(via azurekite)
/There is edit in the free-ware -section 24/8/2012/
I just went back through over 900 liked posts and dug out all the art tutorials so i can keep track of them. I guess this might be helpful to some of you guys, so here you go.
Here we go then!
Freeware
Alchemy - this is a really fun program. You play around making abstract shapes until you start to see something in them, kind of like a Rorschach test. Then you use the shapes as a base to draw it from.
MyPaint - a pretty decent painting program that also has the benefit of working on Unix systems.
openCanvas 1.1 - I haven’t used openCanvas in years but it was a nice program with a pretty unique feel to it.
ArtRage - Only used this a couple of times donkey’s years ago just before I got oC, but I’ve heard good things about it.
The GIMP - In a similar vein to Photoshop, but free. I couldn’t get on with it when I tried it out a few years ago, but it’s pretty popular and is available on Unix systems and Macs.Sketchbook copic: a bit different program
Easytoon: Easy tool to make black and white animations. (Download not tested - be careful if you choose to download! Here is another download option for the program) - TUTORIALS FOR THE PROGRAM
Firealpaca: FireAlpaca is the image editor that can be used readily and easily.
We made it possible to provide the completely FREE download, in order for our products to be experienced by more users from all over the world.
It is available for both Mac and Windows users! First, we would like you to experience this great opportunity! - SAI & Photoshop compined
Not-free-ware
Photoshop - Standard painting fare. Probably the most flexible program (particularly the latest versions) but not designed to act in a “natural” way. If you’ve used it for painting versus something like Painter you know what I mean. Who the fuck pays for it though? Google “Photoshop tumblr masterpost” and take your pick.
Paint Tool Sai - Far more affordable and definitely worth paying for if you can. The brushes are very decent (especially when they’ve been tweaked a little), the gui is simple and intuitive, and I dare you to find a program with which making smooth lineart is easier.
Corel Painter - My program of choice for most things. More tools than you could ever possibly use and pretty cheap on a student license, providing that you can prove you’re a student! It’s got a few bugs but if you want realism or a more natural feel than PS or SAI this is the program for you.Anatomy
anatomy and rotation of the head
Expressions
emotions and facial expressions
expressions from different angles (love this site)
Poses
Skin tones
paint some life into your skin tones
Colouring
gamut mask tool (very nice!)
5 easy ways to improve your colouring
fucking gradients, how do they work
achieving a painterly look in SAI
kuler (more colour schemes)
Brushes
a very nice setting for the sai acrylic brush
photoshop fur brushes (and tutorial)
Other peoples masterposts
love your fellow artist (anything from prompt generators to animation background here, very nice)
e-books
art e-books (mediafire download)
even more e-books (including human anatomy, animal anatomy, cartoons, animation, composition, design, scenery, perspective…)
Tutorials
a pretty extensive general art tutorial
tumblrs
criminallyincompetent (check out their #reference and #tutorial tags, they’re gold)
(via misakishokuho)
a massively extended version of ruthlesscalculus’ post
General Tips
- Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips
- Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone
- 34 Writing Tips that will make you a Better Writer
- 50 Free resources that will improve your writing skills
- 5 ways to get out of the comfort zone and become a stronger writer
- 10 ways to avoid Writing Insecurity
- The Writer’s Guide to Overcoming Insecurity
- The Difference Between Good Writers and Bad Writers
- You’re Not Hemingway - Developing Your Own Style
- 7 Ways to use Brain Science to Hook Readers and Reel them In
- 8 Short Story Tips from Kurt Vonnegut
- How to Show, Not Tell
- 5 Essential Story Ingredients
- How to Write Fiction that grabs your readers from page one
- Why research is important in writing
- Make Your Reader Root for Your Main Character
- Writing Ergonomics (Staying Comfortable Whilst Writing)
- The Importance of Body Language
Character Development
- 10 days of Character Building
- Name Generators
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- Web Resources for Developing Characters
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- Villains are people too but…
- How to Write a Character Bible
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- All Your Characters Talk the Same - And They’re Not A Hivemind!
