Oekaki Board

[rules]-[enter]-[how to use the oekaki board][troubleshooting]-[tips and tricks]

About

An oekaki board is a place where you can go sketch a picture and post simple messages. In that way its sort of like a message board, but with art.

Before you enter my oekaki board you must observe the rules:

Rules

  1. Nothing terribly pornographic, please. There is a fine line between obscenity and art for many people, so use personal judgement and discretion in this.
  2. No flames. Meaning don't insult people. Constructive criticism is fine, especially when asked for. Usually, if someone doesn't ask for criticism, don't give it. If you really don't like their art its best just to keep it to yourself then.
  3. No spam. This means no conversations between two people (use email), no commercial advertising or advertising for things people clearly would not be interested in (like pyramid schemes, questionable charities, cheap Viagra, and so forth). Going off topic is fine so long as it doesn't violate any other rule here.
  4. Draw something please! Text-only posts will be deleted.
  5. Choose one name and stick to it. Because the system doesn't really remember user-names people can actually change them at will. However, this is confusing and some people will abuse this to harrass other members/comment on their own art to make themselves look popular. This is a NO-NO. Don't bother doing it because I will know you're doing it.
  6. Please, keep yourself to ONE picture a day. Two is okay but once you get into three or more it isn't fair to other members, who quickly find their art bumped off the front page and get less attention than you do.

Violation of any of these rules usually will result in a warning. Violation of the harsher rules, like harrassing other members or posting of insulting pictures, will result in a ban.

*Please Note!* The board can only hold up to 80 images at a time. Once a new picture is drawn and old one is eventually recycled off the system. I cannot retreive pictures once this has happened so please, right-click and save your image if you really like it and want to keep it, as it won't be on here forever.

Enter the Oekaki Board

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How To Use the Oekaki Board

What is an oekaki board?

Simply speaking, an oekaki board is like a message board, except you can leave drawings as well as messages.

You can either look at pictures others post and comment about them or make drawings of your own.

Do I need anything special to interact with the oekaki board?

Since most oekaki boards work using Java plug-ins you probably have all you need in whatever browser you're currently using. However, if you encounter problems using the oekaki board please view our troubleshooting portion of this page.

Some people find it better to work on the oekaki board using a tablet. Tablets are hardware you plug into your computer. They act like electronic paper, as you use a special pen and tablet to draw with rather than a mouse. You don't need a tablet and if you're not serious about doing computer art I wouldn't recommend running out and buying one. However, if you are really interested in computer art and want to know how to find a good tablet check out Wacom (http://www.wacom.com/index2.cfm). They make the best tablets for either beginners or professionals and the tablet I use is made by wacom. They're also very affordable and durable.

How do I post a comment?

Just hit the "Comments!" button that accompanies the drawing you see and it will take you to a window that displays the picture and previous comments. Just enter your name and email (and homepage, if you have one) and your comment.

Comments look something like this:

  1. The picture you are commenting on.
  2. User name. You can always click on another user's user name to get their email address that they provide.
  3. [Home Page]. Click on this to see the user's homepage, if they provide one.
  4. Date. This will show the date and time the person posted the image or commented.
  5. Providing a response to an image results in the title "Re:(something)" appearing above the comment.
  6. Where the comment goes.

How do I draw on the board?

See the picture below? The front page to the oekaki board will look something like this at the top.

Here's an explanation of the numbers on the image above:

  1. The [HOME] button. Click on this to get back here.
  2. The [SEARCH] button. It searches the board for a certain picture.
  3. The [EDIT] and [ADMIN] buttons. These aren't your concern.
  4. Mode selector. There are five (5) different modes to choose from. The default is "full mode" and its probably the one you want. "full mode (Anime)" allows you to do simple animations. "simple mode" looks a lot like "full mode" but has less options and is probably better for slower computers. "simple mode (Anime)" is the same as "full mode (Anime)" only with less options for slower computers. "old tool" is a really simple version of oekaki and a lot harder to use. I don't recommend it, especially for starters.
  5. Window selector. You can select what size your drawing window will be.
  6. Size. Here you can select from a menu what size you want your drawing to be. The default sizes from the menu are 200x200, 300x300, and 400x400. All sizes are in pixels.
  7. Width selection. If you don't want a square canvas, or would like to work larger than 400x400, put in a number between 50 and 800 here.
  8. Height selection. This is the same as the width selection window, only the number you put here will determine the height of your canvas.
  9. I honestly have no idea what happens if you click that box...
  10. The Paint Button! When you've made your selections, press this button to go to the paint window!
  11. Search.
  12. Use these buttons to go to drawings on other pages.

