Of course they don't, their a business - but there are ways and means... If your more into the 'legit' stuff, I reccommend either a 'Student Edition' (assuming you are a student and can prove such you get 80% discount - though obviously can't use it commercially) or you could buy Photoshop Elements (basically a stripped down 'public' level version of photoshop/i.e. it's actually affordable) - Which personally I use personally - It's wonderful, haven't noticed any features missing (that I'd desperately need) yet!
Grey: Thanks for the info, I'll go see if I can do that! =D Derpy: Still, nothing's worse than mouse. I'm used to touchpad and tablet, no longer used to mouse. Draggle: Oooh, that's adorable! :3 Mine is a bamboo stained glass, as some of those drawings are a specialty of mine (and my OC Bamboo is a skilled painter and glass worker).
Jaret: I'm a rightie. There are things I can only do with my left hand tough. Oatmeal: Ponies are not hard to draw, c'mon! Give it a try! \o/
@Oatmeal, the best way I know of to get better is to draw and to get feedback from people that like the thing you tried to draw. They know it best so they can help refine your technique the best. That is why when I wanted to learn the draw sackboy I posted it on LBPC. Sent from my ERIS-GSBv3.3 using Tapatalk
I just suck at drawing general. I mean, sure I can sketch a very legible scene, but I can't draw ponies. And yes, I checked the post on Octavia Daily.
Steelion: I'm new to Pony fandom, so I'd like to ask people what does LBPC stands for. Vinyl: We all have our limitations, you just need to find a style that matches your personality. I for instance can draw ponies and my main style is manga, but I s*#k at figure drawing.
So did I. I actually thought I would never get to the point where I didn't think my work deserved to be thrown away or burned. But practise did it. @bamboo LBPC stands for little big planet central, a website dedicated to a game called little big planet, a site that a lot of members here came here from. Sent from my ERIS-GSBv3.3 using Tapatalk
So did I 6 months (maybe a bit more) ago.. and while I still pale to even the most mediocre artists - I've improved vastly and am still improving, just keep practicing, don't throw away old work - archive it - wait 2 months and compare the new and old, I swear you'll be amazed at how much you improve ^^ And I can wholeheartedly agree with Bamboo's style theory; An example of a recent pony An example of a recent drawing style I feel comfortable with Sure neither is a masterpiece, but I think it's safe to say the bottom one is of higher quality.
Vinyl, nobody has a talent so strong to cover all fields. I can clearly tell you 3 things you need to work on to achieve as much as possible in art: Scribbling Spoiler: Scribbling Line drawing Spoiler: Linedrawing Coloring and shading Spoiler: Coloring and Shading I haven't colored anything lately, so this is empty. Google any latest art drawn by Glenn Rene (Arsenal21 on deviantart (Blizzard's awesome artist)) Practice these a lot and you'll almost cover all fields. It's also nice to learn to color and shade BEFORE you buy a tablet (It'll be easier with a tablet, get used to work with harder things). The up ones are really old - I have DRASTICALLY improved since then. I can imagine myself in 2 or 3 years - what i'll draw 'n stuff.
Steelion: Thank you for the info. Vinyl: See? Not everyone here is an artist. So don't be afraid of anything. Also... Hardly someone nowadays stand for a unique style, but when they attempt, there are clear differences in it. This pretty much complements what I said earlier about a style that matches you. ...Oh goodness, I have to tell you the story of this guy. And his talent, well... What he drew was pretty much cartoonish antros he called kemono - "beasts" in Japanese - which looked much like, you know... This - click if you dare. Guy, however, simply doesn't improve that much - his style doesn't evolve from it, only drawing this and some, let's say, body-built guys in a rather corny way. Not really a big deal if he didn't do this (mostly) by copying and didn't want OH!, so much for me to give him "an advice" - if you know what I mean. He likes to be praised, yet he doesn't want to actually learn how to draw. Anatomy and structure classes are your best friends. "Can't you give me a good criticism?", he said. If good criticism is merely praising and pointing out MINOR failures, then no. That very guy wanted to achieve the talent to cover all styles. Can you really be the hero if you don't even want to wield the sword properly?
That's a bit of a common case when it comes to internet "artists" - while there's plenty of amazing ones unfortunately the reality is that for every good artist there are many more horrible/uncreative ones out there, especially on sites like DA. Of course anyone can become a decent artist should they practice at it enough, but that only works if you go out of your comfort zone and well, put effort into trying to change your habits/work at improving and adapting your own unique style. Also with the internet's Anime obsession creativity in style is often discouraged, so many people want to draw not art but anime, and thus they instead of trying to form their own unique style they just churn out the predictable, yet another tiny girl with long clothing and hair wielding a weapon twice her body-mass. Thing is, you're not going to ever get anywhere running on someone else's style, create something unique - if you like anime then that's fine, still even within the cartoon style you can easily add your own nuances to make it something that is both recognizable as anime and still of your own devices. People need to learn to be artists and not illustrators. Btw, kemono my flank, those are furries (I have nothing against furries, just admit it if that's what it is)
The only style worth sharing with others is the "Realistic" style (Realistic portraits of people, for instance). If they're gonna do something "Anime-ish", at least they should put in some effort to make something unique. Be inspired by Akira Toriyama - Inventor of Dragonball. He has a great anime style, the people look like they actually have muscles (real nice ones, as well), they have unique faces (unlike most anime chars), the personality he gives them are awesomenelly well developed (unlike most anime chars, again) and the story is neither complicated nor simple. He wrote a straight forward story - Unlike most animes. Naruto, for example - It tries to be interesting, no, it 'acts' interesting, it behaves like it's complicated and whatever, but it ain't. I could fall asleep watchin Naruto. It takes itself too serious, while it's just another a***f*** of poorly written anime. The style of drawing sucks a*** as well. Spoiler: Just look at Goku @Bamboo : Hmm, Chibi-chi-18? Or someone else?
I wouldn't say that, sharing styles is often how new styles evolve and such but the idea is to take a style and make it your own
Derpy, Jaret, and everyone else: I am close to my graduation as a graphic designer. What I want is to be an illustrator and work with animation, which is the closest to what I really want to be: a manga-ka. Point is, I highly dislike pretty much all clichés in anime - like the overly short skirts and, like you said, little girls with overly big weapons. So I pretty much try to do something away from that line (hence why I watch and read things other than anime, like MLP and House). My obssession towards ponies, along with my graduation project, is not letting me draw enough anime, tough. xD
Sharing as in - not changing. Realistic shouldn't/mustn't be changed - We look the best realistically, as how dear God (yeah, I'm religious. Sorry for the Atheists of this site for this termine) created us to walk Earth. Now, getting influenced by an art style is another story... edit: @ Bamboo: And that is why i love Dragonball. They fight with fists, the cliches are not present, the sense of humor is there (The REAL one, at least), the fights are awesome, the animation is awesome, everything is awesome. It is actually more Western-influenced than Japanese Anime influenced.