A Cartoonist's
Playground
In this blog I'll share my
experiences navigating digital art and cartoons. |
In this blog I'll share my
experiences navigating digital art and cartoons. |
This tutorial will cover how to do realistic lighting shading using digital art software such as in the art below. For simpler lighting and shadows, see my Three Tone Lighting post. Art from my Superheroes comic strip. Tutorial Note: I use Autodesk Sketchbook for my art. There are other digital art softwares you can use as well. For this tutorial you need one that allows you to make layers. Step 1 Draw your picture. Don't color it yet! I recommend using at least two layers: one for the foreground and one for the background. Step 2 Duplicate the layer and color it in full color. Use the full color as if it was in broad daylight. Don't draw shadows. (The other layers will act as shadows.) You need to duplicate it because you are going to color this drawing in multiple different ways. If you were to duplicate it after you colored it the fill tool might not work as well if you used dark colors (similar to the black outlines) or if one section was colored black. When you tried to change the color later the whole outline would change to the new color. That's why I recommend duplicating it first. Step 3 Duplicate the original layer again. This time color everything in the shadow color. For this picture I am using a greyish blue for this. I suggest that if something is black in the full color version you color it black here as well. Often in cartoons and comics dark scenes will be drawn in blue:
Step 4 Now color the last duplicate the highlight color. This color will change depending on the color of the light source. My light source will be yellow so I made the highlight color a whiteish yellow. You may make another copy for coloring or use the original layer itself. If you foresee yourself wanting to change the lighting later or starting over with the coloring you might want to keep a duplicate of the drawing that is unedited. If you hide this extra layer you can keep it out of view of the final drawing but be able to use it again later if needed. I do this a lot if I think I might mess up or want to start over. Step 5 Order the layers. You'll want the full color one in the middle. I suggest you use the dark layer on top, full color in the middle, and highlight on the bottom. This may seem unintuitive, but it will make the next steps easier, especially if the picture is mostly dark with a few highlights. Step 6 Draw in your light source. Mine is a ball of light summoned by one of the characters. Step 7 Use a soft eraser brush and erase the dark layer. This will show through to the lighter, full color layer below. Erase where the midground would be. Note: You may want to save a duplicate of the layer in case you mess up or want to change it later. You will need to hide this layer so it doesn't appear in the final drawing. Step 8 Now do the same thing on the full color layer. Erase where the highlights are. (Again, you may want to save a duplicate layer before you erase.) Step 9 Now color the midground layer. Do the same thing as before. Start with the color and then do dark and highlight versions. (You may not need a highlight version depending on how much light your midground will get.) Step 10 Do the same process you did with the foreground to color the highlights and shadows. Step 11 Do the different layers again for the background. Step 12 Do the shading and finish any last details! Finished!
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First off, sorry for my lack of posts last month. I was busy with my Spanish class and then my family's beach vacation. I did, however, upload art while I was gone on my comics page and paintings page. I have also created a new page for my art which shows sketches I have done. You can view it here. Below is some of the art I have posted on it.
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Art: Comics; created by me
My name is Loren SinclairI am an artist and amateur cartoonist. I have been drawing my own comic strips (the biggest one about superheroes) and improving my art along the way. Archives
November 2021
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