So I believe it was @CrossdaleSoccer who inspired this project? I think?? Anyway, here's my drawing process! Before anyone asks, I use FireAlpaca :) 1. I always start with a sketch. Typically I use red on a gray background - make sure these are two separate layers or you will have trouble when it comes time to do lineart! I start with a circle and a line down the circle to indicate what direction the character is facing. Once I have the head shape and however much of the body I'm showing, I'll do face/expression and hair (and sometimes clothes) in a darker red or sometimes in another color like blue. Something to make it stand out. 2. I always start with eyes while lining, then do the rest of the face. I typically go eye, then nose, then mouth. As you can see, I've already deviated quite a bit from my sketch. That happens a lot lol my sketches are very messy. 3. Blush lines and eyebrows! I frequently forget to do eyebrows lol but I always put two little lines under the character's eyes and two just above the line that is their nose. Also, if this slide looks off, I checked my reference and realized I was drawing at the wrong angle and had to fix it :3 4. Ear(s) and bangs/front hair next! Ears I just do a little semicircle with a 3 or backwards 3 in them to convey the folds n stuff :) Once we have ears, it's time to start hair. Most of my characters have some kind of bangs just because it's easier to draw for me :) 5. Once I have the hair, I do the chin/jaw/rest of the face. I add any details I need to and erase anything that's in the way so that we're ready for the next part. 6. The next step is to finish the hair. I usually add more lines at the part and end of hair for depth. We'll see more of that when we get to coloring, In addition, this is when I start erasing the sketch from underneath :) 7. I typically do the body and clothes all at once unless the clothes are very complicated. The sketch was just a sweater, which isn't very complicated, so I just did it together with the rest of her neck and shoulders. I usually draw collarbones, because it's fun and I picked up the habit somewhere and now I can't stop myself. 8. Clothing details and a quick fixing of any mistakes I notice or anything that looks weird. I also added a little heart speech bubble because I'm working with an expression reference and thought it would fit. Also, if you can tell who this is just from this uncolored piece, congratulations! You win! Win what? Bragging rights, idk. Coloring: 1. As with lining, coloring begins with eyes. I don't do pupils, so I just fill the whole eye with the iris color. 2. Color in the whites and add shading. To shade, I just take the iris color and on a new clipping mask set to multiply, I color the top half of the eyes. Then I set the opacity to 25% (for lighter eye colors, like yellow or some blues, I'll set it to 30% instead) 3. And now hair! Hair coloring looks complicated but I am incredibly lazy, so my process is pretty simple. Start with a base layer of just the hair color. 4. It's a bit hard to see, nooo! Anyway, get a new layer, set it to clipping and multiply, and start making hair strands. I typically concentrate the strands near the top and bottom of each piece, as well as at least one spot in the middle. 5. Now do the same thing as step 4, but with screen instead of multiply. I've also used add in the past, but now I really only use add for blonde hair. Put the highlights between your darker areas. 6. Now that I have both shading and highlights, it's time to make it look like hair! I use a smudge tool, though blend set to a low setting could also potentially work, to soften and blend the lines. 7. Skin time! Yeah, there's not much to it right now. 8. Skin shading! I always do a blush sort of look using a brush called oil paint 1. I take the skin color to a new clipping layer and use multiply. I put some at the top of the ear(s), just below the chin, and across the cheeks and nose. Then I blend it out. 8.5. To get a proper blush for a flustered or lovestruck expression like this, I use the same process as above in a red or pink shade on the cheeks :) 9. Color clothing. I used a brush to add some texture to the sweater and also colored her teeth bc whoops totally didn't forget to do that earlier lol. Anyway now we're pretty much done, just add a background and a signature :) Hope you all enjoyed, this piece is part of a bigger thing so you can expect that at some point. stay snazzy <3 Character, art, and design by me
