|
General Ripper posted:re: pencils. There are many different brands, most have kits of multiple pencils. Try a variety, see what you like best. There's no cut and dry 'best' pencil, just whatever you like using. It's been a while, but I just noticed something that this person forgot to mention. While I like the harder pencils myself (they leave cleaner lines and smear less), I tend to find that for general purpose doodling it doesn't really matter what brand or hardness pencil you draw with. They all mark similarly and they all erase more or less the same. The eraser, on the other hand, can be the savior or the death of you. Experiment with all kinds of eraser types early on. Why? Because using a good eraser will make your job A LOT easier while a bad one will make it A LOT harder. Usually to the tune of leaving an ugly gray smear on your drawing that you can't ever get rid of. The major ones are the pink school erasers, the kneaded gum, and the white plastic. The pink ones are crap 90% of the time so don't bother with them. They tend to be either useless from the start or become useless after some time and use. When I talk about dealing with eraser stains, it's usually these that I'm talking about. As for the kneaded gum erasers, they are useful enough for many things I guess. Since you can "knead" them into any shape you like you can control the size of your eraser point, which is really nice sometimes. You can also use them to smear pencil and charcoal to create shading effects, which you can't do with the other types. It's not bad to have a few of these around. The only downside is that they lack a certain erasing power that the other two have. Once a line is dark enough you can't get rid of it completely. Which kind of sucks. The last is my personal favorite, the white plastic eraser. You don't get the control of the kneaded gum, but this is by far the best in terms of ability to pick of led from paper. It also does this well without damaging the paper, which the pink ones tend to do. They also aren't that expensive when you consider one will last you way longer than a gum. Assuming you aren't like me and loose them all the time. Other than that the only advice I have on erasers it to be wary of anything that comes attached to the top of a pencil. Some work fine, but many are just crap. Particularly anything that is black in color. I don't know why but those black things on the top of mechanical pencils never work right for me. Ung! I hate them so much! Anywho, hope that was useful.
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2009 01:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 13:32 |
|
|
This is definately a stupid little question. A while back (2 years ago at least) everyone was making image macros that were animated gifs -- alternating between the original picture and a negative, with a slight clockwise rotate on each frame. I've got a couple of pictures that I'd like to do that with -- if someone could tell me how that was done, I'd really appreciate it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2009 03:56
|
|
|
I'm making a teapot in my sculpture class. The basic mold of the teapot is going to be a woven basket pattern, but with clay. My question is: do I have to score and slip ever individual piece of clay, or will the fact that it will be woven together be enough to stick?
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2009 04:09
|
|
|
quote:What's the best time sheet program? What system do you folks use to keep track of your business? Tips & tricks? anything useful I should do or know? Some choices here: http://freelanceswitch.com/general/101-essential-freelancing-resources/ Xipe fucked around with this message at 15:39 on Feb 25, 2009 |
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2009 15:32
|
|
|
readingatwork posted:It's been a while, but I just noticed something that this person forgot to mention. Just want to add the kneaded erasers are also handy for pressing onto the paper and lifting up a mark off the page, so say if you make a line too dark you can press the eraser down like silly putty and peel off the mark (graphite, conte, charcoal...) in increments. Also adding those tan or beige coloured art gum erasers to the list. I haven't used them too much but I know people who swear by them and they do a good job as well. They're big blocks similar in use to the white plastic ones.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2009 21:06
|
|
|
I have an interest in picking up painting as my own personal hobby (not competitively, or for a profession). My only concern is that I lack the ability to draw, in general, or I've never actually tried. I'm wondering if there's a niche for people like me, people with the desire to learn, but that haven't always been gifted from birth. Is there a niche that I can fall into for the less talented? Is all hope lost for me? (teasing, but still >_<) From the experience of other painters? Were you always able? Or was painting a skill that you acquired and refined with practice?
