[Ryan]

It's been over a year since I've attempted to colour in a sketch, so I decided to give it another try. This time it's Aya Brea from Parasite Eve.



I've been experimenting a little with different methods of colouring; in my first sketch I just had one layer and coloured/shaded everything manually (re: chosing various colours to imitate shadows, etc.). However, this time I'm working with layers and their properties, like overlay, multiply, etc.

Right now I've just got the very basic colours in, and I've played around with the lips a bit (really happy how they've turned out). However, I'm having a tough time getting some shading done on the skin tone ... I just can't find the right colours.

I've very new to all of this so go easy (heh heh) but please don't hesitate to give critique (not much to go on, I know). Comments? Suggestions? What/where should I work on next? Thanks again,

- Ryan

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Ryan Matthews
www.maddogstudios.com

[Ryan]

*bump*

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Ryan Matthews
www.maddogstudios.com

[waylon]

Hiya. Well, I'm not the best one to ask about color, but first things first I'd try to get the anatomy down a little better. Her eyes and nose are lined up pretty well, but her mouth starts to tilt downwards to the left a bit, then her chin and jaw are way off. And her shoulders are nowhere near wide enough. It's important to get the basics of the drawing down first - you can do an awesome job coloring, but if the sketch has issues, it'll never look right.

Once the anatomy is as good as it's going to get, THEN it's time to start on coloring. For this, your best bet (as with anything) is to really understand the FORM of your subject. Pick a light source (or sources), then decide what parts of the face will have highlights, which parts will be shadowed, etc. For instance, if you place a light to the upper-left of the picture, her nose will be shadowed toward the bottom-right.

As far as choosing colors... for your first couple drawings, you might want to try looking at photos or other paintings. You said it's a sketch of Aya Brea - are you using a specific picture as reference? That might be a perfect place to choose a color scheme from.

But I'd work out the anatomy a little further first. Everything in its proper order.

Hope this helps.

[Ryan]

Thanks a lot waylon. While I know the anatomy isn't too good I haven't really had the guts to start ripping into the image, heh. But I saved another copy and roughly edited her again.



I used to have a picture of her somewhere but it's been since lost :/ In either event I should be able to find another one somewhere

Let me know,

- Ryan

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Ryan Matthews
www.maddogstudios.com