#greenwithenvy

Color for Green with Envy! @green-with-envy-phandom-event

The beautiful lineart was made by @ectoplasmic-gh0sty

For @green-with-envy-phandom-event

Sometimes it can be hard to understand what the mods expect from a line art when all you have to go by are some wordy and lengthy rules.

Fret not, here's a summarized version of the line art rules, accompanied with visual support ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧

Size

Do: 1200 x 1200px or above Don't: anything smaller :(

You do not have to stick to a square format! Feel free to choose whatever works best for the lineart you have in mind, so long as none of the sides are smaller than 1200px.

There is no upper size limit, but keep in mind that some artists use softwares that limit the number of layers they can create; the bigger the canvas, the less layers they can use. (If you need a suggestion, 3000px is a good upper size limit, mixing a big enough canvas for you to have fun with details, while still allowing some layering wiggle room for colorists.)

A note on DPI (this is for the advanced gremlins among you, feel free to skip this part!):

DPI stands for Dots Per Inch, and it's a setting you will generally find with your canvas size. It is especially important for printing: the higher the number, the most detailed the print will be. The standard DPI for pictures on the web is 72, while for printing it is recommended to be at 300 minimum (and can go much, much higher!). 72 DPI makes for lighter pictures (and therefor faster loading times), and on most screens you won't see much of a difference between a 72 DPI and a 300 DPI image anyway; unless you open them and zoom in.

You might wonder why DPI would matter to us, if the competition is colored digitally for the majority?

Well, aside from the fact that some colorists do print their lines to color traditionnaly, we do notice a difference in line quality between a low DPI line and a higher one when zooming in real close to color. The lines are much crisper with a bigger DPI!

We do not have a mandatory DPI number we want you to use, but we do recommend being anywhere between 200 and 300 DPI for better line quality. (Don't worry if your DPI is at 72, it's not something we check!)

!! Some softwares will change the DPI setting when you export your lines, while others default to 72 when importing them, regardless of the original DPI attached to the picture. Make sure you know your software and how to set it up for smooth import/export!

Format

Do: png Don't: any other file format

png is the best format to use because it supports transparency, all the while keeping a nice balance between storage size and quality.

Background/Color Fills

Do: fully transparent background Don't: background or color fills anywhere

You can check if there's a background of any sort on your lines by putting a differently colored layer behind it!

Crisp Lines:

Do: clean, smooth lines Don't: blurry or pixelated lines

This can happen when you draw too small and size up your line art. Make sure your canvas is the right size before you start inking!

(If your brush is pixelated by nature, and has no aliasing, it counts as a textured brush and this rule does not apply! See the "Textured Brushes" segment below)

Line Cleanliness:

Do: clean lines Don't: try not to leave behind stray dots and brush strokes

Left behind brush strokes:

This can happen if you erase a lot and forget to clean your line art once you're done.

Unclosed lines / Overshooting lines / Blurry erasure:

Keep in mind that colorists cannot erase/modify any part of your lines, so make sure to zoom in and give it one last glance over before you submit!

Please, note that your line art doesn't have to be 100% perfect with no mistakes! It's ok if you forget to correct some of the errors listed above. Just keep in mind that if the leftover erased lines and overshooting bits are too obvious or too many, to the point that it might impact the colorists' experience, we will ask you to clean up and re-submit.

Signatures/Watermarks:

Do: a small signature is welcome! You can even add a space for the colorist to sign too :) Don't: put a huge watermark above your lines (how are colorists supposed to color otherwise?)

Signatures are optional!

Single Color Lines:

Do: clear lines Don't: leave behind a white border against your lines

This can happen if you draw on a color filled layer and erase the background afterwards.

How to avoid it: place a background on a layer, create a new layer above it and draw on this one! That way you can draw on a layer that has no attached background. Make sure to hide your background layer before you export your final lines!

Properly inked submission example

All in all, what we expect in a properly lined submission are clean and closed/well defined lines.

The reasons for that are:

1) if colorists have to guess where your shapes start and stop, they're going to grow frustrated the more they color,

2) artists newer to digital art won't be able to use the bucket tool and might give up on coloring your lines.

Please note that it's ok to keep thin and/or open lines if they are for finer details, or to line things that are whispy by nature (like a hairline or fire for example), so long as the main shapes of your lineart (body, clothes, accessories, etc.) are well defined!

More things that are allowed:

Differently colored lines: it can help separate subjects in your lines if they are complex! But don't be too attached to the colors you chose, colorists are allowed to change them. This should only be done as a guide anyway.

Sketchy style: while a sketchy style is allowed, you still need to make sure the lines are clean enough. In the example billow, the lines have been cleaned up on the finale version, all the while keeping some construction lines for style.

Textured brushes: We do allow textured brushes to line; but the nature of some of them make it so that a lot of the rules mentioned above can't really be applied (notably for the more porous textures).

In this case, we'll consider your lines as being aimed at colorists looking for a challenge >: )

You won't need to close off all the lines if the texture itself creates openings, especially if those lines are finer details; we just ask you to please try to ensure the main elements like body, clothes, accessories, etc. are well defined.

And more importantly... Artistic freedom!!

We do realize that the rules listed above might feel stifling, or even intimidating. This is not our intention; we want you to have fun first and foremost!

Draw line arts that make you happy, that make you laugh or that warm your little heart; draw them however you'd make them for yourself. And if you have a doubt whether or not they would fit into the event, you can always reach out to the mod team to help clear things up!

Anything we didn't cover?

IM NOT COMPETING IN GWE SO I GET TO USE ILLEGAL BACKGROUNDS HAHAHAHAHAH

Hi guys! Due to popular demand i tried to scale this Green With Envy 2023 to smartphone screens. I made it a bit higher, scaled the candle wisps, and then added some black edges because i didn't want to add onto the lineart and anymore wisps scaling upwards looked too weird. I hope it's alright!

2nd place in the coloring contest of @green-with-envy-phandom-event

Lineart by @sunndropcitrus