Welcome to Gaia! ::


Dapper Dabbler

I just want to decorate my room and I'm too self absorbed to just buy a poster apparently. ;;

This is my first attempt: User Image
but I wanna make another (hopefully better) one ;v;
Also, does anyone here know any good tutorials for coloring or drawing afros or braids? As you can see, I did not put as much time into the braids as I should have OTL

Unbeatable Prophet

15,475 Points
  • Battle Hardened 150
  • Bookworm 100
  • Normal Everyday Human 50
i dig your color palette.

you're just going to have to keep experimenting with layout and such--if you see a poster you particularly like, it might be worth the practice to mimic it.

as to braids, it's worth your time to just google image search "african braids." you're get a wider variety of braids than you would in a tutorial (which frequently focus on non-black hair anyway), and you look skilled enough to recreate the looks without needing someone to tell you how.

if you make another, i hope you post it up. this one is ******** cute.

Dapper Dabbler

megrar
i dig your color palette.

you're just going to have to keep experimenting with layout and such--if you see a poster you particularly like, it might be worth the practice to mimic it.

as to braids, it's worth your time to just google image search "african braids." you're get a wider variety of braids than you would in a tutorial (which frequently focus on non-black hair anyway), and you look skilled enough to recreate the looks without needing someone to tell you how.

if you make another, i hope you post it up. this one is ******** cute.

Thank you so much for the kind words and advice! I never thought to look at other posters for layout inspiration, but now that you say it, it seems so obvious. sweatdrop

Sigh, I had a feeling I'd have to google african hair. Even with the mega tutorial posts in this forum most of them deal with straight hair. crying I'll get on that.

But thanks again! I took a leap out of my comfort zone with the coloring style, and I'm glad its paid off! ;w;
Make sure it's big enough for print!

I work in a digital lab that has large-scale printing, and a mistake many people make is that their image is not large enough to be printed the size they want without having really lossy quality. You're going to want a 300dpi image (at least!), and make sure it is at the size you need it to be at when you start.

The alternative to this is to drop it in illustrator once you're done and live-trace it... but that may produce results that you don't like.

Something else to think about is that, although this color palette rocks on my bright LED computer screen, it will be very VERY dark printed. This is something that a print company probably won't point out to you because they don't care, but it might be a good idea to run some test prints on a copy machine; you will definitely not be getting very accurate results, but you can at least see where you might be too dark.

The alternative to that is to just turn your screen brightness down (3 or 4 bars if you're on a Mac), and then adjust the colors to be what you want working with it there. Think of it this way; when you see the image on your computer, you're seeing bright and vibrant light. When you see something on a piece of paper, you're not seeing any light at all, so things are much darker.

I don't have much to comment on about the artwork; it's your poster, there's no right or wrong way to draw it! 3nodding but those are my two cents on printing. Good luck!

Dapper Dabbler

ASHLEYASDFGH
Make sure it's big enough for print!

I work in a digital lab that has large-scale printing, and a mistake many people make is that their image is not large enough to be printed the size they want without having really lossy quality. You're going to want a 300dpi image (at least!), and make sure it is at the size you need it to be at when you start.

The alternative to this is to drop it in illustrator once you're done and live-trace it... but that may produce results that you don't like.

Something else to think about is that, although this color palette rocks on my bright LED computer screen, it will be very VERY dark printed. This is something that a print company probably won't point out to you because they don't care, but it might be a good idea to run some test prints on a copy machine; you will definitely not be getting very accurate results, but you can at least see where you might be too dark.

The alternative to that is to just turn your screen brightness down (3 or 4 bars if you're on a Mac), and then adjust the colors to be what you want working with it there. Think of it this way; when you see the image on your computer, you're seeing bright and vibrant light. When you see something on a piece of paper, you're not seeing any light at all, so things are much darker.

I don't have much to comment on about the artwork; it's your poster, there's no right or wrong way to draw it! 3nodding but those are my two cents on printing. Good luck!


Aw no, it is kinda small! But, at least I'm not going for a big poster.

