Enhanced Sketch

The “enhanced sketch” is the method I most frequently use in Sketcher for producing lines.  Most artists have a sketch layer, then use a different layer for inking/lining.  The enhanced sketch eliminates the need for a second step.

1. Basically, I start out with a very light gray for the initial rough sketch.  Gray is important because all four layers in Sketcher multiply on one another, and gray will automatically darken whatever color I choose to put over it.  It’s nice because it doesn’t lock me into using a set of colors like using a brown or yellow might do.
2. As I refine my lines, I use darker and darker shades of gray.  Eventually I end up with about a 50-70% value gray in my completed sketch.  I darken the lines I deem necessary and simply ignore lines that go astray.
3. I review the sketch and look for stray lines that are too crazy – I erase those.  Depending on how “clean” I want the finished product to look, I will erase more of my lighter lines.  Then I’m done!

I like using an enhanced sketch because it’s a little less crisp, a little more organic-feeling.  It’s the way I would sketch in a notebook or with real media. (Layers?  We don’t need no stinking layers!) It’s also more forgiving than a harsh line is; instead of erasing, I can just darken it more in the direction I want the curve to go.  I don’t have to worry about wobbles of the pen as much, which is something that plagues me whenever I use a tablet.

Another benefit the enhanced sketch lends in Sketcher: because it is a one-layer method, the ink layer is free for me to repurpose.  Usually this means I can use it as a background layer, something Sketcher lacks.  Having a separate layer for background lets me simply erase any part that overlaps my character when I’m done, not having to worry about coloring “inside the lines” so to speak.

And that, in a nutshell, is what the “enhanced sketch” brings to the table.

“Welcome Scapula”

It’s been a month now, and there are no signs of winding down.  Instead of “welcome back”, I choose to use “welcome scapula” (no matter how much Majordomo complains about the anatomical location of human scapulae) to greet returning artists to the TLKFAA Sketcher.  It’s far too late to stop me now!  Muahaha!

(This began when BooYeh and I were “trying to remember” the correct phrase in March, substituting various nouns until we reached “scapula”.  Like zombie Sketcher layers, I will not let go of this, because I am incredibly stubborn and annoying and don’t like change.  I am set in my ways and there is no going back now!)

Zombie Sketcher!

So if you ever come into the TLKFAA Sketcher, and all of the layers are zombies, here’s what happened:  For some reason Sketcher had to be cleaned and the layers deleted, and I replaced the dead layers.  And so the layers are zombies.

I mean, you can name a layer whatever the heck you want, but then if you want to draw and you have to choose between “FlamingoButt” and “w235892OMG!” for your color layer, it’s very hard to keep track which of the layers is what.  And of course, you could be all boring and just go Sketch Ink Color Shadows blaaaah… but come on!  The old layers are dead…a new order has risen!

So if I ever have the chance to rename the layers, I add Zombie to their names, i.e. Sketch Zombie.  Then you know that this layer is for sketch.  And that it is also my zombie minion.  Everybody’s happy!

Motivation Station

Some people might look at my uploads and ask, “What the heck are you doing, making art in Sketcher when you have a perfectly good, brand-new Adobe Photoshop CS4 with all the bells and whistles?  Why limit yourself to four transparent layers, four hours, and limited drawing space?”

Excellent question, and one I often ask myself when I become enraged at Sketcher (which happens very frequently).  Here’s the thing about Sketcher – it makes me draw.  It’s a motivational tool.

I did not really give Sketcher a chance back on my old laptop, with Adobe Photoshop 7 inherited from my older cousin (no extra licenses). But then, when I got my new laptop to take to college, I suddenly was Photoshop-less.  The only way I was going to draw anything, since I am abysmal at real media, was to go on Sketcher.    For a period of about five months, I drew exclusively on Sketcher.  And funnily enough, I found I was drawing more often.  Here are some of the reasons I adore Sketcher, and why it motivates me to draw:

1. Four-hour time limit.  It means that I can set aside one chunk of my day, and know that I won’t go over it because I’m too engrossed in what I’m doing.  It’s also helped me with my completion speed.
2. Four layers = less complexity.  Complex pics take me forever, and I inevitably become frustrated or bored and they die when I lose interest in them.  Photoshop is a TRAP!  It makes me start huge projects that I will never finish.  Sketcher frees me from that.
3. Painting.  Sketcher is so much fun to paint in, and I’ve become so used to the settings that any other program earns my wrath for not having Sketcher’s simplicity.  I cannot paint in Photoshop the way I do in Sketcher, and as for lining in Photoshop?  Ugh, forget it!
4. Human contact. Or cyber-human-contact, anyway.  I can talk to other users while I’m working, and if I get art block, the conversation will usually help me figure out what to draw.  I also can do collabs, which are a lot of fun.

There are probably more reasons why I prefer Sketcher, but I’ve noticed that reset just happened and I really want to draw something tonight.  So I will bid Coalf adieu and hop over there to have some Sketchery fun!