Groups: Tutorial + Resources There are many groups on deviantART. DeviantART Community aims to help you find ones that you are looking for, or introduce you to new ones you have never seen before!General
What you can do if a big company stole your art An indy artist's work being used by Disney without permission: http://katiewoodger.tumblr.com/post/47454350768/disney-have-stolen-my-artwork-i-dont-know-whatMy tumblr reply: http://mayshing.tumblr.com/post/47627305546/katiewoodger-disney-have-stolen-my-artwork-iPS: this one is on the verge being settled, Disney already started working on it, she's being helped. Seeing posts like this, I just thought I should share some knowledge I have, I personally already have met 3 different artists who doesn't know what to do when:Record company ripped them offPublisher ripped them offBig corporation used their artwork without permission (that's usually by accident because of an outsource company broke the rule etc) USA people: Go
THREE TIPS FOR DRAWING CARSYou know that green ellipse tool that you bought in art school? Do you know how to use it for something other than oval shapes? Do you know what those "cross-hair" marks are for? And do you know how to use it for technically correct perspective drawings?TOO many comics artists don't, and it's driving me crazy. So instead of starting a blog that starts showing examples and naming names, I figured it was better to make a quick tutorial. And this isn't just for cars but also for guns, fire hydrants, and millions of other machined objects found in comics.If you go through this and you're still stuck, please don't write to me. I'm happy to show you at a convention to make it clearer, but within a blog this is the best I can do. Check out "Perspective for Comic Artists by David Chelsea" for more.TIP #1Cars are a whole lot easier to draw if you know how to properly use perspective and ellipses. The more familiar you are with the math, the more fun it is to draw cars. Once I figured out th
Types of Artist blues, what helped, what didn'tThere are several artist blues I know of, since I have experienced practically all of them during the past few months since 2011. I will write about how I got them, how I overcome them. What helped, what didn't.Some of these blues are professional freelance blues, happens to those who are making their own series/productions and when there's money and risk involved.Some of these blues are shared by all artists.Pre-production bluesBefore the production even starts, the fear of it failing caused me to think about failing instead of success. It makes me hesitate about actually working on the project before I even produce anything. What helped- Refocus on what I am making the project for, what's the true message I try to convey with the project, make that shine, and try to choose a cheap launch platform that makes it cost-effective. What didn't help- trying to level up on art skill. It helped with my overall art as work for hire, it didn't help with
TUTORIAL - Tips for All ArtistsHello everyone!I have written a tutorial like this before here. But recently I have had more thoughts about it that I decided to share. As you may have noticed, I am not a professional artist, I am a hobbyist and self-taught, and what I will expose here is what I've learnt from my own experience. Even so, I hope this tutorial will be helpful to you!Another note: English is not my first language, so I apologize if I commit any mistakes.Feel free to correct my grammar any time, as well as make suggestions or asking questions!This tutorial is for every kind of artist, but sometimes I will focus more on visual artists (since it's my speciality).I believe that everyone can be an artist, and this tutorial has not only the purpose of providing advices and tips, but also motivation for all.Contents1. Your Image as an Artist on dA2. Your Image as an Artist outside dA3. Your Popularity4. Your Art Process5. Your Artistic Style6. You
Would anyone want to work with me to make a comic?For the Longest time I have had an awesome idea for a comic, but I lack the artistic ability to draw it myself. I would really like to make this comic come to life, that means I need some help. I don't want to give to much of the story away, but I have found a way to make this story be told by, humans, animals and probably can find away to make it work with any other if needed. Originally it was from the point of view of a human, but like I said doesn't have to be. I think it would be really fun to work with someone on this! I would give any artistic help I could and there would of course be joint credit given! If you have any questions feel free to ask. If you think you might want to do this with me, note my main account ~SecretTheScienceDog!(I'm just trying to spread the word so I'm also asking on this adopt account!) I hope someone takes interest in this!~Thank you.
