Winning my first contest on DeviantArt

Hello! 

I have super awesome and exciting news to share with you all today!

I have apparently won first place in a contest held by: http://gianttomatoes.deviantart.com/

~ Hurray! ~

This is my first contest won on DeviantArt so I'm super proud and happy about it.

Here is the logo I drew that made me reach my long time dream of first place:

Lol. 

It is really simple and not that complex or detailed, but I guess that's what some people like about logos?

Yay. I hope you all have the bestest, greatest day ever!!

-S4Rah

The benefits of Shading and texture in digital art!

Shading and texture can really add some flare into your artwork!
I want to show you quick and basic differences shading and textures make to your artwork


Shading makes your picture look more 3D and realistic

Sharp edged shading will make your drawing look more edgy & cartoony while blended shading will make it look more soft and relaxed (well...that depends on colour as well)

Texture makes your picture more interesting

When you have textures incorporated into your artwork it makes your picture interesting! Depending on which texture you use, it can also hide small mistakes such as wiggly lines. This is because when you have a texture, people aren't going to be directly looking at the basics anymore since your image has more details.

Here is an example of a flat image which I coloured for a contest:

 Lines are by Tavvy on DeviantArt 

And here is the image after I finished shading and giving texture to it through different brushes:

There you go! Some people like the flat image as opposed to the shaded one, and others like the shaded and textured picture over the flat picture. It is really up to your own personal tastes!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me! (Im not a pro so my answers will probably be based on my own experiences though)

Importance of highlighting and shading in digital art

As you can see from above, highlights and shading can make your picture look very different. I tend to make my pictures look quite bubbly (It's my style xD). 

I do this by:

1. making sure the outlines are quite thick and bold

2. Drawing highlights in bubbles that are not blended in.

3.Using a darker and warmer colour for the shading, and blending it relatively well.

If you are the details/textures/pattern kind of person, then I'm afraid bubbly isn't really your style. You are too advanced for bubbly lol.

Sumo paint!

Whilst on my main program, Gimp, I was gimping around drawing Amy the hedgehog, when it came to my attention that I couldn't draw her eyelashes very well because the pen stroke didn't make a triangle at the end  (the eyelashes didn't look normal). So I went searching through the internet only to find that my version of gimp (2.8) does not support tablet users!

At first, this seemed kind of strange to me. After all, I was using a tablet and yet I could still access gimp perfectly fine! I had to read a bit more reviews to find out what this person meant. What he/she means to say is that gimp 2.8 doesn't support the pen pressure feature of the tablet.

Knowing full well that there would be no way to get pen pressure in gimp, I decided to go through the pile of software that came with my tablet when I first purchased it, and I discovered a program on the bamboo dock called 'sumo paint'.

To start off with, I decided to draw a cube. To get the pen pressure working you select 'pen pressure' in brush style like so:

After a few minutes of doodling around, I ended up really loving the feeling of pen pressure and came up with the following:

In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I think I will be using more of sumopaint now on despite some people's reviews of gimp being far better than sumopaint.

They are both free programs so I recommend you give both of them a try to see which one you like better!

Drawing Bugs and insects

Drawing Bugs and insects is super easy and fun.

I always use references whenever I draw something realistic. For me, drawing without a reference is close to impossible.

When I draw using my tablet, I find that the picture turns out much cleaner, and clear as opposed to pencil drawings which can get smudgy, and look a bit grainy (some people like this).

If you're similar to myself, and your not sure how to set the tablet to a pressure sensitive mode/ use a program that supports pressure sensitivity, I just draw with a 50% opaque brush so that you can get better shading (it's kind of like etching, except easier).

So yeah! I totally recommend drawing bugs to y'all. Even if you're not a confident drawer, It never hurts to try something new! (well, it might hurt a little xD)Dr

Pokemon and I

I LOVE drawing pokemon.

Here are two that I have recently drawn:

LUGIA

Generation II

DRAGONAIR

Generation I

I dont know what it is about pokemon, but I just love it super duperly much! 

I have been accepting requests for drawings, and have been doing them all as fast and to the best of my ability! If you want me to draw you a picture, you can request me on my deviantart which is here: http://ashlin422.deviantart.com/

Request away! x)

Drawing a chameleon with an orange

Originally, this picture was just supposed to be a chameleon, but after seeing this: http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&global=1&q=noctudelic&offset=24#/d5bxlsx
By one of my most inspirational artists, I decided to add in an orange!

I know, my drawing all of a sudden looks totally newbie when you see the actual result I was trying to get.

But hey! Look at that orange man! I think it looks good if I do say so myself!

Turns out, citrus is actually really easy to draw! Just have lots of layers and colours, and you should be fine! :)