Pep's Art Tutorials

[melodym3]

http://pepdraws.tumblr.com/

I figured I'd have a thread to post all my art tutorials. If you have a request or questions, feel free to let me know. Hopefully this helps.

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1. Sprite

here's a closer look at the final image:

step 1: start with rough sketch

step 2: work on the rough draft. make sure it's how you like it before continuing. (I didn't notice that her head was too big until too late, so I had to wait until I was finished in order to correct it in photoshop). Flip the image a few times to make sure it looks correct both ways.
If you want to see how I do my rough drafts, I can do a livestream at some point, just let me know and follow my tumblr for updates on when it will be.

step 3: sketch out the design for the hair and clothes

step 4: put the two layers together to make sure they look good together, then merge down for your final rough draft.

step 5: using the pen took (or however you like) in whatever program, make the lineart. If you want a demo of how I do my lineart once again let me know, subscribe to my tumblr and I'll do a livestream for it. I do each section of lineart (skin, shirt, hair, skirt) on a separate later to make other steps easier.

step 6: apply flat colors. I do each on a separate layer to make the other steps easier. For the hair, make it whatever color you want the highlights to be, not the actual shade for the entire hair. You'll see why in a couple steps.

step 7: apply gradients to each of the flat color layers. I like to generally choose a color that's a little warmer and darker than the base for the gradient.

step 8: start work on the hair. I make a layer above the hair gradient and set it as a 'clipping mask'. If you don't know how to do this let me know and I'll make a tutorial. set that clipping mask layer to overlay, then with a soft brush and the color black, begin painting in the hair. I start from the bottom and drag the brush up while lessening the pressure so it fades. This requires a lot of trial and error. the areas you don't shade in this way become the highlights, so don't be too heavy handed.

step 9: This step is a little difficult to explain, but I can show it on livestream sometime. I basically play around with setting in photoshop to get the color brighter/less muddy, then on a layer above the hair lineart (which I make a clipping mask) I apply a gradient similar to the colors in the hair. This gets rid of the black lineart and makes it blend in a little bit. Then on a new layer on top of everything I add some stray strands of hair to make it look more natural.

step 10: On a clipping mask layer above the skin gradient, I set it to overlay and with a soft black brush I start light shading in some of the darker areas of the skin to give it some depth.

step 11: I merge the skin layers together then on a new layer I add a bit of pink to her nose, cheeks, elbows, lips ect. I think darken the shadows.

step 12: Once the shadows are taken care of I go to a new layer above the skin lineart and once again do a gradient of similar colors on a clipping mask to get rid of the black lines with something less noticeable.

step 13: I do the same steps as I did for the hair and skin but this time on the eyes (the clipping masks, overlay, ect). I also add a bit of shine to them on the same layer I did the strands of hair.

step 14: Same process for the shirt

step 15: and the lines of the shirt

step 16: I do the same for the skirt and then I merge everything together and begin the tweak the colors until I get it where I like it. I noticed a little while ago that her head is a little too big so with the perspective took in photoshop I make it a little smaller. Then it's all done and ready to go.

All in all this entire thing took me an afternoon to draw. Good luck and let me know if you want to see more of have any questions!

-Pep

[merdeamour]

*falls down and worships you

Thank you so, so much for this <3

[Duskylli]

Thanks for the tutorial! I'm curious as how you do the clipping mask in step 8.

[melodym3]

Mer: I'm happy to help. I'll do a background tutorial next, whenever I get the time.

Dusk: I can do a hair and clipping mask tutorial on livestream tomorrow (tuesday) night if anyone is interested (est time), just follow my tumblr for updates.

But if you can't make it, in photoshop you create a layer above the one you want to affect, then right click on that layer and select create clipping mask. In sai you create a layer above the one you want to effect then above where it says something like lock layer, there should be an option for a clipping mask, check that box. And you're good to go.

