AAOC Times #46

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𝙻𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚝...

Hello and welcome to the 46th edition of AAOC Times! This is a newsletter style article where we discuss all things arts, ocs, and anything involving our community.

Table of contents~ʕ•̫͡•

♔Feature of the Week

♔Advice Column

♔Highlights of the Week

♔Staff and Squad News

♔Normalcies in World Building

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⋆ ˚₊ ꒰ Feature of The Week ꒱ ༉‧..

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Hello!!! It is Tsu here with our

feature of the week. Here we

have artist, Fish, with their artwork

Roan. Glad to have a splendid

interview with them about it.:D

They’re quite pleasant and nice.

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The first thing I noticed about this artwork was the incredible background. It feels peaceful with the melting color palette and smooth lines. The centaur looks astounding! The anatomy is great and it doesn’t seem at all stiff. The overall piece looks and feels like a movie scene. It’s quite a feat to pull off that kind of vibe and they did it just nice.

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Bold: Tsu

Italics: Fish

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First Question:

⃗.Did you have fun making this piece and what was your favorite part of the drawing?

❝I definitely had fun drawing it! I can’t really choose a favorite part. Probably getting to apply what I learned in studies though! Recently I’ve been trying to perfect horses but I haven’t had anything complete to show for it till now. It was also fun painting the background since that skill is still quite rusty for me.❞

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Second Question:

⃗.Ah, nice! Speaking of backgrounds, how did you manage to find inspiration for it? It looks gorgeous!

❝Thanks ^^ I’ve been staying with part of my family recently who happen to live quite close to the beach. I took a lot of inspiration (and reference photos) from walking there a lot.❞

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Third Question:

⃗.Wow, that sounds real peaceful. Back to the art itself, you did mention cel-shading. What was that process like?

❝I usually go with a rough block of shading first before colouring so I have an idea of the tones for the end piece. For this one I didn’t stick to it though ^^” When I get to shading itself I try to limit the number of layers I use (because I’m sure a lot of us have had the problem of having too many effects layers for this..) so I used one layer mask to get the cel-shading in, 3 different tones of it, which is useful. I did use a soft shade layer after though, and the lighting layer is also soft ^^” I have a total of 4 layers for it then, an extra one for colour correction. Normally I don’t use cel-shading at all, but it was fun to create something that felt a little crisper than my usual style.❞

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Fourth Question

⃗.What was the most challenging part when you made this piece?

❝I guess it was the background. While I had fun with it, it was a little hard figuring out a style for it and what brushes would work best for it to look appealing. I don’t have a proper approach to it yet since it’s very rare for me to make backgrounds at all. Luckily I had a lot of references and I kept it fairly simple. I’m quite happy with the outcome!❞

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Fifth Question

⃗.Do you perhaps have any tips on drawing horse-like legs? The centaur in your artwork has really good anatomy.

❝Study from references! Start with a skeletal structure. It doesn’t have to be precise, just a basic structure works as long as you get the ts and proportions right. Apply this basic structure for several different poses and angles so you’ll have a better idea of it in 3D space. Start adding muscle and fat once you’re more confident in that. I would also really recommend following tutorials from professionals. Aaron Blaise, a Disney veteran, has fantastic anatomy courses on his website and YouTube channel. I improved immensely following his videos on animals.❞

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Well, that concludes the interview

for this week’s featured artwork.

Hope you’ll check their profile for

more amazingly drawn artwork!

This is Tsu, g out.        

See ya in the next article!!!

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Advice Column

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Hi, it’s Zahley, back for the answering of some questions from the AAOC Times Advice Wiki.

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”Any tips for lineart for digital?”

Miramo

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Lineart can be difficult to get a hold of in any medium, but digital lineart has it’s own unique difficulties. My first tip is to not overcomplicate the process, try to stick to one brush, and learn the ins and outs of it. You can use tapering with pressure on the brush; I recommend shying away from opacity variance.

