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12 comments
Gotta love how she rides her broom so fearlessly. A bit like a monkey. Not afraid to fall as there is no point solving a problem until it actually occurs. I hope that as she grows up, she always retains some of that carefree mindset.
Thank you Vinay. Your comment resonate with a work I'm doing right now: I'm looking at the structure of episodes and how I approached ep34 (future one) this summer. The storybaord I have is way to serious... When Pepper started to grew in the series; she almost lost a part of goofyness. I'm trying to reconnect with this and this part of the universe and art direction (btw, the sketch in this post is not a new one, made in September 2019 afair: it was a test for the cover of the artbook).
The sketch looks so effortlessly perfect...I wish I could draw like this! :Ā“(
So IĀ“m new here and I would have never discovered you or Pepper&Carrot if I havenĀ“t decided to learn how to draw! IĀ“ve seen your youtube tutorials and it`s really one of the very few useful Krita tutorials, thank you very much!
And I hate to be a bother but I get the impression that you are a really cool helpful dude and IĀ“m pretty desperate so IĀ“ll ask anyway!
You know IĀ“m an average person who is scare of a white paper sheet and whose drawing is very basic and havenĀ“t changed since childhood I guess... I wonder how children stop drawing... Is it because they donĀ“t get enough support ? Or maybe is all the critic which only grows the more you grow? What do you think? And did you stop drawing as well to pick it up later or you kept drawing no matter what? :)
Well anyway, so as most of people out there I always wanted to be an artist but I always thought I canĀ“t be one cause my pictures suck :Ā“) But last year I needed to make a hand made gift for a family member and as I wanted it to be simple and budget I made a basic drawing which was supposed to be basic and messy as it was stylised for an ancient artefact. So it was pretty decent and I even managed to achieve some similarity with the family member appearance. And as IĀ“m fighting depression blah blah I could feel that drawing kinda comforts me as I focus and get dissolved, you know? So I decided to dedicate myself to drawing, practiced some on paper, got a tablet, gathered some drawing programs...And boy oh boy...
I donĀ“t have any teacher or even any friends who could help me with it. Googling is a very vast field which leaves you with many different methods, programs, materials, approaches and god knows what. I literally get a headache from trying to figure out how to learn drawing. And my self critic only complicates things comparing my basic works with geniuses of the Internet making me feel like a total loser.
So I wouldnĀ“t dare to ask you to be my sensei, but could you please tell me more about your beginning? you know a few days ago I was complaining to my husband like look, there is this gentlemen David and his works are so cool and my pictures suck and he was like and for how long David has been drawing? and IĀ“m like I dunno, 10 years? and heĀ“s like and you are drawing for less than a year!
So yeah, I look at your pictures and choose to see them more as inspiration than something discouraging but for this I really would like to know more about your path to today.
And of course I would like to hear your opinion on how to learn how to draw or how youĀ“ve learnt , for now IĀ“m studying using ctrl paint which you recommended earlier, your tutorials and Loomis book ĀØSuccessful drawingĀØ though the book seems a bit hard for me :(
Anyway thank you very much for your time and tutorials! I hope your project will thrive! See you in patrons^^
Good to hear! It is a bit like the Harry Potter series of books. In the earlier books I liked how "serious magic" could be (ab)used for fun or how mishaps could lead to fairly harmless and funny situations. As the series progressed magic skills naturally improved but along with that, everything turned more negative until there was no fun left at all. I eventually stopped reading book six and never read book 7. Now by no means I'm saying Pepper is anywhere close to that level of "unfun" but it would be a shame if she'd lose her fun and trusting mindset. As I expressed earlier, I love Ep8 for how she uses magic to summon monsters that may be preconceived as "dangerous" or "bad", but instead invites them for something lovely and fun.
Now I also do get the dilemma. Just like with Harry Potter, she's growing up and develops as a teen and adult. Yet at the same time she has always had her (sometimes rebellious) idea of what a Chaosah witch is supposed to be like. So especially after Ep33, I now trust her to utilize her potentially destructive magic to turn violent situations into something fun and lovely. But yeah, keep the beauty and fun in there. There is this tune "Symbolic" from my all time favorite band Death that pops in my head (from their 1995 album Symbolic). It may be intense for someone not used to death metal but the analogy may be that the themes didn't meet preconceptions either. This song is about how when you grow up, you always want to be ahead of your age. Go further, evolve. In a way that's great because that's what keeps you developing as a kid. Yet at the same time you may miss what's going on in the moment. Until as an adult you only realize "hey, that was beautiful too". No need to rush ahead, just experience what is now. Maybe that's what Pepper will realize once she enters the temple of Ah. If you'd need a song to go with that too, that would be "Sacred Serenity" from the same album.
Now with all the suggestions I made there (and possibly the sonic assault too), Pepper is your creation first and foremost. She's been amazing through every single episode, I trust she'll continue to amaze us for episodes to come. Enjoy the process!
Hi Vinay,
First off, I'm a fellow death metal listener (Death is an amazing band) so I get the reference.
I've been working on the wiki and RPG for a bit with Pepper&Carrot, so David and I have conversed over a lot of different things about the comic. One thing I can relate about this process is David does tend to skew toward the serious during his first few drafts of story-lines. In my mind this is a good thing. It's good because it helps to define the characters and give them emotional depth. It also gives the humor angle more breathing room, since humor takes the edge off of serious topics.
