the concept about this thead is a basic ask a question leave a question regarding TF art e.g. I say "how do i do eye glows" then some one ansers "in photo shop I......." then they can leave a question ifd they want

to start off i wanna know how big are the pro pics done by don for box art i have a nagging feeling that i draw to small making my lines look a little chunky and not well defined and maybe thats whats holding me back. right now i draw about the size of a A4 sheet so its easy to scan

good idea for a thread

i know that for comic sequential pages artists typically use 11"x17" sheets of heavy, high-quality art paper called Bristol board. Bristol board comes in two "tooths" (surface texture), Plate (which is smoother) and Vellum (which is rougher)

You can buy that at art stores or order them online [you can buy them pre-ruled online]

i'd think that for single character stuff they might use paper around that size, that way they can get some good detailing, although i'm sure it varies. Maybe i'll ask Don and see what he says

You can also use a finer pencil lead (or lead holder with sharpener handy) when in the final cleanup phase of your drawing. This helps because you don't have to spend more time drawing a bigger picture. Just use a kneaded eraser on your loose pencils to lighten them. Then redraw with the finer point and a little bit more patience

You can further clean up your art in Photoshop by adjusting the levels on your linework to kill the lighter lines (and pencil smudge) while enhancing the darker ones

SS_Minnow

thanks. ive been looking at the bristol stuff it ant cheap is it but i supose i have to pay for quality

yeah

i bought myself a bristol art pad awhile back and it was definately some awesome paper. i love drawing on it

Ok - I'll bite
How do you make Eye Glow?
I am currently doing a comic in INH using Sully's INH-Kids
Its fairly complex and have figured out a LOT of stuff just through trial and error.
but i have a hard time with glows - be they Eye glow or Auras.

I am using Adobe PhotoDeluxe by the way

Thanks
Hunter

ok ill field this one
not sure exactly if this will work with photodelux but heres how i was taught
you make a layer above your line art and set it to hard light
then using an airbrush at around 40% opacity you spray around the the object you want to glow with the colour you want. though i generally use a paler version of the colour of the object. then change your colour to white and spray in the the center of your object.
or if you want super bright glows (i do alot) just keep the opacity at 100 but change the flow to about 50

hope that helps

It does - although not exactly as you described.
what is "hard light"
and should the airbrush tool have a hard edge or a faded edge?

Thanks!
Hunter

i think hardlight is just really bright lol and airbrush is faded edges

Somebody say paper?

For paper, 11X17 Blue Line Pro bristol comic book paper. Blue Line Pro is sold in packs of 24 for about $16.00 at any comic shop. If they don't carry it, simply ask them to order it for you. Its very smooth and very soft, so its best to sketch out your project before you lay down the pencil on the BLP, that way you dont get a bunch of pencil lines if you mess up and need to erase.

OK - in PDX you dont get that choice but can choose your "brush" to have a hard edge or a faded edge...

I will try this soon
maybe someone can post examples?

i do eye glows by using the air brush with a red or blue then do white on top make a dubble of the layer set 1 to overlay and the other to hard light

my method is similar

i create a new layer above everything else and with an airbrush of my glow color, [brush usually set to about 50% opacity and the layer set to "hard light" instead of standard normal] and brush on the glow. i'll work my way lighter from the color i chose until i eventually reach white in the "core" of whats glowing.

here's a short vid that shows me adding a glow to a pic that you can download if you'd like

http://s13.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0NME15U...TO05NZD8CFLSFF9


or you can look me up in the IaconHug DC++ thingy. I'm DCJosh there. I have this and a vid that shows me coloring another pic from lines to finish [among other things xD]

How do you change a color of a box art?

depends on what the colours are like befor but solong as you select the right areas i supose just changing the hue would do it

The instructions I gave in posts #4 and #5 of this thread can be applied to boxart images as well as photos. The instructions presume you're using PhotoShop - not sure how they apply to other similar programs...

Ok I'll bite.  What do you guys recommend for placing faction symbols on characters?  For example, on angles, resizing them, etc?  Thanks in advance.

well i just use photoshop

ill have the standard logos and then i'll do the edit>transform>distort

this gives me control to position and match up the logo to whatever perspective/angle i need to

^thats pritty much what i do

Thanks a bunch guys!  Now I can be lazy and not draw the symbols all the time. 

One other question, besides the TF fonts generously offered here are there any other recommended links for g1 autobot and decepticon faction logos?  The ones I google searched are more or less the large old-school gradient versions.

i use thise i just select the parts i want and copy them over

i do have an autobot G1 logo but its a PSD file

oh and i got them all off google

Thanks again Blitz!

alrity then. asking about how you get the pictures on here so every one can see?
  and how much does the equipment cost for all this well depending on that you use.
iam a little slow on all this but if you help me i can get some of my pictures on here so i can see what you thank.

i'am geting ahead of my self again 

and thanks for the tips

Well, the first option is by uploading a jpeg image file when creating a new thread OR what you can do also is upload the files to host on the following friendly, free image hosting websites:

http://imageshack.us/
www.photobucket.com

You will have to create an account and password for any you use, but the process shouldn't be too difficult.  From then, once uploaded, you can post the image with the following tags--- [ IMG ] JPEG FILE [ /IMG ], or just find that link on the site.

Otherwise, you can always use www.deviantart.com.

Hope this helps.

if i am right,
    dud! thats not what i ment by pictures!!

