#I like how I can make the blending brush be anything on procreate

[redslug]

Coloring tutorial I guess

That's my most default shading style, a hybrid of line drawing and painted shadows, and I'll tell you exactly how to get this look. But before we start, you need a weapon This is my main brush for basically anything, including line art on days when I don't feel like switching to something actually intended for inking. It's a lightly textured square brush with color variation on every stamp. Intended for Procreate but you can always just rip the alpha texture out of the file and use it for a brush in any drawing program. That out of the way, let's go. I'll use the same line art as the one in fluff tutorial. Set the line layer to ~60 or so opacity and get to blocking in the base colors of your character. The jitter brush will introduce some color variation on it's own, but changing the color occasionally will add more visual interest.

After this I add a multiply layer on top and dab orange or red in places where we might be able to see the base of the hairs or peek at the carapace underneath.

It's places where hair parts and where it's shorter. This accent color works great on joints as well. Example of the thing I'm going for in real life:

Especially visible behind the head. It's not present on every moth to be fair, but I like to add these accents even where it wouldn't make sense, just because it looks nice. Even on insects without hair. Block in the eyes and mandibles now, best if it's on separate layer.

Now, the actual funny tricks begin. If you're one of the people who only use multiply or add blend modes, stop it, get some help Understanding the math behind blend modes is gonna get you a long way. My lineart is set to subtract more often than not. I find it produces juicier and more colorful results than multiply. I want to give this picture a warm orange feeling, so the color of my lines should be the opposite - blue.

And, subtract.

Perfect, but not quite. We can push the lines to an even softer feeling. Take the line layer, copy it, invert the color and set to multiply. I then throw gaussian blur on the resulting copy and reduce opacity until the lines bleed into the surroundings just a little bit.

On to actual shading. People who shade without getting in some background first scare me, so let me throw something together real quick.

A simple gradient will also suffice for this use. We just need some information on which colors are present in the surroundings. Copy your background, bring it on top of your character layers and gaussian blur it real hard. Set it to multiply, remove all parts of the layer that go beyond the pixels of the base color layer. Adjust opacity until the character fits in the background.

Let's identify the light sources. In this case it's only the sky, but it produces two distinct colors - soft blue lighting comes from the top, slightly stronger red comes from behind. The blue light I set to exclusion blend mode because it felt most appropriate in this case. Both add and screen looked too strong to be the light coming from such dark sky.

In this lighting context the lower part of the body will receive less light that the upper part. I use the green of the bushes set to multiply to darken the bottom.

The character is surrounded by all kinds of soft light, but it can't get everywhere. It's time to add ambient occlusion, or contact shadows, for those without a 3d background. Anywhere where there is a crevice or surfaces almost touch, a soft shadow will form.

I do it on a multiply layer with a neutral gray-green color. Gray because any color light isn't really getting in there and green because the fluff is somewhat transparent and whatever light does pass through it gains a greenish hue.

Last step, red rim light from the fading sunset behind the character.

Since it's rim light I just work with normal blending mode. Setting it to add or something of the sort would make the rim light brighter than the source of the light. And it'd be odd.

And that's it. I usually throw on some post processing in Snapseed. Pull some curves, throw on a bit of grain, etc. But it's a topic for another time.

In conclusion, try to think about the environment more when shading. What route does light go through to reach where you're coloring? Did it reflect off of any colored surface? Did it pass through something transparent to gain a different hue? What color shadow would this ambient lighting produce? Go have fun with your colors now.

[mseden-fries]

Someone asked me a question earlier, but it wouldn’t let me respond to it so I’ll try my best to sum up some of the things they asked me. they asked me about my comic making process. I should be honest I’m almost a complete amateur. I wanna say I’m self-taught, but that’s not to take away from all of the YouTube videos and tutorials that I’ve watched online. Somehow I just ended up putting them together and into what I have now.

To start off with I almost always try to write my script first. after the script, what’s most important to me is the expressions on the characters faces. I think more than anything that gives me the best direction to my writing. As you can see with my first image, sometimes it can be as simple as just drawing stick figures this just gives me a directional idea of how my paneling’s gonna look. I’d say on average. I do up to three drafts the first draft direction. The second draft is a better idea of that direction and the third draft is all the cleanup so it’s ready for line art 

I usually separate my characters by specific color. This is so when I go into color, it’s easier to see which characters need what.

You can call me a bit of a cheater, but I like to use closed lines when I draw my characters. that way I can use a reference layer to just fill in the colors instead of having to do it manually or using my magic wand tool. 

I also utilize the pallets on Procreate to pick their colors

When it comes to shading, I like to use multiplayer layers and erase out the lighting. I might use some ambient lighting here and there with a dark pinkish purple this is going to depend on where your scene is taking place, but since mine is an alleyway, my multiplayer layer is at 40 opacity. For the characters, I usually use my syrup brush to blend in some of the less harsh shades. When it comes to my backgrounds, I like to use my glowing brush to erase out the lighting.

I still myself have a hard time drawing backgrounds I struggle to find where to put my characters in place some people find it easier to draw the background first and then the characters and although I do agree, that’s easier to establish the shot, I need focus on my characters. So what I usually do is draw my characters in a box and then draw that box in a space and that space becomes my background.

 I play around a lot with the Procreate effects that they have I use a pen called, burst for dramatic feelings, like a burst of energy or a burst of emotions I might use a comic dotted layer for something more comedic or action based. 

When it comes to brushes, I use a pencil for the sketch, a gloaming for the shading and syrup for the outline. Those are the main pens I use and everything else is effects. 

My organization isn’t always the best either, but this is how I usually do it. Panels and bubbles are at top, including the special effects like for example if I were to write the word ‘shake’ If Helga was shaking or blush, if Arnold was blushing, this would be in the bubble layer.  under that would be panels under that would be characters and in that folder I would have line art, then lighting and shading then color and that follows the same formula for background. 

