Inking technique (a bit old) used in other applications, ported to AD

[SrPx]

Hello, 

 

Please, apologies if this type of video has been done already....

Is just the old technique of overshooting strokes, and later on deleting what is not wanted, as permits more confident lines and in certain way a faster work. is not a technique for everyone, is just one of the many ways to ink. I am using this without pressure, in this specific case, what you see is just the use of pencil, with a pre-set pressure profile (so it always starts thin, goes thick, ends thin) .The ideal thing is of course to do it with pressure sensitivity, but I just wanted to do a fast tut. 

 

Also, please don't judge the quality of the drawing, is extremely fast done, not caring about.. anything xD

 

And a last thing... I made a dumb mistake, I did not explain the main step, haha. :D  . After you draw your overshooting strokes, you need to pick the MOVE tool ( V key ) draw a marquee selection around ALL your line art piece, then go to layer top menu, and click on Expand Stroke. What this does is it converts the brush strokes in shapes with contours. Alowing so the later on applied technique. Oh! And don't forget to convert to curves any shape that was done with actual standard shapes (circle, star, etc) as those are that, "shapes" yet. For this, just select the shape, go to Layer at the top menu, and click on "convert to curves". (Alfred contribution --- > ) If you're a keyboard shortcuts person like me, you can convert to curves by pressing Ctrl+Enter on Windows (or Cmd+Return on a Mac).

 

(then you would do the selecting all by doing a rectangle selection with Move tool, and then 'Expand Strokes'. )

 

In the operation, I use the node tool making rectangle selections, but, as we don't have yet lasso for this, what I do is use quite "shift" to add to selection, and perform it in 2 or 3 additions when needed (only a few times needed). That but doing clever rectangle selections : You want to leave some dots in the middle of the crossing stroke, so that you leave no empty gaps.

 

This deletion of unwanted segments, like in other applications, requires you to use the node tool (not the move tool, now) , and go clicking on each segment to work on it. Is faster done than explained ;D. You could select all curves in the layers panel, and so, having all selected, but trust me in that doing so, would be much harder. :)

 

Oh, BTW, you wont see anything unless you maximize the video to full desktop   :)

And for that, you would need to click on the "VIMEO" white text down below, and once in Vimeo, hit the 4 directions cross icon besides the "HD", to see it in full window. Sorry, I don't have the pro version of vimeo   ;)

 

EDIT : Also, i know the eyes are not done properly, I mean, not applied well the technique, but was just for showing the general trick. Just for completeness, the eyes, being circles, they have to be converted to curves, first (done in the second one, but not its iris, just sent a stroke to front to cover it, lol) . And it would get its curves expanded to contoured shapes, like everything else, in the select all with move tool, and expand strokes. Also, you will si that, yet with node tool, I just click in some points to add a vertex or two, when there's none inside the crossing stroke. Very fast to do, though, as you will see.

 

Edit 2: For this to be comfortable like it is in other apps like in AI, what I do first is set in preferences the nodes and handles to have the smallest size there. It makes it doable. As this does not require a restart, I would change back to medium for , for example, making a logo.   :)

 

Edit 3: (last one, I promise) . You will see in his right eye (left side in the canvas), a sort of glitch, a straight diagonal crossing his eye. is not an AD glitch. I did the thing so fast that I hadn't yet cleaned well some stuff. Is just a shape badly closed by me, there's a pause (I needed to figure out a thing and also a phone call, so, paused the video there) , after that the glitch is gone as I fixed it. Nothing magic or trying to hide anything ;)

 

[Madame]

Thank you!
I think this is very useful! 

[Alfred]

Oh! And don't forget to convert to curves any shape that was done with actual standard shapes (circle, star, etc) as those are that, "shapes" yet. For this, just select the shape, go to Layer at the top menu, and click on "convert to curves".

 

If you're a keyboard shortcuts person like me, you can convert to curves by pressing Ctrl+Enter on Windows (or Cmd+Return on a Mac).

[SrPx]

You are very welcome, Madame !   :)  I am happy that it can be useful for you.   :)

 

Alfred, I just added your suggestion to the exact line, so that the people reading the tutorial for a first time will be having that advice already in context. Thank you !   :)

 

[ I wasn't sure if you wanted to license your advice with a creative commons license (ie, attribution, no derivatives) , or a plain simple copyright, so, for now I pasted it as mere public domain content.  (sorry, is the effect after a good meal and a good coffee....) ]

 

The tutorial is actually about an old technique in AI, but which I also found a pair of years ago (if I'm remembering well), casually, despite being many years illustrating. There are a few other inking methods/tricks which I use(or used) and know, but those are very specific of only the AI's user interface. Will see at some point if I can port them to AD somehow, too.   :). Anyway, AD has hidden gifts, a bit of a novelty in some cases, which can actually inspire me (and quite many others) even to build new workflows and its tutorials, here.   :)

 

Even if serves only to one or two persons, it's worth it.   :)

[retrograde]

Thanks SrPx.

