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Hey y’all I have an announcement! My web app that I’ve been working on, Afro Index, is now live! It’s a visual reference library of Black hairstyles, for artist, animators, writers, and anyone who wants to learn more about them!
Check it out at afroindex.org! 💛✨
A reference library for Black hairstyles with accurate naming,
structured filtering, and curated reference images.
someone sent an ask about wanting to learn how i color. This is a very simplified and quick version.I hope it makes sense and is at least the slightest bit useful!!
Hey! I love your art a lot, and you've helped me learn a lot about other things aswell. I just wanted to thank you for all that! ❤️
(This part is optional: I was wondering if you have any process videos of the full body character designs, you do? Like with the different outfits? I love the texture of that particular style of yours so much and would love to learn to integrate some aspects into my own art, If you would allow for that?)
Hi and thank you! It's much appreciated and I'm glad you stuck around :)
That's totally fine! Unfortunately, I don't think I have any process videos of the character designs (they take me a while and I go back and forth a lot with outfits so I never have space for them on my computer) but I can give a run-through of what I do!
- this is only applicable for CSP -
Step One:
First Image: So I start with the base, I go about these like those paper dolls. I sketch these out, line them, and color them in as I would any other lineart - however I merge the layers after I'm done. They are always bald because if I'm going for an outfit lineup I can change up the hairstyle depending on the clothes. Second Image: After I merge all the layers and lower the opacity, I can sketch the outfits on a different layer - If there are smaller details I want to include I usually sketch them in a different color so I can see it clearly.
Step Two:
First Image: after sketching out what I want, I turn down the opacity for the sketch layer and line over that. I use a really high stabilization because I have shakey hands and it always looks clean with a high stabilization. For things like jewelry, I don't always do line art (mostly depends on how small it is) but I save it for later. Second Image: I don't always do hair as a solid color but In this case, I painted the hair on a layer above both the lineart, base, and coloring layer. Coloring the lineart is pretty standard, nothing fancy (I use the fill tool to speed up time often). Just make sure the colors are differentiated enough so you can use the color gamut tool in the next step.
Step Three:
Images One & Two: With the lineart fully colored, you can select individual colors and add or draw patterns. Most of the patterns I use are from the Csp gallery (bunabi has good ones up I use often). If you have the selection on a different layer, you can change up the layer filter or even do another select color gamut on the pattern and shade/color it yourself (this is how I do metallic fabrics). Once you're done adding patterns, merge everything except the base layer and lineart.
Step Four:
Images One & Two: For things like jewelry that would be too small to line, I freehand a silhouette of the jewelry with a bright neon color, then select the color gamut on the neon color, and then select the color outline so it has the appearance of me doing itty bitty lineart for it. I go back in on the color layer, shade it, and color it as metal, and then bam. You are all done!
Smaller things: After everything is done sometimes I'll go back in with a dark pen and go over some of the lineart where fabric creases just to give it more depth or I'll put a color filter over the final drawing just to make it all a bit more cohesive.
This is the brush I use for softer lineart:
イラスト・マンガ制作に役立つトーン、ブラシ、3Dデータなどの素材をダウンロードしたり、自作の素材をアップロードしたりできます。CLIP STUDIO PAINTなどのグラフィックソフトに読み込んで使えます。
And this is the brush I use for more thin, detailed, lineart:
イラスト・マンガ制作に役立つトーン、ブラシ、3Dデータなどの素材をダウンロードしたり、自作の素材をアップロードしたりできます。CLIP STUDIO PAINTなどのグラフィックソフトに読み込んで使えます。
You are like, an absolute master of costume layering and I must know what is your secret? Do you just compile a bunch of references and go to town? Or is there a general order you like to go in for all your costume designs? Are you thinking silhouette first or is there lots of adjusting until it’s just right? I must know!!! I love your designs!!!!!
AHH thank you so much you're so sweet!!! 😭❤️ I promise I don't do anything super complicated or thought out, but I can try to explain:
I usually use Pinterest for references, and I have a huge board of clothes I comb through and save to whenever I see something cool. while I'm drawing, I look off to the side to scroll a bit and add whatever I think could work while I draw!
General order I usually go sketch -> lines (sometimes) -> color -> fabrics and textures -> rendering -> then jewelry with final details. Mostly, I just think about it as "big stuff first, little stuff last" so that adds more opportunity for layering and adding on other details.
Often when I'm doing jewelry I wait until everything is done and then I sketch over on top with the opacity turned down so I can see what I'm doing. I then line it and color it as usual and merge everything together!
I have a tutorial up on my old blog about how I do costumes with textures and patterns and you can see how I approach it by sketching out outfits and doing the clothes regularly, and then drawing on top with a pigmented color to define things like belts and accessories !
Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It's where your interests connect you with your
There is ALOT of going back and forth, turning the opacity down, drawing on top, coloring it, then merging everything, and repeating until I get everything I like. I hope this made a little sense but genuinely the way I go about it is "this looks cool. let's add it"😭
Boobs come in so many shapes and sizes, and I‘m by no means an anatomy expert. Those are some insights of how I approach drawing them and my thought process behind it. It‘s almost easier to just list what you shouldn‘t do.
The rib-cage and pecs anatomy is very rough in this, and if you‘re not familiar with it I‘d suggest looking up some anatomy courses about it! Since this is supposed to be about boobs I didnt go too much into detail. I included it because I think it‘s very important to have some basic knowledge on it because the breasts are resting on the ribcage, they‘re not „holding themselves up“. I don‘t often see it mentioned in tutorials but to me it‘s an essential part of being able to draw somewhat accurate boobs.
Boobs come in so many shapes and sizes, and I‘m by no means an anatomy expert. Those are some insights of how I approach drawing them and my thought process behind it. It‘s almost easier to just list what you shouldn‘t do.
The rib-cage and pecs anatomy is very rough in this, and if you‘re not familiar with it I‘d suggest looking up some anatomy courses about it! Since this is supposed to be about boobs I didnt go too much into detail. I included it because I think it‘s very important to have some basic knowledge on it because the breasts are resting on the ribcage, they‘re not „holding themselves up“. I don‘t often see it mentioned in tutorials but to me it‘s an essential part of being able to draw somewhat accurate boobs.
chiss eye tutorials aren't plentiful, and a beloved mutual on twitter asked, so i thought why not share the way i color chiss eyes :3 i hope someone finds this helpful! (and if not, i had fun making it anyway 💙)
Do you have any tips/tricks for doing lineart? That piece of all your da protags turned out so good but whenever I try to do the lineart for a full body piece it always comes out too thick and simple or too detailed so that it just looks like a mess
Thank you so much!
I totally get that tbh I also have issues with that as well - think something that helped curb it is taking a second to zoom out every couple of strokes? I don't know what program you use but I have a little navigator screen in my CSP, If it looks too cluttered or thin from a more zoomed-out perspective, I'll go back and change it. It's really easy to get caught up in the details especially if you're zoomed in but it is important to remember that when people see your art they're not seeing it super zoomed up like you are - take a step back and look at it from the perspective of someone else seeing it come across their dash.
Idk if this is an artist sin ™ but I change the brush size frequently when I do lineart as well - I never keep it at the same size. With faces and smaller things like jewelry I go smaller and with stuff like fabric and armor I go bigger. Don't be afraid to switch when you need it!
If I think it needs more detail and I'd like to add something to it I make another layer, lower the opacity on my lineart layer, draw what I want to add on the new layer, and just erase everything underneath what I drew on the original lineart layer, then raise the opacity, and merge - just so I'm not doing everything on one layer and I have room to experiment with what I want.
I don't know if this will help but I also have a post here about how I do linework personally (however the brush link is down bc CSP removed my brushes for using my own artwork sigh. I'll redo it one day):
I really love how clean and strong your lineart is! Do you have any tips on how people can get better at their lineart?
Thank you very much
Im not sure if this is super helpful but I hope it makes sense! Thank you!
So I don't know who to ask about this, and since it's your profession, I figured you'd know most! I like to use Magic Poser to help me draw my characters' poses, but I feel like I always wind up altering the proportions to fit the models rather than my style without meaning to just because I'm drawing what I'm looking at. It feels less like looking at a reference and more copying a picture, and it makes me feel really bad, like I'm cheating at art. Do you have any thoughts or word of advice on this? I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
Hey Nonnie!
Hmmm there's I feel like kind of two questions here.
One, using Magic Poser or any other legit reference to make your art is not cheating. It's just using a tool the way it's meant to be used (as a reference). There's nothing at all wrong with that. ♥
However, if you are getting Not The Results You Want from this process that's another issue entirely.
So, two: what do I do if the art I'm making from reference doesn't look like *my* art?
If you find that working from a reference is changing your style in ways you don't like, I have suggestions:
1) do a sketch from the reference just like you normally would in whatever style comes out naturally using the reference
2) look at the drawing you did and put the reference away
3) draw another drawing from the drawing you did but try to make adjustments towards the stylization you prefer (your first drawing is your reference for your second)
OR, if your brain will do this for you:
3b) after sketching from the reference (maybe a few times for good measure) put the reference away completely and try to draw the pose from memory* and see what happens.
If you think you're overly reliant on references to the point you think it's holding you back then you can start to wean yourself off of them but doing more and more drawing without them.
Maybe start with a 20min warm-up on my Sketch App drawing a bunch of poses really fast from reference, then pull up a new pose, look at it, and try to draw it without checking back in at all.