This is a general breakdown of what I do in my comic, and I couldn’t say at all, but I hope it gives you an idea of what I do. again I’m no professional and you should take all my advice with a grain of salt. My best advice is learned by doing I think if you looked at my first chapter and saw my latest chapter, you’ll see my improvement and my paneling in my expressions in my establishing shots and in my color shading. So if you wanna make a comic, just make it and learn as you go, your first one isn’t gonna be a banger more than likely but it’ll be the best learning experience, in my opinion. If you guys have any questions, I am an open book! Feel free to ask me anything.I stream on my TikTok when I make my comics so if you want to watch the process, you’re more than welcome to tune into that but I’m not gonna lie. It’s a bit tedious to watch 😂 I’m @eden_fries on most platforms.  

[swollenbabyfat]

Hello! I saw you were taking asks about anything (with bonus pictures of Mr. Haku?? bless) so I was wondering if I could politely pick your brain about your illustrative process. I've been tearing my hair out over rendering practice lately and your studies always blow me away. I know you've had some training and I think we both use Procreate, so I'd love to hear about how you use layers and/or layer blend modes, but also general process, thoughts, tips, etc. hope you're well, have a nice day :-)

Thank you so much for the ask and kind words!

I don’t cross promote it as much as I should probably but I upload a lot of speedpaints to YouTube, such as this study that might be helpful. Depending on how complicated the piece is, I’ll either break it down by putting shapes down (typically darks first) or do a more formal sketch if I don’t think I can easily eyeball it. After the sketch, I do an under painting on a layer below the sketch, set the sketch to multiply and then I render everything on one layer. It really depends on the brushes you use, but I prefer to build opacity slowly with a brush that doesn’t blend, lowering and upping the brushes opacity as I see fit. This creates a more complicated, kind of glowy effect that I think works particularly well for skin rendering.

I’ve been exclusively using leatherwood under “artistic” in procreate recently. You have to use a pretty big canvas to make it work (I’m usually working on 8000px+ 300dpi) but I really enjoy some of the unpredictability of the brush, makes things feel more natural. Not sure if I altered the brush at all but if there was a multiply or stabilization on I turn those off always, basically.

As for layer modes, I don’t tend to use them a ton for paintings except maybe for maybe throwing a slight multiply layer to bring tones down if the key gets too high. I’m more likely to mess with curves and color balance to experiment with color. I do this especially for my lined illustrations, I use layer modes also for them too and just go to town trying a bunch of stuff. My tip for this is to duplicate your file, flatten everything, duplicate your flattened layer and just mess with it until it feels right. Color editing to this degree is kind of new to me, but since I’ve begun it’s really upped my game I think.

Before/after color editing. I know sometimes people think of this as a cheating tool in digital art but honestly that is a silly take to me.

I hope this answers some of your more specific questions. Thank you again!

This post is already long as shit so Mr. Haku under the cut

[your-unfriendlyghost]

Hiiii i just saw your Outsiders/Christine art and HOLY SHIT. When i say my jaw was on the floor it was on the floor. I’m a huge Stephen King fan (I’ve only read his books bc to me his books are good enough. I’m not a huge horror movie watcher girlie but i can do thriller/horror books. I have like 8 of his books, including Christine, on my bookshelf) and once again: HOLY SHIT. I can lowkey see the Outsiders trio as the Christine trio. Now whenever i go to reread the book, i can’t view it the same anymore haha. Another Outsiders/Stepehen King art idea for Halloween: 11/22/63. It’s one of my absolute favorite Stephen King novels. And if you haven’t read it, highly recommend it. It’s so intense and entertaining and i do get lost in that book. Anyways, HOLY SHIT. But i was also wondering if you have any tips for beginner digital artists? Like on layers, line art especially, shading etc.? I really want to get into more digital art but my tradional sketches lowkey look better than my digital ones haha. Whenever i see your stevepop or Outsiders art it just gives me a boost of inspiration. And i love them your honor.

Woah, thanks!! I’ll have to check it out- so far I’ve only read Christine and The Body (because my dad’s obsessed w/ Stand By Me), but I really dug both so I’m looking forward to it!

And as for digital art tips, I guess I’d say to keep things loose! I like to use a modified version of the Shale Brush on procreate for my sketches and lineart because it resembles a pencil, and the rough messiness makes it a whole lot easier for me to just relax and draw the way I do on paper. I don’t shy away from messiness especially in digital art- it makes things flow better in a medium that can get really stiff sometimes.

I like to do my sketches in bright colors, and I tend to assign every subject a certain color so I can tell them apart easily (idk how helpful it is, but it works for me!) Then I lower the opacity and draw on a layer on top like this:

Then I turn off the sketch layer and either fill everything in with base colors, or color it in grayscale w/ this Copic marker brush and varying levels of opacity for my comics.

As for shading, I do a combination of cell shading and painterly shading (picture for the uninitiated lol). Both have their merits, and shadows in real life usually include a bit of both.

For more simple stuff, I take a shade of either purple or sometimes magenta and cell shade everything with this pencil brush on a multiply layer, usually set to 30-ish% opacity depending on the drawing. Then I’ll blend it out a bit to soften some edges, which is what makes it look painterly. Also if you don’t know, “clipping mask” layers are really helpful for shading! You just put the shading layer over the colors and it stops you from going outside of the colors, it can be super helpful. This method is the one I usually use, and the one I’ve been using since I first started about five years ago now.

For the Christine poster specifically though I mostly just kept everything to one layer and color dropped from the reference, altering the colors as I saw fit- and just sort of guessed for Evie because she’s way tanner than Leigh and needed her own colors. The only times I used different layers were for each individual character so that they didn’t mess each other up, and also for the sketches, which I put on top of the colors but lightened the opacity on. Idk that I’d recommend this for a beginner tho, it’s taken me years to get comfortable working like this!

Sketch is set to a multiply layer here too. You can’t see it super well here tbh, because of how dark everything is, but oh well. Here’s a study I did last year with the same method tho! (Also she’s got some similarities to Evie huh?? I guess I have a type lol oops)

Anyhow, that’s probably enough for now lol- but lmk if there’s anything else you wanna know! And obviously this is just how I do things, there’s no hard and fast rules for any of this- I’m making it up as I go along, and you should too!!

