Iād like to build on this a little, mostly because when I was just starting out, I had no idea how to actually follow this advice (which is very good advice!).Ā
Iād also like to apologize in advance for not having any illustrations to go with this. Youāll have to try and work out what Iām talking about based on the lovely sketches above.Ā Ā
1. If you are working digitally, make your brush big. Bigger. Are you looking at it and thinking, āWhat? Iām never going to be able to capture any details with this monstrosity of a brush!ā Good. Thatās about the right size.Ā
2. If youāre working analog, grab charcoal, or a crayon with the wrapper all peeled off, or one of those woodless pencils. Take your mechanical pencil and fine-liners and hide them from yourself. Take your chosen instrument and turn it on its side, like youāre gonna do a rubbing of a leaf or something.Ā
3. Start making big blocks of color. If you wear glasses, actually take them off to look at whatever youāre using as a model. Otherwise, just let your eyes unfocus a little. Once whatever youāre looking at has dissolved into a pleasantly fuzzy shape, copy that blobby shape onto your canvas.Ā
When Iām doing this, Iām usually using charcoal, so I tend to work from the lightest shapes to the darkest, because itās easier that way. That doesnāt mean youāve messed up if you do it differently though. Itās literally that Iām lazy and going light to dark is a convenient shortcut that saves me some time in this medium.Ā
4. When we outline, we try to capture the āshapeā of an entire object, and then paint shadows and highlights onto it. Soā¦ if you look at the picture of McGonagall up there, you might normally think that her robe is one shape with some dark parts and some light parts. When youāre working without outlines, itās more like thereās a bunch of dark and light shapes sitting together like a puzzle and youāre copying those.Ā
5. This is going to look weird at first! Thatās great! It takes a slightly different hand-eye coordination and thought process to recreate an entire shape at once rather than by āoutliningā it, and thatās a learning curve of its own. Expect that if youāve never tried this before, your hands are going to feel clumsy and uncoordinated at first.Ā
Some tips that might help (Iām sorry I donāt have pictures to go with this!): if youāre working analog, donāt be afraid to turn your charcoal/crayon around whichever way you need. A long skinny shape can be made by sliding the crayon along its length. A curved shape can be made by holding the flat side of the crayon against your canvas and turning your hand like youāre opening a door knob. Experiment and see what you can do!Ā
If youāre working digitallyā¦ well actually Iām not sure this is right because I donāt work in digital media muchā¦. but at a guess Iād suggest picking a rectangular or oval shaped brush and donāt be shy about using your tabletās pressure sensitivity.Ā
Donāt be afraid to put down a darkish area and then lighten it later. Ā At a guess, Iād say thatās how the reflected light on the right side of McGonagallās robe was put in, as well as the highlights on Bardās sleeve and Brienneās armor. (Try to pick out other places where you think thatās happening)
6. THIS ABSOLUTELY HELPS WITH DRAWING CARTOONS OR COMICS! Thisāll be especially easy for a digital artist, but Iād suggest trying something likeā¦ do a sketch this way, and then either put a new layer or a sheet of thinnish paper over it, and ink like you were doing a cartoon of the thing you just drew. Fiddle with your line weights. What does it look like if you put heavier lines where thereās a high contrast between one shape and the next? What if you use heavy lines where thereās a heavy shadow, and light ones where thereās a highlight? Practicing like this will help you figure out what the outlines you draw as a cartoonist are actually representing!Ā
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