Transcripts
1. Alphabet Chart Introduction: Welcome to this new class, creating an ABC chart for a
special child in your life. In this class, you
will learn how to use the grid in Procreate. Create a colorful and
interesting background. Apply the text with the drop
shadow until with gold. Then I'll show you five quick
ways to make your images. Finally, you can
personalize the chart and give as a gift or offer
on-site such as Etsy. I find it's always more
productive to have a finished juicing
site such as a gift. It makes the work more meaningful and gives
happiness to a special child. So let's begin the class.
2. Alphabet Chart Class Project: Let's talk about
the class projects. Before you start to
take a little time to decide the form you're
ABC chart will take. Will it be personalized for a child's gift or to offer
on the Etsy platform. Is it for a boy or a girl? Or would you like it
to be neutral gender? So it's suitable for either choose a color
scheme for the background, for the letters, and the
colors in each picture. Choose a theme. You could have one
that's all animals. Or an ABC chart consisting of toys or like I've done
here, use mixed items. You may want to use
a different font. So the one I've chosen. So have a look
through your fonts. Jot down your ideas. Now you're ready to
begin your project. Remember at the end, to upload your special
projects for everyone to enjoy and inspire others. Now we're ready to get started.
3. Using the Grid Function and Creating the Base Design: So let's make our grid. We're going to start off
with an A3 size canvas. Let's look at the
Canvas information. So that's for 20 by
297 and it's 300 DPI, which will give us a
good print quality. The next step is to go
into the wrench tool and put the drawing guide on in Canvas, edit drawing guide. Now I've increased the thickness and the opacity so you can
see what you're doing. And the grid size is 150 pixels. And it's on assisted drawing. That's done. Now we're going to choose the color that
we want for our square. In this case, it's red. And I'm choosing a round
brush because it's got a fairly straight edge, which will give us a
good edge for square. We're going to draw one square. And we're going to
go down 123 or top. Go down, it's going Nobel, go across 1234, hold the pen. Tap. Go down 1234, hold
the pen, 1234. And that's our square. Now the first thing we'll do is duplicate that square
and just merge it. So we've got a nice thick line. Now we're going to
duplicate the square. Bring the new square, cross with one
square in-between. Now we'll keep duplicating and
moving the squares across, mining them until we have six squares. So it's going to be
six squares across. And Foursquare Stan will
pinch those layers together. Duplicate that layer. And moose, the next one down. Do that again. Duplicate the layer. Leaving one square in-between. Duplicate the layer again. We've got snapping on. Now we'll go into layers and
pinch those layers together. Press the selection tool. Now we're going to move it down so there's just one square at the bottom and make it central. So you see the yellow
line in the middle. And that leads us room to put a personalized child's
name at the top. Now because there's
only 24 squares, will have to double
up on two squares and put two letters into squares. So now we'll go into layers and we'll duplicate this layer. Choose a nice sky color and fill in each square. Now we're going to choose layer to make it into a clipping mask. Choose a nice green grass color. One studio pen. And just make a nice wavy line. Will make a straight
line across the bottom. Close up the lines and
fill each one. Like this. Now we're going to duplicate that layer and move
it down to here. Make a new layer, make sure it's on clipping mask. Now we're going to make
another wavy line. But different to
the one at the top. Make a straight line. Close the squares, film them in. This enables us to give a
different look to each layer, but a quick way of doing it. So now we're going to duplicate that layer and move it
down to the bottom. Now you can see I've gone
over the red and that's why we've done this extra layer, which you're going
to move to the top. And that gives us
a nice red square. Again. Go to layer one, add a layer, place
it underneath. Now we're going to choose
a background color. Going to choose a nice blue. Because the one I'm
doing is for a boy, little bit too dark, maybe darker there. So this stage, I would
go into gallery. Select your artwork
and duplicate it. Now you've got all your
squares duplicated. So if anything goes wrong, you can go back to the first
squares that you made. Now, go back to the top
layer, choose another layer. Put it underneath the red layer, making sure it's still
a clipping mask. I'm going to choose white. And we're just going to
make some little clouds. Just making the
clients randomly. Now we're going to,
as we did before, duplicate that layer and
move it down to layer three. Now we're going to make
a new layer and put some little clouds on layer two. Again, just making
the clouds random. I'm going to duplicate that layer and move it
down to the bottom. Then it looks as if we've got different shaped
clouds on every layer. Again, going to gallery, select that layer
and duplicate it. I advise you to do
this quite often, especially with this
particular artwork, which has a lot of layers. So now it's time to
make the letters.