[foolsocracy]

i wanna know how you learned how to render, it's so yum 😞💔

thank you!!! I'm glad u like it. I can try my best to explain my process but its very much a 'feel it with my heart' experience. This is gonna be long and incomprehensible but I'm gonna try:

If we're talking about the (above) garth & baby arthur jr pic or the bloody pete pic, I'd say i started to actually render like that in maybe high school art class (they were much worse then ofc because i have years more practice now)? Obviously my process now is different than it was back then, but before I actually started physically painting canvases with acrylics I usually just did line art and color without the blending-painting pizzazz.

Thats actually where I get my weird random interspersed colors in my coloring as well. Acrylics dry super fast and a high school art class is like 45 minutes so I'd have to totally mix a new pallet the next day. Not that I couldn't color match, but its annoying and having variations with colors or just mixing something up to fill in gaps looks neat if you get it right. If it looks bad just paint over it, but its worth it to try.

My process with these is almost exactly like my non painterly rendered ones, just with steps after. Also, you can get away with a lot when not fully rendering, but when i do render PHOTO REFERENCE is to die for. Specifically for the lighting. I can't emphasize this enough. By the time i'm done with a drawing my search history should be like "knees. Knees sitting. Knee anatomy. Harsh light photography. Curly hair. baby. J. C. Leyendecker new year baby" + 8 pictures of u doing whatever pose you're trying to do.

Anyway, the process for me is usually: vague sketch > carve out the lines/neater sketch > flat colors > basic shading/rendering > color adjusting sketch lines (usually from black to dark red) > collapse everything into one layer & get to WORK

I know the 1 layer thing is scary, but thats life. Its easiest to adjust things that way (for me). No need to worry about layers and blending modes cause its all right there. I usually duplicate the layer the drawing is in before I start on something crazy just to reassure myself that if I fuck it up I can go back. So a lot of the time my layers in procreate are progressively more rendered stages of the piece lol.

Now that Im here trying to explain this im blanking on how to actually express it. Lets see. I can run through some general stuff:

For both of those artworks (baby & pete) they're 100% made with HB pencil on procreate (a default brush! I've never downloaded any new brushes cause im lazy). I actually made a brush explanation for someone a few months ago I can put that right here:

hopefully those are readable. sometimes tumblr flops lmk if my writing is illegible

the eraser tool is your BEST FRIEND!!!! The way I get my lines and shapes and whatnot is by making big ass strokes and then erasing until whatever I'm looking for reveals itself. Here's a video of that process from the aquababy pic. Ignore the jerky pauses lol. also there's the reference photo!:

rendering itself is really hard to describe. Basically just throw color at it until it works out. (just tried to add a video but tumblr says only 1 video allowed

I hope this is helpful somehow! Just threw a ton of stuff at you. If you want anything more or the actual video or smth just let me know!

[dreemurr-skelememer]

Hey! I love your art so much and was wondering what brushes and/or art programs you use, I'm an artist myself and am just genuinely curious. Sorry if this is a strange ask or anything... I don't use or get on Tumblr too often. Thanks for reading this ask and have a good day/night. (This is my first ask to anyone I think)

hey!!! i use Paint Tool SAI 2!

as of the moment (which means i constantly change it) here is my main doodling/sketching/lineart brush:

my coloring brush: any hard edged basic brush will do, you can also use the bucket tool or the lasso tool, it's simply for coloring

my blushing brush: i blend this brush out by switching to transparency (making it an eraser) and lightly tapping the outside of the paint! (sai users, do this by pressing C on your keyboard. lifesaver been using this shortcut for years) it's versatile, i love using it for gradients

marker brush (usually for ecto): i use this brush only when i want to paint ecto (which i don't do often) but you can use this for other purposes too! it's not my favorite, not even good enough for ecto imo, because my sai 1 version is much better i blend things out the EXACT SAME WAY as the blush brush so please keep that in mind!

a basic brush im testing out for shading purposes: it has a little bit of texture and is made for baaasically cel shading but slightly softer and has the tiniest bit of color mixing

blending brush i barely use and don't actually really like that much: i'm still testing out blending brushes that i like because i can't find one that i like that isn't just blurring colors together or making them muddy when mixed together. if anybody has suggestions, PLEASE let me know! anything like a procreate or csp blending brush that can be recreated would be great

and finally, my rendering brush: it's basically a basic hard edged brush that can pick up the smallest bit of color i use it to clean up and add final touches by using the drop picker often and over the entire artwork

ofc, change anything to your preferences. that's how it goes these are just the settings that work for me :) this also goes for the program LOL i know sai is not for everyone (but it's my baby my bestie my 5ever so like this is about ME)

i have an in-depth post about my CSP brushes and how i work with them (and i don't really ever use csp unless it's a big piece so it's not changing anytime soon) if that's what you have or prefer

my #ref tag is also a treasure trove of my old settings over the years if you'd like to see those too

[scwambledeggs]

hey egg, hope ur com grind is going well :)

have you ever thought of doing any tutorials? Ur art style is super cute I'm so jealous kskskksskjk

Thank you!! <3 :D Also i get this question alot, and i havent answered bc im unsure how to do a tutorial, but!! I'll try! <3 I'll start with a list of brush packs I personally love! I use Procreate on the ipad :3 *100+ Manga/ComicBook Brush Set for Procreate ($4.99USD) *Ghibli Inspired Brushes 2 for Photoshop and Procreate ($8.80USD) *Sinix Procreate Set (Free) And, not a brush pack, but one of my favourite resources! *3D Posable Skull Ref For sketching/lining, I like to use a square brush! I like the sharper edges :3 I don't really line anything anymore, I prefer cleaning up sketches. While cleaning up, I like to clean up the edges as well, manually adjusting line weight. You'll see what I mean in this speedpaint here! (mild flash warning)

For my rendering, i block out my shading (i try to use colours complimentary to the bg colours, or one's that compliment the character's colours!) Shading set to Multiply and lighting set to Add or Colour Dodge! And then I use the syrup brush (in the default inking brush set) to do my blending. I can't rlly give any real tips here, I just try to make my brush strokes work with the curves of the pose ^^; I also don't try to clean up my brush strokes, as I prefer the messiness of them :3 I'm still learning more about art, myself, and I frequently try to watch tutorials when I can! I highly encourage artists of any skill level to freshen up with tutorials from time to time! Here's my personal playlist:

My works are incredibly inspired by the following artists, as well! They deserve all the love in the world, and I wouldn't be where I am without them :3 Fivel , Purrmaows , MilkQween , ItaParu , ActuallyRea , TwistCMYK , Lushminda , Moowsie (Jim Davis as well!!)

