Lines and mark making - Can you help?

[-=Rosie=-]

I seem to be having problems with lines. I really want to improve my line drawing and outlines. Ok let me show you some pictures so you can hopefully point out where Im going wrong.

Here is a dragon I have been working on. Please pay attention to the linework rather than the anatomy.

http://www.twisted-kitten.com/images/dragon.jpg

Im using photoshop 7 and a Nisis tablet. When Im drawing my lines I use a round brush without soft edges. The lines sometimes dont end up where I want them to be so I draw another line ontop which eventually ends up looking sketchy so I use the eraser and take out the lines I dont want. I then find some of the lines I make are too thick so again I find myself with the eraser making them thinner. As you can see the values of my lines are all over the place and some of them look wobbly.

In the following pic you can see how the bad lines affect the shaded version of the picture.

http://www.twisted-kitten.com/images/dragon2.jpg

Anyone know how I can go about improving the quality of my linework? I really want to practise this a lot more before I even do any shading or colouring. Eventualy I want to try put some ideas sheets together like the one James has posted on the main page

http://www.conceptart.org/artist/james-zhang/images/james-zhang-4b.jpg

Advice is welcome, Links to tutorials are welcome infact anything you can think of that might help me is welcome.

p.s. HELP!!!!!

[O_Apep]

Yeah definately higher the resolution you start out with the smoother the lines would appear. In general, I think it is much easier to get nice line quality by inking on paper and then scanning rather than starting out digitally. Perhaps try changing some of the settings on your tablet and see if you can get something to fit you better as well

[-=Rosie=-]

thanks Jens and O_Apep for you words of wisdom.

I took your advice and decided to start out in my sketch book rather than with the tablet. I got a general sketch down and then inked in the lines, scanned and cleaned up the image in photoshop.

And this how it looks...

http://www.twisted-kitten.com/images/linebeast.jpg

the linework seems to be a lot nicer, more detailed and refined than previous attempts.

I even had a go at doing a bit of shading...

http://www.twisted-kitten.com/images/beasty2.jpg

Do you like it?

Just got a few more question about lines. Are there hard fast rules for determining the thickness of a line? Are thicker lines for things closer to the eye than thin lines?

I really want to try do some more concepts with a greater variety of line values as right now my lines seem to come in just two flavours (thick or thin).

[cucaracha]

when I outline my sketches I usually draw the main shapes a bit thicker and the details very thin.

a good example is made by master feng -

http://64.246.38.49/artbyfeng/tut_01/tank_step_04.jpg

look how he used more line-weight in certain areas to add depth to the image.

I hope there's no problem with posting an image I didn't drew in a thread I didn't open :chug:

I like the b/w-version, looks a bit like a medieval illustration.

oh, and his tutorial is here: http://64.246.38.49/artbyfeng/tut_00.html

[Cinsev]

wow that guys site is pretty crazy! thanks for posting that!

[O_Apep]

rosie I think either way is fine as long as you keep it consistant. Your lines do look cleaner now. As for your drawing it is a good idea, but it is coming off way too flat. Right now, that isn't so much do to your line weights (though of course that is important too), as it is to... you need to sketch more "3d" first before going any farther. Look at the legs... they all fall upon the same line, but you know the back legs would be "shorter" to appear further back. And the head for example - needs to be drawn in blocks and shapes... like I said "3d" before drawing, otherwise it will have no weight and true form.
I think it would be good for you to draw from photographic reference or real life if possible until that becomes more intuitive.

[-=Rosie=-]

cucaracha thanks for the link, I've seen that tutorial before. Awsome stuff from Mr Zhu.

O_Apep thanks for the comments (again).

I really want to improve what im doing and I have been told before that my anatomy is all wrong and my perspective is wrong etc etc. I guess its a long artistic road to travel before I create a believable piece.

With the beast I guess I put more effort into the idea and the linework than the form.

trouble is I have to work hard all day everyday (legal career) and the only chance I get to really draw is at the weekends. I know this sounds like I am making excuses but I have however got a sketchbook for drawing on the bus to and from work. Trouble is there arnt that many giant transport turtles that catch my bus into the city. Got any suggestions for what I can be sketching in my book each day? Please dont say passengers, they all look at me funny when I start drawing.

I Promise come the weekend I will try create something from a reference, most probably from photos of zoo animals on the web.

:)

[cucaracha]

Originally posted by -=Rosie=-
I guess its a long artistic road to travel before I create a believable piece.

I'm feeling the same atm, but don't give up!
A tip: try to learn with Loomis, e.g..

clicka herre: http://www.saveloomis.org/

(I recommend "Figure drawing" - a big download around 24Mb, but it's worth it.)