#Shading process

[elitadream]

Guess Who's been rewatching cutscenes of Ratchet & Clank lately? 😁🔧

I was looking for a character to illustrate as a quick demonstration in response to a previous ask, and it just so happened that this franchise was one of the many I suddenly remembered I once had quite a fondness for; hence the little tribute.^^

So here's how I proceed for the shading process!

When it comes to monochromatic sketches, I have a special liking for warm and earthy tones, but any color can work really well depending on the atmosphere needed. When choosing one, I pick the background first as a general indicator, then follow it up with the contour lines. This helps me find the base for the character itself, which is always somewhere in-between. That way, the figure stands out reasonably while also having visible details even at this stage. :3

From there, I separate each darker and lighter zone by using the already existing tones that I have and creating blends. Same goes for the shadows, which I keep fairly subtle and only emphasize in some key areas for a softer effect. 🎨

Depending on the complexity of the piece (and especially when using a more diverse palette), I will often trace the final version first, but in the case of a simpler drawing like this one, I usually apply most of the shading on the rough sketch instead and make the remaining adjustments from there. When cleaning up the lines, I use pen pressure to obtain varying thickness and create a more dynamic result. Sometimes, I will also include a few tiny elements outside of the color range I'm working with as a fun bit of contrast and finishing touch. ✨

Aaand that's about it! Not much else to it. 🤗✏️

[wuntrum]

close call

[bixels]

I think 90% of my gripes with how modern anime looks comes down to flat color design/palettes.

Non-cohesive, washed-out color palettes can destroy lineart quality. I see this all the time when comparing an anime's lineart/layout to its colored/post-processed final product and it's heartbreaking. Compare this pre-color vs. final frame from Dungeon Meshi's OP.

So much sharpness and detail and weight gets washed out and flattened by 'meh' color design. I LOVE the flow and thickness and shadows in the fabrics on the left. The white against pastel really brings it out. Check out all the detail in their hair, the highlights in Rin's, the different hues to denote hair color, the blue tint in the clothes' shadows, and how all of that just gets... lost. It works, but it's not particularly good and does a disservice to the line-artist.

I'm using Dungeon Meshi as an example not because it's bad, I'm just especially disappointed because this is Studio Trigger we're talking about. The character animation is fantastic, but the color design is usually much more exciting. We're not seeing Trigger at their full potential, so I'm focusing on them.

Here's a very quick and messy color correct. Not meant to be taken seriously, just to provide comparison to see why colors can feel "washed out." Top is edit, bottom is original.

You can really see how desaturated and "white fluorescent lighting" the original color palettes are.

[Remember: the easiest way to make your colors more lively is to choose a warm or cool tint. From there, you can play around with bringing out complementary colors for a cohesive palette (I warmed Marcille's skintone and hair but made sure to bring out her deep blue clothes). Avoid using too many blend mode layers; hand-picking colors will really help you build your innate color sense and find a color style. Try using saturated colors in unexpected places! If you're coloring a night scene, try using deep blues or greens or magentas. You see these deep colors used all the time in older anime because they couldn't rely on a lightness scale to make colors darker, they had to use darker paints with specific hues. Don't overthink it, simpler is better!]

[jazzies-stuff]

@leovilweek Day 7-ish: Gala

I'M LATE BUT IT'S FINALLY HERE.

I had so much fun with this ship week and it was really cool seeing what others created!!

The pose is from here.

More under the cut:

+ me being shamelessly self-indulgent by adding my other twst ships

++ clean version of pt 1

+++ flat colours for pt 2 because I like how it looks

[ozonecologne]

putting the "chapel" in chappell roan!

I loved this look of hers for Hinterland, so I did a quick and dirty portrait collection! ~6 hours, painted in Photoshop

[biruesque]

winter

timelapse under the cut

[will41n]

so i was like in a REALLY BAD artblock and started playing around with brushes and colours and tried to figure out the process and made this !!! grian <33

i think im gonna stick to this shading cuz i love how it turned out

[blood-starved-beast]

Part of the reason Melinoe does not Care about mortals is cause her domain is literally ghosts. That is, shades. It's not a coincidence that every shade - Homer, Od, Icarus, etc etc love her. She is their Ruler and she treats them generously. Living mortals do not factor into her domain she presides over a kingdom of the Dead she of course in her Royal Arrogance, prefers those who are her Subjects over those who are not. And thus, it is better for mortals to die, they "gain sense" (side with her, the goddess of Ghosts who is against Chronos) and thus can be under her protection. I doubt Mel is ever gonna 180 on that.

Melinoe's arc is ultimately about questioning why she's fighting. Is it worth it (for her), does she care enough for the people she's fighting for do they deserve this as much as she does. Hence antagonism from Eris, from Nemesis (who asks does she deserve this? Both in the pity sense as in the earning sense), from Prometheus, etc. It's not about her "hatred" (it's more like arrogant indifference actually) of mortals they are supposed to fear her, the Goddess of Nightmares and Ghosts, as much as they fear death anyways.

[stil-lindigo]

family resemblance.

--

prints

wolf's story (left)

ash's story (right)

[oddleen]

Hatred feeds on itself and corrupts the soul.

Red for the rage, strings for the intent and smile for the pain.

I added a lil blurred image overlay from you-know-what to influence the lighting to symbolize him being...well, him.

[seagull-scribbles]

They’re out of time (cancelled)

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[masterofiodine]

i absolutely adore that photo of ben and i just had to draw him (/cap) like that

[doomedclockworkdotmp3]

heeyyy gaaanggg

the pose and the background of the album version (left) are based on oingo boingos only a lad album art. not cause i think he has anything to do with it but just cause ive been wantin to draw that pose for like. weeks and i didnt know who to put there. so why not my latest bug man.

[linterteatime]

Hiii I love your art style soo much its so pretty!! This has probably been asked before but I'd love to know how you go about choosing colours/ making colour palettes because thats something I personally struggle with doing <3

Hiiiii thank you! Okay so usually when i choose my own colours i just pick whatever i feel like looks nice so i don't really have a good explanation for that (yet) lmao, but! i also do this that i think works pretty well too:

which is basically just messing around with the layer filters/Blending Modes of the art programs until i get something that looks nice, not necessarily using the same ones i used here, but any that might work, also sometimes i choose whatever colours (not colour picking) and then do this same process to make them look better :P

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

At the start of this project all I wanted was to 'learn how to draw' using comics as a medium and the MDZS audio drama as inspiration.

I've come *very* far from making simple, 3 panel black and white comics, and I truly do intend to go even further. Thank you to everyone who cheered me on throughout 2023, it has been an incredible year in so many ways I never could have imagined. I look forwards to drawing throughout 2024 B*)

[anbaisai]

Happy birthday to @crystallizsch and the lovely Yuusha! May you have another wonderful year full of happiness and currynoodles💜