Nasuka / Nasca Mature Art Tutorial

Warning! Adult only! 18+

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Tutorial Image:

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Well; I decided to go and make up a step-by-step tutorial of how I do my art. It's something I've never done before; but since I recently did this art of Nasca (or Nasuka) from Keroro; I thought I'd use that as a good example to explain my art process by.

Also; I don't have any kind of progression art recorder program on my computer; and even if I did; I take so long that it wouldn't be worth watching. :lol:

This is how it works (The numbers of the following correspond to the numbers on the pics):

#1.) I start off by drawing up a free-hand picture; either with or without an existing picture as a guide.

I don't do my art like most people do...I don't do circles or shapes to get the shape of the figure I'm drawing. Instead; I draw what I see either in front of me or in my mind completely free-hand. I do sketchy, weak lines to form it out and solidify them once I am satisfied.

The first picture was done with a guide picture; since I don't do dynamic poses well. But in the end; I didn't like how it turned out; so I didn't finish it.

I don't always do this step though...often I do like my first drawing attempt and I end up working off of that.

#2.) When I finally do end up with a picture that I like; I will take the lines I had weakly drawn before in light pencil and darken them with my pencil. I don't use a pen simply because the ink either skips while I'm tracing it out or it bleeds.

Sometimes I will take the original picture I had drawn and use a tracing pad to get a finer line detail. I did not do that with this one though; this is the original sketched version with darkened lines.

As you can see in the pic; the lines are darker but the quality of the pic is horrible; with eraser marks and "dust" everywhere on the pic. This is also what it looks like right after I scan it.

#3.) After it's scanned into the computer; I go and open the picture in PaintShopPro 7 (I know...ancient technology...)

Anyway, once in there; I go and start to clean up the pic. I'll usually lighten the contrast on the pic to shrink the thick lines down and I erase all of the messed up lines, messed up areas in general, and "dust" I can find.

After all of that is done; you wind up with the 3rd picture. This is also the black and white versions of my art that I always post.

#4.) Sometimes I feel compelled to go the extra distance on my art and do up digital lines.

The lines are really hard to do; since I don't have a good tool for making really smooth curves (well; I do...but it's a pain in the ass to use and never works properly).

The lines take me a really long to do; several hours at least; so I don't often do them. They are done with the line tool in PSP7; almost always at the smallest setting (unless I need to make a thick line for some reason).

But when I do actually do the digital lines; they come out looking like this and almost always look better than the original darkened pencil lines.

This is also the very first step I do layers in. The darkened pencil lines are one layer; the digital lines are another; and I add a blank white "backdrop" layer so I can see the digital lines better.

#5.) Once the digital lines are done (if they are); it's onto coloring.

This step is pretty easy actually; given you can stay in the lines. It sounds simple enough; but it's really hard since I use layers on this step a whole lot more.

Each color gets it's own layer (in general; sometimes I combine color layers and elements) so I can adjust them as I need to (hue, constant, brightness, etc.). Also; it helps in case I mess up; then I can just simply delete a layer instead of having to redo everything.

This drawing right here has a total of 15 layers in all. The wings and sleeves themselves have a total of 4 layers to them.

Speaking of those; with elements where I have to do see-through or semi-transparent items; I simply keep the background elements in the image (like the colors for the cuffs on the sleeves) and layer the overlapping colors onto them.

Once the coloring is finally all done; I will go and clean up the areas where the colors bled through and went passed the lines. To do this; I take my backdrop layer and color it in with a solid color that's drastically different from the other colors on the image; so I can see the areas better (white's too difficult to see that from).

#6.) Finally, onto the last step...shading, highlights and final touches.

This is by far the most complex of the steps. In this step; I have to look at the picture and figure out where it should be shaded and highlighted.

The very first thing I do is take all of the color layers and combine them into one merged color layer (not the other layers though; the lines and the backdrop stay separate).

To shade/highlight; I simply select an area I want to shade in/highlight; adjust the color of it (I use a couple of different methods for this) to whatever degree I see fit and fill it in; either with the paint bucket tool or a color-adjustment tool to the existing color.

Once I've got the area shaded in/highlighted; I go and blend it by selecting an area I want to blend and using a tool on it. There's a few tools I have to use for this; since the colors are still layers separate from the backdrop. They vary from a simple "Blur" tool to an "Average" tool (which blends everything in an equal way) to a "Gausian Blur" (which blends everything in a general way) to a "Motion Blur" tool (which blends everything in a certain direction only).

Of course I have to adjust the settings on each of these tools each time I use it; to ensure a proper blend.

Once I've shaded in/highlighted all of the areas I need to; which can take several hours again; I go and work on the lines.

The lines aren't always good in one color; so I select certain areas of the lines and change their opacity; making them lighter or darker; depending upon what works best for the image. For example; the lines on the hair are extremely light; whereas the ones for the eyes are as dark as possible.

Once that is completed; it's onto final touches. I go and double-check to make sure I did everything (I always seem to miss something though...). Then I go and create a backdrop.

This is usually done by finding either a random backdrop image on the net or using the paint bucket tool with either a multi-colored option or a picture-fill option selected.

After I fill in the backdrop with whatever fits the main image best; I merge all of the layers together into one and adjust the settings of the image; fiddling with the contrast, brightness, color depth, color balance, saturation, and anything else I need to.

Occasionally I will add text to the image afterwards; but not too often.

And finally; the image is done! :D


I hope you liked this tutorial; and please feel free to comment! I'd appreciate it! :)