Well everyone, I finally got the first part up, enjoy. Though remember I am a bit like wiki, don't trust on everything I say throughout the tutorial because some things or my opinions and so on.

Art Tutorial by Lady Kopaka

Part 1: Art Supplies Opinions and What to Get

Well now mates, ladies, germs, Great Beings and so forth, before I go to pointing out how to draw, let me first point out an important thing: Supplies.

I mean, seriously. You wouldn’t get very far in art if you didn’t have a pencil or paper. So let me start out on what you should get, and on a note, you DO NOT have to spend a billion dollars on art supplies.

Now if you are just merely interested in drawing, simple printing paper and a pencil around the house is fine, but if you want to become a hardcore artist; then let’s get a bit detailed. Also, I am making this simple and pointing out many things, so I am sorry if I am making it seem I am telling this to 5 year olds.

Paper

Some artists might point out that printing paper is evil, but I am going to clear things up; (But once again, this is a lot on opinions and what you are comfortable with) Printing paper isn’t all that bad. And it is easy to get since I am sure it is probably hanging around your house. True, it isn’t really good with colors, but one day I had no sketch book, and I was so desperate to draw, I went in my cabinet and got some paper, and drew this, and of course some of my other art is from printing paper. I at first thought that paper would make my ink bleed(Meaning, that when drawing with an ink pen and it doesn’t end up straight and clean, so it looks like it is ‘bleeding’) but it surprisingly didn’t, I almost thought it looked better, and PP has a nice, smooth surface. So on a closed subject of this matter, you don’t have to rush to Wal*Mart to get a sketch book, but if you want to that is fine. And on Sketch books, if you get one, make sure it is smooth, but thick enough to handle with markers and paint. Though, choose whatever works best for you. On all of the supplies, you might just will have to experiment a bit till you find what you like the best.

Erasers

This is a bit of a tricky topic, since it is always a bugger to find a decent eraser, and this time I am going to point out that usually the back of the pencil isn’t going to work, and you are going to have to go buy one. But which kind?

Go to your art store, or a place that sells it at least, ever seen those squashy erasers that look like sillyputty? Those are very good erasers, they erase well (Most important thing silly) and are good for erasing tiny places, another good thing is they don’t make all that mess allover the paper when you erase. Also those rectangle office erasers are pretty good too. Though as long as the eraser isn’t ‘stiff’ doesn’t make any marks on your drawing, cleans up a mess pretty well. You should be fine.

Pencils

Seriously, I wouldn’t care if you got an old pencil you found in your house, as long as it can be sharpened, have a darkish strong led(Unless you want a light one) and a decent eraser at the end, you are probably set. But of course, with some fairly nice pencils and erasers can make a bit of a difference, just go down to a store and get some pencils, though how do you know what kind to get? Most pencils are titled by something like ‘HB, 2B’ and so on. Usually 2B+ (4B, 6B…) are dark and good for shading and going over a drawing to make it darker, though many times I draw with a 2B. HB Pencils and the ones similar are for lighter drawing, as for doing drafts, sketching in the shapes, (Will explain later) and so on. They are also good for lighter shading.

Though if you want detail, I would suggest getting a mechanical pencil, but I use the mechanical pencil a lot in drawings, since it doesn’t need sharpening, and it works well with light and dark looks, the only set back is shading, and mechanical pencils don’t do that very well.

Pens

Now, if you are interested in outlining your art, making a comic, or something of the sort, I am sure you need to ink your art. Now, I do that a lot these days, it brings out the picture more and keeps the colors orginized and blended where they are, and not all mixed up. It also gives it, as I said, a more cartoon/comic feel.

Now once agian, you don't need fancy pens to do well, I have seen many artists that use those pens found in the office and it looks great. But if you want some clearer and better ones, then I would suggest getting some Pigma Ink pens, that come in all all different sizes. Pigma, Sharpies, and other such things are all amazing. Once again, find the pen that suits you!

