Techniques and Tips for digital art

Well after posting few of my works I thought I should give certain tips to the readers who wanna try their hand at digital art. So here we go:

THE SKETCH

Start with the shape of the central object or the object of focus first. In fact this is the most crucial part of the entire work because whatever amount of detailing will not give you a convincing look if the base sketch is not accurate.I generally set the brush at low opacity and the thickness to minimum. Color of the brush should such that it doesn't dissappear when you paint the base layer. The sketch can be a little messy with guideline here and there but make sure it matches the proportions of the actual image. Here is an example:

EXAMPLE OF THE SKETCH

THE BASE LAYER

Any object or a part of object that you intend to paint is of a particular base color. The base has to be a simple flat layer of color which is somewhere in the midtones, not too light or not too dark either. The edges of the painting have to be defined neatly so there is no confusion later on. There are two methods, one where you cover the entire space with the base color and then proceed for detailing on each area and another where you finish a particular area with the final details and then move to a different section. The choice of the methods is subjective and is left to the individual. However, both ways great results can be achieved.

THE SHAPES

The base layer is merely the start and in fact the easiest of all the stages. Now comes the task of making the object look solid. What makes the objects look 3 dimensional? The answer is the shadows and highlights on that particular object. And as it is obvious the shadows will be darker than the base layer and highlights are lighter. And that is the reason why I choose the base layer to be a moderate shade.

                                Carefully make the regions darker and lighter as per the lighting on the object. This part can be tricky as you may have some smooth surfaces to work on and the shadows and highlights have to be gradual. Constantly changing the opacity to achieve that effect is one technique. Another approach is keeping the opacity low and applying color multiple times on the same region as per the required definition required. The video below has a small demonstration of the technique.

VIDEO ON SHADOWS AND HIGHLIGHTS

DETAILING

The most assiduos part of the entire ordeal. This part usually constitutes about two thirds of the time consumed in the entire process.Yes you read it right. The more the time you spend on giving your work the finish the better. Try to incorporate fine details such as strands of hair falling on the face of a person and its shadow if required. While drawing living beings atmost care must be taken with detailing the eyes, draw the reflections and highlights aptly and accurately. This will add to the liveliness of the image.

Now one important tip or rather technique I would like to mention here which helps me in all my projects. Divide the entire picture into small segments. What I mean by that is, take up a small region, zoom into it and give enough time to make it look very similar to the object's respective region. It might sound very obvious but trust me it helps a lot. Not by making it easier but by boosting your morale. When you are done with a few areas and you zoom out completely you will be surprised with the result.

I hope this post of mine was of some help. Please let me know what techniques you follow and if you tried any artwork after reading this, how useful it proved to be.