How To Draw With A Mouse Pad

Guide under construction

********** sick header thing u d really dig *************

Information technology was a matter of time! Finally, I'yard proud (non all the same, not until I finish this) to present you, all aspiring artists of Toribash, some neat tips and tricks nigh digital painting using a mouse but. Whether you're already an artist or not, this may be really useful for yous, who struggles to get on painting but for whatsoever reason can't go a graphics tablet or it's just broken. Either way, I'll be guiding you lot through some techniques I employ in almost each artwork I practice to get them done using this gadget, which is a handy tool for virtually of my digital activities, except for painting.
After years of study and practice, I experience like I have enough content to commencement educational activity about how I work. Of grade I'yard not a professional graphics artist. This manner, I won't exist teaching in details hither how to actually paint, nor to draw, but rather, how to utilize your knowledge and intentions on a canvass using a mouse. Concepts like value, colour, lines, shading and others have a cursory spot here. With this in mind, y'all must accept at least some experience in traditional drawing or painting in club to move into digital painting. You should starting time learn to draw before stepping into painting. In guild to replicate the traditional process of painting you accept to learn the fundamentals, which I recommend looking over alee on internet, or any platform you wish, since in that location are much better guides around. As a self-taught artist, I've been wandering around the web for years, seeking to and learning art by tutorials, guides and some pace-to-steps. So, in that location's no such thing as best fashion to paint. You have to be responsible for your own progress. This means you lot also have to be self-disciplined through your journey.

****** introduction **********

First of all, I'd similar to state that mastering your mouse won't exist fast and piece of cake. Y'all'll need enough of time, as well some patience. You'll as well be limited, because all the constraints a mouse have won't allow you to further develop your skills, therefore not all the things a tablet can accomplish you'll manage to exercise with a mouse. Well, at least I've never known someone who achieved this achievement. With a graphics tablet or the traditional process, you accept something called freehand precision. In the case of a mouse, there'south no such thing. Instead, you must deal with either controlled precision or quick uncontrolled stroking. In a tablet, the general procedure of painting is the post-obit: you depict a line, and then look at it to come across if it looks satisfying. That's done somehow unconsciousness. In controlled precision, you adjust the exact position of the line. In quick uncontrolled stroking, yous speedily draw a organic imprecise lines. I'll prove tips about both cases, which have their own useful subjects.
Hither I'll be using three softwares to demonstrate what I'll exist teaching: Adobe Photoshop CC, Pigment Tool SAI and Blender 3D. Fifty-fifty though I utilise them, you don't really take to. Well-nigh of my tips will be useful for other softwares too, as long equally they have similar tools I used. I'll endeavour my best to avoid typing walls of texts in each category. I'll also be using many examples I've done earlier, because I couldn't manage to finish a new artwork just for this occasion the time this tutorial has been published.

****** summary ********
Click on any of these links to go right ahead the tip. If it doesn't have a link or the link throws at you a bare topic, it ways it'south non done even so.

Know your software
Hotkeys
Switch amid sofwares
Big canvas
Layers
Using references
From traditional to digital
Full digital
Value sketching
Lineart
Constrain your work
Plain colors
Shading
Stroke replication
Blend if
Using vectors/vexels
Smudge tool
Brushes
Textures
Matte painting techniques
Mail-processing
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Useful links
Downloads

******* tips & tricks ********

Know your sofware
Yeahh, this is the kickoff tip I have to tell. These starting tricks will help you lot regardless if you use a tablet or a mouse. I just wanted to emphasize how really helpful they are, and then there's non actually any new matter. Knowing your software is a must for almost artists. Not only how information technology works, but how to apply it efficiently. Yous'll already take slow workflow due to using a mouse, so one mode to get things done speedily is to know exactly where things are and what them do. You'd not want to lose your precious time seeking for tools and features. Ane other tip is to have an organized layout. Wait at mine, may not be the best for yous just it suits well my desires.

Photoshop

Pigment Tool SAI (default layout, I'm used to use information technology as it is)

Blender (I use blender every bit 3d painting software)

As you lot can see, most of them are small-scale modifications of the default layout. Even so, these different things aid me achieve a faster outcome. Also, I know exactly where are most of the tools I utilize, so I'one thousand able to pick them really fast. However about being fast, accept the following tip:

Hotkeys
Ayy. I uncertainty you don't know this i. However, as already said, it's a friendly reminder. It's hither to emphasize its importance to mouse painting, so be always aware of it!!
Using hotkeys not only makes you piece of work faster just also prevents repetitive strain injury (RSI). I'm always with my left manus over the keyboard, this way I could *bang* and ohh I picked the smudge tool with the press of a button. And so again *tick* and voila, I have the handy eyedropper tool. I've fix all my favorite tools to keys and combined keys shut to my mitt.
Here'due south how you alter them in each software:

Photoshop ►

Go to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts
or Alt+Shift+Ctrl+G

SAI ►

Get to Other > Keyboard Shortcuts
or manually change the tools' hotkeys by correct clicking it then > Options

Switch amongst softwares
Some programs have features that'due south just amend or easier to work than others. Some doesn't even have these features. Or it can be simply personal preference. Switching amongst softwares can speed up your workflow because y'all'll have less pain to finish something when it's not possible or very hard in a particular programme.

I'thou used to beginning all my drawings in SAI, considering I's easier for me to practise the post-obit things:

Draw the lineart
Quick values lay out
Color sketching

Information technology loads faster in my pc likewise.
*Sometimes, nonetheless, I start with a traditional sketch then scan it. When the sketch's really bad, I process it in photoshop in order to make it readable, past adjusting its values/fixing distortions.

