#tips replies

It will be hard at first, maybe expensive too, super weird, a lot of unknow options, programs, tools and things, drawings will hard be like you want them to be, BUT, don’t give up :D Read tutorial, do tests, play with it, read more tutorials, watch speed drwaing, livestream, try again and again and again and you will learn how to draw digitally with time and experience :)

Hello! Thank you!! I’m glad you like my works! /)///(\About the coloring, I use a lot of levels to give it the right atmosphere…Let’s use John for this, who is very happy to give his face for this explanation

Once flats are done, my first step is put a level in Multiply with a pale yellow color, to give it enough basic warmth

The change is vert subtle, it doesn’t have to be SUPER warmth, just a little bit to give some life to the colors.Then I start to work on the shadows, and I hide the flat colors, to see better the volumes. I use different colors for those, usually they are violet/warmer where the light hits, and blue/colder om the opposite side. (mode: Multiply)

I often add a blue level (mode: Normal) with a very low opacity to not make it too saturated, since with multiply it’s super easy to make the color super darker where there isn’t need to.

Then I work with Overlay levels to add some light on the character. Again, less is the opacity, better it is.(of course it depends on the scene… for these basic pinup I prefer to not exaggerated with shadows and lights)

One problem with the overlay light is that often kills the skin color, so I add some pinkish brushes on the face and hands (mode: Multiply) to make some natural “blush”.After this I pass it on Photoshop, and I play with saturation, colors, hue and other stuff to make the general work looking like I want :)

uuuh anon, you are a master to pick hard questions :°D

mmh, let’s see…  usually what makes me really motivate to get better is watching the stuff the artists I admire do. I go to visit their blog/gallery, and I get all the hype, because dang, I want to do that stuff too! So I try to improve my level to be more near to them, but it’s not like I can be good like them in a night… :°D (and then it comes the art block.. like I have right now)

For me improve in art is a battle between the me who dreams and wants to be good like these artists, and the me who is terribly realistic and it’s the worst critic I can have. 

uuh, I think it depends a lot about what style do you like? My best advice would be to study the artists you like more, to see how they do expressions, and notice how many details they put in faces… Personally I like a lot to look at disney characters sheets, and some other comic artists I’m following as spiritual teachers.

When I study an expression, I always start with a general, very simple, toony sketch, and then I draw over them, trying to save the original expression…

of course I lose a lot of freshness in the process… indeed, I like the initial sketches more :°D

Then remember that we have 30+ muscles in the face, for expressions and chewing, and they all can be used to combine an infinite variety of expressions. You don’t have to exaggerate the features just to express a different emotion.., some changes can be really subtle, and still you can understand what’s going on!

Also, friendly reminder: eyebrows are your best friends. Love them

hello! Aw, thank you, I'm glad you like it!! :°D ♥

about photoshop and SAI... well, I don't know? There are people who prefer use Photoshop, people who use Sai, other use corel painter, and other Manga studio. They are all wonderful programs, and everyone is different. I personally prefer to use Paint tool sai, because I like how it works, and it makes me do stuff that I can't do in photoshop (like the sharp lineart, or the way sai mix colors). But there are things I miss on sai, like a decent color adjust, level options and stuff like this. So I use both. If you want to find your program, you just have to try them! There isn't such thing like a "perfect" program, but there is the program perfect for you!And yes, Paint tool Sai costs, and it's like... 50$? It's very cheap, and the full official version is super cool (I used the cracked one for years, but it kept to crush after sometimes...)

And a cintiq worth always every single cent you put in that! I know they cost a lot, but there are also small A4 versions (12wx, and 13hd) that are... cheaper? Like 1000$, or less, if you can find them used. I bought mine from a friend, and it costs me half the real price and I was very lucky. It's the smallest of the family, but I swear, it's the most wonderful thing. Still, rememember that with a cintiq, you are not buying the talent too. Since it costs really a lot, be sure that digital art is the thing you really want to work with.... lately I'm seeing a lot of people who buy it, draw for a week, and then "meh", art is not my thing, and sajhfkg wHAT A WASTE! Btw, if you are not sure about a cintiq, you should try it. It's not like draw on a paper, and the pressure sensibility it's different... I don't feel any difference now, but I know some people feel it a little too "fake". It's pretty personal, I guess.

The style thing is always an hard step for artists… don’t worry, it takes a lot of time to figure out, and still there is not an “ending”. We are constantly in evolution!

I can tell you the artists I looked more in the past years, and that I look now:

1. Masashi Kishimoto

Yeah, Naruto. There a lot of things that I love in the old Naruto, when he was a child, and the chunin test, and Orochimaru doing shits. It amazed me in the highschool, and still I think that there is always something to learn from it (like hands, I love naruto’s hands)

2. Hiromu Arakawa

Full Metal alchemist! One of the best maga I’ve ever read. Also, I love how the sensei drew characters, and the storytelling!

3. Massimiliano Frezzato

Italian Artist! One of the best italian comic artist so far here in this country. I know hem irl, and he’s really cool, He taught me a lot of things that I’ve to remind more often…

4. Dimitri Armand

French comic artist, and I love everything he does. There are a lot of things to learn from his comics and sketches.

5. Enrico Marini

Another Italian artist (even if he’s more swiss than italian…). Really, he’s awesome, and his comic The Scorpion is pure gold. I look often at it for my works, especially for horses and costumes.

These are the most important (I think) artists that I look more, but there are a bunch of other artists that I love, and I’ve learned a lot from… especially for videogames chara designs (Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, The legend of Zelda, Ace attorney, and Fire Emblem Awakening is a new discover ♥), anime/movie chara design (Miyazaki, Yoshida, and others). And artist from devianart, and Tumblr, of course. And, most important, I’ve the luck to be friend with the most amazing young artist group here in Italy.. and they inspire me a lot, everytime we have a meet!