Illustrators Guidebook Vol. 2

VOLUME

2
VOLUME
I L L U S T R A T O R’ S G U I D E B O O K

2
VOLUME

2
Published in Sweden, by 21 Solutions AB.
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W W W. 2 1 - D R AW. C O M
Copyright © 2021, 21 Solutions AB.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
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Designed in the USA by BookWiseDesign.com

Printed in China
ISBN Hardcover: 978-91-986379-5-3

ISBN eBook: 978-91-986379-4-6
IMAGE CREDITS: p. 3 cactus/Shutterstock, shirt/Deposit Photo, p. 4 images/Shutterstock, p. 58 David

Hofmann/Unsplash.com, p. 59 Unsplash, Shutterstock, p. 127 Pexels/window/Jack Gittoes, old house/
Jack Gittoes, door/Chris F., ceiling/Cameron Casey, windows/Ena Marinkovic, windows/Mali Maeder,
bedroom/Wendelin Jacober, windows/Daniel Wander, staircase/Pixabay, woman/Suzy Hazelwood, latch/
Mike, ceiling/Octoptimist, staircase/Wendelin Jacober, windows and chair/Faruk Tokluoglu, stairs/Viktor
Mogilat, stairs/Matheus Viana, stairs/Hidden Couple, house/Kris Lucas, house/Vlad Chetan, door/
Kris Schulze, door/Craig Adderley, door/Pixabay, stairs/Alexandr Nikulin, house/Harrison Haines, kids/
Kat Wilcox, arch doorway/Pixabay, window/Jack Gittoes, room/Joao Gustavo Reze, room/AndreeaCh,
room/AndreeaCh, museum/LinaKivaka, stairs/Yoss Cinematic, house/Pixabay, boy/Nappy, girl/
Mentatdgt, girl/Retha Ferguson, girl in cap/Trinity Kubassek, curtains/Jan Koetsier, room/Skitterphoto,
stairway/Yoss Cinematic, boy/Suleman Mukhtar, girl/Andrea Piacquadio, images from iStock: kids/
monkeybusinessimages, stairs/Bastan, photos/LiliGraphie, woman/FocusOnYou, woman/Max-Kegfire,
cassettes/Igor Bukhlin, girl/Massonstock, kids/monkeybusinessimages, kids/monkeybusinessimages,
girl/Ridofranz, images from British Library, imagesonline.bl.uk: The Haunted House, illustrated by H. Railton,
Poetical Works of John Keats, Edited by H. Buxton Forman, illustrated by W. H. Low and others, Ghosts,
illustrated by B. E. Minns, Kate O'Brien Prichard, The British Birds, Edward James Mortimer Collins,
The World of Romance, Humorous Poems, illustrations by C. E. Brock, L.P., The Night Side of Nature,
Catherine Crowe, Peter Ibbetson, George Du Maurier, p. 144 image from British Library, imagesonline.
bl.uk: Poetical Works of John Keats, Edited by H. Buxton Forman, illustrated by W. H. Low and others,
p. 150 ColorPalette.Cinema, p. 151 ColorPalette.Cinema, p. 152 iStock, p. 153 iStock, p. 154 iStock, p. 156
iStock, p. 160 iStock, p. 161 iStock.
CONTENTS
1 D I G I TA L D R A W I N G 1
ERIK A WISEMAN
2 F U N D A M E N TA L S O F C H A R A C T E R D E S I G N 31
RANDY BISHOP
3 DR AWING A FEMALE CHAR ACTER 51

MEIKE SCHNEIDER
4 ST YLIZED FIGURE DR AWING 75

RENÉ CÓRDOVA
5 HOW TO BRING YOUR CHAR AC TERS TO LIFE 101

RODGON
6 C H A R A C T E R D R I V E N I L L U S T R AT I O N S 121
KENNETH ANDERSON
7 MASTERING LIGHTING AND SHADING 14 9

AVELINE STOK ART
8 MEET THE ARTISTS 173

For beginners, students, and masters
THANK YOU
TO OUR SUPPORTERS:
A HUGE thank you to all the incredible Kickstarter backers who have
backed us over the years! This book would not exist if it wasn’t for
you. Thank you so much for your support, input, and patience.
TO ALL THE ARTISTS:

Kenneth Anderson
Randy Bishop
René Córdova
Rodgon
Meike Schneider
Aveline Stokart
Erika Wiseman
Thank you all so much for contributing to this book! It would not
have happened without your support and your help in spreading
the word. It was a pleasure to work with you all.
INTRODUCTION
T
hank you for purchasing 21 Draw’s Illustrator’s Guidebook, volume 2!
This is the long-awaited follow-up to the hugely popular Illustrator’s
Guidebook. This time around we did things a little bit different.
The chapters in this volume were created along with a set of video courses that
match the corresponding chapters. You will have the option to check out the
videos too.
You’ll gain insights into the working methods of some of the most popular
illustrators and animators working in the industry today. They will show you
their unique methods for creating awesome images and how to go about
achieving your own artistic goals, no matter if you are a budding artist or a
seasoned pro!
We have worked diligently to condense the artists’ long years of training and
professional experiences into this new volume. In the Illustrator’s Guidebook,
volume 2, you’ll get to compare the methods and insights of seven top industry
artists from companies like Disney, Marvel, DreamWorks, and more.
You’ll also learn how they approach concepts like digital drawing, character
design, stylized character design, and loads more.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
F
eel free to read the book from start to finish in its entirety or just randomly
browse its pages to check out some amazing artwork. Alternatively, you
can look up the specific artistic areas you are interested in exploring in the
contents section. If you’re interested in learning more about a particular artist,
you can skip directly to his/her pages or biography.
A corresponding video course was created along with each book chapter. At
the end of each chapter, you will see that there is a QR Code. To check out the
corresponding video course, open the camera on your phone and scan the
QR Code. This code will take you to our website where you can watch the art
course. Please note that you will have to subscribe to watch the course. If you
already have an active subscription, then you can watch all the courses without
extra cost.
It’s important to note that there was a real effort to keep the artists’ own words
and actions as close as possible to what they submitted. This is important as
it allows you to get an understanding of the exact process each artist goes
through when completing an image from start to finish. Some artists use
roughs, proportion lines, and other guides when drawing, and others start with
clean lines and adjust as they go. In most cases, the artists followed the briefs
exactly, but in some instances, they provided additions or minimizations that
were even better than the original briefs. When this occurred, the artist’s version
was chosen over the original brief.
We hope that you enjoy the chapters and videos in this volume, and we hope
that they will help you to reach your artistic goals along the way. So read on and
have fun!
1
DIGITAL DRAWING
Using Procreate
ER IK A W I S EM A N
DIGI TA L DR AW ING
WITH ERIKA WISEMAN
W
elcome! To get ready, I’ll guide time. Since I’ve been using the grip, I don’t
you through the basics of have hand cramps anymore. Even better
drawing in Procreate including news—it was only about $5! I also use a
the materials needed, how to set up a new stand that props my iPad up at a 45-degree
canvas and navigate the gallery, as well as a angle. I find that using a stand is better for
review of the Procreate interface. We’ll also posture and also reduces wrist pain. I think
get a creative start finding inspiration by it is important to take care of your body
creating a mood board together! by using preventive measures like these
whenever possible.
MATERIALS All of the Procreate

drawing and painting
We will use Procreate
techniques in this chapter
for the iPad as our
will easily apply to other
software. For starters,
software like Photoshop. In
you need an iPad,
fact, I use both Photoshop
an Apple Pencil, and
and Procreate quite frequently.
Procreate that can be
They are very flexible, and you
purchased in the App
can easily send files back and forth
Store for $9.99. I am using
between the two. For larger pieces, I
a 2017 iPad Pro, a first-
often start my sketch in Procreate then
generation Apple Pencil,
send the file to Photoshop on my computer
and the latest version of Procreate.
to finish it. Or, if I want a change of scenery, I
send my Photoshop file to Procreate so I can
I like to use a few accessories for my iPad
work from a coffee shop or outside—it is
setup. I have a case with a magnetic front
easy to pick right back up where I left off.
cover to protect my screen. Another option
to protect your iPad is a screen protector.
I don’t mind the smooth feel of the pencil
THE GALLERY
on the iPad screen, but some artists prefer a
surface with more texture to draw on. If you Now that we’ve covered what you need,
prefer a more natural feel when drawing, it’s time for us to jump into Procreate. The
there are paperlike, matte screen protectors first thing you see when you open the app
available. One accessory that’s essential to is the Gallery. The Gallery is where all of
my workflow is an ergonomic Apple Pencil your artwork files are stored. Each artwork
grip. Before I bought one, my hand would preview will list the file name and canvas
cramp up while drawing for long periods of size below it. To open an artwork file already
2 21D R AW
stored on your device, simply tap the thumb, I don’t use less than 8 inches on
preview in the gallery. You can add new files the smallest side. For example, if I want to
by using the Files menu, such as digital art print my drawing at 5x7 inches, I double the
files from other software by tapping Import. dimensions and start my canvas at 10x14
You can also import photos from your inches. I can scale the file size down after I’m
camera roll by tapping on Photo. finished which helps maintain high image
quality. Speaking of image quality—DPI
Before we create a new canvas, let’s look at plays an important role. DPI stands for dots
a few ways to organize files. To rename a file (or pixels) per inch. If you use a lower DPI,
simply tap the title underneath the preview. the image will be more pixelated. I always
You can move artwork around by tapping create my canvas at 300 DPI (which is
and dragging the preview where you want. standard for quality printing). This ensures
By swiping left on a preview, you can share, good image quality on screen as well as
duplicate, or delete it. To share, duplicate, or when printed. Note that a larger canvas size
delete multiple files at once, tap select then or higher DPI will limit the number of layers
tap on all the files you want to include. you can have in a canvas. Later on, I will
show you a trick to work around the layer
Next choose the action you want to apply limit. To save and rename your new canvas
from the top right menu. You can also group preset, tap Untitled Canvas, then tap the
files into folders called Stacks. To create a orange Create button.
stack, tap Select and tap the files you would
like to stack. Once you have them selected,
tap Stack from the upper right menu. LESSON 1: FINDING
Alternatively, if you hold and drag one file on INSPIRATION
top of another this quickly creates a stack.
Drag any additional artwork you’d like added The first step in creating
a new drawing is finding
to the top of the stack, hover, and hold until
inspiration. When I’m
you see the selected file in the stack. If you’d
not sure what to draw,
like to remove a file from a stack, tap the
I gather images I find
stack, then tap and drag the artwork to the
interesting and
top left corner until it is back in the Gallery.
compile them into
a mood board.
CREATING A NEW CANVAS This helps me get
inspired to create
Now that we are familiar with the Gallery, it’s something new. I
time to create a new canvas. Create a canvas gather resources
by tapping the + symbol in the upper right- for my mood board
hand corner of the Gallery. Rather than by browsing sites
selecting one of the presets shown, let’s like Pinterest or doing a simple Google
create a new preset. Tap the icon to the right search. When looking for mood board
of New Canvas. From here you can choose images, you’re not looking for a single
your dimensions. I typically change units image to draw from. You want to find a
to inches instead of pixels because inches variety of images that inspire you to create
are easier for me to visualize. As a rule of something entirely new.
D I G I TA L D R AW I N G 3
For example, look for poses, hairstyles, or right-handed). Your screen will be divided
clothing, but don’t draw that exact person. in half between the two apps. If you tap and
Something as simple as the colors or drag the black bar in the middle, you can
lighting in a photo can inspire me to create make one window smaller than the other. In
an illustration based on that color palette this case, I like to have Procreate in the larger
or lighting situation. As you find images on window and my Photos smaller. (For future
the web, save them to your camera roll by reference, if you want to get rid of a window,
tapping and holding on the image until the swipe toward the left or right depending on
menu pops up. Then tap Add to Photos.To which side of the screen the window is on.)
save photos from Pinterest, tap the Pin, tap
‘. . .’ at the right, then tap Download Image.
Once you’ve gathered research, you can ADDING, MOVING,
open up Procreate to create the mood board. AND RESIZING IMAGES
First, you want to utilize the iPad’s To add photos to your canvas, simply drag
multitasking feature. This allows you to have and drop them from your Photos window
multiple app windows open at once, which to your Procreate window (alternatively, you
is very helpful to free up space on your can tap Actions > Add > Insert a Photo).
canvas. Go to your home screen and add Once imported, the Move/Transform tool
your favorite apps to the bottom toolbar by will automatically be activated so you can
holding and dragging. I suggest including move and scale your image. By default, the
at least Procreate, Photos, Pinterest, and an Uniform option is active and the proportions
internet browser. Next to open Procreate, of your image are constrained so they stay
swipe up from the bottom of your screen to consistent no matter the size. If you want
bring up your toolbar. Tap, hold, and drag to stretch your image, change the option at
the Photos app to either the left or right side the bottom menu to Freeform and tap the
of the screen (I move it to the left since I’m blue points around your image. If you tap
4 21D R AW
PROCREATE INTERFACE
A ctions Sm u dge
Selection Brush C olor
M ove and Eraser

Adjustm ents Transform
Layers
Brush
Size
Brush
Opacity
Undo
and
R edo
and hold on any of these points or select ACTIONS GUIDE
Distort in the menu, you can skew the
NAME WHAT IT DOES WHERE TO FIND IT
image. To move your image, simply tap
anywhere on the canvas and drag with Zoom In/ Adjusts the view Pinch and expand with
Out/Rotate of the canvas. 2 fingers to zoom in/
one finger. Tapping with one finger next out. Rotate 2 fingers to
to your canvas will slightly nudge the rotate canvas.
image in that direction.
Undo Undo your Top arrow on side panel
previous action. or tap with 2 fingers.
To Zoom In/Out/Rotate your image,
Redo Redo an action Bottom arrow on side
pinch two fingers together and to you chose to undo. panel or tap 3 fingers.
enlarge expand two fingers apart. Once
Cut/Copy/ Allows you to cut, Slide down with 3
you’re happy with the size and position
Paste Menu copy, and paste fingers.
of your image, tap the Move/Transform selections.
tool icon on the top left toolbar to
Crop Adjusts canvas Actions > Canvas > Crop
confirm. If you want to move only a area and deletes & Resize.
piece of your image, use the Selection everything outside
tool to select the area you want to of the selection.
move, then tap the Move/Transform Flip Canvas Flips your canvas Actions > Canvas > Flip
tool. Be careful though! If you move your Horizontally horizontally so Canvas Horizontally OR
you can get a fresh Quick Menu on sidebar
image outside the canvas boundary and
perspective. (change in settings).
confirm, you’ll lose any part of the image
Share Image Exports your Actions > Share > Select
outside the canvas boundary. If you
artwork as various File Type.
move the image again, that piece will file types.
be gone! Keep in mind you can always
move an image after you’ve imported it
by tapping the Move/Transform tool. LAYERS GUIDE
THE BASICS OF USING LAYERS New Layer Creates a new Layers > + symbol.
layer above the
Place your second mood board current one.
image the same way as the first. You Move Layer Move a layer Tap, hold, and drag the
may notice when you move the new above or below layer you want to move.
another layer.
image over the first it appears on top.
Procreate, like most digital image Duplicate Create a copy of a Swipe left on the layer.
Layer layer.
software, uses Layers. Layers are one
of the largest benefits to working with Merge Merges current Layers > Tap Layer >
Down layer and the one Merge Down.
digital drawing software. Working on
below it into one
one layer does not affect the layers layer.
below or above, so you’re free to add
Hide Layer Allows you to hide Uncheck the checkbox
brush strokes and experiment without a layer from view to the left of the layer.
worrying about messing up the work without deleting it. Check again to make it
you’ve already done. When you import visible.
a new image, it is always placed on a Delete Layer Deletes the Swipe left on the layer.
layer above the current one. selected layer.
6 21D R AW
To view your layers, bring up the Layers LAYERS GUIDE
Panel in the top right toolbar. If you
want to move the new image behind the
first (Move Layer), tap, hold, and drag Create Organizes layers Select a layer and
Group into collapsable, swipe right on any
the new image layer underneath the folder-like groups. additional layers you
first layer. If you swipe left on a layer, you want to group. Then
can Lock it (this means it can’t be edited tap “group” on the
until you unlock it). Duplicate Layer will top right.
create a copy of a layer and Delete Layer Layer Controls how Adjustments >
will permanently remove the layer from Opacity much you can Opacity or, Layers >
see through the Layer Blending Mode
your canvas. If you don’t want to see
current layer. > Opacity Slider.
the layer but don’t want to permanently
delete it, you can uncheck the visibility Alpha Lock Locks the pixels Layers > Tap Layer >
on the current Alpha Lock.
checkbox to the right of the layer. Check
layer so that any
it again to make it reappear. additional brush
strokes cannot
Tapping on a layer brings up a variety of go outside the
boundaries of
options. For now, let’s focus on Merge
those pixels.
Down and Combine Down. Merge down
merges the current layer and the one Clipping Clips your current Layers > Tap Layer >
Mask layer to the layer Clipping Mask.
below it into a new layer. The two layers
below it. Only
no longer exist as individual layers and the brush strokes
cannot be separated back to the way within the pixel
they were. boundary of the
layer below it will
be visible.
Be aware that you cannot merge down
on the Background layer. Combine Layer Changes the way Layers > Tap “N”
down is similar to merge down but Blending the current layer next to the visibility
Modes interacts with the check mark and cycle
rather than merging layers together, it
layers below it. through the options.
combines the current layer and the one
below it into a group.
In a group your layers exist separately,

