After a little bit of a layoff, idrawdigital returns with a Tutorial Tuesday post – this time we’re going to learn about developing a character sheet featuring a series of different action poses. By creating a character sheet, you can always refer to it while you’re drawing your digital comics to ensure that your character design is consistent from every angle. Click here to continue…
Welcome to the second half of Tutorial Tuesday! Drawing hands and feet has been the bane of a number of budding artists. Even some professionals skirt the issue of drawing these parts correctly by conveniently hiding them behind other characters or placed items such as rubble, machinery, etc. Click here to continue…
After a March Break week hiatus, I’m back and ready to roll out two (2) drawing tutorials for you! For our first session on Tutorial Tuesday, I’m going to show you some basic Facial Expressions you can apply to your characters in your digital comics. Here we go! Click here to continue…
It’s Tutorial Tuesday yet again, and this week we are going to look at facial features. This tutorial will focus on how to examine and draw parts such as the eyes, nose and mouth when you’re drawing characters for your digital comics. We will begin each facial feature by reviewing a real life photograph sample and the pieces involved in developing each part. Click here to continue…
It’s “Tutorial Tuesday” once again at idrawdigital. This week I’m going to show you how to prep and draw a simple base file in Photoshop to create your own character turnarounds. These sheets are absolutely vital in keeping your characters looking consistent from all angles. By having this handy reference, you’ll be able to compare it to your current drawing for any inaccuracies. Click here to continue…
Going back through the archives, you’ve seen and read about ways to develop your own comics. In this post, I will be showing a group of videos on how other artists create their print and webcomics. Some have commentaries, others are tutorials. Many of the techniques I have mentioned in earlier posts apply, with the artists personal workflow methods injected into the core process.
Here are a few examples:
This first video is done by EXTRA LIFE webcomic creator Scott Johnson. He talks about how he developed this particular webcomic strip about the joys of late Christmas shopping. Scott offers a number of time-saving tips while he discusses certain aspects of his process during this time-lapse video.
In this three-part video series, Brett Lamb from LessonBucket decribes the process used in creating a Frank Miller “Sin City” noir-styled comic book. The process is very easy and effective for creating a comic book, using mainly photo reference and Photoshop techniques. There is no actual drawing involved, but this style works if you are looking to create something hand drawn and are wondering about the effects of light and shadows.
This quick tutorial by master illustrator Jay French shows you how to plan out a panel layout and sketch simple blocked in characters prior to creating a full blown comic.
The tutorial by Xia Taptara of idrawgirls is an advanced tutorial which requires a bit of drawing skill. This is more of a commentary while drawing rather than a step-by-step tutorial. Xia shows you some techniques using construction lines and poses.
From the DVD based on the best selling book “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way” Stan Lee and artist Jim Lee explain how to draw individual parts for characters in comics – foreshortening, perspective, musculature and process are all explained.
I hope you learn something new from this series of videos. I’ll be back with some written tutorials later on in the week to add to your knowledge base. Until then, check out some of these other tutorials from the archive.
In this previous post about drawing backgrounds, I wrote about their importance and how to apply them to your comics in order to add further detail to your stories. Without some kind of defining background (whether its a colour, abstract linework, or a beautifully rendered scene) your foreground characters will just appear like they are floating in dead space with no purpose. This quick tutorial will give you a few more advanced techniques for backgrounds, and how to keep a nice big library for use at a moments notice.
If your comic is set in the city, amass a folder filled with reference shots in the city. Skylines, high and low angle views, rooftops, sidewalks, interesting buildings, street scenes, traffic, etc. The more reference photos you have, the better. If your comic is set in the wilderness, you’ll want trees, mountains, lakes, rivers and all sorts of natural vegetation. Separate these files into folders based on location.
You may find yourself seaming two or three photos together in order to get the right look for your scene. Using photo editing software like Photoshop allows you to alter your images in order to create the basic background you are looking for. Here’s some basic tips on how to do this:
Using the transform tools to warp, skew and twist your photos to fit can save you a lot of time trying to figure out what the structures would look like on an angle. Save time and use photo reference where necessary.
Once you’ve set up your photo reference, merge your layers together.
