Ink With Me: Seashells and Starfish

1. Intro: Hi, my name is Elizabeth logline and I'm an illustrator of mostly mermaids and marine life. Today, I'm back for my fifth course in my ink with Me series, which is also going to be my 13th class with Skillshare. In this series, I am sharing the various ink techniques that I use to illustrate different marine life and mermaids. I love illustrating using sibling techniques in this kind of flash sheet tattoo inspired style. So today we are continuing with Me series with seashells and starfish. This series builds on itself as we explore sibling techniques and apply them to more complex illustrations as we go. And you have the option to create a, a full flashy of different marine life throughout the series. So far we've covered a jellyfish, Orca, sharks and dolphins and stingrays as well. I've marked this class is intermediate, but if you're a beginner, you're more than welcome to stay and watch. However, I do recommend if you're a beginner, maybe going back to the first part of the series as we build up those techniques and get into more complex illustrations. We started with jellyfish because that's the easiest place to start. And we are building up for there with more complex marine life and techniques. This series continues to build on itself as we explore a sibling techniques and work towards more complex illustrations. And you also have the option to create a full flash of the different marine life that we are exploring along the way. This series continues to build on itself as we explore stippling techniques and work towards more complex illustrations. And you have the option, if you're following along with the full series, to create an entire marine life flash sheet. So these are what we've done so far and today we are working on some of these seashells and the starfish. I mark this class as intermediate, but if you're a beginner, you are more than welcome to stick around. However, I do suggest maybe going back to the first-class in this series and working through those classes as you build up to this one. So far we have covered jellyfish, Orca, sharks and dolphins and stingrays. In this course, I'll be sharing or I find my reference images, my favorite materials use. And then we will explore various to blame styles and techniques that you can use to apply to our subject matter today. And then we will ink some different seashells and starfish as I add them to my flash sheet. And you have the option to just ink whatever you like on your own, or you can work on this larger project as well. Don't forget to hit the Follow button here on Skillshare. So you know when the next class in the series is coming out and let's get started. 2. Class Project: Let's talk class project. You'll head to the projects and resources tab right under this course. And you'll want to go to the class project gallery to upload your project. Once you've completed the course, I would love for you to share the seashells that you've inked in today's class so that we can all see what you've created. Also, if you're following along with the full series and doing a whole flashy, I would love to see the progress that you've made since things are finally starting to fill up. Also under resources, on the right-hand side, you will find the reference images that I will be using for today's class, which are all being found on unsplash.com, which is incredible resource for royalty-free photos that you can use for references in your artwork. Royalty-free means that you don't have to pay for the right to use these images in your work. Because e.g. if you find images on Google, on Pinterest, that person owns the copyright to that work. So you definitely do not have the right to use that in your artwork, especially if you are going to be selling your artwork. So unsplash is a great resource to find reference images so that you are going about everything in the right way to make sure that everyone is covered for their creativity. So I've provided the four images that I will be using today, but you are more than welcome to go find your own reference images for seashells that there are tons out there. I've also provided under resources the sketch for my full flash sheet. So if you are following along with this full project, you are welcome to use that as a resource. You can trace it, that is totally fine. You are more than welcome to use it for personal use. If you want to create your own flash sheet and find all of your own reference images. You are welcome to do that too. You can still follow along with the series. I have. These are all of the animals that I am doing in my flash sheet. If you want to create something similar yourself, you can use that list or you can always use whatever animals you want. We've covered what we're gonna be doing for our class projects. So next, let's get into materials. 3. Materials: Let's talk materials for today's class. Keeping it pretty simple. All you need for today's class is pencil and eraser, some fine liner pens and of course paper. So first thing suggestion for pencil. I like to use a really hard Lynn, like a foreach that leaves a really light line on my paper so that it erases really easily. Once I've done the ink portion of my drawing, I am using a little bit of a darker pencil today so that you guys can see it on camera. But I suggest, like I said, something like a foreach. Also of course need an eraser. I love these click erasers because they are super convenient and they have a little bit of a smaller tip. So it's easier to erase in small areas then if you're using a big block eraser. So that's my suggestions there. Next, of course you will need fine liner pens. I suggest getting a set offers different size tips so that you can experiment