I wouldn't be too worried about Pepper&Carrot becoming a dark and brooding comic, in part because David isn't a dark and brooding person. Pepper is a reflection of David's personality, as are all of the characters in the series. They also reflect a bit of the community around Pepper&Carrot as well, and for what it's worth I don't find that community to be dark and foreboding. I think you have nothing to worry about.
ā¤ā¤ā¤ to you both :) Thanks!
Hey, first thank you for your level of trust for sharing this details about you and for your kind words about my art and blog. Depression is really a difficult fight and I wish with all my heart you'll find your way into getting better! About childhood; I had no idea how childrens stop drawing because I'm biased on this topic: I'm one of them, the kid who continued while other did stop. I became quickly "the one who draws" in my classroom. I don't think honnestly it gave me any special ability technically or skill to draw better. Maybe just a built-in way to identify myself with the activity of drawing and build up a social status with that. That certainly helps a lot at core, but I also got at core a lot of bad habits built-in in many areas.
In my opinion, starting a drawing is always a challenge. It's always difficult, ānowā is never the perfect time, the paper/computer/tablet/software/pen/light condition is never perfect, inspiration is always away and one of the trap is to think: "it is certainly easy and effortless for other". Internet and tutorials can quickly become a quest for trying to find a fictive magic trick. For me it never was effortless even if I draw since more than 30years (because I'm soon 40 y/o). It is still difficult to get the face of character symetrical into perspective; to keep the proportion, to inject life in lines, to get balanced colors, to get a pose that doesn't look too uncomfortable... I succeed at it more often than in the past, I'm learning my way slowly. I'm still training on sketchbook, I still learn anatomy (I spent last three weeks a bit less than 1h per day on "neck" and "hips": it's really hard to understand and remember the shape, interaction and action of all this muscle, the bones, the angle limit, etc...).
So sorry, but I can't be your personal Sensei because I'm still teaching to myself. I need to keep a lot of time for drawing and the tutorial/goodies/brush of my website is all I can offer right now. But the best advice I can tell you is to study your relation with art as a science: you might notice certain patterns that works for you, it can be anything. Once you have found a little thing that work, keep it, validate it and build-up for your next discovery. Step by step, with method and time you'll certainly finnish to find what you are looking for. It's the best adventure, that's all I can wish to you! ... oh, and for the perfect-time, hardware, etc... the simple "It's now or never" advice works really well. I hope it will help you!
Glad to hear the music references were interpreted as intended. There are some preconceptions about the scene, which is a bummer as I personally always felt a strong link to Chuck (Schuldiner), his mindset and his music.
Either way, your comment makes me happy. And @David, I hope you appreciate knowing that your audience loves your chosen direction and mindset. Looking forward to next episodes and all the blogs in between.
By the way, received the four books (hardcover) today. They look perfect! It is maybe only your own picture that turned out slightly grainy but I think the artwork turned out perfect. And indeed, I came across this very drawing :).
Oh thank you about the books! Yes, I totally agree about the photo at the end: it really doesn't benefit of the tweaks I made for the comic and result with weird flat area and bad skin tones; I saw it recently. The original photo was made from a low quality smartphone in 2014 and it did not help, you can see the RGB version on "About" page this very website, that's really a authentic shot of me while working on the first episodes; with my cat Noutti still young, like 8 month old.
Well you are welcome I guess? Not like itĀ“s much of use for you anyway :Ā“)
Hmmm, I see I see...But depending oh how well you draw IĀ“m sure you grew some confidence or thick skin for critic, no? ^^
Exactly! The Internet is full of speed paints, tutorials and other material which presents drawing for their authors as something "easy". I mean nobody gonna do an honest video showing the whole process with all its pain and suffering so it looks like these people just get it done with no particular effort so then you start wondering if it costs so much effort to me and little for them maybe itĀ“s just not my thing or IĀ“m a failure? It is quite discouraging.
Maybe itĀ“s too much too ask but maybe you could share some of your challenges in your blog? It would be inspiring to see that you with all your experience and success are still human and have your own things to struggle with. Cause most of the artists only show the "good" side, you know, how quick, easy and wonderful they draw while when you start learning it is useful to see that those super artists learn too and how they do it. I guess nobody wants to "show weakness"?
Oh IĀ“m not even dreaming of it, I understand and wish you the best^^
IĀ“m not sure I understand your metaphor completely but yes, I do see that drawing has its laws as any science. So far IĀ“m kinda desperate so I just try everything I see, every book, tutorial, picture, video, pretty much anything just to do something you know. Drawing a sphere with shadows or some creative but basic picture is veeeery far from how I would like to draw but I better draw something than nothing I guess? :)
About sharing my weakness and challenge, I do that a lot; but recently maybe more on technical challenge rather than about art/painting/drawing (The Kubuntu install, the refactoring behing the lang system of Pepper&Carrot, the print of the books). If you want to read me struggling a lot; read the making of Episode 21: https://www.davidrevoy.com/article325/the-chaotic-making-of-episode-21 xD I'll probably put back focus on my art more now the book is done; and I'll try to show the before/after of weak drawing, poses corrected in future production report. I wish you all the best in your study of drawing and Loomis books!
š» Cute cat. āāāā
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