Reduce the opacity of that layer to 40-50% so you can see what you are drawing over.
Your work area should be somewhat transparent.
Now, proceed to trace out your background on a separate layer. Use a variety of different brushes for increasing line weight and creating depth.
I prefer to use a bright colour such as a lime green or a bright red. This shows me where I have traced – using flat black can lead to some problems if the photo below has a lot of dark patches (like the night scene in this example.)
Once your background has been traced out, use the black and white filter to convert your colored line to black.
The Black and White adjustment has a number of options to convert the color on your layer to black and white – choose ‘Maximum Black‘ in the settings.
Adjust the sliders in the dialog box until you have found a dark black that does not lose any of its edge fidelity (gets jagged or too blurry) and click OK. You have converted your background line art into solid black.
With all of these background files for use in specific situations, you will have an easier time keeping a consistent look to your setting, as well as saving time. I most of your story takes place in a certain area, reusing and modifying the line work is much easier than redrawing it all by hand. This helpful set of shortcuts will make you comics process way more efficient.
Tune in next time for another how to draw comics tutorial from idrawdigital. Check back through some of the previous articles for tips on color, inking and pencils.
You’ve seen them a million times, and in many circumstances, they have helped create that perfect touch to the setting within the comics you’re reading. Backgrounds seldom receive much attention, but are vital part of adding depth and mood to your comics. Here’s a few pointers on how to develop the right backgrounds and make your comics more realistic.
I can’t stress this enough when you’re trying to develop a scene, use as much reference pictures as you can. Build the scene in your head and in roughs before you commit to putting it on paper. Some of the best reference pictures come from stock photography sites – they’re free to browse, and you can often save low-resolution ‘comp’ photos for your photo library. Here are a number of stock photo resources I’ve used for building backgrounds.
Getty Images
Fotolia
istockphoto
You can also rummage through Google’s image search option as well. The results aren’t always the greatest – but sometimes you can come up with user-based pics that can fit the bill better than a stock resource. Remember, don’t try to take these photos and repost them as your own – that isn’t cool – nor is it legal!
Is the frame a birds-eye view or a street-level view? Do you require one, two or 3 point perspective to get your idea across? Where are your characters standing? Is this an establishing shot? Do details matter? Is the focus on the foreground or the background?
These are all questions you should be asking yourself prior to working out your composition. Having these all answered will make background drawings very easy. Sometimes, all it takes is a mere blend of colour or simple linework to get your point across. Other times, you need to have immense detail in order to build the mood or add depth to the story.
Establish where your horizon line is, and your focal points. From there, build your images according to the focal points – remember that the horizontal lines lead towards the focal points, and create a sense of depth. Practice this with photographs – determine where the focal points are, where the horizon line is, and how the lines in structures and objects all lead to the focal points to create depth.
Kevin Hulsey has a great primer on perspective drawing here.
Simplified, or extremely detailed… the choice is yours – and its dependent on what mood you’re trying to evoke. The important part is to plan it out first.
As mentioned before – perhaps your comic relies on a lot of details in the backgrounds to increase realism, or it is important to advancing your story – or maybe you don’t require as much emphasis on details, and simply use backgrounds to give the viewer a hint of the setting, and allow them the imagination to fill in the blanks on their own. Depending on your style or inclination, background detail is important.
Every leaf, every lily pad, and every blade of grass has its purpose. Its a visual stimulus and the way to establish an exact location and a moment in time.
Fantasy art often relies on intricate backgrounds in order to visually demonstrate the differences between the ‘fantasy land’ and the land we are accustomed to seeing. This detail is necessary to help immerse the viewer into the world that the artist has envisioned.
In these two frames from Kapow Express by Xia Taptara of idrawgirls fame, you can see the simplicity of the backgrounds. Its the interior of a noodle house – with some characters milling about in the background – but as you can see, its merely some blends of soft tones and some hazy silhouettes behind the main character. The emphasis is all up front, yet the feeling of being in a dark, seedy environment is achieved.
