Step 1 - First
I make my rough sketch with pencil and paper. The sketch starts out
pretty rough and scribbly just to get down the basic characters,
background and composition. I like to draw pretty loose so that the
picture has a feeling of spontaneity and fun to it.
Step 2 - Once I have
this rough sketch done, I refine it. I tape a new piece of paper on
top of it, place it on a light table and draw over the lines. The tape
I use is Scotch Removable Magic Tape. It has a low-tack adhesive like
that of a Post-It. You can also use tracing paper for this step, but
I prefer normal paper as it's cheaper and less smudgy.
Step 3 - Scan your drawing
as grayscale and save as a JPEG.
Step 4 - Open up Xara
Xtreme and import the JPEG file (Ctrl+Shift+I). In order to draw over this
rough I convert the lines to light blue by selecting the drawing and
right-clicking on the "Sky Blue" color swatch at the bottom
of the screen.
Step 5 - Add a new layer
by opening the Layer Gallery (F10) and selecting New. Name this layer "Drawing." This
is where you will draw your lines. I also like to lock the position
of Layer 1 where the sketch is to prevent accidentally moving it. To
do this, click on the little tick mark in the second box preceding
Layer 1 in the Layer Gallery. This makes this layer uneditable.
Step 6 - You're almost
ready to begin drawing. Next, you'll want to set your default line
properties. I like to select a sort of all-purpose line that I can
use to draw with and after I finish all or a few lines, I go back and
adjust them. The settings I generally use are: line weight - 1 pt.,
stroke shape - cigar, fill - none, freehand smoothing slider - 50%.
Step 7 - Begin going
over your lines using either a mouse or a stylus. A stylus works best
although I drew with a mouse for a long time until I was able to acquire
a stylus and tablet. Using the stroke shapes does not allow for the
pressure sensitive option of your stylus to work, however I personally
prefer the stroke shapes to trying to get a crisp effect using a pens
pressure sensitivity in Xara Xtreme.
Step 8 - You may find
that you carefully draw a line only to have it overly flattened by
the freehand smoothing option. If so, simply select the line and move
the slider to the left. This may or may not remedy the problem. You
may prefer to set the slider at 20-30 to allow for your finished lines
to be more like how you draw them without so much smoothing. Experiment
around to see what works best for you. The beauty of vector art is
that every line, shape and element can be individually modified after
you make it. To adjust a line, select it and use the Shape Editor Tool
(F4) to select the points on the line to modify it the way you want
it. You can also use this tool to add new control points or simply
click and drag/push a line in the direction you want it to go.
Step 9 - Once you've
got all the lines how you want them—including changing the thickness
and stroke shape of the lines—you're done, at least with the
linework. You'll probably want to color in your picture too. Initially,
I did this in Photoshop by saving (exporting) my finished drawing in
a format that Photoshop recognized like TIFF, PCX or JPEG. But I found
that it was easy enough to color it right in Xara and that the results
were just as good if not better!
Step 10 - To color your
illustration you'll need to create at least one more layer. Add a new
layer as described in step 5 above and name it "Color." On
the Layer Gallery select this layer and drag it below the Drawing layer.
You may wish to make the Drawing layer uneditable so you don't move
around the lines by mistake—up to you.
Step 11 - The method
I prefer to do coloring is to use the Pen Tool (Shift+F5). I can simply
click points around an area for a certain color until I close the shape
by clicking on the first point. Then I adjust the shape with the same
tool by dragging/pushing the outer edge of the shape so that it fills
the area outlined by the lines in the Drawing layer. This works well
although you may wish to also use the Shape Editor Tool for even better
adjustments and adding of new control points. Be sure your colors have
no outline.
Step 12 - Once you have
all your colors in you can add gradients and transparencies, fills
and bevels, and other effects to add interest to your pic.
Step
13 - When the drawing and color are complete, save your
original Xara Xtreme file and then export it in the format you want. And
that's it!
Here's the finished drawing.
I also gave a bit of texture to the finished lines on the Drawing layer by
selecting them all and in the Line Gallery (F10) double-clicking on the
Natural media/Chalk stroke. The lines turn out red but by right-clicking
on the black color swatch at the bottom of the screen they become black.
