cruisinginmycumulus asked: I was just about to ask you for tips for drawing the face from a model in any of the life drawing classes you've done (uni started back up for me *noises*) and i noticed that you havent uploaded like any faces/heads! OVERWHELMING DEVASTATION! Anyways any tips for drawing with in a time limit hehehe- thx \(*m*)/ ~<3
late reply cos i was busy last week and wanted to give this a proper answer. OK WELL the reason i don’t really do faces that much is because i’m not really that good at it hahaha…. the way i draw faces is really stylized (the measurements i use for my faces are off from realistic proportions) and that tends to screw me up when doing realistic portraits. but here’s what i do when i have to draw a realistic portrait that captures a likeness
look it’s rdj!!!?
so if i had to draw a portrait of rdj i’d start by taking the measurements of the face. think of it as making a ruler specifically for the face- marking off where on the entire length of the head are the top and bottoms of the ears, brow, eyes, bottom of nose, mouth, hairline, etc. also i’d take note of the bone structure and shape of the hairline
and then you just transfer you measurements and apply your observations to draw a face that captures a likeness
scary demon rdj sorry, idk i guess it looks like him lol i gave up. but i did do this fairly quickly!! NOW THO this may be harder to do with a live model, but i guess you could always just do some quick thumbnails off to the side of the whole drawing. everything you need is right in front of you, just take notes and observe realllly hard…
and a general note on drawing with a time limit? don’t focus on and get sucked into one part of the drawing, and work on the entire drawing at once. like if you’re drawing a nude, don’t do the face first then the torso then the right arm then etc. rough everything out at once and detail everything uniformly. that way when time is out you at least have a whole drawing rather than pieces. one of my old drawing teachers used to say, “a drawing is like a baby; if you don’t take care of all of it, it will die”!!!!!
so yeah i haven’t done one these in a while but i hope it’s… something
Anonymous asked: Hi, I have a question about SVA if you don't mind. I'm kind of in a difficult financial situation right now, but I really wanna go to SVA and I know it's expensive. I think that with grants, scholarships, and maybe a few loans I can pull it off. My question is do you think SVA is worth it? I don't mind going through all this if it can get me a legit education and job opportunities, but I'm really nervous about it. I know some art schools are scams and I'm not saying SVA is but is it worth it?
oops i forgot to answer this before. alright so i think i answered a question like this before and it’s…. difficult to answer? (you have to bear in mind that i can only speak for so much of the school, and i’m in one of the smallest majors so) i’ll put it this way: sva isn’t a scam in any way of course. it’s a legit place and lot’s of very talented and successful people teach here and have studied here… that’s not to say everything the school has to offer is WOW AMAZING!! i’ve taken a couple bullshitty classes and i was like, wow i can’t believe this is a class really (coughactingforanimatorscough) but hey you get out of it all what you put in. even in classes where i know i don’t like it or have to try too hard to get a good grade, i still put in a lot of effort because i’m forking out a lot of money to be here, and sometimes i even end up inspiring myself for future projects
so what i’m saying is there is a lot to get out of sva, or any good art college, but YOU have to make it worth your time and money. and i’m not trying to downplay the school; you CAN and probably WILL get an awesome education and make connections and get jobs thru sva but it’s not an automatic thing, you gotta werq!! idk about your situation, but that’s my take on it all
Anonymous asked: Yes, um, hello there! I've been sorta stalking the HSPVA tag in hope of seeing what exactly the school itself is like and all. I've been meaning to audition for the next school year and I saw you answered a question about it. I've been trying to gather my best works for a portfolio, but I feel as if I'm not good enough to audition anymore since I don't enjoy straying too far out of my 'comfort zone' when it comes to art and I'm afraid my art style won't appeal to others. Should I still audition?