With colour and inks, your background can take a new life of its own and set a dramatic stage for your story – in this pin-up of Captain America – the rooftops are clearly rendered and the details of the buildings are quite intricate – window panes with reflections, dilapidated planks on the wooden water towers, concrete bricks with mortar in the spaces – these elements all add to the overall piece and visually guide the viewer along. With colour and ink work, the background comes alive and enhances the mood – even though its a subtle, drab and dreary shade of grey/blue… We can sense that is probably dusk or close to a night-time hour. We know we’re in a big city (possibly New York) and there is a general feeling of foreboding and mystery. The viewer receives all this information from looking at ONE panel with no descriptive text. Just a super hero hopping across a series of rooftops.
The background is what completes the story here.
In stark comparison, here is Captain America again, running towards the viewer with a look of urgency on his face. If you look at the image overall, it is quite powerful – there is a feeling of strength and intensity. This is due to the emanating action lines and a red wash tone applied to the background. Simple, yet extremely effective at building a mood.
Now if you eliminated both of those backgrounds, all you would have is Captain America running towards you – but add in those backgrounds and their subtleties, and there are two totally different moods achieved. Backgrounds are absolutely essential in trying to build momentum in a story, or establish location, feeling and general ambiance.
Think carefully as you are plotting your comic – make sure you pay attention to the importance of a solid background image or color/linework. It can make or break your overall presentation.
So you have a WACOM tablet. Now what?I see a lot of people out there who are talented or aspiring artists looking to get into the digital drawing world and are overwhelmed because they have absolutely no clue where to start. I’ve scoured the internet looking for a pile of easy to learn tutorials for beginners looking to get their feet wet. These tutorials are also decent for intermediate users who need a refresher or some reinforcement from some key fundamentals they may have forgotten along the way.
This next informative tutorial comes from Kevin Hulsey, who shows you how to set up your tablet and stylus through the settings and preferences. The examples shown are for an Intuos tablet, but the settings panels are roughly the same for the Bamboo and Cintiq.
This DeviantArt video tutorial by user Lucky13 explains the concepts behind Tablet sensitivity and Pen Pressure.
This video tutorial by Terry White shows you how to set up your pressure sensitivity options and the explains the integration of the Tablet into Adobe Illustrator and how to use these options to your advantage.
This tutorial by Dr Diablo at the Republic of Code will shows you how to setup a Wacom Bamboo on Windows Vista and configure it to run well in Adobe Photoshop.
This tutorial shows Tablet users how to ink sketches with varied line weight brushes and coloring techniques within Photoshop. Make sure you watch both parts of this tutorial for the basics on how to achieve great results in a digital comic-book style rendering.
This drawing technique is a time lapse video from Jeff Finley of GoMediaZine. He goes through his process of creating a skull drawing based off a reference photo. Pay close attenton to the brush settings and the techniques (you can pause and rewind as you see fit!). You may want to turn down your speakers – the music may be a bit much for some.
WACOM has a section on their site dedicated to basic tutorials to get novice users well on their way to using their Tablets in Photoshop (or any other graphic editing program).
Roberto Campus explains how he used Adobe Photoshop and a Wacom Tablet to paint a character from the new videogame Bioshock for GamePro Magazine. His walkthrough gives you an overview on how to use texture in digital painting.
And there you have it. These starter Tutorials should get you set up and ready to tackle your illustration goals. If you’re new to using the Adobe Illustrator, try the Illustrator Pen Tutorial in conjunction with some other tutorials to build up your skill. Practice makes perfect!
I’ve gathered another set of wonderful drawing tutorials from around the ‘net. Each one focuses on a particular aspect of drawing and style. Check them out!
This is a good tutorial on understanding the scope of the complete process from a pencil sketch to a finished digital rendering.
Adroit Designs Illustrator Tutorial
Don Benni Photoshop Tutorial
Here are two different tutorials (one for Illustrator, one for Photoshop) that achieve the same end result – an awesome rendering for a sports car.
A quick and easy tutorial on how to draw Japanese Koi fish – a traditional symbol of good luck.
Even though the holidays are over, you can adapt the process shown in this sexy holiday pin-up tutorial to create an interesting composition of your own.
Learn how to transform a photo of yourself into a digital drawing using Illustrator.
Here’s a simple tutorial showing you how to go from doodle to digital in 10 steps!
