

seen this fan art of what Disney Princesses would look like as real people? Some of them are spot on! 

checked out this term’s great Mentors from Motivarti? Sign up by Feb 9th for some awesome one on one mentorship!

grizandnorm:

Tuesday Tips - Clothing

As always, simple is best. Clothing and fabric can be wonderful to explore in an illustration or detailed sketch, but it tends to get tiresome to overdo it in storyboarding.

If you have questions or requests, message us. We might just addresses those in future Tuesday Tips!

Norm

holdmyhat:

Ohmigosh yes.

helpfulharrie:

!! Woah guys! Pixelovely’s new tools are finally out, one for hands & feet, and one for faces!

There’s now 429 photos of hands & feet, and 314 photos of faces. Dang!!

This is super cool news and I certainly can’t wait to start using them haha

I’ve got tons of tutorials on hands, feet and faces in their relevant tags, so be sure to check those out too nwn

amorremanet:

Massive Writing Resource Database

lavvyan:

shadegarden:

thewritingcafe:

Words and References:

• Massive Dictionary for Writers
• Writing a Series
• Visual Dictionary
• Grammar Definitions
• Glossary of Book Terms (2)
• Literary Terms
• Some Words About Word Count
• English Grammar (with Russian translation)
• Pronunciations of Words from All Languages
• Punctuation Guide
• Plot Terms and Definitions

Plot & Structure:

• Plot Development
• Developing Events in Your Story
• The Hero’s Journey
• Four Essential Plot Points
• Basic Plots in Literature
• Ten Simple Keys to Plot Structure
• Plot vs Exposition
• Plot Checklist
• Exposition in Fiction
• Balancing Exposition
• Easing Exposition
• Setting or Exposition
• 3 Rules for Writing Endings
• Writing Powerful Endings
• Successful Endings
• Writing a Story Middle
• Beginnings, Middles, and Ends (2)
• Three Parts to Every Story

Subplots:

• Subplots
• 7 Ways to Add Great Subplots to your Novels
• The 7 Shoulds of Writing a Subplot
• Who Needs Subplots?
• Subplots
• Knowing Your terms: Subplots
• Weave Subplots into your Novel
• Understanding the Role of Subplots
• Plot, Plot Layers, and Subplots
• Plot and Subplot
• Subplots - Chicken Soup for your Novel
• How Many Subplots are Acceptable?
• Subplots by Word Count
• Too Many Subplots?

World Building:

• World Building Links
• World Building Questionnaire (2)
• Planet Maker
• World Building 101
• World Building for Science Fiction
• Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds
• The Seed of Government (2)
• The Magic of World Building

Characters:

• Story Guide Worksheet
• How to Create Great Characters
• Character Arc 101
• “Hero” is a Four Letter Word
• Character Questionnaire (2) (3) (4) (5)
• Character Justification
• Conflict Can Limit Your Characters
• Creating Characters from Plot
• Character Bio
• Guide to Writing a Villain
• Eight Female Archetypes
• Sixteen Personality Types
• Charahub
• Fixing Unlikable Characters
• Offensive Mistakes Well-Intended Writers Makes (2)
• Character Sheet
• Morality Alignment
• Morality Alignment Test (2) (3)
• Creating Compelling Characters
• Consistency is Key 
• Desires and Conflict
• Mary Sue Test
• Mary Sue Villain Test
• Writing Lycanthropy
• Body Language (2) (3) 

Dialogue:

• Character Conversations
• How to Write Dialogue (2) (3) (4)
• Speaking of Dialogue
• Ten Tips
• Character Dialogue
• Believable Dialogue
• 25 Things You Should Know About Dialogue
• Witty Dialogue Reference Post
• Dialogue Tips
• Writing Really Good Dialogue
• Writing Good Dialogue
• Dialogue

Point of View:

