I will be adding to this as questions and suggestions arise~ so check back for updates!
(will be in the title)
I will NOT be discussing Cellshading. That is not my area.
Tablets
Tablets are key ingredient for making delicious digital art.
Of everything, having a tablet has improved my colouring the most. It is much more natural colouring with a tablet.
I have a pressure sensitive tablet from wacom. I'm using the Intuos2 4 x 6 currently (I ordered my cintiq today I DIE OF HAPPINESS!!). This helped my digital colouring WAY more than it helped my lineart/sketchings. Drawing on paper is just easier for me.
The intuos3 4x6 runs at about $229.95. If you can afford a bigger one, by all means, go for it! But, I had no problems colouring with the tiniest tablet.
The Cintiq is the ULTIMATE, however it's $2,499. It is mostly for those who wish to draw directly on the computer, IMO.
Basic Tool
My Favourite Opencanvas Brush: I use it at various sizes. Tablets are KEY for this brush, because of the pressure sensitivity.
This is first thing I'd like to address.
(this is NOT meant to be sphere shading... it would be a poor example. it's a comparison of techniques.)
Most people know "lay down the flat colours first." However, when it comes to shading in a more painterly style, I too often see people drawing every single stroke! NO! NO! NO! Not only is this painful to do, but it rarely looks nicely done (unless you give up your life making it). While the image on the right, if taken 3 years, would look breath taking, the image on the left can look breath taking in 30 minutes.
I use a larger brush. For this, I used about a size 14 brush and 2 minutes. If you're using my brush settings in OC, with my settings, and you have a tablet, don't push too hard! If you're not using a tablet, you have to adjust the brush opacity or density to help you do the blending. By having a partially see through brush, the colours like... automatically blend for you! It's cake, baby.
Am I saying you should never use a tiny brush? NO! Absolutely not! You should use a tiny brush--- EVENTUALLY, but first you need to lay out the flat colours AND the basic shadows & highlights. Don't abuse tiny brushes; they are for detail work.
Selecting Colours
The left image, is a HORRIBLE example. Shading with black is baaaad in most cases.
The middle image, is a decent example.
The right image, is a hawt example.
When colouring, try putting in a little bit of a colour you wouldn't expect. IE; Purple or blue on skin. If you look closely at your skin, you'll start to realize that you can actually notice these colours. They are SUBTLE. Keep that in mind.
Colours straight from the tube, are horrible! I absolutely hate them. The only reason to use such colours is for some sort of psychedelic theme.
Be VERY careful when using these colours, many times, my friends and I simply close images with too bright of colours
To be cleaned up and added to later~