Honestly the best way to get to a style you like is to just draw A LOT. Draw lots of different ways. Mess around with line weight and shapes. Make things swish, make them pointy, make lines that cross over a lot, make a mess, make it neat, keep going. Do a lot of drawing and investigate what feels and looks right to you.
And if a tool isn't serving your goals, you can let it go. It might be hard at first but you will find your way. ♥
* Side note: I have aphantasia which means I don't have head pictures. If I look at a reference and walk into the other room, I am not going to be able to replicated it very well from memory.
That being said, if I sketch a pose over and over and over a bunch I will retain it somehow, somewhere (I don't know how brains work). The next time I go to draw that pose it will be easier. Just popping this in here in case you have the same trouble.
so the anon's description doesn't give a lot to go by, but my first instinct here is to suggest that anon, and others with a similar concern, might be using too much detail in their initial reference sketches! when working from a high quality detailed image as reference and trying to use observational drawing techniques to make it into something else, it can be very easy to utilize too many details on your initial sketch!
a solution here is to change the way you sketch. using a reference is not the same as doing an observational drawing, though having observational art skills is absolutely useful and important! for those not in the know, observational art is the sort of thing you do in most college art classes, with still life objects or a model. you look at the thing and try to draw it as accurately as possible. it's a very good skill set to have! I always encourage doing this type of art to train yourself in things like proportion and perspective.
but! it is not the most useful way to use a reference image for things like stylized character art. so let me give an example to explain what I mean. I'm using digital art here, but similar techniques apply to traditional art. digital just has the added benefit of being able to show my sketches layered on top of the reference image.
I'm using this sitting pose from the adorkastock website. just a dude sitting on a stool. this initial sketch is what i suspect anon and many other people try to do that leads to the problem of conforming your art to the model rather than your style or the character you're trying to draw. following the exact proportions of the model a little too carefully, more focused on depicting the details of what you see rather than planning ahead to your final image. even this sketch might be looser and less detailed than the ones other people have found themselves getting stuck on. the reason it doesn't work great is because it doesn't give enough room to modify things in the next steps! you might get a little too trapped trying to follow the reference image in detail, and find yourself correcting your stylized image to match the reference too closely.
so here's what I have personally found works a little better.
gesture sketching is super loose and light. all you do for this is a few really quick lines and shapes to mark out the most basic proportions and poses. from there, you can add a little more volume to it and get a construction sketch, or you can skip the gesture and go right to the construction sketch if you're experienced enough.
the construction sketch just refines the base figure, adding a little more proportional detail like the placement of joints and facial features, but mostly as lines and circles instead of detailed shapes. and then you can make your fleshed out and more detailed sketches matching the style and character you're trying to draw. you might find that the exact details of the pose change during this process to better fit what you're really drawing. that is fine! it's all in the service of reaching the final image you want to create.
now, you this might want to do a few more construction sketches and multiple fleshed out sketches gradually working your way to more and more detail until you have a final sketch. that is good practice, and it will help you reach the style you want and get things to look more natural and fluid instead of being so stiff. but as you can see here, i have altered the exact pose of the initial reference and fully abandoned the model's proportions. my style is present in this final detailed sketch and it now shows a specific character rather than copying the reference model. from here, i could keep going into refined line work and coloring, but this is enough for the sake of a quick tutorial. so here is a side by side comparison of the reference image and my sketch:
you can see how many changes happened along the way! it's all about playing fast and loose with your initial sketches so that your refined sketches and final artwork will match the style and characters you want to draw.
This isn’t like my normal brush rec posts but I wanted to get something out quickly bc there’s an excellent curly hair brush pack on the CSP asset store for free rn! The sale’s going until July 1!!
Some of the terminology used here is a bit iffy (but that could be google translate), but as A Black Person, I really like the effort put into these brushes to accurately get our hair texture down.
I was talking shop with an artist in the studio today and I shared this page from Andrew Loomis, which might be the single most valuable page I've ever encountered in a how-to-draw book. I can't BEGIN to say how many hours this "hanging figures on the horizon" technique has saved me.
(EDIT: Over on another site, someone said they didn’t understand how to read this pic, so maybe adding a second pic and some explanation will help?)
Let’s say I want to draw “Joe” standing further back. I need to know where to place him so he looks like he's the same height, even though he's further away. If I get it wrong, he’ll look giant or tiny.
I can do that by making sure that the horizon cuts thru Joe AT THE SAME HEIGHT, no matter how close or far away he is. In the original picture, it cuts thru the original Joe at the waist.
So let’s look at three different Joes.
A: Wrong. Horizon goes thru his knees. In this context, he’s a giant.
B: Correct. Horizon goes thru his waist, just like the original Joe!
C: Wrong. Horizon goes thru his head. In this context, he’s tiny.
kaledo-art
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