Ineffective Brush Strokes

#1

I’m very new to these forums, and to be honest rather new to the art world as a whole. I’ve looked through a lot of the threads here, and ‘favourited’ about 20 to 30 tutorials and various informative posts that I’ve found, though I think it would be easier for me to specifically address some of my problems here.

My work so far:

Enalya’s eye Tutorial:

http://img330.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pupil2vs.jpg

Just starting on a frog:

http://img330.imageshack.us/img330/2179/frog4eb.jpg

A sketch of a forest, from a video tutorial I’ve found here (not quite finished):

http://img330.imageshack.us/img330/2848/forestsketch5zh.jpg

One of my problems (I have many :p) Is that I find that a lot of my brush strokes are innefective, and I end up have about 10 to 15, where the tutorial makers have 2. I’m not sure if this is a problem with using a tablet or not. For example, I find that lines are much smoother and easier to draw when I do it freehand:

http://img330.imageshack.us/img330/7469/untitled25if.jpg

Maybe its the brushes I’m using (relucant to believe this as the saying goes don’t blame your tools) as I use defaults in PS with other options set to pen pressure, and opacity and flow reduced. I don’t find it particularly hard to draw in PS, although my result is very bad, but I find it just a bit easier to draw on paper. I’m not sure if its an eye hand co-ordination problem, something that goes away with the more I draw. I find myself spending ages on a little piece (for example that eye took me about 6 hours, it takes people 6 hours to draw the whole body :frowning: ). I realize that most members here, are professionals and do this for a living.

I would appreciate some advice on where to go from here, maybe practice more on paper, or continue with following tutorials (though some are rather hard for me, and as a result half way through my drawing is completely rubbish and I scrap it before finishing). For example Enalya’s Nose tutorial, I’ve somehow change the perspective and the whole thing looks like a mess of colours:

http://img290.imageshack.us/img290/1115/face0cq.jpg

Thanks for reading :slight_smile:

#2

Here are a few things you could try:

  1. Tweak the sensitivity of your Wacom tablet’s pressure setting, and if you use Painter, you can tweak the brush sensitivity.

  2. Once you’ve done your tweaking, practice drawing/painting with fewer lines/brushstrokes, but with more accuracy and efficiency. Think before you move your hand. Ask yourself what you want this next stroke to accomplish, then go for it. If you don’t hit the mark, undo that stroke and try again. Drill yourself using that method over and over until you feel you’ve improved.

  3. Limit the time you spend on a piece. Do tests where you give yourself only 5 minutes, or 10 minutes (or whatever timeframe that’s significantly less than what you usually spend on a piece), and try to finish in the allotted time limit. This will force you to paint/draw more efficiently.

#3

I suggest you first try painting in black and white, as colors can be confusing digitally at first.

#4

yeah u should start with what professional said black n white first… lunatiques suggestion bout the conforming to a limited time is a nice method too we had to do that for my gesture drawing courses in class its really helpful… we got like 30 secs to a min to draw the whole human form…

about the drawing better on paper then on tablet yeah u just needa get to use to it… just use tablet more… if u really want i geuss u could draw stuff on paper then scan to paint in PS… i started out doing that but then just kept using tablet so i just mostly sketch with tablet in PS now…

and ur right most people here are professionals with decades of experience just learn from them i dont usually like to judge my work on theirs cause ive only had a few art courses… i mean its nice to have something to aim for and compare to but i find if i just kept degrading my work cause its not up to their level at the moment i always wanna quit so yeah i geuss just practice more…

one thing i kinda found useful on the tablet bout brushstrokes is kinda like what lunatique said… use less strokes… plus if and when u use a stroke try to make one continuous stroke instead of several little ones u get a straighter/smoother line… also use this when erasing heheh didnt even realized this till my instructor pointed it lol me so stupid :frowning:

anyways im sure people here got more advice for u since they’ve been doing it longer than me…

#5

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