but when a group is selected it can be moved YOUR TURN: FINDING INSPIRATION
and transformed together. To include more Create a mood board of images to inspire
than one layer in a group, tap a layer then your next illustration. You can find images
swipe right on any layers you want grouped on the internet or take your own photos.
together. Once they are selected, tap Group. Include poses, color palettes, lighting,
To remove items from a group, select the fashion, and hairstyles, anything that you
images and drag them out of the group. find interesting or inspiring.
Continue adding images to your mood board
canvas and arrange them to your liking. Use Procreate to arrange your images into
When you’re done, tap Actions > Share > a mood board to help you become familiar
JPEG and Save Image to export your mood with the interface and tools to prepare for
board to your photos as a flattened jpeg file. the next lesson.
LESSON 2: SETTING UP be found by going to Actions > Help >
YOUR WORKSPACE Procreate Handbook. Let’s start with a
simple one, zooming in/out on your canvas.
In this section we learn about some Using two fingers, pinch to zoom out and
settings, gestures, and shortcuts to help expand to zoom in. This comes in handy
make your workflow easier and more when you want to get a better look at the
streamlined. We’ll also review brushes details in your illustration. Next is probably
in more detail, including my personal my most used gesture and every digital
favorites and how to make your own! artist’s best friend—Undo! To undo tap with
two fingers anywhere on your canvas. To
Redo the action, tap with three fingers.
PROCREATE WORKFLOW
The last gesture I use consistently is the Cut >
Before we start drawing, let’s set up our
Copy > Paste Menu. Slide down using three
Procreate workflow and learn about quick
fingers to bring up the menu. The action
gestures and shortcuts that make creating
you choose will only be applied to your
an illustration faster and easier. Let’s start current layer. Combining this menu with
by changing a couple of settings, go to the selection tool will give you more control
Actions > Preferences > Gesture Controls. over where images are placed and on which
Under General make sure Disable Touch layer. If you use the selection tool to select a
Actions is turned to On. This makes it so you specific part of an image, bring up the cut >
can use the brush tool only with the Apple copy > paste menu, select Cut & Paste, which
Pencil. When this is turned off, you’ll find moves the selection to its own layer.
yourself making accidental brush marks with
your fingers which can be really annoying! Shortcuts are similar to gestures but
shortcuts work with tools rather than
Next, go to the Quick Menu option in actions. A tool I use quite often while
Gesture Controls and turn on Tap []. painting is the Eyedropper. This tool allows
Tapping the square on your sidebar will you to select any color on your canvas
now bring up a QuickMenu. You can and make it your current brush color. To
customize your quick menu by tapping quickly access the eyedropper, tap and
and selecting one of the six options (I have hold anywhere on your canvas to pick up
mine on the default settings). You can also color. Fill is another color tool that comes
go to Actions > Preferences and toggle in handy. Drag the color circle in the top
the options to match your preferences. For right corner to an area of the canvas you
example, you can move the sidebar on the want to fill with color. Remember only the
canvas to either side by toggling the right layer you’re on will be affected. If they’re
hand interface option. I prefer mine on the something on the layer, paint will fill around
left since I draw with my right hand. that area. If nothing is on the layer, the
entire layer will be filled.
Gestures in Procreate are designed to
improve the speed of your workflow. I’ll Lastly let’s review Quick Shapes and Lines.
review a few gestures that are essential to Quick shapes allow you to create editable
my workflow that I think you’ll find helpful. shapes and even turn them into perfect
A full list of the Procreate gestures can circles and squares. Draw a circle or square
8 21D R AW
but don’t pick up your pencil for TOOLS GUIDE
a few seconds. After the shape is
created, keep your pencil held down
and tap the screen with your finger Brush Allows you to create Top right menu. While
Your main brush strokes on your the tool is selected tap
to create a perfect circle or square. tool for digital canvas. to change brushes.
A similar shortcut is used to create drawing!
a straight line. Try using the brush
Brush Size Adjusts how big or Top slider on sidebar.
tool, create a stroke but don’t pick small your brush tip is.
up your pencil for a few seconds.
Brush Adjust how opaque Bottom slider on
Opacity brush strokes are. The sidebar. You can also
The Brush tool will be your most lower this is, the more control the opacity with
used tool for drawing in Procreate. you can see through pen pressure.
The brush tool is the first option your brush strokes.
located in the top right menu. Change Change your brush Tap the circle in the top
Tapping the brush tool again will Colors color. right corner.
allow you to change brushes. To Previous Swap between your Tap and hold the circle
change the brush color, tap the Color current and previous in the top right corner.
colors.
color circle located in the top right
corner. I prefer using the Classic Fill Fill an area with paint. Tap and drag the circle
in the top right corner
Color Picker rather than the Disc but
onto the canvas.
it’s up to you! To change the size of
your brush tip, adjust the top slider Eyedropper Selects an existing Tap and hold on your
color from your canvas.
on the sidebar. Brush Opacity is
canvas.
another option you can adjust on
the sidebar. Opacity refers to how Straight Creates a perfect Using the brush tool,
Line straight line. create a stroke and don’t
opaque your brush strokes are. The pick up your pencil for a
lower the opacity is, the more you few seconds.
can see through brush strokes. Your Quick Creates an editable Draw a circle or square
Apple Pencil is pressure sensitive. Shapes shape, including and don’t pick up your
The amount of pressure you apply to perfect circles and pencil for a few seconds.
squares. Tap screen with finger to
the iPad while using the brush will
create a circle or square.
also affect the size and opacity of
your brush strokes for most brushes. Smudge Pushes paint around Top right menu. Tap
to blend colors on while tool is selected to
canvas. change brush.
The Smudge and Eraser tools are
Eraser Erases brush strokes Top right menu. Tap
also located near the brush tool on
from the current layer. while tool is selected to
the top right panel. The smudge change brush.
tool can be used to push paint
Move/ Allows you to move Top left menu. Pinch/
around and blend colors on your Transform everything on the expand to transform.
canvas. The eraser will remove any current layer and Tap and drag to move.
brush strokes from your current resize it. Note: Transforming too
much will decrease image
layer. Much like the brush tool, you
quality!
can change the “brush” style of the
Selection Selects specific pixels Top left menu.
smudge and eraser tools by tapping
Tool on your current layer.
the tool while it’s selected.
ORGANIZING YOUR BRUSHES it’s a good idea to organize them into their
own brush sets for quick access. You can
Procreate already comes with a ton of create a general favorites set or organize
default brushes and you can download even your favorites for sketching, painting, etc.
more online. It can be overwhelming to
have so many options. Not to mention you To create a new set, slide down in the brush
can create your own brushes by tapping sets until you see a + at the top. Tap this to
the + at the top right of the brush menu. name your set. Then go to the set with the
While we don’t cover creating custom brush you want to include and drag and
brushes in this lesson, we will experiment drop it there. This will move your brush to
with different brushes to help you discover the new set location. If you want the brush
favorites and how to best organize them for in both sets, swipe left on the brush, tap
easy access. Duplicate, and drag the copy to the new
set. If you want to rename, delete, share, or
Selecting the brush tool, then tapping it a duplicate an entire set, tap the set to pull
second time opens up your brushes library. up the menu. You can also move your sets
You will see two columns—your brush sets around by tapping and dragging to move
are on the left and individual brushes on them just like we did with layers.
the right. A brush set is basically a folder
of different brush styles.
The default brushes are
organized by type, such FAVORITE BRUSHES
as Sketching and Inking.
By tapping on a brush set, DEFAULT BRUSHES
you see all the individual
brushes in that set.
Let’s experiment with

different brushes to find
our favorites before we
start our sketch. Create a
new layer in your current
canvas and play around
with different brushes. JINGSKETCH COMPLETE COLLECTION
Try drawing quick strokes,
play around with pen
pressure, or even draw
a little sketch. Your goal
is to find brushes that
you find interesting and
comfortable to use.
Over time you’ll discover

even more favorite
brushes to use. As you do,
10 21D R AW
LESSON 3: CREATING YOUR LINES opacity of the layer by tapping on the N to
the right of your layer. Then drag the slider
In this step, we get to work on our sketch to the left to make it less visible.
to begin our illustration. I’ll also show you
a technique I’ve learned to refine sketches
and keep lines looking lively. REFINING YOUR SKETCH
There are a couple of ways to go from here.
You can create clean line art on top of your
ROUGH SKETCH
sketch by creating a new layer, then using
Now that we have our mood boards, a clean brush to outline. I started out using
workspaces set up, and brushes organized, this method, however, I found it difficult to
it’s finally time to start DRAWING! For my capture the gesture in my original sketch
illustration, I am creating a simple character after drawing line art over it. If you want a
portrait. Begin by creating a new canvas more painterly or textured style in your final
for your illustration. Pull up your mood artwork, I suggest refining the sketch and
board and any additional windows by using including it as part of your line work.
multitasking. We will start with a rough
sketch. Make sure you’re on a new layer When refining a sketch, your goal is to make
that is separate from the background. I find the concept clearer while maintaining the
that it helps to start with a light color or to gesture captured in the rough sketch. I like
lower the brush opacity during sketching. to do this by duplicating the rough sketch
Remember, this is a rough sketch so we’re layer then hiding the original. Next I create
not focusing on details, just the main a new layer above the duplicated rough
shapes. If you find yourself drawing too sketch layer. I use this process throughout
much detail, try a larger, messy brush—this so I can compare changes to my original
helps force you to draw in big strokes. You sketch. Begin by defining areas you want
also want to stay loose at this stage. Focus to bring attention to or have more detail.
on the gesture, big shapes, and the emotion Once your sketch is looking more refined,
of your character. take a moment to clean up any unnecessary
lines in your duplicated rough sketch layer.
As I sketch, I like to occasionally flip my Once you’re happy with the results, merge
canvas horizontally to view my drawing your rough sketch and your refined lines
from a fresh perspective. By flipping my together to create the line art layer you will
canvas, I sometimes notice things I didn’t
use for the rest of your illustration.
see while sketching. To flip your canvas, tap
the quick menu on the side bar and tap Flip
Horizontally. Follow the same steps to flip it YOUR TURN: BRUSH SETS
back. If I find that my rough sketch is a little
AND SKETCHING
off balance or I want to make a small change
without redrawing, I use Liquify. Liquify Experiment with brushes to find favorites to
allows you to push the paint around on use for your illustration. Organize them in a
your canvas, expand it, shrink it, and more. brush set(s) so you can easily access them.
You will find liquify under the Adjustments Next create a sketch based on your mood
menu on the top left toolbar. Once you’re board from Lesson 1. Refine your sketch to
happy with your rough sketch, lower the prepare for the next lesson.
12 21D R AW
ROUGH SKETCH FIRST PASS ROUGH SKETCH SECOND PASS
REFINED ROUGH SKETCH FINAL LINES AFTER ADJUSTMENTS
LESSON 4: ADDING COLOR Hue is the purest form of a color. As you
move the top slider, you can see that
In this lesson we learn all about color. First our hue changes across the spectrum.
I cover some basics about choosing colors, The second factor, saturation, refers to
then I show you my steps to add and the intensity of the color. As you move
adjust color faster and easier in your own the second slider to the left, the color
illustrations. will become less intense or if you move
it toward the right it will become more
INTRO TO COLOR intense. Observe the circle on your color
Working with digital color can be picker as it moves from left to right. The last
intimidating, especially since the color factor, brightness, refers to how much white
possibilities are virtually endless. Before or black is mixed in with your color. Slide
adding color to our illustration, let’s talk the bottom slider back and forth to add
a little about choosing colors. Bring up more white or black to your color.
your Color Picker by tapping the top right
Notice the circle on your color picker as it
color circle. For explanation purposes, let’s
moves from top to bottom. Most of the time
switch our color picker to Classic view.
you’ll be choosing colors that combine hue,
There are three factors that make up your
saturation, and brightness (colors found in
digital paint color: Hue, Saturation, and
the inner area of the color picker), rather
Brightness.
than choosing colors that are at the extreme
points (the four corners of the color picker).
To create a more harmonious palette, it’s
best to start with more subtle colors and
layer on more intense colors.
Saturation If you want to see your color picker at all
times, simply tap the color circle in the top
right and tap and drag where it says Color
to create a pop out window. You can also
quickly swap between your current color
Brightness
and previous color by tapping and holding

the color circle.
COLORING YOUR ILLUSTRATION
STEP 1: SILHOUETTE LAYER

Start coloring your character by creating a
new layer underneath your line layer. In this
Hue step we fill in the silhouette of our character.
Choose a color and proceed to fill in your
character, almost as if you were coloring in
a coloring book. For now, the color choice
14 21D R AW
FINAL LINES AFTER ADJUSTMENTS 1 SILHOUETTE LAYER
isn’t as important since we will change it soon.

You do want to stay inside the lines and be
fairly precise in this step. Also make sure the
silhouette is completely filled in—this helps
hide your line layer. This layer acts as a base for
adding color in the next steps.
STEP 2: ADDING COLOR WITH MASKS

The reason we need to be precise in Step 1 is
so we can add colors using Clipping Masks.
A clipping mask clips your current layer to
the layer below it. This means only the brush
strokes within the pixel boundary of the layer
below it will be visible. In other words, you
don’t have to worry about coloring outside of
the lines. This makes coloring so much easier!
To create a clipping mask, open the layers

panel, create a new layer, tap the layer, and
select Clipping Mask from the menu. 2 COLOR USING CLIPPING MASKS
Start adding color to your character by ADJUSTMENTS GUIDE
creating a clipping mask above your
silhouette layer and start coloring. It’s best
to focus on one material at a time and to Gaussian Creates a soft blur Adjustments >
Blur effect. Gaussian Blur.
create separate clipping masks for each.
For example, I typically make individual Noise Creates a grainy Adjustments >
texture. Noise.
clipping masks for areas like skin, hair, and
articles of clothing. This saves you a lot of Liquify Allows you to make Adjustments >
adjustments to your Liquify.
trouble if you decide to change colors in drawing by pushing Try playing with the
the future—something I do a lot! around the pixels. other options too!
Hue, Adjusts the hue, Adjustments >

ALPHA LOCK Saturation, saturation, and Hue, Saturation,
Brightness brightness of the Brightness.
A function similar to a clipping mask is an current layer.
Alpha Lock. This allows you to lock the Color Adjusts the color Adjustments > Color
pixels of the current layer so you cannot Balance tone of the current Balance. Tap and
color outside that boundary. While a layer using the three hold on the canvas
clipping mask forms a new, separate layer sliders. to compare changes.
that clips onto another layer, any changes Curves Adjusts the contrast Adjustments >
made on an alpha lock layer affect the of the current layer Curves. Tap and hold
by moving points on on the canvas to
pixels on the same layer. Generally I a grid. compare changes.
prefer to use clipping masks so my
original layer is unchanged, but there
are circumstances where an alpha lock
is very useful. For example, I may want to
add stripes to my character’s shirt. I have
a clipping mask layer where I colored in
the main shirt color, but if I make another
clipping mask for the stripes the lines
will be drawn onto the entire silhouette,
not just the shirt layer. If I turn on alpha
lock for the shirt layer, I can draw stripes
without going outside of the shirt layer
boundary. To turn on alpha lock, open
the layers panel, tap the layer, and select
alpha lock from the menu.
STEP 3: EASILY CHANGE COLORS

By this step, you should have the flat
colors laid down for your character and
each material should be separated into
different clipping masks. Doing this
allows you to make quick color changes
using the hue, saturation, brightness, 3 EASILY CHANGE COLORS
16 21D R AW
and Color Balance adjustment tools. I
often use these adjustment tools to subtly
change my character’s colors and make the
palette more unified. Hue, saturation, and
brightness allow you to adjust the same
three factors in determining color that
we talked about at the beginning of this
lesson. Color balance is a little different.
Color balance adjusts the color tone of the
current layer using three sliders: cyan/red,
magenta/green, and yellow/blue. Using
these sliders pushes and pulls color on your
canvas between each of the two tones. Both
options can be found in the Adjustments
menu on the top left toolbar.
CHECKING YOUR VALUES

You want to create good contrast with your
color choices. We see value or how light or
dark a color is most clearly in grayscale, but
that doesn’t mean we need to desaturate 4 COLOR VARIATION
colors to see values. To easily check if I’m
headed in the right direction with my color
choices, I create what I call a value check
layer. To do this, create a new layer above STEP 4: ADDING COLOR VARIATION
all other layers and fill with white by using Once I’ve checked values and decided on
the Fill tool (reviewed in Lesson 2). After the flat colors, I want to make these layers a little
layer is filled with white, open your layers more interesting by adding color variations
panel and tap the N on the layer you just within those layers. I’ll add different color
filled. Scroll down to the option that says tones in areas such as warmer tones on the
Color and your image should appear to cheeks, nose, and ears or light and dark
be grayscale. (This is what’s called a Layer tones in the hair.
Blending Mode, but we’ll go more in depth
about this in Lesson 5.) Now that we can I also start to think about lighting at this
see the values more clearly, we can check step by adding subtle shadows where
contrast. Your goal is to have a variety of elements are overlapping one another—for
lights and darks. Are there any colors you example, under a character’s chin or where
chose that seem to be too similar in value? clothing sits on the body. You don’t need
If so, adjust using hue, saturation, and to go overly detailed with this process right
brightness along with color balance for now since we’ll be adding more details later.
better contrast. You can toggle this value But I’ve found that adding color variation to
check layer on and off by checking and your flat colors gives your illustration a little
unchecking the visibility box. more life in these early stages.
STEP 5: COLORING YOUR LINES STEP 6: ORGANIZING YOUR LAYERS
Changing the line color to fit the colors This last step is essential to prepare for
chosen for your character will help bring the next lesson. You want to use what
the color palette together and make your we learned about groups in Lesson 1
artwork more cohesive. In most cases, I to organize layers. First create a group
start by adjusting the line color with color containing ALL of your character layers
balance to a dark red/burgundy tone. If (including the silhouette, colors, lines, and
your lines are black, you need to change the line colors) by tapping a layer and swiping
value in color balance by tapping the sun left on the additional layers. Within this
icon on the right side of the color balance main group we create two more groups for
menu then tap Shadows. color and lines. Rename these new groups
by tapping on the group and tapping
Next we’ll color the lines just like we colored Rename.
our silhouette layer by creating clipping
masks for each material. When choosing You can also rename the main group if you
line color, I use the eyedropper tool to like. Now you can move the entire character
select my main color from the material. around including all the layers, free from the
Then I darken and slightly saturate the background. Moving forward, everything
color before coloring the lines. I repeat this should be organized and easy to find, just
until each material on my character has a in case you need to go back and make
complementary line color. adjustments.
YOUR TURN: ADDING COLOR

Follow Steps 1 to 5 to add and adjust the
colors of your character. Then organize your
layers in groups as reviewed in Step 6 to
prepare for the next lesson.
TIPS FOR ADDING COLOR:

• Make sure your silhouette layer is
completely filled in. If it is not, your
clipping masks will not be applied
correctly and you will not be able to
add color to that area.
• Use a value check layer to assure

the colors you choose have
good contrast with one another.
Adjust colors using hue, saturation,
brightness, and color balance tools.
5 COLORING YOUR LINES
18 21D R AW
ORGANIZING YOUR LAYERS
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
LESSON 5: CLEAN UP FINALIZING YOUR CLEAN UP
After I’ve cleaned up my illustration to a point
In this lesson I teach you how to make your
I’m satisfied with, there are a few final steps
illustrations look smooth and clean. We’ll do
to my process. At this point, you may be close
a lot of painting and blending to prepare
to reaching the layer limit of your canvas.
your character for the next lesson. This is
Remember, the larger your file size the fewer
actually my favorite part of the illustration
layers you have to work with. To view your
process. I love playing my favorite music and
layer limit tap Actions > Canvas > Canvas
getting lost in the painting and blending
Information > Layers. We need additional
process. It can be very relaxing.
layers for the next lesson so I suggest
I call this the clean-up phase because I take following these steps to free up layers. Go
what was completed earlier and make it to your Gallery view and swipe left on your
cleaner to provide clarity to the viewer. Much canvas. Tap Duplicate and open the copy.
like refining our sketch, the goal is to stay From here, go to your layers and merge the
true to our original. Basically, we add paint character group (all color, lines, and clean-up
to new layers above all the previous layers layers) by tapping on the group then Flatten.
using the eyedropper to select existing colors Since this is a duplicate canvas, we won’t lose
from the canvas. We won’t actually touch our original layered character. This allows us
any of the layers in our line or color groups. to free up layers, especially helpful when your
This step is meant to be free flowing and less illustration is complex with a lot of layers.
organized than earlier steps. Just let loose
Once I have the flattened character, I
and feel free to paint on top of the lines to
duplicate and hide this layer so I can compare
carve out and define areas. Think of this as
it to the changes. I take a good look at the
sculpting your character with paint. I paint
edges of my character. I’m looking for any
over any lines I don’t think add to the clarity
stray brush strokes or if the silhouette doesn’t
of the character such as construction or
appear clear enough. I use the eraser tool to
sketch lines. You can add even more texture
clean up lines. I’ll flip my canvas horizontally
in this step by trying out different brushes.
to check on things like proportions and
You don’t need to do all your clean-up work balance. If there’s anything that needs
in a single layer. You can create new layers for correcting, I can also use the liquify tool (like
testing more substantial changes. Something we did with the sketch in Lesson 2).
I recommend doing often is to toggle on and
off the visibility of your clean-up layer(s). By
comparing your adjustments to the original,
YOUR TURN: CLEAN-UP PHASE
you can see if the changes are staying true Use the clean-up phase on your character.
to the original while moving in the right Follow the steps to prepare your file for the
direction. If not, don’t be afraid to hide the next lesson.
clean-up layer and try again in a new one. It’s
really up to you how far you take this step.
You can clean up every little detail or only TIP FOR CLEAN UP:
define a few areas. I tend to be somewhere • If you are adding a background
in between. I like a painterly look but don’t block in colors during this step.
want too many sketch lines in areas of focus.
20 21D R AW
BEFORE CLEAN UP
AFTER CLEAN UP
LESSON 6: LIGHTING USING
LAYER BLENDING MODES
In this lesson we learn about Layer Blending Modes
and how they can be a useful tool to quickly add
lighting to your illustration.
These options change the way the current layer

interacts with the layers below it. Think of them
almost like filters that are on top of the rest of your
illustration. Using layer blending modes can help you
quickly achieve effects that would take much longer
using traditional paint. I find them most useful for
adding lighting to an illustration. You can access the
layer blending mode option by tapping the layers CLEANED UP & FLATTENED
panel and tapping the N on a layer. This will bring up
all twenty-five layer blending mode options for you to
scroll through and select.
You can get an idea of the effects of different layer

blending modes by filling a layer above your character
with solid color and cycling through the options as
Procreate updates your canvas live. Twenty-five is a
lot of different options so make sure you experiment
with their effects. You may find that you like some
better than others. Honestly, for my process I only
use a select few. These include Multiply, Color
Dodge, Overlay, and Soft Light, but there have been
circumstances where a blending mode I’d never used
before worked better than my go-tos! SHADOWS WITH MULTIPLY
Before we start lighting our character, we need to

identify the light source. The light source determines
where we add in shadows and highlights to our
character. When lighting your character, you want to
think in 3D shapes even though our illustrations are
2D. Think about how light would wrap around the
shapes. It may help to create a new layer and draw a
line showing where your light source is coming from.
You can mark the areas you think the light would hit.
We also want to think about the color of our light
source. The color of your lighting affects both your
highlight and shadow colors. For example, warm light
will produce cool shadows.
WARM GLOW WITH OVERLAY
22 21D R AW
After you have a good idea of where light is coming
from, start by adding shadows. There are a couple
of ways I usually go about this. If there is a faint light
source and my character is mostly in shadow, I fill a
layer set to Multiply and erase out the highlights. In
this case, I want my character to be well lit so I paint
in the shadows on a layer set to multiply.
In this situation my light source is warm so I use a

cool purple for my shadow color. You may need to
adjust the color you choose if it looks too dark since
multiply makes colors appear darker. While I add the
shadows, I think about my light source and which
areas are not exposed to the light. Before adding
intense highlights, I add a warm glow light using an ATMOSPHERE
Overlay layer in a light pink/orange color. Overlay
tends to be intense so you may want to lower the
layer opacity.
If I have a light-colored background, I add a Soft

