Stock Image Websites

Now, sometimes graphic design means drawing a custom image. But sometimes your going to need to edit pictures taken by other people, or edit a picture you've taken yourself. While the second option is a good idea, sometimes your just going to want a professional picture.

So far, I know of three sites you can use to get free, do whatever you want, images with.
First off...Kaboompics.
Kaboompics has pictures for just about every topic, and allows you to sign up via email to receive updates on their latest pictures. It's pictures are filed in a blog-like manner.

Next up, we've got Pixabay
Pixabay is much like Kaboompics, and offers Twitter and Google+ following options, as well as a Facebook Like option. So far its gotten 364K thumbs up, which I believe is a good thing. It's search engine closely resembles google, so if you use that then Pixabay will probably be very easy for you to use.

And finally,  the third one I've found is called Unsplash
Unsplash is very basic, you go to the site, and type in your keywords. Though it has a lot of images, there are some spots where it could use some more. You need to be very specific in your typing, otherwise you might not get what you are searching for.

Do you know of any other stock image sites?
Could you link them in a comment?

Drawing Dragons

When you're drawing, what is easiest for you? Humans? Animals? Maybe Nature?

Whatever it is, I'm sure you started off drawing horribly, then one day came back to doing it, and used a different style, and it somehow just clicked into place.

That's what happened for me when I figured out how to draw dragons. I just couldn't get the wings and horns to work. Then I sat down one day, with a picture of a Wings of Fire dragon for a base, and just drew, and when I was done...I had a SeaWing on my paper!

So in this post, I'm going to give a sort of half encouragement half how to in dragon drawing!
I'll be using this picture I drew of a SandWing as an example, as it's one of my better ones.

So the first step is to pick your pose. That's the most important thing. Once you have your pose decided, draw two circles to represent the head, and a line to represent the neck, and if you wish more lines and circles for the rest of the body, but this example is going to be focusing on the head, and some of the neck.

After that, you can flesh it out a bit. Add the lines that make up the head and neck, and if you want any horns, go ahead and add them in this step. Oh, and don't forget the ear(s).

Next up erase your circles and neck line, so that just the dragon's outline remains. Here's where you add in smaller details like a mouth, nose, and maybe an eye-ridge.

Add in a ruff, if your dragon has it, or perhaps a line of spikes.

Now darken the lines you want to keep with a pen or marker, and use an eraser to get rid of all unwanted lines.

Now, you could leave it at that, or you could add in even more detail, by adding the neck scales. You could theoretically add in every single scale, including the ones on the face, but a good way to imply scales is to put them on the neck. Start with a single row, then go down to a second, and then make a third of lines that just kind of fade into the underbelly. Darken the ones you want to keep, editing as you go, and erase the unwanted ones and voila! You're done!

Do you have a picture of dragons you've drawn? Could you show me?

PicMonkey for Pintrest

Lately, my mom has been having me make images for one of her blogs, that she can use on pintrest to gather more attention, and more clients. Once I get most of them done, I'll be offering a service here on my blog, that will allow you readers to hire me to make them for you if you wish.

I've been using PicMonkey to do this, and I would recommend you check it out! It can be a little tricky to figure out, but once you've got the basics down, it's quite easy!
I'll likely be adding PicMonkey pictures to these posts as well later down the road.


Do you use PicMonkey? If so, could you show an example of what you've made? And if not, do you have a site you like to use for this sort of thing? Could you share the link?

Don't give up

When you first started drawing, your images probably stunk. Now I'm not saying that to be mean, I'm saying it because it's probably true. No one is a perfect artist at first, it takes time to perfect your drawing skills, and become a master artist.

For example, I drew this image two years ago

And looking back...ya, I admit, it totally stinks! But that's alright, because I kept practicing, and last year, I produced this;

 

Still not very good, but it's a little better than the one from 2015. And this year, I made this image!

 [if it looks familiar, that's because it was used in this post showing that paint is a rather useful tool for windows users]

As you can see, my art has massively improved, because I kept to it. As long as you keep going, you can produce amazing things!

How has your art improved over the years?

Insparation from the oddest places

When you are drawing, how do you decide what to draw? Do you write out a list of everything you want the picture to include? Do you start to form it in your mind? Or do you just sit own and start drawing whatever pops into your head first?

All of these can be fun, but when drawing, it's good to find inspiration from places others might not expect, and find ways to incorporate them into your drawing. As an artist, you may not even realize it, but everything you look at will somehow find its way onto your drawing pad one way or another.

When looking for inspiration on purpose however, it can get a little tricky, especially if you sat down to draw with no plan in mind. Next time you find yourself stuck, try taking a look around. If you are outside, try drawing a mountain scene with deer and squirrels, or perhaps take a look at your pet [if you have one] and draw what you suppose they might look like as a human, or a different animal. Or perhaps try to draw an anthro version of the first animal you find. For example, if it's a bee you find, draw a humanoid with bee wings, and antennae!

If you are indoors, look around at the people with you. What would the person to your left look like as a dog? a cat? a dragon? Or you can look around at the furniture. Maybe your lamp has flowers curling up the stand, or maybe your desk has legs shaped like a dragon's talon! Use what you see as inspiration for your designs, and before long, you'll have a beautiful image.

What sort of things do you use for inspiration when drawing? Do you have a picture handy you could show?