Any tips from the pros (art and skills)

[Krysteena]

So some one told me go harder with highlights and shading but I still can't visualize placement like anime version realism example at bottom. I want to improve so I can get better habits and get fast with manga making for in the future when I am done with the novel. I don't do my normal anymore cause I almost got band from tapas for being reported AI use so I changed the style but regardless it takes way longer like this piece is 8 hours with my normal its like 13-16 hours I want to be able to make a good manga with 50 panels as a weekly average in the next year to years 1/2.

BEFORE

AFTER

[Oriflamme]

We were already talking about that in an earlier thread.

Would it be possible to calm down with the creation of threads asking for help. A lot of what your asking is interconnected, and the way you’re asking for help is so scattered, that the answers risk getting lost in the noise.

[Kelheor]

Don't use grey/black for coloring shadows. All the pictures I saw look like you used a soft grey brush on top of them - this makes them look muddy.
Don't use pure white for hair highlights, you can use it, but right now the way you're doing them (huge and with soft brush), they look like huge patches of grey sprayed over the top.
Too much blur overall, I don't know if by design or you just use very small resolution, but again - it doesn't need to be this blurred.
You're doing very well with poses and anatomy, so changing the way you color will elevate your art a lot!

[wolflu66]

@Oriflamme and I've already mentioned this in another discussion thread. I suggest you try to significantly reduce your use of soft-edge airbrush brushes.

https://forums.tapas.io/t/my-first-digital-manga/90434

As for the highlights on hair and skin, I personally think you don't need to add too many. Sometimes overusing highlight brushes or layers can actually make the image lose focus.

[thepenmonster]

I think you're putting the cart before the horse. I grabbed some anime samples both old and new.

Notes;

• Hair is always coloured / "rendered" to match the lighting of the space the characters are in. Usually the shinies are a simple halo or not there at all.

• The shadows match the lighting as well.

Girl's shadow suggests the light is is coming from the left but the shadows on the guy says it's coming from the right. Highlights on her arm says the light is from the top. The light is bouncing off of her pelvis as if it's coming from the right too.

Where is the light in your image coming from? The swords? The characters should be under lit.

Look at this screenshot from the DanDaDan opening;

Light source in the middle. Reflections, shadows, and hair shinies all exist in reaction to that light. Very clear. Everything grows from that light. But even images with multiple light sources have clear sources.

Light from everywhere? Then your colouring would be flat because the sources would be even.

Figure out your light sources first and then worry if you're making the hair shinies fine enough. You have to know what you're supposed to detail before you worry about how to detail.

[kyupol]

Coloring, shading, and faces are good. Just need to work on body proportions better and hands look a bit awkward.

Just my 2 cents on this

[Krysteena]

When you gave me advice I figured you meant on the hair which I did and so far looks better but when it comes to clothing or looking at anime basics and structure I was kind of hoping someone could help me more on that like clothing i still really suck at that. So I was like hey this is advice other people could use as well lets see if I can make a thread.

[Krysteena]

If not using black/grays whites for shading what would you suggest can you show me a example i am a visual learner That said I do want the shine on the hair to be bright and blurry to give a soft fluffy look to it.

Like I did with the Pomeranian if you can tell that's the dog if you can tell the breed. But I did play with the thicker light idea like @Oriflamme told me to do as I am updating the pieces of the manga.

[Krysteena]

Oh so I use auto desk I know some programs like clip studio has like highlight brushes preset but I don't The closest I have is air brush and a glow so I have to do multiple layers to achieve the same look and the other thing that sucks is I have no pre-sets like ruffles or trees so all you see is handmade or a clip from the web edited for back drop liek if you see there is a one piece poster by the door when she slams it

[Oriflamme]

I use #713930 or #2c4a5 in a multiply layer and #fcfcea for highlight in an overlay layer. The shadow color should match the atmosphere of the scene, and use an off-white for highlights. Pure black and pure white don't exist in nature so you should avoid using them.

The shading on the fur should be jagged.

Also where is the light source in the scene?

[uria_000]

I'm a bit confused about the lighting—is the source behind the characters, in front, or from the sword? That needs to be clearer.

Your colors look muddy because you're relying only on black and white for shading. That’s fine for a stylistic choice, but if you want it to feel more vibrant and less flat, try incorporating colors from the environment. For example, the girl could have some blue hues reflecting off her from the background or the boy. For the boy, adding a bit of the sword’s pink glow onto his skin or clothes would help ground them in the setting.

I also think the jackets look a bit off, mainly because the line art for the clothes doesn’t match the clean lines on the face and hands. Consistent, bold linework across the whole piece would really tie it together.

And about the hair—you might want to ease off the airbrush for highlights. Right now, it makes the lighting confusing. If the light’s coming from the sword, it should only hit the tips of the bangs. If it’s from behind, the highlights should just rim the edges of the hair. I can draw some lighting/shadow guidelines for you if that helps!

[Krysteena]

Yes the light from the left of the guy and yes a bit if light from the swords the have a aura that makes them glow but I don't want it to incase them like a DBZ character mor like a solo leveling where it makes them glow a bit.

My fear is if I add light on the face it would drown them out

[Krysteena]

I dropped the black and white as best as possible.
And @thepenmonster I added the glow feature off the sword but to me it feels like it drowns the picture up it looks weird

[Krysteena]

I feel like it's starting to look like some Lisa Frank meets anime

[wolflu66]

This is kind of a little trick. After you finish your artwork, add a new layer on top of the image and change the layer mode to 'Multiply.'

Then use an airbrush with a dark color to spray around the edges of the image. This can help focus the viewer's attention more on the area you want them to see first.

[Krysteena]

I like that Idea thanks

[miuthecat]

I think the shading needs to redone, it ended up being too blurry.
More contrast on some areas, less neon lights, hands are too distrating, they need a better lineart since they're on the foregorund they must be flawless, more glow on the sword lasers, the hair glows are too distracting, ease them. the countour glow should be soft faded, not solid line.

IMO each after version became worse than the previous, not better.

[wolflu66]

Here's a good method to save time for you. Only carefully detail the visual focal point of the painting; for the rest of the areas, the closer they are to the edges of the image, the less detailed they should be. You can even try to darken them as much as possible.
The benefit of this approach is that it prevents non-essential elements from stealing attention, and most importantly, it saves time, hehe.

In this image, the focal point is the faces of the two characters. I also agree with what @miuthecat said. What your image needs now is 'subtraction' - don't add any more details or brightness to it.

[Kelheor]

Ok, you should forget about the soft brush for some time!
Define a light source - your shadows will depend on it.

You can use a no brainer normal shading with light source on top, but it would not look as cool.

You can actually use any color for the shading, but the safest versions for using via Multiply will be on the grey side of color wheel, that may be grey-red, grey-pink, grey-purple, etc.
You can play with different colors on Overlay (or Multiply, or whatever else) to make your characters fit the scene/background (for example, used blue all over the pic for the night scene)

[Krysteena]

I see this is good I just started in clip studio I finally figured out some of the issues Senor on discord helped me a lot lol. That said I am relearning digital art with that and figured out some things.
For one my art looked AI cause the pixal count the higher frame on Autodesk sketch book was like a mini note pad by a 11/8 average so everything I printed loaded or looked at was very pixilated. Also my tablet is cheap and limited clip studio even is so bad with pix even more than auto but it looks more clear when you work with it just not when I export the art?