father autism

hi !! i hope i can explain this as well as possible and that it's even helpful at all.

i often start with just looking for a reference but sometimes i don't even bother with that. and then i just start drawing so it goes kind of like this: the basic shapes -> details and finishing touches

i don't use guidelines or a simpler sketch if i already have a reference or if i plan to clean the thing up later or paint over it.

this is how most of my sketches start. i think i prefer freehanding like this because the lines are more natural and soft. i do pile a lot of references of the characters i am drawing before i start. here i was drawing higgs and neil from death stranding so i made these sheets to help me visualize their features and their designs when im working on the drawing.

if i want to draw things im not sure ill like i usually start them on new layers while directly connecting them to the base i already have, without having to sacrifice the drawing i already have. i use a lot of layers. usually for face, hair, then arms and hands and body. i merge all of them in the end when im cleaning up the sketch and finishing it up.

i like to simplify things by just thinking of the shapes of what i am drawing. so upper arm, lower arm, hand and the fingers, then hip and how it looks from the side. the lines here define a shape these body parts make on a flat surface.

then i define the shapes and add details

so it ends up looking like this.

here's a hand step by step. simple lines to the overall shapes to then details. all on a new layer.

so i just kind of draw everything but i do use a ton of references, they speed up the work and make it look more natural and defined. i take lots of pictures of myself and my hands haha but

when i do make an underlaying sketch because the drawing is more complex (illustration with background and such) or if i am starting from scratch here's how it goes:

messy outline of the shapes and gesture without cleaning anything up. the first sketch i do for outlining the composition and poses. then i include the designs and personality in gestures as i make the lines more defined and expressive in the second sketch. then i line it. defining the sketch with clear nice shapes it my ultimate goal of so many sketch steps. it saves a lot of time overall and makes the finished piece look nicer. i go over lines in the second to last picture and then go back and forth with the eraser and brush.

here are the three brushes i use, for reference. the neil and higgs sketch was done with the g-pen mostly. DryClumps is a ClipStudioPaint brush from their assets shop, it's free.

here's a time lapse under the cut of that first sketch ive shown, maybe it will help visualize it better as well.

thank you for the ask!!