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Artwork (Digital) / General Furry Art
Species Western Dragon
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This is a very quick example i slapped together in flash to show as an example of line weight.
The middle image is the real image. It was easy since, with the tablet, the pressure sensitivity made the lines thick or thin, and flash naturally adjusts the lines to make them more geometric and pretty. I love flash.
I then traced it with just the pencil tool in the left frame.
I then added more weight and thickness to the right panel.
1 - Panel one just shows the basic image. There is nothing special, its just a bunch of straight lines.
2 - Panel two has some weight to the lines. This gives the perception that parts of his body are in shadow, darker, or are just heavier looking. Notice how the eye ridge in the background is a lot thinner and less noticable. Also notice how the lines around the body are thicker than the lines on the belly. Making lines such as minor details and muscle lines thinner takes some of the emphasis off of them and just makes it part of the shading.
3 - In panel three, i went a little bit more heavy with the ink. I made some lines even thicker to add more shadow, and i added shadow underneath the chin and the horn. I think this helps show how that part of the body overlaps the other.
The beauty of line weight is that it shows the depth of the image without actually having to color/shade it.
(As a heads up, if you sketch and image, and the sketch looks good, but suddenly looks crappy when you ink it. Go back to the sketch and you will probly notice that some of your lines are thicker than others. Most people already use lineweight, but forget about it when they are inking it.)
If you want to learn more about proper line weight... as this kinda explanation sucks. There are tons of tutorials out there.
Check out this one for some more basic info. http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/?p=210
The middle image is the real image. It was easy since, with the tablet, the pressure sensitivity made the lines thick or thin, and flash naturally adjusts the lines to make them more geometric and pretty. I love flash.
I then traced it with just the pencil tool in the left frame.
I then added more weight and thickness to the right panel.
1 - Panel one just shows the basic image. There is nothing special, its just a bunch of straight lines.
2 - Panel two has some weight to the lines. This gives the perception that parts of his body are in shadow, darker, or are just heavier looking. Notice how the eye ridge in the background is a lot thinner and less noticable. Also notice how the lines around the body are thicker than the lines on the belly. Making lines such as minor details and muscle lines thinner takes some of the emphasis off of them and just makes it part of the shading.
3 - In panel three, i went a little bit more heavy with the ink. I made some lines even thicker to add more shadow, and i added shadow underneath the chin and the horn. I think this helps show how that part of the body overlaps the other.
The beauty of line weight is that it shows the depth of the image without actually having to color/shade it.
(As a heads up, if you sketch and image, and the sketch looks good, but suddenly looks crappy when you ink it. Go back to the sketch and you will probly notice that some of your lines are thicker than others. Most people already use lineweight, but forget about it when they are inking it.)
If you want to learn more about proper line weight... as this kinda explanation sucks. There are tons of tutorials out there.
Check out this one for some more basic info. http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/?p=210
Category Artwork (Digital) / General Furry Art
Species Western Dragon
Size 900 x 380px
File Size 87.7 kB
No problem. I was glad to help. When i first started using line weight i was like "OMG" and have been ever since. Often times the first thing to come out of my mouth when asked for advise... other than coloring with markers... is lineweight. It just makes it look pretty.
And yah. Flash uses vector graphics. So does illustrator and inkscape. Thise means when you draw a line, the program doesnt just color pixels. It creates a geometric equation to compute the line and make the curves permanent. This allows you to resize the line/image without any change in quality.
This works great for animations and was created specifically for the internet. Since not everyone uses the same resolution, many companies wanted everyone to see the same image. So a vector image was the way to go.... I think. Im just assuming right there. Talking out my ass.
All i know is, when i draw a line in flash, it doesnt pick up my jaggedy jitters from not being able to hold the pen straight. It turns those jags into a nice smooth line.
This can work agaisnt you in some areas, but overall i like it for what i do.
And yah. Flash uses vector graphics. So does illustrator and inkscape. Thise means when you draw a line, the program doesnt just color pixels. It creates a geometric equation to compute the line and make the curves permanent. This allows you to resize the line/image without any change in quality.
This works great for animations and was created specifically for the internet. Since not everyone uses the same resolution, many companies wanted everyone to see the same image. So a vector image was the way to go.... I think. Im just assuming right there. Talking out my ass.