with different things and see what you like. I am obsessed with the Micron pens. I have this set in black that is a bunch of the different sizes that they offer. And I use different sizes depending on the type of style or drawing that I'm doing. So highly suggest this. They are a bit expensive, but there are tons of other options out there. You can find whatever you might need in your budget. There are tons of brands that offer it, so you should be able to find something pretty easily at your local art supply store. Also, if you wanted to do something in color, totally welcome to do that. I would love to see people do things in blue or purple or pink or whatever it might be, be as creative as you want. Microns are offered in different colors, and again, tons of other brands come in different colors. So next, we will of course need some paper. For my ink drawings. I suggest either using a marker paper or Bristol paper. I typically use the Strathmore brand just because it's super easy to find at your local art supply store. Marker paper is great because it has a really smooth surface. So it is great for ink. And especially if you want to color your piece in Margaret after you've finished with your fine liners. Just something that I often do. Marker paper is great for that. That's what it's built for. Highly suggest that Bristol paper is also great because it's also very smooth and nice, but it's a little bit thicker. So I tend to use Bristol paper or a final piece, especially one that I'm going to sell, e.g. the flash sheet but I'm working on is on Bristol paper. So that is what I use. So next, we will get into some stippling techniques. 4. Stippling Techniques: Alright, it is time to get into practicing some different stippling techniques. So first of all, of course you're going to need some paper. I am going to actually be using the last sheet of paper that I have, my Strathmore Marker Paper. So I'll definitely need to head to the art supply store to get more. So you will need a piece of paper and then your pen, pencil and eraser, and all of your different pens. First thing I always suggest to do if you're not familiar with the pens that you're working with, or maybe you got a new set is to always just do a quick little pen test so that you can test out the different sizes that you have. So I am just going to do that real quick in the corner here, I suggest doing some dots and some lines just you can get a feel for each size. Has what size you use really depends on your style and it can depend on the subject matter and what you're feeling that day. But I recommend getting lots of different sizes so that you have different options for what you can use. And also for our class like this, if you're new to something and just practicing, it's always good to try out lots of different things until you find something that you're comfortable with. I am some dots and lines and then just noting the size next to it, saw the size one here. Just making a little note of that so I can reference it quickly if I need to. So as I mentioned in the materials video, these and Micron pens comma and a bunch of different sizes. You really have a lot of options. And I'm going to use different sizes in these different exercises that we'll do in this video. So you can get a sense of different effects you can create. I typically go for the really, really small pens, but I've been challenging myself throughout this series to use more of these boulder pens to try something new. I pushed myself a little bit outside of my comfort zone. This guy. Alright, so those are the different sizes in my set and then I also recommend getting one. I have one of these graphic ones that has the bullet tip, so it's a little bit bigger. I often use this size for doing outlines. Or maybe if you need to color in a little area, lot easier to color with this size. And if you're trying to color something black with this 005. So I recommend getting something a little bit bolder as well. And then you will have lots more options. If you've been along for the ride with the other videos in this ink with Me series, you'll see that we pretty much jumped right into shading and our other stippling technique exercises. But today we're going to start with something a little bit different. As we're advancing to more difficult subject matter, we will need some different techniques to do our illustrations. So today we're actually going to start off practicing creating some lines with dots. There are a lot of striations and color changes on seashells. So we're gonna kinda do some line practice before we get into shading. First thing you'll just want to pick whatever size pen you want. I'm just going to choose this 03 size. And what you wanna do is just make some dots and a line. So just go along and those guys are kinda evenly spaced. So simple enough. And then our next line here, I want to create something that goes from light to dark. So how we achieve that with stippling is starting out with dots that are very far apart and then they'll get closer and closer together. So we will start with a dot about that far away. And then go here to think about it as you can kinda have the distance between the dots, closer and closer and closer. You pretty much got a black line. You can also go about that the opposite way where you can start with your dots really close together and then start to spread them apart. Which is how I usually go about it. So these are just two different ways we can shade in a line. I'm just going to practice those a little bit. You can practice different lengths of lines. So that guy is a little bit longer. Now I've told you guys in a little bit tighter. I'm just going to do the same thing again, except I'm going to start with dark. Then