 

Looking forward to that promised vector eraser. It will make cleaning/removing those areas a lot quicker.... :-)

[Alfred]

Alfred, I just added your suggestion to the exact line, so that the people reading the tutorial for a first time will be having that advice already in context. Thank you !   :)

 

[ I wasn't sure if you wanted to license your advice with a creative commons license (ie, attribution, no derivatives) , or a plain simple copyright, so, for now I pasted it as mere public domain content.  (sorry, is the effect after a good meal and a good coffee....) ]

 

LOL, SrPx. I take it that you weren't being serious! I have to wonder, though, what you had in your coffee, or (perhaps more likely) what wine you had with your meal, or how much you drank. :P

[SrPx]

is way cheaper than that ! The effects of those substances are already in my brain (permanently :D ), I don't need to invest in alcohol or caffeine like everyone else (and also, no damage to the body....). xDDD  

 

PD: Definitely (yeah, I was joking! ), Spanish sense of humor might differ a wild lot from the famous British humor.... Heck, my own sense of humor differs a lot from the one everyone else seem to have here in my country !

[SrPx]

Thanks SrPx.

 

Looking forward to that promised vector eraser. It will make cleaning/removing those areas a lot quicker.... :-)

 

Probably and probably not: One advantage of this method is that as you select each stroke with a fast touch on the segment, and then select + delete nodes, I believe an eraser would be faster only if you go per segment, too, as in general people use erasers by selecting all lines in a drawing, and this is slow, as then when erasing is very difficult not to affect the crossing lines, which you don't want to even touch, as needs a lot of extra editing later, and probably never would end up so like "fresh" inking.

 

One very ideal implementation of an eraser, though, faster and better than anything, would be that if you would use a vector eraser, it then auto selected only the first segment you start to erase, and not allowed to erase any other crossing segment. IMO, as a NON default option, because a lot of people not doing such an advanced type of inking, would find it weird and would be interested to erase whatever crosses their erasing operation. 

But, if allowed to set up your self in preferences, then people inking comics or other line art illustration, would for sure activate that. And yes, the inking method described in my video could still be applied, being way more comfortable , faster and easier. But only if it'd be configurable to behave like that.

[Bri-Toon]

In the operation, I use the node tool making rectangle selections, but, as we don't have yet lasso for this, what I do is use quite "shift" to add to selection, and perform it in 2 or 3 additions when needed (only a few times needed).

 

 

You can also use the pen tool to draw a shape over the overshooting areas and then use the boolean operation to subtract them.

 

By the way, it is good to see this. I wish there were more drawing techniques in the Tutorials section, because everyone works a different way. Also, I'm surprised that upper face drawing was drawn with the pencil tool. Would you want to make a video of the actual drawing process? Anytime I use the pencil tool, my lines appear too jaggedy, but I don't draw fast like you said you did.

[jer]

You can also use the pen tool to draw a shape over the overshooting areas and then use the boolean operation to subtract them.

 

By the way, it is good to see this. I wish there were more drawing techniques in the Tutorials section, because everyone works a different way. Also, I'm surprised that upper face drawing was drawn with the pencil tool. Would you want to make a video of the actual drawing process? Anytime I use the pencil tool, my lines appear too jaggedy, but I don't draw fast like you said you did.

 

You likely saw this in another post (can't remember which but a recent one) and if you are not on a Mac it will solve your (my) jaggedy problem:

 

Lazy Nezumi Pro is a Windows app that helps you draw smooth, beautiful lines, with your mouse or pen tablet. It works with many of your favorite art programs, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. $35 at  https://lazynezumi.com/home A poster said it works with AD using a "hooking" method, whatever that is, rather than built-in.

 

[Bri-Toon]

You likely saw this in another post (can't remember which but a recent one) and if you are not on a Mac it will solve your (my) jaggedy problem:

 

Lazy Nezumi Pro is a Windows app that helps you draw smooth, beautiful lines, with your mouse or pen tablet. It works with many of your favorite art programs, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. $35 at  https://lazynezumi.com/home A poster said it works with AD using a "hooking" method, whatever that is, rather than built-in.

 

Thank you for that. The funny thing is, I am on Mac. I have used Lazy Nezumi back when I was on Windows (Alfred knows this), and I loved it. I really wish it could be for Mac, or have something similar.

[SrPx]

You likely saw this in another post (can't remember which but a recent one) and if you are not on a Mac it will solve your (my) jaggedy problem:

 

Lazy Nezumi Pro is a Windows app that helps you draw smooth, beautiful lines, with your mouse or pen tablet. It works with many of your favorite art programs, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. $35 at  https://lazynezumi.com/home A poster said it works with AD using a "hooking" method, whatever that is, rather than built-in.

 

but really tried with AD ? I believe it to work with AP, not AD. As in AD, it happens, the wobbliness, after  the stroke has been applied. Curiosly, its direct raster stroke is more accurate, it seems, than in AP. In AP, yep, Nexumi might help like in any other raster painting sftware. With AD will help in smoothing, but the nodes slight random rotate will still happen in the exact moment of releasing the tip -long after the stroke has been corrected by Nezumi-  , so...