So yes, reminder that I'll be doing a livestream tomorrow night at 7pm (est time) which will include a hair tutorial and then free doodle requests of your characters. Drop by if you can. : )

[nankaimo]

owo this is awesome! I don't think her head looks too big, it just makes her look younger C: !
The hair looks amazing XD if I didn't hate coloring on photoshop I would totally try this out OTL

[melodym3]

Alright since this next tutorial is so large I'm breaking it down into two parts.

Backgrounds: pt. 1

If you need more help, drop by my live stream on Tuesday where I'll be doing a demo and answering questions.

So I needed a background for a template I'm going to use to showcase all the promo character art for my game as I complete them. I figured I might as well make a tutorial while I was at it since people requested to see my process. It's a long one, so get comfy. haha.



Part One= the drawing process

(part two will be on color and is yet to come.)

The final drawing (no coloring yet)=



Open up Google SketchUp (it's free)



3D warehouse -> Get Models



Search for your assets. In this case I'm looking for a tree.



Looks through options



Download model (it'll go directly to your scene)



Place it where you want



Repeat for every item in your scene. In this case: a street, a tree, a fenced in front yard, a house, and two neighboring houses.



There's too much detail in these models and I want plenty of room to make it my own original illustration. So I go to the styles tab...



select whatever option you want, I like the sketchy edges one.



And change it to a marker sketch. this way I still have the lines to get the perspective correct, but not so much detail that I'm making a literal copy of it.




Go to shadows and add them in if you want



as seen here



Now move the camera around to get whatever perspective you want.



And crop it accordingly. Now you have your rough draft!



Now I bring it into photoshop to start the actual drawing. Remember the rough draft is mostly a guideline so the perspective and layout is correct, so don't trace it completely, make it your own!

For the fence I use the select tool to get the front shape



The stroke the selection to get the frame of the fence.



Next I draw the spiked part of the fence since I'm going for a wrought iron look.



and I copy it along the length of the fence, eyeballing the distance.



Same for the other side



And the back. The back fence is slightly lighter gray since it's in the distance/where the direction of the light is.



Add the spikes



using the select polygon tool draw a rough shape for the gate



Select-> Smooth until the top is completely smooth, then square off the side and bottom



stroke the selection



add spikes



add in decorative detail to the fence via the line tool



right click -> make selection. this will turn the lines into a selection



Fill the selection



And there's the front face of the fence, now it needs some depth.



I make a copy of the fence layers



Make them darker and move them to the side to create depth



repeat for all the fences



Now for the tree. Make a rough shape with the polygon select tool



Smooth it out a bit and fill it in



Now I take the polygon select tool again and make a really jagged outline of the leaves, and use the deselect option to remove a bit in the middle here and there.



Select-> smooth



Fill



Repeat the process but leave more gaps in the leave and fill it in with a lighter gray.



Once more but even fewer leaves and even lighter.



Begin on the steps. Once again I use the polygon select tool to create rectangles and polygons to look like steps, carefully making sure the grays correspond to the light source.



Same for the bottoms of the pillars



Using the same methods I continue work on the porch



And the house



And the windows. I changed the bottom floor to bay windows. It's small changes like this that personalize it.



And the other windows.



And the door.



And the sidewalk



And the grass/background.





And that's it! You've got the drawing all finished and the next step will be to color everything. Try to keep things on as many separate layers as possible. I know it's time consuming but it'll make the coloring easier.





To Be Continued...

[melodym3]

Backgrounds: Pt. 2


The Final Version:



After deciding on brick for the main building, I go about creating the texture



and put it on a clipping mask above the building and lower the opacity



On a clipping mask above the now merged together brick wall, I set the layer to overlay and place a brick colored gradient



I take it into sai (but you can do this in photoshop), put a clipping mask above the now merged wall layer and set it to overlay and with a soft black brush I paint in the shadows



I merge those layers together and on another clipping mask set to overlay I apply a light yellow to the highlights, medium red to the midtones and dark blue to the shadows then lower the opacity to 22% and merge it down.



back in photoshop I go to the color balance panel and click highlights and move it a decent ways towards the yellow.



And the shadow tab just slightly towards the blue.




I repeat the process for every section of the picture.








Then adjust the colors to your liking and you're all done!