start to spread those dots out. There is a great way just to go about practicing some different lines. Okay? And already from those lines, that is pretty much the basics of stippling. You are just using the proximity of the dots to create the shadows and highlights. So now we're going to get into some shading practice with your pencil. I recommend just drawing a couple of different small boxes. And that's what we are going to use to practice our shading. Alright, we will start with that money. And don't need to make them too big because it's just kinda gonna be quick practices. But we are going to, for our first two boxes, as I mentioned with the lines, you can either start from light to dark, where you take a very dispersed dots and then start making them closer together. Or you can work from dark to light where you start with all of your dots very concentrated and disperse them out. So for the first one, we are going to work from light to dark. So we're gonna go light the top too, dark at the bottom. Again, choose a pen size. I'm going to go with the 05 this time. So as I mentioned, for to create lighter areas, you'll want to have very dispersed dots. So I'm going to start at the top, just placing a few different dots around. And you can, when you're doing your dots, It's up to you. Some people that do stippling place them very methodically. Or you can do them really randomly. I feel like I'm kind of somewhere in the middle. But that's also something just comes from practicing and figuring out what your processes. So we kinda have, this will be our lighter area and then as we move down, we're gonna be putting more dots closer together. So just start adding a few more, N. Have some more. And then just keep adding more and more as we go. And as you see two, I'm working in strips across my object. Instead of doing it in strips this way. I feel like doing it this way as you can create lines where there's more and more and more creates for a more even look at the end. But again, that's something that comes from your process and practicing. So it is totally up to you. Alright, added more, continuing to add more rain and then come to do our last little strip here, or they are going to be very, very close together. You could definitely make this even darker or you could do even more dots, make it even more black. Alright, we have shaded our first square here. So for our next one, we are going to go from dark to light. So we're gonna go in the opposite direction for the look of this one. At the top, we are going to start with the darker area. So again, we will start with dots that are really close together. Start with it as close together as you want. Alright, so we will have that as our darkest and then we will start to disperse. The dots are leaving a little bit more room in between. I personally prefer working from dark to light because when you're doing darker areas, you are doing so many more dots and you have to do them so close together that it doesn't take up a lot of space. So when you're working from dark to light, you start in those really tight areas that can be really time-consuming. And as you get to lighter areas, you get to disperse your dots, which means you can cover a lot more area very quickly. So I always like to start with the harder parts first and then disperse as we go. Alright? So again, if you are really new to this, you can do a bunch more practices and I would suggest working on with some different pen sizes. You can see how it feels. But that is your choice if you want to work light to dark or dark to light. Okay. Now I have pulled you guys and a little bit closer for our next two practices. So for these two, we are going to be practicing what is more of a stylistic choice than sibling technique. But we are going to do this box with an outline to it and then this box without an outline. And you'd be surprised how much of a difference it can make in your final product is not going to be nearly as impactful in practice. But I wanted to show it to you so you can make decisions as you get into your final piece. So I am going to grab my thick marker to start with. And I'm going to draw an outline on the square. What I like about using outlines, which I, which I do and almost all of my work is, it creates a bounding box for your stippling and then you don't have to worry about messing up the edges as much, especially medieval bold outline like this because it catches those mistakes on the edge. Whereas I find that if you aren't doing an outline, you have to be a lot more precise. So it's really just up to you. So we're just going to practice both ways and you can see what you like. So for this first one, I think I'm gonna go bold with this size. And we want to do, think, I'll go from dark to light again for this one. But I'm going to practice with a different size pen. So it's a great time to do that. So let's start again. When I'm working dark to light, I want to start with dots that are really, really close together. And make this one a little bit darker than the last one. She sends this tip size covers a much bigger area. You can also always feel free to go back and add more dots if you don't like it. And it's not something where if you don't love the first pass, you can always go and adjust it a little bit. One thing that I like about stippling, I think people are afraid to start like, Oh what if I put a.in the wrong place? But there's so many dots that you really can't. Personally, I find it harder to mess up than other materials. So now that I've done my darkest area, I am going to start spreading them out a little bit. Start dispersing even more. All right. So there is what it looks like with an outline to it. Again, doesn't really look like much, especially