hey there! hahaha always happy to help out with hspva-hopefuls; that place is very dear to me and it’s like the best place to be if you’re a young aspiring artists. firstly, don’t stress that you’re isn’t “good enough”; the fact of the matter is that you’re still just a kid and you’re not expected to have like any artistic training. when auditioning for hspva, you’re being tested more on your potential and creativity than on your technical skill. tbh auditioning as a sophomore is later than you’d want to. i don’t really know how that works but you’d definitely miss out on a lot of the foundation and overall development that happens in the first couple years. but ofc i’m sure it can be done
however, frankly, if you’re serious about an artistic career and want to improve, you’ll have to get over it and push yourself to try new methods- especially if you fear your style is unappealing. drawing styles can be changed, even if it feels “natural”! after all you draw differently than you did when you were 5, because you were influenced by the art you grew up with, whatever it was. find new influences that you find appealing and draw from them. my #1 style advice is: do something COMPLETELY different that what you always do! yes it’s gonna a gross and bumpy experience and it’s not gonna happen over time but you will learn and you will likely improve
also it’s good that you know what you’re aiming for, some take a lot longer to find out. be sure to keep your goals in mind whenever you feel discouraged about your art; realistically you’ll have to be a very good artist who is very comfortable and confident in your work and your skills in order to land that dream job. so if you ever find yourself dissatisfied with how your work is coming along just remember that YOU HAVE GOALS TO REACH AND STUFF and that’s your incentive to get better and work harder!
back to the first point, i say obvs do the hspva audition and see what happens! idk about late entry but if you can attend there it’s a really great place to be, esp since you know you want to aim for a career in the art. either way, have a little more confidence and your work, and don’t be so afraid to experiment and stuff. good luck with your audition, work, and goals kiddo (and i hope this post makes sense cos wow i am out of it rn)
theawkwardyeti asked: Would you please explain how to art faces and eyes? I have a lot of trouble with eyes and I love to see how other people draw them :)
i haven’t done a help post in a while so heh why not. this is gonna be mostly about how i draw personally hurhurhur since you asked…
uhh well, faces:
the left is a face with more realistic proportions- the eyes are about around the center point of the head and everything is lined up accordingly (sometimes it’s easy to forget that eyes are at about halfway because hair hides how big the head is). ADMITTEDLY i stray from the correct proportions- how i usually draw faces is on the right. i tend to elongate the face due to how i stylize things (this gives me a lot of trouble when i try to draw portraits lol)
for eyes well i draw big ol’ round eyes. so they’re still like almond-y shaped but very round when they’re open completely
when i place the eyes on the head i usually draw them in completely open because it makes it easier to see where the eyebrow and nose go- the nose and the brow pretty much surround the eyes socket so i draw the whole eye in there so i’m not having eyebrow on eyelids or any weird placements
all eyes are basically the same in that they’re balls shoved into holes so what really makes them different is the shape of the eyelids andthe skin around the eye
so yeah…! i guess that’s how i draw stuff. hope you enjoyed that little journey into my thought process orz
Anonymous asked: hey, if you're applying to sva, when is the best time to submit your portfolio/application? Thanks in advance :D
lol before the deadline….
i say submit your apps as soon as you can! like, don’t rush if you need time to put together your portfolio or whatever, but once you’re satisfied with it just submit it and get on with your life
OH BUT BE AWARE OF SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINES just make a calendar of deadlines for every school you’re interested #thingsiwishididwheniapplied
redrobotwednesdays asked: I am really interested in going to sva for college but I am kinda worried about the portfolio. Do you have any tips or could you tell me some of the stuff that you put in it? C: that would be sooo helpful because for some reason the website won't open for me today :V Also when do you think is a good time to submit your portfolio to the school? Thank you!!
sorry i got this question when the power was out due to sandy (which is also why the sva site was down). i just realized it was college app season. i was wondering why i was getting a bunch of sva questions orz!
now i can’t speak for all majors (like photo or film or whatnot) but usually your portfolio should reflect both your technical skills and your creativity. it’s super important that you include lots of observation drawings- at least half of your portfolio should be observation work! your personal work should reflect YOU- what you’re interested in, what mediums you like, what makes you unique.