Interactive #1: Both Sides of the EquationIntroductionHere we go. Welcome to a new idea of mine called an "interactive." Recently, I've been spending a lot of time learning about literature. I've learned a bunch of new things, but I found that I was learning the most when I had other people to talk with and exchange ideas. Now I already spend a lot of time talking with my lovely commenters, but my tutorials are focused on advice, what to do and what not to do. I wanted to know: How could I integrate discussion into a writing aid?As I stroked my magnificent, imaginary beard, an idea occurred to me. What if I w
Teaching yourself to draw [Part 1: Stylizing]Practice, they say. So you go and draw more, right? Sounds easy! A few months later, and look - you're better at drawing. Cats. Or dragons. Or whatever your poison of choice happens to be.But now you want to draw something else.So you start alllll over again. Great.The problem with all those guides floating around (you know the kind; the title is 'Magic tip to become an awesome artist," and there's a clickthrough, and it says something along the lines of 'draw more.') is that they're missing something very essential that people who got a great art education to start with never had a problem with. Most of the young/new artists out there who are having problems learning to draw (I'm still a new artist myself; but I think I've got the learning part down now - otherwise I wouldn't bother writing this...) are approaching things from a strange direction; they're learning from observing Manga or MLP or other people's art, but they want to draw other stuff too. Unfortunately, a lot of them
I'm My #1 Fan: Why Self-Adoration Is DangerousFirst of all, I freely admit that what I say isn't gospel. I am a total amateur at art and writing. I've learned everything that I know via the internet and a few books. It's just that I appreciate all of the tutorials here on dA that have helped me out, and I want to put a little bit of my own methods back in.This may be one of my more controversial tutorials as of yet.And yet, I'm not here to talk about a traditional writing topic. This is about attitude. Specifically, I want to talk about an author's attitude towards their stories and their talent in general.I read a lot of amateur stories on dA, and I do mean a LOT. But one thing
The Cracks Begin to Show: Making Flawed CharactersFirst of all, I freely admit that what I say isn't gospel. I am a total amateur at art and writing. I've learned everything that I know via the internet and a few books. It's just that I appreciate all of the tutorials here on dA that have helped me out, and I want to put a little bit of my own methods back in.I've run across an odd myth about fictional characters here on good ol' deviantART: If my character isn't a Mary Sue then I've definitely written a good character. Sadly, this is not so. A Mary Sue (see here for more) is just a specific kind of bad character. Not all bad characters are Mary Sues. It would be like saying that sinc
How to Write a Novel - a beginner's guideI am often asked - how do you write novels? I am often told by the person asking - so politely - "It is my dream to write a novel" "I wish I could write" "I would love to write my novel on ..." I let people know I am on my third novel. It is rare to meet a writer, rarely someone who has realised their dream, and who has produced a book. Rarer still to find a published author --- why? it seems so easy.....when you read them.Many try the
Top 5 Mistakes (I've made over the years)To many people in comics, I only arrived a few years ago with Joe the Barbarian. Then came Hellblazer (completed in 2008 before I began working on Joe), American Vampire: SOTF, and finally Punk Rock Jesus. Once in a while someone will mention Off Road (an OGN I did with Oni back in 2004), but for the most part it seems like I've been published only these last few years when in fact I've been published professionally for a decade now.This isn't a plea to have everyone go back through my previous work--in fact, I'm glad that a lot of the books I've done over the years aren't on readers' radars. I'm proud of it all, but the books above are a nice, tight group of titles to be associated with. They're all in a similar brand, they're all recent, they all have good creators/publishers associated with them, and the artwork is mostly consistent. Go back further than that, and you'll see artwork that looks nothing like the stuff I'm doing these days. (Although Off Road still holds up to some de
The Necessity of Flaws in CharacterizationOkay. Close your eyes (well, maybe just one) and imagine your favorite fictional character. Are they strong? Compassionate and giving? Witty and clever? Wise and intelligent? No matter the make-up of their awesomeness, they probably bring a smile to your face and that warm, fuzzy feeling to your insides. You probably remember vividly their adventures and hijinks, their clever retorts, or how amazing they were at figuring out some wild and crazy puzzle. They probably inspired your own writing. You probably wanted to recreate that smile and fuzzy feeling with your own readers, so you made your version of the character (or took some of their tra
To War Against the Dialogue Tags!I am waging a war. Consider this your invitation to join my army.What is this war about, you ask? It's about destroying dialogue tags. What are dialogue tags, you ask? They are the parts that explain who's talking, like "he said" and "she asked". Why am I doing this, you ask? It's not that they kicked my puppy (I don't even have one, despite the opposition's claim). It's not that they burned my toast. It's not even that they opened my favorite book too far and creased the spine. Here. Let me explain why you're going to be fighting the good fight.Dialogue tags have a use. It's a very useful use, even. They prevent confusion about who gener
I'm Suing You: Why Do We Make Mary Sues?First of all, I freely admit that what I say isn't gospel. I am a total amateur at art and writing. I've learned everything that I know via the internet and a few drawing books. It's just that I appreciate all of the tutorials here on dA that have helped me out, and I want to put a little bit of my own methods back in.Let me get this out of the way: I only write tutorials if I feel that I have something to add to the topic or if I feel like it's one that few people touch on. So then why on Earth am I writing about Mary Sues? Everyone's written about them! And it's true; this topic has been well-explored in countless places that it seems
A Rose by Any Other Name: Naming Your CharactersFirst of all, I freely admit that what I say isn't gospel. I am a total amateur at art and writing. I've learned everything that I know via the internet and a few drawing books. It's just that I appreciate all of the tutorials here on dA that have helped me out, and I want to put a little bit of my own methods back in.First things first; I have a quick, but essential assignment for you. Read the following three sentences below, out loud:A weird name does not a unique character make.A weird name does not a memorable character make.A weird name does not a good character make.Say it. Say it twice. Say i
My Top Ten Tips for Starting a Webcomic(aka "I Wish Someone Had Told Me This")Are you thinking about starting a new creative endeavor that involves sequential art? Something you hope beyond family and friends will read? Have you thought about this project at all past the initial "can't wait to start working" phase?Stop. Listen to what I am about to say. Many webcomic writers/artists make the same mistakes (myself included) by jumping straight to the "let's start drawing now" phase, bypassing the planning stage. Here are the most important items to consider before you even ink out the first strip:Consider if there is a chance your comic will become printed. Not only do you need t
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An indy artist's work being used by Disney without permission: http://katiewoodger.tumblr.com/post/47454350768/disney-have-stolen-my-artwork-i-dont-know-what
What helped- Refocus on what I am making the project for, what's the true message I try to convey with the project, make that shine, and try to choose a cheap launch platform that makes it cost-effective. 
