My Digital Drawing Technique

This is how I tend to do my digital drawing in Painter.  It’s pretty much exactly like I would do with paper and charcoal, but I have UNDO!!  Anyways, this drawing isn’t finished.  I got to figure drawing late, so I was limited, and just like any lazy artist, I wait for the face, hair, and the hands until last.  I guess that’s why they are almost never there.  Anyways, here are the steps I go through:

1. First, I block out the forms and make sure my proportions are correct:

2. I create a second layer and keep “pick up underlying color” checked, then first wipe out the image using a blender brush, then lay down lines for form:

3. After that, I start another layer, and wipe the lines down so that they are not so harsh:

4. Once I have that done, I begin blocking in my light and shadow, and tightening up the edges a bit in places.  I like to have some tight edges and some soft:

5. In my last step, I now go through each part, tightening the drawing, adding shadows, core shadows, highlights, etc. :

So like I said, I didn’t finish this drawing, but I think it is a good example of how I work digitally.  Hopefully next time I’ll actually finish it.