I'll try to post more in depth stuff regarding my work in the future, like posting speedpaints and progress shots! I hope all this makes sense aaaa :'3 <3

[taqoou]

hi, your art style is so cool!! i love it

as a beginner artist, i was wondering if you had any helpful tips for procreate or anything? the art world is kinda daunting lol😅

thank u so much!! ive been feeling down ab my art so seeing this in my inbox was like a sweet treat LMAOO 🎀

so back to the q…. im afraid i dont have any mind blowing tips. its normal to feel overwhelmed as a beginner, but everyone starts somewhere! i say familiarize urself with basic procreate shortcuts (loads of tutorials online) and always play around with their settings! it should be helpful for the learning process along the way.

for eg ermm i used to abuse the gradient maps settings to pretend i know shit ab colouring 😭💀 i still do tbh, except now i understand how it actually works and i can easily get the colours that i want.

some of the things i learned:

1. cool lineart (i always use this as a part of my render process)

2. art is subjective, pick any that you think suits your preference/is fun to use

for brush, do you prefer it round or textured? lots of pressure sensitivity or none? i like my brushes textured and with a good amount of pressure sensitivity. for blending, do you prefer the transition colour to appear smooth or textured/messy? i sometimes mix between both to give a sense of harmony, but i like it textured more. it all comes down to what feels right to you. pick a few artyles that you like and incorporate it into ur own! pretty basic tip but thats the best way that i know. just pretend ur a mad scientist trying to find cure for like cancer or sumn

3. personal opinion: brush type matters

dont listen when someone says the type of brush u use doesnt matter. yes you can draw with any brush. yes all brushes work the same way 🤯🤯🤯. but theres gotta be that ONE brush that just hits the spot for you, as if its made specially for Your Hands….. unfortunately theres no shortcut to finding Your Brush. it took me 4 years of endless experimenting to find mine.

if ur curious on what brushes i use, i have it listed in my carrd. however i still experiment a lot and dont rly bother to update it, but those should be what i use the most/my top favs !

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

i dont think this covers everything, but this is all i could think of from the top of my head. just lots of trials and errors really, and dont be afraid to make a mess!!! i hope this answers ur question :33 all the best!

[lazybakerart]

Hi sara! do you have any tips on how to transition from traditional art to digital? I’ve downloaded procreate and have been using it for a few months but i feel like my progress has stunted :,DD any tips or advice would be super helpful if your comfortable!

heya! i'm no expert, but!

be patient with yourself!

try out different brushes! all of them! procreate comes with so many (one of the defaults is my favorite~). if there are artists online you like, see if they mention/link to the brushes they use

(also you can create your own group for brushes, so if you have favorites or brushes you use often, group them together! it makes finding them so much more convenient)

blend modes! one of the great things about layers is being able to use the blend modes to play with color

speaking of color - since this is digital, whatever color you lay down can be changed, so play with colors. fool around with the saturations, either by pumping them up or dimming them down or just move the hue all over the place and see what new color scheme excites you~

if you're using a lot of layers, try minimizing the amount you use, force yourself to commit to your lines/colors/the direction you're going in

make sure your canvas is big enough! if you're drawing in too small a canvas, brushes can look blurry

if you draw only people, maybe try out drawing landscapes or animals - and if you don't draw people, draw people! the point is to draw something different than what you're used to

textures! you can apply texture images onto your art with the blend modes

fuck around!

digital art is great because you can mess up and control-z your way out of a mistake or you can change your colors and completely alter the vibe of your art. if you do line art, you can try out painting without having to spend a bunch of money on paints - lay down those colors on top of your lines. and if you do painting, why not try out some cool inking brushes and see what line-art can offer.

there's so so much you can do with digital art. if you feel like you're in a rut, try something different. a new style. a new brush. pick a bright color scheme. do grey scale! i know that's the go-to advice, but just like draw more, it's true.

i hope this was helpful! if you want anything more specific, i'm here for you~~

[snake-shifter]

K I need some help from experienced procreate users.

I’m trying to make a brush and I want the shape to blend into an outline of the shape, instead of the shape repeating itself, like this:

(The one on the right was after I erased the inner sketch)

Does anyone know how to do this? Or have any recommended videos/articles that can help if it can even be done? Anything helps tbh.

