DAN PALADIN

[ChillJester 0]

Hi Dan HUGE huge fan and i was wondering how do you draw the way you do?

Can you give me some tips i wish i could draw BBT like characters and CC.

Thanks and one more question... What inspired you guys at behemoth for BBT i mean it looks awesome just wish my parents would take me to PAX and stuff but they won't.

anyways thanks for your time

~ChillJester

[danp 520]

hi there - thanks!!

lots of practice, i guess.

but you don't want to draw like me! every time you spend a lot of time making something, someone will say "that looks like dan paladin's work". wouldn't it be cooler if every time you drew something they'd go "oh man that's gotta be Chill Jester's awesome work!"? i think that would be ideal for you.

i don't actually know how to instruct anyone to draw like me, since i just kind of go on autopilot. i can tell you some awesome tools though;

intuos3 or intuos4 6x8" tablet

the animator's survival kit by Richard Williams

what inspired BBT was one of the minigames from Alien Hominid. lots of people would tell us they played that minigame more than AH itself, and we liked it a lot, too. so we decided to base our next game around the same foundation and keep going until it was as awesome as we could get!

good luck!

[Dowitz 0]

lol I asked the same (very similar) question a while ago, never got the answer I was really looking for. Lucky you, chilljester!

i don't actually know how to instruct anyone to draw like me, since i just kind of go on autopilot.

Well there you go, that is kind of how people "teach" others there way of doing things, by simply watching people do it. I learned how to make pretty accurate castle crashers style characters just from watching Dan himself make them.

I warn you though, Chilljester, only do this if you have no experience about drawing and animiating in Flash or whatever you are doing.

Dan is absolutely right in every way about drawing like him. If you haven't, start drawing characters... unique ones! on paper! Don't do it on computer, its much harder that way. Also, once you get the feel for your character, you can expand on it and create a world for it. For me, and probably Dan Paladin, I've spent years drawing the same kind of character on paper (in class, at home) in different poses, costumes, emotions, etc. And if there is anything significant about doing it over and over for years on, its that my character has developed greatly and went through many changes, become better looking (not necessarily better graphics) than it was when I first came up with the design. Don't force yourself to do this, however. Do it when you are bored or really have a desire to create your own, unique character copyrighted by Chilljester.

Cool name, btw. Both of you.

Chilljester, if you look in this topic, you will find almost all of Dan Paladin's working videos. Use them to learn, not copy:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13309

scroll down a bit for the list

WELL thank you Chilljester for getting Dan's attention, thank you Dan for those "tips" (which is actually the biggest help I will ever get). The hardest part about learning to draw and animate is probably getting good help and education.

Also, one question for Dan:

Is there a huge difference between Intuos Medium and Large? I don't want to spend the extra $100+ for a large, but if it really makes a huge difference then I'm gonna have to start pack ratting...

[ChillJester 0]

HOLY CRAP HE REPLIED THATS LIKE.....well... umm... AWESOME! but yeah dan i know what you mean so i guess ill just keep my chin up and practice during math

[habitat1998 0]

when i started flash i was getting crazy that i didnt draw like dan paladin and i always copy there style.

but i didnt work so i started thinking for hours for my own story and style what i can draw always.

but it tooks a long time for my own style i am glad thats over

[Marco P 2]

Hey Dan.

I am a massive fan of yours, and for almost a year I have been copying your style, but, as you said, I am trying to create my own style.

This is proving incredibly difficult. The one thing I struggle with most is drawing from my mind, and it stuns me how easily you draw new things so well. I always have an image of what I would like to draw in my mind, but it turns out awful. Another problem is inspiration. I'm never inspired to draw anything. When I copy your style, it turns out great. But that's all it is, copying. If you have any advice for me, I hope you read this and tell me. You are an incredibly talented artist, and don't stop making the games we all know and love

[cotacool 106]

...

Edited May 11, 2016 by cotacool

[danp 520]

Hey Dan.

I am a massive fan of yours, and for almost a year I have been copying your style, but, as you said, I am trying to create my own style.

This is proving incredibly difficult. The one thing I struggle with most is drawing from my mind, and it stuns me how easily you draw new things so well. I always have an image of what I would like to draw in my mind, but it turns out awful. Another problem is inspiration. I'm never inspired to draw anything. When I copy your style, it turns out great. But that's all it is, copying. If you have any advice for me, I hope you read this and tell me. You are an incredibly talented artist, and don't stop making the games we all know and love

 

Thank you!

 

Having a style is something that normally tends to develop over a long period of time.  You learn how you want lines to be shaped for this and that until eventually you're tailoring them in a flavor of your own.  I never actively sought out a style, but drew a lot.

 

There's nothing wrong with trying to emulate someone else's stuff and riff off it until it melds into something of your own, as many artists will agree.  But I'm not sure I directly recommend it or not, I definitely don't have all the answers since I only went through it once.

