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07-13-2014, 05:17 PM
Hi there!
I'm Snap.
I am not a formal art student by any means, I am self-taught, still learning, and art is a just a passion of mine that occasionally brings in money.
But looking around the forum, I think some people need a little help with their graphics and designs.
There isn't necessarily a right or wrong way to do things, nor are there any secret tips that make you an amazing artist. But there are some rules of thumb that you should keep in mind.
This tutorial will range from templates to character design.
I hope nobody minds if I tag their characters. I am not naming and shaming bad designs, I will only use examples to demonstrate my points. So if your character or work is featured in this thread it's a good thing! [sub](But I will of course remove your work at your request)[/sub]
I can't teach you how to draw a horse since I struggle with them myself but I am happy to offer critique and dig up tutorials for you. I'm not a master of drawing but I am the master of google.
Again, disclaimer, these are not hard and fast rules, they merely something to consider while you work and they will not apply to every picture.
The higher the contrast between a symbol and its background, the more it stands out and the easier it is to read.
![[Image: contrast.jpg]](http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/portalwiki.nsf/E0968A2C983C92F6852576A800505A8A/$file/contrast.jpg)
If there is not enough contrast, it makes the text difficult to read. I have found on many forums I've had to highlight the text because the template was hurting my eyes.
Consider this spectrum of 'Lightness':
![[Image: horton7_fig02.jpg]](http://www.peachpit.com/content/images/irf_guide_webdesign_evans/elementLinks/horton7_fig02.jpg)
The further apart your chosen shades are on this spectrum (it needn't be blue, it can be any colour), the higher the contrast. This is why black on white and vice versa are the easiest to read. Following this logic, if you were to pick a dark blue for the background, you should try and stick as close to white as you can for the text, and choose a very dark colour for a light blue background. I recommend avoiding the middle shades.
You don't have to go too extreme with this, black and white can look very harsh and throw off the colour scheme. The Helovia skin currently favours a light beige background with a sort of middling shade of grey. It's tricky to pull off, but this creates a much softer, natural look. You may also want your character to blend with its surroundings, but be careful not to overblend or you will lose them.
The same also applies to your characters. If you want a pale horse to stand out, put it on a darker background, and vice versa. You can check contrast by squinting or moving further away from the picture. The current Helovia banner is a good example of this. Narrow your eyes at the Helovia banner until it goes blurry. You will now struggle to pick out the golden hues of the pegasus, but it will still stand out as a darker shape against the pale clouds. If your horse is neither especially pale nor dark, you can fiddle with the lighting and use colours to heighten the contrast. If the character or text disappears when you are far away or narrowing your eyes, the contrast is too low.
When making posting template, you may wish to add your character or other images to it. I suggest keeping images confined to headers and footers, where you can use multiple colours and make the character pop against the background. Avoid putting images, patterns or multiple colours behind the text. They disrupt the text and make it difficult to read.
![[Image: horton7_fig05.gif]](http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/irf_guide_webdesign_evans/elementLinks/horton7_fig05.gif)
Remember in nature, animals have complicated pattens and shading to camouflage them, i.e. make it harder to SEE them!
EDIT NOTE THING: I wasn't sure about mentioning this but Tamme quite correctly pointed out everyone's computer is calibrated differently. Your monitor may show colours a little differently, could be brighter or darker, etc. It doesn't hurt to exaggerate the contrast JUST IN CASE, and always remember to ask for feedback when testing a new template. Just because you can read it doesn't mean everyone can. The odd person might need to adjust their settings but better to be safe than sorry!
A less common issue is some people are colourblind (and there are many different types) and that affects how well they can distinguish between colours and values.
Colour theory! Oh how we love to hate it.
First thing's first, avoid saturated colours! They are best used in sparingly, and when it comes to painting, black and white are best used as little as possible too. This is because they are incredibly bold shades and can easily overwhelm the picture. Plus too many saturated shades can make a picture feel cartoony and garish, even painful to look at.
If you're not sure what saturation is, it's the difference between a dull green and a bright green.
![[Image: saturation.gif]](http://www.colorsontheweb.com/images/saturation.gif)
Yes, you heard me! Dull colours really are the best! They look more natural, and you'd be surprised at how a tiny hint of colour can go a long way.
When painting a character, reserve pure white for highlights, remember that very few shadows are completely black,
Choosing colours!