[ambrosialdesire]

how much more does csp slap than procreate? wanna know if i should buy it

hmmm i haven't used csp pro as much recently cause of how busy i am, only for achelous's banner and the new references for my ocs, but if you're currently using procreate or any other drawing app that doesn't have a complicated-looking interface, the interface and controls for csp can be difficult to understand. there's kind of a learning curve to get over, i had to look up a youtube tutorial on how to edit the interface to my liking when i first bought it lmfao but the brushes are SUPER nice with all the different textures, and the blending is so interesting to learn how to use since i rarely use the blending/smearing tool in procreate cause i have a difficult time understanding how to use it. the pieces i made so far come out crispy clear on my phone when i send it, which is personally amazing cause i always zoom in and inspect each little detail to see if i missed anything. AND YK HOW IN PROCREATE WHEN YOU BARELY ADJUST THE LINE DURING TRANSFORMING, IT BLURS TO SHIT???? IT DOESN'T REALLY DO THAT AT ALL FOR CSP, THAT SHITS GENUINELY A BLESSING. also i found out how to kinda use the 3d models, so i can do more dynamic poses AND practice my anatomy. genuinely, i really find csp quite an upgrade from procreate due to how many features it contains, BUT i still enjoy using procreate.

i don't have csp on my ipad and as much as i want to for accessibility purposes (i don't have the ability to bring my drawing tablet on me all the time + the wires are a hassle to set up, just imagine setting up in public when you already don't like being in public spaces for a long time, esp with what you draw 😭), you got me immensely fucked up if you think i'm doing a subscription instead of a one and done payment like procreate and csp on my laptop. procreate is mad convenient, i can doodle whatever i want with it, even while taking notes at the same time if i am using it for notes. i use gumroad to find most, if not all my brushes and it's so fun shopping for them like the csp brushes. i'm also super used to how each brush i use works cause i've been using it for nearly 4 years now, and ik how to work around certain elements to my liking, esp the liquify tool cause the liquify tool on csp lags and sometimes does not "listen" to what i'm trying to do with the drawing. i feel like procreate is sorta beginner friendly for digital art, ik other people say otherwise cause it is pretty lackluster compared to other professional digital art programs, but that's just what i think. also i like speedpainting process videos, i just watch them whenever i want to and remember what i was thinking or feeling during a particular moment in it.

all in all, i heavily believe that it's just personal preference on what feels the best and works right for you, because i went through many different drawing apps/prgrams before i finally settled on csp, procreate, and sai (on occasion lol). you also gotta make a heavy financial decision on csp if you're choosing to do either the pro or the ex version, but i'd wait until the discounts come out again if you choose to purchase csp. i think there's the free trial for csp to see if you rock with the interfaces/controls as well before settling on one or the other ‼️‼️

i ain't a big professional or particularly nit-picky on what i think is overall the best, i simply love making art with whatever media i'm using 🙇‍♂️

[littletroggo]

first, it's already a great start! it looks so cute :3 i have a bunch of tips and tricks, and i broke them down into similar categories. bit of a warning, i'm self taught, so how good/helpful these will be is uncertain

set up

this is all the boring stuff before you actually draw. the main thing is make everything easy to access for you and streamline it, so you can focus more on drawing than fiddling with settings

pen pressure setting: procreate has a universal pressure sensitivity that i recommend playing with until you find what works for you. for example, if you find you struggle with getting darker strokes, move the line a bit to the top left. the default of a linear curve from bottom left to top right works just fine though. for reference, these are my pressure curves (the right one is from a different software)

i don't recommend copying mine from the left since it's to make drawing darker without much pressure since i have tendinitis

canvas size and resolution: honestly the "screen size" preset is pretty good for anything. you can also change the canvas size and resolution once you're in, so if you realize you need something bigger or smaller, it's an easy fix. my general rule of thumb is at least 2000px for the smallest dimension and at least 100 dpi. my default is 2480 x 3508px at 300dpi, and i downscale it to about half the size at 72 dpi for posting because the files are too big. if you notice your lines look a bit "jaggy" and it's not from the brush texture, that's pretty good indicator that your resolution/dpi is a bit too low

shortcuts and gestures: highly recommend putting anything you notice you use a lot as a gesture or in the quick menu which i think is tap and hold by default. this can be actions like flipping the canvas horizontally or switching to the eraser brush

brushes: anything goes! try out a bunch and settle on a couple that are your go to's. this also applies to brush settings. tweak settings to your liking! if you didn't already know, you can have preset sizes and opacities on the slider by tap the slider and then the plus icon. if you're lost, there are only three main brushes you'd need for anything: a hard round brush like monoline (caligraphy), a pressure opacity brush like round brush (painting), and a soft airbrush like soft brush (airbrushing). the main reasoning is that you can get the variation for hard and soft edges for anything.

technical tips

these are more for tricks specific to digital art than the "how to draw X" kind

liquify: need to make small adjustments like moving the nose, but you don't want to redraw it? liquify is your best friend! it's under the magic wand/adjustments setting. liquify also works on multiple layers

reference window: under the actions setting and canvas, you can toggle the reference window. by default it shows a small version of your canvas, but you can use it to put a picture to use as reference. very handy when drawing a character! (side note: you can also color pick from your reference by tapping and holding over the reference)

flipping the canvas horizontally: also under the canvas tab is the "flip horizontal" action. it does what it says on the tin. it's benefit is that flipping the entire piece sorta refreshes how you see it. the oddities jump out more since your eyes got used to seeing it in its normal orientation

layer effects and blend modes: by default, every new layer is a normal layer, but you can change it to one of the many different types. there are way better explanations and tutorials explaining what each does, so i'm just gonna go over the ones i use most: multiply: it'll make what's underneath darker using whatever color you use. it's best for applying shadows quickly add: it'll brighten what's underneath with the color you're using. i like using it for bright highlights or lighting, but it's often too strong to my taste, so i lower the layer opacity afterwards overlay: it's kinda like a tint for what's underneath. if you use a blue overlay layer, everything will have a bluish tint to it. i use it to quickly change the setting (sunset, night, etc) and to add the bluish hue to the bottom characters and a yellowish hue to their faces

post processing: these are the fancy effects done at the very end to add the extra cherry on top. all of these are under the adjustments tool. the first four let you change the colors after the fact. again, there are much better explanation than what i can provide, but my go to's are: noise at ~5-8% and for more finished pieces perspective blur and chromatic aberration at ~3-5%. none of these are necessary. i just find them fun to use

foundational tips

these are the general drawing tips not exclusive to digital art

references: references are great! whether it's for poses, outfits, settings, or the character themself, references make drawing much easier

construction: everything can be broken down into simpler shapes, and by building off of simpler shapes, it's easier to notice and adjust things compared to something like a fully drawn face. what guidelines you choose to use are entirely up to you. as long as they're helpful, that's what matters!

stop to think: sometimes, it can be really easy to get lost in drawing and go on autopilot. slowing down and trying to draw with intention often helps to combat drawing what you think you see vs what you actually see

resources

marc brunet has been my resource for learning pretty much everything

emiliodekureart has amazing tutorials on drawing figures in movement

marco bucci has amazing tutorials on painting and lighting

chommang has easy to follow tutorials on drawing various faces and poses

proko has phenomenal and in depth videos on fundamentals and anatomy

i hope this helps! this was very long, and i hope it wasn't overwhelming or anything

I love art. I love doodling. Sketching. This took me under 3 minutes to scratch out on my tablet…but getting past this point is so hard for me!

