Sketchbook Punk girl

Random sktech using Prismacolor™and Copic™ markers.

Are you Nuts?

Daily Sketching

I'm gonna try to keep a daily sketch for as long as I can. I have to force myself to do this. There will always be a reason not to do it.

And that just won't do.

Coffee Shop Sketch

I did this one as a warmup for my Gabby sketch. Warming up is really important, I bet everyone who draws has experienced a better set of art lines after 4 hours of working.

Dropper avatar colors

Dropper by Dropper

Damn, almost 2 months after finishing the inks. Talk about a small delay. Well, better late than never.

These are the previous posts of the process:

 

Digital Art Process : Nadia

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine asked me for a commission for her boyfriend. She wanted a comic style portrait of the both of them, and she wanted it as soon as possible, since the dude was returning from a trip in just a week. Normally that would have been plenty of time for a job like this, but I had another project due to that very same date. Time, my old arch enemy was at it again.

Since I had to do it in just a few couple of hours I opted to do the whole thing digitally. I could have done it traditionally with the old pencil and bond paper, I could even have used my newly constructed Light box (which I will tell you all about it later) but, due to the circumstances this was a perfect opportunity to test my recent learned skills in Manga Studio Ex 4 (which you can see in this). So here is the process that I usually follow:

1. Sketch

After the description of the client, the first thing I do is a quick sketch establishing the general position of the characters, in this case my friend asked me for them both to hold cooking instruments in one hand (supposedly this dude cooks like iron chef) and hugging with the other one. This was already the second sketch for the piece since the first one was rejected. Normally I use a blue and red pencil for the initial lines. In Manga Studio I used the Pencil tool in a blue color.

2. Refined Sketch

With the overall sketch authorized I go further with the details (face, clothes, hair, props, etc). I draw on top of the blue lines (as a guide) making finer lines using the Pencil Tool with a black color. Once I have them ready I send them again for authorization.

3. Art line

Usually I try to be objective with my clients and draw them as similar as I can with the comic book style. This is where I have fun, because I tend to draw them super hero or super heroine like. After a couple of little changes here and there I finally have the artline ready for the inking stage.

4. Inks

This was the part where I enjoyed the most of the whole process, because the art becomes solid and very much stands out. I try to respect the thickness of the original lines and use as much as the original pencil art line as I can, redefining and being consistent with how I'm intending to do with the next stage, which is the coloring stage. I used the Pen Tool for most of the curved lines and the Magic Marker tool for the straight lines. Here is where Manga Studio Ex 4 really stood out from the other softwares I have used. It really emulates the traditional tools, with the digital advantages that comes with it (hello multiple Undos).

5. Color

The last stage it is also very fun and challenging at the same time, because you have to decide, which coloring style you are going to use, if you want to give it a comic book style of coloring or a more painting style, or a cartoony style, it all depends on what you have to offer and what the client wants. Here I opted for a Paint style because that is what I'm trying to get better at these days. Color was done in Photoshop CS5.

Everybody has differences on their methods, but basically this process is pretty much it. Of course the more you do it the better you get at it, and I must say that this would have never been possible If I didn't used Manga Studio Ex. This was the first commission (or for that matter the first piece ever) done by me 100% digital. It really saves you time and steps (in the traditional way I would have to make changes on the original artwork and scanned the drawing in order to color it). I recorded myself during the whole thing, so I will post the video later on together with a quick review of the software.

Art Jam Sketching

Just a quick sketch I did while at Starbucks in an Art Jam with a friend. I think her eyes are kind of big, but I don't really mind. Still trying to define a style experimenting.

Also I will try to make it a custom to organize this art jams. It was so edifying to talk with another artist and exchange so much stuff.  Besides it was just a ton of fun.

Hands on: Sketchbook Pro

A while ago, when I was looking for means to digitally improve my drawings. In this journey I came across some very interesting software mentions in a couple of different blogs and podcasts. Of course there was always Photoshop and Painter as top artists choices to acomplish any task. As my investigation continued, I began to hear (or read rather) some other alternatives to those programs that not many people know about.

I was watching a live stream of Scottie Young, amazing artist that you should already know, and someone asked him what software was he using.  -"I do most of my sketching in Sketchbook Pro "- he said. He can produce some serious art with that software, it most be worth the watch. So I got it as soon as I could and started to use it with my Wacom Tablet. These quick sketches were actually my first attempt to digitally ink anything at all.

They suck I know.

Needless to say it takes a while to get used to the program, but it can be of great assistance for several reasons. It feels very natural, very real like pencil brushes, as well as other tools like the marker or the pen brush. I have seen it been used on the creation of concept art for cars and other vehicles. I have used it in the creation of logos, and some cartoon characters. 

Here are some other examples of things done in Sketchbook Pro, after using it a few times, it gets easier.

 

And of course, the crown jewel is the Legend of Zelda Tribute, but I can't show you that one just jet. 

It is a good software overall, I haven't fully explore it yet but I recommend you to check it out if you can, you might find it useful for the daily sketching. It just occurred to me this moment to make some video tutorials trying out all the different programs that I use to sketch of to make final art. I think it could interesting.

Character design

(Continued from this Post) Alright, so I was on my way to create a universe based on a very cool story. It's only fair to say that the story was not mine, but I had complete freedom in the creation of the characters. When designing a character, the first thing that you must have is the complete profile, which is the description of his or her or its phisical traits, as well as their personality and relationship to the story.

There was a fair amount of research needed in order to make an original interesting and original creation. From the type of outfit to the weapons or looks, you have to investigate what new traits you can contribute so the characters are fresh and exiting in new ways, and not another Wolverine or another Spawn.
In my case I used the Internet (obviously) to find out what I needed. From the different types of knives for the main character, which is a werewolf hunter, to military and pilot uniforms, F-22 airplanes and of course Dragons, big badass dragons. There is always something exciting to learn about everything, even if the story is not entirely based on reality, research is a fundamental part that reflects on your artwork.

These are the initial sketches exploring the outfits and weapons of the Hunter, some different kinds of dragons and the bad guy, a big ugly demon. First time I show some of this sketches btw.

 


 

Daily Sketching

Where are my shoes!?

Sketching is a very important part of any artist's life. It doesn't matter if you are a well seasoned artist or you are just starting, it is a discipline that should not be overlooked. When you skerch, you are letting yourself absorb the world around you and interpret it in your own way. I'll tell you, I know it can be difficult, sometimes there is the desire to do it, but either laziness or simply the "insert your excuse here" gimmick plays as a art blocker. Once you start doing it I'll assure you it pays off. It's kind of learning to buckle up the seat belt.  You get used to after a few times and it becomes less and less of a hassle.

Dropper avatar Inks

Hello.

After the pencils (digital pencils at least) I got really hyped while listening to some very cool podcasts which I will mention later. Color version coming soon. Looking good.