Kiaz art guidelines [I feel a bit nervous doing this.....]

[kiaz1st]

Ok, yeah, I decided to put this here so you can see how I work on my art. It's up to you if you read it or not, I don't care. Anyway, I feel uncomfortable on telling people how to draw. I'm not even trying to tell them how to draw, I'm showing how I draw, and they can follow it if they want. It's their choice.
So it's not even a proper tutorial, just my way of drawing just put in instruction settings so others can follow if they want. (le derp, that's what tutorials are, bit OH WEEEEELLL xD)

NO. No one is bad at art. And no one should ever even mention it. Everyone has a different style, and each and every style is unique and beautiful! So I just hate it when someone says they are bad at art. You are not. I cannot express how much I would like to express that to everyone. OK.

But, as to help build confidence in yourself, I decided I would give you a few tips on how I do my art. Maybe then you wont be so down hearted on yourself. I'm going to be doing this for digital art, but I might give a traditional tutorial as well. Maybe.

My Rules for Art:

• DO NOT DOUBT YOURSELF! I cannot express it enough. Think your art is rubbish=Art is rubbish, Think your art is good=Art is good. Simple as.
• Make sure you have a good art program, such a PhotoShop or GIMP. I will be using GIMP, but its up to you.
• Make sure you organize your art as in the folders, the names, and when your doing the art, your layers and such
• ]Make sure you have inspiration and are motivated. Without motivation, then your art isn't going to turn out as well as it could do.
• Don't rush. If you rush, then your art is just going to turn out messy and somethings are going to turn out wrong. Make sure you have plenty of time, and if not, you can always save your art.

OK, now that we have cleared that up, it's time to get started on our small tutorial. Remember, this is my own way of doing it, and I have my own style, so feel free to just use this as a guideline and change it to fit your own, and make your own style. In fact, I encourage it!

I'm going to be drawing a lioness, but you can do whatever you like!

As an extra note, I suggest saving your work after completing every layer, so you don't lose it all once your done (I did that, not a very nice experience...)


1. Add your first Layer!

I haven't really used PhotoShop for my artwork, so I don't know if it starts with a default layer or what, but on GIMP, you will start of with 'Background' And it is completely white. Keep this. Your first layer is going to be transparent and it will be called 'Outline'.

2. First lines!

On your layer 'Outline' You are going to draw the basic shape of whatever your going to be drawing, in my case, a lioness. This isn't actually going to be in the final image so it doesn't have to be perfect, just the simple shape. I tend to use thicker lines for this as it is easier to control and when I actually do the line art it is easy to follow.
When positioning your character, think about what's going on, what their mood is, what their personality is. your not going to make a shy, quiet character fearsome and bold are you? Well, that actually depends on the situation, maybe their being attacked, or they are loyal to other friends, and they are being attacked, that changes everything. So just think about things.

3. another layer.

Ok, now that you've done your basic shape, it's time to do your line art. Make a new layer, named, obviously, 'line art'. Yet again, this will be transparent. Then, back on your 'Outline' Set the layer transparency to about half way.

4. The Line art.

Ok, this part might take a while. Here your going to start with the detail. I half the brush size from the size used to make the outline, so as to actually be able to do the line art more detailed. I find that thick lines don't work very well.
I always start from the head, then work my way down. Remember, take it slowly.
When doing the line art, zoom in close, (But not too close) So you can see what you are doing. I also find it is easier to control then.
Use nice, smooth lines. This makes it look more natural. I often let my hand do most of the work, letting it do what it wants. So I'm not forcing much, just hinting the general shape. Try not to force where your line goes, let your hand just take the shape. But make sure it goes along the outlines shape, so you keep the image you want.
If it doesn't feel right, it isn't right.
Don't be worried to go against your outline image a bit, it's fine. I often find that my tail trails off from the outline allot. The outline is just there to give you your general shape of what you want, and so you know where you are.
Remember to zoom out now and then to check how it is going, if something doesn't seem right then just erase it and do it over, no problem, no need to get melodramatic about it (As I constantly tell my little sister. When she get's something wrong, she goes to a fit of tears and gives up. DO NOT DO THIS!.)

Brilliant! Now you can hide your outline. You might not want to delete it though, just incase. If what you are drawing has items or any sort of add ons that are not actually apart of the body, then I suggest keeping the Outline so you can use it later on. Now, the one that I am doesn't have any items, so I'm going to tell you in advance. You make a separate layer for the items.
Wait, your doing a lion? No problem, it's easy to add a mane let me show you:

I use long strokes for my manes, and lots of fluffy spikes!

5. Time for some colour!

Ok, you have your bootiful line art, now it's time to splash a bit of colour onto it!
First, you copy your layer 'Line art' and rename it 'Color' or 'Colour' for wherever you come from. Once you've done that get your base colour, then you go onto 'Fill'. Fill in wherever you can. Should be easy enough. If you've used your paintbrush, then your going to have a line of white where the colour didn't fill. So now you have to go all the way around, with your paintbrush, filling this all in.
Make sue you have your line art layer on top of your colour layer, so it doesn't matter if you go under the lines.
Now it should look allot better. Like so:


6. Markings

Ok, so maybe you character has markings? Well, simply make another transparent layer, named 'Markings'. Here you simply add your markings, and maybe any other colour details, like I put the eye colour in on this layer (GodKnowsWhy) and the inner ear, also the lower body colour not just the markings. You might want to use different media here, like the spray can, and maybe different 'effects' (Or whatever they are) like smudge and blur, to make your markings.

7. Shading

Now it's time for the shading. We will need to copy the colour layer and rename it shading. If we just had a new layer, it wouldn't work as it needs the colour to work.
We are going to use the Dodge/Burn tool. You have to think about where the lighting is coming from. Very carefully. You don't just want random splotches of light and dark that don't correspond with each other. On my one the light will be coming from the left. Use the smudge and blur around the edges of the shading. Smudge makes it look like the animal has fur, make sure you have it follow the way the fur would flow.
Then the blur will smooth it out, making it blend in with it.

And there you go! Just remove the 'Background' Layer, so it has a transparent background, and then your done. This probably wasn't the best tutorial, but I tried my best xD If you have any problems understanding it then just add me, and I will probably edit it so others can understand it.

Final:

I like to add a glow to the background, so the black outline doesn't disappear.

[kiaz1st]

Art done by following these guidelines

The following art has had the owners permission to be here. They have been created by using these guidlines.
Want your art up here? Message me, or leave a reply on the thread with the art!

None yet!

[safarirun123]

Awesome!

[ritat]

I love you so much, these help me with my goal to reach to a amazing art :3 +floof Thank you sweetie!

[OreoHeroz]

Learning digital art...I'm sure this will help me now c: Thank you for this, Kiaz, and I'm sure this will help those who are struggling as well! - nuzzle -

(I did request once, and I don't really care if you post my request up there.)

[Dire Night Wolf]

Veeery good tutorial +nuzzle for you Kiaz. Believe it or not, these are almost the exact same procedures I use for my art.

[kiaz1st]

Thanks guys, I'm glad you found it helpful. I tried to explain it as simply as possible so people could follow.

Veeery good tutorial +nuzzle for you Kiaz. Believe it or not, these are almost the exact same procedures I use for my art.

Really? It seems I am not alone in my ways!

[The Beast Within]

This helped a lot, I've been practicing. When I'm able to create something decent I hope to share it with you.

[kiaz1st]

You keep on going! You will make something fabulous one day, trust me.

And I would love to see what you can do using this! It's great to know it's helping people