I use Procreate on my iPad … to my fantastic, artistic peoples…what are some tips and tricks (and maybe some YouTube videos) you use that can help a newer digital artist??

[ellohcee]

I recently found out about you and your selkie story! And two questions: can you do a tutorial of the rain and sea and did the girl cried 7 tears in the ocean to summon her selkie girlfriend like in the legends?

Alrighty I don’t often make tutorials so I will do my best here! (Working in Procreate for these shots)

First I use a large solid brush to block in the water, and then I start the wave with any brush that has texture and variation in opacity. I tend to do a more solid block first, but not so solid that the foam will look unnatural, just enough to plan out the look and path of the wave. Then I use a similar or same brush on the smudge tool to both pull it out, away from the direction the wave is traveling, and also towards, again for variation. I don’t smudge the front of the wave to keep the look of sea foam being pushed towards the shore, I don’t want it too soft looking. Myself personally for stuff like this I really like the watercolor maxpack by Max Ulichney, but there’s plenty of great options in just default brushes. Anything that’s more painty looking, again, the textured brushes really help. Lots of options in the painting and artistic brush categories.

Next I add some smaller details, where the foam breaks up and disperses behind the path of the wave, as well as some variation in the color of the water, and blending it in to the solid base color to soften it. And then the spray where the foam is rolling and breaking, you can use any spray paint brush, or anything that looks like paint flecks! Rinse and repeat, giving some variation in size of the waves, as well as how “even” the flow of the water is. Like some parts of the same wave will reach shore before other parts, instead of hitting in one straight line.

As for the rain, I believe when I did that comic I used the standard spray paint tool and then a motion blur. Not the most elegant looking rain but it’s easy and you don’t have to draw a ton of individual rain drops~

And as for your question on the story, I actually hadn’t been thinking of any kind of legends or established selkie lore! The unspoken part of the story is basically the selkie hears the crying of the girl on the pier and comes to investigate. She asks what’s wrong and the answer is kind of “everything,” and the selkie offers a change, that maybe ocean life would be better. And I don’t know if selkies can turn humans into selkies but I decided they can, enter the good old “sharing magic through a kiss” trope and hooray! Selkie girlfriends!

[mjulmjul]

hey! i am consistently in awe of your work, i genuinely adore it (I’d love to get prints of some of your pieces if that’s available anywhere 👀) but im writing to ask abt your technique and brushes! Im new to digital art, and i wanna create the sort of effect you make and i cannot for the life of me figure out how to do it! you have these strokes that look sort of like charcoal but also paint? also refracted light???? idk what program u use or anything and im just a noob still learning how to get the most out of the brushes that come w procreate, but even if you’re using a different program and stuff, I’d love to see if there’s anyway i can translate that effect somehow to the tools I’m using. It’s really cool stuff!! im sorry if you’ve already answered this somewhere 😅

hey! ok first off take anything i say with a grain of salt because 1. i'm self taught 2. there are many many ways to do art, there's no One Right Way. experiment and settle on what works best for you!

atm I basically only use procreate on ipad with an apple pencil.

I've compiled the brushes I use most into this post click here, I'd say download some sets and try them out! this seems to be a bit of an unpopular opinion because I regularly see advice to stick to the basic brushes however if you were making traditional art you wouldn't unnecessarily limit yourself to the cheapest brushes/paints either (assuming you could afford everything), so. go ham.

the main technique I use is a pretty common one where I use a big textured brush and then use a base color layer + clipping masks (you can google how to use these) or selection tool to get sharp edges. so I'll make a selection of the shape I want to paint and then paint within that selection. i often do this with light strokes and/or the brush on lower opacity so i'll keep texture. if you look at concept artists on instagram you'll see this technique used a lot too :) 'edge control' is a term to google to find more about hard/soft edges and how they'll improve your art!

for the light, even for digital art I would very very much recommend james gurney's book 'color and light' because it teaches you almost all you need to know about, well, color and light, and you can apply these principles to digital art too. it's well worth the price but if you can't afford it then there are perhaps some copies to be found online ;) for the actual method in procreate, I like to use layers on the add and screen blending modes, sparingly, and NOT with white highlights but with the actual color of the light e.g. yellow, blue-ish, etc. for stuff like wings, it's usually multiple layers stacked on top of each other!

(i am not organized)

as a final note i will add that i painted traditionally for years before starting digital art, so i do think that'll have influenced my approach in a couple ways because i basically took all that knowledge and methods into digital rather than starting from scratch.

[not-xpr-art]

Art Advice #4 - A Beginner’s Guide to Digital Art

Hi all!

This weeks entry into my Art Advice tag, where I offer various advice for artists of any skill level, is about digital art! Now, I am by no means an expert at digital (I’ve been doing it for nearly 8 years at this point and that is almost entirely self taught), but I have picked up a few pointers in that time which will hopefully help anyone just starting out!

(this blogpost is a little over 2000 words long btw)

A Beginner’s Guide to Digital Art 

I know that the world of digital art has changed drastically in the 8 odd years since I started, but I’d still say that some of the options I started out with will be just as good for anyone who’s starting out now! 

As always, I’ll be splitting this into sections to make it easier for you to navigate this post!