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2009 21:28
|
|
|
I have a question about drawing. I'd like to learn to draw things off the top of my head such as monsters and people, as realistic as possible. I've found that if I can see something, I can draw it fairly well, such as the Mona Lisa and such, but of course it's not perfect. I think that the main problem I have is thinking creatively, not logically, and was was wondering if there any books or web tutorials to help me with this. I don't really have to worry about coloring or inking, as I've become great at coloring and shading in illustrator to where it looks good.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2009 00:45
|
|
|
flippinmarilyn posted:I have an interest in picking up painting as my own personal hobby (not competitively, or for a profession). My only concern is that I lack the ability to draw, in general, or I've never actually tried. I'm wondering if there's a niche for people like me, people with the desire to learn, but that haven't always been gifted from birth. Is there a niche that I can fall into for the less talented? Is all hope lost for me? (teasing, but still >_<) None of us are gifted from birth. It takes lots and lots of practice to become an artist. I firmly believe that anyone can become a talented artist with enough time and practice. You do need to be able to draw in order to paint satisfyingly. So pick up a pencil and start. Maybe check out your local art center and see what classes they have. Pick up the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" for a few tips. Mr E posted:I have a question about drawing. I'd like to learn to draw things off the top of my head such as monsters and people, as realistic as possible. I've found that if I can see something, I can draw it fairly well, such as the Mona Lisa and such, but of course it's not perfect. I think that the main problem I have is thinking creatively, not logically, and was was wondering if there any books or web tutorials to help me with this. I don't really have to worry about coloring or inking, as I've become great at coloring and shading in illustrator to where it looks good. See above. Practice, practice, practice. Learn about using shapes to create figural forms (there are many good figure drawing or even cartooning books that discuss this). And then just draw more and more.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2009 01:27
|
|
|
zap actionsdower! posted:
Okay, that sounds good. I'll check out "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" and practice some more. Would the best way to start drawing be to draw things I see, instead of things off the top of my head?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2009 01:53
|
|
|
Yep. Draw what everything. All day. All night. Just draw. It won't take long before you have a good grasp of shapes and weight that you can use to make things up.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2009 03:18
|
|
|
zap actionsdower! posted:None of us are gifted from birth. It takes lots and lots of practice to become an artist. I firmly believe that anyone can become a talented artist with enough time and practice. I'll keep that in mind, and I'll come back and make note of my progress once I get started  . Thanks for the words of encouragement!
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2009 05:52
|
|
|
Just for the hell of it, I grabbed the paint set that I had (more like project paint, like for finger-painting and such) lying around, a poster board, and started painting. What started to look like a cutesy weird painting, turned into full on attempts at blending... I find it strange that even though my original intention was to stick to cutesy, it's turning out completely different. I'm pretty sure I was painting for like an hour and a half. and I'm NOWHERE close to done, because it feels like I keep starting over in the same area. Anyway, I just thought I'd share my excitement =]
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2009 11:24
|
|
|
NC Wyeth Death Cult posted:Copyright question. The current US (and UK) law is author's life + 70 years, BUT, that law didn't come into effect until 1923 I believe, or 1924? 22? Anyway, the short version is that anything published prior to 1922ish is in public domain, and 1909 is safely in that category. Adapt away.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2009 22:31
|
|
|
brad industry posted:I can't see the second one but uh, good light and bad retouching. They comped in some clouds and desaturated things a little bit too. The second one looks like a CG render of a post-apocalyptic London. In either case, they both use a somewhat heavy vignette and a monotone-ish color palette. The second one, if it were to be a photo, also appears very slightly underexposed and highly contrasted, like HDR.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2009 23:09
|
|
|
I'm an art student applying for a work position at a contemp craft museum, and I want to include a web link to pictures of sculptures and drawings I have done. Is there a free, non-intrusive, plain, website for portfolios that is appropriate to be included in my resume? Is it ridiculous that I shouldn't spend money on this?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2009 23:59
|
|
|
miseerin posted:I'm making a teapot in my sculpture class. Another question about my project: It's a mold-free project, so it's harder for me to keep it upright without one side looking more saggy than the other. any suggestions to keep it from drooping?
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2009 16:51
|
|
|
porcellus posted:I'm an art student applying for a work position at a contemp craft museum, and I want to include a web link to pictures of sculptures and drawings I have done. Is there a free, non-intrusive, plain, website for portfolios that is appropriate to be included in my resume? Is it ridiculous that I shouldn't spend money on this? Could you use Flickr? It might not be as simple as you want, but it's an easy to use site that can handle hi-res stuff and has a nice black background. Plus it's free as long as you don't need to upload too giant of files all in one month. Otherwise, I'd go for spending $10 on a domain name and then getting a Wordpress page.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2009 23:41
|
|
|
Hm, I didn't think of using my flickr. I think I'll use it to store my photos for the short term, and look at setting up a Wordpress. I hope it's simple, I don't have any knowledge of web coding. What about hosting? Thanks for the reply.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2009 01:57
|
|
|
flippinmarilyn posted:I have an interest in picking up painting as my own personal hobby (not competitively, or for a profession). My only concern is that I lack the ability to draw, in general, or I've never actually tried. I'm wondering if there's a niche for people like me, people with the desire to learn, but that haven't always been gifted from birth. Is there a niche that I can fall into for the less talented? Is all hope lost for me? (teasing, but still >_<) Drawing and painting are nothing more than skills refined with practice. There are lots of books and tutorials available (Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is always recommended, I also like Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks). However, the majority of learning is rote practice. Keep a sketchbook and pencil with you at all times (Moleskin, for all its hipster cred, makes a nice pocket sized one) and draw your surroundings and from your imagination at every free moment. I'm of the opinion that you should do both in equal measure- one supports your observational skill while the other solidifies your stylistic choices and compositional skills. I'm in an illustration graduate program and I rarely draw with anything other than basic computer paper and mechanical pencil. I've drawn with multiple pencils, charcoal, conte, ink, wash...a huge variety of media...but I keep coming back to the humble pencil due to the quickness and ease of use. Some drawings can be found at summasmiff.tumblr.com.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2009 03:47
|
|
|
miseerin posted:I'm making a teapot in my sculpture class. miseerin posted:Another question about my project: It's been a while since I worked with clay, but I was under the general impression that any time two pieces of clay joined together, it was best to slip and score it, just to make sure no air bubbles got in there. I don't know how big your project is, but when I was working on one of my larger sculptures in school a few years ago, I made the base, and then let it dry out for a little while before building on any more structures. Not long enough to make it brittle, but just an hour or so so you can still stick clay to it, but it's stronger than fully wet clay. Also, can't you ask your teacher about this stuff too?
