Shiroiyuki's Battler Tutorial
05-25-2010, 07:54 PM
Lesson One: Sprite-to-Battler, PART TWO
1) The Perspective Test
Alright! Now that you have a workable sketch you feel comfortable with....flip it over. Yes, you heard me correctly; turn the paper upside down.
Hold this up to the light and see what it looks like.
![[Image: chinachick2.png]](http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/7877/chinachick2.png)
Notice anything? What we just thought was perfect now looks...off. This is because our minds work in very one-sided ways. We accept imperfections and problems with perspective because we donât wish to see them. Flipping the paper over forces our eyes take it all in.
Make sure to fix any problem areas before inking, if possible.
2) INKING!
Yay, fun stuff.
Go over your pencil lines with an ink pen. BUT WAIT! Not just any old ordinary ink pen will do. Well, okay, yeah it probably would....but for nice, crisp, clean lines â you need something better than that old chewed up Officemate you found beneath your couch cushion.
This is the only time I ever splurge on art crap. Seriously. Invest in a nice ballpoint pen (or heck, go for the ink-pot-and-fountain-pen system if you are really serious) with a fine tip on it. Iâd say .5 or .7 is best for line work, but it depends on the personâs style. Find one that works for you and go at it.
Always test the pen on another sheet of paper before using it on artwork. That way if there is any built-up gunk you wonât ruin your drawing (says from experience -_-).
Take your time and try to be as neat and âflowingâ as possible. Experiment with line thickness. I know it is hard your first time, but youâll get it eventually.
If you make any mistakes or cross any lines that arenât supposed to be crossed, donât sweat it. We can rebuild them, we have the technology.
![[Image: chinachick3.png]](http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/386/chinachick3.png)
As you can see I fixed some issues (like hand placement, hair/head shape, thigh muscle, and right foot) in the last step before inking.
Erase all pencil lines OR leave a few in there for that âsketchyâ look. Depends on personal taste and style â but keep in mind if you do leave some in on this battler and have others yet to do, you also should leave pencil lines visible on those, too. Why? Because you donât want several styles running amuck in your game. Stay consistent.
Since Iâm lazy Iâm going to leave them there for now and instead, cleanup the areas outside the ink lines.
3) Scan your drawing
If you donât have a scanner available, go down to your nearest Staples and have one of those guys do it for you. Donât take a picture with your camera phone; that will only give you the blurriest image imaginable to work with and youâll end up hating this process with a passion.
Try to scan it using a reasonably high resolution. I go for 300 because it produces a LARGE ENOUGH IMAGE to work with and color. For black and white images you can save it as a .tif if you like without losing quality.
Send it to a folder youâll find easily again. Desktop works, too.
Get these steps done and when ready, head to Part Three (Photoshop)!
----------------------------
Part Three will be up soon.
You may be asking yourself, 'GEE SHIRO -- THIS STUFF ISN'T EVEN HELPFUL TO ME. BORING! WHY SHOULD I BOTHER READING?!?!!'
Be patient; I'm trying to cater to all sorts of skill levels here so I thought I should make a very in-depth tutorial. The next part of Lesson One will be exclusively Photoshop work so you can just jump right in there if you want to. ^_^ Stay tuned.
1) The Perspective Test
Alright! Now that you have a workable sketch you feel comfortable with....flip it over. Yes, you heard me correctly; turn the paper upside down.
Hold this up to the light and see what it looks like.
Notice anything? What we just thought was perfect now looks...off. This is because our minds work in very one-sided ways. We accept imperfections and problems with perspective because we donât wish to see them. Flipping the paper over forces our eyes take it all in.
Make sure to fix any problem areas before inking, if possible.
2) INKING!
Yay, fun stuff.
Go over your pencil lines with an ink pen. BUT WAIT! Not just any old ordinary ink pen will do. Well, okay, yeah it probably would....but for nice, crisp, clean lines â you need something better than that old chewed up Officemate you found beneath your couch cushion.
This is the only time I ever splurge on art crap. Seriously. Invest in a nice ballpoint pen (or heck, go for the ink-pot-and-fountain-pen system if you are really serious) with a fine tip on it. Iâd say .5 or .7 is best for line work, but it depends on the personâs style. Find one that works for you and go at it.
Always test the pen on another sheet of paper before using it on artwork. That way if there is any built-up gunk you wonât ruin your drawing (says from experience -_-).
Take your time and try to be as neat and âflowingâ as possible. Experiment with line thickness. I know it is hard your first time, but youâll get it eventually.
If you make any mistakes or cross any lines that arenât supposed to be crossed, donât sweat it. We can rebuild them, we have the technology.
As you can see I fixed some issues (like hand placement, hair/head shape, thigh muscle, and right foot) in the last step before inking.
Erase all pencil lines OR leave a few in there for that âsketchyâ look. Depends on personal taste and style â but keep in mind if you do leave some in on this battler and have others yet to do, you also should leave pencil lines visible on those, too. Why? Because you donât want several styles running amuck in your game. Stay consistent.
Since Iâm lazy Iâm going to leave them there for now and instead, cleanup the areas outside the ink lines.
3) Scan your drawing
If you donât have a scanner available, go down to your nearest Staples and have one of those guys do it for you. Donât take a picture with your camera phone; that will only give you the blurriest image imaginable to work with and youâll end up hating this process with a passion.
Try to scan it using a reasonably high resolution. I go for 300 because it produces a LARGE ENOUGH IMAGE to work with and color. For black and white images you can save it as a .tif if you like without losing quality.
Send it to a folder youâll find easily again. Desktop works, too.
Get these steps done and when ready, head to Part Three (Photoshop)!
----------------------------
Part Three will be up soon.
You may be asking yourself, 'GEE SHIRO -- THIS STUFF ISN'T EVEN HELPFUL TO ME. BORING! WHY SHOULD I BOTHER READING?!?!!'
Be patient; I'm trying to cater to all sorts of skill levels here so I thought I should make a very in-depth tutorial. The next part of Lesson One will be exclusively Photoshop work so you can just jump right in there if you want to. ^_^ Stay tuned.