4. Adding the Letters and Personlaised Name: Now it's time to
make the letters. So making sure you go into layers and you're
on the top layer. Go to the wrench
tool, add a text. We're going to put
the first letter in. I think it's easier to
use your fingers when you're working with texts. So I'm going to edit text. And I'm going to choose
the font that I want. You can choose any
font you like, but make sure that
it's quite a bold one. And in this case, I went for Damascus and bold. And I went for size 80. So now I can move to
the position I want. I'm going to go just over the edge and quiet
close to this side. Now, go into layers and just duplicate the letter
a movie too long, and then edits and
make it the letter B. Now we're going to go along doing that all the way through. So duplicate edits. See, delete the B and the more or less comes
in the right place for you. I'm going to do that
all the way through. But I have to double up on
a couple of the letters. Let's have a look at
the finished item. And I've doubled up on
I and j and X and Y. Now going to carry
on duplicating. Moving the lesser across. Edits. The next lettering
and delete the first one. Duplicate. Move it across. Edits. Jason, next letter. I'm going to carry on doing
this all the way through. Then we have all our
letters of the alphabet. I encourage you again
to go into gallery, select that and
artwork and duplicate. So you work is saved. Now we'll go on to
color in the letters. The next thing we're
going to do is to go into layers and merge all
the layers together. Just pinch them together, making sure all the
letters are on one layer. Then we're going to
duplicate that layer, add a new layer, and make it into a clipping
mask and fill with black. I want you to go into
the white layer below. Move that to the top. Now we're going to merge
down the black layer. Choosing the black layer. We're going to
select that layer. And then simply tap in the right hand bottom corner until the black appears below. To one side. Make sure the clipping mask
isn't on the white layer. Now, we've outlined those
letters with black. Now going back into layers, the white layer, we're going to add a layer and
choose clipping mask. And we're going to
bring in the gold. I go to the wrench tool, add, insert a photo. We're going to bring in our gold and then duplicate
the gold layer. Move it across. Just line it up so the, the, the gold looks even on
all of the letters. So now we have our gold letters. And if you go into
personalize this, this is the time to put
the name on the top. If you're not going
to personalize it, simply swipe right on all
the layers all the way down. And then press the
selection key, the selection tool,
and centralize. But we are going to, in this case, personalize
the name at the top. Making sure you are
on the top layer. Go into the wrench
tool, add text. And I'm going to do
this particular one. Was the name of my
grandson Samuel. I'm going to do Caps Lock. Samuel, select it and centralize this. I'm going to duplicate the name. Edits, make it white. Then like we did before, on the black layer, I'm going to select that
layer selection tool and just tap the bottom on the right to give
us a drop shadow. Now going back into
the white, Samuel, going to add a layer,
clipping mask. Go into Insert a photo
and bringing the gold. Just move it around until you've got the part of the goal
sheet that looks the best. And there we have Samuel. We could just choose
those layers, Samuel layers selection tool and maybe make it a
little bit bigger. And then centralize. And there we have all
the lettering Dan, on our ABC charts. And it's time to put the items that relate
to each letter. And we'll do that
in the next lesson. Just another reminder,
go into gallery. Select the one that we've
just done and duplicate it. So we don't lose any
of our hard work.
5. Choosing Your Images: We have all the basics down, and now it's time to put an
item against each letter. First of all, decide on a theme. It could be animals, Toys. Words at each letter represents little figures drawn
as different occupations, like a fireman or a policeman. Or as I've done here,
miscellaneous items. When you've decided
on your theme, write down all the letters
of the alphabet in a list. As I found, it's not
so easy to choose each item or even
think of the best one. I solve this problem by Googling kids words
beginning with a e.g. simply go into Google and typing kids words
starting with a. And you'll see lots
of options come up. E.g. words that start with
a for kids education. It will give you a list
of words which will help you to decide which
image you want to use. If you've decided
to use animals, simply type in animals. That began with say B. You can see straight away, it comes up with a list of
animals starting with B. So I'd encourage you
to use the Internet to find the right images to use. When considering each image, choose the one that you
think a child would know.
