Lemma Soft Forums

I've recently gone digital with my art XD So far my biggest problem is the lineart, and getting nice clean coloring that doesn't go outside the outlines X_X

I'd really appreciate some concrit for my art. I'll keep updating this thread with drawings.

The one above is the more recent one

Your art has a very nice watercolor feel. In fact, your coloring going outside the outlines isn't much of a flaw, it's actually more of an asset - artistically speaking, of course. Your art might not look super-clean, but it has a dreamy, soft quality that should work wonders if put in the right contect - super-fluffy romantic stories, of course.

If you don't like your coloring spreading beyond your outlines, have you considered making your lines thicker?

Patty wrote:I've recently gone digital with my art XD So far my biggest problem is the lineart, and getting nice clean coloring that doesn't go outside the outlines X_X

I think the reason why you're colouring out of the lines is because you paint directly with a soft brush. Try filling up the areas to be coloured with a hard brush first. Then, when you're shading with a soft brush, do it on a different layer and use a clipping mask so that it will only affect the area that is painted underneath. If you don't understand what I mean, just google "Paint tool Sai / Photoshop"(depends on what you use) and "clipping mask". C:

Taleweaver: I didn't think about making the lines thicker! :O I'll try it! Thank you! ^_^ Hm.. Super fluffy romance stories...

Elze: I paint directly with a hard brush first, and I use the clipping mask. I mean I find it tiring to color, erase the excess... For now I'm making my outlines neater, and abusing Sai's bucket tool C:<

Well personally, i think it's okay, but can improve. First of all, your anatomy is kinda off. D: ithink shoulders a bit more wider, but its okay for anime. It kinda alternates between soft shading and hard shading. Some of it, you can't really see the shading so use darker contrast colors. o-o...there are black lines and colored lines....Personally, I like things to be parallel, but art is art. The line art looks more like a sketch.. but over all that part was clean. Like they have mentioned, the coloring is out of the lines. A bit more highlighting on the hair? It's your style though, make it your own~! xD

Patty wrote:Taleweaver: I didn't think about making the lines thicker! :O I'll try it! Thank you! ^_^ Hm.. Super fluffy romance stories...

The sort of stories that, if they were filmed, used a lot of soft-focus. If you get my point.

I was in the same place as you not too long ago. I had never drawn with a computer before about a year ago. What I do is draw all of my sprites on a transparent layer in black with the line tool in paint.net. Then I fill it in with my colors and use multiple layers with blurs for shading.

Separate layers, like Elze suggested, is the most helpful thing that worked for me. You can delete only colors that are outside of your lines that way.

I finally finished this drawing! Was doing it in between exams ^^;; I tried to make the shading better, and added gradients. Some of the anatomy is probably wrong and I apologize in advance for that. ^///^;;

Some concrit please? :3

tigersmurf wrote:I was in the same place as you not too long ago. I had never drawn with a computer before about a year ago. What I do is draw all of my sprites on a transparent layer in black with the line tool in paint.net. Then I fill it in with my colors and use multiple layers with blurs for shading.

Separate layers, like Elze suggested, is the most helpful thing that worked for me. You can delete only colors that are outside of your lines that way.

This. Separate layers are king when it comes to digital coloring. All line art should be on separate layer above your actual colors.

In your first image it looks like you may have been using the Dodge and Burn tools or similar tools in SAI. Don't ever use those to shade or make highlights, choose different colors and shade with those instead. You should also look at this thread, where I made several posts about coloring that would be helpful to you as well.

LateWhiteRabbit: I haven't been using Burn and Dodge tools. Maybe I just use colors that look kind of bad XP hehe.
I read your post, and wow it was really helpful! ^_^ Maybe I've been playing too safe with colors. I will experiment with colors. Thank you very much

I think one thing you should keep in mind for your future pieces is light source and how light affects the shadows on the figures/people.
For your image with the people with flames, unless those flames magically don't emit light, the light from the flames should affect how the shadows are on the people. For instance, the boy in the front with the orange shirt has a flame around his hand, but also a gradient on his shirt that gets darker towards his waist. However, the light from the fire on his hand would illuminate his shirt near that area, so the gradient turns out looking strange next to the flame. You seem to have kept this in mind with the blue flame/blue sleeve though.

When I first started digital art, I struggled a lot >__<;; But it definitely gets better with more practice! I think you're off to a good start, and as long as you don't give up you can only improve