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! :)

Tablets and thin lining

A really good thing about using a tablet (If you're a sketcher like me), is that you can get really nice thin lines!
Whenever I used my track pad, drawing with thin lines were impossible, and took an infinite amount of time! Using the tablet is even easier than drawing on paper!

It also makes colouring easier, as you can precisely aim at where you want to colour to, whereas when I use the trackpad, colouring was much harder, and I had a few muscle spasms (haha)

Using white outlines

My Draw to adopt entry on deviantart run by .Metterschlingel.
I used a white outline, and this can look really cool sometimes.

Using black outlines can get boring.
Using different coloured outlines however, can make things look THAT much more awesome, and in my opinion, makes your work look more pro. :)

Do not however, pick a colour that just doesn't suit your colour scheme because this can make your work look a lot worse.

Digitally drawing with tablets.

Tablets make everything faster. Normally, when I use my track pad to draw something like this, I'd take around 30 minutes?

I drew this cube in around 5-10 minutes!

I love how it isn't smudgy, and that it can never be erased or wiped away. I think I'm going crazy for digital drawings.

Contests! Creativity or Talent?

For SophieSuffocate's contest on deviantart, I have gained position of top 10!
This is a super achievement, and simply cannot wait for the results. It comes to show that talent isn't needed -  creativity can play a big role! It said on her journal entry that she chose the top 10 based on creativity which goes to show it's not always about talent ok?! There were some super entries for this contest, and I wish the best of luck to everyone who entered.

Drawing digitally

Drawing digitally doesn't have to be hard! I drew this picture on a track pad of a laptop! The things to remember are: Getting the colors and shading right, getting the structure right, getting the lines the right thickness, and spacing. Also, using the right programs can really help out beginners like myself. Personally, I use gimp which is even free!

Bulbasaur - Pokemon!

Another tip when drawing Pokemon, is getting the colors right! Sometimes it doesn't really matter, and it can even enhance the image, but in my opinion, it's best to stick quite close to the original colors (especially when the anatomy is a bit off as it helps to identify the Pokemon at hand)

COLOURlovers - an online palette!

Sometimes when I make commissions, I get some color combinations that I'm not familiar with. For example,   Blue and Green. I get really stuck, and my pieces end up looking bizarre.

BUT, now there is this new (or not so new) website that I have recently discovered.

It's called COLOURlovers. At COLOURlovers, you can browse through thousands of already made color combinations made by other users. It is super duper handy and I now use the website frequently.

Here is a link to the website: http://www.colourlovers.com/

iScribble - free online drawing with friends

I drew this on http://www.iscribble.net/ it is an awesome online program to make pictures on. The only problem is that it is a bit grainy, but some people like that.

 On iscribble.net, you get certain privileges if you are a regular member (someone who goes on frequently). For example, you can see on the left hand side bars, I am unable to use "circles, autocircles, and blur".
Another thing about iScribble is that you can draw together with other artists whether it's drawing on public boards, or private boards with friends.

There are amazing artists out there, so if you want to see what they can do, simply head over to iScribble's gallery.

The pictures are amazing.

In conclusion, if you're looking for a free online drawing program, why not try iScribble?

UPDATE- Creamex's chameleon

Creamex's contest results have been announced today (or maybe it was yesterday?).
Anyway, my Chameleon entry (above) has gotten the place of runner-ups!

THIS IS A HUGE ACHIEVEMENT.

It is my second contest on DeviantArt, and I will surely continue to improve as I become more experienced and knowledgeable!

I have made the chameleon as a GIF, and it's not so hard to make. All you do is make an identical layer to the original, draw it a blinking eye, and voila! Your chameleon/any animal will go from a picture, to an animation!

Coloring - Chibi girl (Rabi-en rose)

I got this color-in line art from DeviantArt. When coloring in, be as neat as possible! coloring that goes over the line looks really tacky and not so great. I color by putting the line art on the top layer, then coloring on layers underneath (and when the lines are really thick, this technique is super easy to apply!). I put each color  on different layers. After I color it all in, it usually looks ok, but if it doesn't have much detail in the line art, you'll find that it looks a bit flat. This is where overlay comes into use! On the top layer, I pick black as my color, and set the layer as 'overlay'. then, I color around the edges of the picture to make it darker there. After doing this around the whole picture, it makes it look more 3D, and AWESOME.

Drawing Pokemon - Sableye

Sableye is one of my most favorite Pokemon! He is both ghost and dark type, loves lurking around caves, and by the looks of things, must also like jewels! The main tip from me to you, is that when drawing Pokemon, is get the anatomy right! (Not that I have done a good job...) Oh well! Practice makes perfect!

Using highlights - TREE

At the start of the year, I was going crazy, drawing many words such as this one. "TREE". This picture very nicely contrasts the difference of a drawing with 6 layers, to a picture with only 2. Basically, after you sort out your outline and base color for your word, you add another, lighter color on top (mine is a lime green), and then it's time for the top highlight. The highlight gives it a curvy and bouncy feeling. Instead of using just a white highlight (which is fine), I like to use highlights that are more yellow, or warm (but still lighter than all the other layers!). For this drawing, I actually didn't plan how it would look like, I just went with the flow (haha). I guess it worked out pretty good though!

Creamex's contest on Deviantart

This is how I made my contest entry for Creamex's contest on Deviantart. The contest is to design creamex's character 'creame' as a different species! (Creame is currently a dog). I first made the lineart on an amazing program called 'Inkscape', before colouring it in on 'Gimp'(which is also pretty amazing). You might notice the shading that I have, and this was made using a tool called overlay. I use inkscape and gimp for pretty much everything that I digitally draw.