 

Maybe think about how you'd want your characters' weight distribution.  Some artists like to give them really big forearms and regular sized biceps.  Some artists give them twig arms with big fists.  Some artists beef them up the whole way, while others have the arm come to a sharp point with no hand at all.  There are all kinds of ways to draw the same sort of character.  Are the eyes high, middle or low?  Are they far apart?  How long is the nose?  Is there a nose?  Is there a neck?  Maybe take a character you really like and experiment with just that character on all different sorts of heights, weights, and distribution of features until you see what other angle you can take it?

 

I never studied traditionally.  All of my friends who have, or the teachers I know that do, I feel uncomfortable around.  I don't even know any color theory, or how to draw someone's face.  They can draw both like myself and realistic.  So I'm definitely more off the cuff than a lot of other artists, not sure if you want to be asking me for advice specifically.  You might want to ask Eric Haddad.  We hired him about a year and a half ago and he knows all this stuff  

[Guest eric]

Thanks Dan, I appreciate the vote of confidence. 

 

But really you hit the nail on the head with "lots of practice" and all I would really add to that is more of the same.

 

Draw all the time. Let me say that again, draw all the time! Keep a sketchbook, push yourself to draw what you're uncomfortable with. Find people who draw well what you struggle with and ask "why does theirs work and mine doesn't", then learn from them. Set goals to be better at something you suck at now. Set goals to finish sketchbooks. Finish sketchbooks. Don't get discouraged because you draw badly. One of my favorite quotes is from an old art teacher named Kimon Nicolaides; “The sooner you make your first five thousand mistakes the sooner you will be able to correct them.”

 

Don't be worried about style. As Dan said, style will come naturally. Or it won't. Screw it. The main thing to shoot for is to enjoy what you're doing. If you want to be "marketable" a style can help but it isn't necessary. Once you learn to draw really well you'll be able to mimic any style you want, just for fun.

 

As to what was said earlier, the hardest part of learning to draw and animate is NOT getting good help or education, it's being responsible for your own education. Dan can talk until he's blue in the face about how to draw (and so can any high paid teacher) but if you don't put the work in to get good, all of his words are useless. Take the time, put in the effort, work hard... draw a lot.

 

Drawing is like any other skill or ability. You start bad, you start weak, then you push yourself and get better. Just as no one can walk into a gym and lift a 300 pound weight without ever struggling and pushing their muscles to lift half that. You gotta beef up before you can pump that business.

 

Get beefy, my friends. 

[Jabatafu 1]

Hey Dan!

I'd just like to say that you've been a huge inspiration to me these past few years. A few years back I fell in love with your drawing style in Castle Crashers and so I started practicing it. Last year my drawings attracted the attention of my art teacher and fellow students. They loved my drawings and I started to get some requests for caricatures in that style. After a while I started a Facebook comic page using this style and have begun to develop my own style out of it. This past year I've really started to find my niche as an artist and it's thanks to your work! 

Thanks for being awesome!!! Zack 

[TURRET_100 110]

what inspired BBT was one of the minigames from Alien Hominid. lots of people would tell us they played that minigame more than AH itself, and we liked it a lot, too. so we decided to base our next game around the same foundation and keep going until it was as awesome as we could get!

good luck!

 

i knew it!

[squidster75 1]

Hey Dan,I have been liking your style of art since the first game and have followed Behemoth's games because of it from Alien Hominid-Battle Block Theater.I don't want to be the guy to ask you but I have the chance so.....

 

Are you able to tell us what the new game is or at least what ideas are being thrown around because I sadly have completed BattleBlock Theater and don't really have anything to do anymore,so it would be nice to have some hope for a new game!

[yugo657 450]

Necro post guys

Edit: never mind, I'm not sure anymore now.

Edited June 24, 2013 by yugo657

[IndustrialKnight 889]

Necro post guys

Edit: never mind, I'm not sure anymore now.

I dont think half a month is a necropost. Is it?

[yugo657 450]

Necro post guys

Edit: never mind, I'm not sure anymore now.

I dont think half a month is a necropost. Is it?

Yeah, I was just wondering because of the 2 year interval between 2 posts.

[Cpt Deluxable 44]

what inspired BBT was one of the minigames from Alien Hominid. lots of people would tell us they played that minigame more than AH itself, and we liked it a lot, too. so we decided to base our next game around the same foundation and keep going until it was as awesome as we could get!

good luck!

 

i knew it!

Yea i heard many people like them so they got ideas off of it.

Edited June 26, 2013 by Cpt Deluxable

[Jurassic 36]

I've learnt that you should always start off with a transparent background of what you'd want. Then make a new layer and start slower drawing over it with a thin brush. I personally think it's easier for me and i've watched some of Dan's "Creating [bla bla bla]"

And i've seen thats what he initially does too. Either way i've been practicing and i've had stuff like this: 

[MeltedCow 229]

Haven't seen this one before.

[Potatofarm71 81]

Dan Paladin has to be my favorite artist, ive started getting into the CC art style, any tips?