First off, the tools of the trade!Pictured here, from left to right are: two mechanical pencils, both are 0.5 sized, but the thicker one has colored lead, which makes it ideal for rough sketches. Next is a white gel pen, which I use for details, and finally, three inking pens, all of them are from Copic.
Joining them, are friends Dust-free eraser (the soft, firm kinds), sharpener (for the colored pencils, we'll get to that) and behind them, heavyweight paper, so your inks don't bleed through and ruin the furniture :> It's always a good idea to put something behind the paper, just in case.
For the colors!Faber-Castell color pencils and a shoebox full of markers. I use Copic Sketch (the ones with the brush ends), Copic Ciao (the one with a regular thin nib) and Prismacolor Markers. I also have a few markers from Kurecolor and Art Master. The reason why I use a different mish-mash of brands is because they all have different pigmentation ;D 'Emerald Green' for Copic is a little more greeny, while Prismacolor's one is a little more Blue. Also, Prisma has very vibrant, rich colors, while Copics blend beautifully :>
SO LET'S BEGIN!First, get your pencil(s), eraser and paper ready:Make sure you have a clean and well-lit enviroment. My desk is a bit small, but it's right next to a window and has a desk lamp not too far from it :>
Now, you need to do a rough sketch, so you can get a good idea on how you want your picture to look like:Here, I want Roxy looking shyly over her shoulder. I like using colored lead for this stage (Pilot COLOR ENO in 0.7, orange lead) because it's not only light, it doesn't smudge either. Also, it's easy to erase off!
When you like with your rough sketch, define it a little:As you can see, I started using a regular pencil for this, I don't want to get myself confused at this point
Alternatively, I use color pencils for this stage, but I wouldn't recommend it >_> Also, I've changed how my initial sketch looks, so now she looks more proportionate :>
When you have your sketch the way you want, it's time to ink!I'm using a Copic Multiliner 0.5 in SEPIA. You can find these at most good art stores, and they're plenty available online. They can come in sets, or you can buy them individually to any size, color and nib you like! Awesome!
When inking, remember; you're not 'tracing' your sketch, because if you do, it's going to look a little too stiff. Try thinking of it as 'redrawing' your sketch, that way your strokes are more natural. I get smooth lines by drawing in one, long continuous stroke, instead of short jagged ones. It took some time, but practice is key! Notice how I didn't follow my sketch exactly? :>
ALL DONE INKING
Now it's time for coloring!It's a
good idea to get the colors you want beforehand for each section. Saves time >_>
I color from darkest to lightest, this way, the shadows and base colors blend better :> For the darkest shades on her skin, I've used Prismacolor "Flagstone Red". These areas are places like the bits under her fringe/cap, nostrils, corners of her mouth, under her chin, under sections of hair, etc.
For the second layer of shadows, I used Prismacolor "Light Walnut", these areas are places like her eye sockets, her nose, lips, etc.
Finally, I used Prismacolor "Buff" as the base of her skin. I also used Prismacolor "Deco Pink" on her cheeks, nose and lips, to give her a bit of color. The key to getting a nice, smooth fill of color on the paper is to always put down the color as quickly as you can, because when that layer dries, going over it will make it look streaky.
For her hat! Because it's leather, there's going to be very strong contrasts, along with very gentle, subtle shading work. I'm using Copic Sketch "Pure Black", Prismacolor "Warm Grey 50%", "Warm Grey 20%" and the Colorless Blender. What I do is, I'll add in all the black, contrasty bits, then go from there with lighter and lighter colors (Warm Grey 50% and 20%). Finally, I smoothen out the lighter colors with the Colorless Blender :> This is just my way of doing it though, your best bet, when coloring fabrics/textures like metal or leather, is to observe and look at pictures and see how light reacts differently to them :>
Now it's time for her shirt and eyes! For whites, I used Prismacolor "Warm Grey 50%", "Warm Grey 20%", "Brick White" and a Colorless Blender. What I do is, I shade in the folds with Warm Grey 50%, go over and blend them with Warm Grey 20% and finally smoothen them out with the colorless blender. "Brick White" is a subtle shade of grey that I use to fix up any of the color blendings that look too spotty and make my white look less stark :>
I don't have many blue colors for my markers (will have to remedy that), so the best I can do with Prismacolor "Navy Blue", "Light Blue" and "Cerulean Blue" is this. Looks a bit amateur, but we can fix that with color pencils ;D "Navy Blue" was used for the darkest shadows and creases, "Cerulean Blue" was used as a secondary shader AND base color, while "Light Blue" helped blend everything together. Same process, coloring from darkest to lightest.
HAIR! I used Prismacolor "Eggshell" for this, nothing else! Because Roxy's blonde, I didn't want her looking too much like a brunette, so I kept going over parts and sections of her hair with "Eggshell" until I got the right shade I wanted. Which is the beautiful thing about markers; once one section is dry, going over them creates a darker color :> I like how her hair looks so far... but something's missing!
THE FINALE!Now here's where the magic happens! I took a dark blue color pencil and lightly went over her sweater vest, now it has a nicer texture (not so smooth) and it's a more accurate color. I also did the same with her hair, but with a reddish-brown color pencil instead, defining segments of hair and also drawing out some loose, flyaway strands.
Finally, I take the white gel pen (Pilot GELLY ROLL) and add little bits of highlights in her eyes, peak of her cheekbones, lips and some shiny bits on her cap
Add a signature, a wee caption and you're all finished!
I didn't buy all the markers at once, by the way, I bought them one-by-one or in small sets (like greys or primary colors). It's much cheaper this way AND before you know it, you'll have a pretty large collection
The more colors you have, the more dynamic your pictures will be! I suggest starting out with colors you're comfortable using, before moving on to other wild, wacky hues.
I hope this is of some use to you guys ^^