Part 1 - Equipment/Hardware 

There are a lot of drawing tablet options on the market at the moment, and I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about half of them lol. But I think for a beginner, don’t worry about going for the most expensive option, even if the reviews are really good or your favourite artist uses it, especially if it is way above your budget! 

An important thing to know is that there are two types of tablet. One is the plug-in kind. These are essentially a pad which you plug into your laptop or computer and draw on that whilst looking at the screen (they basically work the same way as a plug in mouse works). The other kind is the screen variety, which is a lot more like what most of us know as ‘tablets’ nowadays. And you draw directly onto the screen. 

(a plug-in vs on screen tablet, both from Wacom)

Now, as for choosing between these, it is honestly a personal choice. But I’d say if you’re just wanting to try digital and you’re on a budget, a plug-in tablet can be really useful since it gets you used to the mechanics of what digital is like, and they are often significantly cheaper than the screen alternatives. I would say that plug-in tablets are a big learning curve, especially if you’re used to doing traditional stuff, but I do know a lot of professional artists who still use this kind of tablet when doing their work, so if it’s something you can get used to I would definitely consider it! Also, they’re often a lot more portable than some screen tablets! The first one I had was a Huion (a model so old that I can’t even find a link to it now lol), and I also know that Wacom are a well known brand that do some decent plug-in tablet. I’d recommend you do your own research on other brands and options, though!

Screen tablets are often a lot more expensive, but if you’re used to traditional art, they are a lot easier to get a handle of! But I know if you already have something like an iPad, or other general use tablets, then they offer apps that you can use to draw on (as well as things like the Apple pen, or other stylus’). The big difference between using these general tablets and ones specifically designed for drawing is pretty much purely a personal choice. I personally prefer the bigger screen of my XP-Pen tablet, along with a special screen protector that removes the shininess of the tablet screen and makes it feel more like ‘paper’ over when I used a general use tablet it draw. But if you already have an iPad, or something similar, then it’s honestly a really great starting point!

I think it’s important for me to mention that you don’t need fancy equipment to be an artist. The incredible Elicia Donze has revealed countless times how she has very basic equipment but still manages to produce the most stunning artworks! All you really need is some kind of drawing apparatus and a lot of patience lol! Getting good at any kind of art takes a lot of time and effort, but I would definitely say it’s worth it when you’re able to look back at your progress!

Part 2 - Software/Drawing Programs 

Much like with the hardware discussion, choosing which program to use is entirely down to personal preference. I personally have never really liked Photoshop purely because it’s really complicated, but I know so many artists swear by it. 

I think the main aspect to consider when you’re starting out is whether you want to pay for a program. Software like Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint and Procreate are some of the popular ones I hear about a lot of people using, but all require you to purchase or subscribe to them. So if you’re young or on a very tight budget, I’d honestly recommend the free alternative versions of these, such as Krita (Krita is quite a large program, but it has a lot of really awesome features and is very similar to Photoshop!), Gimp (this one is similar to Krita, but has slightly less options, I’d honestly recommend Gimp for anyone who does photo editing though!) or FireAlpaca (this is the one I use, by the way and it’s a pretty simple program, but has a lot of fantastic features and is perfect for how I work!). These don’t have as many features as some of the paid alternatives, but I honestly think all you really need to start digital art is some kind of ‘canvas’ and set of brushes!

Another great free program for beginners I’d recommend is MyPaint, which is great for doodling and just getting used to how digital art feels in comparison to traditional! It also has a bunch of ‘traditional style’ brushes, to make it look like charcoal or watercolour (which I’m sure the paid alternatives have too, but it’s always better when it’s free, I find lol...)

(this is an example of a drawing I did on MyPaint using the ‘charcoal’ effect brush!)

Most of the sites are pretty self explanatory, with sections dedicated to different brushes (I’ll go into the types of brushes later on in this post btw!), adjusting brush size, shape and opacity, a colour wheel, etc. You also have a section dedicated to ‘layers’ (another thing I’ll go into more detail later), and various ‘filters’ and editing options and effects you can add to your work to make it more interesting!

I’d really just recommend playing around with programs until you find your one!

Part 3 - The Pros of Digital Art!

I realise this section should probably earlier in this blog post lol, but I kinda wanted to go into what digital art can achieve in comparison to traditional art, and how beginner artists can utilise this!

I definitely didn’t take advantage of certain aspects of digital art when I first got into it, and they’re things that would have definitely made my life a whole lot easier lol!

Digital art allows you to tweak drawings as you do them. So if you accidentally drew the eye too far to the right, then you can easily move it to the right place. (I usually do this by selecting whichever area is wrong, cutting it out and then pasting it into a new area... And yes, there is probably a better and quick way of doing this but...I haven’t found that way yet lol...). And I honestly think that this has allowed me to look a lot more at a reference image in order to figure out where I’ve gone wrong with a drawing! Whereas with traditional art, I usually spend so long trying to get an eye right, that even if it’s slightly in the wrong place, I don’t want to completely redo that section. Digital allows you to completely rub out sections without leaving indents, which is honestly such a saving grace!

Another pro of digital is the Undo/Ctrl Z function! This means you can easily go back to before you made a major mistake with just a click of Ctrl Z... Though I have to say that this function has honestly ruined traditional art for me... Oh what wouldn’t I give for a real life Ctrl Z... But yeah, this is a great part of digital art and definitely something you will grow to love lol!

Another great thing about digital is that it allows you to flip and turn a canvas as you’re drawing on it. I spent a lot of time trying to turn my tablet around in order to draw certain parts of a piece before I realised you can turn the canvas itself without having to move yourself or your tablet!

Layers are another part of digital that can be super useful, and I have to be honest but I don’t really use them a lot. I know a lot of artists create layers for every section of their artworks (so, one for the linework, one for colouring, a separate one for the background, etc etc...). And there’s something really great about being able to paint without worrying about smudging into a previous section of the painting. This works well for my work since I do a lot of bright backgrounds. I also often create a lot of ‘versions’ of my works, so it’s useful to be able to change the background without affecting the main figure of the piece! (I have to say that I often work in one big layer when I’m doing paintings, just because I like how it feels more like ‘traditional’ art that way, but layers are such a brilliant tool, and definitely something you should play around with!)

