Coloring in Open Canvas 1.1
For this tutorial, I’ll be using the program Open Canvas (the last free version of it, 1.1). If interested in downloading it, you can follow this link here and download the super light program. I love it more than I’ve loved any other program for illustrating for the softness of the tools.
Step 1 (click to enlarge)| laying down the basics -- I only use two layers for most of my illustrations: a layer for my lineart, and a layer for my colors. In this step, you'll be picking a basic background color to add interest to begin with. Then, you're going to lay down the base color for the skin. I always color the skin first, becaue it's a lot less hassle this way. You'll understand why when you experiment on your own.
Step 2 (click to enlarge)| Shading the skin -- For this step, I usually like to use the light-to-dark method for shading. It's very similar to the way that I paint on canvas. Start from the lightest shade, and work my way to the darkest part where all of the shadows gather using a gradient pattern. This way, all of the blending is going to be about 10,000,000 times easier; especially since OC 1.1 is VERY basic in its range of tools. -- To get this soft, painted look, I like using the paintbrush tool for the way it mixes the colors together while you're using it to further aide the blending process. After I have shaded, I'll go back over the whole thing using the blur tool to soften it up so that it has an almost airbrushed look. Actually, this is probably the first time I've done this, so not only is this a tutorial, but it's an experiment too! How exciting! Dx
Coloring the iris can be a little tricky if you really want them to look like something special. When shading them, it's easiest to just think of that iris as though it were a shallow bowl and picture the light as if it were shining down into it from an angle.
I'm sort of cramming these next two steps into one, since I shared my general shading technique when I went over the skin coloring step. Basically, start with the areas that are closest to the skin. Here, I colored the shirt and the jeans. Then, go on to the hair. Many people do hair in many different ways, and I draw hair in several different ways myself. With black hair, I usually lay down the BASIC area for where the hair will fall. Next, I'll add details by using a very fine size for the pen tool. Later, I'll add midtones, and then I'll generalize the highlights. Lastly, I added the hair accessory. Voila, you're done!
