Ultima Island :: Tutorials :: Paint Tutorial

rating:

(18 votes)

Submit Tutorial

More Information

Paint Tutorial

Paint Tutorial - How to draw individuals with Paint

This is a step to step guide to creating a dude in Paint. This may have some overlap with Zensunni's tutorials and lessons, some may even oppose them, I don't know. But this is my way, and looking at the positive responses, it must be well enough.

As paint brush, I use the 4 pixel rectangle: Tiny mistakes will not be visible

Step 1: Make a stick figure
If you're making a full body shot, always start with making a stick figure, unless you have talent and years of experience and pwn everyone/everything.

Don't use black! If you use a different color than the real lines', it will be easier to remove.

A stick figure is easy. Just draw a line of where roughly the centre of the body parts will be, and draw a circle where the head should be. Think about the perspective, though. Further away means smaller arms/legs etc.

Also, think well about the pose in which your dude will be (yeah, dude, my brain is currently lacking creativity), if it's technically possible, and if the stances are natural (you can't hold a heavy object with your arms stretched in front of you). If your stick figure does not look good, correct it until it does, for this figure will be very important. And you will know when it looks good, so keep on going until it does.

Step 2: Add flesh to it
Now you've created a good stick figure, it time to add some flesh to it. I always have the most succes with starting at the shoulders, then arms/trunk, then legs, and finally hands/feet. Remember, arms/legs have visible muscle development, which is occasionally the thickest at about 1/3 of the lower arms and feet, and between 1/3 and 1/2 for the upper arms and feet. Or at least that's what I do. Do not make those spots very thick but be subtle with it, for it will be too much before you know it. Of course, this will depend on your dude, whether he's strong or not.

If you're having trouble with a particular part of the body, just check the nearest mirror around you. One can make 1000 rules how to draw the human body, the real deal will always be better, of course.

Step 3: Resize
Whoops! Seemed like the stick figure doesn't completely prevent me from making sizing mistakes.

Of course, you need the select tools for this. The free select tool will, after you've drawn the selection line, auto draw a line between the two ends. They don't necessarily have to intersect.

Again, keep on checking and correcting your drawing until you're satisfied, this is about the most important step, so take your time.

Step 4: Give head
It's time to give your dude a head. This must happen the last because it's very important that the head matches with the body, size and shape.

The chin, cheek and forehead will shape the head, so don't forget those. I mostly use a circle-based head, but of course a related shape can be used too.
You can add the nose, or you can wait with it. It may be handy to see what direction the head is facing, if it's not already visible due to the chin/cheek/forehead. Forehead is not a visible line across the head when in frontal shot, btw.

Now you can remove the stick figure lines.

Use the color selecting tool (dripper thingy) and select the stick figure color (left button). Then take the eraser, and start erasing with the right mouse button

Step 5: details
Now it's time to details. Details are very important, they will add some character to your dude. Otherwise it'll be just a plain dude.

Watch the shapes of the body while drawing the details. A belt along the body will not be a straight line. If done correctly, a belt can 'strengthen' the body shapes and make them more visible.

Step 6: Add hair
Have fun! A lot hairstyles are of course possible. But I recommend you the slightly curved points (like Goku's). NOT STRAIGHT, unless he's on volts.

If the hairstyle looks bad, redo until it looks good. A good hairstyle is very important, since a human automatically starts looking at the head of a dude, then check the rest. Just look for yourself if you don't believe me. Anyway, it's important.

Side step 1: Add small sword/knife.
If your bladed weapon is straight, draw a straight line first of where the weapon roughly will be. Build the weapon around the line, and when the main shape of it is done, remove the line.

Watch out for perspective. A blade pointed towards the 'camera' can have a dramatic size difference between the point and at the hilt. Too little perspective may ruin your drawing, so correct it if you're not satisfied. But that goes for the whole drawing, of course.

Step 7: Add color
It's time to color your drawing. This is most likely the easiest part. Just put in the colors you want. Skin color may be difficult to find, so I added a start from where you can experiment. Please don't always use that same color. Make a guy pale if he's occasionally in the shadows, and brown if he's an Al Qaida terrorist. Kidding.

Step 8: Light effects
This is probly why my pictures are said to be awesome.
First, choose a point from where the light will come, and the direction.

Then, simply add all shades you can come up with. Just imagine what part will be lightened, and what part not. The unlightened part should get a darker version of the normal color. Also lower the saturation a little, it'll look just a bit better.
Then think of the parts that will created shades on other parts. You can shade with the same 'unlighten' color. Keep in mind that those shades may not even look like the part it made, because the part it's on has it shapes too, that will change the shade's shape. Just look closely at the example if that wasn't clear.

Side step 2: Big weapon
If your dude is holding a big weapon, it may be handy to make the weapon in another paint window.

Copy/paste the hand that is supposed to carry it, then you start.

To create two circles with the same centre, it's very wise to start with drawing a diagonal line (different color), while holding shift. Then, draw two circles, starting both on that line, and again holding shift.

Since big weapons differ so much, I'm not gonna tell you the details of mine. Just use the same coloring methods as you would on your dude. Since metal reflects light better, It's a good idea to make the difference between lightened and unlightened color version bigger than normal. With total reflectinon you may even get away with just using black and white.

Finally, you add the weapon. Just remove a section of the body that would cover it (if this seems to be the case) and paste it somewhere else temporarily. Make sure the hand that holds the weapon is still there. Then add the weapon, by overlapping the hand with weapon with the hand you left.

Step 9: Final details
Some tiny parts may be extra bright by being relfective and about perpendicular to the light source.
For the hair reflection, just take the pencil, choose a brighter version of the hair color (difference depends on the reflectivity of the hair, like when there's gel in it) and, on a specific place (decided by the light source location) start scratching along the hair direction. Scratches will become smaller when the hair goes more away from the source (less perpendicular, check example)

Metal has edges, that, at some point, may light up. At the point where the metal edge is about completely perpendicular, you can add a dot of light, and stretch it a bit out along with the edge. You may want to use a transistional color between the light dot and the metal.
And of course, recheck if the optional weapons make/get some extra shades, and add them.

And that's it.

End

Tutorials :: Paint Tutorial :: Ultima Island: A friendly online community focusing on game development. Games, Tutorials, Resources, Articles, and much much more...