Colouring in Adobe Illustrator - Wolf Cartoon Pt2

[zadrazil]

why didn't u just add fills to your strokes? u used the pen tool right?

[lockianhound]

@zadrazil I didn't really use any strokes mainly just solid colours, so I think what you must mean is why didn't I just add strokes to those colours to make the outlines. I could have done that but in this older version of illustrator (CS) you can only get a perfectly uniform width stroke line. But I was trying get the look of inking with a paint brush. n.b. this is an old video and I don't do it like this anymore anyway, See schizo910's comments below, he taught me a much better way.

[JakPheonix]

you missed a spot

[lockianhound]

@dani9dani Thanks, you're right there are much better faster ways to get the same effect but i didn't know them then and I'm still learning new tricks all the time, I just don't have the time to keep everyone updated about them but I'll get round to it I promise.

[schizo910]

Merge all the lines you traced via the pathfinders submenu. I'm working with a Dutch version of illustrator so forgive me for not knowing the exact names in the English version. Once you've got the lines merged make a copy underneath your layer containing your line work. I prefer to give the copy a 100% Magenta color. Because it's a color I don't often use and that way I can quick select the remaining lines later on. Now select the copy and hit alt+cmnd+8 (8 on your numeric keyboard).

[lockianhound]

@schizo910 Thanks for the tip, I've had a go at your method and I'm finding so far, that it half works some of the time. That is some areas are filled but many aren't. What happens where you have free floating lines that don't form a complete shape? Maybe I just need to experiment more with it. I'll check out the uploads you mentioned. If I could get it to work, it would certainly save me a lot of time. 

[lockianhound]

@schizo910 I get it now, you have to make sure all your lines are touching and all the spaces are enclosed. That can be quite time consuming, bit it's still a great tip thank you

[schizo910]

@lockianhound Sorry I didn't get back at you sooner. But I'm glad you did figure it out, yes you have to make sure all spaces are enclosed. However sometimes I add some extra spaces if I want an extra colour without any outlines.

Love your style by the way!

[schizo910]

Why do you redraw all the colour parts? You could just make a copy of the linework hit alt+cmd+8 and all the parts will be there to select and give a new colour.

[lockianhound]

@schizo910 Hi I'm always looking for better faster ways of doing things and I don't pretend to know everything about Illustrator and maybe i'm just thick but I just don't get how the shortcut for release -> compound paths would do that so please explain.

[schizo910]

continue... After hitting alt+cmd+8 you've got all the parts to fill.

Check out some of my uploads for more on this.

By the way, I didn't mean to be a smartass or something. just wondering if there was a special reason for your way of work.

[gonzo191]

omg thank you dude but i hate you at the same time cuz now i have to go redo my artwork as this way makes more sense than the way i was doing it

[lockianhound]

@gonzo191 Thanks, I now have a better way of doing it but I haven't had time to make that video yet, but soon I promise.

[jumpalitann]

you're really a pen tool master :D

[ecclesi]

This is probably THEE ILLEST vid of drawing in Illustrator that I've seen yet! I just started messing with Illustrator, and I'm really trying to get a running start with it. This helps tremendously (well, as much as I could catch). I will be looking for more in-depth tutorial stuff from you. Thx.

[patdzon]

When you're coloring the lineart, do you make sure they're already separated into their own groups(ex. lines of the skin, lines of the clothes, etc.)?

[lockianhound]

Sometimes, but generally I don't bother. But yes, you could select a bunch of lines and ctrl-g to group them and then apply a colour to that group it would make it quicker to do different coloured versions of the same artwork

[MDthornton83]

Amazing work!

[TheRaw222]

to mutch blue

[Sicamated]

Wow, stunning!

You are soo good, I learned so much lookin' at this awesome tutorial, keep it up

D:

[lockianhound]

Thanks. The video is speeded up but in realtime it takes about 3 - 4 hours to colour a drawing like this

[OrkotheAlien]

wow, amazing work. thanks for the vid.

[forefeet]

AWSOME!!