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2009 05:02
|
|
|
gmc9987 posted:Also, can't you ask your teacher about this stuff too? Thanks for the tips, and I can when she comes back from maternity leave.  Our sub was a gym teacher, so...
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2009 22:47
|
|
|
Why is the implementation of the new search on SA so difficult?
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2009 06:33
|
|
|
DjirtyZ posted:Why is the implementation of the new search on SA so difficult? It's really hard to conceptualize the term "search." What ideal shape does "search" take; its true, crystalline Platonic form hovering somewhere out there in the Supercontext? What does "search" mean to you? What does "search" mean to the greater community, and where do these two ideaforms collide? On behalf of Creative Convention and the greater forums community, I apologize for not being able to solve this crucial first step and thus keeping "search" from manifesting into an electro-physical form.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2009 17:58
|
|
|
If I wanted to put a decal or paint acrylic onto plastic and ensure that it won't scratch/waterdamage/is-easy-to-clean, what is the best type of sealant to use? Brand? Multiple coats, sanded in between each one?
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2009 09:06
|
|
|
Basic Zbrush question for those of you out there who might know what the gently caress. I made a head model in Max, exported it as a .OBJ, imported it into Zbrush and this is what I get.  Click here for the full 1280x800 image. Which is fine, but then I hit that Divide button in the hopes of smoothing my geometry out so I can start sculpting some detail in and this is what I get.  Click here for the full 1280x800 image. As you can see, the geometry isn't as smooth as it can be. Am I missing something in the general exporting/importing process here? This is really shagging my willingness to work on this project.  Help!
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2009 17:39
|
|
|
What's the name of the painter who created minimalist geometric paintings, where most of the canvas was white, aside from numerous black lines which intersected to create squares which were sometimes colored in red or blue or yellow?
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2009 22:28
|
|
|
IHeartBoobs posted:What's the name of the painter who created minimalist geometric paintings, where most of the canvas was white, aside from numerous black lines which intersected to create squares which were sometimes colored in red or blue or yellow? Piet Mondrian. I like him.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2009 22:31
|
|
|
Slashie posted:Piet Mondrian. I like him.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2009 22:55
|
|
|
I'm cross-posting this in the student film newbie thread, but I'm also posting here because it's a small question: I remember there being a rule about what types of clothes to not wear on video. Does anyone remember what kinds? I specifically remember no checkerboard pattern.
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2009 04:25
|
|
|
Not sure if this is the right place but where would be a good place to buy a high quality poster of Starry Night? There see to be a lot of places selling crap reprintings for a quick buck. Anyone had any experience with such things?
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2009 04:31
|
|
|
mojo1701a posted:I'm cross-posting this in the student film newbie thread, but I'm also posting here because it's a small question: No dense or small-scale black-and-white patterns, so no checks, no herringbone, narrow stripes, etc. Those will make the camera spazz out. Avoid all-white because it's hard to light, and just on the off chance you're doing blue/greenscreen, obviously don't dress your actors in the same color as the backdrop. If you're shooting in color there's a whole world of fashion color theory I could get into, so let me know if you need that. For black and white, just be aware of values. You want to break people's outfits up with darks, varying levels of gray, and splashes of white, instead of just turning them into columns of a single shade. Unless that's an effect you specifically need, of course.
