Need help with coloring+Updated works

[DarkFlameDragon]

Hey guys i have a question but first of all here are some updated works

(lineart by pokefreak)

(lineart by giilshark)

(lineart by kujaex)

(lineart by renny)

okay my question is about soft shading,i have a wacom tablet but i still don't know how to use it,i looked at amaretti's tutorial and it did explained me some points but im still a little confused about the whole soft shading thing so it would be great if you guys could give me some pointers about pen and brush settings.

also i need some help with lineart settings because some people have told me that my lines are hard to color

example

http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/126/angrysagekyuubilines.png

thanks in advance

 

[alpvonkri]

I can't be of some help, but the works are great, good job!!!
5 Stars!!!

 

[lee-nus]

tips: make your own backgrounds. also, the shading on the character has to match the light source in the background. and you need to pay more attention to light source overall.

as for tablet use, i suggest u practice with different brush settings. i think thats something very individual, and not something you can learn only by looking at tutorials. also, i would advice u to stay away from amaretti's style. everyone seems to fall into that trap. the reason is that her style looks rather easy and tempting, but she was way more finesse than everyone else and manages to pull it off so well with perfect hues and details that no one else can.

just play around and see what works for you. cellshading is a waste of palette after all. for instance, i almost only use the hard round brush. for backgrounds i sometimes use custom brushes though. i change flow and opacity settings whenever i need to, and i tend to use brush dynamics a bit too. not always a good thing, but still...

oh, and there's nothing difficult about your lines. or maybe they are for beginner colorists who dont color the lines, or on top of them. they would work for me, but they look a little too flat for my tastes. try and make lineart using your pressure sensitive tablet, that is much nicer too look at.

 

[tEchIe]

I can't see any problem with you're lines, although you could spice them up with varying your stroke selection, but that's style preferences, not technique...
As for the soft-shading, the thing is, why ?
Maybe you think soft-shading is superior to cell shading ?
It really isn't, It's more of a style choice...

 

[lee-nus]

As for the soft-shading, the thing is, why ?
Maybe you think soft-shading is superior to cell shading ?
It really isn't, It's more of a style choice...

everyone at MH is doing cellshading. most of the time poorly. its easy to see why anyone would want to break out from the crowd. going from cellshading to soft shading is really about taking it to the next level. having a tablet and using it only for cellshading, for which you might as well use a mouse or even a touchpad is just a waste of technology.

in terms of superiority, i would say it depends on how you mean. good soft shading requires a lot more from the artist than good cellshading, in terms of technique and finesse.

 

[KnuckleheadedNinja]

great works, Sasuke A

 

[tEchIe]

everyone at MH is doing cellshading. most of the time poorly. its easy to see why anyone would want to break out from the crowd. going from cellshading to soft shading is really about taking it to the next level. having a tablet and using it only for cellshading, for which you might as well use a mouse or even a touchpad is just a waste of technology.

in terms of superiority, i would say it depends on how you mean. good soft shading requires a lot more from the artist than good cellshading, in terms of technique and finesse.

I mostly disagree,
The learning curve for Illustrator is radically different from Photoshop,
A client of mine who does concept art for a living, once told me it took him three month to move from oil-paintings to photo-realistic Photoshop tablet paintings;
He has been learning and using Illustrator daily for 8 month now, he still comes asking questions about basic stuff, and it's not like I'm anywhere near a pro's level either...

As for the tablet, sure, if you have a tablet you might as well put it into some good use, best when using it as a brush;
But to assume you're "progressing" your skills just because you switched from one tool to another...

I've seen A LOT of soft-shadings done, some bad, most decent, but very few advanced cell-shadings.
It's rare to see someone competent with the use of gradients and masks, let-alone see someone using the gradient mesh tool at all...

