we can all wear sars masks and justin will cry blood

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This is my friend Sophia's art, and I just have to say, I'm going to kill her one day. She's not even out of high school, nor does she want to pursue art as a career. I just. What.


She does a lot with text in her art, I think it's really impressive. I met her about two years ago and she was moderately good, and since then she's developed this amazing style and her techniques have just shot up and basically I'm pretty sure she sold her soul.


This one is by fresh4u, another impressive piece. I really admire people that can create an atmosphere like that. The lines are simple, they're even messy, but the effect they create all together brings me glee.


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A tutorial by scruffyronin.
I like the organization of this tutorial, it allows itself to be understood without actually reading anything. Not that you shouldn't read it, but you know. It's a good trait. My favorite tutorials are the sort that point out something you could have figured out if you'd stared hard enough, but that you don't necessarily think about. These are the kind you can just quietly keep in the back of your mind and incorporate when you next draw.
In short, I liked this one. Not the most insightful thing, but simple and useful.


(click to enlarge) (the picture in question)
Another one by Sophia. I really really liked this tutorial. Some of her techniques I ended up not liking very much, but some of them I found just about invaluable. She always seems like a Photoshop wizard to me, uncovering amazing new features and figuring out how to best implement them. I've been inspired by her discoveries a few times to make some of my own, but like the leech I am, most things I know I learned from Sophia.


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This one's by yajido. I admit I haven't had much of a chance to put this one to use, but I really want to. I haven't had much experience with vectors and this looks perfect for teaching that!


Hand tutorial by zue.
This one seemed less useful. I didn't learn anything new, although the bit about circles and joints could be put to use. I think the artist could have explained a little more and given a few more tips, possibly about musculature structure and the way the skin folds.


Animal tutorial by Cedarseed.
This seems almost not at all like a tutorial. Each animal should probably have its own guide, otherwise I'm better off just looking up photographs of these animals myself.


Definitely wanna go back and check out the vector tutorial.