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2009 04:40
|
|
|
What kind of clay should I get to make small figurines and stuff - like for student work? Is super sculpey too high end for learning? I do have access to a kiln if that changes anything.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2009 03:53
|
|
|
too many adjectives posted:What kind of clay should I get to make small figurines and stuff - like for student work? Is super sculpey too high end for learning? I do have access to a kiln if that changes anything. Not a sculptor, but super sculpey should be fine. Better than nothing, at least. Easy to use, you can bake in your oven if you want to keep something.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2009 05:35
|
|
|
This is probably a bit of an odd question, but how do names of saints work regarding copyright/trademark? Example: I wanted to use the name of a saint as part of the name of a fictional organization. St. Patrick's Vigilantes, something like that. There are parishes and churches as well as hospitals that use the name. Do they have rights to it or am I free to use it? The name of the organization would likely end up as the title of the work. Uziel fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Mar 12, 2009 |
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2009 19:57
|
|
|
You can use it. Just to elaborate a bit, if they had some kind of image associated with their name and trademarked that, you shouldn't use that. But just a generic saint's name? No issue.
Beat. fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Mar 12, 2009 |
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2009 21:09
|
|
|
A major block I have with my writing is I obssess over it in numerous ways. School has forced the first major one out of my system--that is, over-revision. Now I'm pretty good at hammering out a first draft, just getting the poo poo on paper, before going back and revising it. However, I can't figure out how to overcome my other major obstacle. I'm hypercritical of myself to the point where I abandon or don't even start many fiction projects because after I get maybe a chapter in, I think about it too much/too hard and think it's too stupid, it'll never be written well enough, nobody will like it, etc. etc. I don't trust anyone's opinions on it if they just say they "like" it, and even when it's critiqued and I change it I'll often still scrap it. Does this happen to anyone else? How the hell do I just suck it up and write something without worrying too much about if it's good or not?
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2009 23:13
|
|
|
Son of Thunderbeast posted:A major block I have with my writing is I obssess over it in numerous ways. School has forced the first major one out of my system--that is, over-revision. Now I'm pretty good at hammering out a first draft, just getting the poo poo on paper, before going back and revising it. 1. Stop seeking critiques of unfinished work. Unless it's a school assignment and you're required to turn in drafts, simply forget about showing the piece you're writing to anybody until it's complete. 2. Don't edit until you've finished the first draft. If you want to be really extreme, don't even correct typos. Write and don't look back. 3. Try writing your first draft in some way that makes it "unsubmittable." Hand write it, don't use punctuation, whatever you want. Give the piece some built-in flaw, so when something else bugs you about your writing you can just go "well, I'll just fix that when I retype the whole thing anyway." 4. Stop being such a drat weenie. Statistically speaking, you probably aren't a very good writer. There's no reason you should be if you're just starting out. In my experience it's kids who always had schoolwork come naturally to them who freak out when they try to write creatively. Just because nothing's ever been as hard as this is doesn't mean you're doing something wrong. If you set out and ran a marathon right this second I imagine you'd fail miserably. Would you crawl home crying about how stupid you are, or just chalk it up to the fact that you haven't done the years and years of training actual marathon runners do? Writing isn't even a little bit easy. If you're a new writer and are jumping right in with writing novels, that's probably a mistake. You're biting off more than you can chew. You need to work on the elements of narrative writing in beginner-size chunks before you'll get anywhere with a novel. You need to put in years of practice with dialogue, structure, imagery, pacing, style, and all of that other stuff before you'll even have a chance of writing something you think is good. The next time you look at your writing and think "this sucks," instead of beating yourself up about it, work on it. Pick out one sucky thing and work on just that. The dialogue's bad? Write a page or two of nothing but dialogue. Then do it a few dozen more times. Then pick something else you're bad at and repeat.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2009 00:26
|
|
|
Slashie posted:1. Stop seeking critiques of unfinished work. Unless it's a school assignment and you're required to turn in drafts, simply forget about showing the piece you're writing to anybody until it's complete. One more question I just thought of: I've often heard that having something self-published can mean the kiss of death if you ever seek legitimate publishers. I'm currently writing poems for a small, ~50-page collection for an anniversary. I want to make like one copy through lulu.com and that's it (dunno if it works that way). Common sense tells me publishers won't really give a poo poo but I'd like to be sure that's the case.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2009 01:38
|
|
|
Son of Thunderbeast posted:That's some great advice, thanks. Yeah that's totally different. Don't worry about it. Just don't cite lulu.com as publishing experience.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2009 01:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 13:32 |
|
|
Beat. posted:You can use it. Just to elaborate a bit, if they had some kind of image associated with their name and trademarked that, you shouldn't use that. But just a generic saint's name? No issue.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2009 14:12
|
|