RedLine Academy

Welcome to red-line academy: a home for growing artists to live and learn amongst their peers as they strive to become their best selves.

[redlineacademy]

Do you have any advice on posing tails on characters? I don't really understand the body language and what different positions with it would imply.

Hi Anon, Different positions of the tail would differ somewhat depending on what species the character is supposed to be modeled after. The best way to go about this would be to look up info on tail positions of the closest animals to what your character is based on and go from there. For example, the chart below.Thanks for your question!

[redlineacademy]

Now Accepting Mod Applications!

Hello All! You may have noticed that our mod team has decreased abit. But no worries! We’re accepting applications to join us! Find the application at the bottom of this post! We’re looking for 2-3 friendly, fun and dedicated people to join our team. Even if you can’t draw/ Red Line, we have a spot open for a assistant blog runner!  Looking for ages 16 to 200, all genders welcome, any part of the world! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Fbtb7CQeXDywke-MB-bRnHUhqXOjwTui_QtPZD5oIXs/edit?usp=sharing

[redlineacademy]

Pls halp meh qwq

Hi @cinnamon-rolls-forever !!    

You mentioned thinking something was odd in your drawing, and as I’ve mentioned in the redline, your main issue was that the characters chin was too narrow behind thier hands, and the face over all was a bit too low on his head. I’ve moved the facial features up, widened and opened up his lower face and made his hands more distinct. Try drawing the full face underneath the hands to make sure that its correct. I really liked this drawing, I think its very cute and conveys a lot of emotion! As I say in all my redlines, just practice using reference for difficult hand poses and to get a feel for how features sit on the face. It will be alittle different for an anime-like style than a real face, but it never hurts to check it out and get an idea. Thanks for your submission! -Mod Taj

[redlineacademy]

Hi, thesilentkitten!

Hey There @thesilentkitten !! You asked for tips on how to make your drawing look abit more like an anime version would, so I’ve put down some tips for that. You also asked about drawing hands, and I’ve tried my best to give you a starting point to work with. From the way the image is cropped its alittle hard to tell exactly what pose you were going for, so I just went with what seemed most natural for the way his face was directed. Overall I think you have a pretty good likeness of Axel here (Got it memorized?) I would just work on using references for difficult hand posing and using some of your favourite anime styles as a baseline to expand on! Thanks for you submission! -Mod Taj

[redlineacademy]

Update #2

Finals are over and its summer break! We’ve had some changes in mod staff, so the blog will be changing to reflect that, and we’ll be getting to your submissions shortly! Thank you all for your patience, we appreciate you immensely and we’ll be rolling again very soon! Happy Summer!

[redlineacademy]

Can you do private critiques? And is there a limit on what you guys will critique in a single image? Also can y’all help with color theory as well? (Sorry for so many questions, I’m pretty excited about this blog!!!!!)

Hi!We’ll be reserving private and more in-depth critiques for our upcoming patreon.  If you’re interested in this, please look for our patreon launch post in the coming weeks.A few of our mods are well versed in color theory so we can help with that!Thanks for your question!

[redlineacademy]

Hi there! I'm an amateur artist trying to get better at drawing people's anatomy. I'm doing this piece with someone standing as if they were exhausted/limp...got any tips for showing different types of body language? I'd really appreciate it!

Curved back, bending over, hanging arms, limp limbs and leaning on things are all good signs of exhaustion. Look at images on pinterest or google of exhausted people to get a better idea of what it might look like. Think about body language you exhibit when you’re exhausted as well. The best way to show different types of body language is to use references for things you’re unsure about, and think about body language you’ve seen for certain feelings. Use of facial expressions will enhance the overall body language you use.Thanks for your question!

[redlineacademy]

Updates on delay

Hi everyone, you may have noticed that there has been a delay in posting your submissions. We apologize for the wait. We have about 18 submissions consisting of both questions and redline requests right now. We are doing our best to complete them and answer your questions asap. Our Mods have work, school and family life to take care of, and unfortunately things have gotten a little overwhelming for everybody. We will be back on our game soon, we appreciate your patience as we approach finals week at school, and increased summer hours at workplaces. Thank you all for following and your support, we’ll be back as soon as we can!

[redlineacademy]

I was pretty proud of this one but the more I look at it the more it doesn’t look quiet right and I cant put my finger on why do you think you can help me out? Thank You

Hey there! Love this drawing. Very cute characters and poses!

Not much to fix here, just some small nitpicks. I hope this helps!

-Mod Briar

[redlineacademy]

Hi! I was wondering if I could have some help with the posing of this, and maybe clothing folds? I always seem to have trouble drawing characters running, so I figured this was a good piece to submit :P --------------------------------------------------------------- Hey, fabnamessuggestedbytumbler !! As I mentioned in the image, its really hard to actually run sideways like you had the character originally. I changed the posing to be more natural while trying t maintain that angry/fighting spirit. Next time you want to draw a running character, I would suggest looking up images of people running to see the way the body twists and the way the arms and legs move opposite of each other! Thanks for your submission, sorry you had so much trouble getting through at first!  -Mod Taj

[redlineacademy]

Hiya, I was p chill with most of this one but I always seem to have trouble placing the head (I never seem to leave enough room for it lol), I was wondering if you have any tips on placing heads/how to make sure anatomy stays consistent? Thanks v much :)

Thanks for the submission! I really love this pose, it’s done very nicely. I didn’t touch the bottom half at all aside from adding in a defined foot.

