Line quality starts with you! The more control you have over your hand with traditional drawing tools, the more control you’ll have with digital software, so it helps to warm up your hand before you start drawing digitally just like with traditional.  With that out of the way, make sure your canvas resolution is set fairly high. Something around 4500px X 5400px @ 300 DPI is a good starting point. Lower res canvases will pixelate the edges of your lines so that could be a factor you’re facing.  Next, the type of brush you use matters, but not as much as the brush settings. When you select a brush from your Brush Library, tap the selected brush a second time to open the Brush Studio where you can adjust settings. Each brush has individual settings to help you customize the feel of the brush line. The most relevant setting you should adjust in this case is in brush Stabilization under “Streamline.” Adjust the amount and pressure and test how the brush responds on the Drawing Pad. A little goes a long way with these settings so don’t over do it. Start by adding 5-10% streamline to your brush and test until it feels natural. Generally anything over 20% will start to feel like the brush is fighting against the line you’re trying to make so it takes some experimentation.  The last factor to consider is the iPad screen itself is VERY slick, so some folks like to use a textured “paper-like” screen protector. This will add a slight tooth to the iPad surface and impart a comfortable amount of drag on your pencil tip which can help with smoothing out your lines. Take a look on online for your iPad model to see what is available. The added benefit here is you’re protecting your screen from scratches as well as helping your line quality. Here’s a video from Lucas Peinador where he talks about how to ink digital art, and covers this Brush Studio Streamline tip! Lucas is an awesome teacher, and has some brushes available here on Proko as well!! https://youtu.be/CQLdM9OiQTk?si=d5egMTVm1JOTHQu9 Hope this helps! 

OMG. This is the first time in my life that I draw from my imagination. At first I was going to skip this task because it seemed too difficult for me. But you really managed to encourage me to try and not be afraid. I am so happy that you did! Because I surprised myself so much. I designed the final pose completely from my imagination. And I'm really proud of the result. Thank you!

I grew up reading TMNT comics, and listening to the Grateful Dead. (Things haven’t changed much) When I first was introduced to Heinrich Kley I was blown away to realize my first experience with Kley was actually on the Grateful Dead album cover for Terrapin Station. I had no idea at the time who Kley was, and I always attributed the dancing turtles to Stanley Mouse who designed many of my favorite album covers for The Dead. Thought it would be fun to mash-up a bunch of my favorite things for a comic sketch cover, Kley, TMNT, and The Dead! So here’s Mikey and Donnie (rocking out to Terrapin Station) after Kley. Sketched/inked in Procreate. Can't wait to do some more of these, such a fun project prompt!

Much more difficult than I thought it would be. I made these before watching Stan's demo, and now I'm noticing a few mistakes, like having too many angles and details, etc... I'll probably make a few more following Stan's steps. Great fun!

Man, Jeff Watts line quality is absolutely incredible! I found trying to get those thin crisp lines almost impossible. This was also my first time using a charcoal pencil, so getting the values correct was very difficult. Any feedback very welcome. Cheers :)

First attempt at level 1: Did I simplify enough? I’m going to watch the critique, attempt a few more, and then move on to level 2!

This was my best one from this morning. I think what I realized was that this particular exercise is simply to identify, create, design, big flow rhythms that capture the pose in as few strokes as possible. All other pre-existing knowledge of anatomy Would actually slow me down at this stage. I tried to connect the flow of the arm all the way through the torso and into the outer curve of the leg.

the beavorse

This is at a perfect stage to begin adding line weight! There are a lot of potential ways to begin, take a look the "How to Draw with Line Weight" lesson it will give you a good overview of how to organize your line weight. https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/how-to-draw-with-line-weight/discussions Here's a good overview from David Finch as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE7bWfPeYSI Experiment at this stage, beefing up the line weight of the overall silhouette is a good starting point to solidify the entire figure you're drawing. Then choose a light source and slowly build up the interior line weight where forms turn away from the light, under the chin, under the nose, inside the ear, etc. It's a balance to get the effect you're looking for, but work slowly and methodically and it will start to click, you'll quickly see where you can add line weight to make the lighting feel consistent. Once you do a pass of adding line weight, you can always go over it again to thin out lines with your eraser where lines are closer to the light source. Hope this helps!

I think I'm getting the hang of the digital tools. I usually work traditionally.

CSI~

Top: before the demo | Bottom: after the demo. Also mandatory comment on laces.

For my 1000th post, I thought I would share a project I'm working on. This is for a T-shirt design, I'm working on. In this case, I did the first draft without checking any reference. If I have a strong idea for something, I'll have a go at it to see what I can pull from my head. At this stage, I'm just looking for interesting shapes and compositions that will work for the Marines in this particular unit. On my second draft, I'll start bringing in the reference. I looked a few great white sharks for some details and as I'm not that familiar with the vehicles, I had to find pictures for all of those. Because I couldn't find the vehicles in the positions I needed them in, I just had to get a sense of their proportions and apply some simple one point perspective. All the text is added in Adobe Illustrator. Still a ways to do before it's done, but for those who like process stuff, these are the steps so far.

Congrats on your new tablet! Here's a great Procreate Dreams demo from Aaron Blaise! https://www.proko.com/lesson/procreate-dreams-animation-tutorial-with-aaron-blaise/discussions Also check out Alex Grigg's channel "Animation for Anyone," he has some GREAT free tutorials! https://www.youtube.com/@AlexGriggAnimation Can't wait to see what your animations!

Hey Mark, great pages! For future assignments, you only need to post work in the lesson assignment page to be considered for the critiques. Looking forward to seeing more of your work! https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/assignment-page-layout-and-thumbnailing/assignments

Thought I’d put a spin on the traditional portrait. Sentinel head done on ipad. Did more of an eyeball approach here. Fairly happy with it, a few minor issues.

Excellent brush set! Great feel, and awesome results right out of the gate!

I. Am. Struggling. So after drawing a whole lot of yawning hippos that all look very similar, I have gone to the internet to look for other hippos and I’m posting the first drawing that I actually think is cute. I am having a lot of trouble making the hippos look appealing. No offense to hippos. To be fair, it’s not their fault. Still struggling. Not giving up. Gonna find more hippos.

Hey @ickabod! I mostly switch between Photoshop, and Clip Studio with a Cintiq, and Procreate on the iPad. I find myself using Procreate a lot lately, mostly because it's quick, portable, and I don't always want to break out the Cintiq. Infinite Painter is another great option for both iOS and Android. Procreate and Infinite Painter are the most affordable programs with a one time purchase price and it's yours forever. Photoshop and other industry programs have moved to a subscription service which is hard to recommend. I've had a good experience with Affinity Photo as a Photoshop alternative. It's a one time purchase, and a great Photoshop clone. Hope this helps!

You mentioned Brian Hitch as great reference for laboratories etc, but when I Google image search his name plus terms like "Ultimates" or "laboratory" or "backgrounds", all I get is his character art. I'd rather not buy the entire (expensive) Ultimates omnibus just for a few ref images of labs, since superhero comics aren't really my style; but I have no idea how to search for reference for specific things like sci-fi robotics labs (which is a setting in the original comic I'm working on). In particular since I'm not into mainstream comics (again, not really a superhero gal) I don't know all the big names for artists or who to follow for ref. Any tips?