Step by step Digital painting Tutorial

 

If you're ready, let's start !

 

 Step 1 

1. Start off with a sketch. What I have up here is

a cleaned up sketch. The initial sketch (which I

don’t have anymore cause I just deleted that

layer since I didn’t think I’d need it) looked

something like this on right --------->

(The point of the initial sketch wasn’t for it to

look pretty, but to get the concept across.)

 Step 2 

2. Next, put the base (or the

basic) colour down. I like to

start with a basic bg colour. I

use a different layer for each

element - One for hair, for

skin, for the cat, etc. That

makes it easier for the next

step. Then I locked the opacity on those

layers so that it’s easier for the first

step ofshading.

 Step 3 

3. I use the marker tool in Painttol SAI to shade (but airbrush at a low opacity will

work too, but I like the marker tool because it works kind of like a traditional paint

brush and brings the colours that are already there along with the colours you are

using). I like to eyedrop the background colours

and, using the marker tool, softly brush it onto

the characters; similarly, I take the character colours and blend it into the background, like the way you see spots of red in my

blue background.

 Step 4 

4. I do as much shading as I think I could do while the lines are sketchy, keeping in mind

where the light source is and experimenting with colours. I sometimes even just

randomly choose and colour and randomly put it down lightly with the marker tool.

I chose a grey-redish colour for the shaded part of her skin, sometimes I would eyedrop

the background and bring it into her skin. I also like to put a little bit of bright blue onto

the highlights of her skin. A person’s cheek and nose are usually a more reddish hue

while their chin is grayer and the forhead is more on the yellow side.

 Step 5 

5. l duplicate the sketch

layer, set one of the

layers on overlay and

set the other layer on

multiply, and then I

merge the layers of the

characters with their

sketchy lines. (along

with the layers in

between like hair and

skin, etc).

Step 6 

6. Here’s when I do most of the rendering, smoothing things out and working most of

the stuff on one layer (other than the background) For this one, I really wanted to make

it as realistic as I could, even though her eyes were kind of anime-looking; i wanted to

portray more of a doll—like look to her. I cut the fish out and made another layer for

them, and then I warped the fish so it looked like it was bending with the bowl.

At this stage, because the lineart is merged together with the charcters alread, I can

begin working the lineart into the shading with a combination of water tool and marker

tool. I use a textured brush and brush it in the same direction as the way the scales

would form around the mermaid or the direction the cat’s hair would go. You always

have to keep in mind ofthe form of the subject you are drawing. I also decided the

background I had lacked depth so I changed it.

Step 7 

7. I keep rendering, zoomed in important places like the scales and the fins, or the cat

hair, which I actually did strands of in places, and the detailed part of the scales, or the

strands on the fins. I did leave parts of it more rough so that it’s more focused on the

detailed parts, like with the fish and the back of the hair in the third picture.

 Step 8

FINAL