Colored Pencils (Also watercolor pencils)

Now, color pencils (Watercolor included) is a great way to start coloring, it is a good for beginners and after practice they can end up very nice. They are not too hard to blend with and they are easy to find. You can even use those cheap Crayola colored pencils, but remember, as long as they have a good color to them, they blend well, and so on, and then you should be fine. You don’t always have to spend money to get the fancy ones. Sometimes it is even better to get the cheaper ones as a beginner and then later when you are better, save up for some fancier ones. But whatever you wish is fine.

The difference between watercolor pencils and colored pencils is that watercolors look well…like watercolor! I like these the best usually, since they blend better, and they have a brighter color, though they are also good to mix in with plain color pencils, I do that quite a lot, since I have a heap of more colors in my colored pencils box than the watercolor.

Markers

Markers are very strong and vibrant, and when used right, you can almost fool the viewers into thinking you CG’d it. But I would NOT suggest starting out with these, they are a bit of a trick to blend, they bleed if you don’t have the right type of paper, and they take time to learn. Not only that, but usually the most expensive if you plan to get some nice art markers. Let me tell you, they are much better than those normal markers that you might have, they have better color, they are smoother, and most have different sizes that you can change on one marker lid for detail or coloring in a big spot. But don’t buy them if you are a trainee, these things are darn expensive ($2-5 dollars if you just want to buy one, and $30-50 for a 10-20 pack). They are a bit fragile, so it is best to get the hang of normal markers, or try to get some for your birthday or Christmas. But they are really not worth the money until you are prepared to take this art seriously and work hard.

But please don’t be scared away by my rant, they are really good, and if you want to buy them, by all means do.

Paints (Acrylic, Watercolor, Oils)

Now, out of all the different types of colors, Acrylic paint must be my favorite, I have practice head on in painting for many years and have produced many good paintings(Or so I think), my most favorite was the Titanic and won 2 first place prizes and a fair and at an art show. These can be the most realistic and traditional, beautiful colors, they blend the best, and prices tend to not be that bad. But you need to have a least some decent paintbrushes, colors, and usually a canvas…I have gotten away with it on normal sketch paper, but it makes the paper hard and wrinkly.

I haven’t tried Oils really, but I believe it is the hardest, but end up the best. So if you are interested in learning how to paint, don’t get Oils till later; the best to start out with is either Acrylic or Watercolor. Since Oils, you have to wait at least a week for them to dry; it’s a bit harder to mix. I really cannot go deep into that discussion since I don’t know much about them.

CG

CG means ‘Computer Graphics’, though here it is just an easier way of saying ‘colored or drawn on the computer’. That means you started drawing a picture, then colored it on the computer using a certain program, it could range in MS Paint to PhotoShop, or have been using a tablet, this is the most popular I believe of the century, it is in one way a lot easier since there now is the magical button of ‘undo’ if you make a mistake. The colors are bright and strong, making your picture look more professional and a lot more noticeable. It takes some practice to succeed at it, but doesn’t most other things too?

Personally I have a love-hate relationship with CG’ing, it feels that it is taking over the traditional art styles, and many artists are avoiding the paints now. Which I don’t think is very wise. If you are going to be an artist, you need to know a fair amount of all different mediums; you don’t have to stop using the computer, if you like that then it is totally fine with me, but I really think it would be a smart move to take some of your time to practice a bit with Watercolors, or Color pencils. It can help a lot in improvements and maybe even help a bit in your CG.

…

Wow, I think I killed the audience. Even though some of you are thinking “Come on, I need help with how to draw, not what to draw with!” I thought it was important to over some basic things before really hitting on the gas. And now that I have gotten that through, Part 2 will be the beginning of working on the basic shapes of the body—Human and Bionicle alike.

Real quick, this tutorial is really a ‘How to draw Bionicle’, and not much about humans. But I will be showing the difference and tips on humans alike during it, but since I am sure many of you could find plenty of books on drawing the Human body, and probably none on Bionicle, there is my reason.

Also I won’t be selfish and will be showing notable styles in drawing a Bionicle, do you want it strictly set? Movie style? Really organic? I'll try my best in pointing out how to do that, but I am best in my style so I usually will be showing my style when teaching.

Comments, questions, and corrections and further discussion on my tutorial so far are appreciated. But I hope you enjoyed the beginning. I know it was a bit boring, but bear with me till part 2.