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Creating a Clean Outline
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Tools used:
Photoshop 7
WACOM Intuos
4x5 (1st edition)
There are many
ways a clean outline can be derived using computer software, such
as Photoshop, or using real media, such as ink. Hopefully, this
tutorial will be useful for those who prefer ethier one.
:3
If you prefer
not to use a digital tablet to draw with, you can find the alternate
version of the same tutorial here,
although I would suggest to read both.
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Starting Out (Drawing with
a Tablet)
| Probably the
toughest part of drawing a picture is deciding what exactly to draw...I
just start sketching (in Photoshop) until something vaguely resembles
a possible picture: |
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Wow! Isn't
it incredibly ugly? Not too fear though, the initial sketch should
only be used as a template to get the general idea of the pose,
and to check proportions.
Next, I create
a new layer above the sketch, to refine the features. The underlying
layer should be of low opacity so you can see your new sketch easier.
I also like to change the color to blue for even more varience between
the two layers. While drawing the second sketch, it's a good idea
to flip the the sketch in the opposite direction once or twice;
it's much easier to to find something wrong. Don't worry about adding
too much detail:
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| Well,
I guess it's gettting there...I can't see anything blatantly wrong,
so I guess it's time to draw the finished outline. What I like to
do now is enlarge the second sketch substantally to around 3500 pixels.
The larger the outline, the better it looks when it's shrunken down
to a viewable size (600-800 pixels). I also changed the color of the
sketch to a light sky blue. I like to use a soft brush 5-9 pixels
in width with 100% opacity and 80% flow for final inking. |
| Here's the finished
sketch. If you using Photoshop, you can simply delete the underlying
sketch layer. |
| Don't worry
if the lines are wobbly at 3500 pixels,
when you shrink it, it becomes much smoother. Time to add color :3 |
| I then determined
where my light source should be, which was from "our" left,
and I also colored the outline: |
| Yes,
I know the outling process is fairly tedious (for this picture, it
probably took longer than the entire coloring process), however it
pays off in the long run. I have drawn well over 200 finished pictures
in the past four years, but only a few from the first two years still
exist online. After examingly why I still (sort of) like the few remaining
older pictures I have left, I realized that the outlines had remained
strong, most from the result of cleaning them up a number of times
before adding color. Hopefully someone might find this useful ^_^; |
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