(BUT REMEMBER some schools have specific or stricter requirements so remember to check before!)
i have a list of what was in my portfolio when i applied here. and once you have your porfolio ready, submit it asap! it’s just nice to get it done and out of the way
nathanfries asked: Dear, Karina im currently a freshmen in highschool. I've been drawing sence a very young age and my focus has been to be an animatior. so i've been drawing in a cartoony style. but now as i look into this career. i've learned you a have to draw more than cartoons you have to do some obseration drawings. which im not very good at. in now im panicing because im not sure if ill be good enough before collage. so you got any tips on obeservation drawing. feel free to check out my tumblr page.
first- kudos to you for knowing what you’re doing so early! four years is actually a really long time so don’t panic yet! unless you seriously put zero effort into improving (which i can tell you won’t) you will get much better before you need to start worrying about college.
second- yes, definitely. lots of people think “oh it’s a cartoon, it doesn’t have to be realistic so i can just do whatever…” and then you end up with something silly looking. you shouldn’t start doing observation drawing because you have to for school, but for yourself! drawing from life isn’t just about making some photo-realistic drawing; it’s really so that you can study what things really look like and be able to use that understanding to improve the drawings you do from your imagination. so having a basis in life will improve your drawing so. much.
practicing is just as simple as pulling out your sketchbook and drawing some shit on your desk. if you have an afternoon to kill, set up some kind of still life and draw it, or go hang out in a park or somewhere and draw the scenery or the people you see there. try really hard to capture a likeness to the actual things- try to show the volume and really take note of the structures. like… learn how to draw whatever it is you’re drawing, so that if you had to draw it on the fly later, you could probably do it accurately from your head.
since you’re obviously into character animation, i definitely recommend eventually attending some kind of figure drawing class- though preferably not one that focuses on long poses. it’s helpful to you as an animator to do lots of 1 or 2 minute poses so you focus on gesture. you can do this on your own using posemaniacs or something, but i personally like also doing longer poses so i can draw nakkie people in more detail and study how the body works hehe
this is getting kinda rambly so i’ll wrap this up. just- i’m sorry no offense but i think it’s kinda funny that you’re panicking now. this is what my work looked like four years ago so don’t worry, just keep on working and you’ll be ready. focus on improving on your own accord, and high school school kiddo!! good luck on your ~journeeey~
sofapillows asked: Hello! I am interested in SVA as a college choice (for illustration), but my parents aren't comfortable with me in New York. I think it's a wonderful opportunity to go to an good school in a city like New York. Other than the housing, that seems to be the only problem with SVA. I was wondering if you had any insight to actually living in the city that could keep them from jumping to conclusions. (if this helps: i live in houston suburbs and my parents don't shelter me)
sva is in a good neighborhood so your parents really shouldn’t worry about anything like that; like anywhere else, as long as you use common sense you’ll be alright. i’m from houston too and yeah, it’s a pretty big jump moving from houston to manhattan but you get used to it. living in new york city does cost more, compared to houston for example, and just has a really different feel. but living there is fun and convenient- i love not needing a car, and it’s super easy to get around once you’re used to the layout. dorming can cost a lot but it’s a good, convenient living situation for being in manhattan
i don’t know how close you are to college but if you’re able to i recommend visiting the school or attending the summer program there (if money allows). that way you can get a better idea of what living in the city and being an sva student is like.
i hope this wasn’t too rambly, good luck with colleging!