(I realize now the stomach line would make more sense if it curved down, but that’s not too important here since it wouldn’t be in the drawing)

As for head placement, I would say try to have the center of the circle you used to draw the head in line with the dip of the collar bone. I’m not sure if that always works, but it seems to work here. My best suggestion here would be to take pictures of yourself or friends and see how your head sits on your shoulder. Also, remember the curve from the back of the neck to the skull, its not a straight line, its more like a light bulb. Hope that helps!

-Mod Briar

[redlineacademy]

hey there! i hope you dont mind me asking, but: do you guys mind redlining art that is intended to be in a specific style? for example, the style of a particular cartoon? and, on a different note: do any of you mind redlining pixel art? thanks if you answer! ;v;

Not at all! We would love to do specific styles. Just specify what style you’re going for if you want us to match that. I myself have to do a lot of style matching for work so it’s fine by me. I also used to exclusively do pixel art so I can also give that a shot.

Thanks for the question,

-Mod Briar

[redlineacademy]

Hi @a-blue-hoodie! This is a cute character and I really enjoyed the little seam detail on the pants cuff, and the stringy pom pom on her hat! I did two versions of fixing up your anatomy here. The first is based on primarily box shapes, and the second is showing how to smooth it all together. I gave her face some more definition via a cheek bone and jaw line as well. I made some changes to your original pose to make it more dynamic and stable. The third image is to show you an example of how you could draw your clothing next time. Using references from google or pinterest is highly encouraged and despite what some people may tell you is not at all cheating! I would suggest using references for anything your having trouble drawing! Thanks for your submission! -Mod Taj

[redlineacademy]

hi! i spent a super long time for the anatomy of this drawing, specifically the arms/hands. i love how it turned out, but the arms still seem a little wonky to me, so I was wondering if you have any input? (input on the anatomy in general is helpful as well fdshj) the colors also dont feel as vibrant as i wanted, so the main dude doesnt really stand out, but you don’t have to critique that if you like to focus more on anatomy. thank you so much!!!

Hey there! thanks for the submission. Lovely work here! This is a super hard pose and one I’ve never done before. I looked up a few refs and came to the conclusion that it seems off because of the head size and placement, so I adjusted that in my redline. Hopefully that solves your problem!

As for the character standing out, I made an edit to the background color to try and help with that. When in doubt, I add a blue overlay to the background. Often times, things that are further away look more blue (This is called Ambient Occlusion I believe) and I love to play it up for effect. I also suggest adding some highlights around the silhouette of the character to make them further stand out.

 But my BIGGEST suggestion would be line weight. All of your lines are relatively the same thickness. I would push it more and have the lines of the things in the background be much thinner and even the lines of the part of the body that’s further away. This will help push the perspective! In general, having thinner lines can also help improve readability. When lines are thicker, the overall image can become hard to understand.

I hope this helps you find direction!

-Mod Briar

[redlineacademy]

(Hey there! I’m not sure if you guys would redline stuff with more than one character, but I can really use some help with posing and anatomy ;w; these two are supposed to be kinda like waltzing but they look kinda awkward (especially the guy in green). And if you guys don’t redline 2 characters that’s ok! Just send me a message & let me know. Thanks!)

Thanks for the submission! It’s super cute!! I really enjoyed working on this, although it was difficult, so I hope it helps you!

[redlineacademy]

I like to think I’m a pretty good artist so far but I have been criticized for my faces not looking right. I honestly don’t know what that person was talking about and they didn’t really elaborate sooo… could you give me a hand? 

BTW if the blood is too much I can resubmit with it removed.

Hey there pizzaboy, hopefully I can help you out a bit. In general you’ve got a lot going for you! You clearly have a solid foundation on anatomy. Faces are super hard and if one thing is off the whole thing will look off. The human eye loves and looks for symmetry and when the balance is upset, we will notice. I assume this is what the person was talking about. You’ve got all the right pieces, we just need to make sure they’re in the right place. 

I moved the eyes up a bit and spaced them out and pulled down the jaw since she’s opening her mouth.

I haven’t seen your other works so I don’t know your general art style, but it seems you’re moving in a great direction. Time and practice will help you nail these little details that the human eye likes, but beyond that you’re doing fantastic! Keep on working and hopefully submitting more to us. 

Good luck,

Mod Briar

[redlineacademy]

hey! i was wondering if there was anyway to maybe give the character (jade harley) more of an exciting outfit and also just a general background that would fit the style of the piece! anatomy tips are appreciated but i’m looking more to improve upon outfit design and backgrounds! thank you :)

[if i could request mod briar that would be great as well!]

First of all, I wanted to say I love the color palette so much! You did an awesome job making it look cool and interesting. I love the shading colors you used as well. 

I’ll mostly focus on the outfit, but in order to understand how the clothing will fall, we also gotta make sure the anatomy is correct first. Hopefully that makes sense!

Most of it is pretty solid, just needed to focus a bit more on the size of the hands and head. As a general rule, humans are on average 7 heads tall. This person is about 5.5 or 6 heads tall so they are pretty short. If that’s what you’re going for then that’s fine, but if you want them to appear taller/older, then shrink the head size. I’ve made some adjustments to the outfit below:

The key word here is visual interest. Add more folds and seams to give the clothes a sense of dimension and also direction. When you make lines, they draw the eye in the direction they point. If you look at my lines, most of them end up pointing up to the head, which is what we want to look at!

I think the background colors detract from the warm colors in her skin and hair. I’ve come up with a few palette ideas:

The focus here is the Character so you dont want to draw attention away from her with the BG. Instead you want it to compliment her. Keep it simple. Here are some ideas for you:

Hopefully that gives you some ideas!

Thanks for requesting me,

Mod Briar