[ SECRET POST #2153 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2153 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 05 pages, 104 secrets from Secret Submission Post #308.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[truxillogical]

I'm with you.

It's a craft. You learn it. If you've been practicing constantly for years--and note: PRACTICING. Not just drawing. Actual, conscious practice, which is hard and boring as often as it isn't--you'll see an improvement. But even more than that...

Yes. Some people have a knack that others don't. I will never, never draw like Bernie Wrightson. I suppose if I quit work and devoted myself to the task of drawing a single picture that looked good enough to be in his illustrated Frankenstein, and spent years sussing out the intricacies of the crow-quill pen and human anatomy and the precise play of light and shadow on every single surface, possibly I could come close.

But that's not really a very good idea. Because the world already has a Bernie Wrightson.

"Style" is the mistakes you make over and over again. Within reason. Actually, it's more like "style" is the mistakes you make that look natural within the whole. If your characters eyes are always slightly lopsided, that's a mistake--unless you decide to distill that mistake and exaggerate it just enough...and then it's a style. You can tell the difference because people stop saying: "The eyes are all wrong." When it's a style, it looks like it's supposed to be that way. It's not an excuse to get lazy and brush off every concrit with "but that's my style" (something life drawing professors are very tired of hearing, especially from otaku, but something they will hear every day until they retire).

Maybe you're too busy trying to draw like *Insert Names of All Your Favorite Artists Here.* Figure out how you draw, and perfect that.

Heck, you want an example of how absolutely varied the "talent" pool of fanart can be? Take DC comics. There are so many good artists, and very talented fanartists as well. Y'know one of the best bits of fanart online?

Batman and Sons

Doesn't exactly look van Sciver realistic. But it is glorious.

If you want to contribute art to fandom as well as your presence, just make art.

[sarnath]

"Style" is the mistakes you make over and over again.

Yes, this!

What people often don't realise is that whether one has the talent or not, it's possible to become very good with enough practice, and practice doing the basics.

That's why so much "anime" style type of fanart/art made by westerners looks so bad; they think it's easy, but they've really only used some superficial characteristics of the style while knowing nothing of, say, basic anatomy. And one has to know anatomy, composition, and perspective in order to know when rules can be broken to enhance certain impressions and still make it look good.

Also, if one really wants to improve, having someone who points out one's mistakes is invaluable.

[(Anonymous)]

To be fair, a lot of professional mangaka in japan don't really know anatomy either, they are just good at the manga style because they grew up with it and have an easier time copying it.

But this is something I see in a lot of comic/animation artists all over. There are a lot of people who are good at style mocking to the point that they can create beautiful work without having learned the rules first.

It is really hard to create your own style if you don't know the rules though. I am constantly asked where my style came from and all I can do in response is shrug, because the answers are along the lines of "Struggle?"..."Take years of painting classes being mediocre at it?"..."Learn all the rules and only years later be capable of breaking them?"

[sarnath]

Oh yeah, I've definitely seen a lot of bad art from Japanese artists as well. But as you say, growing up with it lets them do better copies. they tend to include composition and perspective, at least, and not just the standard "manga" face" (at least when it comes to the professionals).

Then there are professional western artists that borrow elements from the manga styles, but still keep within the western tradititions otherwise, and I see nothing wrong with that. Inspiration across styles is a good thing, I think. It's can be very well done, like in Avatar: The Last Airbender, for example.

It is really hard to create your own style if you don't know the rules though.

Yeah, learning to draw is hard, and includes hard work. And so does writing, which people don't tend to realise either.

[(Anonymous)]

But breaking the rules is part of the process. Copy copy copy until you can stand on your feet and create something new, something that's yours. It's a valid explanation.