Light layer and use a soft brush in a light color to
soften the edges of my character. This can help your
character appear within the background setting
better, creating a sense of atmosphere. Lastly, I add
an intense rim of light to the edges of my character
using a Color Dodge layer.
YOUR TURN: LIGHTING

Find or take a photo for a reference for your lighting RIM LIGHT WITH COLOR DODGE
effects. Identify your light source and create a similar
lighting situation using layer blending modes.
TIPS FOR LIGHTING:

• If you are having trouble finding your
light source use a reference photo.
Observe where the light is brightest and the
shadows are cast.
• Remember to add shadows and highlights

to any background images. Use the same
techniques used for your character.
DUPLICATED RIM LIGHT GLOW
LIGHTING WITH LAYER BLENDING MODES
SHADOWS WARM LIGHT
RIM LIGHT ATMOSPHERE
24 21D R AW
LESSON 7: FINISHING UP
In this lesson we review final adjustments
you can make to your illustrations to
make them look more professional.
SAVING
With lighting established, we can save the
illustration to make our final adjustments.
To do this we’ll save it as a JPEG by going
to Actions > Share > JPEG > Save Image.
Once your illustration has been exported,
return to the Gallery view and tap Photo
in the top right corner. Tap on your saved
illustration in your Photos to add it to
Procreate as a new canvas.
FINAL ADJUSTMENTS
Now we are ready to add final adjustments
and effects to our illustration. First, let’s
duplicate the illustration layer so we can BEFORE ADJUSTMENTS
compare it to any changes we make. I
also suggest creating another value check
layer (as we did in Lesson 3) to check your
contrast.
The first adjustment I typically make is to

contrast using Curves which can be found
in the adjustments menu. Adjusting
curves is different from the other menus
we’ve used so far because it uses a graph
to make adjustments. Pull points on the
graph to adjust the contrast. The left side
of the graph represents shadows, the
middle midtones, and the right highlights.
Moving points up or down will increase
or decrease the brightness of each value.
You want to make sure you don’t increase
the contrast so much that it blows out
your whites and causes your illustration
to lose detail. Next I use color balance to
adjust my colors and balance them to the
tones as I see fit.
COLOR AND CONTRAST
Sometimes I add a soft blurring effect
to areas that would be out of focus. To
do this I duplicate my edited layer and
apply a Gaussian Blur to the copied
layer. Blurs are found in the adjustments
menu. Next I erase out areas of my blur
layer that I want to have in focus with
a soft brush. Once I’m happy with the
blur effect, I merge my blur layer and the
layer underneath it. Lastly, I add Noise
to add a little bit of a gritty texture to
my illustration. Noise is also found in the
adjustments menu.
These are a few of the adjustments I

commonly make, but each illustration
is different. Once you get the hang of
using different effects, you can add other
layer blending modes or create different
adjustments when you feel an illustration
needs them. When you’re ready to wrap
things up, sign your illustration and save BLUR
it as a JPEG.
YOUR TURN: FINALIZE

YOUR ILLUSTRATION
Wrap up your illustration by adding any
final adjustments and effects you like.
Remember, all of these final adjustments
are optional. Try these or discover your
own adjustments and keep finessing until
you are happy with your final work. Don’t
forget to sign and save!
TIPS FOR FINALIZING:

• Hope you enjoy all the tips and
useful techniques I’ve learned
through the years. Most of all,
practice all the assignments for
the lessons and have fun!
NOISE
26 21D R AW
DIGITAL DRAWING STEP BY STEP
DIGITAL DRAWING STEP BY STEP
28 21D R AW
BEFORE AND AFTER FINAL ADJUSTMENTS
LE AR N MO R E O N LI N E: 21- DR AW.COM
Learn and be inspired from ERIKA WISEMAN and other amazing artists in
our online art courses. VISIT WWW.21-DRAW.COM TO LEARN MORE!
30 21D R AW
2
FUNDAMENTALS OF
CHARACTER DESIGN
R A NDY BI S HOP
F UND A MEN TA L S OF CH A R A C T ER DE S IGN
WITH RANDY BISHOP
C
haracter design is a very broad CONSIDER THE STORY
subject and requires years of
research to learn in depth. There You can’t talk about character design
are so many things to consider and avenues without discussing storytelling, since the
to explore along the way; it can be easy to two are (in my mind) the same thing. Art
get lost. Understanding this, in this chapter in all its forms is about communication.
I provide you with a broad perspective as You’re saying something with your art
well as focus in on enough detail to more whether you’re a painter, a composer, a
fully engage and benefit you. writer, a designer, a performer, or actually
anyone skilled in one of the fine arts of life!
Before we begin, I want to clarify that the Everything you do as an artist is tied to
concepts I’m sharing with you are based communication. Creating a piece of art is
on my experiences as a character designer. the same as telling
Other artists have their own methods, but a story in
these techniques are what work well many ways.
for me.
As a character designer you

have a lot of details to consider.
I’ve asked other artists what
they think is most important As a character
to keep in mind while designer, you’re
designing a character, responsible for
and the answers are creating the conduit for
almost as varied an audience to experience
as the people a story. Because audiences
themselves. experience stories through
No matter what characters, the design of a
type of character character has a dramatic effect on
you create, there’s the story, which is why character design
one thing that is such an exciting job. However, keep in
needs to be at mind the relationship goes both ways. The
the forefront of design of a character helps to shape the
your mind as you story, but the story is what should shape
make every design the design of the character—they go hand
decision: the story. in hand.
32 21D R AW
Good character design is the character’s
requires planning. Story personal history or
is the most important background? What
factor in every decision sort of research
you make as a designer, should you be
so your planning needs doing in order to be
to revolve around fully informed about
questions to support the the story and characters?
story. What kind of story
are you telling? What is There are many items
your target demographic? to explore before you
How many primary and jump into designing
secondary characters are a character. The more
there? What is the character’s prepared you are before
role in the story? What is the you begin, the better your
character’s personality like? What final design will be.
F U N DA M E N TA L S O F C H A R AC T E R D E S I G N 33
STYLIZATION
An important decision to contemplate Style is a tool to be used in telling your
before you begin designing is what style story, just as any other element or
would be most appropriate for your story. principle of design is a tool to help you
communicate in your artwork. What does
When I say “stylization,” I’m not talking a particular style say to an audience? For
about establishing a personal artistic example, a simple, innocent style gives the
style. In my opinion, too many people impression that your story is simple and
obsess over establishing a “personal style” innocent, which has a strong appeal for
rather than letting the circumstances young audiences.
dictate what style they work in. Different
styles speak to different audiences. To be The more complex and sophisticated
successful in the world of animation, it’s style that your character is, the more
important to be versatile. When it comes complex and sophisticated your
to character design, style choices target audience becomes.
should be directed by the story.
Remember, to create a strong
character design
everything should
be determined by
the story.
34 21D R AW
SIMPLIFICATION AND EXAGGERATION
Stylization can be broken down into two things: simpliﬁcation
and exaggeration.
SIMPLIFICATION: WHAT IS IT AND

WHY USE IT?
Simplification means to take something
complex and break it down into more
basic or general parts. Simplifying an
idea into its most basic and pure form
makes that idea more memorable
and impactful. There’s a famous quote
that reads, “If you can’t explain it to a
six-year-old, you don’t understand it
yourself,” which is usually attributed to
Einstein. If you want your characters to
have an impact, you need to understand
the underlying theme or purpose of
their role in the story and be able to
communicate it effectively.
EXAGGERATION: WHAT IS IT AND

WHY USE IT?
To exaggerate means to emphasize or
call attention to specific details. You
could, for example, give a character
unusually large eyes to make them seem
in awe of the world around them. Or
make a character’s mouth exaggeratedly
small to suggest that the character is
soft spoken or shy. Creating a square-
shaped character that has the same
width and height can make a character
seem immovable or unopposable. There
are countless ways to exaggerate parts
of your character’s design.
To be an effective designer, you need to know how to use all the

tools available to you. Let’s look at a couple of different ways to use
stylization to say specific things about a character.
Here’s a generic character If we change his If we change the
that’s been stylized a little proportions slightly, we proportions again, the
bit. The design might be get a character with a little character looks strong, but
kind of interesting, but more story. Suddenly, the not particularly smart.
there’s nothing about him character looks smart, but
to tell us who he is or what not particularly strong.
sort of story he’s a part of.
The facial features on

this character have
remained the same, but by
exaggerating the relative
sizes of his cranium, jaw,
and neck, we were able to
visibly express variations
in his intellectuality and
physicality.
A strong jaw and neck

are both generally
associated with physical
strength, whereas a large
cranium is associated with
intelligence. By emphasizing
or deemphasizing these
physical traits alone, we can
create a range of identities
and personalities, adding
depth to the storytelling
from our characters.
36 21D R AW
Every aspect of a
character’s design
affects the way an
audience experiences
the story and how they
view the character.
Exploring alterations to
even just one element
of your character’s
design can have a huge
impact.
Here are just a few

examples featuring
changes only to the
mouth (right), eyes
(below), or nose (next
page) of a character.
CHARACTER ARCHETYPES
In storytelling, there are several commonly focuses on a specific message to better
referenced character archetypes. These communicate and entertain. Concentrating
archetypes are roles that characters play on a clear message in a story has a
in the narrative. An advantage of using tremendous impact on an audience, while
character archetypes is to help limit the trying to say too much can have less
complexity of your characters. People are impact.
infinitely complex and therefore impossible
to fully capture in a story. Limiting Archetypes are a useful tool to limit and
characters to a particular theme can help focus the roles your characters play in the
to provide them with a proper direction story. While characters can fill multiple roles,
and purpose which makes it easier for an generally, it’s a good idea to concentrate
audience to follow. on a dominant part for each character.
That said, on the following pages are some
Even biographies and documentaries common archetypes along with a few of
tend to be constructed in a format that their attributes.
38 21D R AW
“The Everyman” or “Regular” Guy/Gal: “The Child” or “Innocent”
Down-to-earth, Underdog Young at heart, Naive
“The Hero” or “Warrior”

Courageous, Bold, Talented
“The Rebel” or “Outlaw”

Questions authority, Selfish
“The Explorer”
Adventurous
“The Creator”
Inventive, Creative
“The Ruler”
Controlling, Stern
40 21D R AW
“The Magician”
Visionary, Unconventional
“The Caregiver”
Nurturing, Generous
“The Lover”
Devoted
“The Jester”
Lives in the moment,
Often comic relief
“The Sage” or “Herald”

Shows others the path to follow
42 21D R AW
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PROCESS
When a client or studio hires a character In my mind, sketches and thumbnails
designer, they’re not simply choosing based help to pull ideas from your brain so you
on technical skill, they’re also looking for an can place them onto the canvas. They
artist that can think through the process. only need to communicate your ideas
Consequently, a strong portfolio needs to effectively, so sketches for my personal
provide insight into your conceptual process. projects are pretty rough because I’m the
only one who needs to see them. Sketches
Any good design starts from an artist for clients are usually a bit neater because I
brief or a good understanding of who need to be sure they can see what I have in
the character is meant to be in the story. mind. Once I’ve narrowed my ideas down
Here is an example of a brief I created for a to a concept I really like, I start to focus in
personal project designing characters for a on the details.
hypothetical Dungeon & Dragons campaign:
A gnome-like wizard whose magic is nature Over the next few pages is the evolution
based. She is a friendly and nurturing of a character from sketch to final design.
character who is devoted to seeking See if you can tell what design choices were
knowledge about magic from sources near made in order to better communicate the
and far. character as she was described in the brief.
Step 1: Thumbnail sketches
Step 2: Rough in character
Step 4: Clean line art
Step 3: Clean-up sketch
44 21D R AW
Step 5: Value and shading
Step 7: Final artwork
Step 6: Flat colors
COSTUME DESIGN
It’s part of how we, as humans, tell others
The design of a character’s costume is a who we are or how we want them to see us.
vitally important part of the overall design Changes in the way a character dresses can
process because clothing is how people completely alter an audience’s expectations
present themselves to the world. for a character and, therefore, the story.
46 21D R AW
MODEL SHEETS
Character model sheets are resources that When you have multiple characters with
you create in order to explain the different their own model sheets, those sheets serve
aspects of your character’s design to the to highlight the differences between the
production team. As a designer, you could characters.
be responsible for creating anything the
production team needs to take a character Here are three expression sheets for
through all the stages of production. characters from the same story. The way
the characters emote tells us a lot about
Model sheets are a good way to feature the them and serves to show how different their
attitude and personality of your character. attitudes and behaviors are:
This character is a “gentle giant,”

the sort of character who is
generally good natured but can
also be ferociously protective.
This character is secretive and

angry by nature. He rarely smiles,
and when he does it’s never out of
genuine happiness.
This character is emotionally and

mentally unstable. He is prone
to extremes in temperament,
so his expressions encompass
a wide range of movement and
emotion.
CHARACTER LINEUP
When you have multiple characters in a story, it’s important to think of
the cast as a whole during the design process. Seeing characters next
to one another helps people get a good idea of
what’s normal in the culture of the story and
highlights anyone who doesn’t fit in with those
norms.
It’s also a good way to provide an idea of

the relationships between your characters.
Character design plays an important role in a
story. And the story plays an important role
in the character design.
Developing your own techniques for design

are up to you and may take time to develop.
But keep in mind—you are also telling
the story through your character design.
Remember to prepare ahead of time.
Have fun!
48 21D R AW
Learn and be inspired from RANDY BISHOP and other amazing artists in our
online art courses. VISIT WWW.21-DRAW.COM TO LEARN MORE!
3
DRAWING A FEMALE
CHARACTER In Procreate
MEIK E S CHNEIDER
DR AW ING FEM A L E CH A R A C T ER S
WITH MEIKE SCHNEIDER
FINDING INSPIRATION
B
eing inspired is essential when your library for a while, it will be a valuable
designing and creating new source of reference material and inspiration.
characters. Have you ever felt Some great reference sources are:
uninspired and just didn’t know what to
draw? If you find yourself stuck without • Google
ideas, try one of my favorite sources when I • Pinterest
need a spark of inspiration:
• Instagram
• Music
• Artstation
• Movies
• Fashion apps for outfits and poses
• Real life (nature, travel) (ASOS, Zalando, etc.)
• Fashion design Utilizing reference material is not cheating

• Color schemes like many new artists think. It’s actually
smart to use references! Be careful, however,
• Hobbies that you enjoy not to copy someone else’s work in the
• Artwork by other artists process. Instead mix and match ideas from
multiple resources, gathering inspiration
from a wide variety of references that will
USING REFERENCES help you create a unique design.
Having good references is another critical
part of the design process. Not a single QUICK TRICK FOR CHARACTER IDEAS:
movie was made without research and a ton One of my favorite methods to quickly
of reference material. If you want to create create a new character design is to use
believable characters and worlds for them word groups. I think of up to four random
to live in, it’s a good idea to use reference words and use them to create a character.
material to help you think through every The more different the words are from one
little detail. another, the more interesting the design
can become.
REFERENCE TIP: Create a reference library
by saving pictures you like in different folder For this chapter, I’ll demonstrate digital
categories (such as poses, facial expressions, painting techniques using three words to
hairstyles, hands, feet) and save this on your design a character: sunflower, afro, and
workstation for easy access. After building overalls.
52 21D R AW
LESSON 1: INSPIRATION AND REFERENCES
Pick three to four random words or choose one SEASHELL SCARF
from my word-groupings example. Search for BEACH TEA
reference material that you can mix and match PINEAPPLE GLOVES
together. Try to pick at least three different
images for each element of your character
(such as color, pose, facial expression, outfit). DOG LAVENDER
If you feel insecure about drawing hands for UMBRELLA STRAW HAT
example, pick very clear references for hands to BOOTS BASKET
make sure you get them right.
EXAMPLE WORD GROUPS:

• Seashell, beach, pineapple CUSTOM
CANVAS
• Dog, umbrella, boots
• Scarf, tea, gloves
• Lavender, straw hat, basket CANVAS

PRESETS
HOW TO SET UP YOUR

CANVAS IN PROCREATE
Open Procreate and click on the
“plus” symbol + (top right corner)
to create a new canvas. You can
pick from a default preset or
create and save your own canvas
settings for future use. For this
artwork, I create a new empty
canvas. RENAME
CANVAS
CANVAS
On the left you will find the SIZE
settings for time-lapse recording,
color profiles, and canvas
properties. Here we can also
choose a canvas size. I start with CREATE
CANVAS
a size of 3000 x 3000 pixels, but
you can change or crop the
canvas later. Click on Create to
open your new canvas.
The canvas size you choose

depends on what you intend
to do with your final artwork.
D R AW I N G A F E M A L E C H A R AC T E R 53
If I want to print my art on
a large banner, I need to
set the ppi/dpi (pixels per
inch/dots per inch) to a
minimum of 300 (which is
the standard for printing).
The higher the pixels the
closer you can zoom in
on the canvas before it
becomes pixelated.
1000 x 1000 2000 x 2000
You want to start with a pixels pixels
large enough pixel count
that your artwork will not need to be measurements that your artwork will need
enlarged for reproduction later on. When to be reproduced at when you start.
images made up of pixels are enlarged
the software needs to “fill in” extra pixels If you’re not intending to print your artwork,
to resize the file. This can create a visibly it is okay to work on a smaller canvas at a
pixelated edge to areas with changes in lower resolution, but remember that you
color and linework. It is a best practice won’t be able to simply enlarge an image
to know the largest resolution and later on.
A QUICK TOUR OF THE PROCREATE UI

TOP LEFT MENU:
GALLERY is a link to a gallery view of all

your previously created artwork.
1 — ACTIONS TOOL has options for canvas

properties, exporting files, time-lapse
videos, adjusting preferences, or adding text
and photos.
2 — ADJUSTMENT TOOL applies different

types of filters like blur, noise, or liquify. Also
includes options to adjust colors such as
curves and color balance.
3 — LASSO TOOL is used to select and

work on a specific area of the canvas.
4 — TRANSFORM TOOL allows you to

rotate, scale, and move layers.
54 21D R AW
TOP RIGHT AND SIDE MENUS:
5 — BRUSH TOOL is used to select different

types of brushes from a variety of categories
and change their properties by tapping on
a brush.
6 — SMUDGE TOOL works exactly like

the Brush Tool, except it blends colors and
strokes.
7 — ERASER TOOL is useful to remove

strokes and also to change a stroke by
adding texture.
8 — LAYER MENU is for creating new layers

to keep shapes separate from one another.
Layers can be merged or grouped, and you
can also apply layer effects for properties
such as opacity.
9 — COLOR WHEEL lets you pick and

save colors. Also includes options to create
custom color palettes and create color
schemes using color harmony.
10 and 11 — BRUSH SIZE SLIDERS

will be located on the left or right side,
depending on your preference settings and
allows you to adjust the brush size (10) and
opacity (11).
IMPORTANT PROCREATE IPAD GESTURES

• TWO-FINGER TAP to undo one or more • THREE-FINGER SWIPE invokes a floating
of your recent actions. menu with all the cut, copy, and paste
options you need.
• THREE-FINGER TAP to redo an action—
when you undo a step too far, redo is just • DRAW AND HOLD FOR QUICKSHAPE
a three-finger touch away. allows you to draw a shape or line and
hold down that image—quickshape will
• THREE-FINGER SCRUB to instantly clear “snap” it to perfection.
a layer—as you move your fingers side to
side in a scrubbing motion.
IMPORTING REFERENCES
To place your saved reference material,
go to the top left menu and click on TRANSFORM
the Actions button. Now click on Add TOOL
and choose Insert a photo, then select
your image from your device. Use the
Transform Tool to move and resize the
reference picture, then place to the
side. Now we can select and move each
individual picture by going to the layer
menu, selecting a layer, and using the
Transform Tool to move it.
iPad Split View can be used to view