 

[lee-nus]

I mostly disagree,
The learning curve for Illustrator is radically different from Photoshop,
A client of mine who does concept art for a living, once told me it took him three month to move from oil-paintings to photo-realistic Photoshop tablet paintings;
He has been learning and using Illustrator daily for 8 month now, he still comes asking questions about basic stuff, and it's not like I'm anywhere near a pro's level either...

this part, i have no idea where you got from. did i say anything about that...? o.O oh, and what is it you do? i dont think i have seen you submit any art to the forum...? just wondering.

As for the tablet, sure, if you have a tablet you might as well put it into some good use, best when using it as a brush;
But to assume you're "progressing" your skills just because you switched from one tool to another...

I've seen A LOT of soft-shadings done, some bad, most decent, but very few advanced cell-shadings.
It's rare to see someone competent with the use of gradients and masks, let-alone see someone using the gradient mesh tool at all...

i dont even know what the gradient mesh tool is, and im not exactly foreign to photoshop. i know what the gradient tool is tho, if thats the one you mean. gradients and masks are just one way to color though. i believe using the brush is the most free technique, and its also the one most similar to real painting.
as for soft shading, it does require more skill, so i would say its only natural that there are a ton of really low quality ones out there. and everyone is a beginner at first.

 

[Y-on]

i dont even know what the gradient mesh tool is, and im not exactly foreign to photoshop. i know what the gradient tool is tho, if thats the one you mean. gradients and masks are just one way to color though. i believe using the brush is the most free technique, and its also the one most similar to real painting.
as for soft shading, it does require more skill, so i would say its only natural that there are a ton of really low quality ones out there. and everyone is a beginner at first.

The gradient mesh tool is only available for use in Illustrator. I think he's trying to make a point about how advanced cell-shading/vector styles can be, and how complicated they can get. I don't think I want to give my point of view on the subject; I only used Illustrator for my lines before I received my tablet (SAI is a god send to me). Oh and Technie's work can be found on his profile; he seems to upload it to MH.

 

[tEchIe]

Tsuny's is right on the money,
As the my nickname suggests, I do everything from fixing pcs to IT consulting (acquisition\ e-office \ teaching stuff ), it's really a fancy way to say I fix computers and help folks with their pc-related problems...
As for the artistic stuff, after years of figuring out how to do stuff in Photoshop and Adobe. for other people. that I never need for myself. I decided I might as well do something I enjoy with my skillz...

Their really isn't cell vs soft shading discussion, since cell-shading IS vectors, and soft-shadings IS rasterization, each has it's own little niche :-)
as for similar to real paintings, well I didn't know thats the factor ;-) but, check this out:
http://gurusunleashed.com/9742/halle-berry-ultra-realistic-vector-portrait.php
a quick google...

P.S. \ EDIT: forgot to mention that most of my stuff aren't very good because I'm too lazy, so you won't find it laying around since I don't have anything to ask about them...
As for my photoshopping with the brush, here's a little something I made just for you to show I can hold a brush but prefer not to:

15 minutes with photoshop, not very good, but gets the point across, I hope...
And here's a thread you can find some of my playing around:
http://mangahelpers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48587
but this is really just a shameless plug ;-)

 

[- aMt -]

Soft Shade, is more pleasant and comes closer to reality, possibita deliver much the characters and all the elements of painting in the environment.

Cell Shade, seems a more simplistic painting. But if well implemented, can be achieved wonders. One example is our dear "Dinamic Dragon" He is one of the few guys that are perfect shade a cell in my opinion!

Another factor that I see is that, who knows how to make a good cell vai shade better than the other when going for soft shade, because the cell shade you need more experience with the ways of the shadows. Soft and has a more liberal. So if you already have a base with the cell, will leave with the best soft!


Many beginners try already soft from the start, but not very successful.
Try first painting as always, but using a tablet, let the edge of their increasingly soft shadows, varying opacity and flow. Experience comes with time!

1 year is enough = P (like me)

--

though it is a matter of personal choice that ^^

never try to imitate the Amaretti(she's ET xD) and good luck ;D