[Trull's son]

Hey, I like what I see in this here Malazan art section. Much talent and originality (in so far as fan art can be original ). Having looked through all the cool artwork, I am now curious. My question to you artists out there: How?
What are your methods? Do you paint, use pencil, or those fancy tablets I've been hearing about? Do you have strange rituals you conduct before arting? What process do you go through as you art (art is now a verb dammit!)? do you use specific software to pretty up your creations? Colours or no colours?!

I have to say, I'm a huge fan of Malazan artists, and I hope there's more to come.

[Grimjust Bearegular]

First off: I don't consider what we do "fan art", as we're not copying art that's already been made. A drawing of Harry Potter or Wolverine is fan art, a drawing of Forkrul Assail or Imass isn't IMHO. Yes, we draw things described in the books, but our interpretations and designs are "original". The others might disagree, but that's how I see it anyway


Secondly: I use an Wacom Intuos3 A4 tablet and Photoshop CS5. Most of the time my paintings are 100% digital, but sometimes I sketch or draw things up first, scan it and then work on it in Photoshop.

Prior to a painting I usually just sacrifice a goat, drink its blood from a monkey skull I have lying around and burn some sulphur and magnesium to get the right atmosphere. I also look through tons of pictures for inspiration and references

[Trull's son]

Oh sounds cool. How much do one of those tablets go for nowadays?

Oh by the way, I wasn't seriously calling the art unoriginal; just jokes. I'm aware that every interpretation of the book and the events/characters within is different based on the individual reader. For example, there's a few paintings/drawings of K'Chain Chemalle (spelling?). Each of these, though different from one another, are indisputably badass. So yeah, just a joke. I'd hate for anyone to have a pseudo-epiphany and stop making any of the awesome stuff that I've seen posted.

[Puck]

Contrary to Grim I think it's still fanart, though for me 'fanart' and 'original' don't exclude each other.

And probably a fancy tablet is more interesting than traditional methods nowadays, but a few additional words on the How... Lots of practice and knowledge. Contrary to popular belief there is no magic button on the pc that makes things look good. Behind drawing/painting there's a lot of observing and sketching and practicing and reading and learning - basic principles of human anatomy, prespective, light and shadow, forms, colour, texture, composition.. and experience on when to drop that knowledge in favour of effect.

Personally, I'm most likely not very representative for fantasy stuff, because I work traditionally with pencils, inks and paint. I can do stuff digitally, but my Pc isn't up to date and it's just a bother to try. In any case both media allow for unique techniques not possible in the other and it's a matter of personal preference.

There's no way around the goat sacrifice etc., of course.

[Trull's son]

Wow, all that and the goat sacrifice thing makes me think it would be hard work.

[Grimjust Bearegular]

Puck: Yeah, I just don't like the label fan art...there are some unfortunate associations connected to that particular term:P

And I agree about the hard work. Years and years of hard work! Let me demonstrate:



Lady Envy 2006:



 Lady_Envy_by_Tattersail.jpg (58.02K)
Number of downloads: 0



Lady Envy 2010:

 Envy_by_Tattersail.jpg (135.31K)
Number of downloads: 0


K'Chain Chemalle 2006:

 K__ell_Hunter_by_Tattersail.jpg (95.23K)
Number of downloads: 0


K'Chain Chemalle 2010:

 ve__gath_soldier_by_tattersail-d30xd8n.jpg (229.25K)
Number of downloads: 0


Trull's son:

My tablet set me back about 400 bucks, I think. I'm looking to upgrade to a Cintiq, but that'll cost me around a thousand euros...

[Trull's son]

Woah that is some astonishing stuff. Though the originals look fine, the newer pieces are great. What are the factors that make you plan to upgrade your tablet? Is there delay? Is it too small?

[Puck]

Size doesn't matter with tablets, it's up to personal preferences - thought bigger than medium size [abouta normal printign paper] and it gets unwieldy. You can get a decent tablet for less than 100 bucks these days [a Wacom one at that, and Wacom tablets are still the best ones our there]. The Wacom Intuos series is just more professional and has some features and the Cintiq is basically an Intuos with a built-in screen. Personally, I think that's not as cool as it sounds because the screen isn't really big [seen a medium-sized in action] and I prefer big screens, but that's again personal preference.

[Abyss]

Grimface Insultbear, on 20 April 2011 - 10:17 AM, said:

...
Prior to a painting I usually just sacrifice a goat, drink its blood from a monkey skull I have lying around and burn some sulphur and magnesium to get the right atmosphere. I also look through tons of pictures for inspiration and references

Puck, on 20 April 2011 - 06:32 PM, said:

...
There's no way around the goat sacrifice etc., of course.

Trull, on 21 April 2011 - 04:33 AM, said:

Wow, all that and the goat sacrifice thing makes me think it would be hard work.

