hello friends!! this is a masterpost specially requested by yeomhyo about school supplies. i’ll try putting down some links for nice things down here and i’ll try to find stuff which doesn’t cost much for our student budget :]
this is all from me today, hope this helps some of you :] if u need anymore help or want to request a masterpost, just message me and i’ll reply asap!!!
if you’re like me and don’t want to/can’t spend money on art programs, my recommendation is FireAlpaca. it’s free and has frequent updates (though you do have to manually install those). at the time of writing this, I’m using version 1.5.4. anyways, onto the tips!
start with a big canvas
I usually start with a 1500x1500 transparent canvas at 600dpi. if I’m making a desktop background, I start with a canvas that’s the size of whatever resolution screen I’m going to use the background for. after I’m finished and ready to post, I crop it.
save your .png and .mdp files separately
maybe it’s just me, but it’s always been easier for me to keep my .png files in a separate folder from the .svg and .mdp files. (.svg is for Inkscape, btw) I don’t… really use files with different extensions than .png, .svg, or .mdp.
keyboard shortcuts are your friend
seriously, using the keyboard is so much nicer than manually selecting the tools. off the top of my head:
never use the eraser tool again! holding down Z turns your brush into an eraser of the same size and type as whatever brush you’re already using.
X lets you switch between the two colors in your palette.
holding down alt/option turns your brush into an eyedropper.
avoid hitting D, which resets your palette colors into black and white.
… that is, unless you’re using ctrl+D/⌘+D, which deselects whatever area you have selected.
shift, like in other programs, lets you draw a straight line from Point A to Point B.
ctrl+C/⌘+C lets you copy a selection, ctrl+X/⌘+X lets you cut a selection, and ctrl+V/⌘+V lets you paste whatever’s in your clipboard. use that if you want to put reference images in your document.
make a bunch of brushes
this may be a personal thing, but I prefer to have multiple brushes of set line weights than to manually adjust the line weight of one brush.
brushes I use
pens
1 pixel
2 pixel (this is for fine lineart)
3.5 pixel (this is for most lineart)
5 pixel (this is for coloring in small areas)
10 pixel
15 pixel
30 pixel
100 pixel (this is for making those blobby backgrounds)
pencils
3.5 pixel (for sketching out details)
10 pixel (for sketching out poses in the beginning)
30 pixel (if I’m using pencil for an entire piece)
watercolors
30 pixel
80 pixel
there are some other brushes I use, but most of them are either default to the program or ones I made for a specific thing.
[insert Shrek joke here]
layers are a very good thing to use! everyone has their layer systems, of course, but typically I start with a sketch layer, make a lineart layer above that, add a coloring layer below the lineart layer, make a clipping layer over the coloring layer for shading, then make a clipping layer over the lineart layer for making the lines look pretty. if a character has glasses or a translucent layer of clothing (think Blue Diamond’s and Yellow Diamond’s Pearls), I make a separate lineart layer and coloring layer with lower opacity for that on top of the regular lineart layer. if I’m doing a lineless piece, I obviously don’t have a lineart layer. (OK, that’s a bit of a lie. sometimes I have a layer for small details like eye outlines or mouths or things like that.) I also put the sketch layer at the top instead of the bottom.
make ur colors neat
I used to have a lot of trouble with keeping my colors inside my lineart, especially if I was working with very pale colors or similar colors right next to each other until I saw a post that really helped me out. basically what u do is u take ur magic wand tool, set it to expand 1 px, and select the area inside ur lineart. (note: if you, like me, often use lineart with gaps, you’ll need to use the SelectPen tool to fill in the gaps before you use the magic wand.) then just use the rectangle/fill tool (don’t use the bucket tool if you have antialiasing on. ever.) to color in the entire area with a neutral color. after that, I like to repeat this process for each individual block of color on a new layer. so, for example, I’ll use one layer for the character’s skin, one layer for their shirt, one for their pants, one for their shoes… of course, I also like to combine the layers into one so I don’t have to scroll through the layer tool, as long as the blocks of colors aren’t adjacent. checking the Protect Alpha box is a helpful experience once you’ve gotten the neutral colors and are ready to move onto your real colors. this is clunkily worded, but I don’t really have the spoons right now to draw up a visual guide.
miscellaneous tips
blending is lots of fun! here’s how I like to do it:
start with your two colors. make sure antialiasing is turned on.
zoom in until you can see the little pixels that are in between the colors.
use the eyedropper to select one of them and paint over the line.
repeat!
the only other thing I can think of right now is that scrolling zooms on your canvas. use the magnifying glass on your navigator window to return to a zoom that fits your canvas to your screen. the little circle that looks like the loading symbol is helpful if you accidentally rotate your canvas. also, down arrow flips your canvas.
I haven’t yet figured out how to use a different color mode than RGB, so if you want to know the hex code/HSV/etc. for a color, you’ll have to use something like RGB to Hex to convert. also, using the eyedropper over a transparent background gives you white.
if you have any other questions, feel free to ask! I’ve been using this program since October 2013! there are still things I’ve yet to learn, but I’m always happy to help out another artist!
“Photo of “raking” light. Planes perpendicular to sun glow bright, but near-parallel sideplanes still have cast shadow“
I posted these on twitter this morning, though Tumblr would also like them- just some quick notes on my way to work this morning.
The Analysis part is something I do in my brain all the time. But especially for students, it’s extremely helpful to draw it all out, to “show the work” to get the most of observation!
AND NO, There was NO Color picking. Learn to evaluate saturation and value with your eyes\brain! It’s the relationships between colors that are important, not the specific pixel values on a photo!
![areistotle:
“ hello friends!! this is a masterpost specially requested by yeomhyo about school supplies. i’ll try putting down some links for nice things down here and i’ll try to find stuff which doesn’t cost much for our student budget :]
nice...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/5ab3aac06e75f6c0881c091ea1218e5b/tumblr_num65jDLCj1uu5l5yo1_250.png)