All i know is, when i draw a line in flash, it doesnt pick up my jaggedy jitters from not being able to hold the pen straight. It turns those jags into a nice smooth line.
This can work agaisnt you in some areas, but overall i like it for what i do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZSuxYV_Rqw It costs 1,000 dollars.... but damn is it awesome and i want one. Hes a good artist to.
Programs make it easier to do it digitally. I do just as fine with a pen. But yah, having a good program really helps smooth the lines and make things look pretty.
Try These free programs. They arent as powerfull but they have most of the same features as any of the expensive ones.
Gimp - Standerd graphics editor. Actually works a lot like photoshop. Most of the tools it lacks are tools most amateurs like myself never use.
InkScape - Vector graphics program. Works a lot like Flash and Illustrator.
You can also get flash, photoshop, and illustrator off of your friendly neighborhood P2P. You can also get them severely discounted from student art stores.
Try These free programs. They arent as powerfull but they have most of the same features as any of the expensive ones.
Gimp - Standerd graphics editor. Actually works a lot like photoshop. Most of the tools it lacks are tools most amateurs like myself never use.
InkScape - Vector graphics program. Works a lot like Flash and Illustrator.
You can also get flash, photoshop, and illustrator off of your friendly neighborhood P2P. You can also get them severely discounted from student art stores.
I really spam the paintbucket in flash. So I don't use the pencil, sadly. The pencil makes it hard to use the paintbucket, because the ends of every line have to connect. And I don't have the patience to do that, nor the patience to use the brush to color.
Good job. I can take a lesson or two from your book. *grins*
Good job. I can take a lesson or two from your book. *grins*
Oh nonono, I know that. But you're misunderstanding just a bit, though that's my fault for not explaining it the right way.
You see your left image? If you were to use a pencil line to connect the bottom lines together so that the gaps were sealed, you couldn't use a paintbucket to paint the midtone of the scales. Why? Because the pencil has to have the ends of every line connecting with one another to form a closed shape before the painbucket can be used.
Take the snout and the foremost eye cleft for example. That eye ridge is not connecting the two segments it cuts off. A pencil line just can't "touch" another portion of another pencil line to seal a shape in, like the brush can. The ends of the lines have to meet. All around the border of the shape. You can't exactly draw freely like that... and that's where I find my problem.
Uh... I realize that I lack the vernacular to put this any more clearly, and I apologize for that. I'll just leave it at the fact I admire you for your knowledge and good use of the program.
You see your left image? If you were to use a pencil line to connect the bottom lines together so that the gaps were sealed, you couldn't use a paintbucket to paint the midtone of the scales. Why? Because the pencil has to have the ends of every line connecting with one another to form a closed shape before the painbucket can be used.
Take the snout and the foremost eye cleft for example. That eye ridge is not connecting the two segments it cuts off. A pencil line just can't "touch" another portion of another pencil line to seal a shape in, like the brush can. The ends of the lines have to meet. All around the border of the shape. You can't exactly draw freely like that... and that's where I find my problem.
Uh... I realize that I lack the vernacular to put this any more clearly, and I apologize for that. I'll just leave it at the fact I admire you for your knowledge and good use of the program.
Oh no, i understand what you mean. Sorry bout that.
In order to use the fill bucket in that situation i just close the bottom with the paint brush. I like to change the settings of it so it doesnt erase the lines when i paint over them. Then i just use the fill tool. I then erase the tiny bits that went outside the lines.
For the last one i colored i did it diferently though. I didnt use the fill tool at all. Instead, i used the brush to create the line work. I then made a group of the line work. Then i used the brush again to do color underneath it. Then, after the color was squared away, i ungrouped the linework, and they merged together.
In order to use the fill bucket in that situation i just close the bottom with the paint brush. I like to change the settings of it so it doesnt erase the lines when i paint over them. Then i just use the fill tool. I then erase the tiny bits that went outside the lines.
For the last one i colored i did it diferently though. I didnt use the fill tool at all. Instead, i used the brush to create the line work. I then made a group of the line work. Then i used the brush again to do color underneath it. Then, after the color was squared away, i ungrouped the linework, and they merged together.
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