Keep different parts of the lineart on different layers. This is especially useful if you want to change the colour of parts of the lineart further on.

Don’t be afraid to use the undo button or an eraser to help you get smooth and clean lines. Experiment with smoothing functions if your program offers it. This can be very useful for long lines and curves!

If your program allows it, rotate your canvas to get better angles on long strokes. An important part of lineart is getting clean lines, especially with long areas. You can zoom out to cover these lines with a shorter stroke. to use your shoulder and elbow to draw in long lines, as drawing from the wrist can restrict the distance you can cover. Build up your confidence in clean lines through practicing repeating these strokes.

If you require perfect circles or straight lines you can take advantage of stencils and shape makings tools in your program, just try to avoid this on organic shapes.

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”Any tips on how to pick color schemes for characters and what color could go with what to make it look natural?”

Star

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Finding a colour scheme for your character is an important step to deg and expressing them. To start, I recommend setting up a colour pallete by itself. Limit the amount of main colours you pick. Don’t be afraid to use pre-made palletes or take colours from a photo or piece of art to use on your character.

When picking your colours make sure to vary saturations, focus on one or two colours that will be used in your main parts of the character (often bright colours). Do some research into colour theory and what colours naturally look good together.

Try to pick colours that have a meaning or mood for the character, this will make the design feel more natural for the characters. Try using cooler colours (blues, greens, purples) for characters that are more laid back or shy. Try using warm colours (reds, yellows, oranges) for more confident or hot-headed characters. If you want to break the norm for colours do it for a reason!

When taking colour palletes to the character design try having recurring colours throughout the design, this will help tie in elements. You can then use a colour that stands out in some places to draw attention and detail to those areas.

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”Any tips on mastering lighting/shading and perspective shots on traditional mediums?”

Tsu

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Lighting and Perspective are some of the most difficult things to master in art. It takes a lot of practice and knowledge to get it right, although it’s always good to give it a try!

Finding references is very important for these elements! Try to find something as close as what you want as possible, but something that’s slightly off is much better than nothing at all. If in doubt try to find some tutorials on doing what you’re looking to do.

For lighting in traditional media try to do a tonal under-painting if possible, or draw in areas of light and shadow before filling in the colour.

For perspective mark out vanishing points and draw lines to it using a ruler. Use these as guides to draw in your objects. to use basic shapes at first to check perspectives then fill in the smaller shapes and details when the large are perfected. For characters you can use a box and simple shapes to make up your character and make it easier to check if they’re correct.

If you can get a hold of good tutorials and books have a look at them! I highly recommend the book ‘Colour and Light’ by James Gurney if you can find it.

Some tips from a professional oil painter:

I am not a traditional artist myself, so I decided to ask someone more credible, and these are some tips from an oil painter regarding lighting and perspective.

- It’s all about observing and gathering information about how things react and look in reality.

- Light doesn’t mean white. It just mean colours lighter in relation to the other colours, to keep the colour of the light consistant.

- Shading is always the ‘local’ colour, meaning the shading colour will be darkened and slightly hue shifted, but not a completely different colour.

- When you’re using warm lighting, the shadows will be cool. When it’s cool lighting, the shadows will be warm.

- Your lightest lights should be at your focal point.

- Reflections on water will be lighter if the reflected object is dark, and darker if the reflected object is light.

-Be careful using photographs, especially close ups or buildings as the camera can warp the perspective.

- Things in the distance will be less detailed and fade into blue or the sky colour.

- Read up on 1, 2 and 3 point perspectives.

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That’s all for this week! Leave any questions you want answered on the AAOC Times Advice Wiki!

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,¸,ø¤º° Highlights Of The Week °º¤ø,

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Hi again everyone! It’s Elm here with your highlighted artists of the week. I seriously recommend checking these s out after reading. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

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°Anime Artist°

Chimonny

This ’s art looks straight out of an anime, and I’m a huge fan of the way they draw hair. The detail in their characters’ eyes are beautiful. Their style is very bright, and just looking at it makes me feel a little happier!

