DrawWithMike.net

PogArt-Ttoo wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2025 8:26 am Funny is - I've got a friend from Canada and he's posted yesterday screenshots from forecasting app - it was -37C
I can only imagine the condition you're facing now ...
TAKE CARE

I will! We’re a pretty tough bunch here

In the same way that we created shadows on their own layers in order to make it easier to undo changes while keeping our original drawing intact, we can now create highlight layers. Instead of using Multiply as the blend mode however, we’ll use Overlay. As before, I’ll use the Soft Airbrush under Airbrushing, and this time I select a very light grey tone in the Color Panel.

Again, I felt that the highlight effect was too mild, so I created another Overlay layer, added extra highlights where I felt they were needed, and then dropped the layer opacity to 50% because I felt it was too harsh.

Here is a screenshot of my layers.
Here is a comparison of the original flattened layer before shadows or highlights and then after. The beak and casque are more 3 dimensional.

The layers ~ I’ve never been understanding them well, knowing how to use them in advantage either

PogArt-Ttoo wrote: Fri Feb 21, 2025 12:31 am The layers ~ I’ve never been understanding them well, knowing how to use them in advantage either

I think you’d like it. Layers let you try things without committing to the changes until you’re satisfied. Then, you can merge or collapse the layers if you want to. It’s great when you’re working out a composition, or designing something like a tattoo!

Once you learn to use layers, you can move elements of a composition around, adjust lights and darks, try colours if you’re working in colour….it’s endless! When I was planning a pretty complex composition using several elements, I worked out all the problems in Procreate. I could adjust highlights and shadows to ensure the same light direction was hitting all my components. I could then use this as reference to draw traditionally on paper.

Now, the fun begins. You can leave all of your layers in place, but I find it easier to merge them once they’ve done their job. To do that, swipe each layer to the right, and click on Group at the top left.
Now, click on the New Group header that appears, and click on Flatten.
From now on, we can draw more freely, not paying as much attention to each and every crack and crevice on the beak and casque. We know that these change with time as the bird uses its beak, so it isn’t so much a question of precision, but rather of “feeling” the texture and trying to depict what we feel. I lower the opacity of my red outline layer so that I can still see it, but I know that I don’t have to follow it exactly anymore.

I use my LS Pencil Brush and a medium dark grey to deepen the darks that I see in my reference. This brush acts like a pencil and allows me to get in tight areas. At this point, I’m drawing directly on my flattened layer.

I also use the eraser tool, set on the Soft Airbrush in the Airbrushing category, and I lower the brush opacity. This allows me to lightly erase or lighten some areas in the same way that we use Blu-Tack on paper. I can control how much I want to lighten an area.

I work on the eye in the same way.

This is when I usually fine tune the highlights and shadows when drawing on paper. I can do the same thing in Procreate.

I know that I can brighten up the whole drawing at this stage by duplicating my layer, and setting the blend mode to Soft Light. This is similar to the Overlay mode, but has a softer effect.

I wanted to deepen the shadows too, so as I did earlier, I created a new layer, set it to Multiply, and also set it as a clipping mask. This is the same procedure as I followed earlier.

Finally, I added a little roughness to the beak by creating a new layer, setting it to clipping mask, and using the 6B Compressed brush in the Charcoal category. The effect is subtle but I like it. It’s worthwhile experimenting with different brushes to see what effects you can achieve.

Here are my layers.
This is a progression of these four layers. It’s difficult to show here, but in real life, the changes are much more impactful .
The hard part is done. In the next post, I’ll start on the body.

I think you’d like it. Layers let you try things without committing to the changes until you’re satisfied. Then, you can merge or collapse the layers if you want to. It’s great when you’re working out a composition, or designing something like a tattoo!

It’s my weakest spot to be honest, it’s just confusing me, but then ~ I’m not practising it too often, so every time and then it’s overwhelming me a bit
I know what to do, I know how they work, but it’s always frightening and it’s taking me much more time than needed to eventually make my design as I wanted
Following your posts will definitely put a light in the tunel for me
Thank you Laurene.

PogArt-Ttoo wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2025 9:46 am Following your posts will definitely put a light in the tunel for me
Thank you Laurene.

You’re welcome Artur, but I wonder how clear my explanations really are. I hope they are, but I’ll try to work up a video at some point because I think it’s much easier to understand when you see it done. It’s actually quite easy when you get the hang of it!

I find this part the most fun because I can depend less and less in the reference, and rely more on my instincts to draw what looks right to my eyes.

The body appears solid black, but of course there are areas where the light catches a contour, and other areas that fall in the shade. This is what I rely on to create a 3 dimensional shape, but first, I need to establish the black. This time it makes sense to create a layer for the body below the beak, because I know that the feathers shouldn’t overlap the beak. I select black as my colour and use the Soft Airbrush under Airbrushing to quickly fill in the area, using lighter strokes as I move toward the bottom to fade out slowly.
Now, I create a new drawing layer above the existing ones, and refine the eye. I can still see the placement of the eye because my dark body layer is BELOW the original beak and eye layers. I can’t really see much detail in my reference, but I can tell that the primary light source for the beak and body is coming from the upper left (screen left), so I draw the eye with this in mind. I throw in a few highlights using light grey, above the eye and on the head behind the casque.
The black body makes it difficult to see my red outlines, but this is easily remedied by setting the blend mode to Add instead of Overlay.

To draw the contour feathers, I create a new layer above my black body layer, set it to clipping mask, and set the blend mode to Overlay. I select a lighter grey and use my LS Pencil Brush. Any brush that tapers your strokes will work. I roughly follow the direction of the arrows on my red outline to curves my strokes and only work in the areas of the body that catch the light. The arrows are there as a rough guide only.
The feathers are still too dark, so I create a layer above them, set it to clipping mask, set the blend mode to Overlay, and using the Soft Airbrush under Airbrushing, I highlight areas that need brightening. In this case, I highlighted just behind the casque, in the cheek area and in the throat area.
He’s finally starting to look like a proper hornbill I think .

I don’t feel that adding a lot of detail to the neck will add anything to this portrait, and might even distract from that impressive beak and casque, as well as to the eye which is always an important focal point.

I create a layer above the Light feathers layer and its Highlight layer, set it to Multiply, and using black as my colour and my LS Pencil Brush I suggest feather direction using just a few loose strokes. This is the Dark feathers layer. I let the strokes fade out as I move toward the chest and folded wing. I think this is enough.
This is a good time to shut off the red outline layer and depend more on instinct. I feel that the general body outline is too sharp and static so I create a layer above the Dark feathers layer, call it Edge Details and using black as my colour and my LS Pencil Brush, I add little loose feathers. I think that this adds to the feeling of feather texture that I want the viewer to sense, and I’m happy with the result.

Another nice update
I’m happy when you saying, that you’re about to start using your instinct and intuition
This is purely ARTIST CALL