How to start drawing?

skullman · Post by **skullman** » October 22nd, 2006, 1:54 am

sory guys, im new to this but i want to learn.
how can i get started on making :

5 charecters, brand new.
Castle walls.
Castle Gate.
Castle Keep.

: my main problem atm is i cant start drawing a basic Sword or axe, i need some pointers and a little help or a demo if you will. (need all this for my campaign, its multi ending and multi begining campaign

).
So yer, the big issue here is just drawing, i got Paint.Net thats good, alot better then Paint

.

Post by **Darth Fool** » October 22nd, 2006, 2:06 am

http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/Give_Your_H ... ersonality
http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/Create_Art

skullman · Post by **skullman** » October 22nd, 2006, 2:27 am

awsome! thx, that first link is helping alot. the second one tho, doesnt quite help me. although this does give alot more chance in creating my char's. thx also you wouldnt happen to know another link where it helps to make new from scracth char's??

Post by **Zhukov** » October 22nd, 2006, 2:33 am

Do you want tips on drawing generally, or specifically on pixel-pushing?

skullman · Post by **skullman** » October 22nd, 2006, 2:43 am

well, i want to build a guy from head to toe. when i do it, it turns out looking ugly crappy and generally i wouldnt want to see this ever agian. maybe pixel brushing is what i want atm but your quess is better then myn :S

Post by **Zhukov** » October 22nd, 2006, 3:37 am

Ah yes, I know exactly what you mean. When you're starting out, drawing a unit from scratch is kind of daunting in a funny way. Heh.

Well, first you need a good image editor program. Something that can handle layers and transparency. There is a list here. I reccomend the GIMP.

Once you have an editor to play with I reccomend you 'frankenstein' already existing units for practice. By this I mean cut-and-pasting pieces of units (chars as you call them) and combining them to make your own, then drawing in some details on your own. This gives you a general feel for how pixels work, and will provide you with some unique graphics to use until you get your hands on something better. The first link that Darth Fool posted makes a great starting guide for this (I used it myself when I was starting.) You would be surprised just what you can do with these simple techniques.

When you get some confidence and skill, it just becomes a matter of practice. Lots of practice. In that regard, you're basically on your own.
However I can give you a few hints to grease the wheels:

Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ When drawing units I have found it immensely helpful to do quick sketches on paper first. Pixels can be clunky and awkward at the best of times, especially when drawing something as tiny as a unit. It doesn't help if you are trying to make it up as you go. Drawing a plan first means that when you get to the pixel stage you have a clear image in your head and a good idea of where and how each thing will be placed.

Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Use the mainline images as reference. In fact, worship the mainline images. For example, if you're not sure how to draw a sword then find a mainline unit that has one and copy it. Don't know how to do hands? Same thing, find some and copy. You can depend on the mainline images all being good quality.
(If you are wondering what a 'Mainline image' is, it's a graphic that is already included in the game.)

Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Post your images. People will tell you what you're doing right and point out what you need to work on. Don't worry if the image is crap, people around here are pretty polite. Besides, everyone has to start somewhere. - we have all posted some things we would rather forget.

Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ The following people are our best artists. If they tell you stuff, listen to them:

- Jetryl
- Eternal
- Fmunoz
- Neoriceisgood
- Wayfarer
- Pickslide

That's about it. I hope this wasn't too much information in one go. Unfortunately I cannot help with drawing castles, I've never done it. However, from seeing others do it, it looks hard. You may want to put it off until you get good. Your choice.
Oh yeah, almost forgot: welcome to Wesnoth and good luck

.

toms · Post by **toms** » October 22nd, 2006, 6:04 am

My tip: Draw the sketches on squared paper.

You get a view for the pixels then.

Post by **Jetrel** » October 22nd, 2006, 8:58 am

Zhukov, thanks a lot, you've saved me a ton of typing, and all the info you gave is good.

skullman · Post by **skullman** » October 22nd, 2006, 12:27 pm

arrr awsome! i made a half decent guy, when i say that i mean compared to when i first entered this post lol. and that Jetryl guy, i was looking threw posts on where to start and i came up with my own name for him, pirate guy

thx guys, hope to be posting some more complex questions later on and possibly a unit that id like for him to go global, be a shame to keep a good/cool guy on just my computer

Flametrooper · Post by **Flametrooper** » October 22nd, 2006, 5:06 pm

Also, you could try team-coloring things, if there's even anything left to team-color. It is usually pretty easy (changing a few color values to magenta here and there, etc) and you can look at units and their animations as you team color them. You learn a bit about pixel-pushing, and if you do a good job, you work is automatically in mainline. It's how I got my start, though I don't profess to be the greatest artist in the world (for examples of a few of my units, look in the sig.) Do it enough, you may earn a nice title, like Forum Regular.
/me tries to refrain from going off-topic by asking what, in fact, happened to that title I used to have...

Ranger M · Post by **Ranger M** » October 22nd, 2006, 5:55 pm

Flametrooper wrote:/me tries to refrain from going off-topic by asking what, in fact, happened to that title I used to have...

And apparently fails

.

Why can't people just ask about these things instead of dropping not so subtle hints. I'm not exactly a saint in this respect, but I prefer to just ask directly, because I hate being given 'subtle' hints by others.

Anyway, now I'm really getting off topic, but flametroopers advice is sound, although seeing as there aren't that many easy TCing jobs left you could try helping out some faction designers, it wont be mainline, but it will be practice.

skullman · Post by **skullman** » October 23rd, 2006, 5:26 am

uh huh, how to i jump into that?
also how do i put my photos into this post?/forum. can show some work ive been doin as such.

Dragon Master · Post by **Dragon Master** » October 23rd, 2006, 2:25 pm

To post your images on the forum, look under the box where you type your posts. There should be a filename and file comment box. Click "browse" then select your pic you want to post.

skullman · Post by **skullman** » October 24th, 2006, 3:23 am

hehehe that sorder frankenstien?

Ryorin · Post by **Ryorin** » October 24th, 2006, 11:35 am

Actually, that's not half bad for you first attempt. Just keep practicing, I would be too, but I have no time anymore so...