• Types of POV
• Point of View
• Third Person Multiple POV
• First Person vs. Third
• Third Person Omniscient vs. Limited
• Using Third Person Omniscient
• Writing Exposition in the First Person
• Writing in First Person
• First Person POV (2)
• First Person or Third?
• How to Write Winning First Person Stories

Genre:

• Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories
• Crime Fiction Sub Genres
• So You Want to Write Crime Fiction
• How to Write Crime Fiction
• Smut Writing Guide Master List
• Adding Sexual Tension
• How to Write Sexual Tension
• Literary Genres
• Genre Index
• 13 Horror Writing Tips
• Classic Horror Novel Structure
• 10 Laws of Good Science Fiction
• Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy

Names:

• Irish Names (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
• Irish Surnames (2) (3) (4)
• Scottish Names (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
• Scottish Surnames (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
• Welsh Names (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
• Welsh Surnames (2) (3)
• English Names (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
• English Surnames (2) (3) (4) (5)
• Brittany Names (2)
• Gaelic Names (2)
• Cornish Names (2) (3) (4)
• Cornish Surnames
• Celtic Female Names (2) (3)
• Celtic Male Names (2) (3)
• Bible Names (2)
• Find Names by Sound
• Medieval Asian Names
• Medieval Islamic Names
• Medieval Names & Titles
• Middle Eastern Names
• North American Indian Names (2) 
• French Names (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
• French Surnames (2) (3) (4)
• German Names (2) (3) (4) (5)
• German Surnames (2) (3) (4) (5)
• Western African Names (2) (3)
• Northern African Names (2) (3) (4) (5)
• Latin American Names (2)
• Traditional Hispanic Last Names
• Chinese Names (2) (3) (4) (5)
• Asian and Pacific Names (2)
• African and Middle East Names
• Italian Names (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
• Italian Surnames (2) (3) (4)
• Name Generator (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (Fantasy (2) (3) (4)) (Sci-fi (2))
• Jewish Names (2) (3) (4) (5)
• Jewish Surnames (2) (3) (4)
• Russian Names (2) (3) (4)
• Russian Surnames (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
• Scandinavian Names (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
• Scandinavian Surnames (2) (3)
• Spanish Names (2)
• Pagan Names
• Nook of Names
• What a Lovely Name
• List of Names from Around the World
• Etymology Dictionary
• Name Playground
• What’s in a Name?
• 7 Rules for Picking Names
• How to Invent Names
• Nickname Lists (2) (3)
• Latin Place Names
• Name Dictionary
• First Names Reference Database
• Slave Trade Names Database

History:

• 1920’s Reference Post
• 1920’s Setting
• History of Childbirth
• 1920’s Slang
• Medieval Reference Post
• Medieval Scotland
• All About Scotland
• World Myths, Creatures, and Folklore
• Knighthood and Orders of Chivalry
• National Heraldry
• Titles in the Elizabethan Era
• Titles Explained
• Peerage Basics
• National Museum of the American Indian
• American Indian Tribes and Languages Master List
• Historical Resources

Query Letters:

