I've been working on something for weeks, but it really doesn't look right to me. Nonetheless, I couldn't get it fixed. There's so many things I don't like, but I'll submit it anyway, for the sake of the things I do like.
This won't be a normal posting for me, either. There aren't 5 different CGs. I'm going to give you a little insight to the method of my madness. Not great for points, no, but I can't get a higher rank I'm told, so I'm going to have some fun and maybe inspire someone else to try CGing.
Step Zero: Before you even start, you need a source. I'm a big fan of Fred Gallagher's work, and Hayasaka Erika is a standard fan-favorite. I might just make a fan outta you before this post is done..
Step One: Start out by making a rough color layout so that you know how the colors will look together. This is very important to help spot colors that, in the end, just aren't going to mesh very well. Plus, it gives you a nice color pallete to just use an eyedropper on to pick up the color that you need. Very handy.
Step Two: Begin the CG. I like to start with Skin, Eyes, Hair, and Clothes all in separate layers, and CG them in that order. It gives a realistic overlapping, you see. Your skin is on the bottom, and your eyes are over your skin (well, they're under the lids, but your face doesn't grow over your eyes ;P), your hair covers both skin and eyes, and clothes (hopefully!) cover it all. There are other layers (background, accessories, etc) that get worked on eventually too.
Step Three: Now you can finish the base CG up and add a basic background to help remove as much white space as possible. I don't know who said it, but the human eye is lazy, and will focus on any white it can because that takes the least effort. White space = bad, unless you're trying to make white things, as I am here. You'll notice that it's not pure white though; it's a light gray. At least, you will notice by the end.
Step Four: With all the color filled in, it's time to begin the easier parts of the shading. I use a simple smudging technique. Certainly not the most realistic, but it is a step above using a gradient. It accomplishes what it needs to, and I think it's a pretty cool effect. Not so much how it turned out this time, but some of the times I've used it came out VERY nice.
Step Five: All that's left now is to finish any shading (the complex stuff) and do touchup work. And then, your CG will be complete. Congratulations! You've just finished your first CG!
There's a lot more technique and theory and all that stuff that goes into it, as well as technical details that I didn't go into. But, this is the method I use. It is not the best method out there, not by a long shot. However, I feel that it is on par with what I'm capable of (and I'm not an artist in the least), and so I use it. This is, by no means, a "great CG." It's decent.. perhaps "good." Things just weren't coming together on this one.
So, there you have it. My 5 pics.
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I didn't take anything from any website, just drawing with the good old Pencil Tool.