Watch this video! It sums it up pretty well!
Click here for a colour wheel and colour schemes.
You don't HAVE to use these but they generally do look better.
Another thing to consider is WARM colours and COOL colours. Orange is always warm, blue is always cool.
Warm lighting on your character will cast a cool shadow. (Best rule of thumb, warm yellow sunlight usually has a cool touch of violet in the shadows, choose the complement of the light colour)
I'd write a blurb about colours but I think these links cover it. I can try and explain if anyone's confused but that's that for now!
Your character's colours!
Colour theory applies to your character designs too. At the end of the day it comes down to personal preference, but if I may weigh in, I think more natural colours are the most effective. Sure, you can probably have a neon green and hot pink pegasus if you like, but that doesn't mean you have to make one. A palomino could be ten times cuter. As I've said before, too many saturated colours can be sickly.
Your best bet is having two or three main colours that aren't too saturated (and yes you can have black and white) with a small pop of colour to add interest. Natural mammal colours are pretty earthy: browns, reds, yellows, greys, white and black, and they look great on horses.
Harley's an example of a relatively harmonious colour scheme. He is grey and black with accents of white and a tiny bit of green.
Archibald's also a good example. Is he a super duper sparkly unique design? No, not especially, he's a very nicely marked black shire. In fact, I think he's pretty much the breed standard for shire horses. Does that make him any less striking? Would you struggle to pick him out of a line up? NO, OF COURSE NOT! There's more to a character than the colour of their coat. And let's not forget that neat pop of yellow, those fierce gold eyes. He is an imposing, bold character and it has very little to do with the colour of his coat. Well, a little, a tall black stallion has some symbolism in being sombre or dark, but I think he could just as easily have been a grey. Remember your character doesn't decide their coat colour, their parents' genetics do, the whole "the chosen one is colour-coded" thing is a bit cliché, so while they can change their appearance and may have significance to them, it shouldn't define them entirely.
I can prattle about other characters once I've had a good dig through some more designs.
This isn't saying you MUST have solid natural colours, and you don't have to share my tastes in design at all, but you don't need to have neon colours either, find a happy medium! It never hurts to turn the saturation down a tad, de-saturated colours become more jewel-like and will take more effective metallic sheen in sunlight, which is highly coveted in horses. A mossy green would likely suit a horse better than a bright green.
Another thing about unnatural colours is that they're very hard to work into a photomanip or painting. How do you stop a bright pink horse looking out of place in a green forest?
Keep It Simple, Stupid! :3
Overly-complicated designs are distracting and hard to look at. You might like lots of cool accessories and colours, but everything in moderation!
Over-doing it is a common phenomenon in sparkledogs
Details are good, too many details are bad!
I'm Snap.
I am not a formal art student by any means, I am self-taught, still learning, and art is a just a passion of mine that occasionally brings in money.
But looking around the forum, I think some people need a little help with their graphics and designs.
There isn't necessarily a right or wrong way to do things, nor are there any secret tips that make you an amazing artist. But there are some rules of thumb that you should keep in mind.
This tutorial will range from templates to character design.
I hope nobody minds if I tag their characters. I am not naming and shaming bad designs, I will only use examples to demonstrate my points. So if your character or work is featured in this thread it's a good thing! [sub](But I will of course remove your work at your request)[/sub]
I can't teach you how to draw a horse since I struggle with them myself but I am happy to offer critique and dig up tutorials for you. I'm not a master of drawing but I am the master of google.
Again, disclaimer, these are not hard and fast rules, they merely something to consider while you work and they will not apply to every picture.
CONTRAST
This is a very important rule for websites, especially forums like this where there is a lot of text to read.The higher the contrast between a symbol and its background, the more it stands out and the easier it is to read.
Consider this spectrum of 'Lightness':
You don't have to go too extreme with this, black and white can look very harsh and throw off the colour scheme. The Helovia skin currently favours a light beige background with a sort of middling shade of grey. It's tricky to pull off, but this creates a much softer, natural look. You may also want your character to blend with its surroundings, but be careful not to overblend or you will lose them.