Hmmm, may you please clarify then what you wish to do? 

Perhaps Blitz or Josh may be able to be of more assistance to your inquiries.

Sorry,
      How do you get 'hand drawn pictures' to the computer like your pictures, Blitz & Josh.
All of your pictures i admire so i whant to see what you thank about mine.

Ohhhh, well to get hand-drawn pictures from real life to the computer requires either a digital camera or preferably, a scanner.  Prices vary (if I remember Xp) for cameras around at least $110 and flatbed scanners $80 and up. Your local stationary/office supplies or electronic center like BestBuy should have these items.

Once the piece is transferred into your computer via either method, you can can use a variety of programs like MSPaint, Adobe Photoshop, Image Ready or any other photo-editing program to resize/edit the picture.  From then, just follow the procedure a post before (file upload or image hosting) to show the pic on the boards.

ALL RIGHT!!!

  that helps a lot. thats the kind answer i've been looking for.
now if i can just get over the price, but i thank i can manage.
and thanks again.

Now i got a mission to profeil

i used an A4 scanner at 300DPI (dots per inch)

This is going to sound like amateur hour, but it's probably the best place to ask:

I know I'll never find exactly matching paints... but what's the best way to use the Testors Paint pens that they sell at Wal-mart? I picked up a black/gold/silver set...

Also, in relation to above: How does one go about painting force chips so they don't look shoddy, while not having the details filled with pooling ink?

idd say ask the guys im customs and kitbashes

Heyo, shading question.

I've just laid the flats down, and I'm going to be shading (in Photoshop 7.0).  I have a basic idea of HOW to shade, but I've never handled a Transformer before.  So what I'm basicly asking is in what manner would be best?  It's not simply a manner of making the shadow match the contour when it's not organic.

For supplies like this, I go to Joe Kubert's World of Cartooning (I've taken some classes from these guys) or Art Media, a store in Portland, Oregon I shop at. These stores rock!

Here, I have a question if anyone can help (thanks in advance). Well, basically I was just wondering if anyone has problems with a slightly grainy image coming out from scanning. I use the Gimp to color my work, and even though I go over my original pencil with ink and then scan it in with the contrast elevated to remove any grays, when I go to fill an area with color in the Gimp, it fills it but not without an annoying white speckle around the lines in particular. It may just be the program I'm using, but I'm not entirely sure. Also, how do you get that sunlight effect on your colored product (like in Blitz's sig)? Thanks again.

well i use photoshop and ive never been near gimp (but i hear its pritty close)

to stop that grain i make a 2nd layer and place it under the line art. then i select the line art layer and go into its propertys and select multiply. then i aply my colours to the layer under the line art layer. but im not sure how you would do that in gimp but i dont think thier that different.

as for my lighting style it realy depends some peeps do it one way others another i just make 2 layers on top of all the others and then add some oringe to the serfaces in the light and then on the 2nd i add some blue then i play with the layer settings till it works

Thanks!! I'll try that. I'm working on a new (more detailed) avatar and sig, so I'll put that advice to good use.

Serious picture question....

I just got a 2.1 MegaPixel Camera tonight, and it takes great pics, but the flash is just so overpowering, and if you don't use it, the light in the room isn't nearly enough, so everything turns red.

That alone presents a problem, here's another....

I want to be able to do picfics, and take pictures of my collection and I know that Macro is generally used for items 2-6' away. It says the lens is a macro lens (and there's no way to adjust it).

Anyone got any tips I can use on taking these pictures? I've heard of using lightboxes (or rigging up your own) and I'm not against making one, just don't have the stuff required, right now.

So....the lightbox I'm guessing is a good thing, any ideas?

As you can see:

1st.) Lamp light, no flash.Click to view attachment
2nd.) Turned off all lights in the room, and just used the flash.Click to view attachment

Any tips, tricks, or ideas?

Thanks in advance.

k i'm feelin silly.

I can't find the damn airbrush on Photoshop.

a li'l help?

... what version? if its CS(2) its in the same bar as the brush options like size etc for the older ones i think you have to hold down the brush option to see the other types of brush

Um... i right clicked while on brush, and pulled up the different brush options and i don't see it there...

hmmmm... i think... you might be able to get away with just using the normal brush with the right brush type selected but im sure thiers a proper airbrush tool in the early editions sorry i could not help more but its been like a year since ive used anything older the CS

Alright, so I think I'm finally getting the hang of coloring and basic shading, but one thing that still eludes me is lighting. (Mostly for Blitz and his brilliant control of light) What tools (in Photoshop etc.) would you use to create that bright lighting effect, and where would they be (under what menus and such). I've got a feeling that it probably has something to do with layer settings, but I thought I'd ask a pro.

well i just do a similar thing i do with shadows only with white and then change that layers settings to overlay (i find red and such come out better with overlay other wise red will turn pink)

also i find that putting the flats layer a few shades darker then what you want the end result to be helps alot

Yes!!! thanks to Hunter Rose's help, I am on my way to mastering the eye glow. Check it here, laid on Sularias's INH Kid for me.

Anyone know how to make a grid using photoshop? I have CS2, and im tring to figure out how to make a grid like on the G1 Boxes?

any help would be great!

Hey skywarp. I just pinned a thread at the top of this forum that may be of help

The photoshop in the menu bar. Has a way were you can have the hole picture and put grid lines. Than all you got to do is go over the grid lines shapes for your design.