Tips/How to draw artwork

[Skid Rock]

See, I have always used Microsoft Paint in order to create pictures and things like that, but my main question is.

What is the process of creating pictures that are...on/for the computer. I see pictures, such as Storm's Four Fiends..and what im wondering is how are they made?

She says that she used fineliner, and coloring...im just a little curious.

I have a scanner, and in my opinion i can draw, but yeah...

Any help?

[Storm]

For mine I usually do a base sketch, which I then ink with black fineliner 5,3, and 1 (5 being the thickest, 1 being the finest, although depending on the sive and detail of the image, I may just use 3 and 1 or just 1).

With colouring, I normally use Copic Ciao pens or colour on the computor. Copic Ciao pens (and other manga pens like them), are expensive at £2.50 per pen (about $1.75US at a guess), however if you have the money to spend on them and if you draw regularly, or are thinking about going into the design industry, they are a good investment. Say there is one area I want to colour blue, I will start with the lightest blue I need, and then apply the shading with each darker shade.

If you want to do digital colouring, then using a graphics tablet with Adobe Photoshop CS3 or CS4 (CS2 works well too, but I tend to use CS3) is the best option. Again, a graphics tablet and the software are expensive (although there are illegitemate ways of getting software, you just need to be careful and probably get assistance from someone who knows what is harmful or not), but the tablet will help simulate a pen and pad. It takes a while to get used to, but so does anything.

When colouring digitally, the first thing I will do is clear up the scanned in lineart. To do this, first adjust the levels to make the lines more defined, and then carefully use the eraser tool to tidy up any mess. Next, make a new layer to apply the base colour, or if the image has a lot of depth, a layer for each main base colour or segment. When colouring digitally, you may accidently leave areas colourless, so it is useful to make a few extra layers of blank colours (normally a dark blue and a terracotta) to help show up any patchyness. Once you have the base colour, start adding your basic details. Next comes shading, starting from the lightest up until the darkest. Next, do the highlights from the darkest to the lightest.

I hope that helps. I'm not great at explaining things, but if you want me to show you pictures of each step I use I can happily do that.

[Violet]

Word of advice. If you ever do get a tablet, don't get too used to just using the tablet to draw everything. You must keep a decent balance between traditional pencil to paper art, and digital art... you'll be able to improve in both areas that way. For instance, I used to draw all the time on regular paper.. would just need a mechanical pencil. Then, once I got my tablet, I became addicted to the thing and all I did was draw things on the computer. Drawing on paper again after being spoiled by the tablet can be difficult, because of all the erasing and resources you'd be using.
Nothing beats pencil to paper, imo. It's easier to maneuver with than a tablet. If you wanted to draw on paper then scan it, your best bet would be to have a GOOD scanner, because most just screw your image up once it's on the comp. Try looking around on google for "clean lineart tutorial".

A good dependable brand of tablet would be Wacom. The Wacom tablet that I have cost me around $80 at a comp store.. they're probably like.. $69-$100 US dollars for smaller ones. The big boys are even more expensive..$200.. hell, they can be up to $1000. It depends on how much you want to spend, really.

Oh yeah, one more valuable advice. The pens that come with a Tablet... DO NOT PUSH ON(OR TWIST) THE ERASER!! Lol.. I did that, and the eraser doesn't work anymore.. it seriously sucks!

[Skid Rock]

Thank you very much guys, I will look into getting a tablet, and all that good stuff. (Sadly) i don't have the money to get the 1.75 pens but ill definately try my hand at a few different styles. I really, appreciate your guys help with this stuff... Give it a few months, and i bet ill have a drawing or two up here.. who knows, i might actually be good at it!

[Storm]

Nice, i'm looking forward to it! ^.^

If you don't get on well with a tablet, another thing you can try is watercolour pencils. Even if you don't wet them down, they blend nicely and you can get some nice effects. You can easily get a good range of colours for an affordable price.