The same also applies to your characters. If you want a pale horse to stand out, put it on a darker background, and vice versa. You can check contrast by squinting or moving further away from the picture. The current Helovia banner is a good example of this. Narrow your eyes at the Helovia banner until it goes blurry. You will now struggle to pick out the golden hues of the pegasus, but it will still stand out as a darker shape against the pale clouds. If your horse is neither especially pale nor dark, you can fiddle with the lighting and use colours to heighten the contrast. If the character or text disappears when you are far away or narrowing your eyes, the contrast is too low.
When making posting template, you may wish to add your character or other images to it. I suggest keeping images confined to headers and footers, where you can use multiple colours and make the character pop against the background. Avoid putting images, patterns or multiple colours behind the text. They disrupt the text and make it difficult to read.
EDIT NOTE THING: I wasn't sure about mentioning this but Tamme quite correctly pointed out everyone's computer is calibrated differently. Your monitor may show colours a little differently, could be brighter or darker, etc. It doesn't hurt to exaggerate the contrast JUST IN CASE, and always remember to ask for feedback when testing a new template. Just because you can read it doesn't mean everyone can. The odd person might need to adjust their settings but better to be safe than sorry!
A less common issue is some people are colourblind (and there are many different types) and that affects how well they can distinguish between colours and values.
COLOURS
Colour theory! Oh how we love to hate it.
First thing's first, avoid saturated colours! They are best used in sparingly, and when it comes to painting, black and white are best used as little as possible too. This is because they are incredibly bold shades and can easily overwhelm the picture. Plus too many saturated shades can make a picture feel cartoony and garish, even painful to look at.
If you're not sure what saturation is, it's the difference between a dull green and a bright green.
When painting a character, reserve pure white for highlights, remember that very few shadows are completely black,
Choosing colours!
Watch this video! It sums it up pretty well!
Click here for a colour wheel and colour schemes.
You don't HAVE to use these but they generally do look better.
Another thing to consider is WARM colours and COOL colours. Orange is always warm, blue is always cool.
Warm lighting on your character will cast a cool shadow. (Best rule of thumb, warm yellow sunlight usually has a cool touch of violet in the shadows, choose the complement of the light colour)
I'd write a blurb about colours but I think these links cover it. I can try and explain if anyone's confused but that's that for now!
Your character's colours!
Colour theory applies to your character designs too. At the end of the day it comes down to personal preference, but if I may weigh in, I think more natural colours are the most effective. Sure, you can probably have a neon green and hot pink pegasus if you like, but that doesn't mean you have to make one. A palomino could be ten times cuter. As I've said before, too many saturated colours can be sickly.
Your best bet is having two or three main colours that aren't too saturated (and yes you can have black and white) with a small pop of colour to add interest. Natural mammal colours are pretty earthy: browns, reds, yellows, greys, white and black, and they look great on horses.
Harley's an example of a relatively harmonious colour scheme. He is grey and black with accents of white and a tiny bit of green.
Archibald's also a good example. Is he a super duper sparkly unique design? No, not especially, he's a very nicely marked black shire. In fact, I think he's pretty much the breed standard for shire horses. Does that make him any less striking? Would you struggle to pick him out of a line up? NO, OF COURSE NOT! There's more to a character than the colour of their coat. And let's not forget that neat pop of yellow, those fierce gold eyes. He is an imposing, bold character and it has very little to do with the colour of his coat. Well, a little, a tall black stallion has some symbolism in being sombre or dark, but I think he could just as easily have been a grey. Remember your character doesn't decide their coat colour, their parents' genetics do, the whole "the chosen one is colour-coded" thing is a bit cliché, so while they can change their appearance and may have significance to them, it shouldn't define them entirely.
I can prattle about other characters once I've had a good dig through some more designs.
This isn't saying you MUST have solid natural colours, and you don't have to share my tastes in design at all, but you don't need to have neon colours either, find a happy medium! It never hurts to turn the saturation down a tad, de-saturated colours become more jewel-like and will take more effective metallic sheen in sunlight, which is highly coveted in horses. A mossy green would likely suit a horse better than a bright green.
Another thing about unnatural colours is that they're very hard to work into a photomanip or painting. How do you stop a bright pink horse looking out of place in a green forest?
COMPLEXITY
KISS!Keep It Simple, Stupid! :3
Overly-complicated designs are distracting and hard to look at. You might like lots of cool accessories and colours, but everything in moderation!
Over-doing it is a common phenomenon in sparkledogs
Details are good, too many details are bad!
