Finding my feet

Lately I've been experimenting a little with different drawing styles, none of which came naturally to me. I tried a new one today, and here's the result of 10 minutes of work.



It's by no means a finished work, just a quick sketch/trial of how to quickly colour and shade a cartoon. A lot of refinement will have to be done, as well as exploring how to draw faster and more precise lines. I'm still not sure if this style is quite "me", but at least I feel like I'm on the right track.

The process itself is relatively simple.
Start off with a sketch-layer and get down the broad strokes. Then create a new layer for refining the linework. Beneath the lines add a layer for basic colours and get them all filled in. Then add the final layer for shading between colours and lines, set it to about 20% opacity and paint in with solid black for the shading.

Credit should be given where credit's due, and the technique with the shadow layer is not mine originally. I picked it up from Scott Johnson, the author of Experience Points and My Extra Life. Well worth a look, both for the funny comics and the splendid podcasts.