The Command Z Loop in Drawing (And How To Fix It)
Katherine Wang (G10)
Katherine Wang is just a struggling artist who should draw and practice more but games instead.
In this article we get to peer into their mind and techniques on the intricacies of digital line art.
Anyone who has ever drawn on a computer has known the pain of redoing over and over again when the line doesn’t fit, when the curve isn’t just right, or when the line is too shaky. And when you’ve finished your line-art, only for it to look... too wobbly, too flat, or just not interesting enough! Thankfully there are a lot of ways to make your line-art pop and make it way more convenient so you don’t waste 5 hours on your line-art or abuse your command-Z button.
Speaking as a digital artist myself, art is really hard to get into! Line-art is something that many people struggle with, and that’s just considering one part of art, not addressing other aspects of it as well like good composition or color usage, etc. It’s hard, but an important part of this is to just experiment, and see what suits you and your style. Simply put, don’t be afraid to try new things!
We digital artists are quite fortunate to have tools ready at our disposal. Command-Z, eraser, you name it. There is a certain dependency that could be built on using these tools, but it’s alright to try to use them to get used to lining precisely and clearly. Lineart is something where repetition and lots of practice is needed to gain the control needed, as difficult and time-consuming it is ways to introduce textures through solid lines.
How To Make Line-art Less of a Slog
Confident large strokes vs small strokes. Defined lines look clearer, and also give more of a shape to the subject while the small strokes make it look fuzzy. Please note that the same applies with opacity pen pressure as well!
Usually, I start line-art after drawing two sketches, one for general posing and the other for finer details, but really only one is necessary so you can have a vision for your drawing. For more advanced artists, it might be a good idea to color block your sketches to find palettes that work well and look good. Anyways, again with the tools, if your hand naturally shakes, a line-stabilizer exists which basically softens your curves. I found this really useful in my early years as an artist, but some may find that it’s too slow and not “loose“ enough or find that it doesn’t flow well. I usually change the setting to be around 5- my art program being Firealpaca, but there are many options under different programs: Streamline in Procreate, stabilization in CSP, etc.
As for your line-art, try to make confident quick strokes and use your pen pressure to the best of its ability. Stay away from making many quick strokes at a time as it can make your drawing look blurry and hairy. If you want to draw animals, it works well maybe, but there are plenty of other ways to introduce textures through solid lines.
Variety on the Lines
Artemis from Hades (drawn by @0jenzee0 on Twitter) - note the black used in the hair and the arrows to create depth
Pen pressure is going to be your best friend moving forward, especially if you have a tablet or use a device that can register how hard you’re pressing down on the canvas. With pen pressure, you can emphasize your lines a lot more compared to a constant line size which usually feels too thick or too thin. Try to make your lines join with a lot of thickness and emphasis compared to when they fade out. This is really useful for drawing bunches of hair or cloth. Lineart can also be used to shade where you can apply emphasis to one side of the line-art while going lighter on the other side. You can use line-art to show that one area casts a shadow over another area. You can even try crosshatching on parts if you don’t feel comfortable enough to add shadow.
I know that I said not to make too many quick strokes, but if you use some light strokes you can liven up your art by making it appear more three-dimensional and natural-looking (such in the case of cloth, wrinkles, etc.)
Partnering With Everything Else
Similar to how I could not live without pen pressure, likewise, the same applies to protect alpha. Alpha lock basically allows you to apply colors to a specific layer, but only on the already drawn art and shapes, essentially allowing you to recolor or draw on only the part you already have filled in. This comes in handy for recoloring lineart and shading or coloring inside the lines, the latter of which I’m hilariously bad at despite being a so-called artist. I try to color my lineart with hues that are usually darker than the ones in the original colors. This can add atmosphere and more depth to your art, and if you’re ambitious, you could even try to use warmer or colder colors to your advantage. Similar to alpha lock, you can also apply ‘blending modes’ to your layers. These allow your layers to reflect light in a different way, for example: ‘add’ can make lighter overlays saturate and brighten your art, or ‘multiply’ can darken your art like stained glass. These are godsends for shading, but you can also use them in your lineart, or on top of your lineart (with a clipping layer). Obviously this requires a lot of experimentation, but if it works out it can really add that finished look to your piece.
The End of the Line
At the end of the day, the journey you decide to take with your lineart is up to you. Experimentation is key, and so is trying out new things. These are just a few things you can try to solidify your lineart and allow it to synergize with your art better by synchronizing with the colors, shading, and more. Try drawing with new brushes, try a new angle, try adding more detail than you normally do, and just try to switch things up. Obviously not everything will go the way you want to, make you perfect, or turn you into a certified art genius in a week, but variety will bring you a lot of change and improvement. Don’t be afraid to try new things!