• How to Write a Query Letter
• The 10 Dos and Don’ts of Writing a Query Letter
• Anatomy of a Query Letter: A Step-By-Step Guide
• Successful Query Letters for Literary Agents
• Query Letter FAQ
• Master the Art of the Query
• Writing a Solid Query Letter
• Writing a Query Letter that Sells
• Dos and Don’ts: How to Write the Perfect Query Letter
• Query Letters
• Rachelle’s Query Tips
• How to Query a Literary Agent
• Query Letters
• A Pitch is a Pitch
• Make the Perfect Pitch: The Novel Query
• How to Write Great Queries
• How to Write a Query Letter
• How to Query an Agent
• How to Write a Dynamic Query Letter
• Writing a Good Query Letter
• Sample Query Letter PDF
• Sample Novel Query Letter
• Ten Ways to Hook a Literary Agent
• What Not to Put in Your Query Letter
• What (Not) to Put in Your Query Letter
• Query Letters - What, Why, How?
• What (Not) to do Before Querying
• What to Write in the Bio Section of your Query Letter
• How to Write a Bio Paragraph in your Query Letter
• The Last Paragraph of your Query Letter: the Author Bio
• Writing the Hook for your Query
• Query Letter Dos and Don’ts
• Agent Reveals Pet Peeves
• How to Write a Query Letter
• Query Letter Mad Lib
• How to Format a Query Letter
• 15 Reasons Agents Pass Over Query Letters
• The Right Way to Write a Query Letter PDF
• Query Letters
• Writing a Query Letter
• The Query Letter
• How to Write a Query Letter
• How to Write a Kick-Ass Query Letter
• How to Write a Great Query Letter PDF
• Query Letter to Agents
• Writing a Killer Query Letter
• 15 Resources for a Better Query Letter
• 25 Reasons Your Query Letter Sucks
• Query Letters: My Personal Journey
• How to Write a Query Letter
• A Bit of Regurgitated Query Letter Advice
• Query Letter Advice: Let Someone Else Write It
• Writing a Query Letter Part One: The Hook
• Part Two: The Setup
• Part Three: The Conflict
• Part Four: The Consequence
• Part Five: Everything Else
• The Importance of Voice
• The Query Letter that Won Me an Agent
• How Not to Write the Perfect Query Letter
• FAQ The Query Letter
• Query Letters

Editing and Revision:

• Editing Checklist
• List of Freelance Editors
• Tighten Your Manuscript
• Editing Recipe
• 7 Editing Questions
• How to Rewrite
• Revising a Novel
• Editing Tips
• Self Editing
• How to Edit a Novel

Software:

• Tip of my Tongue
• Liquid Story Binder
• Q10
• 25 Writing Softwares
• Jarte**
• AbiWord
• Calligra
• Celtx**
• Open Office
• Scrivener*
• Final Draft*
• Atlantis Nova
• Zoho**
• Lit Lift
• Hiveword
• Story Book**
• Character Writer*
• Write Room (mac only)
• Dark Room
• Q10
• Liquid Story Binder*
• Now Novel**
• yWriter 5
• Time Toast
• Interactive Timeline
• Timeline Maker*
• Preceden
• Tiki Toki**
• Time Glider**
• Timeline Maker
• My Timeline
• Timeline JS
• X Timeline
• Our Story**
• Dipity
• Timeline Software*
• Timelines*
• Meograph
• Timeline Charts*
• Family Echo
• Genealogy
• Legacy Family Tree Maker**
• Family Tree Builder**
• XY Family Tree
• Bubbl
• Cliche Finder
• *Not free. May include free trial.
• **Includes free and premium content.

Prompts:

• Inspiration Finder
• Seventh Sanctum
• Writing Prompts Generator
• Timeline Generator
• Writing Prompts
• Plinky
• Random Story Prompts
• Random Prompts
• Prompt Generator (2)
• Writing Prompts
• 14 Prompts

Writing Websites:

• Galley Cat
• Writer’s Digest
• Absolute Write
• Advanced Fiction Writing
• Writer Beware
• Chuck Sambuchino
• Nathan Bransford
• Novel Rocket
• 101 Best Websites for Writers

holy smoke

*wipes away a tear or two*

Beautiful.

fucktonofanatomyreferences:

An awesome fuck-ton of realist hair references (per request).

[From various sources.]

fucktonofanatomyreferences:

fucktonofanatomyreferences:

A loverly fuck-ton of muscular human arm references.

[From various sources]

schweizercomics:

myshrinkingviolet:

Someone requested a hand tutorial, so I rambled. I didn’t even get to everything I would like to, so here is a part!

Thanks.  I’ve been consciously trying to get better at hands for ten years, and I still suck, so I’m always grateful for new tutorials.  Someday, one diagram, one line is gonna click it for me.  This one’s great.