This post is an illustration demo featuring one of my original characters, “Geo-Scout”. I work from start to finish in Krita, the free and open-source digital painting software.

Tools

This demonstration uses the following tools for art creation:

• Krita 3.2
• Wacom Intuos Pro Pen Tablet
• Dell XPS 8700 PC running Windows 8.1

Set Up

Before I do anything, I need to create a new image document. To do so, I click “File” and then select “New” (or, as you can see, I can also press “Ctrl+N”).

 

 

 

 

I then decide I want to use the standard 9” x 12” paper size at 400 PPI (pixels per inch). I use such a resolution to ensure the highest quality printout at the end of the creation process. I do not modify any of the color profile settings. It is not totally necessary to name the piece, but I do so anyway for the sake of this demonstration.

 

In the “Content” tab I do not modify the default settings which are what you see here. I click “Create” to initiate work.

I use a custom pencil brush that was modified and saved separately from the default “HB Pencil” brush preset. For inks, I use the ink brush with modified settings, also shown here. Note the settings shown here for reference. I access this menu from the brush icon atop the work window. (Be sure to refer to Krita’s documentation if you desire more information about the brush engines and settings)

 

Base Drawing

I create a new layer, naming it “blue” since I will be using a blue pencil to do a rough sketch of our futuristic heroine thug. Details don’t matter much here, just the overall idea. I keep the canvas zoomed out, fitting the work space so I can see how each part of her body relates to the others more easily. Indeed, if this were real paper you’d have no other choice. I draw “through” her as well, to build up more convincing form. Or rather, what will be.

TIP: A useful tool in the beginning is an index card with a pen or pencil to do a quick thumbnail sketch before embarking on the composition itself. Indeed, I did so on a piece of scratch paper beforehand for this demo.

When the rough sketch is complete I lower the layer opacity of “blue” to 28%. Then, I create a new layer, naming it “gray pencil” as I switch the color of my pencil to black. A splendid contradiction. I lower the brush opacity from 16% to 12% and lower the brush size a little, to 24.04, for greater sharpness than before.

I begin using more carefully placed, yet confident, lines as I build up dear Geo-Scout’s features. I am quite light with my pen on the tablet, altering the pressure and angle as I go along. Somehow she managed to turn that frown upside down, I find, but decide that it looks better than the rough sketch in blue. As you can see, I start to zoom in for greater accuracy in drawing.

 

 

And yet I’m a little skeptical, so I select “Image” from the top menu and choose “Mirror Image Horizontally”. From this I begin to see early on things that need correcting to appear more natural. This is an effective technique to spot inconsistencies in a drawing since the brain is used to viewing things in the reverse of the reverse, generally speaking. Anyhow, I flip the canvas back and forth a little to gain a better sense of symmetry as I work.

 

Zooming out, I admire my progress thus far…

…and then decide to get back to work. I use “clumps” of shading here and there on and around Scout sparingly for a more dynamic-looking pencil drawing. I zoom in to target areas, such as her legs and boots at the bottom, and her gun up top.

Eventually I finish. Here’s a full visual.

 

Inking

There are countless ways to ink a drawing. For now, I’m going to use a simple method of first outlining the figure, then filling the inside of it. I plan to place dark spots around Geo-Scout’s figure, also, roughly in relation to the clumps of shading in the pencil drawing.

The first thing I do is create a new layer called “inks” and drop the opacity of the pencil layer to somewhere between 25-30%.

Using basic smoothing I start the inking process by drawing all around Scout. I use a variable line width to suggest a less flat-looking appearance. I work up close so that my lines are accurately placed, using the beloved “undo” (Ctrl+Z) command when needed. I ink in the details of her raised weapon early on.

I use here the straight line tool for lines I’m not confident enough to draw freehand. For perfect circles I use a shape tool, making sure to reduce the pixel width on the top of the work window so it doesn’t appear conspicuously thick. I do likewise for other regular shapes to ink.

Eventually I get all around her figure and zoom out to see how it looks. I then reduce the brush size to around 14 pixels and start working inside the outline I made. Quick yet confident lines with the pen will more likely result in smoother lines than if they were slowly, “timidly” drawn for fear of making a mistake. But mistakes are fine, as long as they’re fixed.

TIP: Inking takes confidence. Relax for better control.

 

I use fill-ins here and there around the drawing to add a little comic-like drama. They are placed in such a manner that there is no imbalance or area that is too full of black ink. To facilitate the process of filling in I use the paint bucket tool, limiting the extent of each fill to the “current layer” in the Tool Options menu on the side dock.

 

 

In time, I finish. Here it is in full.

Coloring

Because I used neat, solid lines of moderate thickness in inking, laying out the flat colors will be a simple task. I use the paint bucket, this time removing the tick in the Tool Options for “Limit to Current Layer”. This means whenever I make a fill, it will acknowledge the existence of all layers above and below the current layer. I set each fill to grow by 2 pixels, sometimes lowering it to 1 pixel if the lines are thin enough.

I fill in the large areas with the paint bucket and use my custom ink brush to fill any areas the bucket misses. For areas I want to fill with white or a shade of white, I hide the background layer in order to see the fill itself better.

Pretty soon, this part is all finished. See the product thus far.

Shading and Finishing Touches

I create a new layer called “shading” and set the composite mode to “Multiply”. From here on out I select a low-saturation pink for shading the entire drawing. As you can see, with just a little effort this way I am able to achieve great consistency in shading tones. I use my custom ink brush still.

A few times, I decide to limit the drawing space to a selection so I can be sure I’m coloring inside the lines. For this, I go to the base colors layer, and use the “Select Opaque” option, then return to the layer I was working on. And, like magic, the strokes I add don’t escape from within the inks.

 

Sooner or later I finish this part…

…then get to finishing my work. I use this brush to add soft highlights. It operates much like an airbrush. Except it isn’t. Anyway, the settings for it are as shown. I use the same selection trick so that I can stay inside the lines more easily.

I use my ink brush at lowered opacity for harder highlights, like for the gold parts on her jacket.

Afterwards, I do a bit of experimentation with finishing touches, including a gradient and some glow effects (which are beyond the scope of explanation in this demonstration).

After a little while, I sign my name and call it done.