LESSON 2: SET UP A NEW CANVAS
references from the gallery. While in
Procreate, swipe up from the bottom edge Open a new canvas, then import the
and pause to reveal the Dock. Touch and reference material you chose during the first
hold an app in the Dock, drag it to the right lesson. Practice adding images to new layers
or left edge of the screen, then lift your and get familiar with using the Procreate UI
finger. To give both views equal space on from our overview including the iPad Split
the screen, drag the divider to the center. and gallery views.
4. MOVE TO
CHANGE VIEW
SPACING
3. DRAG
AND DROP
1. SWIPE UP
AND PAUSE
2. TOUCH
AND HOLD
56 21D R AW
SKETCHING YOUR CHARACTER
HOW TO SKETCH A SIMPLIFIED BODY
SKETCH PENCIL: For sketching, I prefer

to use a thin brush that looks most like
a regular pencil. In Procreate, I use the
Technical Pencil brush. For the first few
drafts, I recommend using a blue or red
color tone, because the contrast isn’t as
strong as a black line. In traditional media,
red also blends better with other colors
than black. I only use black for the final
outlines.
SIMPLIFY SHAPES: When sketching poses

from references, I simplify body parts to
quickly create poses. I tend to use circle
shapes for bones and use various cylindrical
shapes for the other body parts. I slightly
shape these into the organic form they will
later become.
SIMPLIFIED SKELETON TECHNIQUE
I start by analyzing the reference to make sure I
understand the direction certain body parts are
pointing. Next I paint a very rough silhouette
using a bold brush in dark grey to capture the
basic pose and shape. Don’t worry if the pose
isn’t right the first time—you can easily adjust
the silhouette shape by erasing parts or using the
Liquify filter.
1. Photo reference
LINE OF
ACTION
2. Silhouette 3. Simple skeleton 4. Clean up
Once I’m happy with the silhouette, I reduce the opacity of the red sketch underneath my
the opacity and create a new layer on top new layer. Using the blue pencil I draw with
of it. I use a red pencil to draw a simplified more precise shapes to clean up the lines of
skeleton for the different body parts using my drawing.
cylindrical shapes. The red lines stand out
well over the grey background. This first For the final outline step, I reduce the
draft of the body shapes can be very simple. opacity of blue lines, create another new
layer for drawing my final outlines in
For the next step, I create a new layer above black. At this point I go ahead and add all
the red—here I usually change to a blue- the details needed. You can also see this
colored pencil that will stand out from the technique used during development of my
red. I turn off the silhouette layer and reduce character for this lesson on the next page.
58 21D R AW
LESSON 3: DRAW A SIMPLIFIED
SKELETON
Your turn to try this technique by
creating a sketch of your character.
Start with a silhouette, then sketch
as many draft layers as needed until
you have final clean outlines. If
you’re struggling with certain areas
of the body, remember to use more
references!
1. Gather photo references
2. Simple skeleton 3. Clean up 4. Final outline

CHOOSING COLOR SCHEMES
COLOR THEORY BASICS

A character’s color scheme is one of the most
important design decisions you will make.
When used correctly, color can reflect a
certain emotion, mood, and atmosphere.
Colors can be divided into two main
categories:
WARM COLORS like red, orange, and

yellow are usually associated with
passion, energy, enthusiasm, and
excitement.
COOL COLORS are often found in nature

scenes, like water, and at nighttime, they
are often associated with calm, abundance
(green), peace (blue), and spirituality (purple).
Colors also have different meanings. See the COLOR

PSYCHOLOGY chart (on the next page) for some
examples.
60 21D R AW
Energy, sunshine, bright, cheerful, happiness,
joy, positivity, spo�taneity
Fun, creativity, warmth, optimisti�, adventurous,
autumn, youthful
Love, blood, fire, strong, i�tense, energetic,
excitement, passion, courage, attention
Compassion, love, playful, immature, admiration,
sweet, sophisti�ated, se�sitive, femini�e, assertive
Power, wealth, ambition, noble, royalty, mystery,
spirituality, imagi�ation, se�sitivity, compassion
Trust, stability, depth, sea, sky, tranquil,
responsibility, honesty, loyalty, i�ner se�urity
Freedom, self-expression, trustworthy, wisdom, joy,
perspective, modern, ambition, calm, careless
Growth, harmony, fertility, kindness, dependable,
nature, freshness, balance, safety, healing
Comfort, honesty, natural, stability, reliability,
simple, disappoi�tment, dependable, earthiness
Sanity, realism, sadness, depression, neutral, formal,
quiet, co�servative, practical, balance, timeless
Classi�, void, suppression, foresight, power, control,
discipli�e, elegance, authority, se�urity, dramatic
COLOR PROPERTIES (HUE, TINT,
TONE, AND SHADE) WHITE TINT
In painting, the word color is the
general term for everything we see.
However, the word hue refers to PURE
a pure, unmixed pigment on the GREY TONE COLOR
color wheel.
SHADE is the mixture of a color

with black, which reduces lightness.
BLACK SHADE
TINT is the mixture of a color with
white, which increases lightness.
TONE is produced either by the

mixture of a color with gray, or by
both tinting and shading. The color
remains the same, only less vibrant.
The values can range from very SHADES
light to very dark.
TINTS
COLOR SCHEMES
TONES
MONOCHROMATIC is the most
simple scheme and is made from
using tints, tones, and shades of a
single hue.
MONOCHROMATIC ANALOGOUS COMPLEMENTARY SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY
TRIADIC (PRIMARY) TRIADIC (SECONDARY) TETRADIC SQUARE
62 21D R AW
ANALOGOUS is created by choosing three The fewer colors you use the more simple
colors that appear next to one another on things will be. Some artists prefer to use
the color wheel. only two to three colors. Using five colors
is popular as it works well for illustrating
COMPLEMENTARY uses color pairs that are concepts. I suggest starting with five colors,
opposite on the color wheel, for example, then you can add or subtract as you work.
red and green to maximize contrast.
SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY uses colors from COLOR THUMBNAILS

either side of a complementary color pair to
soften contrast. Artists and designers often use color
swatches and thumbnails to plan a color
TRIADIC are made of three colors which are scheme in advance of starting their artwork.
equally distant on the color wheel, such as A thumbnail is a quick color sketch that
red, blue, and yellow (triadic primary) or includes only rough, basic shapes. See my
green, orange, purple (triadic secondary). character’s color thumbnail progress below.
Some triadic combinations may not
be vibrant, but the scheme can be as it These thumbnails allow artists to identify
maintains harmony and high contrast. how much area a specific color should take
up in a design. How much space a color
TETRADIC uses four colors from two sets takes up in a design can drastically change
of complementary pairs, such as orange + the mood of the artwork. For example,
yellow and blue + purple, and one is chosen when using the complementary contrast
as a dominant color. Be sure to pay attention pair of orange and blue: if blue takes more
to the balance between warm and cool space than orange, the image feels cool.
colors. If orange takes more space than blue, it
feels very warm. I recommend you try
SQUARE is also made up of four colors different color schemes in advance by using
evenly spaced on the color wheel, but thumbnails and color swatches.
unlike tetradic,
square schemes
can work well
even if you use
all four colors
evenly.
Tap and hold
then move
around to
select colors
CREATING COLOR PALETTES AND

THE COLOR PICKER
We can either create our own color
scheme or use an existing one from a Create a new
picture or photograph. When picking palette
colors from a photo, we can sample
colors with Procreate’s Color Picker
Tool or create similar colors from
imagination.
Set to
If you want to sample colors from an default on
disc menu
image in Procreate, tap and hold onto
that spot and Procreate will pick that
color. You can move around to sample
other colors nearby. You can also
compare a new color to the previously
picked one.
And there’s a way to save your own Tap empty

color palettes. Click on the color box to fill
with color
menu and switch to Palettes at the
bottom right corner. By clicking on
the “plus” symbol on the top right,
64 21D R AW
Choose color
scheme
Move
to select
colors
Change
brightness
you can create a new empty color palette LESSON 4: CREATING COLOR
and name it as you wish. If you set a color THUMBNAILS
palette to default, it will always appear
under the color wheel. Just pick a color and Your turn to create a few quick color
tap on one of the empty palette spots to thumbnails for your artwork. Experiment
add a color to it. with the different color schemes you’ve
learned. Try to give a certain color more or
COLOR HARMONY less space in your artwork and see how that
changes the mood of your composition.
Procreate integrated a feature called
Harmony which helps you pick color
schemes. Go to the color menu and click BASE COLORING CHARACTERS
on Harmony. At the top you can switch
between different color schemes such as To create base colors, I like to split the entire
split complementary, analogous, and so character into separate shapes on individual
on. Simply click on a color and move the layers. Painting the entire illustration on a
selection tools to saturate or desaturate the single layer doesn’t give me the ability to
color. You can also adjust the brightness. change or move things during the design
In my screen grab, I am testing a few color process. I prefer to separate my character
variations for my artwork and will compare layers by the head, body, facial features, hair,
them at the end to pick my favorite. and also different parts of clothing. That
way I can easily adjust the color of a single previously created for the thumbnail and
object and move it around if I need to. You start outlining the cleaned-up sketch I made
can apply an alpha lock to objects, which earlier.
allows you to work on painted areas without
overpainting borders. I will go into detail COLORDROP TOOL
with that option later in this lesson.
There are two different ways to fill shapes.
The traditional way would be to just fill the
BLOCKING AND LAYOUT inner part by painting over it, but a faster
When blocking in colors, you are actually way is to use Procreate’s ColorDrop Tool. I
painting a solid base shape for areas that prefer the traditional way, because it retains
need to be separated from one another. At some of the brush texture so it looks more
this stage, it is still easy to change colors. hand painted. However, if you are working
Make sure to turn down the opacity on on a more solid shape, you can save time by
the sketch you created. I pick a brush with using the ColorDrop method.
a rough edge to add some texture to the
artwork so it looks more like it’s painted
with traditional media.
One of my favorite brushes to use in

Procreate is the Chalk Brush. I create a new
empty layer and sample the skin color I Outlines ColorDrop By hand
66 21D R AW
Outline a shape so that the outline is ADDING SHADING, DETAILS,
100% closed because any open pixels will AND TEXTURE
indicate the outline is open and the tool
will not work. Then click and hold on the Now that you’ve finished blocking and
little color circle in the top right corner and separating out the parts of your painting
drag and drop it onto the middle of the into single layers, you can start shading and
outlined area. adding texture. Make sure you are satisfied
with the base color before you start adding
The area should now be filled with that texture because it is more difficult to change
color. If it didn’t work, try moving your colors after adding these details.
finger left and right to adjust the threshold.
ALPHA LOCK
This tool locks all the empty pixels around
LESSON 5: BASE COLORING
brush strokes made on a single layer.
Separate your character into multiple layers, To apply Alpha Lock to a layer, use a
then draw a solid shape for each part of the two-finger swipe right on the layer. The
character. You can fill these shapes either by background in the layer image will appear
hand or use the ColorDrop Tool. as a checkerboard, which indicates the
Two-finger swipe right

to Alpha Lock a layer
BASE SHAPE
NO ALPHA LOCK
TEXTURE ON
ALPHA LOCK
layer is alpha locked and the background Mask needs to sit above the layer you want
is transparent. Now you can paint without it attached to. If you paint on the Clipping
painting over the borders of the blocking Mask, you will notice it has a similar effect as
you created in the previous steps. an Alpha Lock—only that you are painting
on an entirely new layer and you can still
This is very convenient and makes coloring change or adjust the base layer. Clipping
much faster, but you can only color areas
Mask layers can also be alpha locked.
that have been previously defined.
FLUSHED COLOR
CLIPPING MASKS
I usually start by adding a bit of flushed
Clipping Masks are helpful if you want to
color to body parts such as the shoulders,
have details for a shape on a separate layer
nose, cheeks, knees, and fingertips. I like
(like shadow, light, or texture). Create a new
Clipping Mask by tapping on an empty to use a textured brush, such as the 6B
layer and select the Clipping Mask from the Compressed Brush from Procreate. I tend
menu. to use a slightly darker and more saturated
tone of the base color. Don’t go too far
A Clipping Mask is indicated by an arrow though; be sure to keep the transition soft
pointing to the layer below. The Clipping and smooth.
Click on layer
to enable
Clipping Mask
BASE SHAPE SHAPE CLIPPING MASK

ALPHA LOCK
We can also
Alpha Lock
Clipping Masks
CLIPPING MASK
PLUS
ALPHA LOCK
68 21D R AW
Flushed
color
Use a
clipping
mask to draw
flushed color
Flushed on top of base
color blocking color
ADDING TEXTURE
Textures can make
the artwork look more
traditionally painted. I like Alpha lock
to use brushes like the and use a
Bonobo Chalk or Noise textured
Brush in combination
brush like
with a slightly darker
the Noise
Brush
or brighter color to add
texture. Simply Alpha
Lock your layers or use a
Clipping Mask on top of a
solid shape then add some
texture with a slightly
darker or lighter color.
I use the base
color, make it
a bit darker
and more
saturated
I don’t use
outlines
everywhere;
only on
areas that
need more Draw
contrast outlines above
other layers
or use Alpha
Lock
OUTLINES HAIR
You can either draw outlines on a new When drawing hair, I prefer to change
layer above all the others, use Alpha Lock the StreamLine settings on my Procreate
on a layer, or use a Clipping Mask to avoid brushes. StreamLine makes it easier to
overpainting the borders. create nice clean lines. Here I decide to use
the Chalk Brush to draw some curly strands
Most people associate outlines with black of hair. I click on the brush to open up the
outlines all around a character, but I prefer settings. Then I go to Stroke Path and move
my outlines to be in a similar color to the up the slider on the StreamLine setting.
base color for less contrast.
I also don’t draw outlines all around the

entire character. I only use them in areas
with low contrast to emphasize certain
areas such as fingers or wrinkles. I usually
pick a slightly darker and more saturated
color than the underlying base color. I like
to use the Chalk Brush or Technical Pencil to
draw outlines.
70 21D R AW
BACKGROUND EXPORTING FILES
Last but not least, we need to add a
When you are ready to export your
background. You can add a bit of texture
artwork, go to the top left corner and click
by adding a slightly darker or brighter
on the Actions button. Click on Share and
color to the background. If you didn’t
choose a file format. (See windows at top
test background color schemes in your
right on the following page.)
thumbnails, be sure to choose a background
color early in the process to see how well
You can export your artwork as a Procreate
the contrast works with the character.
or Photoshop file, or in an image format
such as a PDF, JPEG, PNG, or TIFF. You can
also save files to your device, upload to
LESSON 6: ADDING DETAILS
Dropbox, iCloud, or share via AirDrop.
Your turn to try adding flushed color,
shading, outlines, and more details to Procreate automatically records a time-
your artwork. You can apply some of the lapse video, which you can view or export
techniques you’ve just learned such as by clicking the Actions button, select
StreamLine, Alpha Lock, and Clipping Masks Video, then Time-lapse Replay or Export
to make your painting work go faster. Time-lapse video.
72 21D R AW
FORMATS
Learn and be inspired from MEIKE SCHNEIDER and other amazing artists in our
4
ST YLIZED FIGURE
DRAWING
R ENÉ C ÓR DO VA
S T Y L IZ ED FIGUR E DR AW ING
WITH RENÉ CÓRDOVA
I
t’s extremely important to understand body structure and
anatomy before drawing your characters. This is why to
start, I will give you an overview of how to visualize the
anatomy of bodies. That way later on you will be better able
to draw characters in many different styles.
MALE FIGURE
You start with the basic body structure. Using a photo
reference, it is important to first consider the geometric
shapes and forms that work together to make up the body.
In a very pragmatic way, I chose cubes, cylinders, rectangles,
PHOTO REFERENCE
BASIC STRUCTURE BASIC SHAPES EXAMPLE

76 21D R AW
and other simple shapes to build each part Before moving on to color the artwork, it is
of the body. I think in tridimensional form important to check our drawing to be sure
to create volume which will help us later on it is structured correctly. You need to make
when we render light and shadows. sure the extremities follow human anatomy
correctly.
Now I begin to sketch in basic shapes and
lines for the figure. You can see in the image I like to check my work by thinking in
labeled example (see previous page) how I points of reference. Our extremities are not
visualize these geometric shapes and use perfectly parallel. A good point of reference
them to build out the structure of the body. is usually in direct line with the ears. I also
like to imagine a mesh that dictates the
The next step is to clean up my line work— volume of each muscle (see the image
this is call the inking stage—and my labeled notes below).
drawing is now ready to be colored. I do
my work with Photoshop in Cintiq, where Reviewing these structural details helps
I can create separate layers. This allows me improve our drawings, no matter the style
to have my clean lines on their own layer so you plan to use, be it a functional drawing
they are not disrupted when I add color. or one that is stylized for animation.
CLEAN UP LINES INK LINES NOTES

S T Y L I Z E D F I G U R E D R AW I N G 77
ANATOMY EXERCISES
It is best to practice your
anatomy exercises using
real-life body references. If
you have the opportunity
to participate in drawing
sessions that include live
models, that is even better
because you are able to
see how muscles move
and tense up in different
positions.
Being able to make

these kinds of real-life
anatomical observations
is very helpful for creating
strong character designs.
PRO TIP:
Practice your anatomy exercises by
drawing from live models so you can
observe how bones and muscles really
move and interact in a variety of poses.
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CHARACTER DESIGN
After practicing and after you feel
confident with this process, try
this exercise: using a real body for
reference, draw in the basic body
shapes and structure, clean up your
line work, then finally check your
drawing to make sure it is anatomically
correct. At this stage you are ready to
work on creating different character
designs. You can use the same format
as we did for the figure drawings. As
before, I start with a base structure
and for this character I decide to
exaggerate the volume using a larger
sized body; however you can choose to
stylize the figure in any way you like.
There is an important tip we need to

take into consideration: always draw
the entire body first and then add
your clothing design over the top. This
is how to correctly dress characters
because it allows you make sure
your underlying body is anatomically
accurate so the clothing overlays on the
body frame with the correct volume
and shape. This makes a big difference
in how well your characters turn out.
PRO TIP:
Draw the entire body first, then
add clothing design and detail
over the final body drawing.
STYLIZED FIGURES
Since you spent the time
needed to practice, you
now better understand
basic body shapes and
structure. Next, you can start
to elaborate by creating
characters in a variety of
styles that are intended for
diverse purposes like comics,
animation, or video games.
This process of visualizing

the body’s structure first
has helped me a lot in my
job, from putting together
complex to cute, bigheaded
characters (that’s what I call
them, see examples on next
page) that I have a lot
of fun drawing.
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PRO TIP:
I sketch my base
structure using red,
blue, or any other
color that is not
black so I can easily
tell my sketch from
the black ink lines.
Remember to also
use different layers
for your sketch and
a new clean layer
above the sketch
for inking.
FEMALE FIGURE
A good understanding of basic body structures
and how they work is fundamental in order to draw
functional characters for comics, video games, and
animations. The more anatomy studies you can
complete, the better your results will be. Your effort
will definitely be reflected in your artwork.
Using the same process as the earlier male figure,

you start by recognizing the general structure and
form of the body using a real-life reference so you can
visualize from different perspectives. I took this picture
of my daughter Nahomi from the floor angled upward
at a ¾ view. This perspective gives me the opportunity
to better show how to work with geometric figures to
create volume in your figures.
PHOTO REFERENCE
BASIC STRUCTURE BASIC SHAPES EXAMPLE

82 21D R AW
Creating perspective and volume correctly is
very important—let’s explore more about this PRO TIP:
process using the following steps to costume Although it is easy to find online
our characters: references, I recommend taking
your own pictures. You can ask
1. Start with the base body line art. friends and family to help so you
can plan out your photo references
2. Then add the costume design over your
that will help you create better
base body.
illustrations. Also, while taking
3. Review and adjust the direction of each your own pictures you see details
element—this will help your costume in the hands, feet, and expressions
to wrap over the body’s shape and that you may not pay attention to
volume correctly. using pictures from the internet.
All you need is a cell phone and
By following these steps your character you are ready to go!
will be ready for action!
BASE BODY COSTUME REVIEW AND ADJUST

ADDING DYNAMIC ENERGY
It is time to give our figure drawings
more dynamic movement and
energy!
Now that you understand how

to draw basic body structures, I’ll
show you a practical way to create
a sense of dynamic energy. In this
example you can see how a 2D image
(front view) changes as you add
perspective, transforming the figure
into a 3D image. You can see that
by adding just a few simple strokes,
you can create volume which adds
dynamic movement.
84 21D R AW
You continue using the same process, starting with
the basic body forms then refine the drawing to
clean lines at the end. You may notice that these
characters are becoming more stylized or cartoon-
like as you go through these examples. The same
process you used in the earlier figure drawings
works well even when applied to a more dynamic
base body structure.
After practicing this process daily, little by little

you begin to retain the body structure and base
shapes in our minds. That does not mean you
won’t have the need to use it, but you will be able
to visualize the structures as you draw. Then you
can develop your own process and become faster,
as well as create more elaborate and different
styles—basically anything you can imagine you
can draw as characters.
86 21D R AW
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
For this example, I’ve included a page
of sketches showing a wide range of
variation in character shape, style,
movement, and energy.
I choose one of these sketches and using

the same process you’ve been learning, I
create a character that can be used for a
wide variety of design purposes.
FINDING TIME TO SKETCH
Next, I want to share with you some pages
from my sketchbook. Something incredibly
important to me is my time. That is why I
use pocket-size sketchbooks. I call them my
waiting sketchbooks since I always have one
with me to take advantage of any waiting
time. For example, when I’m out with my
daughters or wife and waiting for them in
the car, that time is very valuable to me. I
use it to sketch with my multicolored pens
and I always learn something. I draw the
people I see on the street, capturing their
likeness in my mind for when I have time
to draw them in more detail later on. I am
often inspired by things I see outside and by
doing these practice sketches I continue to
learn and improve my skills.
Why do I draw these quick sketches with

a pen? Because I don’t want to erase any
strokes; a sketchbook is meant for practice
and to loosen up our hands and wrists.
This helps us refine our skills and develop
simpler, quicker ways to draw.
VERY IMPORTANT ADVICE: only practice

sketching any new techniques or materials
when you have time. Please don’t worry
about being overly precise during practice.
Pay attention to what you are doing, but be
sure to have fun too. Don’t practice under
pressure—the key to learning how to draw
is motivation and enjoying the process.
Your artwork will reflect how much time
and energy you invest, and I want you to
practice so you can become a better artist!
PRO TIP ON PRACTICE:

