My Trace Corner !

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by kayos

Sadly I only visit the Games, Fan Creations, and General Chats sections. Tooooooo much work to search out the Shuffle image thread.

Oh sorry about that. Everything will be posted here soon.

Originally Posted by Geta Boshi

I had seen your traces before Daniel E in Bleach SubSection . I didnt know a thread exsisted for them . One word to describe your traces Awesome , kudos dude great job

Thanks for the comment. I am actually quite proud of that Bleach trace; It's the closest I have ever come to trace something hentai.

Originally Posted by Radiosity

That's some really nice work there Daniel It seems you use a similar method to me, with the Pen tool? I have to ask: How do you get your outlines so smooth and non-jaggy? It's bugging me considerably that mine turn out jaggy, likely due to the way I do it.

I use the "paths method" for my traces (Photoshop CS).

Here's the tracing guide I used when I started doing this.

Though to be honest, most people prefer the Shape layers method.

Both guides assume you are already very skilled with the pen tool. I got most of my practice doing extractions for sigs, so you may try that as well (in case you never used the tool before). This are also very slow and time comsuming methods. A single trace can easily take you days, sometimes weeks to make.

At the very least, that's how much time it takes me to make one.

[Radiosity]

Strange, he does it the same as I do, tracing then stroking the paths, yet mine come out strangely jaggy instead of smooth. Hmm... guess I should experiment with shape layers instead. It's not like I'm a photoshop noob (been using it for a long time, but for textures and skins which are rather different to traces like these) but I'm certainly pretty new to the whole vectors/ traces thing

Thanks for the links Dan, they'll come in handy no doubt I'll try and remember to rep you for that when I've spread it around a bit (haven't really been active here much recently, need to catch up.)

[Daniel E.]

Well, it's hardly the whole thing, but I feel it's about damn time I post something new here.

--> Ver. 2

The one on the left is the usual thing; No effects whatsoever, just a simple trace pasted in a background. The one on the right is my first try at giving the trace a different feel (read: a more smooth feel).

I really like how the second one turned out, but I am mostly fooling around with the options at the moment. The second girl is almost complete and will look similar to Asa here.

[Zu Ra]

Ver 1 and Ver 2 both look splendid hats off to you . Being a Bleach Otaku I would love to see more Bleach traces from you , curious to see what you can conjure up next

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Geta Boshi

Ver 1 and Ver 2 both look splendid hats off to you . Being a Bleach Otaku I would love to see more Bleach traces from you , curious to see what you can conjure up next

That Bleach trace was sourced from a Tony Taka drawing. I remember seeing a Matsumoto one as well, but I haven't checked his site in a while to see if he has any more Bleach works.

But, to tell you the truth, I dont have a clue about what to do next.

Originally Posted by kayos

They're both exactly the same except one is more richer in colors. I love the shine of her eyes in V1 but I also love the softness of the outline and image in V2. Well that's just me, good job..

Yes, the change is minimal; The effect is pretty much a soft blur with increased color to make the lines look a little less rough. I have never fooled around with the layer blending options before, so I am gonna take it slow and see what happens with the next few traces.

Originally Posted by kayos

Still doing the curve I see. It's ok, nothing against it.

This trace (and the next one) were already made by the time you first mentioned the curves on the hair. So I'll have to wait until the next work to really get your suggestion into motion. I could actually try ditching the black outlines and the hair cuts all in one blow.

Still need to post the Kaede one and make the wallpaper with the two girls though. >_< !

[Radiosity]

Hmm, I like the original Asa trace. However, i'm not fond of the second one, the blur destroys the definition of the image and to me that's a bad thing. Rather than simply blurring the image, try adding new layers and using very slightly varied tones to brush over the original tones to give some subtle shading and highlighting, much like a cg. Personally, I avoid filters as much as possible as they can tend to cheapen an image/skin/texture/whatever.

An alternative method for shading and highlighting (my less preferred method) is adding a new layer with blending set to Multiply or Color Burn and darkening the base tone a little, then paint in the darker shades by 'burning' over the base layer. Then add another new layer using Color Dodge, and add highlights using a lighter tone. It's a quick and simple way, and not one I like to use much, but it does the job

Of course, using a tablet is a good idea as it gives you much better control than any mouse could give. Depends how serious you want to get I guess.

Good work as always

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Radiosity

Hmm, I like the original Asa trace. However, i'm not fond of the second one, the blur destroys the definition of the image and to me that's a bad thing. Rather than simply blurring the image, try adding new layers and using very slightly varied tones to brush over the original tones to give some subtle shading and highlighting, much like a cg. Personally, I avoid filters as much as possible as they can tend to cheapen an image/skin/texture/whatever.

If you didn't like the second one, there's a chance other people may feel the same way too. I wasn't planning on posting two versions of this trace, but what the heck, better to keep both bases covered.

-->

And here are the souce pics as well....

