How Do You Outline Very Dark Skin?

[noeinan]

Hello, all! So, I generally outline all my characters in just black, and lately I've been drawing some very dark skinned characters. The problem is, when I color them the black lines of their face or hands kinda get absorbed into the skin tone-- making it hard to tell their expressions and poses.

So, any suggestions on how to help these lines stand out more? I've tried a few things, like matching the eyelash color to the hair (looked awful) and making the lips a lighter color (sort of worked?) but feel like it still needs some more work. Any advice you guys could give is greatly appreciated!

Here's one such character, for reference:



(She's not shaded yet, and I will eventually do that, especially to give her hair more oompf. This is for NaNoRenO, so making all the sprites in flat colors first in case I run out of time.)

[Fungii]

I can read the lines just fine on my computer, even on the lowest brightness.

What I think is the problem is the contrast between the skin and the hair; it's very bright. My eyes are straining to intake the stark orange that it kind of blurs the skin into a lump of black.

What I'd suggest is that maybe not having the skin so dark. Up the saturation + luminance a bit and it should balance out where it looks just as dark but it's obviously no, and easier to read.

[noeinan]

I can read the lines just fine on my computer, even on the lowest brightness.

What I think is the problem is the contrast between the skin and the hair; it's very bright. My eyes are straining to intake the stark orange that it kind of blurs the skin into a lump of black.

What I'd suggest is that maybe not having the skin so dark. Up the saturation + luminance a bit and it should balance out where it looks just as dark but it's obviously no, and easier to read.

Okay, so shading the hair and mixing in black would probably help with the contrast problem.

I'll see what I can do about the skin, too. This is actually waaay lighter than my original color choice, as anything darker made her face completely unreadable. XD

[MaiMai]

Thank goodness all my time on Tumblr wasn't for nothing! Here's a very nice, if short post about dark skin and blushing; aside from the useful information about how blushing appears on a dark toned face, you'll notice in that artist's illustration, she's using a dark reddish brown for her lines

http://foervraengd.tumblr.com/post/5064 ... t-show-any
http://helpyoudraw.tumblr.com/image/68292495693 (bigger version of the image; notice the mix of colors in the skin! it's not just local color aka straight up one tone)

IDK what you're going to do for shading, but I hope that post gives some insight on how to approach it when you do it.

[Steamgirl]

You could also make the skin a bit lighter and the backgrounds a bit lighter - that would make the characters look just as dark in contrast to the background, but your outlines would be more visible.

Or, have you tried using an outline that is lighter than the dark character's skin?

Alternatively instead of making the outline black, make it dark blue, or dark purple - something darker than the skin tone but a different hue.

[Sharm]

I think the shading and highlight is going to be the best way to approach this. Lines can be a crutch.

[sendo]

You can also apply Rim Lighting to make the character pop more. This is especially helpful if the character is set against a dark background, without rim lighting or enough highlights, the sprite will blend too much and make it hard to look at.

[noeinan]

Thank goodness all my time on Tumblr wasn't for nothing! Here's a very nice, if short post about dark skin and blushing; aside from the useful information about how blushing appears on a dark toned face, you'll notice in that artist's illustration, she's using a dark reddish brown for her lines

http://foervraengd.tumblr.com/post/5064 ... t-show-any
http://helpyoudraw.tumblr.com/image/68292495693 (bigger version of the image; notice the mix of colors in the skin! it's not just local color aka straight up one tone)

IDK what you're going to do for shading, but I hope that post gives some insight on how to approach it when you do it.

I actually did see that, but on deviantart! Unfortunately, I'm not very good at... coloring and blending colors/shades.

I think the shading and highlight is going to be the best way to approach this. Lines can be a crutch.

But I guess it's time to learn!

You could also make the skin a bit lighter and the backgrounds a bit lighter - that would make the characters look just as dark in contrast to the background, but your outlines would be more visible.

Or, have you tried using an outline that is lighter than the dark character's skin?

Alternatively instead of making the outline black, make it dark blue, or dark purple - something darker than the skin tone but a different hue.

I'll test out the different line colors-- good point about the backgrounds, I didn't think of that.

You can also apply Rim Lighting to make the character pop more. This is especially helpful if the character is set against a dark background, without rim lighting or enough highlights, the sprite will blend too much and make it hard to look at.

I may also give that a try-- though I worry it will end up looking like she's glowing. Irradiated centaur! Haha.

[MaiMai]

I actually did see that, but on deviantart! Unfortunately, I'm not very good at... coloring and blending colors/shades.

I'd say you could use the eyedropper to pick up the dark colors you see in that picture if you want a quick way to choose instead of having to figure it out.

Also a real life reference to see how dark skin looks in real life is a good way to start thinking about shading/highlights as you start to learn.

[noeinan]

Thanks again, I will try. Up until now I've been more of a flat color, cel shader.

That is one thing I'm worried about, since soft shading is a completely new technique for me and these sprites are for NaNoRenO-- so I might not be able to get serviceable soft shaded sprites fast enough. :/

I'll probably finish a good chunk of the sprites, and then go back to add soft shading and see how it goes. That way, no matter what I'll have basic sprites that can be used, and if I don't have time I can always update the sprites later. ^^

[Endorphin]

though I worry it will end up looking like she's glowing.

Just why would she look like that? :'D

Here's a quick example for you.
I also unified the colours a bit--and concerning her hair, you might want to lower the brightness and saturation a bit (make the actual hair more natural and put the bright orange as a highlight) as it's kinda hard on the eyes at the moment.

Have fun! =)

- En.

[noeinan]

Ah, I misinterpreted it. What you did looks more like adding "shine" on one side as if the light is bouncing off of it. I thought rim lighting was more like this:



But yes, I will definitely be adding some darker details to the hair so it's not just "BRIGHT ORANGE" right in your eyes. The contrast is part of what makes flaxen liver chestnuts striking, though-- they usually have black mixed in with the mane so that's what I'll be aiming for in the "finishing touches." Something like this:







... Although, looking at that now, I can see that I definitely overdid it on the orange. Hrm. I'll need to make it a bit more brown, that should help.

Maybe something like this works better? Based her colors off of the horse in the sunlight instead of the darker ones. Might not even need to do much with the skin at this shade... (Just cruddily filled in colors since I don't have my actual art software on me right now.)

[Fungii]

That looks much better! She still comes across as just as dark and my eyes aren't straining when I look at her hair.

[noeinan]

Whew! Thanks, everyone. Now at least I will have a working sprite in case I run out of time for shading at the end.

[pinkbatmax]

Lighter lines and highlights are a possibility.

I'm also gonna suggest.... no outlines at all. It may take some reworking of your style, but I think you'd find it rewarding to experiment even if you end up not using it in your game.