The number one issue I had when it came to this task was putting my imagination onto paper, I’m not very competent when it comes to drawing as a whole let alone digitally. But with the usage of the drawing tablets within the Labs it occurred to me that drawing with a mouse made things extremely difficult in comparison, as a result of this I went out and acquired my own drawing tablet to use at home in order to properly execute the tasks I’m given.
After a while of contemplating different concepts and eliminating the ones that would prove too difficult due to my ability, I started doodling and began building off that to create a character completely from scratch. The step by step process is shown below:
Step 1: Preparing the Canvas
Once Photoshop had loaded up I started off with a default canvas size, using the Crop Tool to snip it down to a simple square. One of my close friends often uses darker background colours instead of white to accentuate the sketches on a canvas, so I took this into account and decided to make my canvas a darker grey just to test this out for myself.
Step 2: Deciding on a Solid Concept
As I wasn’t entirely sure what sort of character I’d like to draw, I spent a while messing around with a plethora of different outlines that ended up quickly erased. Eventually I decided to draw the character limb by limb, for example dividing the arms, legs, body etc. all in their own layers, making it easier for me to blend them without ruining the other body part. This time around I started with an oddly shaped head. Setting in stone that I’ll be beginning to draw a rather obscure character design. Shown below is both a screenshot of the canvas and my hierarchy of layers:
Step 3: Making some Additions
Now that I’d had my head sorted it was now time to start moving down the character’s anatomy, starting with the neck and body. I stuck with my pattern of obscurity and even followed shape theory, going for a more spherical/ovular shaped torso in order to accentuate a calm and kind character. Leaving gaps in the upper sides of the torso and the bottom in order to leave room for the addition of legs and arms in the near future. Aswell as a random whim to add horns to either side of his head.
Step 4: Implementing Limbs
Now I had my body and head set in stone I was able to add both the arms and legs, in order to accurate proportion and match each of the limbs I made use of the Symmetry Tool, which allows you to set a line of symmetry somewhere on the canvas and wherever you draw on one side will be repeated onto the other; making it an effective tool when you’re trying to draw different aspects of a body that you need to be the exact same on either side. Whilst making use of this Tool I added minor details like the edges of sleeves and trouser legs for the future addition of clothing. Shown below is an example of both the canvas and the Symmetry Tool in action.
Step 5: Facial Features
Once the sketch of the body was complete I decided it was about time I added some personality to the character, to do this I added some beady eyes that also follow the same shape theory of spherical/ovular to signify the calm or kindness of the creature and the same sort of idea applies to the mouth, which I even added some colour to so you are able to tell apart the tongue and mouth. I went with the idea of no teeth to continue conveying that friendly feeling of it so far.
Step 6: Clothing Choices
With the creature’s face complete, I moved onto adding some clothing to continue the addition of personality. After some time thinking I landed on a buttoned blazer with a red tie and a white shirt beneath, the idea of formality being something I decided to go with, even including a new layer to add a tophat upon his head. Finally adding some colour to the horns I added at the very beginning too. The Tool used the most in this step was the fill tool, however due to the feathering of the brush I used I had to tidy up the edges as they were rigid and pixelated.
Step 6: Final Touches
For the concluding step I made the decision to add just a few extra features to round up the character as a whole, these things being both a monocle and a cigar just to properly convey the message of his level of class, I also made the decision to keep his skin grey due to the fact it began to grow on me the more I worked on this character, tying off the end to this artpiece.
Conclusion
All in all this was a fun task to work on, it allowed me to exercise my lack of ability and learn more along the way, including both my proficiency with a mouse and a drawing tablet. I was also able to make use of a handful of tools that will most certainly come in handy in the future and I may even use this character in further pieces ahead. This character is Sir Brian the First, a sophisticated creature with a strong cockney accent, a ridiculous idea but fun nonetheless.