I’m sorry if u answered this already or already received this but how do u draw the neck-shoulder connection? I know it’s not like a right angle but I can’t seem to make it look right

What laptops are good for digital art? I'm sorry if you can't really answer this question if you aren't good with tech

One thing I really struggle with is color. Picking colors, mostly. I'm not color-blind, but I'm... "color-stupid," I suppose. I dunno what colors work well with others, and often times I pick colors that are too bold, too gray, or something I'm not going for. Skin-color in particular always stumps me. I've tried guides, but I honestly feel like I'm missing something. Any recommendations for color-stupid people like myself? XD

I don’t have any real presentable art yet, but I want to learn to be a comic artist since I have an idea I’d love to make, but would only work in comic form. Where should I start?

hi, weird question, but i was wondering if anybody had an understanding of colors looking different on different displays? I have some colored art that looks good and rich on my PC, but looks darker and duller on my iPhone :/ is there anyway to ensure that a color would look good on both devices, should i try adjusting my PC display? any help on this is appreciated, thank you! i hope you have a great day! :)

Hello, could you help me? Most of people I show my art to are saying the same thing: "it’s manga". It really bothers me because I feel like I don’t have my own personal style (I don’t get cute, colorful, dynamic, etc. only: manga) -even more as I really tried to draw away from such style… I don’t know what to do anymore. Secondly, as it seems I’m unable to understand this myself, could you explain me where the differences & limits between manga style versus cartoon and comic styles are? Thanks!

Heya, myself and some of the mods have been chatting about this ask, and in general our main experience is that, yes, a LOT of us grew up drawing “manga” even if we didn’t necessarily want to. This isn’t your fault, that’s just how the cookie crumbles; but there are some people around you who have gone the wrong way about telling you something, because now you’re looking for some different “style” to put yourself under without considering the fundamental steps you should be taking towards building up a repertoire of artistic expression.

Any “style” will take a lot of work to learn how to draw, it’s not something you can do just because you want to do it. Manga has this strange connotation because of artists like Peter Gray and that, in general, the designs are so much simpler to copy as children because of manga’s birth as an animation medium. I had that friend always criticized for drawing like Disney, with the exact same connotation that they were just copying someone else’s style and not putting real effort into learning how to draw; and that can feel super disheartening, absolutely. This is a good opportunity, however, to learn how to take criticism on the chin and keep pushing forward.

I personally think what you should do, is just take a step back from trying to please the people around you. Focus on what you really like to draw. If that IS manga, then keep going for it! If you want to change something, though, you’ll do best to start from the beginning- otherwise you’ll keep pulling from your pre-existing repertoire and your many associations with manga, and you will keep just drawing like manga. This is why everyone always says to experiment with your art and use lots of references– the end goal of this entire process IS to draw what you want, because you want to do it, with the knowledge to actually do so.

This is a good time to mention that style doesn’t really exist. The limitations are none, and the differences are as numerous as every person in the world who ever put their pen to paper. Sure, there are definitely things that someone could point to and say, “That’s Manga,” but that encapsulates everything from Astro Boy to western shows like Korra. Gumball looks like it could air after Aggretsuko on a Saturday morning, and Winks Club is straight up Italian. Not to mention that Moomin is a Swedish Children novel and TWO a bona fide Japanese anime.

If you want to skip fundamentals, studies, various constructions, etc, and copy some other “style,” you’ll just be setting yourself up for failure, and put yourself into a box which otherwise wouldn’t exist if you just approached things with an open mind. This is probably what people are trying to tell you when they say your work is “manga.” The problem isn’t that you draw manga, the problem is that you’ve explicitly stated to have never drawn anything that doesn’t look like manga.. which means you’ve got a lot of cool stuff yet to discover.

Scary thought but uuhh experiment,,, and,,,,, use references!

(Love from Mod Koikro55)

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how do you draw French braids??

Hello! I made this portrait for one of my characters and I am really proud of it, but I was...

Hi! I was wondering if you could help me with the clothes and...

I need some help with expressions. My boyfriend and I are making a comic, but, lo and behold, somehow we have two main characters, the only main characters, with no faces. One person's eyes and eyebrows are completely covered and he (the artist bf) doesn't want to draw them showing through. The other character has quite literally no head, but eyes on his palms he can kind of use to show expression. Most expression tips are about the face, so any tips for how to show it in the body?

do you guys know of any references on how to draw hairstyles from different angles? i'm having a lot of trouble with this at the moment

Hi! I need help with her body in general. I’m bad at anatomy....

Hi! I need help with her body in general. I’m bad at anatomy. Specially with her hands and feet. Thank you! :)

Hey there! I don’t think you’re bad at anatomy at all. The proportions on this are pretty solid, and there’s not too many things that read ‘incorrectly’ right away. 

