How do other artists line so neatly?

[LuxerHusku]

My lining is a mess. I try to steady my hand, but the result comes up wiggly. Striking helps a bit, but I do end up with likes out of what I'm drawing. Trying to clean them manually is tedious to me.

I'm using MediBang, btw. Dunno if anyone else uses it, but it helps to answer what program I'm using.

So, is there any tips to draw pretty good lines?

Here are examples of my recent work:

Spoiler

 

[-..Legacy..-]

Lots o zoom for me. Thin framing lines, thicker inking.

I'd change your brush or flow. It looks broken up from low Resolution, or not enough density.

 

[narutogod123]

A large canvas about 3000 - 6000 pixels, set your resolution to 300-600 dpi and lots of patience. Keep in mind that you need a good computer to make a large canvas without lagging.

 

[LuxerHusku]

Lots o zoom for me. Thin framing lines, thicker inking.

I'd change your brush or flow. It looks broken up from low Resolution, or not enough density.

Question: How do you manage to connect the lines just right when zoomed? I'm pretty sure you have to move the canvas in order to continue lining, correct?

A large canvas about 3000 - 6000 pixels, set your resolution to 300-600 dpi and lots of patience. Keep in mind that you need a good computer to make a large canvas without lagging.

Oh yeah, I use my Android tablet to draw. It's the Samsung Galaxy Tab A with S Pen. Works pretty good, in my opinion.

 

[-..Legacy..-]

A large canvas about 3000 - 6000 pixels, set your resolution to 300-600 dpi and lots of patience. Keep in mind that you need a good computer to make a large canvas without lagging.

That's pretty close to what I generally use. 4K x 4K @ 300dpi. Draw it big, and I'll clip/add workspace as needed. When I'm done, I crop everything, and drop the size down to manageable levels. 2 gig files suck up space on the hdd quite quickly

Question: How do you manage to connect the lines just right when zoomed? I'm pretty sure you have to move the canvas in order to continue lining, correct?

I don't drop the pen until hovering the pointer is exactly where it needs to be. If it starts off wrong, I undo it until I get it right. I'm also using a pretty big Huion display tablet, so I can make a single pixel an 8" square if I needed.

Sometimes I do cheat. The line is close, so I just trim/add the color to match.

 

[LuxerHusku]

I don't drop the pen until hovering the pointer is exactly where it needs to be. If it starts off wrong, I undo it until I get it right. I'm also using a pretty big Huion display tablet, so I can make a single pixel an 8" square if I needed.

Woah, that's pretty, impressive. Thank,you very much. Imma try to do that and see the difference.

 

[-..Legacy..-]

Woah, that's pretty, impressive. Thank,you very much. Imma try to do that and see the difference.

At first, I was horrible at it (still kinda am ). Now that I have a better understanding of Krita, it's a much faster process of running through basic tools. I'm learning where everything is, and what is the most efficient way to do any particluar task.


The more you use your program, the more familiar you'll be with its functions. Get on YouTube once in a while, and watch a tutorial for your platform. When you're done, try out what you've learned.

 

[LuxerHusku]

At first, I was horrible at it (still kinda am ). Now that I have a better understanding of Krita, it's a much faster process of running through basic tools. I'm learning where everything is, and what is the most efficient way to do any particluar task.


The more you use your program, the more familiar you'll be with its functions. Get on YouTube once in a while, and watch a tutorial for your platform. When you're done, try out what you've learned.

I forgot I can look up tutorials on YT. Again, thanks for the help. BTW, is there anything you like to critique about my the art I posted?

 

[-..Legacy..-]

I forgot I can look up tutorials on YT. Again, thanks for the help. BTW, is there anything you like to critique about my the art I posted?

I think it looks pretty good. There's a little bit of color outside lines, and a couple extra lines, but that's easily fixed. When you think you are done, just zoom in. Look all over, and just do a quick clean up as you find things. Walk away for a few minutes, and do another quick double check.

 

[LuxerHusku]

I think it looks pretty good. There's a little bit of color outside lines, and a couple extra lines, but that's easily fixed. When you think you are done, just zoom in. Look all over, and just do a quick clean up as you find things. Walk away for a few minutes, and do another quick double check.

Thanks for pointing that out. That was what I meant when trying to line my art.

 

[-..Legacy..-]

Thanks for pointing that out. That was what I meant when trying to line my art.

I'm not sure how the program you're using is, but zoom in, make your brush size real small, and do tiny touch ups. A different brush will give you a crisper looking, defined line as well. Whatever you were using on the first image was definitely different than the last two.

Keep up the good work!

 

[silveredgreen]

I forgot I can look up tutorials on YT. Again, thanks for the help. BTW, is there anything you like to critique about my the art I posted?

It looks pretty good, other than what was mentioned earlier the yellow character's head is kinda big. I recommend using a select tool to separate the head from the body and make it a bit smaller before reattaching it. That way you don't have to redraw the whole thing.

 

[LuxerHusku]

It looks pretty good, other than what was mentioned earlier the yellow character's head is kinda big. I recommend using a select tool to separate the head from the body and make it a bit smaller before reattaching it. That way you don't have to redraw the whole thing.

Hey, I'm really glad you guys are helping me out . I'll fool around with MediBang more and see what I can do to mix things up.

