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Nuei — Tutorial: Get Started in Digital Art (+tuto video)
Published: 2012-03-28 17:52:55 +0000 UTC; Views: 32691; Favourites: 1029; Downloads: 520
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VIDEO TUTORIALS:Coloring Tutorial www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFk3p7…
Lineart Tutorials youtu.be/Pj9XaD0TGVE www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3S09C…
Chibi Speedpaints www.youtube.com/watch?v=e79odi… www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXjc60…
More tutorials
Cintiq 12WX initial review: suzuneko-chan.deviantart.com/j…
Pixiv: www.pixiv.com/users/5256322
Twitter: twitter.com/NueiNeko
Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/SuzuNekoC…
And our super cool doujin circle page at facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Satelit…
*edit*
lets clear it up: my message through this tutorial is NOT "dont use Photoshop" but rather "start with SAI because Photoshop is indeed a very complex program, not meant for most beginners".
I don't hate Photoshop, instead, I do recognize it's a very good program that can be used to complete SAI's functions OR be used for the whole process without any other software.
If you start by working with SAI, learning is much more easy and fluid, and after a year and half using it and completing with Photoshop, I guess SAI could disapear from the face of earth, I would intuitivelly know how to work the basics of a full drawing with Photoshop already.
It then becomes a choice to keep using SAI or not, and I chose to stay with SAI for now.
I'm offering the easiest and most functional choice i know for beginers, so they can work with all the functions the pros have without having to costumize a whole program they are not even familiar with.
Feel free to suggest any other program as well, if you know something that works as easy and effective as SAI.
Man, this file needs to be redone!
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Comments: 285
I'm glad I could help! It's normal to take long to start real digital, because since it's a rather recent media, there isn't so much general knowledge about what materials to use. But one thing is for sure, reading tutorials and getting work done on the computer (even though you think your first works look terrible and you might not even want your art to get close to it) is the best way to break this fearful digital barrier!
Getting the right material is also important, but most of all, you have to practice a lot to get comfortable with it!
Good luck on your art ^^
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AS a digital artist, I've noticed that learning to draw without bases has not only improved my digital work, but my traditional work too. Probably a coincidence, but I am really glad I did so much digital practice.
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Practicing sure is important when drawing, but HOW you practice will make a difference on wether you'll improve quickly or slowly/none. Using bases is having half the work done for you already so that's why I say it's not a very good exercise... It's like having a maths equation half way resolved, and you just have to do the easiest part, the one where you can almost see how it'll finish.
Anyways, I could never take any pride on any work that was already done and I just added some sparkles. I don't understand how some people actually like using bases, I'm way too proud for them n__n'
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about point 3, the tracing art: yes, for developing skills tracing and bases are a really bad idea. But my friends still don't believe me when I tell them that for me, drawing started by constantly using bases XD in the end I managed to develop my own style (even though I'm still working on it)
P.S: nice joke about MSPaint XD. poor baby dolphin OAO
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Bases are pretty useful though (not necessarily for anatomy unless you're editing incorrect anatomy on the base you're using or making your own from scratch, but definitely for practicing shading, colors, figuring out character designs, etc.) and you'd be surprised at how long a great-looking doll can take. There are people who'll take days to make a really detailed doll because of how carefully they're placing their pixels and using their colors.
That's not to say people can be extremely lazy with them since I've seen that, too, but it's rather unfair to think that constantly using bases is a bad thing.
Project Educate just did an entire week on dolling and bases, actually, if you would like to learn more.
Also. MSPaint is perfect for pixeling or dolling because all you need is a color picker, a pencil too, and an eraser tool. You just don't get layers to work with, though you can work around that by using a clever little eraser trick
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that is true but a lot of people would still see bases as being lazy, I dunno why :/
as for MSPaint, it depends on what kind of art you are working on. As you said, it is ideal for pixelling and dolling but to recreate traditional media software like PS and SAI are more common
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It's rather unfortunate, too. There are some GORGEOUS dolls out there that take people days to make and then there are the scribbled crap that gives bases a bad name. Not to mention the traced bases. DX
Oh definitely. There's no arguing about that.
I only use Paint to crop the bases I use, personally. I do the actual dolling in GIMP just for the layers. lol
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Haha thanks xD They are learning how to draw exclusively using bases?! Lool, good luck with that! I mean, I do understant tracing and mostly, copying art, you get to understand how it works and you ARE DRAWING SOMETHING, even if not coming from your head, but bases... they miss the important part of learning anatomy itself!
Everything takes time and effort, but believe me, the most important of those two IS effort. No matter how good or bad you start, you only come to a good end if you actually try
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I wish I found this 8 months ago~~! I bought A cheap tablet and now I can only draw at the right side of my screen :'<
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O__o lol serious? Maybe that's a common problem of that tablet and you may have the answer somewhere on the internet. I had problems with Bamboo two, because at first, the program I use wouldn't recognize its pressure, but that isn't always a sign that everything is lost... I hope there is still something you can do with it, so good luck!
ps: There are a new series of Bamboo tablets coming out, Bamboo Creative I think, so Bamboo Fun's price is probably going down the hill
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So helpful. I feel so new, I am really grateful!!!
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Hahaha! I'm glad it helped! 
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this is super helpful, and I agree with you on the myths and such. Especially that whole drawing on a computer is cheating...uhm. NO it's not. 
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Exactly
As for computer drawing, your fine arts teacher needs to expand his/her mind! But listen, there are many people here on dev who don't even learn art in school (i'm a random dentist student, for example) but if life turn its back on you, slap its ass!
