Do you like Mario RPGs? Paper Mario? Do you like stories about the power of friendship? If so, have I got something for you!
I made a huge set of color keys based off the game Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, a game that I’ve really loved since I was a teen. This is a super self indulgent project that is very much an interpretation from the heart, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Below is a link to where you can download (click the download icon in the top right corner of the google page!) and read it! Thank you!
random thing but i realized it might be helpful for some people so uh. theres this thingy where you can upload an image and it gives you a color palette based on it !
heres an example
and it also gives you the hex code values for them too its p neat !
So I feel like a lot of confusion with drawing in perspective is because people are not taught the absolute basics properly? So let’s do that.
Let’s say we have a cube.
Now, a cube we know is made out of 6 squares or rectangles, and every edge is at a 90 degree angle.
so every opposite edge of a cube is exactly parallel, right?
but let’s say we draw a cube using only parallel lines:
this looks a little weird, you know? Like if i try think of this as an object in 3d space and i look at it for too long, the faces start to look really warped - with like the back looking bigger than the front as if its been made out of weird wonky trapeziums
so what’s going on here? if all those edges are exactly parallel, why does it look weird?
Now we know that the rails on a track are always going to be parallel, they have to be the same distance apart so the train can stay on the track yeah?
But we can very clearly see that these tracks are converging to a single point in the photo.
So what does this tell us, exactly? That our view of the world is naturally warped, and that lines that are physically parallel when drawn in perspective will converge to a single point.
Now, I could call this image “one point perspective” - but that’s not really true,
if these lines are also parallel, then they must also converge to a single point in perspective, right? so lets add another point
clip studio paint automatically adjusts the horizon line to fit the new points you add to your perspective…. notice how the horizon line actually fits the photo better now?
our new point is a very very long way away, so we don’t notice a lot of difference in the angle between lines, but the point that i’m trying to make here is:
Drawing with perspective guides is not about choosing one, two, three point perspective etc. those are just quick ways to set up a certain viewing angle
What you are doing when you use these guides is making your parallel lines converge to a point.
So, if you want to draw a big ol’ cube that’s aligned to be parallel with these railroad tracks, then you can do that with the same point as the tracks - because it’s parallel. It’s on the same axis!
but what if you want to draw a cube that’s rotated, and isn’t parallel to the tracks?
well that’s not too difficult to do if you know that every point represents one set of parallel lines.
If these lines aren’t parallel to the ones you already have, then clearly you just need new points.
We’re not planning to tilt this cube up into the air, or rotate it onto its side, so we’re going to leave the vertical axis alone, and just move our horizontal points to a different place on the horizon line
But speaking of the vertical axis - the only points that will be on your horizon line are the ones that are flat on the ground. But you can still have points that are not on the horizon line!
This is important to remember because if you’re trying to draw something like a slope or stairs, something that has an incline, it’s not going to be level with your horizon.
Let’s draw some stairs as an example.
This is actually pretty simple - first draw where your slope starts and ends by drawing a big L shape.
this will give you some parallel corners, which you can then connect to make a new point for your slope
So lets go back to our original cube, with the knowledge that our parallel lines should all converge to a point and draw it again
well, doesn’t that look better!
but also, now you know how to make a cube lean against its buddy like this
because we just make new points for the new parallel lines
Anyway I hope that clears some things up, and makes perspective easier to understand!
Also if these tutorials have been helpful and you’d like to support me, I do have a patreon & a ko-fi you can donate to :^)
I’ve noticed a fair few people expressing that they didnt understand this post, and I tried to like explain more but actually after writing for a while I realised more words are probably not going to help is the thing about it.
So! If you don’t understand this post:
1. First the main takeaway here is: Vanishing points represent parallel lines.
that’s it. If that’s all you remember, you have 99% of the post.
2. I recommend bookmarking this post so you can revisit it and reread it a few times, with any advanced concept relating to art just reading about it isn’t going to get it to sink in. You’ll need to experiment and reread it to fully understand it!
3. Speaking of, here is an exercise you can do that I think might help clarify this post.
Take a look at some photos of architecture, and look for the parallel lines. Actually draw them on top of the photos!
I recommend especially using a program like CSP that lets you set up perspective rulers, so you can see the vanishing points
or you can just make the canvas really big
Anyway! Here’s an image to get you started:
or go out and take some photos of your own and/or have a look on google! Do this a few times with a few different photos, then try drawing some architecture.
just drop the opacity and look for the parallel lines in the architecture.
Have two sketchbooks: One for finished and high-quality art (stuff made with Prismacolor or Copic if you use that or art for your portfolio) and the other sketchbook for more messy doodles. This way you have a place to try new things and mess up as much as you need. When I only had one sketchbook I was scared to draw in it because I didn't want to mess it up
Do studies. I cant tell you how much I've improved just by doing studies of shoes, hands, noses, and all that. This works for when you have art block too since you’re not really making stuff up and just learning how real things work.
Learn from others. I’ve never taken a real art class because 1. I can’t afford it and 2. there’s no good art classes/programs at my school. I’ve been following several artists and learning from them over the years and they’ve helped me tremendously. Just please do not steal art because that is never okay.
Break down concepts. If you notice there’s something wrong with your piece then figure out why. You can’t get better if you leave mistakes and don't try to understand whats going on. If the color is weird figure out if the values look right or maybe its the saturation of the color.
Watch youtube tutorials. Here are some youtubers I think are pretty good art teaching all things art:
Have an inspiration folder/blog. Sometimes you just need a collection of starry nights or a misty forest or even a French bakery. All of those things can help you get inspired to draw. It could even be completely unrelated to what you plan to draw.
There are no dumb ideas in the creative process. If you want to draw a lizard in a dress go for it! If you want to draw various pastries with faces do it! Don’t let the thought of it being too dumb stop you because if I’ve learned anything in my several years of drawing it’s that an idea can lead to another and another and another and you may get a really good idea just from doodling dumb things.
Here’s a few things that can get you started on drawing better:
Most importantly, don’t give up! You may not immediately get notes or followers but it’s more important you get better than to have popularity. How do you think those popular artists got to where they are now? To be good you’ve got to work at it.