Don’t practice under pressure—
enjoy sketching and make it fun!
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DAILY PRACTICE In the example below, I want to show you
why it is so important to continue studying
I often tell my students that sketchbooks and practicing anatomy. After you have a
should be used every single day—this good understanding of how to draw the
is very important. If you don’t practice human body, you can start to distort and
daily you will stop learning. It is also change characters as you design them,
extremely important that artists become stylizing their bodies using different shapes
close observers of everything around and volumes.
them. During drawing practice, be sure
to carefully observe the people you see I created these example sketches using the
around you. This helps bring life to your same process you’ve been learning, but
characters. We can capture in our mind the stylized them differently. The drawing on
unique characteristics that each person the left is created using only circular shapes
possesses, then later download them to while the right is drawn using angular
paper through our pen strokes. shapes to achieve different body types.
PRO TIP: Understanding anatomy is important so that you

can distort and change characters as you design them.
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CHARACTER EXERCISE
Let’s do an exercise together—select a
pose (see above), again start with basic
geometric shapes and then apply two very
different styles and body structures to each
character. The basic body structure will
help us apply styles, sizes, and different
strokes, but where your designs end up
only depends on your imagination.
In all these examples, I worked quickly

using a red pencil then used a blue pen for
my line work. These exercises clearly show
that it doesn’t really matter what style of
drawing you have in mind—the key is to
start from a clear base structure (I’ve drawn
this here using green). Then from the base
structure you can distort and stylize to
achieve a wide variety of designs.
98 21D R AW
QUICK SKETCHES
Be sure to practice different kinds of
The previous page has examples of quick clothing too. For example, practice drawing
sketching exercises that I drew without people in winter clothes so you can visualize
using photo references. This type of practice how a body moves under heavy clothing.
should be done very quickly—remember Use the same process you’ve learned—
you don’t need to show these drawings start by sketching each body part using
to anyone. Try to create a variety of body geometric shapes. You’ll soon see how easy
shapes and proportions and keep in mind it is to visualize a human body in various
these sketches are meant to be completed positions and clothing styles.
in the least amount of time possible. This is
the best way to improve your skills. I really Remember to become a close observer of
enjoy doing these quick sketch studies. people around you—look at different body
shapes and hairstyles. Fill your mind with
As I shared with you earlier, if possible, as many reference images as possible, then
it is best to take your own photographic without looking at those references draw
references by asking friends and family from your memory. This is a great way to
to pose for you. But if you can’t do this, boost creativity and eventually you will
the internet provides us with an infinite be able to easily stylize your characters in
amount of references to draw from. You can many different ways. Most important of all,
easily find many examples of various styles remember to have fun while you draw so
of clothing, shoes, and people in real-life you will continue to practice and improve
photos and stylized for comics or manga. your artistic abilities!
Learn and be inspired from RENÉ CÓRDOVA and other amazing artists in our
5
HOW TO BRING YOUR
CHARACTERS TO LIFE
R OD GON
HO W T O BR ING YOUR CH A R A C T ER S T O L IFE
WITH RODGON
W
elcome Peeps! I’m excited to YOU WILL NEED:
have this opportunity to teach
you how to improve your • A small sketchbook (choose a size that is
drawing skills and make your art come alive. easy to carry with you at all times)
This chapter is full of techniques to help • Your favorite drawing tools (use art
you throughout your artistic career. You can supplies that are easy for you to get)
take these lessons with you anywhere and
practice at any time.
• Visual references (you can take pics
with your phone, find them online, or in
It is my sincere pleasure to be your instructor magazines and books)
and I hope you learn a lot. Let’s get started on
this learning adventure . . .
102 21D R AW
I recommend you choose drawing tools
you can carry with you at all times and
are easy to purchase.
I limit art supplies to what I can easily WHY YOU SHOULD USE REFERENCES . . .
carry and purchase. I recommend getting
a small sketchbook so you can take it with (And how they will help you draw better.)
you wherever you go. That way you are
There is a big misconception among new
ready to practice any chance you get. I
like my materials to be affordable too. You artists who believe using references is
don’t want the cost of art supplies to be a somehow cheating or you aren’t a real artist
block to your creative process. The kinds if you use them. This is incorrect, since using
of supplies are not what make your art references is one of the best and fastest
good; in reality these are just tools at your ways to dramatically improve your skills and
disposal. True talent lies within you not in artwork.
your pencil.
The reason is pretty simple when you think
So use tools that work best for you and learn about it. When you first start creating art,
how to love creating art with them. The goal you begin to slowly build what I call a
is to keep your creative ideas flowing! mental library of images. This mental library
is what allows you to draw from memory.
Grab your favorite sketchbook, pens and This library grows each time you draw
pencils, put on a big smile, and let’s start something new and gets stronger with each
drawing . . . drawing you repeat.
H O W TO B R I N G YO U R C H A R AC T E R S TO L I F E 103
However, there is a big difference between
referencing images and taking credit for
another artist’s work. Please take
care to be sure you are not
copying designs by other
artists when gathering
your references.
Using visual
references
makes �apturing
details much
easier.
YOUR MENTAL IMAGE LIBRARY

This library of visual references is easy to grow
and I have a great tip that many new artists
forget: DRAW THINGS YOU DON’T KNOW
HOW TO DRAW.
Don’t know how to draw birds? Dogs?

Women? Vehicles? The solution is simple—
start drawing new things and keep at it until
it sticks. Repetition is the key to success.
There will be times when you really don’t like
these new drawings and they may not be as
strong as your other artwork—yet. Take time
to draw what is new or difficult for you—this
is a surefire way to improve
your skills as an artist. Drawing
something new is also when
your image references really When you compile all
come into play. Visual references your references, that
help you draw cool images you compilation is called your
wouldn’t have thought of and is vision board. Try to have
a big step forward to building up
one for each big project!
your mental library.
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1 Start with a simple
sphere to represent
the entire eyeball.
2 Then add a circle

inside to show where
the colored part of
the eye will be.
HOW TO DRAW EYES . . . 3 Now add the center of

the eye, represented
(And make your characters look alive!) by a black circle.
Eyes, as some people say, are windows to

the soul. Therefore eyes are one of the key
4 Next, draw the
upper eyelash line.
elements that can bring your characters Make sure to wrap it
to life. A character’s eyes and how they are around the eye, like
drawn can instantly tell you a lot about their a blanket laying over
story. In this section, I give you all my tips the eyeball.
and tricks for drawing lovely, dynamic, and
very cool eyes with relative ease. 5 The bottom eyelid
is normally layered
Often when people start drawing, they look under the top lid at
for the coolest design style they can find the corners. It will
typically be a thinner
and try to reproduce that exact style. They
line than the top
forget to first practice the basics and learn
eyelash.
the fundamentals. I was one of those people
and it hindered my progress and growth for
many years. That is until I learned the one 6 Then add volume by
defining the top of
thing that changed everything—ANATOMY! the eyelid and a little
The very thing I thought was boring turns of the lower lid.
out to be what helped me the most.
7 Now clean up the
lines and define the
HOW TO DRAW EYES: STEP 1 overlapping sections
to create more
First we need to break our subject down to volume.
its most simple shapes (top right). In this
case we start with a sphere for the eyeball,
from there we layer on more shapes to 8 Finish by adding
details like lashes,
create all the parts that make up an eye. highlights, and
shadows—you end
Let’s go step by step through the process so up with a pretty cool-
we can see how the elements layer to create looking eye!
the eye as a whole.
HOW TO DRAW EYES: STEP 2
Now that you understand the different steps to drawing an eye, you
can simplify the process in order to draw them more quickly.
As artists we simplify parts of the body to create a style we like,

or as a shortcut to creating concepts we have in mind. Let’s figure
out the easiest way to draw eyes then look at examples of how to
implement shortcuts into your own drawing style.
COMPLEX VS. SIMPLE

Defines every aspect of the eye in Simplified to extremes while still
detail including shading. This creates a representing every aspect of the
lot of volume and a high level realism. eye. This is great to make quick and
This drawing style takes a long time to fun drawings that capture emotion
learn and do correctly. well. Allows for quick design and
storytelling that is easier to learn.
FRONT 3/4 PROFILE FRONT 3/4 PROFILE
As you learn to draw eyes at different Even the simple drawing of eyes
angles, keep in mind all the parts includes slight overlaps where
that make up the eye and the fact the thick and thin lines create
that eyes are objects that have three expressive and lively eyes. Make
dimensional volume. sure to always add volume to your
drawings.
106 21D R AW
HOW TO STYLE EYES
We have reviewed how to
draw the specific elements
that make up detailed
eyes and how to break
them down into simple
elements. Now you get to do
Larger eyes and highlights Thicker eyelashes and
something very cool—make
make characters look larger eyelids give a
fun eye styles!
younger and cuter sensual sexy look
Here are some examples
of how you can make cute,
sexy, evil, and super stylized
eyes just by playing around
with different elements.
PRO TIP FOR EYES: Adding little distress lines Create your own style
Make a goal to causes someone to look using fun shapes with
create a generic set disturbed or angry silly or weird highlights
of eyes that you can
easily draw. They
should be eyes that
you can place into
any design you make.
Whether for a human,
an animal, or object,
creating a generic
eye design is a great
tool to have at your Making the upper line of an eye thicker
disposal. gives the impression of gorgeous eyelashes
without the need to draw a lot of lines.
Eyelids can also express a lot of

personality. Include variations in
eye designs to avoid “same face
syndrome” where all characters
look the same.
EYE EXERCISES TO PRACTICE
The following are my all-time favorite
exercises to do when I want to practice
drawing and styling eyes.
EXERCISE 1—ANATOMY STUDY

SKETCHES
1
Do you feel like something just doesn’t look
quite right? You can find online tutorials
(Instagram and Pinterest) showing how to
draw the real life anatomy of the head.
This not only helps you draw the head and

position better, it definitely improves your
ability to draw eyes.
EXERCISE 2—FILL A PAGE WITH

SKETCHES, THEN MAKE NOTES
Fill a page with reference drawings of eyes,
then make notes on any areas that don’t look
right to you. Next research why these areas
need improvement. This self-critical review is
key to learning how to improve when you do 2
not have an instructor available.
EXERCISE 3—ONLINE REFERENCES

AND PEN SKETCHES
When I want to develop different ways to
draw and style eyes, I like to use random
people I find online for reference. I prefer
drawing with a ballpoint pen for these
developmental sketches. Pens are less
forgiving than pencils since you can’t
erase lines and I find practicing with a pen
improves my linework.
3
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INTRO TO FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
Faces are capable of making countless
variations in expressions, and each person
has their own unique looks and reactions.
It is our task as artists to recreate them in
our artwork.
There is nothing better than being able to

translate an idea you have in mind onto
paper. This lesson will help you learn how
to do just that.
Facial expressions are one of the best

ways to make your drawings come to life.
Whether a simple cartoon or majestic fine
art painting, facial expressions are a large
aspect of creating any character.
Using a few simple tricks and a

basic knowledge of anatomy, you
can create amazing expressio�s.
As we did with eyes, we will first

explore the basics and how to
breakdown facial expressions. The
same process will easily translate to
any character you want to design.
So once again, grab your

sketchbook and pens and let’s
get started!
PRO TIP:
You can use different levels
of detail for characters in
your artwork.
FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
How are you able to distinguish when a person is
happy, sad, mad, confused—the various emotions we
all experience daily? It’s all thanks to facial expressions!
Drawing expressions can be difficult, but I will teach

you some tips and tricks I use regularly to draw them
better.
THE CATERPILLAR EYEBROW APPROACH

An art instructor told me about a “caterpillar eyebrow”
approach to facial expressions. It involves taking both
eyebrows and drawing them as one long unibrow
across the forehead.
You then move the unibrow around like a caterpillar to

see how many different expressions you can make. You
can definitely discover a lot of fun expressions using
this method. This is also a great way to break free from
overusing the same expression.
OVERLAPPING SHAPES AND LINES

Learning the correct way to overlap shapes and lines
will help you create depth and add character to your
drawings. Good areas for adding lines are on the
cheeks, mouth, eyes, and eyebrows.
Good areas for adding lines are on the

cheeks, mouth, eyes, and eyebrows.
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HOW BROWS AND CHEEKS INTERACT WITH EYES
One aspect of facial expression that is often overlooked is how the brow and
cheek muscles affect the eyes.
There are muscles under the eyebrows that tend to cover your eyes during
expressions of anger or frustration. Cheeks will also overlap your eyes when
you smile or laugh. Learning the anatomy of facial muscles can help your skills
improve—I guarantee it!
FOCUS ON EYES, MOUTH, AND EYEBROWS

The eyes, mouth, and eyebrows are where most facial expressions come from.
I find that when you focus your attention on these specific areas, it is easier to
create great facial expressions. Parts of the face such as the nose and ears play
a much smaller role since they do not move much regardless of the emotion
shown. Focus your creative energy mainly on the eyes, mouth, and eyebrows
when drawing facial expressions.
EXAMPLES OF FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
Here is a compilation of facial expressions including various levels of detail to
give you a head start on your own drawings. Simply apply the concepts we’ve
reviewed and practice!
HAPPY SAD ANGRY UPSET
CONFUSED NAUGHTY JOYFUL SCARED
DERPY TIRED FLIRTY IN LOVE
These facial expressions are a good starting point for you to play with. After you
study and practice with them, try to create some of your own designs. There
is an amazing array of potential facial expressions, and each new character
will provide you with even more to draw. So have fun creating characters and
discover as many different emotions as you can imagine!
112 21D R AW
EXERCISES TO PRACTICE
FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
These exercises can be done in your

sketchbook anytime and anywhere.
Remember keeping notes and self-critique

of your work is a good process to help you
improve. By taking notes when something
isn’t working well, you are less likely to make
the same mistake in the future.
EXERCISE 1—PRACTICE USING

YOUR CHARACTERS
My absolute favorite way to practice facial
expressions is to have my characters make
them. I love to take my existing characters
1
and draw them making every facial
expression I can think of. It takes a lot of
practice to get really good expressions, but
the results are very satisfying.
EXERCISE 2—USE A MIRROR

I always carry a little mirror with me.
This allows me to make faces and practice
new fun facial expressions any time I want.
I highly recommend you get a little pocket
mirror and try this for yourself. It is an
incredibly fun exercise and a great way
to learn.
PRO TIP FOR EXPRESSIONS:

Anatomy studies and watching
cartoons will help you immensely on
your path to drawing better facial
expressions.
2
POSING YOUR CHARACTERS
The ability to pose characters in fun and dynamic
ways is something we all aspire to do. Many of us are
captivated while reading superhero comics.
Good character posing can evoke more excitement in

your audience and is what we strive for. I understand
how daunting this can be to achieve because there
are so many areas to consider: anatomy, perspective,
proportions, movement limitations, and more.
Tackling all these aspects at once can feel

overwhelming. Don’t worry—I am here to help with
fun and simple ways to break down character poses,
including tips and tricks so you never draw bland
boring poses again!
WHY IS POSING IMPORTANT?

The pose of a character provides visual cues to
their age, personality, style, fitness, health, spirit,
intelligence, and much more.
Posing is one of the most important

aspects to determine when you
decide who your characters will
be. If you want your characters to
truly come alive, posing is how
you make it happen. This is
very important to practice as
much as you can and strive to
continue learning throughout
your career.
Posi�g is how to truly make

your characters �ome alive!
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MOTION AND STORYTELLING
This tip is pretty straightforward. This doesn’t
require a great deal of effort, but many artists
miss it:
Whether it is a simple doodle or a more

complex illustration . . . ALWAYS TELL A STORY
WITH YOUR DRAWINGS!
Telling stories should become second nature on

your path to developing into a professional artist.
Storytelling is the essence of what artists do—we
tell a story with each drawing and each doodle
we create.
Try not to overthink the storytelling process. It

is easy to become lost in the idea of crafting the
perfect story and that in itself can prevent us from
creating art. There must be a balance, and it is
simple to find once you start drawing from a story
mindset.
PRO TIP FOR CREATING MOTION:

Use motion lines and background
elements to create a sense of movement
in your drawings and they will quickly
improve.
DRAWING THE HUMAN BODY
There are various ways to approach drawing a body. One basic process is to break bodies
down into their simplest elements and shapes. I like simplifying the body down as if it
were a robot, then putting the parts back together link by link.
SIMPLE BREAKDOWN OF THE HUMAN BODY

Shoulder muscles cup
Anatomy plays a large role in and wrap around the
learning to pose characters. rest of the arm.
Learning how muscles and
bones work together quickly
made a dramatic difference
in my drawings. So I highly
recommend practicing
I think of the
anatomy to grow
arm sections like
as an artist.
medieval armor.
Understanding
how bones
I suggest that you study
connect at the
how to break down shapes
hip is key to
of the body from as many
learning how
different artists as possible.
to correctly
There are a variety of ways
position and
to approach this process and
draw legs.
no single option is better
than the other. Practice the
techniques you learn, use
what works best for you,
then develop your own
process.
When drawing feet, simplify

them but keep in mind their
depth and shape.
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DRAWING THE BODY IN PROFILE
When you draw bodies using a side angle viewpoint, the form changes a bit, especially
between women and men. Here are my top tips to help you improve posing when you
are drawing side angles.
Differences in body angles

While you simplify the between men and women:
head shape, be sure to use
an actual skull for visual
reference.
The spine
comes out
of the skull
at a curve.
This is one
aspect many
people miss
and it is very
important. As you can see, we often draw
women with a more pronounced
back curve which makes a
character look more sensual
Legs have both

a curved and flat
Just like arms the
side. Keeping
legs are more
this in mind will
complex than
help you nail
simple cylinders.
tough poses.
Think of legs as
links that connect,
The use of color and it will help
coding in these you understand
body studies is a positioning. This
massive help so makes drawing
that you don’t complicated poses
forget a section easier as well.
of the body.
EXAMPLES OF POSING
What I love about my process for breaking down body shapes is that it can be
applied to any art style. You can apply it to anime, realism, cartooning, comics,
etc.—it will work really well!
Here are examples of various styles using animals, monsters, and more to show
how flexible and effective this process can be.
118 21D R AW
EXERCISES TO PRACTICE POSING
The following exercises are meant to teach

you how to pose characters more effectively.
My hope is this will help you break free
from current drawing habits and gain a new
perspective on the process.
EXERCISE 1—THE PUZZLE

One of my favorite exercises to help me pose
a character is to fill up pages with the same
character, drawing different poses to fit into 1
any empty spaces—much like fitting a puzzle
piece into place. This helps you see shapes and
poses you would never have imagined before.
EXERCISE 2—CREATE YOUR

OWN CHARACTERS
It is even more satisfying when you nail the
perfect pose on your own character. Creating
characters is also a fantastic way to increase
your storytelling ability. Developing unique
characters and worlds for them to inhabit
motivates you to continue making stories. I 2
believe working on designs of your own also
inspires you to practice more often. If you use
these lessons and practice, you will see great
improvement in your posing.
I hope that you have learned something new

from all these lessons, and you feel motivated
to go out and create some amazing art. I wish
you all happy doodles and big smiles!
Learn and be inspired from RODGON and other amazing artists in our online
art courses. VISIT WWW.21-DRAW.COM TO LEARN MORE!
6
CHARACTER DRIVEN
ILLUSTRATIONS
K ENNE T H A NDER S ON
CH A R A C T ER DR I V EN IL L U S T R AT ION S
WITH KENNETH ANDERSON
I
love drawing characters! I also love 2. Research and how to find references
to illustrate. My favorite is when I to help develop an idea further by
combine the two into a character driven fleshing out the world of our story.
illustration that tells a fun and engaging
story through characters performing 3. A review of thumbnailing and how
in some kind of drama. While not all quick sketches can help us problem-
illustrations need to feature characters, solve and plan out the best approach
for me, illustrations are more exciting and to our illustration.
entertaining when they do!
4. Take a deeper look at our characters,
In this chapter, I show how to create a their performances, and how to
character driven illustration from start to effectively use them to bring life to
finish. This is by no means the only way, but our illustration.
I hope it is helpful for you to learn about my
process. 5. Next, we discuss mood and how our
setting, lighting, and color enhance
Illustration at its core is about storytelling our story moment, creating a stage
and clearly communicating an idea. I for our characters.
like to call this a “story moment”—just a
snippet in time of an event unfolding. This 6. Now we are ready for the final
story moment can be simple or complex. steps in the process—blocking in
Regardless, this snippet of a story is the our image, refining, tweaking, and
foundation of the whole illustration and improving character performances
affects mood, setting, and ultimately the and making final design choices to
characters. support and enhance our character
driven idea.
It is the characters that drive a story
moment and bring an illustration to life. For this tutorial, I am using the latest
That is what character driven means—it’s version of Photoshop and a Wacom
all about storytelling! 22HD. I want to stress, however, that this
process is not software specific—these
principles and ideas apply to any software
I WILL GUIDE YOU THROUGH or medium.
THESE STEPS:
1. Idea generation and how to develop For brushes, I mainly use a combination of
an illustration from a key story Kyle T. Webster’s Chunky Charcoal and the
moment. default Photoshop soft round brush and
122 21D R AW
For this piece, I play around with various
ideas before settling on a haunted house
theme. I want to draw something I haven’t
before (I draw a lot of pirates!), a drawing
that is appealing and fun with lots of
potential for conflict and drama. I can easily
imagine a group of kids exploring an old
haunted manor—this seems like a perfect
idea to build on.
Alongside the story, I need to consider the

purpose behind this illustration. Is it just to
entertain or does it need to serve another
hard round brush. Sometimes I use an oil purpose? In this case, I want my drawing
brush and spatter brush if needed. to entertain and be a useful tool for this
tutorial, effectively showing my process for
Now let’s get started with the foundation of creating a character driven illustration.
any illustration—the idea!
I tend to mull over an idea for a while before
drawing anything. I write down notes or
THE IDEA—FINDING YOUR STORY ideas that come to me about how best to
MOMENT approach the illustration. By first visualizing
a scene in my mind, I can think through the
Illustration is the art of conveying an idea different elements and allow any quirky
or a story moment in a single image. We ideas to surface.
don’t have the luxury of time or sound, like
an animated film does. Instead, we need I often bring influences from my childhood
to focus on the limited elements we can into my work; my designs are heavily
control, such as composition, character inspired by these memories. I was a fan of
performances, color, and tone to convey our The Three Investigators and The Hardy Boys
idea successfully. books. I love the concept of a group of kids
going on adventures and solving mysteries.
Much of my work is client based and in This is also tied to my love of films like The
those cases a client comes to me with an Goonies and other similar 1980s adventure
idea in mind for me to articulate. In my own films. TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer
personal work, however, I wait for a moment and Stranger Things are also on my mind
of inspiration to hit, an image in my mind alongside a general vibe of kids’ Saturday
of a story unfolding that I am compelled to morning TV shows.
draw! My goal is to find an idea that is fun
and appealing to me that has a clear story I also like reading mysteries and a bit of
moment with enough ingredients to be horror. The past few years I’ve been getting
exciting visually. into Stephen King and Ray Bradbury—their
C H A R AC T E R D R I V E N I L L U S T R AT I O N S 123
novels often feature kids confronting an evil More specifically, is the encounter inside
which they must defeat and an odd haunted the house? Are the kids creeping up the
house or fairground to boot! stairway or descending into the basement?
Or are the kids too scared to enter the
These are examples of the inspiration I want house, only peeking inside the front door. I
to bring into this illustration. A group of kids can tell these decisions will affect the drama
exploring a haunted house is an old trope of the illustration. Placing the kids outside
and not the most original, but it is a fun idea. looking in might not have as much tension
I will put my own vibe into the execution as them being trapped inside the house.
and tell a playful story through the scene Unless one of them is inside, oblivious to the
and characters. danger behind them as their friends look on.
In a dramatic illustration, it helps to establish Another important aspect of setting is

a main conflict to build the story around. For the time period. Is it set in present day or
my piece the main conflict is obvious—I the past? I like the idea of giving a nod to
want to show the moment a group of kids my childhood and using the ’90s, which
meets a ghost or monster for the first time! provides a nice contrast between the age
It will include plenty of action and the crisis of the kids and the house and ghosts. I can
is clear—a bunch of kids scared out of their put a lot of color into the kids and use that
wits. What will happen to them? How will to contrast with a dull colored environment.
they get out of this situation? The conflict Could be fun to include ’90s fashion or
helps to make things more interesting for tech-like shell suits, hi-top trainers, cassette
the audience by forming exciting questions players, and retro film cameras.
in their minds.
Finally, I need to consider the tone or mood
I also need to consider who the actors are I am looking for. Do I want my story moment
in my piece. I want at least one ghost or to be serious and gritty? I don’t think so! My
monster in the mix, but it could be worth style lends itself to exaggerated and light-
exploring the idea of adding more than one. hearted illustrations. I decide that “spooky
As for the kids, I want at least three, at most fun” sums up the mood I want—a bit silly
five, a group of buddies. Maybe they are part and over the top but with an old school
of a gang like the Losers Club in Stephen spooky vibe.
King’s IT. Might be fun to make them a
ragtag bunch, a gang of misfits, and perhaps Taking time before you start to think
they came together for the common through your concept and clarify these
purpose of exploring the haunted house. points is always a good idea. This can also
help to generate new views that weren’t
Another key element will be how the obvious at first. Jumping in and starting an
characters interact with one another or image without thinking it through is okay,
rather with a ghost they encounter? Will they but slowing down can help, especially when
run away? Or stand their ground and try to making design choices. We want all our
fight? Maybe they want to be its friend! design choices to aid in communicating the
story moment. Having clarity about what
I also need to give some thought to where exactly your story moment is will make
this event takes place. Yes, a haunted house! design choices much, much easier!
124 21D R AW
ost/
g a gh h e
Meetinster for ttim e Ray
on first Entering Bradbury
from r m The
i n g te th e n King Goonies
n
Runst/m on
s h ouse? Stephre’s Club)
(Lose ’80s/’90s
gh o A face film +
’90s? T H E S T O R Y at th e TV
MO MENT! window?
INSPIR ATION Buffy the
? Vampire
Se tting KI DS Slayer
TH E ID EA : BOOKS
c?
Atti C O N F LICT! A GR OUP OF KID S
a i rs? EXP LOR ING A Th e Famous
St
HAU NT ED HOU SE T h reetors Five
/ a
Outsidee? Investig The
in sid A pet? Hardy
Dog? Boys
CH AR AC TE RS
Saturday
TO NE +
’90s ing Group M OO D Morning TV
h
Clot of Kids Varied s/ show vibe
Personalitie
ng Lightt-ed
Youens reactions h earFun Stylized
te 3? + Spooky
9–1 Mixed age, not scary
gender, etc.
LESSON 1: FIND YOUR STORY MOMENT • An old abandoned house.

Come up with an illustration idea of your • A ghost or monster of some kind.
own! If you get stuck, think about what
inspires you or things you enjoyed in • A group of kids, 9 to 13 years of age.
childhood. Maybe a favorite movie or book?
What excites you and sounds like a fun idea • A high conflict story moment.
for you to draw? What kind of story moment
or key conflict can you create and build a • A creepy but fun atmosphere and vibe.
concept around? Who will become your cast
Having a clear checklist in mind makes
of characters?
gathering references much easier!
Where is the best place to gather

RESEARCH—FLESHING OUT YOUR IDEA!
references? I like to use a variety of sources:
Research is an important phase of design books, museums, movies, photographs, the
and a good opportunity to solve problems library, and of course the internet. Whenever
identified when thinking through a concept. I am out and about I take photos or buy
It helps to fill any gaps in knowledge, random postcards. I’m continually building
adding a layer of authenticity to illustrations up a file of useful information. Inspiration
while also opening us up to new ideas or can come from almost anywhere!
approaches.
For this lesson I am a bit more restricted. I
Now that my idea is established, I know my want to share the references I use with you,
illustration needs these key elements: but to do so my images need to be free
and/or in the public domain. This limits what My final mood board mainly consists of
I can show you to some degree, but there older house interiors, some fancy, others
is a wealth of information available from run down and falling apart. I chose images
free stock image sites. One of my favorites with interesting lighting and some that
is pexels.com. I also pay for some images have big sweeping staircases. (I have a
from istockphoto.com and use a couple of feeling a staircase will be featured in my
my own photographs. While researching I final illustration.) I also include the exterior
of houses to provide context, although I
discovered the British Library has a massive
don’t think my scene will show the exterior.
online archive of public domain publications
I have various images of kids with a variety
and images from very old publications—
of clothing and features. Alongside these,
perfect for this illustration!
I place Victorian era photographs which
might help with the design of my ghost.
THE KEY ITEMS I NEED TO RESEARCH:
Finally, I include old public domain images
• THE HAUNTED HOUSE — I want images
from the online British Library archive.
of old and grand interiors with a Victorian
These are mainly Victorian style illustrations
style.
featuring ghosts. They could inspire me
along the way—I love how they portray the
• THE KIDS — How will my kids look? What
ghostly forms!
do kids around 9 to 13 years old look like?
I vaguely know but I need some help! Gathering references helps me solidify a
I also want to include the look of ’90s concept and clarify details about how the
clothing and colors. illustration might look. This allows me to
visualize characters and their setting more
• THE GHOST (or monster) — What will clearly. Even if I never look at the reference
my creepy character look like? If they are material again, it has been a useful tool in
a ghost I think Victorian in style, so I need the developmental design process. I keep
to research this too. this mood board on another monitor as an
easy reference while I start to draw.
• THE STYLE — While I intend to paint in
my own style, I do want to research the
old illustrations I can find in the British LESSON 2: MAKE A MOOD BOARD
Library archives. Maybe they will inspire
Your turn to make a mood board! Think
the look!
through your idea and figure out any
key problems you need to solve. Is there
Keeping all these details in mind, I like to
anything about your design that could use
gather images then place them into one
visual references?
large image file. I use Photoshop for this
because I like to draw and add notes on top What about your characters? Are there any
of my references. Of course, you can use images with a similar style to what you are
other software or online image organizers aiming for? Collect relevant resources and
like Pinterest if you prefer. compile them into a mood board.
126 21D R AW
THUMBNAILS—CRAFTING YOUR STORY MOMENT
Creating the perfect story moment for an illustration
isn’t easy. There are so many variables that can aid or
hinder the execution. This is why I start with thumbnail
sketches—small, quick drawings that allow me to
explore the ideas in my head. This helps me work
through early concepts on paper without investing
too much time or effort in the wrong direction.
My story moment is all about the characters and their

interaction. I need to keep this in mind as I explore
ideas. Other things to consider when thumbnailing are
the big picture design choices. It is important not to
get lost in the details at this stage.
THIRDS
Divide images in thirds and place key elements on

dividing lines for a more interesting composition.
I tend to focus on composition at this I play around with the exact moment
stage. Who and where my characters unfolding, too, exploring the kids meeting
are, how they interact as a group, and a ghost for the first time on a stairwell, to
how they are arranged to make a strong running away, or to looking in a doorway
composition. I want to make sure there is at a shadowy shape. I don’t want to rule
a clear focal point, so I lead the viewers’ anything out in this freestyle idea dump
eyes to important details (such as the stage! Some of my composition ideas come
characters). I want major elements in my from directly drawing over the top of my
image positioned to create a balanced and reference images.
interesting illustration. It can help at this
stage to divide an image into thirds then CH
place important design elements on the SKE T
dividing lines (see examples above). This is
visually more interesting than having all the
elements placed symmetrically.
I also explore various canvas ratios—some

are portrait or landscape, long and thin,
others are a bit more squat. I don’t want
to limit myself at this stage. I am drawn,
however, to a landscape image because it
will fit the video production portion of this
course better.
I indicate my setting using rough shapes

and loose perspective lines to give a basic
understanding of perspective and angle of
the point of view. I am aiming for something
dynamic, full of energy, and with good character
positioning to sell the story moment. REFERENCE
128 21D R AW
I also play around with tone and
lighting, establishing possible light
sources and thinking about how to use
my value composition (the greyscale
version of my image) to lead the
eye but also to suggest mood and
atmosphere. Another key element I
think about at this stage—what is the
focal point? Where do the lines, forms,
and lighting lead the viewers’ eyes?
I can use the focal point to make my
illustration more effective, guiding the
audience to important parts of the FOCAL POINT
image, in this case the kids!
My thumbnails are so rough that I probably wouldn’t show them

to anyone. But I see the problem-solving process happening in
them—hopefully you can too. That is what thumbnails are—
problem-solving sketches. They don’t need to be pretty, they just
need to help us figure out any big problems.
Once I have a full page of rough thumbnails, an earlier thumbnail saves time and allows
I choose a few to tighten up and clarify. me to expand on the concept. Soon I have
a set of thumbnails that are clear enough to
I select ideas that sell my story moment best convey all the major elements of my scene.
and create a clear statement. I pick sketches Now I’m in a good position to determine
showing the kids meeting the ghost for the the next steps. I decide on the angle
first time on the stairs. The kids look more looking down the stairs toward the kids
invested in the situation rather than simply with the ghost filling the top right of the
walking in the front door. I also like the image frame. This view places the ghost in
direct confrontation—this makes the event a threatening position of power and shows
dramatic and full of energy. I choose two each kid’s face and unique expression.
different angles of the same event, one from
the top of the stairs looking down, the other
from inside the group of kids looking up.
LESSON 3: CRAFT YOUR STORY MOMENT
Both have their own merits and are worth Create a set of thumbnail sketches and
exploring. use them to explore and problem-solve
your idea. Try to explore as many solutions
I fine-tune these two designs, clarifying as possible to see what works and what
setting and characters while keeping my doesn’t. Keep your thumbnails loose—try
sketches loose. I use detail sparingly, since not to invest too much time detailing an
I need to evaluate if the ideas are working image at this stage. Once you have a page
well or not. At this stage, I develop the of thumbnails choose the most effective
lighting further. Drawing directly on top of two or three and tighten them up further.
130 21D R AW
FINAL
CHOSEN
DIRECTION
I choose a view that places the ghost

in a threatening position of power
and shows each kid’s face and unique
expression.
FOCAL POINT
CHARACTERS—STORY THROUGH around—think about your story moment
PERFORMANCE and what effect it will have on a particular
character’s mood.
Next, I look at the characters with the aim
of refining their performances. I want each Finally, we have desire—a foundation
character to be unique, so my design has stone of storytelling. What characters
plenty of variety and visual interest. The want drives their actions, pushing them
characters’ performances need to work well against the conflict they must overcome
to sell the idea while also working with not in pursuit of their desires. It can be difficult
against the composition. to fully explore a character’s desires in a
single image, but it is worth having each
When I design characters, I like to work with character’s desires in mind and hinting at it
an understanding of who they are from the if you can.
inside out. These characters exist for just this
single illustration. So their backstories don’t I have a clear idea of who my characters
need the same complexity as characters are and what they want—a group of kids,
created for a TV show or a book where between 9 and 13 years of age exploring
the story needs to be longer and more a haunted house, along with a ghostly
developed. That said, I want to put enough character. The ghost is likely from a long
time into these characters to assure the gone Victorian era, possibly with a love for
scene is engaging and their personalities frightening anyone who ventures into his
shine through. dusty abode. As I start to flesh them out on
the page, I think about various personality
I think of a character as having three types for each kid so that each kid reacts
main facets: a personality, current mood, differently. I like the idea of one or two of
and desire or motivation. These three them being easily scared, but one should
things influence one another and drive a be a bit more confrontational to the ghost,
character’s action and performance. while another might be unimpressed
or disbelieving. At the very least, each
Personality gives us a baseline to work with character should react to the event in a
in a character. Are they happy go lucky or subtly different way, either in posing or
nervous and twitchy? Perhaps confident expression.
and assured or pensive and calculating?
Each personality will respond to a particular I like the idea of one of my characters being
scenario in different ways—no two a bit like Data in The Goonies. I imagine
characters perform the same action in the they could have an old ’90s camera, maybe
same way. a Walkman, and recording equipment.
Possibly even a video recorder? Although
Then we layer mood over a character’s they weren’t as common back in the ’90s!
personality. How does a brave character Obviously this character intends to study
respond in a frightening situation compared any ghost they find.
to a nervous character? If a character is sad
will he or she react to the same scenario I think it would be fun if one of my
differently than if the character is happy? characters has a skateboard—perhaps
Of course, this also works the other way to use as a weapon? Another might be
132 21D R AW
S OF
NE N
LI T IO
AC
brandishing a hockey stick or a baseball bat. As I build up my rough character poses,

These aren’t just props for props’ sake—they I need to make sure they work well in
tell us something about the intent of these the composition. I play with their lines of
characters. If they came to the haunted action, so they aren’t all moving in the same
manor with a baseball bat, perhaps they direction. This helps keep the illustration
anticipated trouble! interesting. I also make sure the poses gel
with the overall scene. I do not get too Now I have four variations of my original
detailed, just fleshing out their expressions, thumbnail concept with more fully
poses, and rough ideas of the costumes. developed characters. These designs help
me see what’s working and what’s not. I
For my ghost character, I aim for prefer the first one in terms of character
that spooky fun vibe! He should feel layout and posing—all the characters work
intimidating and a bit creepy but not so well together and the design is clear and
much that it breaks the overall tone of balanced.
the piece. By exaggerating and almost
caricaturing his performance, I think he fits
right in. I also try a female version of the LESSON 4: PLAN YOUR CHARACTERS
ghost, but I prefer the original male for one
reason—his top hat! It floats above his head Pick your favorite thumbnail, then draw over
adding an ethereal comical feel. it to start planning character performances.
What is each character doing and how
I really push his design so the swoop of does that relate to the overall story being
his form leads the eye into the image and told? How does each character react to the
toward the kids. Inspired by one of the circumstance based on the character’s own
illustrations on my mood board, I try an unique personality and mood? Finally, how
upside down view of him greeting the kids. can you pose and group your characters
While I like it, it is a little distracting so I so that they work with and not against the
decide to keep his pose straightforward. composition?
134 21D R AW
MOOD—SELLING THE IDEA THROUGH I already established a couple of light
LIGHTING AND COLOR sources in my piece: the flashlight and
window. I want to consider how to use
At this point, I have a clear idea of my these to enhance the mood. I think the
illustration in terms of composition, the story window light should be cooler in color and
moment, and a general idea of the major more diffused, bathing the background
character performances. But this image in enough light for clarity and making the
needs to make the viewer feel something scene cool and shadowy. I contrast this with
too—we want to convey an emotion to the the flashlight which will add a bright warm
audience using lighting and color. This can counterpoint and help to illuminate key
help add a lot of drama to a scene and really points in my scene. The ghost character will
set the tone of the piece. I focus on three likely give off an eerie glowing light too!
things—the setting, lighting, and color.
Lastly, I think about color. I decided the
I want my setting to be right for this story window light should be cool, so I try a cool
moment. I know the illustration will be set desaturated blue to create a dark nighttime
in a haunted house but we need to get look. For the flashlight, I use a warm yellow,
more specific. Is it clean and tidy or dusty which is good for bathing some of my
and worn down? Is it light and airy or dark characters in enough light to contrast them
and mysterious? What sort of set dressing with the dusty old manor interior.
can I bring in? Paintings on the walls? Old
withered potted plants? At this stage I can For my ghost character, I start with a
start hinting at a more fully developed luminous green-blue so it harmonizes with
environment for my scene. The setting is key the background and the window light. It
to making the illustration come together—it is also a nod to Slimer from Ghostbusters,
becomes the stage my characters perform another character from a cartoon and
on. At this point, I’m still working in film I loved as a kid! It also works well by
thumbnails, so I don’t get too detailed. providing a creepy, green glow.
I play around with the scene lighting, using other changes. I decide my first thumbnail
the flashlight as a focal point with a high works best overall. It has a nice split
point of contrast, also adjusting the lines of complementary color scheme that adds to
the light pointing toward the characters. I the atmosphere and mood I want.
want the lighting to create enough murky
shadows that the background is somewhat
ambiguous, contributing to that creepy LESSON 5: COLOR AND LIGHT
vibe. I desaturate my color thumbnail and
Working from your favorite thumbnail
play with the lighting in greyscale only. I
want to make sure I have a strong value sketch, begin to explore color and lighting
structure underneath everything. Color can options. Think about what best suits the
be a bit distracting; by working in greyscale mood of your story moment and how to
I can see the values more clearly. use color and light to lead the eye through
the image. Also consider the setting and
Lastly, I experiment with an alternate how to make it a more effective stage for
color palette, trying a pinkish ghost and the characters to perform on.
Working in greyscale
can help to see the
values more clearly.
I test a different color