just on a square here. But now let's practice doing something without an outline. When I'm going to do something that doesn't have a pen outline to it. I am going to create an outline actually using dots so that it still gives me a boundary to what I am working within. So since I'm gonna do the same thing that I did here, I'm gonna go from dark to light, going down. I am going to start with dots really, really close together along the top border here. Definitely not the straightest line of overdrawn, but it's a good try. Alright, and then as we go along the side here, just like these lines that we created when we started. I'm going to be dispersing the dots so that they're a little bit further apart. Do that again down the other side. Disperse them out. Along this side here, they are very far apart, so we'll just do a few. Okay. And again, it doesn't look like much, especially since the pencil outline is still there, but it definitely gives a different effect once we go through and erase that. So now that I have my boundary that I've created with dots, I'm going to go through and shade like normal. Alright, and then nothing I will talk about while we work on this one is timing. So some people, like I said, you can be really meticulous about the placement of your dots if you want them to look in more of a regular grid. So how long it takes you to do these is completely up to you. Some people do their dots very, very slowly and then other people do them super-duper fast. So that is another thing that's up to you and your practice and what feels best to you. So I feel like, I mean, I've been doing sibling for a long time. I feel like I'm kinda in-between on timing. I'm sure there are people that go a lot faster than me and there are definitely people that do it a lot slower than me. So it is just kinda how you're feeling, how confident you are. This is in real time right now. So you kind of get an idea. But it definitely depends on what you're working on to. I probably I'm gonna go a lot slower if I'm doing something that's really small and has a lot of different textures that I have to capture versus working on something that's pretty much just a flat gradient. What I'm doing here. And just like before we're going to continue to disperse our dots already, I'm going to give that a second for the ink to dry so I don't smudge it and then we will erase that border. Right? I've let that dry for a second. So now we're going to erase this border. So smudge. But that's okay. Alright. I feel like especially when you zoom out, you just get such a different look from either of these styles. So it is really up to you whether you want to proceed with doing outlines for your pieces or not. Okay, the next thing we are going to get into exploring is how to create different textures. Because up until now, we've pretty much just been doing these gradients, which is great. But if we're gonna be inking seashells and starfish, we need to create a lot of texture because pretty much only the inside of a seashell is going to be smooth like that. Everywhere else we're going to be needing to add textures and things. So first, let's draw a couple more boxes here. Alright, I'll start with two and then I think we'll do some other non box things. Also, feel free to draw any shape that you want does not have to be a square. Alright, so first thing for creating different textures is up until now we've been using one pen size per exercise that we've done. But most of the time, again, depending on your style, some artists work in all one pen size, but at least for me, I like to vary the size of the pen that I'm using because this is a great way to create different textures. For our first exercise to explore it, we are in this one, it's still going to be an exercise working from light to dark or dark to light, whichever way you like. And we are going to start with a bolder pen for the dark area. And as we disperse those dots out, we are going to move to a finer point. So again, stylistic choice, you can do an outline or not. I am going to do an outline for you. We've got our outline ready to go. Then you're going to need two different size pens. So I am going to do I will do the O5 for my larger size and the 02 for my smaller size. So since like I said, I like to work from dark to light. I am going to start with the 05 size, placing those dots nice and close together. And then you can always choose two different pens that are just one size apart, or they can be drastically different. Tip sizes is again, just kinda up to your style and what you wanna do frame. And we're going to start dispersing. And I'm going to stick with the 05 for now. Alright, and now I'm going to disperse a lot more. And once I've done that and we are going to work in our smaller size. So you can, you know, you could always start here and then just work smaller, but I like to mix in my other size first. So you're going to start darkening it up with this size. All ready. So in something as simple as this, it gives a very similar look to any of these other ones. But using these principles of working in different sizes can make a big difference later when we're playing with different textures. Now for our next box, we are also going to be practicing some textures. So for this one, we also want to use two different pen sizes. So once again, I am going to start with an outline just because that is what I like to do. Establish our outline. And then I think I'm going to stick to these two pens just since I already have them out. Then what we're going to practice for this one is most areas you are going to want to shade, but then you'd want to add texture over top. Easy, easiest example I can show you is if I were going to be drawing my hand and my arm, I