INFJarts’ art tutorial #1: screenshot redraw/collab
Hey! I’ve been getting a lot of people interested in my drawing process, so I’m just gonna go ahead and start making some tutorials on my process! This one is a collab by myself and @as-you-doodle of a screenshot redraw from Underverse 0.4 by @jakei95. I use Autodesk Sketchbook, so that’s the program I’ll be showing.
The first thing I do is open up a new canvas of a good size for the piece. I insert the sketch sent by as-you-doodle with the Add Image tool. That’s the first layer.
Next I do line art on a new layer over the sketch. I may fix a few things while looking at the original screenshot. My line style isn’t really much to brag about, I just use the manga line art ink pen as the brush in black with full opacity and 10.0 size. I make sure it’s smaller with less pressure to add some variety to the line art.
That’s pretty much it for line settings. There are some exceptions, and those are usually for specific aesthetic purposes. In this piece I had to use a blue glow brush for Error’s strings because they’re so thin. My lines aren’t super neat, in some places they won’t meet and in others they’ll cross over each other.
Then I do the background to establish a light source. The background color will change depending on the piece, and for this one I used a dark purple. I then used a pink glow airbrush on the soft glow layer setting to lay down the shapes first.
Then I add some extra glow (also on soft glow, I really like this layer setting) with a regular pink soft airbrush.
Next I hide the background glow and make a new layer for color. There are usually several color layers, but they’ll be combined when they’re done. I’ll usually take a bigger brush and fill in the piece, not caring about coloring outside the lines. When all the colors are down, I’ll erase the extra stuff outside the lines so it’s nice and neat like this:
WARNING: NEVER USE BLACK, WHITE, OR COLORS THAT ARE TOO SATURATED FOR YOUR BASE COLORS. IT NEVER LOOKS GOOD. You can use very very light and dark colors, but don’t use black and white unless you really know what you’re doing. I used black and white for Ink’s eyes, but that’s it. Error’s black bones are actually a very dark blue and Ink’s white bones are an off-white.
Now for the fun part: shading! I start with primary shadows first on a new layer using cell shading. AGAIN: DON’T USE BLACK. I use varying shades of purple on the multiply layer setting with varying opacity depending on how dark I want the shadows to be.
Next I use a soft airbrush for secondary shadows on a new layer!
Then I move onto highlighting! DON’T USE WHITE. Use very light colors. These can be more saturated than base colors. The color I use depends on the piece, but you can never go wrong with light yellow on a layer setting that’s good for highlights like glow, soft glow, soft light and hard light. In this one I used light red because of the environment. I usually make a new layer on the soft glow setting with full opacity. It makes things stand out.
All of these layers are underneath the line art. But sometimes I’ll add environmental lighting if lighting is more complex like in this piece, and those go over the line art layer. I used a salmon pink soft airbrush on soft glow layer setting for these. Don’t use the glow setting or the black line art will look like it’s over this layer anyways.
I make sure the shading is in the right spots using the select tool as a mask on the different base colors on the piece. It takes longer but makes shading look cleaner. It’s also important to make sure that you know where your light source is. This piece has complex lighting with sources all around Ink and Error, but it’s largely coming from the ground and behind Ink, so I shade accordingly. I’ll unhide the background layers for reference from time to time.
Then, to make everything pop, I make a new layer and put a fill over the entire piece on color burn at 50% opacity. Using a fill on the whole work can add unity or contrast depending on what color and setting you put the layer on. Don’t be afraid to play with it to see what happens.
And then if there’s anything I REALLY want to stand out, I’ll put it in front of the fill layer, like the bones in the front. I used a glow airbrush for this.
And that’s it! The last step is signatures and then it’s done! The piece took 5 hours with the sketch already done by Asyoudoodle.
Basically, never underestimate the power of layers and layer settings. Make sure you play with them a lot, and if you like a more soft look with more unity, try going for highlights on soft light and a fill on multiply and play with the opacity. Hope this helps someone out there!
