An Artsy Addams

Some of the resources I've found:

This site has a TON of info about colored pencils, but this links specifically to a list of the tutorials and such (in particular, the "How to Blend Colored Pencils" and "Beginner Shading Techniques" should be useful to start with, but "How to Color Skin (with Markers)" also has a few useful tips, even though they used markers): https://sarahrenaeclark.com/resources/#resources

These two links are by someone who has and uses a big set of colored pencils, and a very realistic style. But you can utilize the concepts with fewer colors, using things like a lighter highlight/tone-matching color during layering (or white, mindfully, 'cause it might look great for pale skin or pastel clothes but will make dark skin look ashy like they did for the last example swatch), or just leaving the paper more visible for highlighted areas. This first one has more written guided info throughout, for testing out colors to see what will work best for a given person/character: https://web.archive.org/web/20250208115047/https://emmykalia.com/blog/mixing-colors-to-create-skintones

And this one mostly just has some info at the start, then a bunch of color lists for each sphere-shaped example, to get a better idea of how it can look working from highlight to shadow (with basic lighting) for different skin tones (though I think the darkest one they did could've had a better undertone, or used a different/additional highlight color): https://web.archive.org/web/20250811074254/https://emmykalia.com/blog/blending-and-layering-skin-tones

Not colored pencil specific, but if you do work on highlighting and shading, remember to look at references and refer back to CBC's lighting lesson! And all the links she collected there (I am personally particularly fond of Nilah Magruder's two-part essay, when it comes to a beautifully detailed breakdown of understanding how lighting looks on darker skin, and how to work with that in different art styles): https://www.tumblr.com/creatingblackcharacters/748394162559352832/the-same-place-as-the-music-lighting-color

Also not colored pencils, but since it's relevant and an incredible reference, a video by nickkbrownie doing gothic makeup that uses a blue undertone to look less lively: https://www.tumblr.com/creatingblackcharacters/810001815507779584

Adding a readmore for my specific notes on your example, @aworldofhealers, because I rambled a bunch and the post is already long:

THE LONG-AWAITED WEBSITE!!!!

It's not perfect- Strawpage's design tools are... not great- but I did my best to bring you all a Tumblr-free transcription of all my lessons. This is probably the most labor-intensive thing I've done for this page (next to the character polls). Four months of blood, sweat, and tears... and now, she LIVES!!!!

Some Notes:

I created it with the intent of Desktop use, so Mobile might have some issues. If it's not working on your phone, try desktop.

Out of the multiple browsers tested (Firefox, Google, Edge, Brave, Safari), Firefox had some issues sporadically.

I'm still going to post lessons on here, first. This page is priority to me, and the website is more of an archive.

The fonts are normal past this opening page.

I will be adding a portion to send funds soon, if'n you are feeling kind and generous.

Check it out at afroindex.org! 💛✨

CW: Internal organs

First, the short instructional that CBC was directing you to.

While I was looking for that, I also saw another question that they answered specifically about hair when doing redesigns!

Also, as CBC has said before, it's good to look at examples of how Black people draw themselves, to get an idea of how to stylize art without being disrespectful. (It usually comes up when folks ask about Black coding and/or furries, but it applies here, too. Especially with how racist anime can be sometimes.) So in that vein, here's two compilation posts from @phoenix-before-the-flame of some redesigns they've done.

Plus another compilation post I've seen before by @kenmaiii, of different ways they've drawn multiple types of hairstyles.

(Both of them have pinned posts for commissions by the way! Go check them out if you can!!)

For an even broader range of art styles, CBC often shares posts by Black artists on here, so you can check out that tag for more!

(For this link, I'll note that not everyone who has participated in these has been Black, but) the Draw This in Your Style events that CBC has been running are also full of good examples of how to adjust a character's design, focused on one specific character every couple weeks. And before that, she ran the Melanin Beam Challenge, which was a sort of free-for-all where folks submitted whatever character(s) they chose to do!

Going beyond just what CBC has directly shared and/or done as specific challenges, you can also search the "Black edit" tag on here. A lot of folks have been editing or redrawing a whole bunch of characters (anime and otherwise) to be Black for a long while!

If you have an easier time learning from guided tutorials, CBC recently got an ask sharing a book you can get that is specifically How to Draw Diverse Manga! My copy hasn't arrived, so I don't have detailed feedback yet, but you can check reviews on different sites to see whether that might be something you want to check out.

If you like or prefer videos, @naylissah (who has made some amazing picrews!!) has some excellent tutorials over on her youtube, both for specific hairstyles as well as broader character design thoughts!

Also also, Anon, your last question was partly answered (for styles you choose to do as a shaped afro, rather than as locs/braids/etc.) in the last image for Part 3 of the @donutsbagels series of posts you mentioned, if you've not seen all four of them yet! (The bottom of each posts links to the next in the series, if you've not clicked through all of those.) There are other ways to handle it depending on your art style, but it boils down to learning how to draw Black hair texture (and other features).

Expanding on that, you can do some research on natural hair sculpting to get an idea of what various cool hair silhouettes might look like in the real world. She's a Solar Being is very popular and incredibly creative with the hair sculpts she's done (and sometimes makes or shares 2d and 3d art that she's inspired folks to make), but you can also just search around the internet to find other examples!