palette with a pinkish
ghost, but decide my
first version works best.
136 21D R AW
7680
4320
THE BLOCK IN—STARTING THE After the background is more defined,
FINAL IMAGE placing characters in the scene will be
easier. It also helps me see how the light and
Everything is largely in place! All the difficult color of the scene will affect rendering.
design choices have been made. Now it
is time to paint the image and bring it to To help me with the background, I decide to
completion. I like to paint in high resolution; use a 3D mockup of my manor house room.
that way I can print my image out to review. It isn’t anything fancy, just some blocks for
For this image I go with 8K resolution
(7680 x 4320 pixels) at 300 dpi. This is a bit
larger than the A3 size, so it should print
well. I place my 8K canvas over a larger
image leaving space around it for bleed
and reference materials. I like to place my
thumbnails around my drawing as I work, so
I can color pick them or reference them as I
go. Later when I get close to completing the
illustration, I crop the image down to size.
I begin the main painting process by

blocking in, first a rough block in of the
background. I start with the background so
I can establish the setting for the characters.
the steps and the walls. Since I don’t work On a new layer, I begin adding color. I keep
in 3D modeling myself, I ask a friend who my color thumbnail close by on my canvas,
throws it together in 20 minutes—thanks so I can color pick from it and build my
Tom! I don’t always do this step, but in this image fairly quick. I already decided most of
case I feel the 3D model will help me get the the overall color scheme, so this work goes
stairs and the overall perspective just right. smoothly. I add in the ghost color since that
This also allows me to focus my time more is pretty set in stone.
on the characters and less on fretting about
the background construction. With the background and ghost blocked in, I
shift focus to the characters. I follow a similar
I bring the 3D OBJ file (a universal 3D model process, using the line layer established in
file format) directly into Photoshop and my character pass, then I paint the character
move it around until it matches up with colors on a new layer underneath, eventually
my thumbnail sketch (see below). Once I’m painting out the lines.
happy with its placement, I rasterize the 3D
into a 2D layer and tweak it to fit using the To simplify the process, I start with flat
distort and transform tools. I’m now in a local colors only—meaning only the color
good place to start blocking in! of objects as they look without the effect
of light. I’m not interested in showing
I start roughing out the background in line, shadows or the effect of light hitting my
defining the stairs, the room perspective, characters just yet. I only want to establish
doorways, window, and picture frames on their general color palettes. That said,
the wall. Having a line drawing as a guide during this step I adjust my color choices
helps me keep my perspective and structure slightly to work well with the background
during initial block in (see top of next page). ambience.
138 21D R AW
I like to take the time needed at this stage, reviewing the image alongside
my reference board helps me figure out if it is all working well.
I design my characters further as I paint, My characters are blocked in using flat base
making choices about their costumes, colors. I also establish the flashlight as a
hairstyles, and subtleties of their poses and second light source. Reviewing the image
performances. At this step in the process, I at this stage helps me figure out if it is all
like to take the time needed to get this right. working well.
My reference board comes in handy, helping
me make decisions on colors and costumes. I adjust and tweak the characters so they fit
well together as a group. I keep important
By the end of my block in process, I have a elements of the illustration on their own
rough color background that establishes layer or in groups that allows me to make
the mood and light source of the window. changes easily and quickly.
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One thing to note—it is important to
maintain the integrity of the strong
foundations built up in the thumbnail
stages. I don’t want to get so carried away
while painting the image that I mess up my
focal points and compositional elements.
Doing a block in based on the line drawings
helps me maintain control and avoid
painting myself into crazy tangents!
LESSON 6: BLOCKING IN FLAT COLOR

Take your color thumbnails and your
rough illustration and start to paint. Start
with a rough pass on the background
before moving to the base colors of your
characters. Remember this isn’t just about
coloring in—your design process continues.
You will be making design choices about
your characters and background as you
go. The key is to build on decisions already
made and refine them, moving from rough
to a more developed design.
PAINTING I start the painting process by adding
shadows to my characters. I like to build
With elements blocked in and more them using a new layer on top of my
established, the next step is to start base color layer. I usually set this layer to
painting! Again, you build on the steps the multiply blending mode, but in this
before and refine the image further. case hard light looks best. I use a bluish
color similar to the background and start
A step I always make during painting is to sculpting the forms of the characters in this
create a hue/saturation adjustment layer on layer. I also set this layer to a lower opacity.
top of my layer stack. I set the saturation to
minus 100 so I can toggle the layer visibility Having the light sources established in
on and off; this allows me to quickly check the block in stage really helps while I’m
my image in greyscale to be sure it is building the forms. I need to consider how
working well without the color. light is hitting the characters, and I build
up their forms with that in mind. Many of
This is useful since I’m not great at seeing my characters will be mostly in shadow
the value structure of my image when (with the exception of the boy with the
the color is showing. Now I can quickly flashlight), so I follow the same process on
check the tonal values of my piece and fix each character using a hard light layer to
anything that isn’t working. build the shadow layer.
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LOCAL HARD LIGHT WINDOW BOUNCED
COLOR SHADOW LAYER LIGHT LIGHT
After the shadows are established, I think about the way light
is hitting my characters. Most of them have a thin rim of light
created by the window. This helps them stand out from the
background, so I exaggerate this effect to give my characters
more impact.
I also need to incorporate the flashlight. Since the flashlight is

very close to the boy holding it, light will hit his face, bathing
him in warm light. The flashlight will also create a stronger rim
of light around the girl in front with the hockey stick.
With my shadows and light sources

accounted for, I move on to bounced light. RIM LIGHT BOUNCED
Light from the environment will bounce FROM THE LIGHT FROM
around and hit the characters. For example, WINDOW THE ROOM
in the face of the boy with the flashlight, on
the opposite side of his face, I paint in some
subtle blues from the setting. This fills out
the forms nicely but also serves to make a
character feel like they are immersed in the
scene rather than just painted on top.
As I work on the lighting of my characters,

I also add more and more
details. Rendering out the FLASHLIGHT
forms of the hands, clothing,
and hair. The main areas I focus on are the
faces, hands, and overall poses. These three
things contribute the most to the character
performances!
I use my favorite reference image to help
me—an illustration of the ghost emerging
above a sleeping woman.
I also develop my ghost character further, I do this stage of the painting holistically.
painting in more detail. I want the forms of I don’t paint one area to completion and
his ethereal “tail” to twist and turn and feel then move on. I build up the whole image
like smoke or ectoplasm. This adds to his slowly, moving around the illustration and
personality—he is sort of a trickster whose gradually focusing my attention on key
intentions aren’t clear. I need to make sure areas, like the characters as I progress. This
my ghost contrasts enough to read well way I ensure the whole image looks unified.
but does not overpower the main focal Although I do like to keep some areas of my
point of the flashlight and the kids. I use my image impressionistic. I don’t need to paint
reference images to help me, especially my intricate details over the entire piece, just
favorite illustration of the ghost emerging where it is important for clarity of the scene.
above the sleeping woman. Everything else can be simply suggested.
Building upon the foundation of my

background, I paint out the lines and define LESSON 7: PAINTING IN DETAILS
key areas such as the window and picture
frames, the hall flooring, and the stairs. I Building on your block in, start to add
want just enough detail in the background shadows on the characters while being
to sell the setting; if I go too far, I risk mindful of light sources. Think about how
distracting from the main action, characters, light is hitting the characters, either in
and their performances. I need just enough the form of direct lights or rim lights and
to set the scene. don’t forget ambient bounced light from
144 21D R AW
the environment. This process applies to • I want to elaborate on the plant and make
everything in the image—slowly refine, it look a bit more withered and dead. I
painting in details to more clearly define could bring the dead plant stems out
the forms. and over so they trail along the floor like
tentacles.
THE FINISH • The girl with the hockey stick needs

more work, something doesn’t feel quite
I’m almost done! Everything is pretty much right. Especially since she is at the front
rendered—I just need to make tweaks here of the characters, I need to give her extra
and there and then do a final polish. At this attention.
point, I like to take a step back and evaluate
my image, taking note of anything I need • The chandelier looks a bit lazy in design.
to focus on or fix. In this illustration, I notice I decide to get some references and
the following: improve on it. I need to be careful,
however, not to overdo it by making it too
• The paintings in the background need distracting an element in my illustration.
work. It would be fun to add other
Victorian style characters—maybe they • On the kid with the flashlight, I want to
are looking down toward the kids on try a subtle smile on his face to bring a
the stairs. I don’t want them to be too unique flavor to his personality.
obvious—just visible enough that a
viewer would notice them after studying I go through each element in turn, taking
the image for a bit. time to fix or polish up each one.
NEW CHANDELIER PAINTINGS MORE LIGHTS IN
GHOST FOR CONTRAST
TWEAK POLISH FINISH FLOOR

AND PLANT
The chandelier looks better as an old The slight smile added to the kid holding
wooden frame with half-melted candles. the flashlight brings a fun, new dynamic
This adds context, suggesting the house is to his character to give him a more unique
from another era, while the gnarly candle personality.
wax increases the creepy factor!
146 21D R AW
I tweak the ghost a bit so his tonal structure contrasts
better from the background. I want to make him
stand out so a viewer’s eye goes first to the flashlight,
then jumps to the ghost before exploring the rest of
the image.
I adjust other little elements as I work, adding dust

particles reflecting in the flashlight, reducing the
contrast of the floor tiles in the hallway. Working to
improve my illustration, the concept becomes clearer
for the viewer. I also fix up the background paintings!
Something I try to keep in mind during the painting

process is to avoid getting carried away in the details
and overpainting. Especially details in the shadows
that are not in the focal point of my piece. My focus is
on the characters, so I make sure to paint them in as
much detail as necessary to convey personalities and
performances. Everything else should support the
characters but not distract from them.
As I near completion of my image, I create a layer (in

this case, a bluish-grey color) at the top of my layer
stack, I set it to overlay or whichever blending mode
LAYER SET TO
OVERLAY 29%
OPACITY
LIGHTS
LAYER SET TO
OVERLAY
65% OPACITY
looks best, and then paint it out and adjust Using the setting, lighting, and color, I
opacity. Doing this step helps to unify colors created a mood to support my story moment
in the overall image. and give the characters a good setting to
perform in. The process has been one of
Next, I add a new overlay layer above all problem-solving while making key design
the layers and paint it to enhance glows decisions along the way that build on strong
from the flashlight, ghost, and window. I foundations to make my life easier.
work sparingly; if I overdo this, I run the
risk of making my whole image overly Thanks for following along as I created this
saturated. I only want to punch out colors illustration. I hope you learned something
in specific areas. Finally, I crop my image to and enjoyed watching my characters come
its final image size: 7680 x 4320 pixels. The to life. Now you can apply these concepts to
illustration is now done! your own character driven illustrations!
I hope I created a fun and dramatic character

driven illustration. Starting with the simple LESSON 8: FINISHING TOUCHES
idea of a haunted house, then drawing from
my childhood using influences from books, By now your piece is almost done. Take a
films, and television, I make the concept step back and evaluate it—is everything
my own. I focused on a clear story moment reading well? Is anything not working? Is
with lots of conflict and thought about my everything clear—tonally, color wise, and in
characters—who they are and how they composition? Make a note to fix any issues
should perform under the circumstances. as you move forward into your final polish!
Learn and be inspired from KENNETH ANDERSON and other amazing artists in
our online art courses. VISIT WWW.21-DRAW.COM TO LEARN MORE!
148 21D R AW
7
MASTERING LIGHTING
AND SHADING
AV EL INE S T OK A R T
M A S T ER ING L IGH T ING A ND S H A DING
WITH AVELINE STOKART
HOW TO STUDY LIGHT with you my favorite brushes and tools to

use for shading. At the end of this chapter,
T
his chapter is designed for beginners we will create a clean illustration to use for
and those at intermediate levels who rendering four different lighting scenarios.
want to deepen their knowledge
of light and hopefully learn some new
techniques along the way. I want to help OBSERVING LIGHT
you understand lighting and shading so you
can better translate them graphically. To determine the ambient color—what I
also call atmospheric color—look at the
I will be using Procreate tools but all of these overall color of an image and choose a
techniques translate well into Photoshop or single color that best defines the image. This
other digital software. I'll guide you step by color basically determines the overall mood
step as we study how light affects your art in of your artwork. The following are examples
different scenarios. of this process:
We will also review color and light in order FIGHT CLUB COLOR STUDY: In the film clip
to understand how to use them to create a below we clearly see that the ambient color
specific mood in your artwork. I will share is green. Even though there are warmer
Fight Club, Actor:

Edward Norton.
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tones contrasting on his face, the overall BASIC COLOR
color of this image is green. This is due to
the color of the lighting in the scene. The The second observation to pay close
office lights influence every element in the attention to are the basic colors or local
room. It’s interesting to analyze this because colors. These are the true colors that make
it helps give you direction in terms of the up an object. Colors are not constant; they
mood emerging in the film. In this scene, a change depending on the context in which
heavy atmosphere is clearly intended to add they exist. Colors are influenced by light,
to the sense of discomfort and exhaustion. shadows, and the surrounding colors. Being
aware of all these influences will help you to
PRIDE & PREJUDICE COLOR STUDY: The determine the basic colors of objects in an
dominant color is yellow-orange. This is image. By picturing objects as they would
due to the color of the sunlight but also to be when not affected by light or shadow
the bounce that the light creates on the you can visualize their true color.
objects inside the room. It’s a sunny day,
so the light is naturally warm. This light For example, let’s review the Fight Club film
enters the room and bounces all over the clip again—the shirt is white, his skin is
place—on the red curtains, the floor that flesh pink, his hair is brown, and his eyes are
may be a wood-colored parquet, on the blue. You want to keep these observations
cream-colored walls—all the elements have in mind as you create an illustration. It’s
relatively warm colors that warm up the important to distinguish between the
general atmosphere of the room. This gives basic color and the color after it has been
an intimate and cozy feeling. If you imagine changed by the lighting. Understanding the
the walls were blue, for example, with the basic colors that make up objects allows
intense yellow light of the sun, perhaps it you to see how colors are influenced by the
would be a greenish dominant color. surroundings in which they exist.
Pride and Prejudice,

Actress: Keira Knightley.
MASTERING LIGHTING AND SHADING 151

LIGHT SOURCES DIRECT LIGHT
Next, we will analyze different sources of
light and their color. If there are more than
one light source, define the main source
and then the secondary sources that have a
lower intensity and therefore less influence
in the scene. It’s important to understand
the difference between direct light and
diffuse light.
DIRECT LIGHT is light that meets no

obstacle from its source to an object. All
the light rays go in the same direction and
WHEN A LIGHT SOURCE IS DIRECT
travel in a straight line from their source
(INTENSE), LIGHT R AYS GO
point to their destination. When direct light
IN ONLY ONE DIRECTION AND
hits an object, it casts a shadow that has SHADOWS WILL HAVE HARD EDGES.
perfect sharp edges—called a hard shadow.
The contrast between the illuminated
areas and the shaded areas of an object is
very strong—the difference is substantial
between light and dark tones.
You can see in the outdoor image below

that the sunlight is coming from the left,
impacting their bodies on that side and
creating very strong shadows on their
clothes and the wall. Note that despite the
intensity of the direct light, the shadows
are not black. It’s because this is an outdoor
scene which means
we have a second
light source—the
sky. The light from
the sky is much less
intense than the
sun, but it has an
impact on the scene
as it softens the
shadows by slightly
tinting them blue.
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In the image at right, the main
light source is artificial, but it is
intense and direct. There is no
other light to separate the figure
from the background of the stage.
Direct lighting creates defined
shadows, and unlike the previous
image that was outdoors, the
shadows are darker and black.
This is because the environment
itself is dark. The stage is black
surrounded by dark curtains that
absorb a lot of light, and there are
no other light sources or bounces
of light that affect the shadows to soften
them.
DIFFUSE LIGHT occurs when light rays go

in different directions. These light rays have
different directions because they encounter
obstacles that deflected them to different
degrees: a cloud, a white wall, a veil, etc.
Diffuse light is observed when the subject’s
projected shadow has blurred edge—
called soft shadow. The contrast is also less
pronounced, with more subtle differences
between light and dark tones.
DIFFUSE LIGHT
DIFFUSE LIGHT HAPPENS WHEN A LIGHT SOURCE IS

SOFTER AND LIGHT R AYS GO IN EVERY DIRECTION;
SHADOWS WILL HAVE SOFT EDGES.

OCCLUSION SHADOWS OCCUR WHERE AN
OBJECT TOUCHES ANOTHER OBJECT.
There is another type of shadow you need to the shadows. The light is going in all
to consider, called contact or occlusion directions in a relatively homogeneous way
shadows. They exist in every context. They because of the diffusion from the cloud
are the thin dark line that appears when an cover. The only dark areas are where the
object touches another object. This gives sunlight has trouble reaching. Look also at
the feeling that an object is standing on the contact shadows, where objects touch
something but isn’t floating. one another or in the folds of clothing, such
as under the boy’s jacket. The shadows
The image below is set on an overcast day gradually diffuse and fade further away
so there are no hard shadows, no edges from the contact point.
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In this film clip from Marriage Story, we
see that it’s a sunny day (we can assume
that because of the warm overall tone).
It’s an interior scene, so the sunlight
meets several obstacles before coming
inside the room. Maybe it bounces on
the ground outside first, hits the window,
and then goes through the curtains, so
the light is now completely diffused.
There’s no hard shadows either. The cast
shadow of the character on the wall is
subtle, slightly darker and diffused.
Marriage Story, Scarlett Johansson
Note that light is not only diffused or
direct. Sometimes we can observe light
that is a bit in between. Situations where
we have only direct light are not as
common. Unless you have an intense
light like the sun or a spotlight, you
will have diffuse light most of the time.
Diffuse light will cast an obvious shadow
but the edges remain relatively soft.
This can depend on several factors—the
obstacles light encounters and their
intensity, and the distance from and the
size of the light source.
In this film clip from Atomic Blonde,

Charlize Theron is holding the flame Atomic Blonde, Charlize Theron
quite a distance from her face. We
can see how this distance affects the
diffusion of light. The impact of the light
is light and soft, which creates relatively
soft shadows.
This next clip is from True Grit and shows

Matt Damon holding a flame much
closer to his face. You can see how big
the impact is on his face. The shadows
under his collar or near his nose are
much sharper and fade further from
the light source. Like on his cheeks, it
becomes soft. Note also that the top of
his hat allows a reflection of the light
which projects downward. True Grit, Matt Damon

REFLECTION
Reflection is how light looks when it bounces
off the surface of an object. Reflection differs
depending on the material the light hits. If an
object is made of sleek material like plastic or
glass, it will be very reflective, and light and
color will be more intense. If an object has
a softer surface like fabric, light is absorbed
and therefore less affected by light and color.
In the film clip below from A Rainy Day in

New York, the main light source comes from
the right. It hits Elle Fanning’s face on the
right and also hits her hair. One of the most
obvious ways to see a reflection is in the eyes.
It is this luminous white point of reflected
light that gives life to the eyes. It’s very visible
and well defined because of the cornea of the
eye, which is a smooth and shiny surface. It’s
also due to the moisture of the eyes, so the
surface is very reflective, like a mirror. This is
called the specular reflection. Another more
subtle reflection is the one on the skin—at
her nose, chin, and slightly on her forehead.
The skin is not a sleek material like glass, but
it’s shiny enough to reflect light in a diffused
way. Finally, an even more subtle reflection is
the one on the cheek. It’s slightly illuminated
because the light reflects and bounces off the
hair, toward the cheek, gently warming and
unblocking this area of her face.
A Rainy Day in New York,

Elle Fanning
156 21D R AW
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
MY MAIN BRUSHES:
Ink bleed is found in the ink menu and Star noise is a Procreate brush that I bought
is a default brush in Procreate. I use it for on the creativemarket.com site from Eliza
sketching, line work, and sometimes for Moreno. I like using it to add some texture in
smudging. I also use a customized version light gradients or colors. I also occasionally
of this brush to add harder edges. I named use it for smudging.
it: Hard ink bleed.
MaxU Gouache clean is another Procreate
Big air brush is a default brush in Procreate brush by Max Ulichney from the Gouache
under the airbrushing menu. I use it for MaxPack (gumroad.com/maxulichney). I like
larger areas of light that need to be diffused. to use this one to sketch quickly and rough
I also use it to create halo effects. in color.
INK
BLEED
HARD
INK
BLEED
BIG
AIR
BRUSH
STAR
NOISE
MAXU
GOUACHE
CLEAN

SHADING TECHNIQUES
COLOR FILL: Start by drawing the outline of a COLOR
shape with a sharp brush. Make sure to close FILL
your shape well—no holes must appear in the
line or the color will spill out and fill the entire
canvas. Once the shape is properly closed, fill
it by dragging and dropping the color. While
keeping the stylus on the image, play with the Ch eck for white
threshold so that the color fills up the shape as at edge and
much as possible. If you use a textured brush manually
with a lot of pixel variation in the stroke, when paint to fill.
you fill your shape, a small white line near the
contour line can appear. Unfortunately you
have to go over it manually.
LASSO: Use it to create and define areas of

light and shadow. Create a freehand selection,
then paint inside your selection. This allows LASSO
you to have a sharp edge to clearly see the
area where the color needs to be applied and
then fade the rest progressively. It is a good
tool for sculpting volumes and adding color in
defined areas.
MASK: It is a useful tool to work in a non-

destructive mode. The mask is linked to a layer
to hide some areas by using the eraser on it.
They are hidden, which means no pixels are
deleted. You can remove or recover color as
you wish, without altering the original layer. To
recover color, use the brush with a white color.
It’s often used when we want to erase shadows COLOR
in certain areas to give an impression of light.
FILL
CLIPPING MASK: This tool allows you to paint

only the layer directly underneath and you
don’t need to worry about drawing outside
the shape. This keeps the layer underneath the
new layer safe from any brush strokes.
SMUDGE: Use it to blur an edge that you

find too sharp. It allows you to smooth some
transitions. It is also a tool to sculpt shapes and
volumes. You c an use smudge to soften edges.
158 21D R AW
ALPHA LOCK: Activate it by swiping two fingers to the
right on a layer. When there’s a little checkerboard, it
means that it’s active. It’s a convenient tool when you
need to paint inside a shape on the same layer without
worrying about exceeding the shape too.
BLENDING MODES
MULTIPLY
What it does: The resulting image is darkened depending
on the blend color. It’s like a transparent tinted sheet that
MULTIPLY
you put on top of your design. If you put a blue color on
top of a yellow color, you will get green.
What it is used for: This is the key blend mode for

darkening elements and for creating shadows, whether
diffuse or cast shadows. It also allows you to influence the
overall mood of a scene by tinting it with a specific color.
OVERLAY
OVERLAY
What it does: It superimposes or multiplies the colors
according to the base color.
What it is used for: Mainly used to bring light and

influence the shade of light.
HARD LIGHT
What it does: It multiplies or overlays colors, depending
on the blend color.
HARD LIGHT
What it is used for: This effect is useful for adding
highlights, as long as you use colors with more than 50%
gray (below 50% it has a darkening effect). Sometimes
used to lighten some areas in the shadows, while bringing
more intense color. Also used for a reflection effect.
ADDITION
What it does: It brightens the base color depending on
the blend color and increases the brightness.
ADDITION
What it is used for: Mainly used to create a halo light
effect.

