Welcome back to Digital Dabbles! My name’s Kanjon and we’re going to continue working on this piece today. Previously we blocked out the shape of the fox, and added some new linework. Now let’s start to add in some color. If this is the first time you’ve seen my series, check out my playlists and come learn to draw!
Let’s get back to it! Procreate today, again. I’ve started out by putting some dots of color on a blank layer. I’m only using this to have a little color palette that I can pick from, like this. I can save palettes in Procreate too, but with it done this way, it stays with my art, and I’ll hide it when I’m finished.
If I want to make this fox orange like the reference photo, I can try to paint over this, but… hmm, goes right outside the lines. There’s a few ways I could swap this over, but I’ll show you my favorite: Alpha Lock. This is a setting on the layer that I can turn on, and with that set, it won’t allow me to paint on any blank parts of this layer: I can only change the colors of what’s already there. That’s perfect for this!
Other art apps call this by another name, like lock transparency or preserve opacity. It’s all the same thing though; get familiar with what your art app calls it.
And now I could quickly paint this in by hand to fill it, but I could also just hit this “fill layer” option here – that respects alpha lock and makes the whole layer this color. Then, I’m going to get out a nice bristly brush like this and start roughly painting on some colors. I’m going to start messy and gradually refine it as you’ll see later. But importantly: I’m not worrying about light and shadow yet. I’m just trying to pay attention to the colors of the fox in the reference. We’ll do shading on an entirely new layer later.
It’s totally valid to do shading and coloring on one layer. But for this workflow, we’ll be using blending modes in a future video, and I don’t want to overwhelm you with all of that right now.
Once I’ve gotten most of those colors in, I’m going to start having fun with the smudge tool using the same brush. This helps get rid of some of the messy marks, blends things together with a bit of texture, and keeps adding to the painted look that I want. I’m going to switch back and forth between smudge and painting, undoing whenever I feel like I did too much at once. I’ll put some eye colors in and add a mark for the nose, and keep refining just a bit more.
Easy, right? We’ve turned this layer from a solid placeholder color into the real colors we’re after. Once again, your assignment here is to try this yourself! Feel free to put other colors or markings on if you choose. Don’t get stuck worrying about whether it will look good, just keep mashing that paint around with brushes and smudges: you’re learning how it works.
Up next, I’ll talk about how we can do this a different way with clip masks, which are a super powerful way to change your art by adding layers instead of changing them. Then later, yes: shading! I’m really excited for what’s coming up, and I hope you are too. If you do enjoy this, please do share this video and subscribe! I also would love to see what you’re working on, whether it’s this practice or otherwise. Have fun drawing , and go chase that passion – see you next time.
| Production Info | |
|---|---|
| Music | sero - Deja Vu |
| VRChat World | Sea Breeze by WispyWoo |
| VRChat Avatar | Vulper by Royalty, Meaty, and Reval |