For me, the main thing i consider when trying to translate what would work is considering the original style itself (of course) then figuring out:- -how can i more-or-less make the same shape/silhouette for the character and carry that over? (which is good that it's something that's being kept in mind already!) -what style might be fitting and/or functional for the character themselves in that universe or setting (and you dont necessarily need to follow 'realistic' rules too closely obviously. i feel like a lot can be done with our hair regardless in a lot of awesome rule defying ways) *even just freeballin it and being like 'i think they would look good with this' even if it doesnt necessarily match the silhouette is fine too, i think the most important part is Would They Rock This Style -what texture might that be, since of course that can come in many different variations

The first time I attempted doing this with Sampo i wanted to follow the swoops in his hair as best as possible. Then i realized locs weren't particularly working for me and i switched it up to twists!

It mostly still follows the same hair flow and I feel it works better! plus its just very fun to render.

Another example is when I wanted to draw Choso. The first thing to come to mind was two puffs. I mean... cmon. This doesnt mean that other styles wouldn't work, but it's still good to think about what would be emulated onto the character. Everyone's gonna have different ideas even if we can agree on some!

Among many other examples:-

First, the short instructional that CBC was directing you to.

While I was looking for that, I also saw another question that they answered specifically about hair when doing redesigns!

Also, as CBC has said before, it's good to look at examples of how Black people draw themselves, to get an idea of how to stylize art without being disrespectful. (It usually comes up when folks ask about Black coding and/or furries, but it applies here, too. Especially with how racist anime can be sometimes.) So in that vein, here's two compilation posts from @phoenix-before-the-flame of some redesigns they've done.

Plus another compilation post I've seen before by @kenmaiii, of different ways they've drawn multiple types of hairstyles.

(Both of them have pinned posts for commissions by the way! Go check them out if you can!!)

For an even broader range of art styles, CBC often shares posts by Black artists on here, so you can check out that tag for more!

(For this link, I'll note that not everyone who has participated in these has been Black, but) the Draw This in Your Style events that CBC has been running are also full of good examples of how to adjust a character's design, focused on one specific character every couple weeks. And before that, she ran the Melanin Beam Challenge, which was a sort of free-for-all where folks submitted whatever character(s) they chose to do!

Going beyond just what CBC has directly shared and/or done as specific challenges, you can also search the "Black edit" tag on here. A lot of folks have been editing or redrawing a whole bunch of characters (anime and otherwise) to be Black for a long while!

If you have an easier time learning from guided tutorials, CBC recently got an ask sharing a book you can get that is specifically How to Draw Diverse Manga! My copy hasn't arrived, so I don't have detailed feedback yet, but you can check reviews on different sites to see whether that might be something you want to check out.

If you like or prefer videos, @naylissah (who has made some amazing picrews!!) has some excellent tutorials over on her youtube, both for specific hairstyles as well as broader character design thoughts!

Also also, Anon, your last question was partly answered (for styles you choose to do as a shaped afro, rather than as locs/braids/etc.) in the last image for Part 3 of the @donutsbagels series of posts you mentioned, if you've not seen all four of them yet! (The bottom of each posts links to the next in the series, if you've not clicked through all of those.) There are other ways to handle it depending on your art style, but it boils down to learning how to draw Black hair texture (and other features).

Expanding on that, you can do some research on natural hair sculpting to get an idea of what various cool hair silhouettes might look like in the real world. She's a Solar Being is very popular and incredibly creative with the hair sculpts she's done (and sometimes makes or shares 2d and 3d art that she's inspired folks to make), but you can also just search around the internet to find other examples!

Love what you're doing. Big fan.

Since a lot of asks you've shared are around how to portray Black characters in visual art, I wanted to share a book I found!

It's called "How to Draw Diverse Manga", and it's written by Black manga artists with an emphasis on how to draw hairstyles, facial features, and other characteristics with respect and intention.

I'm trying to learn to illustrate right now, and it the first book I started using. I've really enjoyed learning from the book.

Anyway, I hope you have a fantastic day! Here's a link to the book:

https://www.saturday-am.com/books/htddm/

Part 1: Long masc hairstyles + playing with fades

"Tutorial" on how to "draw" a blind OC.

My kofi

Boring tired disclaimer: Keep in mind that this is an introductory "drawing" "tutorial" and has some generalizations in it, so not every “X is Z” statement will be true for Actual People. Which happens to be true for everything in general. Links below so that you can research and do a nuance. Ones that were directly mentioned are bolded.

https://youtube.com/@naylissah?si=6jbzc_zLLD5VpEer

She possessed the rich brown of an Angel Amber Kiss, underscored by a saffron-yellow blush.

My eyes refuse to look away from her luxurious brown skin with the shade of Rosanne Terracotta, complemented by red undertones peeking underneath.

Her fur rubs against my arms, yet all I can focus on is her lovely deep brown skin that reminds me of Carolina Allspices, the same ones in her conditioner.

Her brown skin shining like a Brown Daylily embraces my own, slowly wrapping around my sides and allowing me the privilege of viewing her low-gold tones up close.

Some of this might read as 'baby's first writing piece', which isn't inaccurate honestly; still, I hope these were good attempts, as well as if there were any that resonated with you.

(I will also say though, I won't be offended if someone else decides to use these flowers to describe some of their characters. I'd be happy if I managed to give back to people that helped me understand how to write my characters.)

I'm not among the folks who frequently draw amazing closeups of gorgeous lips, but I was so struck by those first flowers I wanted to give it a go!

Process rambling and alt version below the cut: