Vector Drawing and Design Help

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kdiddy13
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Vector Drawing and Design Help

Post by kdiddy13 »

Can anyone recommend some sources on drawing with vectors? I already understand the tools, I'm just having trouble with the look. In particular I'm looking for stylistic references and tutorials.

Books and webpages are welcome.

Here's an example of the sort of thing I'm looking for:
http://www.zengrenade.com/cartoon-character-design.htm
as well as the Cartoon Cartoon look in Samurai Jack, or Saturday morning fare like Filmore.

Thanks,
Kurt
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Last edited by kdiddy13 on Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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spasmodic_cheese
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Post by spasmodic_cheese »

if the tools arent an issue then its probably your brain-to-paper(computer) ability.

something which im no expert on, things always look awsome in my head and come out somewhat different in real life.

however you get better at this with practice.

You can use your favourite shows as a learning tool.
Try googles advanced search and search for large images of the show that has the style you wanna appropriate from

http://images.google.com/advanced_image_search?hl=en

bring it into your vector editing suite, and mimic along side it.

Try and replicate their images and see how it works.
myles
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Post by myles »

Hi Kurt,

The style of the actual character appearances ?

Which look a little bit like some of Ben Caldwell's later stuff, such as Dare Detectives (see http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/profile.php?sku=13-194) and his tutorial book Action! Cartooning (see http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0806987391), but that doesn't have as much to do with vectors, which I don't think he uses, as with drawing style.

Perhaps a bit more like Gary Ham's stuff ? (see http://www.superham.com/), who I think does work in vectors after pencil sketching.

I suspect many of these are based on the standard cartoon construction lines - skull and jaw shapes, horizontal eye-line, vertical centre-of-face line, line of action, hip and shoulder lines, rib and pelvis shapes, etc.

Or style things like line variation quality, shadow and highlight shapes, etc ?

Such as a tutorial I saw some time back which, for line variation, recommended drawing in thin fixed-width lines then copying each line, moving and/or rotating each copy slightly and joining it back to the original at the ends to form a filled shape which provided reasonable line variation.

Personally, to get a similar line variation effect, I'd recommend drawing in something like Xara X or Expression, which allow you to go back later and change to line styles with varied width.
(The latest non-expiring full-featured preview/beta edition of Expression is currently available free from Microsoft since they bought it from Creature House, if you register for a Microsoft passport account to access the Expression download and forum - see http://www.microsoft.com/products/expre ... sp?pg=home
My recommendation is to get it while it's available)

If you want to animate it, you could then try to reproduce the effect using Moho's line width tool.

Regards, Myles.
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kdiddy13
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Post by kdiddy13 »

Thanks very much for the replies.
its probably your brain-to-paper(computer) ability.
That's definitly the weak point in my projects at the moment. Technical and tool aptitude is not. I work with Maya all day on Linux, technically no small feat, but it doesn't mean I can draw (or model, or paint, or etc....)
You can use your favourite shows as a learning tool.
Try googles advanced search and search for large images of the show that has the style you wanna appropriate from
Great advice. I've slowly been doing this. I've been getting better at copying other's work. Now I'm hoping to make the leap into taking the stuff crawling in my head out on to "paper".
Which look a little bit like some of Ben Caldwell's later stuff, such as Dare Detectives (see http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/profile.php?sku=13-194) and his tutorial book Action! Cartooning (see www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0806987391), but that doesn't have as much to do with vectors, which I don't think he uses, as with drawing style.
You're right and that's exactly what I'm looking for. I think I'm not so much looking for specific vector tutorials and info as much as a drawing syle that lends itself to vector artwork.

Expression is a pretty cool program (especially since it's free!)

And if anyone else has advice on other artists, I'd still appreciate it.

Thanks again!

I love this community!
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Last edited by kdiddy13 on Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
myles
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Post by myles »

With a slightly old-fashioned look but a good coverage of the basics, Fun With A Pencil by Andrew Loomis is worth a look - see http://www.saveloomis.org/fun/fun.htm

For a more Disney-ish approach and a focus on anthropomorphic animals, Preston Blair's Cartoon Animation is good - see http://www.freetoon.com/prestonblair/

Chris Hart's cartooning books are variations on a similar theme - see http://www.artstudiollc.com/cartooning/cartooning.html

The afore-mentioned Action! Cartooning by Ben Caldwell uses a rather nice modern look in covering similar areas.

Draw! Magazine might be worth checking out - haven't seen it yet myself - see http://www.drawmagazine.com/
The publisher also has a new book in the works which might be worthwhile - see http://www.twomorrows.com/books/apencil.html

The Drawing Board may be worth a look for checking out various artists and styles - see http://www.sketchbooksessions.com/thedr ... /index.php, particularly the illustration and sketchbook forums.

Not all of these styles will necessarily adapt well to animation, as opposed to vector drawing/illustration.

Regards, Myles.
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kdiddy13
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Post by kdiddy13 »

The Drawing Board may be worth a look for checking out various artists and styles - see http://www.sketchbooksessions.com/thedr ... /index.php, particularly the illustration and sketchbook forums.
This forum is awesome! Thanks for the link! There's a ton of talented artists all willing to help out and give advice on any current drawings.
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Last edited by kdiddy13 on Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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kdiddy13
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Post by kdiddy13 »

http://www.sumaleth.com/links/index.shtml

I found this link through the Drawing Forum myles recommended. There's oodles of info...
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