[jer]

but really tried with AD ? I believe it to work with AP, not AD. As in AD, it happens, the wobbliness, after  the stroke has been applied. Curiosly, its direct raster stroke is more accurate, it seems, than in AP. In AP, yep, Nexumi might help like in any other raster painting sftware. With AD will help in smoothing, but the nodes slight random rotate will still happen in the exact moment of releasing the tip -long after the stroke has been corrected by Nezumi-  , so...

 

Thanks for the clarifications, VERY helpful!

[SrPx]

Bleduc, I made it with the pencil (is below the brush, as a tool). I don't really know if it was my speed -am not really fast, what I meant with doing it fast is I didn't care about the actual drawing quality in any sense :) - . Still, yep, were fast lines-  or that I 'might' have noticed that the pencil is more accurate in the wobble department than the brush. But don't take it as sth to trust, as is only a slight impression I had. And is not actually using pressure !  I mean, is painting with the pencil tool, pressure deactivated (that might be indeed the factor, who knows) but using a pre-made ink curve for fake pressure. Maybe pressure is the one making each node handles dance like crazy even if is not really reproducing -i know is not- a real direction variance or jiter in my hand, but that, somehow, translates levels or pressure to random micro node rotates instead of lowering brush ink opacity. Who knows.  

[SrPx]

Thanks for the clarifications, VERY helpful!

 

You are welcome ! :)

[Bri-Toon]

Bleduc, I made it with the pencil (is below the brush, as a tool). I don't really know if it was my speed -am not really fast, what I meant with doing it fast is I didn't care about the actual drawing quality in any sense :) - . Still, yep, were fast lines-  or that I 'might' have noticed that the pencil is more accurate in the wobble department than the brush. But don't take it as sth to trust, as is only a slight impression I had. And is not actually using pressure !  I mean, is painting with the pencil tool, pressure deactivated (that might be indeed the factor, who knows) but using a pre-made ink curve for fake pressure. Maybe pressure is the one making each node handles dance like crazy even if is not really reproducing -i know is not- a real direction variance or jiter in my hand, but that, somehow, translates levels or pressure to random micro node rotates instead of lowering brush ink opacity. Who knows.  

 

I guess you just have a more steady hand than I do. I don't have pressure or anything else enabled. Oh well. In that Controller dropdown menu, I wish there was a "Stabilizer" option for dragging the stroke. (Something similar to Lazy Nezumi's "Weighted Stroke")

[SrPx]

Bleduc, Are you sure you are using the pencil instead of the brush icon tool in that vertical bar ?  Imo, just make this test: Draw with the pencil over your initial raster sketch, then, with your configured curve brush fake pressure style built and saved in the right panel, select all those nodes and apply the brush (I believe just double clicking in the saved brush in the brush list right panel ). It might remove any wobble (remember that in AD, the issue is mostly happening AFTER your pulse has anything to do with it, is in th evectorization ! So, of you apply a premade fake pressure brush to already drawn nodes, should be no issue ! ) like it did remove wobbles for me. That said, I inked this super cr4ppy bad example of a drawing with quite fast and firm pencil strokes. For doing some specific and carefully crafted real life work thing of my own, no way, I ink slow.... And IMO, that's not defining if an inker is good or bad, (I ain't good inker as considering the professional profile specs of a comic inker, anyway, but quite experienced in painting and drawing ) . But the artistic experience & training, which are really large, tells me that this of the speed in inking -as a way to excuse bad hardware or software-  is false, a bit of an non true cliché, very much propagated in youtube inking videos. But you need to trust more a Wikipedia info than a Youtube video, and Larousse/Oxford, etc dictionary, more than Wikipedia (as much as I love it and consider it a great thing for humanity) , indeed...  ;) . A fast inker can be still not a master in inking, and a slow inker can be really good.

 

Stabilization: Not so sure. I'd rather prefer if they improve the actual brush / redrawing engine, stabilization is imo sth that you put there to fix sth that could be better. IMO, I prefer a better engine, you can always use nezumi for some extra bit of averaging/smoothing,  I'd so much rather prefer if they improve what happens in the core stuff for this  matters, in the application internals. For now, you could use my trick... (draw with pencil tool (not brush) a non-pressure, non styled brush, then double click applied the customized artificial pressure brush (having modified its pressure curve and saved the brush ! ))

[Bri-Toon]

First of all, sorry that we're getting off topic.

 

I was using the pencil tool all along, not the brush. I don't fully understand your trick, but I'll attach a screencast of what I understand. Could you possibly create a screencast as well to better show what you are talking about? I have a hard time understanding directions.

 

I apologize for any ads that might be on this site. https://sendvid.com/toglxn2h

 

[SrPx]

A screencast is possible, just bear with me as I wont be able till 23rd, crazy busy with a commission of high importance. I browse here just when am too saturated to see colors and composition, when I start to just see a freakin' mass of pixels.... :D  But 2 minutes and am fine again, back to the canvas...

[Bri-Toon]

Not a problem, and thank you.

[awan]

Thank you for this thread

[SrPx]

You're welcome !  :)