You all have learned well.

[Cyphon]

Lady Envy 2010 : Awesome.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Trull, on 20 April 2011 - 02:22 PM, said:

Oh sounds cool. How much do one of those tablets go for nowadays?

Oh by the way, I wasn't seriously calling the art unoriginal; just jokes. I'm aware that every interpretation of the book and the events/characters within is different based on the individual reader. For example, there's a few paintings/drawings of K'Chain Chemalle (spelling?). Each of these, though different from one another, are indisputably badass. So yeah, just a joke. I'd hate for anyone to have a pseudo-epiphany and stop making any of the awesome stuff that I've seen posted.

These are very cheap tablets: http://www.monoprice...108&cp_id=10841 They lack a few of the features and sensitivity of the high end Wacom's, but they're very good for their price level, in my opinion. I have one of the large Monoprice tabs, and it works very well.

[Trull's son]

Those prices are awesome compared the others I googled. Since some of you use tablets, does skill at painting or hand drawing translate into effective use of these tablets?

[Puck]

Tablet prieces vary hugely. The ones I was talking about were Wacom tablets, and they're the most expensive ones [and frankly, the best ones - but for occasional drawing and image editing, others are good, too].

Trull, on 22 April 2011 - 01:31 PM, said:

Since some of you use tablets, does skill at painting or hand drawing translate into effective use of these tablets?

YES.
There's a huge misconception about tablets and digital drawing. A lot of people assume traditional techniques aren't needed for digital art. That's bullsh*t. It corresponds directly to what I said about practice and knowledge. Both are needed no matter what media you use. There's no magic button that makes everything look good. Practice and experience with traditional media translate into digital art and vice versa. For example, it doesn't matter whether one paints with oils or a tablet, things like proportions, composition and light still apply.
Naturally, you can start with using a tablet and learn all of these via it. There's nothing wrong with that, but experience that's already been made with pencils does help and the tablet is unwieldy insofar as you can't just take it with you and draw everywhere like you can a sketch book and pencils.

[Corporal Nobbs]

<= wishing there was a magic button.

[Grimjust Bearegular]

Trull, on 21 April 2011 - 01:32 PM, said:

Woah that is some astonishing stuff. Though the originals look fine, the newer pieces are great. What are the factors that make you plan to upgrade your tablet? Is there delay? Is it too small?

No, my tablet works great. I'm really just an equipment/gadget "whore"

Cyphon, on 21 April 2011 - 09:29 PM, said:

Lady Envy 2010 : Awesome.

Thanks!

Corporal Nobbs, on 23 April 2011 - 01:50 AM, said:

<= wishing there was a magic button.

Me too!

[Isa]

I have a wacom bamboo, the tiny one. Think it was maybe 100 dollars when I got it last fall. Before that I used to draw with a mouse in PS so I don't have the heart to complain about anything, I think it's an excellent tablet in its price range.

I think the common misconceptions about it being easier to draw digitally has some roots in the fact that there is quite a few "effects", especially scenery etc, that you can make in PS without needing any drawing skills. Most people could probably follow a tutorial on drawing a sunset and get a decent result. Of course, there is people who are very talented and have excellent knowledge of PS (or whatever you use) and truly take advantage of the possibilities of digital art.

Then there's people like me who mainly use brushes but enjoy the fact that you can zoom, use layers and don't have to be afraid of killing a drawing because the color turns out to be wrong or it becomes too cluttered as often happens to me when drawing anything the traditional way. That said, I still think the actual drawing is harder with a tablet than it is with pen and paper, mostly because I can't really sketch things up the same way. Could just be my tablet is too small though.

[Grimjust Bearegular]

Yeah, I also find sketching a bit difficult with the tablet. I just don't get the same flow and easy lines as with a pencil on paper.

[Trull's son]

The input thus far has been great. I'm glad to hear that some skill in drawing will help with tablets. I have not drawn in a couple years, but am looking forward to getting back into it.
I'm hoping that the size of the tablet doesn't affect the outcome of a work in an obvious way, seeing as I'll probably buy from the lower price range at first.

[Puck]

As far as I know, it doesn't. I found it easier to draw and sketch [yeah, I find sketching easier with a tablet than with pen and paper] with a smaller one. I wouldn't go as small as A6 or Small [depending on how it's called, it means the same], but bigger than A4 gets uncomfortable, too. A5 ist probably the best one to start with - it's also the best size compared to the price

This post has been edited by Puck: 26 April 2011 - 09:22 PM

[Grimjust Bearegular]

I have an A4, but I don't really draw with big, swooping gestures, so an A5 would work just as well for me, I think. So if my tablet goes kablam and I don't have the funds for a cintiq, I'll definitely buy an Intuos4 A5 instead