There are many many tutorials from kind people all around the world, you just have to keep watching Tutorial groups and such. Here, [link] my favorite's gallery link. I've been saving the best tutos on it. I hope you find it helpful
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Adorei o tutorial! Já agora qual é a tablet que usas? As tuas linearts ficam mt bem ^^
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A serio? Nunca cheguei a ficar contente com elas e as tuas parecem-me bem melhores 
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Gosto porque são fluidas, e eu nunca consegui isso em digital com a minha tablet, que é uma bamboo one, que não é de estranhar..já está super desactualizada
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Fluidas... Um pouco demais talvez, era fazer uma fusão de nos as duas entao xD Talvez seja por causa do estabilizador de linha que anda em falta. Que programa usas?
Confusão? Que estranho! A mim faz-me mil vezes mais confusão desenhar fora do ecran XD Deixava-me fula mesmo! Claro que havendo um ecran numa tablet, ha inevitavelmente um espaço entre o vidro de protecção e o verdadeiro monitor da tablet (cerca de 1mm) o que pode trazer uma pequena necessidade de habituação e antecipação (dependendo da calibração), mas as vezes tb da jeito, se quiseres ver mesmo onde esta a linha sem estar tapada pela caneta... Diria que o desenho se torna mais intuitivo, ando a sentir-me bem mais a-vontade para fazer caras, quando esse era o meu maior desgosto antes.
Mas acredito que possa haver quem simplesmente não consegue habituar-se. É muito parecido com desenho tradicional (diria que é melhor em certos aspectos), mas não é a mesma coisa. É aquela desagradável sensação de primeira vez com a tablet, que pensei que não ia existir. Não tem como explicar ao cérebro para relaxar porque não ha nada de errado a acontecer, como desenhos a aparecerem em sitios nao naturais. É puramente psicologico I guess
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Wow, awesome tutorial XD. Thanx, this is very informative with choosing tablets from Wacom. Apparently I have Bamboo Pen & Touch, it is cheap and quite useful for me as a newbie. XP Sometimes is a hassle to figure it out well like drawing on paper. Oh well thanx for the good review of the products, I may want to have a Cintiq myself in the future if I have an allowance.
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You're welcome! From my experience, the bamboo is great to figure out if you're gonna like working with digital or not, a very entertaining and good quality device, but it lacks sensitivity when you start getting more serious. You'll also want to draw more complex things and it takes too much time to draw a single picture. Whenever you start feeling that, you should start saving up for an upgrade, if possible
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Ya, pretty much but I m a beginner so I still learning in digital art and I may plan to get a Cintiq line if I m experience enough. Such luckiness I tried first hand with a classmate who have a Cintiq tablet. Currently I realized so much difference with the tablets. Oh well I will be dreaming to get one soon.
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I've been told once that you can't complain your art is no good because of the tablet you use. That is such a stupid thing xD tablets don't magically make you a pro, but if you draw with your non-dominant arm, you'll surelly get a worse result
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Wow thanx. And u r right about that. I will train myself to properly utilize my bamboo tablet. Thanks so much for the advice.
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Actually I use cheaper tablet called Genius but it's not as bad as you write......
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Let's see, this is a very complex issue because very few people use other brands, and there is very few review on them. It's also complicated to have tried out a lot of tablets as something like that takes time and money, and tablets aren't something you buy regularly just for fun.
And as for cheap tablets I'm also talking about Wacom's cheap tablets. You probably got lucky with that brand (thank you for the feedback, one does never know where to buy cheaper for equal quality :/) but I doubt that models like the Intuos and the Cintiq series can easily be reproduced for cheaper prices (because pros never use other models) probably not for the disobedience, but for the lack of sensitivity or calibration. As for the Bamboo, I'm very sure it's not rare to find tablets as good as her on the market. She's a good girl but that's just it...
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De nada! São as coisinhas mais basicas, mas espero que sejam de bastante utilidade!
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Glad ^^ Boa sorte com o teu trabalho entao
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I'll assume I should answer a thank you xD
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Bom tutorial é melhor que muitos que ja vi ^^ adoro o fundo btw XD
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Oh, obrigada n_n' oh, eu estava bastante desiludida com as minhas background skills xD isso soube bem! <3
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Thankyou you've actually helped give me more confidence in my work XD
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Oh I know what you mean about the tablets, my first one was an Aptek or something like that, didn't have the eraser ability on the pen so it was a huge hassle. Ended up getting a wacom a few months later from CompUSA when they were going out of business, had that one for about 4 years then gave it to my roommate who is still getting a lot of use out of it (it's now 6 years old) and I got a intuos 4 (LOVE IT!).
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Wow, that is some veteran tablet! xD
Thank you very much for the feedback about Aptek! It's not that I'd think about buying outside Wacom, but it's always good to know how the tablet market is going
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The plus side of Aptek:
It was huge, the drawing space roughly 3x the size of the wacom I bought after it.
It had a plastic sheet over the drawing area where you could place a traditional drawing under it and trace it.
Down side:
Reverse side of the pen was not an eraser. (biggest peeve because I abuse the "eraser" part of my wacom pen)
Pressure sensitivity wasn't the best.
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I see, no scanner needed, that must be great! 
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Oh it is, I abuse the dial on the left side so much, switching between canvaz size and brush size. I feel like it'll be the first thing that will break for as often as I use it. I also like how the stand for the pen is where the replacement tips are kept.
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damn where were you when i was buying my first tablet. i went a cheap one. less then a year the damn thing stopped working. *hugs new tablet* wacom should have been my first choice.
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What brand was it? I know how that feels
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