User blog:Freefalling Lilacs/10 Things I've Learned About Drawing a Group Promo Pic

So, I wanted to draw Total Drama Island: For Your Entertainment a new group promotional photo for the page. Seems simple, right? Wrong. I have literally been working on this thing off and on since the end of January. That almost two months, but it's done, and I'm pretty dang proud of it.

Full view this monster if you can. It's kind of huge, and that's after resizing it already.

I decided to go for full shading and to put them in front of McLean Studios, which ... well, it was an exhausting decision in hindsight. I spent so long on this thing that I've created a lovely little advice guide:

10 Things I've Learned About Drawing a Group Promo Pic

 * ... if you don't want to spend two months on it.



1) Don't redraw almost every character into a new pose. If you can get away with cheating and using the poses from their character pages, do it.

2) Don't design characters with asymmetrical hair (ex: Monique and Elena). If you have them facing a different direction than their original picture, you're going to have to have to completely redesign their hair from the new side.

3) If you have a character that regularly wears a full length gown, don't let her ever sit down. Better yet, just don't design a character that wears a full length gown. You'll be looking at reference pictures for days.

4) Don't give your character big, super curly hair like Risty and put her in the center. You will spend a few days trying to figure out how to draw it and get the right texture for it.

5) Plaid and logos are not your friend on characters that will be drawn regularly. Neither are simple looking but surprisingly complicated varsity jackets.

6) You know what, just don't make your character have anything in common with Risty.

7) I don't care if you think it'll look better, don't shade the whole thing. Just leave it at flats for you and your drawing hand's safety.

8) Don't decide to go with a style that's bright and colorful if you're used to a more muted color palette.

9) Don't have them posing in front of an overly ornate gate.

10) Actually, just put them on a blank background. It will save you a ton of work.

... I hope you can tell that this is totally a joke. Don't follow these tips at all. It was actually pretty fun to do, and I totally encourage everyone to have some fun with their cast pictures when they make one! I'm still working on the rewrites of the chapters, though it seems that the first episode is always the hardest.

Feel free to fave this baby over a DeviantART if you have one: link