Kaedyn Attempts to Draw- Part 2

Hello everyone! Happy holidays!

     Disclaimer before I dive right into things: The reason I'm trying to get this all done quickly is because I'll be leaving the country two weeks and won't be back until January! That means cramming all of my homework into one weekend. So, without further ado, part two!

     I'd like to talk a bit more about color for this piece. I have absolutely no idea what I am doing when it comes to colors, but this book has been pretty helpful with that so far. I'm working on a ~Secret Santa~ project for a friend, so I figured I should knock it out (you'll see plenty of Secret Santa stuff when time inches closer and closer to Christmas).
     My friend is REALLY into Ouran High School Host Club, so I figured I'd draw the twins for him.
     Here they are -->

     Like I began my last piece, the first step is always to sketch. The sketch is the backbone of the drawing- all of your guidelines are in this step. You'll be lost (or at least I always am) without it.

     After that is the putting down the flat colors (on a separate layer, unlike what I did. Save yourself another 20 minutes of fixing everything). Having a base color is important for placing shadows and highlights. If you don't have a base color, how will you know what other colors to use? The simple stuff is definitely most important when it comes to art.

   








     Next is shadows/highlights! These are the shades I used to color Hikaru's face. Bunyapen suggests when painting light skin, you begin with the middle shadow and build up. "Create the middle shadow...add skin depths and bring out subtle details." (Bunyapen 32). So, I began with the base color (the middle tone) and added simple shadows before going darker. Afterwards, I added highlights to his skin. Notice I'm still using my handy-dandy sketch layer (which I make visible every now and then).




Then after I'm positive I have what I want, I'll add the details such as freckles and lip shine. Bonus points if you actually remember the eyes, as I neglected to do so for hours. I then added "legitimate lines" and shaded the hair. I did some more blending as well. For their uniforms, Bunyapen suggests to add creases and wrinkles on the clothing. Don't get too carried away! (Bunyapen 52). I shaded around where the folds of the uniform would be.

     Then, I repeated the same exact process for Kaoru, the decent twin, Lucky me, I didn't have to figure out another set of colors.











     I then decided to draw a background (shocking, right?) and then immediately backed out since I had already spent 5 hours on this piece. So, I found a rose background and added a fade effect and some overlay colors for the background. It still took a decent amount of time, but not as bad as expected.



   








     Here are my layers at this point.
     I'm not sure at all what the third and seventh layers were for, and I couldn't figure it out so I just decided not to touch them in hopes they wouldn't destroy my art. As you can see, I separated the main lines from the clothes, hair, and skin layers. Separating layers makes it so if you mess up and have to erase (like I do all the time) you don't have to redo an entirely different section.





     I added some final touches, and prayed it would look decent for my friend! I'm still not happy with it, but I'm sure I'll go back to it at some point.

     Even though I'm still not very good at drawing, I draw because it's my personal outlet. What's your go-to activity to get all of those emotions out?

Thanks for reading!

Citation: Bunyapen, Supittha. Shojo Wonder Manga Art School: Create Your Own Cool Characters and Costumes with Markers. Cincinnati, OH: Impact, 2011. Print.