The eyedropper tool is another one that is really useful! Although I never colour pick from my reference photos, I know some artists find this useful when they were just starting out (especially if you’re not sure what colour to make shadows or how to mix skin tones, etc etc). The eyedropper basically means you don’t need to mix your colours every time

Part 4 - Just some other things I wish I had known about when I was starting out lol...

This last section is just dedicated to a few things that I would have liked to have known when I was just starting out all those years ago. 

First one is fluffy/textured brushes! 

I spent most of my art life from 2013 until 2016 using ‘round’ brushes which are notoriously hard to blend with, so I’d recommend either downloading some fluffy/textured brushes (DeviantArt was where I got mine from a few years back, but there are probably other places you can get them for free too!) to your program of choice, since most of the programs I’ve used haven’t had fluffy/textured brushes as pre-set. 

I may make another post about how I blend in my artworks if that’s something people would be interested in?

(this is an example of textured brush blending vs round brush blending... I usually opt for round brushes for rougher blending styles and the textured brushes for more smooth and ‘realistic’ blending... for a lot of pieces, though, I use both brushes (the round brushes are good for details!) in the same way that you use different sized brushes for real paintings!)

The next thing I wish I’d discovered earlier is the Brush Stabiliser option. Some programs may do this automatically, but the one I use (FireAlpaca) requires you to manually change the amount of stabilising you have on your brush. This is particularly useful if you want to draw neat lines or straight lines (the stabiliser essentially slows down the ‘ink’ as you’re drawing). I only recently started using the stabiliser, and although I still like having it mostly turned ‘off’ for doing sketchy work, it does make doing line work a lot easier, and also gives pieces a more polished look!  

Next advice is to explore all the options you can in whatever program you use! 

I feel like with certain programs, you can get overwhelmed by choice and you end up just using a few of the functions. But I’d really recommend just playing around with these programs, trying all the filters and editing options to get used to how the program works. You can often find interesting ways to adjust your artworks this way! In a way I’d recommend this way of working more than finding tutorials made by other people... Unless there’s a specific function you want to learn how to do, just having fun with digital art is a major part of it’s appeal to me! 

~

There are probably a lot of other options I could go into, but this is already over 2000 words long, so I’ll leave it here for now lol! (I may do a part 2 though so... keep a look out for that!)

As always, if you have any questions to things I’ve said here, or are just looking for more advice, don’t hesitate to message me!

And if you like my work on here (art & blog posts) feel free to support me on my Ko-Fi! <3

[keibea]

Hey there, hope you’re having an amazing day and week! First of all I absolutely love all of your photos and you’re sims are stunning! 😍

I don’t know if you’ve answered this before but how do you edit your photos to look so amazing?? I’m trying to step up my photoshop game and would love some pointers! 💛

this is so kind of you to say, i might just cry 🤗🥰 thank you so much for taking the time to say this! i really appreciate it! honestly you made my day and week so thank you!! ❤💕

i have not actually answered this before, and i'm 100% happy to give pointers! i am still learning myself, so i will also leave a bunch of resources at the end of this post that really helped me, just because im really bad at explaining things at times, so i apologise in advance for that! i am also happy to make a video explaining all this, if that's easier for anyone, so if you would like that, please let me know and i will! i know lots of people are very visual learners so i truly am happy to!

1. Reshade is not necessary. I use reshade, but you do not need to, I know a lot of computers can't handle that and ive seen so many photos come out just as amazing without it. But, if you can use reshade, i like to use this preset by @breadcrumbss3 and usually any by the lovely @intramoon !! I use them all with the latest version of reshade (4.9.1) and tweak it (very rarely) if i need it to look different.

2. Topaz Clean is super helpful, and i use it a lot just to smooth everything out. it's especially good if you do a lot of gameplay pics and just want a quick little thing to do without having to do it manually. I would go here (sims 3 tutorial hub) to get it without having to...well...spend money we could use to buy things on the sims :) if you need a direct link to anything, let me know. i personally use this action set by avonlea, as i just have to click a button and it does it all for me. however, if you dont want to use topaz, you can get the same sort-of effect by reducing the noise, i found a tutorial here as well for you.

3. Shadows!! If you're doing edits shadows are really good at bringing some depth! i often over-do them whoops, but usually it just makes it look more real. i normally do a soft shadow over all the main parts of the face or body that need it, using the overlay blend layer before going into a harsher shadow for areas like the nose and edges of the mouth to define it more. for this i use a smaller brush and a brown-ish colour, with the multiplier blend layer. i will sometimes then blur it out using gaussian blur, depending on how harsh it is. there's a really good tutorial i watched for this that i'll link down below!

4. colouring and psds! there are so many out there, but usually i just play with the colours myself until i get what i like. but otherwise i'll use this big set of psds that come with a bunch of options.

5. hair strands! i love doing this, it's my favourite part!!! i have a drawing tablet, which makes it a bit easier to do but again sometimes mine can still look crazy when i over do it haha. if you would like to do hair strands and stuff, i use this brush set :)

Those are the main things i can think of, i hope it's at least somewhat helpful, i know im really bad at tutorials. a video would probably be easier to showcase things, but i wasn't sure if you wanted that. again im totally happy to do one if you'd like that! now these are some really good sources and tutorials that i use a lot (most are for the sims 4, but it's basically the same for the sims 3 too):

- TS4 Basic Editing Tutorial in Procreate (although most of these effects you can use in photoshop, which is what i did)

- Sims 4 | Screenshot Editing Tutorial

- Intramoon's tutorials

- This one by Pea-Milk is really good too!

- Lamatisse's Tutorial

- PeonyPyxels Tutorial

sorry about this mess, hope you could understand somewhat! thank you again for the lovely words. if you wanted to know about anything in particular, dont be afraid to ask again or pm me! have a beautiful day!