Drawing process - file 1
- here we go into the nitty-gritty of the drawing process, explaining how to work the Krita program to get some desired effects.
Step 5) - I don't know what sort of artist you are; maybe you sketch, maybe you go straight for the lineart - doesn't matter. I don't know how to sketch and I am extremely slow at my art, but I learned that even random scribbles will help with the composition. That's why
you can try to compile your accent elements with some scribbles. This is something I'm currently working on and it's in its very rough stages, but I already know how to fix the rough parts. So sketch and scribble to your heart's content! The sketch can easily go outside the lines, it doesn't matter since you will most likely be completely deleting that layer afterwards (I always do as to not look at the sins of my past).
Image caption: screenshot showing a rough sketch stage of a skincent in the works
Step 6) - After you're finished with your sketch, you can go to the next step and that's
lineart. Of course, this entirely depends on whether you are a lineart sort of person. Some people (not me lol) are very skilled when it comes to painting so some people actually paint their accents and skins, especially when they're supposed to be effects and areas of large covering. If you're a person who does lineart, then continue reading. If you're a person who knows how to paint, you probably don't need any of this information because you're a level above mine.
To stay inside the main lineart, you scroll down to the dragon template group, find the layer that's called
Base, press and hold left Ctrl, then click on the small image in the layer menu. The selected group will stay highlighted as long as you don't use some sort of different selection tool.
Image caption: screenshot showing the Base layer and the selection effect
I love layering different parts of my accent so that results in numerous different subgroups. Once you've finished your lineart, it should look like this. Yes, this is a complex nightmare but it works.
Hint: each component is on a different layer in a different group as to not interfere with the colouring process.
Image caption: a preview of the finished lineart on individual layers
Step 7) - After that, you could go ahead and
do the base colour, then the shading and highlights. To make your colouring much simpler, make sure to enclose all of the lineart of objects, you can follow the lineart of the dragon in some areas. That way
you can use the magic wand tool, also known as the Contiguous Selection Tool. You just
select your lineart layer, click outside of the lineart so it selects everything outside of your object. Then go to
Select -> Invert Selection -> Shrink Selection -> choose 1 or 2 pixels. The shrinking will prevent the bleeding of colour outside the lineart. Then you just
create a different layer beneath your lineart layer and colour it in. That way all the colour will remain inside your lineart. Just make sure that it is all properly enclosed, otherwise the selection tool will penetrate your lineart.
Hint: an easy way to stay inside the element you're editing is to hold left Ctrl and left click on the group of the individual element, just like you did with the dragon base. This is where groups come in handy because that way you can quickly highlight the entire group.
The modes I use for shading is
Multiply and for highlights is
Overlay since it affects the colours beneath while not painting over it. It's fine to experiment with colours and shading at any point. Sometimes I have to redo the whole base colour numerous times, but what makes my life easier are the filters.
You click on your layer, go to
Filter -> Adjust -> HSV Adjustment if you just want to fiddle with hues, lightness, etc. There are some other filters that are great as well so keep experimenting. Do what you do best.
Hint: note that in most of these images I have some dragon shadow and/or lineart layers visible for my own sanity, they are not necessary for the process.
Image caption: screenshot showing the Select section, the Filter section, the Contiguous Selection Tool and different layer modes
Step 8) - Next step is
lineart colouring. Even though in previous images the lineart is already in adjusted colours, here's a close-up of the process. Realistically, unless you use a brush colour different from black or immediately adjust colour as you go, the lineart in the beginning will be black. After you've coloured everything in, shaded it and highlighted it, you can mess around with the lineart more precisely. That way the contrast between the lines and the colours is less severe, but
I usually recommend leaving the lineart fairly dark and visible. Not only that but the lineart should ideally not be pure black so there's a distinction between the dragon's lineart and the lineart layer of the dragon.
To do that, you click on the lock transparency button of the lineart layer so anything that is not a part of the layer is basically non-existent to your brush. Then, you just select a different colour and use your brush to colour it differently.
Image caption: the difference between black lineart and coloured lineart, recoloured by using the transparency lock toggle
Step 9) - You are now in the final stages of your skin/accent and what you need to do is just retouch your components. Firstly, if you feel like maybe some element could be moved, this is where groups come in handy. You just
left click on your group, then use the Rectangular Selection Tool to highlight all of it, then the Transform a layer or selection to move it around.
After you're sure you're done with the individual elements, if you so desire,
you can create a new layer (or layers if the element layering and depth are complex), put it on 40% opacity and then just use a black brush to create shadows. This is of course completely optional, I just like doing it.
Now just
group your entire art in one group and you are done with this file.
Image caption: image showing the selection moving, and the shadows