How do you do your digital linework?

[marbledaydreams]

I was just curious how other people put together their lineart. I recently discovered the linework layer on SAI and a beautiful set of brushes and tutorial on how to get the best out of them.

Do a lot of other artists work with this?
Are there those out there that have found some better technique in photoshop?
Are there some people still dedicated to the scan, trace, ink tactic?

Tell me how you do your digital lineart.

Have you found your followers tend to lean towards the super clean lines or the sketchy ones?

Just a curious artist here.

 

[PastryOfApathy]

I do everything freehand because I'm 2pro4u.

 

[Ayattar]

I don't know what you're talking about

I'm using photoshop. First I draw something like that, a rough sketch

[NSFW]
http://i.imgur.com/rtKi5Lk.png

Then I'm reducting the opacity to 10-20% and start drawing lineart on the new layer, ending in something like that:

[also NSFW]
http://i.imgur.com/D9XCz6G.png

Then I'm using wand to mark certain parts and I'm filling them with colour on new layer, or I'm using a lasso, or I'm simply coloring manually with brush on bottom/lower layers.

And I can't really tell about followers since I don't post lineart too often as I consider it being inferior.

 

[Zenia]

For a while I used the linework layer on SAI (I liked using the additional "pressure" tool to vary the line weight) but now I just freehand with the regular pen brush.

 

[Konna-ni]

I freehand with the regular brush tool in SAI. It behaves much more smoothly than the ink pen, in my opinion.

 

[tiggu]

I don't have followers bcuz I don't post my art yet...
I draw my lines with G pen style brush size 1~2
Sometimes I use a curve line tool or straight line tool in difficult areas but almost just use my arm to draw it.
Mostly line work tools like that take too much time for me. I don't see more good result from it than my normal.
But other people can work those tools like magic. I think it depends on experience and comfort.

 

[Mr. Sparta]

God, I can't do digital sketching worth shit. I usually just scan a pencil sketch for this type of stuff.

 

[Alexxx-Returns]

What I do is

- Start with some very basic foundations in one colour in a background layer, and go over these in more shape detail in another colour.
- Add more details in another colour, now there is some colour-coding per feature (I normally do eyes and jaw in red, hair in green, etc) and mostly bears resemblance to a clusterfuck of colour at this stage.
- Begin erasing the least accurate foundations and refining the most accurate ones.
- Trace over these in black on a top layer.
- Zoom into each line and refine/clean them so they're all perfect. This is the slowest step and can take hours.

 

[DragonFU]

I do a sketch with basic brush then lower the opacity and create a new layer where I do the linework with a basic brush like here: http://screencast.com/t/UYCvve2eH
Going the linework like that can be a real pain sometimes, it took me a long time to get used to those fine curves and often I will slash lines together then go in and erase/refine like this: http://screencast.com/t/SyjM4bfB

To get away from these perfect long hand-cramping strokes you can do something like this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D76KbYYcRY8
This is definitely not an example of his best work (he worked for Riot doing splash art for League of Legends) but it shows the process in a short time. He does a bunch of little strokes to create a long line, then blends it in with the colours he laid behind.

Then there's this tutorial by demicoeur that I've done some amazing work by following, I can't find it on the internet anymore and can't upload a picture so I have screenshotted it in two parts:
Part 1: http://screencast.com/t/s5V9bFE5dy7
Part 2: http://screencast.com/t/tNEY5T25cJg

So basically you can do this meticulous linework which does make some things easy but sometimes can require more forethought than you'd think. Sometimes I do line markings for bones that I end up erasing because it doesn't work with the colouring very well. Check out artgerm as he does really light and fine linework then I believe changes the colours to match the colouring better. Or you can do a looser painting method, it's really fun to do and it looks great but there's lots of options and I'd recommend experimenting! Hope this helped at all. ^_^

 

[0rang3]

Start with sketch as layer one
Opens another layer
Applies the SECRET INKING SKILLZ
Done.

 

[CyberPikachu]

Back when I never had a tablet, I used the Pen Tool in Photoshop for my artworks. Even with the 'Apply Pen Pressure' checked, I still didn't get the right line weight to my desire. I learned to use freehand in PS once I got a hand on a tablet, and it was a tad bit easier compared to a Pen Tool. I changed to SAI a few years ago, and I've used it for most of my lineart works ever since. I draw freehand with a Pen-brush, than a Linework Layer.

 

[Valery91Thunder]

Still another freehand with regular brush user here. :3
I sketch my artwork on paper, though, so I scan them before doing the lineart. In some cases, I also ink "traditionally" and do the colourwork only on computer.

 

[Ryuuza-art]

I do pretty much the same as Ayattar. Draw or scan in a sketch, lower the opacity, then draw over it on a new layer. I don't have very steady hands though and I'm quite messy when I draw, so it takes me a lot of erasing and re-drawing to get a decent line!

 

[Rukiara]

Yeah I never use the lineart layer in sai, using a regular paint brush tool and changing the stabilizer up and using swift confident strokes are a great way to get started.