My Work :: Part 1: Practice Riku Sketch

It struck me today that here I am reviewing other artists and such and I haven't even posted my own work, other than my little kitty icon. And how lame and unfair is that? If I can dish it out I should be prepared to take it as well. So I've decided to post what little work I can: practice sketches, pen and tone tests, painting tests. etc, that I don't put on my Ello Studios page. I don't have a lot but I am at a good starting point.

By the way, I would love constructive comments about any of the work I post, should anyone feel the desire to do so.

This first one I am posting is a practice test I did to get an idea of how the Wacom tablet works, and how close I could match real pen and tone techniques. I scanned the image of Riku from D.N.Angel, I think Volume 1? It's been a long time since I did this one so I can't remember. It was my very first practice test, so be gentle. I think you can click on the image to make it larger.

I made the original scan about 50% transparent, then on a new layer painted the pen lines with my Wacom tablet. I actually used several layers for the pen lines. (I really tried to capture the exact expression of Riku as best I could, but it's a little off.) I opened up a new file in Photoshop and filled it with a gradient. I then used the lasso tool to select the shape of Riku's hair, took my selection over to the gradient, and copied the hair shape. I moved this shape back to the original file and placed the gradient below the pen lines. (I don't like the fact that I am using a gradient instead of actual tone, but as it is just a test I cut myself some slack.) I added the hair highlights wih a white brush after placing the gradient. For the panel border line, I just drew a straight line (holding down shift of course) and then used the free transform to position it how I wanted. The same for the toned line above it. The splotches on her clothing are just really large brushes with unique textures; I just masked off the other areas with the selection tool and then quickly dusted the area with my brush. I really like how that turned out.

Since doing this test I've thought of other ways to do a lot of the techniques, but this was a good start I think. And because of my post here, I'll always be able to remember how I did it!