Lappland Arknights Drawing {Process Post}

I want to share some more in depth thoughts and processes on how I draw things. Note that this is not really a tried and true method of drawing but more like how it works for me. Sometimes, seeing drawing videos is not as helpful and I am not good with voiceover so I hope this can help a little!

Step 1: 

For Lappland, I started with a rough sketch of a pose. For sketches I don't think about anatomy or a structure. I try to draw the pose feelings and expressions Lappland will make. I will work on fixing anatomy later. In this drawing, the hand is not realistic if you think about it logically how short it is. But I know the end result is her hand being there in approximately that location.

Step 2:

Next I work on lining the character. I will keep parts of the character that changes the most often: face, hair and accessories on separate layers because I will be fixing them and tweaking the expression very often. It's a lot faster for a lineart type artist to keep parts separately because you don't have to redraw parts of the drawing you erase later. 

Another thing I like to do is the keep different layers in different colors. So I can draw the hair without getting distracted by all the random lines floating everywhere. For equipment, even though most of it will be covered, I will still draw most of her sword and erase the excess later so you can see that the anatomy of the sword makes sense. 

After I am done with the lineart, I will merge everything.

Step 3:

Next, I will clip the different layers and add in rough colors. I am still experimenting with the best way to color but lately, I find that roughly coloring everything helps me figure out the lighting better. I will go back to every layer after the rough color and clean it up so that it will still look like simple coloring.

Step 4:

After coloring the lineart, I like to take a break and do something else for a few hours. Then I come back and look to see if something looks "weird". I find that I can catch a lot more errors when I look at things with fresh eyes. 

Then I merged all the layers into one drawing and "paint over" parts that are wrong. In this part I noticed that the hairs felt too whispy so I add a bit more volume. I edit the hand as wel.

Step 5:

I am finished finally after around 5 hrs.

Step 6:

I take another break for about a couple of hours (played Genshin haha) and then come back to make final adjustments with colors. I like to make my colors a bit richer and brighter but the level of adjustments varies depending on personal taste. Then I look one more time for adjustment (fixed the vest) before submitting the art.

Thanks so much for reading this lengthy post and I hope this helps with your art drawing. I am still experimenting and working on new techniques so I can keep on improving. u vu/