would be shading probably with one size going from dark to light over here. But then to add texture like freckles, you would be using a darker, larger tip size to add those details over top. That's a good way to think about it. For this one, you can just choose a size to shade it however you want. I'm gonna go with the smaller size and shade it and then think I'm going to go from one corner to the other instead of up and down this time just to throw something in a little bit different. So I'm going to start dark in this corner and lighter as we get over here. And again, you can start with making this as dark or as light in the corner as you'd like, you can kinda disperse it at whichever way you like. You could choose to do. Disperse it really, really quickly or really, really slowly. Alright, so there we have just kinda some loose shading. And now we're gonna go in, if we're thinking about seashells, they're going to have, like I mentioned earlier, different striations and things. So maybe let's add some little stripes going across. So we're going to use the thicker pen tip to create those lines. And you can just ignore the fact that the rest of this is here if you want. So I'm just going to create them wherever I want. And then again, you can vary the size of the lines. This is kinda how you can create texture over top. And it's really easy to see how purposeful this texture is. I feel like when you use a different pen size, again, some I'm doing light to dark, so I'm doing dark to light. So that is just one of the ways that we can use different pen sizes to work on different textures. Okay, so all of those exercises kinda give us a foundation to start from to work towards engaging our seashells and our Starfish. So again, if you are very new to this, I would suggest practicing maybe a little bit more, experimenting with the different sizes and different techniques. And take a look at some different stippling styles from different artists out there so you can kinda get a feel for what you might want to go for. So take a few minutes to practice. But otherwise, I am going to start sketching for my flash sheet so we can get into inking. 5. Inking: Seashell #1: Once you have sketched out your different seashells and starfish that you are going to be practicing with today, it is time to get started inking our first seashell. So I am going to start with this shell here. This one has the smooth surface and just have some color variation. So that's gonna be the easiest to start with. And then we'll go on to the starfish and then our other two seashells, which are a little bit more complicated. So the first thing that I want to do is do an outline on my seashell. Again, that is completely up to you whether that's the kind of style you want to go with or not. I am going to grab this of A5 size and I am just going to do a quick outline. Full seashell. I just think that having kinda bounding box for my design is super helpful when I am working on stippling. Alright, so easy enough, we have our outline. You can always go in later if you want to make a boulder outline. So I always say start a little bit thinner and then you can always add more, but you can't do a really bold outline and make it really skinny at the end. Once you give that a second to dry, I'm just going to lightly erase that outer edge. I like to remove as much of the pencil as possible before I get into actually inking. I'm actually just gonna go over and lighten up this pencil drawing. And we are ready to start to blame. Alright, so actually before I start doing some dots, I am going to do another thinner outline so we can trace the spiral part of this because that is a pretty solid line. But again, you are welcome to just use dots if that is warrior style. Alright, so now we are definitely ready for ducts. So next thing you want to think about is what size you want to use for your dots on this piece. Again, as I mentioned the previous video, you can either choose to do one size pen for all of your dots or you can use multiple different sizes for different areas. So for me, I'm going to use a couple of different sizes. And I am going to start with a smaller size because I am going to first shade the whole show. And then I'm going to go back in with a slightly bigger size pen and add the darker swirl area on top. With a bigger size. You can do it in the complete opposite way if you wanted to, you could always start with the larger size and then go to using the smaller size pen to shade in. So it is totally up to you. Again, up to you and your process. And if you're not doing an under flash sheet, you can try it both ways and see which way you like better. So I am going to actually use my smallest size, 005 to start. I'm actually going to start on the outside and just swirl in. That seems to be what makes the most sense to me. So I'm going to start with this little area here and just start placing your dots. Again, my favorite thing about stippling is that because you're doing so many different little dots, you don't have to overthink. Because you can always add more and you don't have to worry about putting a big stroke of yellow paint that then you'll have to do all this work to paint over if you don't like it. I don't know. It's much less intimidating. That big white piece of paper. When I'm doing stippling and then when I'm using other medium. So we're going to start with, it's kinda darker around this outer edge. So again, still kinda working in strips like I did when we were practicing and our little boxes. I'm just going to be swirling these dots around. And there are some different little ridges and textures on the shell. So I'm gonna do that with this smaller size. And you want to keep in mind the direction that the swirling