In this cartoon, I noticed I'd have to restrain my piece of work past determined areas. I felt that I'd accept greater freedom in photoshop for this, so I switched to it.

wip 2 ►

All those areas have locked transparency,
then I can't paint beyond the boundaries.

wip three ►

So I found well suited to end the unabridged painting on photoshop from now on.

Sometimes I switch a lot among softwares. That happened when I painted the catholic owl caput. I had a lot of details to pigment and mapping corrections I couldn't made just in photoshop.

catholic owl ►

Yellowish: Blender
Blood-red: Photoshop
Blueish: Pigment Tool SAI

wishes ►

I did this in Paint Tool SAI, then I finished it in Photoshop

Big sail
Using a canvas bigger than the final event to draw commonly is the all-time manner to hide minor painting imperfections and at same time to achieve a finer level of details. It also allows more smooth movements forth with your mouse, since large fast strokes doesn't await all shaken. Try starting with something twice every bit big as you lot'd want it to be, or that have whatever dimension at least greater than 1500 px.
Example:

lewd steps ►

This is a large smudge tag I fabricated years ago (2015 I retrieve?) The fatigued character wasn't fabricated by me, neither practice the other resources I used. Yet, the surrounding painting belongs to me. I'll talk a bit more almost this when I achieve Post-processing and Smudge tool

As you can come across, it'due south near twice as big as the final outcome. I did this to avoid using 1 px brushes while painting.

Layers
This i is quite obvious. Everyone seems to exist aware of the importance of layers in a matter of organisation. There are some artists that use only a few or worse, just i layer, though. Well, all I can say is that they know what they are doing. They're but aware of what needs to be painted at sight. It'south something very close to the traditional process of painting, but they don't take to wait until the pigment drys, let alone take the power of the undo control. The thing is: such a skill tin be developed regardless of what gadget you employ, just a traditional arroyo won't happen.

this ►

This is some thumbnail painting practise I did a while ago. I used ane layer for each i, which adds up to 3 layers in total. Took me xv mins to pigment each. Sometimes I had to erase a whole function because it didn't seem correct.

This way, you should abuse the utilize of layers. This doesn't mean that y'all demand a clusterfuck of layers (like nigh of my works), one for each tint or one for each part of a artwork. That's up to you lot, merely generally speaking we separate each layer with these aspects:

Can this office be farther adjusted to wait better?
Is this part optional or I'1000 unsure if it'southward needed for the outcome?
Will I demand to hide this part further ahead in order to facilitate my painting?
Is this part customizable?

Thinking in these questions while painting is a skilful way to have organized layers. Folders are important too, so if you software allows them, utilize it.
Big HOWEVER, that'southward a affair of preference. To be honest, everything write in this guide is a affair of preference. In the end, it's you whom decides to follow this or non. I myself don't follow this warning, because I'm such an unorganized person. Meet yourself:

pff ►

This isn't such a complex drawing to have such loftier amount of layers. Most of the layers doesn't have names and folders are random. I can't even tell what most layers are. Lol.

That's a much better organization.

Using references
Last organisation and workflow tip earlier we move to the actual painting, the applied part. Yay! To not take it out of our main field of study, I'll show a great use of references for mouse artists. First, I really recommend you to accept your own personal folder or somewhere to dump everything you think it's useful, be it now or in the futurity. The apply of references is either inspirational or for learning (or both).

From traditional to digital
Now let'due south motion to the fun function. I really propose you to start your sketches in a traditional way for a greater upshot. Well, basically if you can't depict on paper you won't exist able to describe on a calculator. Dot. Hence the importance of knowing the fundamentals earlier moving into digital.
A fast sketch is okay, equally long as its quality is good enough to be understandable, due east.grand. no doubts well-nigh detailed areas. A scan or a proficient photo is preferred to commencement cartoon, when it doesn't care if yous're doing lineart or not. Either example, take care to notice whatsoever distortions that might come.
My usual process is seen below:

sassy ►

sketch

lineart

patently color

shading

Sometimes the terminal outcome stays pretty faithful to the original sketch. If I don't run across whatsoever majors errors, I don't see a reason to alter it.

avoid this globe ►

this one is almost faithful, except for the upper function, which I felt that it'd break the remainder if information technology had those zeppelins.

Total digital
Yous could easily start full digital as well, skipping the traditional process. Since y'all'll be abandoning the freehand precision, y'all have to shape your style to find the sketch on the sheet. That is done by painting from big brushes/strokes in the beginning to smaller ones as the piece of work'due south end draws about, often done by value sketching or messy sketching.

value sketch ►

Pick whatever values you may find just right for the composition and lay it out, not worrying about details or right shapes.

Lines added later:

thicc sketch ►

I used a very thick brush to draw this. It's quite a nice technique because you're kind of sculpting your sketch.

Think of it as: these thick lines and curves aren't showing a very clear shape, but the correct lines are near probably inside them than outside.

See how I painted over the start sketch? The majority of the ruddy lines are overlapping the blue ones, which means that the shapes I were searching were hidden inside the thick lines. Yous're constraining your work zone by cartoon thick probability zones, then yous don't have to search for the clean lines everywhere on the sheet. I usually do this by sketching 2 times following by a big make clean up.

The clean up is optional though. Not many people like it.

dumb sketch ►

This is best when you take a clear idea of what you desire to describe

I wanted to draw information technology as fast as possible so I went ahead and drew this simple pose, then went straight to cleaning upwardly the lines. I didn't even do shading on this one.