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°Cartoon Artist°

ThaOneGuy

This ’s art is amazing! I really wasn’t sure what category to put them under, but I do know that their art is phenomenal. Even their little sketches or doodles have so much character. They’ve ed recently too, so show them some love!

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°Cute Artist°

GG Draws

Here we have another new with a fantastic art style! Their art is seriously adorable and I love the way they draw pleated skirts. It looks fantastic when they use pastel colors, whether it’s digital or traditional art.

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°Semi-Realism Artist°

Daniki

This has some awesome art. I truly adore the amount of shading and details that they put into their drawings. Their anatomy is on point, and the way they draw clothes is just so fitting! The faces they draw are very expressive as well.

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Alright everyone, looks like that’s it for this edition of Highlights of the Week. I hope you all enjoyed it, and if you have the time, definitely check out all of those s. For now, this is Elm g off.~

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♫ Squad and Staff Event News ♫

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Hello there AAOC! It’s Ellie here with another article. Today I’ll be telling you about the community’s latest updates on application, event, and results news!

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Challenges

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AAOC & Anime Amino Collab Genre Swap

Do you love art and anime? Well, you’re in luck! Arts and Ocs Amino and Anime Amino have collabed to make a cool event for both communities! Go check out this challenge if this sounds interesting to you!

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Wynn’s Rave! GlowWish Contest]

The GlowWish squad mascot is making their first debut by hosting a rave for the whole community! If you like parties and creative outfits then consider participating in this awesome challenge!

Check out the GlowWish wiki for more information about this squad!

GlowWish Wiki

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Pending Results

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Tarot Reading : April Staff Challenge

This month’s staff challenge was about magical tarot cards that can see into your future. Unfortunately, this challenge has come to an end, but keep your eyes peeled for the results on the feature page!

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Chaperone Applications

Chaperone applications have come to a close so sit tight as we wait for their newest to be announced! This department is dedicated to moderating and keeping public chats safe and fun for everyone!

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That’s all the latest event and application news for this week. I hope you found something fun to participate in! Until next week!

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Toodles

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The Power of Normal in Worldbuilding

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  Hello, AAOC! I’m Iridescent and today I’m going to talk about writing cultural normalities when worldbuilding. It might not seem like the most important thing to write for, but normalities make up the basic foundation of how people live. What people do or say are judged and understood by what’s “normal”. What makes up an ordinary day for your OC can tell the reader a lot about the world this character lives in and how they should perceive the actions of any characters in this setting.

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-Example 1: Beastars-

    A rather basic scene from the manga tells a lot about the world they live in. Main character, Legosi, is buying shoes with a herbivore friend and he ends up explaining that carnivores wear bland, ordinary shoes to keep attention away from their “killer”-looking feet, since the long claws and grotesque features can be quite unnerving to herbivores. This scene may not seem very special, but this normal ettique shows that carnivores are taught to keep attention away from their crude features, the parts of themselves that scare herbivores. Furthermore, showing that Legosi’s herbivore friend isn’t aware of this normality in carnivore culture vividly illustrates the gap between these two kinds of creatures.

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-Example 2: Hunger Games-

     What made Katniss’ actions great throughout the Hunger Games? That would be her blatant disregard of cultural normalcy in her world. The best example of this would be when Rue dies. Katniss responds by giving her a grave of beautiful flowers, showing that she doesn’t accept her death as a simple casualty of the Hunger Games, giving her something more. It illustrates a picture of love and sorrow, a stand-up act against the capital with an angry defiance for what it had done.

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    By using these normalities in story-telling, you can show a lot about your OC and readers can grow to understand them better. A stand-out character would defy these normalcies, while a mild-tempered character would do the opposite. Powerful moments in stories often occur because of the “normal” set up in a well-made world. It makes for some of the best worldbuilding!

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That’s all for now! Hope this was helpful!

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We hope you had a wonderful time reading this week’s edition of AAOC Times. Have a great rest of your day!

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