pattern is going. Because it's best to keep doing the dots in the direction of that swirl that way if you're either consciously or unconsciously creating these lines, you're creating the proper texture. So like these lines are going this way and then they start to kind of go like that. So I'm doing my strips with that in mind. And I am keeping this shell pretty light with doing these really light dots in this small size. But if you're using a bigger pen size, you can make it darker or you can still keep it light with lets's dots, you really get such a different effect depending on the pen size that they're using. So definitely try out different things. Then as you can see, I'm kinda alternating swirling to where it's darker and then starting where it's darker and swirling to where it's lighter. I'm going to switch to down here and add in. Some of these are ridges. All right, let me bring you guys in closer so you can see a little more detail. That's why you guys are getting a closer look at what I'm doing. Switched over here for a second. This is one of the darker areas. Again, you can be as slow and methodical about your dots or as quick as you want. Right? You gotta keep darkening in around this edge. And don't be afraid to take a break and just kinda step back and look at your drawing from a little bit further away, kind of gives you a better idea of how the shading is reading. I think with stippling, especially sometimes we get so focused on being so close in on our drawing and focusing on all these tiny, tiny, tiny details that sometimes you lose the bigger picture. So it's always a good idea to step back and see if you like how the shading is going, then this area is pretty dark. I'm going to go in with this really tiny size just because hard with a larger pen. To go back out over here and just finalize this area. And then we will be on to adding some blue stripes. Few more riches here. Alright, and I'm going to call that done with basic shading. So next we will go in to add the darker swirl. And you can keep in mind, you can always go back and add more dots if you want to make this a little bit darker once we do the next part, but hard to take those dots away. So we will work on the next part and then see how we think. Okay, so time to create the two darker spirals. So there's one that goes like that and then one that goes like that. And they're kind of in stripy sections. So keep that in mind as we start creating those areas. So as I said, I am going to be using this zero to size for a little bit of variation in my dot sizes. So where do I want to start? I'll start with this one here, because that one's kind of short for it fades off onto the other side of the shell. So I'm going to start in this corner here and start creating those darker strips. Again, this is one of those things that I think when you're looking at this so closely and y are working on it, it doesn't look like that big of a difference between the dots. But the second that you kinda step back, you really get that effect. So again, make sure you're taking breaks and stepping away and taking a pause so that you are see how it's going. And it's funny, I've had people ask me if I use a magnifying glass when I'm doing stippling, and I definitely do not. And I think that that would make refocus way to meticulously on where all of these tiny, tiny dots are placed. And I would rather have the big picture then those tiny, tiny, tiny details. But I'm sure there are plenty of artists that do use magnifying glasses, which is totally cool. I don't think that was ever gonna be part of my process. And just like with the initial shading, you can create this stripe and make it as dark as you want. It will again kinda come down to the pen size, but also of course, how tightly you put your dots. That's kinda begins to fade out right around here. So I'm just going to fill in some of these larger dots. And I'm going to call that first swirl complete. Alright, now it is time to work on the second swirl here. So I'm going to start kind of in the center here and start to soar all that out and around. And it gets bigger as it goes and kinda fades pretty light as we get to the end here. So starting in the center, starts getting a little bit wider. Start to see it a little bit stripy here. I think stippling as an art form can be very intimidating the thought of having to create all these dots. Personally, I find it so therapeutic. I kinda like that. It's a slower process, so it makes me kind of relax and just focus on these dots. And then you get to step away and really see something that you've created. And I think that's why I've really fallen in love with it. And why it's kinda one of the main, main things I do in my art practice now. Although I definitely do miss color sometimes, I, once I've done a lot of stippling, I tend to do a little painting or some marker drawing to kind of get back into, into color for a bit. Although like I mentioned, the materials better, you definitely can get plenty of different color fine liners if you wanted to do this in another color, which I think maybe I need to experiment more with this year. Alright, and now I'm going to actually go in from this side and kind of it's fading out and I'm actually going to have it fade back in as I go this way. Which is kinda creating some light stripes. Alrighty, I think I am going to pretty much call that complete. I am going to give those dots a bit too dry and then I will go in and erase the pencil lines you can still see so we can get the full effect before we decide if we are completely finished with a seashell. Alright, I gave my dots and everything a few seconds to dry so that I make sure that I don't smudge anything when I go in to erase. But it's always so satisfying to erase those spinal pencil lines. I definitely think I like how this turned out. So I am going to leave mine as is. And we will get to work on our starfish in the next video. 