Sorry This Is A Lot Of Text! I Don’t Know How To Be Concise - Blog Posts

Hi! I really love your art and I'm getting into doing digital painting myself now. If it's not too much of a bother could you share some tips on your process, and what program + brushes you use? <3

thank you!! I would say my process is not that out of the ordinary but I’m happy to share :)

for the first sketch, I start REALLY loose. comically loose. this pass is just to get the general vibe and composition of the sketch. (going to be using jojen and meera as an example bc this file still has all parts of the process in tact).

then I start pulling LOTS of references and working from them. I start trying to get shapes down accurately enough that I have a solid base to work off. then I can clean them up for the final lines

the only part of my process that I think differs from most is that I’m really terrible with color, so one thing that I learned helps me is to do color comps. i’ll duplicate my line art and then shrink it down until it’s small enough that I can’t focus on details or precision too much and then try and work out color palettes. sometimes the first one works, and sometimes it takes me 3 or 4 recolors, but better for me to do these quick versions than go in blind and hate it at the end. (I unfortunately don’t usually save the ones I don’t use. I wish I could share some options I didn’t go with!) Then I can use my comp as a reference and it’s just a matter of getting the colors in cleanly!

As for programs, I use procreate on an ipad, but for years I used a $60 wacom tablet and clip studio paint that I got on sale. I really think it’s less about the program and more about what’s intuitive for the individual. unless someone tells you to use photoshop. that’s the devil speaking.

lastly here’s some brushes I use! the basics are both default brushes on procreate (maybe slightly altered, but not by much). I make my canvases on the smaller side to get the rough pixelated look from my sketch brush. for patterns, I pull from old illustrations or fabric! a lot of mine came from ivan biliban or similar illustrators. the stamp brushes are super easy to make and really make clothing look lovely imo :) pattern brushes are a little harder but they’re doable with tutorial help

I hope that helps!!