USING BLENDING MODES
There are four modes, which means
you will use a number of layers. I
like to distinguish the effects and
keep my layers separated, so I can
go back to my layers and change
the color as I see fit independently,
without affecting the rest of the
layers. It’s convenient, too, because
it gives the opportunity to explore
different possibilities as I work.
If you need to merge layers at any

point, you can do so, but be careful
to merge only the layers with the
same blending mode. Or you could
affect and alter the mode of other
layers that you don’t intend to
change.
Also note that the most suitable

blending mode to use can change
depending on the specifics of
your drawing. Depending on the
context, one effect may work
better than another. I suggest you
play with different modes to see
the potential effects so you can
better choose what will suit your
painting the best.
ARTISTIC STYLE
It’s important to understand how
your unique artistic style can
influence the way you graphically
translate light in your artwork.
For example, these images by

different artists express light and
shadow in distinct ways. At top
right the artist kept light and
shadow as simple and efficient as
possible. All of the shadows and
160 21D R AW
light are clearly delineated, even
if the light source is diffused,
and yet it doesn’t disturb a
viewer from understanding the
atmosphere and emotion in the
painting.
Compare that image with the

other examples that have more
complex lighting. There are
more strokes and levels of light
and shadow—contact shadows,
diffused shadows—and the light
bounces. All these elements give
a more realistic impression to
the volumes in the space.
There really isn’t a good or

bad way to stylize lighting
design—it’s literally all about
experimenting and then
making your own choices and
developing your artistic style.

USING COLOR AND LIGHT
TO TELL A STORY
Light and color are inseparable—
they’re a big part of the identity of
a project and have a large influence
on how the viewer will respond to
an image. Both can enhance a story
and the message of your artwork.
The color choices you make for
your character will depend on the
character’s personality, but it will also
be affected by the color you add to
the light to create a specific mood.
Color and light can contain many
shades and messages.
THE BASICS:
These are the main colors you
will find on the color wheel: the
primary colors (blue, red, yellow), HUE
the secondary colors (purple, green,
orange), and the complementary
colors.
SATURATION
EACH COLOR HAS THREE
ATTRIBUTES:
• Hue: the color you choose
• Saturation: intensity of your color

VALUE (BRIGHTNESS)
• Value: how light or dark a color is
COLOR CHOICES Colors can communicate a great deal about

a character. While painting, try to keep in
I tend to work intuitively while making mind the story narrative and a sense of your
color choices, because I think color is character.
mostly about feeling. Color theory has
many harmony possibilities, but I don’t use Bright and vivid colors will express an
a formula to create great combinations. optimistic, dynamic, joyous, and fun feeling,
I prefer to choose colors that convey while desaturated colors appear calmer,
meaning to me. serious, and evoke a dull and sad feeling.
162 21D R AW
Unique by Aveline Stokart
In the above image, the character

with the flower wears vivid and bright
colors, while the others wear dark,
desaturated tones, and have pale skin.
The character wearing the vivid and
bright colors is showing his outgoing
and vibrant personality. The other
men wearing the desaturated tones
seem to have a bored and gloomy
temperament. Since they are seated
next to one another, the contrast in
their personalities is highlighted.
The temperature of colors also

conveys different feelings. The warm
Monkey by Aveline Stokart
colors in the images at right give an
energetic and vigorous feeling and
are linked to the idea of optimism,
motivation, spontaneity, power, rage,
anger, passion.
Cool colors tend to be soothing and

more calculating and are linked to the
idea of balance, spirituality, wisdom,
serenity, mystery, melancholy, sadness. Flash by Aveline Stokart

Rain by Aveline Stokart
Red Poppy by Aveline Stokart

The images above are great examples of using color temperature,
value, and saturation to create mood and story in the illustrations.
164 21D R AW
This girl is like “don’t even
dare to touch my teddy bear!”
She’s kind of tough looking
but also clearly has a childish
personality. The color choices
help to highlight this part of her
personality. The bright and ultra
vivid colors give her the childish
mood but also convey an
audacious and bold personality.
The use of atypical hair color
also adds to her edgy vibe.
Edgy Girl by Aveline Stokart
In this image the colors are

clearly desaturated. This
character mourns, so I want to
convey his deep sadness and
loneliness. You can see that
nothing about this character is
joyful and the lack of color in
this case helps to tell his story.
King Goran by Aveline Stokart

In the image on the right, there is a contrast
between the light and darkness of these
two characters. You can see which one is
poisonous and which one is innocent. This is
due to the value and the temperature of the
colors. One is warm, clear, and she feels pure,
while the other is cold and dark and feels
powerful and intriguing.
Positive or negative connotations for color

can vary from one culture to another, and
depend on the context. For example, a red
color can be as much positive as negative. It
can evoke love and passion as well as anger
or danger.
Try not to stress too much about your color

choices. Keep in mind what you want to
express in your drawing and try different
color combinations to see what works best
for your idea.
Forbidden Kiss by Aveline Stokart
Shy Fluffy by Aveline Stokart Earth by Aveline Stokart
166 21D R AW
ASSIGNMENT 1: OBSERVATION
1 Gather a bunch of images

so you can observe and
study the lighting using
the process you learned
in this chapter. On the
right is one of the clips
from ColorPalette.Cinema
on Instagram.
2 Identify the main

ambient light color.
3 Note the different local colors in the image. AMBIENT COLOR
4 Identify the different light sources and try to

figure out if the light is diffuse or direct. Define LOCAL COLOR
the intensity, size, and color of the light.
5 Look at how the light impacts and interacts

with objects, how strong are the impacts, how
LIGHT COLOR
does the light bounce or reflect off objects?
Take notes on your observations. SHADOW COLOR
ASSIGNMENT 2: SCENE LIGHTING
1 Find some images that have lighting that inspire you to create your own
scene based on the lighting in the images.

ASSIGNMENT 2: SCENE LIGHTING
2 If working with backgrounds is intimidating for you, try finding an

image of a background that you like in terms of lighting, then draw
a character into it. Use the light from the scene so it looks like the
character belongs in the scene. This practice will train your brain to
understand how the lighting influences your characters.
ASSIGNMENT 3: ROUGH STUDY

1
1 Find a source image with lighting
that inspires you and take time
to observe the lighting and color.
Then sketch the drawing quickly
and set the sketch layer to multiply.
2 Under your sketch layer, add layers

to paint in the basic colors (top of
next page). Try using the different
shading techniques you’ve learned
in this chapter: color fill, lasso,
clipping masks, etc.
3 Identify the ambient color in the

original image, then add a layer of
this tone set to multiply (see next
page). You can adjust using hue,
saturation, and brightness.
168 21D R AW
2
4 Identify the different light sources
and play with the different blending
modes (overlay, addition, hard light)
to create the impacts.
5 Adjust the shadows if needed, use a

separate layer set to multiply. (Never
use black for the shadow to avoid
adding a muddy effect to the image.)
OPTIONAL: Save a copy of your

image and flatten the layers, then
3
play with the curves tool to adjust
the mood of the image.
OPTIONAL: Play with adding

Gaussian blur to the background
or foreground to create depth of
field and bring the focus in on your
character.

ASSIGNMENT 4: LIGHT SCENARIOS
1 Sketch a new drawing that will provide
options for different lighting scenarios.
2 Under your sketch layer, add layers and

paint in basic colors. Try using the different
shading techniques learned in this chapter:
color fill, lasso, clipping masks, etc.
3 Apply an ambient color layer above the

character and foreground, and set it to
multiply.
4 Add light with the help of layer masks.

Intensify light by adding bounce light and BASIC COLOR
reflections using different blending modes
(overlay, addition, hard light).
5 Add occlusion shadows for more definition

on a new layer set to multiply.
OPTIONAL: Save a copy of your image and

flatten the layers, then play with the curves
tool to adjust the mood of the image.
OPTIONAL: Play with adding Gaussian blur

to the background or foreground to create
depth of field and bring the focus in on your
character. OUTSIDE SUNNY DAY
INSIDE SUNSET INSIDE OVERCAST DAY

170 21D R AW
CONCLUSION
I hope you’ve learned some new techniques from this chapter and it has helped
you feel more confident when illustrating light in your artwork. I’ve shared my
personal way to design lighting but there are many different ways to successfully
illustrate light. I encourage you to explore the possibilities and find what fits your
style and artwork best. Now grab your tablet, pencil, and start painting!
Learn and be inspired from AVELINE STOKART and other amazing artists in our

8
MEET THE
ARTISTS
173
CharacterCube.com
KENNETH ANDERSON Facebook.com/KennethAndersonArt
CHARAC TER DESIGNER Instagram.com/charactercube
ILLUSTRATOR
Behance.net/charactercube
K
enneth Anderson is a
freelance character designer
and illustrator currently
working out of Glasgow, Scotland,
where the rain keeps him indoors
and drawing most of the time.
After studying 2D animation, he

started his career in 2005 working
in the local Scottish games scene.
Soon after, Kenneth began
working in animation production.
Then in 2009, he opened his
freelance business, Character
Cube, to focus on designing
characters and illustrating full
time.
Kenneth has done a variety of work from

inbetweening on Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist to
illustrating for board games and magazines. For
the past few years, he has predominantly been
designing props, environments, and characters
for children’s television productions for a variety
of networks at home and abroad.
Currently he continues to freelance in games,

animation, and illustration, while working on
personal projects—developing his TV show
ideas for kids, illustrating a graphic novel, and
producing short films and online tutorials.
174 21D R AW
Facebook.com/RandyBishopArt R ANDY BISHOP
Instagram.com/RandyBishopArt CHARAC TER DESIGNER
CONTENT CREATOR
R
andy Bishop has been
working as a character
designer and illustrator for
several years from his home in
Eastern Idaho, where he lives with
his beautiful wife and four children.
He has worked for numerous
clients in the animated film and
television industry, games, and the
publishing world.
Randy loves the opportunity

that his work gives him to infuse
characters with life and story.
Audiences experience stories
through their characters and so the
opportunity to be a part of shaping
that experience is something Randy cherishes.

Being part of the storytelling process to
such an extent is something profoundly
interesting and exciting to him.
In addition to the work he does for

clients, Randy has several personal
projects he’s pursuing and looks
forward to the opportunity to share
them with the world. He has a passion
for storytelling and believes in the
power it has to affect the way we think
and act as human beings. He looks
forward to a long and exciting career
as an artist and storyteller.
MEET THE ARTISTS 175

RENÉ CÓRDOVA Instagram.com/renecordovart
CHARAC TER DESIGNER Facebook.com/elrenecordova
COMIC BOOK ARTIST
R
ené Córdova has 13 years’
worth of experience in the
illustration industry. He
started out as a cartoonist, which
he really enjoys.
In Mexico, he has published his

own comic, art, and sketch books.
René has worked for both comic
and children’s book publishers
and was the art director and
creator of characters for the film
Day of Dead.
Outside of Mexico, René’s work includes

collaborations on magazine covers and the creation
of character designs for use in sculptures, video
games, and animated feature films.
René is currently an art director at Amber Studios

while also working on children’s books with his
daughter, Renata, as a freelance artist for Scholastic
on Lego Batman comics, and as a character designer
on Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends.
René plans to continue publishing his own personal

stories as well as children’s books with his daughter and to
never stop creating character designs—his favorite activity!
176 21D R AW
RODGON.com RODGON
Instagram.com/RodgonTheArtist CARTOONIST
ILLUSTRATOR
YouTube.com/c/RodgonTheArtist
TEACHER
R
odgon (aka Rodrigo Gonzalez)
is a San Diego–based cartoonist
and illustrator. A late bloomer
into art, he began his journey at 18 and
has never looked back. Having worked
in comics, animation, and apparel, as
well as a freelance illustrator for more
than 15 years, he is proudest of his daily
drawings and YouTube channel. There
he reaches thousands of people sharing
his perspective on the daily struggles
we all go through. He aims to inspire as
many up-and-coming artists as possible
with his videos and lessons, so that they
can achieve their dreams.
Even with a new comic series called

ZOOKS in the works, and many other
wonderful things happening to him,
Rodgon still welcomes anyone to reach
out and say, “Hi.” He has countless stories
and lessons to teach—you can always
see something new on his social media,
where he welcomes everyone to pick his
brain and get to that next level!

MEIKE SCHNEIDER MeikeArts.com
3D ARTIST Instagram.com/meikearts
ILLUSTRATOR Facebook.com/meikearts
M
eike Schneider is a 3D artist and
illustrator with a strong focus on
characters, based in Cologne,
Germany. She is probably best known
through Instagram and Tom Bancroft’s
MerMay. Her work includes children’s
book illustration, character design,
visual development, 3D character, and
environment modeling as well as look
development. Meike currently works as a
freelancer for various animation studios
and companies and as an instructor at
the School of Games in Cologne.
Meike was highly influenced by Walt Disney’s feature classics

such as Aladdin and Pocahontas. CG Movies such as Tangled,
Frozen, or Wreck It Ralph were some of the reasons she
was inspired to pursue a career in animation.
After winning the Artist of the Month May 2016

by RebusFarm, her 3D character Little Mary was
published in the 3D World magazine, Issue 211, the
world’s best-selling magazine for CG artists.
After graduating from PIXL VISN media arts academy, Meike

was a finalist in the Rookie Awards 2014, which led to a job at
Dooblex, a studio for product visualization. While working full
time, she started taking commissions and slowly building her
own brand as an artist.
In 2019, Meike quit her job to freelance full time on

projects such as children’s book illustrations for Finni
& Fredo and My Best Book, artwork for Adobe, visual
development and character designs for the upcoming TV
show Coral Kins, as well as character designs for Paris
Hilton’s mobile game.
178 21D R AW
AvelineStokart.com AVELINE STOK ART
Instagram.com/aveline_stokart COMIC ARTIST
Facebook.com/avelinestokart CHARAC TER DESIGNER
A
veline Stokart is a visual
development artist and comic
book artist living in Belgium.
She currently works on her own comic
book and as a freelance character
designer for various clients in the
field of publishing and animation.
Her clients include Simon & Schuster,
HarperCollins, DreamWorks TV, and
Skydance Animation.
From an early age, she showed a

particular interest in drawing—a
natural fit, as she is highly curious and
observant but also quite sensitive. She
marvels at the beauty held within the
simplest of things.
Fascinated by character design and

creating universes, she developed a
unique dimension to her creations by
studying 3D animation at the Haute École
Albert Jacquard in Belgium, where she
graduated in 2011.
When she’s not drawing, Aveline likes to

discover and explore other techniques
of artistic expression, such as pottery,
woodworking, and music.
“I am always trying to evolve and discover

new things and challenges,” Aveline says.
“My goal is to create beautiful images and
atmospheres that release many different
emotions.”

ErikatheGoober.com
ERIK A WISEMAN Instagram.com/erikathegoober
DIGITAL ARTIST YouTube.com/c/erikathegoober
ILLUSTRATOR
Behance.net/erikathegoober
E
rika Wiseman (aka erikathegoober) is
a freelance illustrator and character
designer living in the United States.
She loves drawing cute, colorful things
and experimenting with new drawing
techniques.
Erika began teaching herself to draw

digitally in 2008. Since then, she has
been working with a graphics tablet and
Photoshop as well as Procreate to create
her digital illustrations.
In 2017, she graduated from the University

of Louisville with a bachelor in fine arts
(with a concentration in drawing).
Erika made a name for

herself on Instagram,
which is the best place
to find her art! One of
her goals is to help and
inspire others along
their creative journey to
be the best artists they
can be.
180 21D R AW
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ORDER TODAY AT WWW.21-DRAW.COM
EBOOKS AVAILABLE NOW! LEARN TODAY FROM WORLD FAMOUS ARTISTS
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For more information about new exciting projects by 21 Draw,
or if you would like to buy an eBook version, please visit
www.21-draw.com
You can also follow us on Instagram, where we post about new

projects involving some of the biggest and best artists
in the industry: @21_draw

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VOLUME

Go to our website to read about more exciting projects and deals.

Designed in the USA by BookWiseDesign.com

ISBN Hardcover: 978-91-986379-5-3

IMAGE CREDITS: p. 3 cactus/Shutterstock, shirt/Deposit Photo, p. 4 images/Shutterstock, p. 58 David

3 DR AWING A FEMALE CHAR ACTER 51

4 ST YLIZED FIGURE DR AWING 75

5 HOW TO BRING YOUR CHAR AC TERS TO LIFE 101

7 MASTERING LIGHTING AND SHADING 14 9

8 MEET THE ARTISTS 173

TO ALL THE ARTISTS:

MATERIALS All of the Procreate

M ove and Eraser

In a group your layers exist separately,

Let’s experiment with

Over time you’ll discover

REFINED ROUGH SKETCH FINAL LINES AFTER ADJUSTMENTS

and previous color by tapping and holding

COLORING YOUR ILLUSTRATION

STEP 1: SILHOUETTE LAYER

isn’t as important since we will change it soon.

STEP 2: ADDING COLOR WITH MASKS

To create a clipping mask, open the layers

Hue, Adjusts the hue, Adjustments >

STEP 3: EASILY CHANGE COLORS

CHECKING YOUR VALUES

YOUR TURN: ADDING COLOR

TIPS FOR ADDING COLOR:

• Use a value check layer to assure

These options change the way the current layer

You can get an idea of the effects of different layer

Before we start lighting our character, we need to

In this situation my light source is warm so I use a

If I have a light-colored background, I add a Soft

YOUR TURN: LIGHTING

TIPS FOR LIGHTING:

• Remember to add shadows and highlights

SHADOWS WARM LIGHT

RIM LIGHT ATMOSPHERE

The first adjustment I typically make is to

These are a few of the adjustments I

YOUR TURN: FINALIZE

TIPS FOR FINALIZING:

As a character designer you

SIMPLIFICATION: WHAT IS IT AND

EXAGGERATION: WHAT IS IT AND

To be an effective designer, you need to know how to use all the

The facial features on

A strong jaw and neck

Here are just a few

“The Hero” or “Warrior”

“The Rebel” or “Outlaw”

“The Sage” or “Herald”

Step 1: Thumbnail sketches

Step 4: Clean line art

Step 3: Clean-up sketch

Step 7: Final artwork

Step 6: Flat colors

This character is a “gentle giant,”

This character is secretive and