6. Creating Your Images: You'll find that
it's not so easy. Drawing and painting 26 images. I've used some shortcuts, but I think it's quite
legitimate to do this as the images
are quite small. And you may be
making them just for your own child or for
a friend's new baby. You can of course, paint and draw all
your images yourself. I think you'll find these
time-saving tips really useful. So number one is use a reference picture and
paint your image as normal. Number two is used the reference picture and
trace and color your image. Number three, use a
reference picture and change the shape and color. Number four, choose an image
you've painted in the past. Number five, choose a
copyright-free image from Pixabay or Unsplash. And you will find
that they've got lots of illustrations
that you can use. So I'm going to go
through each of these and show you how I made each image using
these particular tips. As I said, you can of course, draw and paint all your
images as originals. But I think you'll find
26 images is quite a lot. So I encourage you to use
these different ways. And now I'll go on and show you how I use each
one of these tips. So the first tip is to use a reference and
paint your picture. Fantasy picture of
an apple on Pixabay. I'm simply going to copy
the apple large circle. Tap to make it a complete
circle. Fill it in. I'm going to change the shape of the apple or using the eraser. I'll carry on and paint
the rest of the apple. I'll put the layer
on Alpha Lock. I'll speed this part up for you. Then we have our apple removes the reference,
removes the background. And we'll save it as a PNG. The mill bringing
a base ABC chart, add a layer, add a photo, and we'll bring in our apple. You can see it's quite large. So simply move it over, reduce the size. And then we're going to erase the part zone
for our letter a. So we can see that
properly or go into and reduce the opacity. And simply, he raised the part that's
covering the letter. And the picture. Now back into the layer,
opacity, back up. And there we have
our first image. Now we'll move on
to the second tip. The second method
I've used is to use a reference picture and trace
it over and re-color it. So bringing your
reference picture, add a new layer. Choose studio pen
or tracing pen. And the color you'd like. Go back into the bear
layer, press the N, and lower the
opacity and go back into layer two and
begin to trace. Just hold your pen at the
end of each stroke and procreate will make
it a perfect shape. And then color in the
different sections. We can switch off a lower layer. Just tidy up, turn off
the background color, and share as a PNG. Now I'll go back
into the ABC chart. Add a layer, insert
a photo to sit in size, place it. Then we're going to
reduce the opacity. So we can take out the parts that are
covering up the letter. Then we can put the
opacity back on, back up. And there we have a bear. For now we're going
to use the third way by using a reference and altering the shape
and the color. First of all, let's remove the background because we
need to isolate the cat. So go into the select
tool, automatic, choose the background
and invert, and copy and paste. Then we can get rid of
that layer underneath. And we have a cap. We're going to re-color the cat. Let's recolor it by going
into hue, saturation. There. That looks quite for say. Now we're going to reshape. It. Will go again
into the Magic Wand. Go down to the bottom
and choose Liquify. Make sure it's on push. And we're just going
to push out the body. Just to make his little bit different from the
original picture. Then we have our cat's going
to go into the wrench tool, share and share as a PNG. Save Image. Going to bring up ABC chart, add a layer, insert a photo, bring the cat in. There, we have our
catch position. The cat's going to erase tool. First of all, lower
the opacity of the cat so he can see where it
overlaps the letter. Going to the eraser tool. I'm removed the part of
the cat that overlaps. Go back into the cap layer
and put the opacity back up. There we have a third image. Now we'll move on to an image
you've painted in the past. This is a frog god painted
about two years ago. Also. So I utilize this. Hello letter F, and
make a new frog. So I'm going to, going to
select tool, choose freehand. I'm going to cut out my frog, copy and paste. Then we've got the Frog so
we can delete the original. I'm going to go into the eraser tool and just
clean up the edges. Then I'm going to simply
change the color. Make it a nice green
saturation up. And I think that's about right. I'll go to Apply. And I'm going to turn
off the background and share as a PNG. So the camera roll. Now I'll bring up
the ABC charts. Adelaide. Shared. Add, insert a photo and
bringing the frog over to the letter F and place it. I'm going to go into the frog layer and
reduce the opacity. Go to the eraser and just
erase the parts of the frog. Overlapping. Come back into the frog layer, press the end, put
the opacity back up. There we have our frog. Now the fifth way
is simply to choose a free image from sites such
as Pixabay and Unsplash. So here I've typed
in the search robot. And you'll see there's
quite a few illustrations. And I went down and
I chose this one. So we have our robot and we
can use it just as it is. Or if you prefer, you can change the colors. I think it's it's fine
actually just as it is. I'm going to remove
the background. Go to the wrench tool
and share as a PNG. Save the image. Bring up our ABC. Add a layer. Add the photo of the robot. Will move it down to the
letter R and place it. Turn the opacity down. Go to the eraser, and erase the parts
that are covering the lettering back into the n. And put the opacity back up. There we have our robot
bit more erasing to do. The reason I'm suggesting
these five ways is because 26 images is an awful lots of
paint in the original form. The idea of the
chart is to make it colorful and attractive
to children. Therefore, in this case, I find it quite legitimate. Use copyright-free images
to complete the project. Now your chart is complete. I will suggest printing
the chart A3 size and putting it into an
a to frame with a mat, as I've done here for
my grandson Samuel. Now we'll move on
to the wrap-up.
7. Alphabet Chart Wrap Up: I hope you've enjoyed making your ABC chart for a
special child in your life. Procreate artists could
also offer this chart on Etsy and offer the
personalization, the ETC bias. I'm so looking forward to seeing your individual artwork and
the theme you've chosen, please upload your
finished project for everyone to enjoy. It's so nice to have a gift in mind and to see the
happiness of the recipient. I'm hoping to create
more classes where the finished project
can be used as a gift. Somehow, it gives purpose
to your hard work. If you enjoyed this class, please let me know
by leaving a review. It's a real encouragement to me. Tap the Follow
button so you can be notified of future classes. Thank you for taking this class. If you would like to
know more about me, please visit my website, www color story.com, and I'll
see you in the next lesson. Bye for now. I started my creative journey
writing books and audios, as you can see here. Then I return to
my first love art and created all kinds of art. Finally, I have 20
years of mind, body, and spirit articles to help my readers navigate
our complex world. I think you'll find it
very interesting to visit my website, color story.com.
Christine Sherborne, Artist and Author
