Variable stroke width

[Hopkin Watson]

Hello,

I am very new to drawing and I apologize if I posted this in the wrong place.

I've looked at the vector pen tutorials for designer (on Mac). I'm working this this image (a vector drawing of a Mexican skull) and the image's lines have a variable width. I don't see that in any of the tutorials. I know I can create this a set of curves that I group. I just don't know if that's the best way. I'm assuming I'm doing things the 'hard way' because I don't know anything.. 

[Alfred]

Welcome to the Serif Affinity Forums, @Hopkin Watson.

If you’re not using a pressure-sensitive input device you can use simulated pressure sensitivity. As explained in the linked Help topic, Affinity Designer allows you to create a custom pressure profile which can be applied to a previously drawn stroke.

[Hopkin Watson]

Oh perfect.. that's what I was looking for. 
Thanks!!

[Hopkin Watson]

Can I as you a followup?

In the example I posted, if you look at the small white circles that 'ring' the interior of the eyes; how would they be placed there? Could objects be placed along a path similarly to the way you can type text on a curve? I suppose the artist could have aligned them all manually or with the help of grid lines or something..

In the example I have added, the little circles are perfectly aligned (and symmetrical) on what I am assuming to be some type of technique vs manually positioning each object.

If there is a technique for this, do you know what it's called in Designer?

 

 

[Gear maker]

1 hour ago, Hopkin Watson said:

if you look at the small white circles that 'ring' the interior of the eyes; how would they be placed there?

There's a few ways to do this.  The easiest in this instance, in my opinion, is to use the dashed line stroke.  If you use the settings 0  1  0  0, it has a nice circle.  Stroke width controls the circle size.

[Hopkin Watson]

Thanks again :) 

[Hopkin Watson]

Hello, 

I found another way to do this using brushes. Thought you might like to see:

 

[Gear maker]

On 7/30/2020 at 9:33 AM, Hopkin Watson said:

I found another way to do this using brushes. Thought you might like to see:

It depends on if you need to keep the image purely vector or not.  If you zoom way in on the image painted by the brush you will see that the brush leaves a pixelated image.  Because it's being made from a png file which is a pixel file.  There is no right or wrong way depending upon the requirements you have or want.  Good luck on your skull.  It looks like fun.

[Hopkin Watson]

Ah.. great point. I didn’t consider that. Although much easier than Adobe AI (and I’m new to drawing in general) - there’s a lot to learn. thanks for the feedback