I'm in the paint window. Now what?

Now you can paint! If the window loaded correctly you will be taken to a window that looks almost like this:

This is your painting area.

In the top left corner there are buttons that look like this:

Here is an explaination of the buttons:

  1. Just an add that's always there. Ignore it.
  2. Zoom in/zoom out. Pretty simple.
  3. Undo/Redo. Make a mistake? Hit "undo". Want it back? Hit "redo".
  4. Clear. Makes everything on a layer disappear. Remember, hitting "clear" won't delete your entire picture if you have more than one layer. It also won't delete layers.
  5. Save options. You can save in three different file formats, depending on your preference. If you don't really care how you save it, go with JPG. Its the simplest, as far as I know.
  6. Join/Copy. These relate to layers. Pressing "Join" while a layer is selected joins that layer to the one directly below it. Pressing "Copy" while a layer is selected makes a copy of that layer and places it directly above the selected layer.
  7. Opacity selection. While a layer is selected, use this bar to increse or decrease its opacity. Making a layer less opaque means you're making it more easy to see through. Play around with this to create fog affects, for example.
  8. Layer selectors. You will start off with a single box like this. This represents one layer. To make more layers, press the little icon there that looks like a piece of paper. This will make a new layer. If you want to delete a layer press the trash can. If you don't want a layer to be see, press the eye. Unlike in Photoshop, layers are totally transparent by default until you draw on them. Only the parts you haven't drawn on will be see-through still. Use layers in conjunction with the opacity bar to trace roughs!
  9. Layer designations. If you're not familiar with Photoshop and other programs these bars will probably confuse the hell out of you. If you are familiar with Photoshop then you'll know that designating a layer as "hardlight" or "softlight" will get you different effects with colours and light.

On the right-hand side of the paint window you will see a long bar. The top half looks like this:

  1. Colour selection. You can make any colour you want using this colour map. In the top, left hand corner you will see a tiny cross. Move that over the map to select a colour. Lighten or darken your selected colour using the scale bar directly below the colour map.
  2. Alternatively, you can also use these four (4) bars to select a colour by using the computer colour code of red, green, blue, and black.
  3. This shows whatever colour you have selected to draw with at the moment.
  4. Paint mode. If you're familiar with Photoshop, this bar works to make different light effects. Its a bit more complicated than that but I'm not very familiar with it yet to properly explain.
  5. This area shows what size paint brush you're using. The defaults are different for different tools. For the pencil the default is one pixel but for the spray can and paint brush its 12 pixels. Pressing "custom" brings up other options, like sparklies and such. Use the arrows to the right of the box to increase or decrease the size of the drawing tool you're using.
  6. Pallet. You can use a pre-selected set of colours from the pallet if you're in a hurry. Just click on the colour to select it.

On the lower right hand side of the paint window are tools. They look like this:

  1. Pencil row. The pencil is the default tool. You can also draw shapes and lines. From the left: pencil tool, line tool, square tool (empty middle), circle tool (empty middle), square tool (filled middle), and circle tool (filled middle).
  2. From left to right: S-tool (makes cleaner curved lines), paint bucket (fills an area with a selected colour), copy box (copies a selected area and allows you to move it once), Moving box (I honestly have no idea what this is supposed to do...), vertical move box (moves a selected area vertically in the direction it was highlighted), horizontal move box (same as the vertical one, only moving horizontal).
  3. From left to right: Canvas moving tool (moves anything on an entire layer all at once), text tool (use this to type in text into your work), box selector (select a specific area to work in), lasso, magic wand (both act the same as the box selector), colour dabber (use this to select a colour that you want to work with again from your work)
  4. The next two rows contain mostly types of brushes to draw with. From left to right: pencil, paint brush, spray can, eraser, and the last two I don't really know.
  5. The first three are tone selectors. They create an effect that looks like a comic book effect. There is a 1/4 tone (the lightest), a 1/2 tone, and a 3/4 tone (the darkest. The hand is the smudge tool and the drop of water is the water tool.
  6. Masking. I'm not familiar with masking so I can't help with that.

