Art tutorial/step by step/thing

Ok so someone on the internet was asking me what paint program I used for the picture of Rose and the Doctor I drew and how I managed to do it without a tablet so I decided to make a step by step/tutorial/small guide to how I use paint.NET and what process go through when I'm creating pictures like the Rose and Doctor one I posted earlier. I'm not a professional and haven't been using it very long and there are probably other people who know how to use it better but this is just what I've figured out works for me at the moment. I think most people use Photoshop for their art but I use paint.NET because it's free. You can download load it free from this site http://www.getpaint.net/ 

 

 

The picture I am working with is one I started a few years ago of awesome character Liz Ten from the Doctor Who episode "The Beast Below".

 

 

 

I started out by drawing this picture by hand then inked it in with an ink pen. I don't have a tablet or any sort of touchscreen device to do my art on so I have to paint everything with my mouse. This makes it quite hard to draw steady lines so I have to had draw the outlines first using an ink pen then scan them in before I start colouring the picture. Hopefully I will be able to save up and buy a tablet soon so I can draw my outlines properly. :)

So I've just opened my scanned in picture. At the moment there is only one layer.



 

Select the tool called "Magic Wand". When you click an area it will select all the space inside the lines.   








The selected area will turn pale blue (and will probably have dotted lines around it depending on what version you have). It the picture below you will see white parts. These parts haven't been selected because the "magic wand" works kind of like the standard "paint bucket" tool in the way that in won't flow into parts that are completely sectioned off with lines. (sorry if that's confusing)

                                 



Hit "delete" on your keyboard and the selected section will disappear. (the checked pattern represents transparency). If you notice the parts that didn't get selected earlier haven't become transparent.

 

 

Select the still white parts with the "magic wand" and delete them as well. The picture below is now completely transparent except for the black lines.

 



 

 

Add a second layer then move it down below the original layer. 





 

 

 

I have changed the names of the layers to make them make more sense. The layer "the background" is solid white and the layer "black lines" is completely transparent apart from the black lines (since this layer is transparent you can see the white from "the background" showing through)

 



 

 

 

I have added and third layer called "colour. It is below the "black lines" but above "the background". This layer will be used for colouring in your picture. As I colour, I sometimes usually different layers for different pieces of clothing but I won't go into that during this tutorial.

 

                                              

 

 

 

The reason I use this method is because now when I colour the picture I won't be able to accidently  colour straight over the lines because they are on a completely different layer! 

 

 

 

 

So basically I just colour in the who picture now. You can do it all on one layer or create different layers for each piece of clothing if you think it will be easier. Here I have coloured the front part of the cape.

 



 

 

 

I have coloured the inside part of the cape a darker red and coloured and shaded the skin. For the shading I just used a slightly darker shade than the skin. (her face isn't coloured yet because she is wearing a full face mask) 

 

 

 

I'm sure if I'm glad that I chose to draw her wearing her mask or not.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok so when you've finished colouring the character select the layer "the background" which is plain white. Now it's up to you how you decorate the background. It can e as complex or simple as you want. For most of my character pictures I try to keep it simple and just use a coloured oval then add some details.

                                      

 

 

 

 

 

 An finally the finished product! This took about three days to finish.

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry if I missed anything out. Please feel free to ask any questions.  :)