Eloh Eliot
Starlight II
After I've more or less finished my initial sketch, I'll start going over my non-photo blue lines with a 2H pencil, and then with a darker, more precise HB mechanical pencil (I hate ink—it has shitty undo :P).
About the non-photo blue pencil—they're used a lot in cartoons and comics, because the color doesn't show up when photocopied, so you could just ink directly onto a non-photo blue pencil sketch and photocopy it for instant cleanup.
With scanners, the sketch retains the non-photo blue pencil lines, but with Photoshop I can adjust how visible (or invisible) the non-photo blue sketch with the color channels (selecting only the red channel shows the non-photo blue, whereas the blue and green channels do not).
And so, because I'm pretty retarded with a tablet, having the non-photo blue there as a reference really helps when I start coloring this in Photoshop—plus it's nice having the option of keeping the sketch or scrapping it in the final colored image (in case I decide I want to make it more James Jean-esque instead of Alphonse Mucha-esque).
Starlight II
After I've more or less finished my initial sketch, I'll start going over my non-photo blue lines with a 2H pencil, and then with a darker, more precise HB mechanical pencil (I hate ink—it has shitty undo :P).
About the non-photo blue pencil—they're used a lot in cartoons and comics, because the color doesn't show up when photocopied, so you could just ink directly onto a non-photo blue pencil sketch and photocopy it for instant cleanup.
With scanners, the sketch retains the non-photo blue pencil lines, but with Photoshop I can adjust how visible (or invisible) the non-photo blue sketch with the color channels (selecting only the red channel shows the non-photo blue, whereas the blue and green channels do not).
And so, because I'm pretty retarded with a tablet, having the non-photo blue there as a reference really helps when I start coloring this in Photoshop—plus it's nice having the option of keeping the sketch or scrapping it in the final colored image (in case I decide I want to make it more James Jean-esque instead of Alphonse Mucha-esque).