How to start a sketch?

[Brodster55]

How do you guys start a sketch when your using a tablet on photoshop? What tools do you use, what settings, what do you draw first, etc?

I need some help because it seems really hard to draw with a tablet with photoshop, and I see a bunch of people making really good drawings easily.

[TurkeyOnAStick]

Had a look on Google,
this seems like a good tutorial,
as well as this Youtube vid.

[Morthagg]

Honestly, the first thing I do is draw a quick sketch with regular pencil and paper, then I scan in it, put a new layer over it in photoshop, colour that layer white, set the opacity of that layer to around 50, make a new layer above it again, and in that layer I start doing actual linework with my tablet in photoshop. You have a good sketch to start from and you can erase as much of your photoshop linework as you like without losing that.

[Kumakun4]

I do pretty much the same as Morthagg, except I retrace over my main lines with the pencil and try to add a bit of volume to the lineart before scanning it.

[AssKiller]

I used to scan my drawings but i've been painting more recently and see everything as chunks of color (shapes) instead of lines. The first thing I do is remove the lame white of the canvas. I fill it with a mid-tone color that allows you to work with lighting and shadows. On a new layer i then try to create random shapes as loosely as possible. Unless you have a precise concept in mind, try to be as unprecise as possible ( not looking at the screen while you're doing it works well). Your brain will then start to interpret the shape you created as more figurative forms (character, machine, weapon, etc).

That's how I work but maybe that workflow won't fit with your style !

Good luck !

[Food123]

i hadn't made a sketch