 

[RhelArts]

The biggest trick I can give you is make a line in one fluid motion.

I can't really explain it too well in text, but rather than repeatedly 'sketching' over where you want your lines, focus on instead making the full stroke in one motion. This will involve a LOT of ctrl+z, but produces much neater linework. For example:

Spoiler: This was done with repeated strokes.

Spoiler: This was done with 2-3 strokes.

Lineart is a very fickle thing, but if you be patient with it and focus on making your motions more fluid, you'll find your lines will be, too.

 

[narutogod123]

Question: How do you manage to connect the lines just right when zoomed? I'm pretty sure you have to move the canvas in order to continue lining, correct?

There is a way to have the same image zoomed out while u are working in photo shop and clip studio I don't know about medibang.

helpx.adobe.com: Viewing multiple images in Photoshop

 

[JCobalt]

If you have a little cash to spend, I have been really happy with using Lazy Nezumi. It stabilizes the little inconsistencies your tablet reads and makes solid curved lines beautiful and easy to do. I get really uptight about line quality, even when I'm working so high res that no one will notice little wobbles, so this just helps me get through it. I think it's improved my digital work tenfold over the last year of drawing with it, so check it out. You'll still have to spend some time getting used to it, but like anything you end up practicing, the rewards are usually worth the effort.

 

[redfox_81]

Flip or rotate your canvas when it comes to drawing lines that require unnatural wrist/arm motions: I find it much easier to draw when I'm pushing my wrist, rather than pulling it.

It's hard to explain and will depend on whether you're a righty or a lefty, but, for example, if I'm drawing an arc that starts at the bottom left and goes to top right (or vice versa), that's natural for me. But if I need to draw an arc from top left to bottom right (or vice versa), then I need to PULL my wrist across myself, which feels weird and results in a shaky line. One way I get round this is to flip my drawing so I can do the arc in reverse, which is the most natural way for my hand. Then I flip my drawing back and the arc is the "right way round", but I drew it backwards. Hope that makes sense?!

Also, draw with your shoulder and be confident. Good lines are ideally about strong, confident strokes. Whether it takes one attempt or ten, show that line who's boss!

 

[zorua]

If you have a little cash to spend, I have been really happy with using Lazy Nezumi. It stabilizes the little inconsistencies your tablet reads and makes solid curved lines beautiful and easy to do. I get really uptight about line quality, even when I'm working so high res that no one will notice little wobbles, so this just helps me get through it. I think it's improved my digital work tenfold over the last year of drawing with it, so check it out. You'll still have to spend some time getting used to it, but like anything you end up practicing, the rewards are usually worth the effort.

@JCobalt Do you know if Nezumi has Paint Tool SAI support?

(Or what program have you been happy using it with?)

 

[JCobalt]

@JCobalt Do you know if Nezumi has Paint Tool SAI support?

(Or what program have you been happy using it with?)

I use it with Photoshop Elements 11. I'm pretty sure it has SAI support as long as you can hook it into the program.

 

[fralea]

Do you know if Nezumi has Paint Tool SAI support?

Yeah I use it with sai (for the perspective guides mostly)

 

[-..Legacy..-]

If you're not already, a glove will help keep your hand from chattering (sticking to the screen and releasing). As soon as you feel it, you naturally apply a little more force, it releases, and the line jumps the intended track.

 

[Inkblooded]

I am still figuring out this myself but the best advice I can give is something we've all heard before, and no one wants to hear.

Practice.
Just keep doing it. Keep lining. Over and over.
I know it's bad, I hate lining, it slows down my art progress so much because I find myself redoing the lines over so many times, but even I am slowly getting better.
Compared to 2016 where I used to draw with heavy line stabilizers on Paint Tool SAI (usually 10 to s-1 setting) now I am only using 1-5.

Also another tip: only you are really paying attention to the line quality. Most people when they see your art wont notice the tiny little flaws in lineart.
In fact a lot of sketchy art people like. It's just because you're the artist you see it way easier than anyone else, but trust me when I say that nobody else will notice.

But honestly your lines are not bad at all. They are a lot better and smoother than my bad lines. Don't worry about it too much.

 

[zorua]

Yeah I use it with sai (for the perspective guides mostly)

Thanks for the info!

 

[quoting_mungo]

Drawing (or, more accurately, inking) bigger than your intended final size is the big one. Using fewer smooth strokes is generally supposed to help, though I find I still tend to use a ton of short, repeated strokes, I just am super anal about where they end up. A lot of it is likely to come down to finding what brush/brush settings suit your individual inking style.

For me, making ample use of the space bar (the keyboard shortcut for panning and zooming in SketchBook Pro - I believe it does panning but not zooming in Photoshop?) has helped improve my inking, because it makes it more convenient to move around on my canvas to where I am most comfortable working on the details I'm currently covering, thus reducing the temptation to draw them where my range of motion is more limited just to save myself the bother of swapping tools to move around the canvas.

 

[Magnavox]

Lazy Nazumi- A stabilizing plug in for Photoshop. I don't do much digital painting but that is what I was recommended.

Also you might consider lining in a vector based program. you can move the paths around and adjust the width at your leisure. Also when doing shapes like chains you can simply convert your line into a compound path, then set an outline on that shape. Saves about an hour of work!