Fanart Favorite Medium

[Julieann]

Everyone has their favorite. Pencils, colored pencils, watercolor, strictly computer art, or a mixture of all sorts of medium. What is your favorite?

[Springie]

For me, I just enjoy good old fashioned pencil sketching. I tend to mess it up when I color it. But, since I am new at Photoshop, I do enjoy trying to color my pics on the computer.

As far as others' pics are concerned, it doesn't matter to me what medium they use. I just look at content and facial expressions...and I try to learn from them. I am so happy to have such fabulous artists' work to look at. You guys rock! 

[Reboekah]

Portable trumps all other media for me...

These days, it is pencil on paper for the initial sketch - ink it to line art when there is time - scan in the clean line art - fiddle in Photoshop - and eventually go back to the line art to ink in the details...

I also adore fiddling with color pencils... but these days I need the speed and limited space requirements. Trying for artwork while travelling is challenging enough!

-Boeke

[Julieann]

... but these days I need the speed and limited space requirements. Trying for artwork while travelling is challenging enough!

-Boeke

I know  what you mean. When I was on the truck, traveling coast to coast, the only way I got any art done at all was with the Wacom tablet hooked up to the computer. It took that extreme to get me comfortable working with it.

[Diinzumo]

The medium I use depends on the type of piece. Some pics call for plain pencil while others have called for watercolor or charcoal. Not that I can always successfully pull off a piece using a specific medium!

My current choice is watercolor pencils on charcoal paper. I've been getting some good color results even though I'm not 100% happy with the textures.

Someday I'll do more digital work. It's just that I'm using a mouse now, and that's tedious.  A friend once compared drawing with a mouse to drawing with a bar of soap.

[jublke]

I don't draw often, but when I do it's either in pencil or charcoal.  I agree with Springie, I tend to mess things up when I color them. 

FYI -- Our nice new gallery inspired me to try my very first fan art.  <bows at Julieann>

[Springie]

And you did great, Julie! Keep at it! I'd love to see more!

[Julieann]

I don't draw often, but when I do it's either in pencil or charcoal.  I agree with Springie, I tend to mess things up when I color them. 

For color, have you played with digital color? Then you don't mess up the original. 

Of course, digital art has its own learning curve... 

[Springie]

Yes it does! And I am still learning...but it's fun!

[jublke]

Thanks for the encouragement, Springie.  I posted a new one of the Swan.    I haven't drawn anything in a long time.  In fact, I found our lost pencil sharpener in my art box.  (We hadn't seen it in over a year!)

As per your comment, Julieann, I just bought Photoshop today so, we'll see.  I'm looking forward to being able to actually edit my photos.

[Ebonyswanne]

I get too impatient with photoshop... So when I do draw, which isn't often any more so I'm rusty. Its just pencil on paper...

[Springie]

I say... practice makes perfect, Ebony! Let's see some more of those piccies! 

[katsesama]

I'm most comfortable with pencils (plain b&w and colored), inks (I worked with the old dip-the-quill-in-the-ink pens for years as a young artiste  ), and digital art.  I'm passingly comfortable with watercolor and acrylics, but not enough that I've done fanart in them.

Most of my fanart is drawn-by-hand and then scanned so I can color digitally. 



It gives it a more cel-like appearance, and if I screw up or don't like how something came out, I can do it again!
 

I think a Wacom tablet is pretty crucial to art on the computer, though I also have a Tablet PC, which also works well (and is more portable so I can crash on the couch in front of my TV    People who come over and want to play with my drawing toys always find the Tablet PC much easier to use, because you're actually drawing on the screen. 

[Julieann]

Great step by step pics, katsesama! 

[Barrdwing]

I get along great with a pencil, but lack experience in just about everything else.  Which is frustrating, because when I scan in a pencil drawing, it looks like a bad photocopy.  <sigh>  I got to play with Julieann's tablet and inking program during Comic-Con, and while I sure wasn't very good with it I can at least see lots of advantages to using something like that.  I can't tell you how many renditions I've screwed up while trying to ink them . . . it's sad.  I'm a regular Charlie Brown when it comes to ink pens.  The tablet at least protects the original pencil, and if you screw up you can erase and go back. 

Color . . . well, I'm starting to experiment with acrylic paints.  So long as I don't mind things looking rather abstract, they seem to be a good medium for getting some color on that page!  Colored pencils seem like an obvious choice, but often they don't saturate the colors the way I want them to.  I really should take a nice art class, though, and learn how to use the basic tools better.  I keep getting the feeling that I'm missing something!