The biggest thing I’ll say about anatomy is that, although it’s readable, it’s also a bit stiff. The body is very straight, the arms are positioned as if frozen, and the legs are equally linear. The head-on viewpoint also makes it seem like a static drawing rather than one in motion. To me, this reads as someone resting on the ground, but I believe you might have meant to draw her dancing.

I decided to leave the pose as is, but if you submit next time, please tell us what the intended outcome is! It will really help us help you achieve what you want. :) It’s also always helpful to have reference images - I took photos of myself when redlining this to see how the arms would be, and I recommend you either do the same or use online stock photos in order to have something to refer back to!

- Mod Chekhov

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How do you draw expressive animals while still keeping them semi realistic?

do you guys think you could give me a tutorial on drawing buff people? (torso/arms specially.)

Do you have any advice on dragon wings? My best friend has a character with these huge dragon wings and horns anf I always have an issue drawing her wings.

can you give some tips on how to draw hands on hips?

Sorry if this may not be super art related, but do you have the scoop on the best method of accepting money for non-physical (digital) commissions? A while back ago I saw people recommending some other(?) PayPal-esque money exchanging service thats better for digital commissions and I've also seen people mention ways to get the Paypal system to work in your favor properly without breaking any rules, but it has high fees(?). I want to make sure I have everything in check before I do anything ;o;

Hello! So, dealing with money is always tricky, especially if you’re dealing with large amounts of money down the line. If you make enough money (in profits) to qualify as self-employed, you’re going to want to look into how to do your taxes on that. This is very important because you don’t want to, like, be accused of tax evasion. Etsy, a site for self-employed crafts-people, is an excellent source for these kinds of questions.

More than anything, you want to create a “Terms and Conditions” where you write out your policies. This way, you don’t get screwed over because you have a detailed document of what you and the buyer have agreed to. Here is a really good video on how to start: “What to Put in Your commission Info” by Baban Illustration

More specific info under the cut >>

Using Paypal

Most people use Paypal, from what I’ve seen. Here’s a previous post that goes into more detail on how to use Paypal invoices: 

https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/179380879845/where-do-you-suggest-selling-your-works-online

The main problem with Paypal is that payment disputes are rampant, and Paypal will usually side with the buyer. When you’re selling digital works, this is even more frustrating. To combat this, when you create your paypal invoice, you’re just going to want to put “This is a DIGITAL (NONPHYSICAL) commission” everywhere you can, as well as your “Terms and Conditions”. 

Paypal WILL take a cut from your sale because of transaction fees. People try to work around this by using the “Send Money to Friends and Family” option, but DO NOT do this because it is technically tax evasion and people can more easily screw you over this way - and you have no way to dispute it because you’re not meant to use that for selling stuff! 

Alternatives to Paypal

Paypal is actually pretty bare-bones. If you want to host your commissions on an actual site, Etsy is pretty good, and also is very safe and reliable. 

Here is Etsy’s policy on selling ‘Digital Downloads’.

Ko-Fi is technically meant for donations, but they do have a Commission feature (you do have to pay for it). 

There is also Commiss.io, a site made specifically for commissions! It seems pretty good, and I haven’t heard any shady stuff from it yet.

And as always, DON’T take commissions from anyone that gives you shady vibes, or is not cooperative with your policies and guidelines. Look out for red flags from people who want you to lower your prices or are generally rude customers. You have the right to refuse service, and you should, to people who you don’t feel safe operating with. 

-Mod Future (ko-fi)

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Do any of the mods have tutorials on coloring skin? Particularly dark skin? I just started digital summer 2k18 and no matter what my colors are always flat :((( I can't understand anything tutorial videos have to offer, it just doesn't make sense??? I've always had a hard time learning but this is frustrating >:(( everyone I draw her most of her facial features disappear bc of how dark her skin in, some have told me to lighten her skin up but I don't want to, I just wanna figure out how to color

Hello! First, thank you guys so much for giving us the opportunity to receive help like this! I’ve...

This might be too specific to ask but what's a good way to draw dynamic/acrobatic poses with a chainsaw? The size and position of the handles makes it seem too awkward for a person to swing it around with any fluidity like with a sword. So it's hard to find good references for it that don't seem so "stiff" to look at.

Are there any good tricks for learning how to add "tension" to a pose? I try to draw very high energy and aggressive scenes but my characters always seem too relaxed? Like someone swinging a sword shouldn't look as if it's about to fly out of their hands. Same when trying to do "yelling/roaring", it's hard to show how much force is supposed to be behind it.

Hello! I finally got to start digital art but my main problem is coloring, I can’t seem to figure...