Good Anatomical Comments: Wrists Should Be Near Crotch, Torso Is Roughly Two Ribcages Tall, Hands Are

Good anatomical comments: wrists should be near crotch, torso is roughly two ribcages tall, hands are about the size of your face

Bad anatomical comments: “girls have smaller, thinner shoulders while males have broad ones”, “women have soft faces while mean have harsher features”, “women should have wider hips”

Sorry, right. I want to do realistic portraits, but I've only ever done them in black and white. Coloring people gives me a hard time.

I’m assuming you’re asking me more about color theory than the actual technique of how I detail portraits. Color theory is a complicated topic that takes a while to get the hang of and there are tons of people out there who can explain it more concisely that I ever could asdfghgjhfd.

Anyways you could look up tutorials on how to grayscale paint if you would prefer to start w a grayscale base and then add color. That used to be how I preferred to color my work but I sort of fell out of practice and forgot how I used to do it.

If you want to work w colors from the get go, i can help u there lol. I did a super quick demonstration below of colors i would select for the highlights, midtones, and shadows. Both are a bit on the warm side but you can play around with this all you want and if it’ll help you get a feel for how to color portraits. obviously these are pretty limited but ya knoooooo. Keep in mind I chose a pretty intense light source to get a wider range of highlights.

Hope this helps! if you have more questions hit me up.

How I paint chainmail - tutorial

When doing D&D inspired art, you have to learn to paint armour. Chainmail is pretty tricky without a technique or plan, so here is mine.

You could also just make a chainmail brush, but where’s the fun in that?

object show where all the characters are art programs

How do you usually design your outfits? They always look so creative.

thank you!

usually it’s a matter of considering the elements i like in fashion design, what kind of personality/background the character has, and how much detailing i want to put into what they wear. layers and drapery are pretty key to the fantasy designs i do, though there can be a lot of extra detailing if they happen to like jewelry or embellishments.

does the character tend to live outside of populated areas and wander a lot? consider that they’re always going to want to have things on them at all times, easy access, and carry things that will help them in a pinch.

do they have their every need attended to, never worry for much, and wouldn’t know what to do with a grocery list? better believe they’re dressed to impress, at all times, with nary a detail out of place.

it gets a little more finicky when you’re considering sci-fi, which tends to go a little more streamlined, everything looks more hi-tech and same-y, etc. though there’s a lot of different ways you can explore that, especially if you’re taking into consideration all the different worlds that would also have their own categories on subcategories on subcategories of needs and expectations–should you happen to be going that route.

character and fashion design is my favourite part of illustration, to the point where i’d considered fashion design as a career when i was in high school, though there’s…reasons i never went that route, haha. i’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this stuff! it’s a matter of figuring out what you like, what will work, and combining them in such a way that they fit well together.

and make sure to have lots of references handy!! i follow something like 200~300 fashion and design blogs. probably more. not kidding.