Anonymous asked: how do you wings
how wings?
wings??
wings…
wings
i wings
i recommend just using reference, since there’s a lot of different of different “styles” of wings. if you’re….winging it….! ohohohoh, just think of wings like arms because it has the same three piece structure thing. yeah…
and i had another anon asking how to make wings look less stiff. unless their folded or completely outstretched, wings are very dynamic so they’d have a lot a curves. try using a lot of gesture to sketch so that they’re not just sitting there :)
hope HELp
Anonymous asked: Why hello there I have a bit of a weird question..I was wondering how you draw your hands so well proportioned? Mine always end up looking so weird! like it'll be a huge hand and a small wrist or a small hand and a huge wrist and it always looks awful! I can draw hands well I suppose but when I go to actually draw them on a person it looks weird.
well the weird answer is i dunno, i just eyeball it and i really doubt i get it right all the time lol. NOW I’M KINDA PULLING THIS OUTTA MY ASS BUT if you wanna put it in a general and realistic light, just think of it like this- the palm is only slightly wider and thicker than the wrist, so the hand is proportionate to the wrist; inversely if the arm is muscular or flabby or something, the wrist isn’t gonna change size because the hand isn’t changing size. i don’t actually know why that is but that’s what happens- the arm narrows down at the wrist. so basically the hand should always be very close in size to the wrist
now of course some people do have huge hands, like my freshman lit professor! he was like seven feet tall and he had some killer paws. but it’s because he had long palms. pretty much, fingers are in proportion to your palm in that they’re not much longer than your palm when outstretched. so if someone was seven feet tall they might have long limbs therefore a long palm therefore long fingers therefore big ol’ hands, but the their hands would still be just a little wider and thicker than their wrists.
now when you start getting stylized, this isn’t really something that you need to apply- for example, look at just about… most cartoony things in existence. its just one of those things you have to eyeball and figure what works
soooooooo yeah. disclaimer i’m not really sure if my “measurements” are correct per se, that’s just how i see things. also on a slightly related note, like to think martin freeman has small hands but i don’t think he actually does. sigh
Anonymous asked: heeeey so, i suck at drawing but im trying to improve, there's this one big detail i cant seem to get over. all my characters look stiff as HELL, dead. Face, body, clothing. i just cant seem to get that right and it looks like poop. have any tricks or whatever to fix it? thank you in advance :)
yeah i feel you. i think stiffness in drawings come from blocking them in with an outline; for example, it’s easy to kill a sketch when you go in to ink it. but the two things i think help to loosen up drawings, sketch or no sketch, are curves and line weight.
curves (and gesture lines, though those are more for sketching) are really important because they ARE movement. like a straight line’s just BLEH a straight line but a curve had motion to it. even subtle curves make a difference. unless something actually is wooden and geometric, it won’t have that many (if any) perfectly straight lines on it. a human body has about zero!
and if you differ the weight and width of your line, you can accent parts and subdue others. if you use the same line for everything, the whole picture becomes flat and nothing stands out. if you make a line thicker at parts, those parts will stand out; if you make it thinner, it falls back. it helps establish what’s in order in the space (what’s in front of what) and gives your line art some depth before you even add color.
some visual examples because i don’t know if i made sense
so you have a sketch
and you want to put a dark outline on it.
you can just do this
where the line doesn’t vary and it gets kind of geometric at points. it’s alright, but ehhh?
or you can do something like this
which honestly looks way better
uuuhh hope this helps!
Anonymous asked: Hi Karina! First off, I want to say that everything you've ever done is pretty amazing. :) Question: My parents don't want me to go to an "art school" and I was thinking of SVA or FIT, but they don't see it as something that is worth the money, so I was wondering if you think that the college you're going to is worth it? I know it's worded funny, but I couldn't see how I could word that. Thank you and I hope you have a nice day.
ok this question has been sitting here for ages and i’m just gonna let this rip
i get a few anon messages from time to time asking me this same question; this isn’t the only one in my inbox right now hahaha. i’ve been putting off answering this forever because frankly, i really can’t answer it.
the thing about art college is that (1) it’s pretty universally fuckin’ expensive (2) a career in art can be…. iffy, especially if you don’t want to go into something commercial. i’m attending an art college because i KNOW that art, particularly the art of animation, is my passion. i don’t know what else i could do with my life and be happy other than that. i still think i need the structure and pressure offered by a school to improve- i can’t always challenge myself or work idly. i’m lucky to have supportive parents who believe i’ll be able to make some kind of living in an artistic career and are willing to help pay for the obnoxious expense of school. i’m kind of putting a lot on the line in that i have no back up plan outside of art- it’s this or bust- but it’s what i want so i’m going for it.