- Medieval Names Archive
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- Family Echo (Family Tree Maker)
- Behind The Name
- 100 Character Development Questions for Writers
- Aether’s Character Development Worksheet
- The 12 Common Archetypes
- Six Types of Courageous Characters
- Kazza’s List of Character Secrets - Part 1, Part 2
- Creating Believable Characters With Personality
- Body Language Cheat Sheet
- Creating Fictional Characters Series
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- Character Development: Virtues
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- List of Negative Personality Traits
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- List of Emotions - Positive
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- Loon’s Character Development Series - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
- Phobia List A-L (Part 1), M-Z (Part 2)
- 30 Day In Depth Character Development Meme
- Words for Emotions based on Severity
- Eight Bad Characters
- High Level Description of the Sixteen Personality Types
Female Characters
- How Not to Write Female Characters
- Writing Female Characters
- How to write empowering female characters
- Why I write strong female characters
- Red Flags for Female Characters Written by Men
- Writing strong female characters
- The Female Character Flowchart
- Eight Heroine Archetypes
Male Characters
Tips for Specific Characters
- Writing A Vampire
- Writing Pansexual Characters
- Writing Characters on the Police Force
- Writing Drunk Characters
- Writing A Manipulative Character
- Writing A Friends With Benefits Relationship
- Writing A Natural Born Leader
- Writing A Flirtatious Character
- Writing A Nice Character
- Fiction Writing Exercises for Creating Villains
- Five Traits to Contribute to an Epic Villain
- Writing Villains that Rock
- Writing British Characters
- How To Write A Character With A Baby
- On Assassin Characters
Dialogue
- It’s Not What They Say…
- Top 8 Tips for Writing Dialogue
- Speaking of Dialogue
- The Great Said Debate
- He Said, She Said, Who Said What?
- How to Write Dialogue Unique to Your Characters
- Writing Dialogue: Go for Realistic, Not Real-Life
Point of View
Plot, Conflict, Structure and Outline
- Writing A Novel Using the Snowflake Method
- Effectively Outlining Your Novel
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- Outlining Your Plot
- Ideas, Plots and Using the Premise Sheets
- How To Write A Novel
- Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense
- Plunge Right In…Into Your Story, That Is
- Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot
- 36 (plus one) Dramatic Situations
- The Evil Overlord Devises A Plot: Excerpt from Stupid Plot Tricks
- Conflict Test
- What is Conflict?
- Monomyth
- The Hero’s Journey: Summary of Steps
- Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes
- Plotting Without Fears
- Novel Outlining 101
- Writing The Perfect Scene
- One-Page Plotting
- The Great Swampy Middle
- How Can You Know What Belongs In Your Book?
- Create A Plot Outline in 8 Easy Steps
- How to Organize and Develop Ideas for Your Novel
- Create Structure in your novel using index cards
- Choosing the best outline method for you
- Hatch’s Plot Bank
Setting & Worldbuilding
- Magical Word Builder’s Guide
- I Love The End Of The World
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- Creating the Perfect Setting - Part 1
- Creating a Believable World
- Setting
- Character and Setting Interactions
- Maps Workshop - Developing the Fictional World Through Mapping
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Creativity Boosters* denotes prompts
- *Creative Writing Prompts
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- *Language is a Virus
- *The Dabbling Mum
- Quick Story Idea Generator
- Solve Your Problems By Simply Saying Them Out Loud
- Busting Your Writing Rut
- Creative Acceleration: 11 Tips To Engineer A Productive Flow
- Writing Inspiration, Or Sex on a Bicycle
- The Seven Major Beginner Mistakes
- Complete Your First Book with these 9 Simple Writing Habits
- Free Association, Active Imagination, Twilight Imaging
- Random Book Title Generator
- Finishing Your Novel
- Story Starters & Idea Generators
- Words to Use More Often
Revision & Grammar
- How To Rewrite
- Editing Recipe
- Cliche Finder
- Revising Your Novel: Read What You’ve Written
- Writing 101: Revising A Novel
- 20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes
- Synonyms for the Most Commonly Used Words of the English Language
- Grammar Urban Legends
Tools & Software
- Tip Of My Tongue - Find the word you’re looking for
- Write or Die - Stay motivated
- Stay Focused - Tool for Chrome, lock yourself out of distracting websites
- My Writing Nook - Online Text Editor, Free
- Bubbl.us - Online Mind Map Application, Free
- Family Echo - Online Family Tree Maker, Free
- Freemind - Mind Map Application; Free; Windows, Mac, Linux, Portable
- Xmind - Mind Map Application; Free; Windows, Mac, Linux, Portable
- Liquid Story Binder - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $45.95; Windows, Portable
- Scrivener - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $39.95; Mac
- SuperNotecard - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $29; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable
- yWriter - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free; Windows, Linux, portable
- JDarkRoom - Minimalist Text Editing Application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable
- AutoRealm - Map Creation Application; free; Windows, Linux with Wine
Specific Help
(via roguespectre)