I’ve been meaning to do this (actually, THIS BLOG) but I never got around to it. I’m an amateur digital artist and I’ve done quite a few drawings that I’ve shared on my deviantART page. But I haven’t really shown a detailed way of HOW I draw. So this post will mostly be documentation of how I go through a drawing.
So for the purpose of this post, I’ll use a drawing I did some months ago which I’m actually quite proud of, considering I’ve only been drawing for roughly 2 years with no prior experience or training whatsoever. It’s a drawing of the character Cordelia from Fire Emblem: Awakening. So, this is fan art.
Step 1: Obviously, the sketch. It’s actually pretty neat for a rough sketch, but that’s only because I’m a perfectionist!
Step 2: Lineart. I draw best using lineart, I think. On the plus side, while drawing lineart, I can afford to make more mistakes during the rough sketch process (see the previous step), because I can then fix whatever needs to be fixed during this step. I actually placed the character’s leg in front of the wings.
Step 3: Block colours and s beginning of shading. Self-explanatory, really. I block in flat colours into the drawing and began adding the first few shades here and there. The drawing obviously is FAR from finished, but I think you agree with me that it’s starting to take on life from this stage onward.
Step 4: Final shading and background. Ugh, those clouds create WAY too much contrast against the deeply saturated colour of the sky in the background. In the next step, I add in highlights, and extra shading in certain parts to make the background blend a little better.
Step 5: Highlights, special effects, airbrushing. The drawing is almost finished.
Step 6: Effects and final touches. The drawing is finally finished! I know, it’s not the best drawing out there, but it’s one of MY best drawings to date.
So, there you have it. Maybe this post will help other aspiring and beginning artists out there who are interested in creating digital art in the way I do. I still have much to improve on, but I HAVE improved on subsequent drawings. You can always check out my deviantART. And by ‘can’ I really mean you MUST. Do it.
Cordelia does not belong to me (obviously), as this is a piece of fan art. Program I used: Paint Tool SAI.