Troubleshooting

Why does the paint window not load for me?

Sometimes Java needs a kick in the pants to get loading. If you're using a Mac I find scrolling the window once helps load the paint window. If the actual drawing is slow try closing other applications on your computer (if they are on) or using "simple mode" instead of "full mode". The speed of the actual drawing window can also be affected by the kind of computer you have.

I pushed save and the browser told me the picture was saved but it didn't automatically take me to the window that lets me name my picture and put a comment in.

This happens a lot sometimes. If the browser has told you the picture has been saved then it has. To put in the rest of the information just exit out of that window and return to the main page of the oekaki board. Go to your picture and hit "Comments!". It will now let you name and comment on your picture the same way.

I saved my picture and now it shows up really tiny on the main oekaki page. Why?

This depends on what format you save your picture in. At the top of the paint window there are three buttons. They appear to the right of the "clear" button. These are "AUTO", "PNG", and "JPG". The standard format for saving your picture is as a "JPG". This is a common picture format on the internet. Saving your picture as a "JPG" will retain its working size. However, saving a picture as a "PNG" will shrink your picture when it is displayed on the main oekaki page. The file itself, however, will not be resized. The picture in it's original size will still be viewable if you click on the "Comments!" button.

The board ate my picture! ARGH!

Sometimes this happens. There is nothing that can be done. If you can, screencap the image and load it elsewhere.

Tips and Tricks

Tracing Roughs

If you want a cleaner, more polished image, try sketching out your image on one layer. Then, make a new layer above that one. Take your sketch layer and set it to a lighter opacity using the opacity bar (if you don't know what I'm talking about, scroll up and read my How-To section!).

Setting your sketch layer to something like 20% means you can still see your sketch but makes it easier to draw over even in lighter shades or colours.

Simple Colour Effects

Using the opacity bar can also create effects like sunset colours.

Draw out a picture and colour it in. Then, above all the other layers, make a new one. Use the paint bucket and fill the entire area with something like a orange colour. Then, use the opacity bar and set that layer to something light, like maybe 20-30%. Play around with it to get the effect you like.

Colouring in Pictures

Once you have an outline of a picture you can colour it in on another layer. Because all layers are transparent by default you can take the layer with your outline on it and create another layer below it and use that layer to colour on. This way you don't have to worry about ruining your outline.

Avoiding Muddy-Looking Pictures

If you think your pictures look too dark or too black, use colours other than black to shade. Use a darker version of red, for example, to shade something red. For highlights you can make a new layer above your drawing and set it to something like "hardlight" or "softlight" and make highlights. This will create an effect unlike if you were to use just white.

Shading, In General

If you're tired of using the smudge tool to blend things in, try using straight lines or do what I do:

Block in the colours of your picture. Then, go in with colours a shade darker or lighter to shade or highlight your picture. Then, get your pencil and make sure it is at 1 pixel. Choose either the original colour or the colour you used to darken/highlight. Now, go over the area where the original colour and the darken/highlight colour is. Eat away at the area very gently until you get a kind of sketchy/pixelated effect. Practice this to get the effect you really like!

Also, you can use tones to shade.

Experimenting with Colours

Remember! You don't need to use black to outline! Try a brown and you may get a more natural result to your drawing. Also, remember that some colours correspond better with others.

Complimentary colours are colour pairs that make one another brighter. These include red and green, purple and yellow, and orange and blue. You can use variations of each colour inthe same manner. So you can use yellow ochre against violet and so on.

Making Your Backgrounds Work

Sometimes a background to a work can make or break a picture. If you emphasize your background too much you will ruin a picture.

Remember to make sure that whatever the focus of you picture is to make that part stand out. You don't want to draw a picture of a nice girl only to have her overwhelmed by the background of atree in your work.

To help, try using colours in your background that compliment your focus. For example, if you have a girl in a pink shirt try using a greenish-yellow background of grass or something and a light blue sky.

Anything Else?

Probably the best way to get really good with oekaki is to practice a lot and study others' work. You'll learn the most this way.

If you've got a tip or something I need to correct in this page, please email me!

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Disclaimer: The "The Legend of Zelda" game franchise, plots, characters, and their likenesses © Nintendo. All other content is the sole intellectual property of Louisa Roy unless otherwise specified.