How To Render With Doodles - A Tutorial
Right! Yesterday we learned how to chose our colors and today we're gonna render the drawing! We already have a rendering tutorial by me but that one was for dramatic lights. The same principles apply here, but today we're gonna do a simpler process for everyday drawings
Step1: Get yourself a drawing (preferably with a background)
Just so I dont otta draw and color an entire new drawing, we're gonna use the same Donnie I did last time. However, I'm gonna use the original colors version, because part of the charm of this method is the way it helps you unify colors even if the colors arent unified to begin with (yesterdays color theory was to unify colors, make them harmonious)
So. Imma use this light blue background because I like the way it looks, but you can use literally any background you like
Step2: Make a new folder and set it to multiply and mask over your drawing
Language barrier may come in here because I have my program in spanish, but im pretty sure its called mask. Basically the purpose is that it only draws over the layer underneath
Step3: Make a new layer inside the folder and fill the entire thing with a color similar to the background
For this one, you can use the same color as the background, but I tend to like to go a slight bit darker when using pastels (like this case) or lighter in case of dark/bright tones. Also slightly more desaturated. If you have a complex background, choose the main color of it and go with that
Step4: Identify your lightsource
Knowing where your light comes from is important when rendering. You needa know the general direction and location and work from there. I tend to put mine in the top left corner of the canvas whenever I dont have a clear source for convenience; i think it looks good
Usually people start with no shadow and draw in shadows. For my first layer of shadows, though, we START with shadows and errase light. Why? I find this an easier way to identify where light hits. You need to identify the main volumes and planes to figure out where light is. The errasing light method works for me better; it helps me identify the planes that are exposed to the light
Now: what planes am I talking about?
These bad boys (i didnt draw this i got it off of internet). The areas that are directly exposed to light are white. The ones that arent directly exposed but arent far from it are a light grey. The ones that are directly against the light are black. On this stage, we are working with the Light Grey areas and trying to get back our White Areas
Better question: How do I figure out how these planes work?
Unfortunately, the answer is, you guessed it, practice and study. I dont usually sit down and study this type stuff. However, whenever I'm out and about and bored, I look at objects and see how light interacts with them. Sit down and observe how light interacts with objects, fabric, peoples skin, the way it changes if its artificial or natural light, etc. Also anatomy, to see how muscles and fat and skin create volumes and planes
Or you can fake it till you make it. We all start somewhere, you end up getting a 6th sense for these things after a few years of drawing on the regular. I've been drawing since childhood and started taking it seriously 7 years ago, so this is all a labour of love and I'm not a master yet
Point being, you end up with this
This applies mostly when drawing human characters with skin, but I use it when drawing pretty much anything because I think it adds a nice touch and brings life into the subject. You needa make a new layer over the first shadow layer and set it to mask over it
Then, you choose a light, saturated pink color. The actual shade depends on what youre feeling like; i tend to go between a cool red to a warm purple
Once you have your color, color in the edges of where the light turns to shadow. After its colored, soften it
At first glance theres barely a difference, but if you compare it to how it was before it feels brighter, brings life into the character. This works best when drawing human characters; skin is semi-translucent, so the areas impacted by light reflect it back with a red glow because of the blood cells underneath. This doesnt work that well with turtles due to their green skin, but its still a nice touch
Step 7: Second layer of shadows
First layer of shadow (aka this one) was the "grey" area from the picture shown earlier. This second layer is the dark parts of the shadow, the parts light doesnt hit. For this one, we're gonna use a darker, slightly more saturated tone from before, but still make it so its coherent with the background.
The purpose of this layer is to darken the parts where light doesnt hit. First layer was to identify where light is; now we know where light is Not, so we emphasize those parts. This is just another multiply layer inside the same folder
Step8: First Layer of Light
Ok so we're done with shadows! Hurray! However, this still feels a bit flat and dull, we can make it more fun. Make a new layer over the other ones, and set it to overlay. We want it to only affect our drawing, not the background, same with the multiply
(In instances where you're working with bakcground and subject at the same time you DO want it to affect the background. Its just that because today we're working with an uniform color background we dont want it to get dirty)
With a soft brush, we're going to grab a light yellow color and go over the areas we've already identified are light
I tend to lower the opacity of this layer down to around 50% or even more, it depends on what effect youre going for. But thsi is just a faint glow
Step 9: second layer of light
The key of this method is subtle layering. We did that with the shadows, we do it with light. This second layer is optional, but it can add. Here i use a harder brush, same color, and work over the areas hit by light. Then I soften some edges (softened eges depend on the volumes) and lower opacity like so
The intensity of this will depend on the type of enviroment you have. Bright sunny days will produce brighter, sharper lights and shadows, clowdy days will produce softer lights and shadows
New overlay, same color, I like adding bit of a rim around objects as highlights. Metal/reflective objects will have more contrast. I also like adding highlights in the cheeks and nose, I think it looks cute
this layer i tend to leave it similar to the og opacity, though sometimes still lower it a bit (this time i have it at 72%)
The main detail I add is just highlights in the eyes. For this, I tend to use the same shade of yellow I used for the lights
never underestimate the power of the eye highlight. It brings life to the characters
another thing you can do is create more difference between the elements of the character. In a new layer, draw over the parts that are "far away". In this case, its part of the tech bo, the battle shell, half of donnie's arm and one of Donnie's legs
Now lower the opacity a LOT. This is a very very subtle effect youre trying to achieve
It helps diferenciate between volumes and create the ilusion of distance
There we go, a fully rendered Donnie! Doesnt he look fun?
The nice thing about this method is that its very versitile and adaptable to the artists preference. Here is how it looks with other colors
By changing the shadow colors you can make the colors fit in and feel at place with the background, even if they shouldnt. As a bonus, I included one of the backgrounds we used yesterday. Its still the OG colors donnie, but with this rendering he feels a lil bit more at home here
So yea!! I hope this was helpfull! Everyones drawing process is very personalized so dont feel obliged to copy me or whatever- this is just me showing how I do things with the hope of opening your eyes to new ideas, but i encourrage you to experiment and fuck around and find out
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