i could ramble on, but basically- it’s something you have to decide for yourself. the one thing i can say about attending an art school is that you will eat an breathe art so you better be serious. if art is truly your passion and your want to improve and find a career in art and you really want it and if it’s worth it to you, then you and your parents should really have a good think-talk about if it’s enough to outweigh the financial parts. sorry i couldn’t give you more decisive advise (or answer this in a timely manner) but it’s always different for each individual person and situation, so just good luck with your college search!
Anonymous asked: I'm trying to write a comic. I have the premise of the universe and my main characters laid out, but I just get stuck whenever I try to write the actual comic! Do you have any good advice? (I know it's kinda hard to answer...)
so i’ve actually been thinking about this question for days and i wrote a couple of long-winded things that didn’t make much sense so..?! yeah i’m not really one to go to for writing advice firstly, but i kind of think a writing process is something you have to create for yourself.
(btw i’m assuming from what you’re tellin me that you’re going for a more fleshed out story rather than gag strips or something sooo ok)
i write stuff that’s very character driven, so i put most of my thought into laying out the characters. like i figure out my characters back and forth- from their personality to their history to their interests to their ringtone- before i really start writing anything. it sounds kind of excessive, definitely (i get pretty invested sometimes LOL) but that’s my process. once i have a decisive understanding of my character’s personality, and baggage, and motivations and fears, how they think… then writing the actual story comes more naturally. like, put them in a situation and just, how would they respond? put them with other characters, what happens? i just really figure out my characters and decide on what obstacles they will need to face, and it pretty much writes itself
if you mean actually constructing the narrative itself, weeeellll first figure out if you’re writing one story arc or an episodic story (think, one volume vs an entire series). then what kind of narrative structure you want. a normal beginning-middle-end or something less straight forward (flashback, story-in-a-story, in media res, ???). like, what is your conflict and how do you think would be the most effective way to present it? where do you want your story to start, cause it doesn’t have to be at the actual beginning! this is a bit harder to explain uhhh cos it’s just something you have to decide. for example, i have a couple projects i’ve been nursing for a long while- one is pretty much an episodic story because there’s not massive, prevalent conflict but rather multiple arcs with their own smaller conflicts; the other is a flashback done in first person, which starts at the end (after the conflict is resolved) and then flashes back to earlier times to show how the story plays out. just have a good think about what sort of narrative structure would tell your story best and have the most impact
so i dunno, i don’t think i’m a really great writer so i can only hope this was a tad bit helpful. good luck on your project though!
Anonymous asked: Hullo just wondering but um how do you draw Cap's hair? I draw comics and stuff too and I just cant seem to ever get his hair right!
i’m assuming you mean movie!cap since ugh his hair is so dapper and stupid
the thing with cap’s hair is that it’s fluffy so just start with his hairline and his stylish side part. if you don’t wanna just eyeball it, use clean, geometric planes to lay it out
and then you add his fluffy combover at the part. this is what throws me off since it makes his hair style looks different at EVERY SINGLE ANGLE but thems how it is (i chose a pretty cop-out angle for this but if you use planes and it should be okay at harder angles)
and once you have it laid out, you can just fluff it up to resemble hair
badabing badaboom hope this helps!
Anonymous asked: What kind of portfolio did you have when you applied for SVA?
huuuh i actually don’t remember what was specifically in it but i’m pretty sure
if you’re building a portfolio, remember that your observation work is hugely important (half of my portfolio was observation) but make sure that your personal work reflects your interests (as in, what you like to do work about and what you wanna major in) and creative abilities!
(and one more thing i feel i should add quickly- remember that this sort of portfolio doesn’t fit all schools’ requirements; some schools like sva have looser guidelines and others are more specific about what they want to see)
ok assuming you’re applying to colleges (super fun!), good luck!!
