I will make the first post here discussing a bit how I draw currently. I actually change the method to my sketching often, but this is just what I'm currently doing. And I'm going to show you my current WIP as I do so :3
This is all done in openCanvas on a Wacom Bamboo Fun. My computer is really old and I can't use any more complicated programs than that, and I don't have a scanner anymore so I can't really do pencil stuff... so all my art is done completely in openCanvas on two layers at 4000x4000px resolution or less (usually I start with 2000x2000 and make it bigger as needed...)
Also, this is not meant as a tutorial by any means. I just wanted to show how I usually go about drawings, but I'm not saying this is how other people should do it or anything... I don't even really know what I'm doing. If you are also an artist, feel free to share advice and stuff. :3
OK, firstly I start out by doing really ugly sketch :) Sometimes I do little thumbnails first... just to get an idea of what the overall picture will look like. But with something simple like a character standing there, I will just start drawing. Depending on who/what I am drawing, I will start in different places.
I just start drawing basic shapes like circles, ovals, squares, etc., and I slowly 'shape' and detail them... it's kind of like working with clay. You make kind of a basic shape, then slowly mold it into what you want. To make sure things line up I will draw lines all over the place to connect stuff.
As you can see, after a while, it starts to take a shape:
There are lines everywhere and it looks really messy. It takes me a long time to mold stuff like this... I don't know if there is a faster or more efficient method, but I feel this gives me the best results. Remember I completely taught myself how to draw by like... guessing what I should be doing... so this is all I really know how to do, ahaha. Some parts were erased so I could tell where shapes should be more easily (you should see what it looks like before erasing... its just a mass of scribbles and you can't see anything.)
BTW, I do this first sketch in different colors every time. Recently I've been on a grey kick, but I usually do a light blue color. Sometimes doing it in grey makes it harder when I am doing the darker lines, but since the lines are pretty simple, it's no big deal I think. I also like to use green and pink because I like those colors.
Anyway, that first step was just to get the shapes of everything down. The next thing I have to do is decide what lines I am "keeping," because as you can see there are tons of lines and obviously I don't want to use all those. So I just take a black pen and kinda sketch roughly over the lines where it seems normal for them to go. Part of the reason sketches often look better than lineart is because with a sketch, your brain will just kindof "pick" the lines that look best and the form will just 'look right' ... I try to take that feeling and pick the lines from what just feels right... it's drawing very openly... it's kindof hard to explain how I pick where to draw, though. It takes a lot of practice. And I'm still not that good at it...
Anyway, it will come to this after I do that:
As you can see, there is a lot less clutter, but the lines are not very clean or neat or anything. But now you can clearly see the shapes of things and where things should go. BTW I drew those black lines in a new layer and then just disappeared the lower/sketch layer.
From this, I start to "clean" up the lines. I keep the sketchy part invisible and just start filling out the lines more. I make the lines bolder and darker. Also, looking at the cleaner lines, I am able to see parts that I want to change the shape of. So I'll change the shape of those and then bolden up those lines, too. It looks a bit like this during this process:
Notice that his beak changed shape. Some other things changed shape and were added, but that is the most noticeable one, I think. I do not spend a lot of time on this "bolding" and fixing stage unless I have to redraw lots of parts because it doesn't really do anything but fix some shapes. The bolding just helps the next part become a little less tedious. I just need all of the lines to be solid and connect everywhere. The next part is hard if there are broken or fuzzy lines.
Also "small line" written in the corner was just a note to myself to make sure I don't forget that I had a new idea for a certain part and to try it out when I get around to fixing up that part later. I don't often write notes to myself, but I think I should.
The next part is pretty much creating the finished lineart.
You can see how from the last step some parts have changed. This last picture is of course not finished, but still much in progress. I have cleaned up parts like the dome of the head and the eyes. I just do this by using a little eraser and going over lines and erasing the gross parts around them until the line looks good. It's a lot like the "molding" I talked about before, but now it's molding lines. Since I'm just using a simple pen brush it probably cannot get as complicated or as good as other artists. But I can at least make them look pretty clean.
Notice that I also erased some parts completely and redrew them. It's important to keep redrawing parts at every step, I think. Never consider any part of the drawing done until the entire thing is done. And even then you can go back and fix things.
Also I used a smaller pen to go in and add finer details. Crowrang is just big pieces of metal so he doesn't have many fine details, but here I changed the outline under his eyes and the "shape" of the crystal on his head with a smaller pen this way.
Also I am trying to learn how to make more dynamic lineart by using different widths and things, but I don't really know how to do it very well. I try to make lines thicker when they are closer to the viewer or under shadows. But I haven't gotten a very good hang of it yet.
And there you have it :) That is essentially how I draw linearts... :3 Mr. Crowrang is shaping up pretty nicely and looking very inviting I think.