What would be some free alternatives to Illustrator? I did all of this SketchbookExpress, so its obvious Im gonna be quite cheap here. sweatdrop

Thank you so much for your advice!! heart

Angelic Muse

10,350 Points
  • Generous 100
  • Vanquished Angel 50
  • Super Tipsy 200
ASHLEYASDFGH
Make sure it's big enough for print!

I work in a digital lab that has large-scale printing, and a mistake many people make is that their image is not large enough to be printed the size they want without having really lossy quality. You're going to want a 300dpi image (at least!), and make sure it is at the size you need it to be at when you start.




- ♡ ♥ ♡ -

Yes. Decide on the size you want to print before you draw. Also, printers can't print to the edge. They leave a white border. If you do not want a white border you will have to add a little extra space and cut the edges. Example.

- ♡ ♥ ♡ -

Dapper Dabbler

YuukiPinkuu
ASHLEYASDFGH
Make sure it's big enough for print!

I work in a digital lab that has large-scale printing, and a mistake many people make is that their image is not large enough to be printed the size they want without having really lossy quality. You're going to want a 300dpi image (at least!), and make sure it is at the size you need it to be at when you start.




- ♡ ♥ ♡ -

Yes. Decide on the size you want to print before you draw. Also, printers can't print to the edge. They leave a white border. If you do not want a white border you will have to add a little extra space and cut the edges. Example.

- ♡ ♥ ♡ -


Thanks a ton for the photo example! biggrin

Angelic Muse

10,350 Points
  • Generous 100
  • Vanquished Angel 50
  • Super Tipsy 200

- ♡ ♥ ♡ -

I think the other person suggested illustrator because when you draw in that program the lines can be any size. (It uses shapes / lines instead of pixels.) You can use the program you are using as long as you know for sure the size.

If you want to make this project cheap I would just get a couple of small prints of various artwork. Buy cheap frames or find them used. Arrange art on the wall. Might be easier than drawing so largely. 8 x 10 in. fits on a standard piece of paper. You could have your own gallery. ^0^

- ♡ ♥ ♡ -

Dapper Dabbler

YuukiPinkuu

- ♡ ♥ ♡ -

I think the other person suggested illustrator because when you draw in that program the lines can be any size. (It uses shapes / lines instead of pixels.) You can use the program you are using as long as you know for sure the size.

If you want to make this project cheap I would just get a couple of small prints of various artwork. Buy cheap frames or find them used. Arrange art on the wall. Might be easier than drawing so largely. 8 x 10 in. fits on a standard piece of paper. You could have your own gallery. ^0^

- ♡ ♥ ♡ -

Haha, that's a cute idea! I could make a little wall collage! Thanks!
Stultuscaudex
Aw no, it is kinda small! But, at least I'm not going for a big poster.

What would be some free alternatives to Illustrator? I did all of this SketchbookExpress, so its obvious Im gonna be quite cheap here. sweatdrop

Thank you so much for your advice!! heart



I don't know of any free alternatives, sorry. ;(
Like YuukiPinkuu said, you can always just draw it at the correct size when you start! Or make a small collage. 3nodding

Good luck!

Dapper Dabbler

ASHLEYASDFGH
Stultuscaudex
Aw no, it is kinda small! But, at least I'm not going for a big poster.

What would be some free alternatives to Illustrator? I did all of this SketchbookExpress, so its obvious Im gonna be quite cheap here. sweatdrop

Thank you so much for your advice!! heart



I don't know of any free alternatives, sorry. ;(
Like YuukiPinkuu said, you can always just draw it at the correct size when you start! Or make a small collage. 3nodding

Good luck!


Aw, it's okay. Thanks though! 3nodding

Quick Reply

Submit
Manage Your Items
Other Stuff
Get GCash
Offers
Get Items
More Items
Where Everyone Hangs Out
Other Community Areas
Virtual Spaces
Fun Stuff
Gaia's Games
Mini-Games
Play with GCash
Play with Platinum