Originally Posted by Radiosity

An alternative method for shading and highlighting (my less preferred method) is adding a new layer with blending set to Multiply or Color Burn and darkening the base tone a little, then paint in the darker shades by 'burning' over the base layer. Then add another new layer using Color Dodge, and add highlights using a lighter tone. It's a quick and simple way, and not one I like to use much, but it does the job

I'll certainly keep both of your suggestions in mind.

Originally Posted by Radiosity

Of course, using a tablet is a good idea as it gives you much better control than any mouse could give. Depends how serious you want to get I guess.

Good work as always

A part of me wants to get better at this, while the other one doesn't want to take it too seriously.... That's kinda strange when you think about it.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback (to all of you)

[Reanimator]

Man... DRAW!!! Tracing won't take you anywhere. If you make a mistake, it happens. Even Hayao Miyazaki made mistakes on his works, and all he could said was "Shimata!!"

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Reanimator

Man... DRAW!!! Tracing won't take you anywhere. If you make a mistake, it happens. Even Hayao Miyazaki made mistakes on his works, and all he could said was "Shimata!!"

Well, I am not exactly trying to go anywhere with this you know.

This is just something I do for the fun and heck of it. (sometimes, I simply do it to kill some time )

Thanks for posting.

[Daniel E.]

Here's the wallpaper versions I somehow forgot to post.

[Daniel E.]

Woo-hoo! +1000 views already.

Thanks everyone!!

Anyway, here's something new:



There's not a single bit of black in this trace; No black outlines or black color whatsoever.

[Klashikari]

hohoho, you improved a lot for the hair rendering
by the way, is she an original character? she reminds me a bit of a mikuru fanart.

meh, nothing to criticize, except maybe the BG (in fact, the color doesn't give a good contrast)... but seriously, great job here

if only i could give you a cookie ~~ (damn the 10 cookies limit)

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

hohoho, you improved a lot for the hair rendering
by the way, is she an original character? she reminds me a bit of a mikuru fanart.

meh, nothing to criticize, except maybe the BG (in fact, the color doesn't give a good contrast)... but seriously, great job here

if only i could give you a cookie ~~ (damn the 10 cookies limit)

She appeared every now and then in the anime (specially at the start of Melancholy) as one of Haruhi's classmates.



And you are right about the background; I'll try to change it for the wallpaper version.

Originally Posted by kayos

Major improvement, good job D.E.

The eyes look kind of wooglely though.

I actually removed a bit of detail from her eyes. The small second moon inside them was a little too much IMHO. >_< !!



Anyway, once again, thanks for posting guys!

[KiNA]

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

Here's the wallpaper versions I somehow forgot to post.

You really know where to hit that hurt the most

Good job on your latest work .. totally love that one..

btw, TT done a lot of Bleach art.. Momo, Nemu .. but I think you'll be hard press to find a safe one to trace ^^

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Kira_Naruto

You really know where to hit that hurt the most ^^

Well, there's always the single version.

Originally Posted by Kira_Naruto

btw, TT done a lot of Bleach art.. Momo, Nemu .. but I think you'll be hard press to find a safe one to trace ^^

Oh, I haven't checked Tony's site in a while. Wouldn't hurt to take a quickie look now.

[Daniel E.]

Wallpaper version.



I only inverted the gradient on the background, eventhough I said I was gonna try something different. Lazyness can be a scary thing sometimes.

...I also added both versions to the gallery in the first post.

[KiNA]

Heh.. I know how you feel.. Sometimes the lazyness was so forceful, you cant do a thing but obey it .. Which happens to me a lot, which is why I usually stick to making sigs as it would take me little times

Anyway, if I may complain, your text makes it feel like a mess since they are everywhere.. If you wanted to put text.. it would be better to put it in the same place..

Take it from somebody that usually submit wallpapers to anon in 4chan .. They gonna scream No text version plox .. I sometimes starts to make 2 version straight away .... the H a top right can be safely removed IMHO.

Still, meet my new wallpaper for the week

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Kira_Naruto

Anyway, if I may complain, your text makes it feel like a mess since they are everywhere.. If you wanted to put text.. it would be better to put it in the same place..

Take it from somebody that usually submit wallpapers to anon in 4chan .. They gonna scream No text version plox .. I sometimes starts to make 2 version straight away .... the H a top right can be safely removed IMHO.

Still, meet my new wallpaper for the week

When it comes to wallpapers, I sometimes feel that I am a constant victim of the 'I need to put something here' syndrome.

There's always the option of tracing a background along with the character, but oh noes!! that would mean even more work in the end. Still, tracing a background could be an interesting idea.

I'll keep this in mind for a future trace.

Thanks for the feedback!!

[KiNA]

Well.. you can ask advice on Klash with that.. but I dont think he can help you either in that part... he suffers the same I need to put something more somewhere too when making sigs

Anyway, gratz on 3rd box

You sure gained fast after KKK declaration on that Kaechan trace

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Kira_Naruto

Anyway, gratz on 3rd box

You sure gained fast after KKK declaration on that Kaechan trace

You can say that again.

I am really grateful and happy that all the members of the KKK liked that trace; Back then, it was the birth of my second box.

Oh and, gratz as well on your 4th box.