Emerald and Ebony: My Drawing Process

Hello, and welcome to my second Instructable! I will be showing you how I drew this picture, which I have entitled Emerald and Ebony. This mostly just shows my drawing process, though I hope it can help teach people, as well. 

I used GIMP, or rather, GIMP Paint Studio. GIMP can be downloaded for free from here. The GIMP Paint Studio plugin can be downloaded here. The same principles I use can be applied to other programs--the reason I use GIMP is because it's free. :) 

The first thing I did was open up GIMP and create a new image. I set the size to 1600 x 1200 pixels, and the resolution to 300 ppi. I then created a new layer and labeled it "Sketch." 

I checked "Opacity" and "Size" under "Pressure" in the Paintbrush settings, and, using the default Round brush, I started sketching out my picture. The sketch doesn't have to be perfect, but I played around for a while until I was happy with it. 

Once I finished the sketch, I selected the background layer and added a simple green gradient. 

The next thing I did was outline my drawing. I lowered the opacity on the Sketch layer to 40%, then created a new layer for the outline. Look through the images for further instruction. :)

I made a new layer for the color and put it under the lineart layer. I used the soft brush labeled "A-12C round brush" in GPS. After putting down some colors, I used the Smudge tool to blend them together. I debated about making the witch's skin entirely green, but in the end I settled for green around the eyes and cheeks. 

I used the same techniques for the hair. Rather than shades of gray, I used shades of grayish-green that gave the hair a green tint to it. 

Once again, I created a new layer for the hat and drew it out. I put this layer under the hair and over the skin. 

I forgot to take screenshots when I was doing the clothing, but I pretty much just used the same principles. I made a new layer, added color, and blended. So, here are some screenshots of the cat. Rather than using the soft brush that I used for the rest of the picture, I used the Oil paint brush, since I like the texture better for fur. 

After adding a few final touches, the last thing I did was to save it as a JPG and add Auto Contrast in Picasa. I hope you enjoyed seeing my drawing process! Thank you for viewing! 

If you would like to see more of my work, go to catscribe.weebly.com.