6. Inking: Starfish: In this lesson, we are going to be working on our starfish here. So we're gonna be applying our different sampling techniques to really work on creating unique textures. So again, first thing that I want to do when working on my starfish is create an outline. Once again, completely up to you whether you want to do an outline or not. But that is what I'm going to start with. I am using the same size I did in the last lesson, which is the 05. All right, so we have our outline ready to go. Again, you have the option to use either a one pen size for the whole illustration, or you can use a couple of different sizes. We are going to be creating this really unique kind of bumpy texture on the starfish. Whereas with this one, I started with the light shading and then went in with the darker areas. I'm going to do the complete opposite on this one. So I'm going to create the darker holes, I guess, first. And then we will go in and shade around them. Up to you on what sizes you want to use. I think think I might go with the 03 a little bit bigger to create those holes and the texture. And then we will pick a smaller one to do the shading afterwards. So I'm going to bring you guys in a little bit closer and then we will get started. Okay. So real quick, off-camera, I did erase the pencil outline that I just traced over in pen. And then the remaining pencil marks are outlining the areas that are a little bit darker. So in here, here, underneath and on this side, the particular starfish reference image that I chose is pretty dramatically lit, which I liked. So we are going to, like I said, work on the texture first and then we will go in and shade these darker areas. It's like I said, I have chosen this 03 size to create this bumpy texture. You can start on whichever arm of the starfish that you would like. But I think I'm gonna start over here and then work around. So I am going to just start doing my dots in little clusters so that we are creating those darker areas. And these are pretty organic shapes. This isn't something where you're creating perfectly round little little bumps. So again, don't focus too much on exactly the placement or following the reference image to to, to exactly. We are just experimenting with using dots to create different textures. And I'm not creating many deep into this area because it's pretty dark where it's shaded. So we can always go in if we need to add more texture, but I think it's pretty much all getting, get covered up by the shadows. I'm not too worried about it. I'm going to go up on this. Again. We're not really focusing on perfection. We are creating a pretty organic texture. So yeah, this is pretty much just all about randomness. Alright? And now on to the next arm. Again, if it seems like I'm going really, really fast, you can go at your own pace. Do not feel like you need to go this fast and keep. Especially if you are really new with stippling, take as much time as you need. Also really love the color of this bright orange starfish. I think I definitely want to try and experiment like shading these dots with the black like this. But I wonder what it would look like if I went back in and kinda colored over top with orange and red dots. Definitely don't be afraid to try something different. Right? Then on to the last arm here. We are almost finished. Alright, so I'm going to call that finished with creating our preliminary texture. So next we're going to go in and do some shading. To work on the shading, I'm going to once again be using this zero to size. So I am going to start by creating these darker areas. And then I think I'm gonna go in with an even finer point to refine the sum of the areas in the middle and outside of the really dark, dark shadows. So I am going to start with this part here and just start working on the shadow. Again, it's your choice how closely you want to follow the reference image. You do not have to make the shadows and nearly as dramatic as they are in the reference. But you can, you can make them as dramatic as you want. I'm going to make them pretty dramatic justice kinda something different. Working on these really dark areas and then dispersing out a little bit. Alright, so now we can move on to the next one. I'm going to go down here. Again to make those really dark areas. We were just doing all of these dots as close together as possible. I'm kinda being mindful of where I'm creating the edge around the texture that I already did. Again, you can go back through to darken it up. If you feel like you're not liking the placement of your dots or just need more. Right? Here is our next part, or dots. And then I'm actually going to move up over here. Don't forget to step back. See what you think. All right, and we'll call that part done. Now. We just need to shade kinda under here before we go in and refine with an even smaller tip. Alright, so I will call that finished with our dramatic shadows. And next we will go in with a smaller size to do some refining. I've grabbed my zeros 05 size and we are going to get to work or finding some of these shadows. I'm going to add a little bit of depth on the other side. Well, as just kind of defusing the edge of the shadow a little bit. Which again, you can create a really harsh edge to your shadow if you want and make it really dramatic. But I've decided to soften it up just a little bit. As you can see, I'm kind of a lightly shading around the texture to make it pop a little bit more. All right, so we've gone in and added some detail. And then just like with our other seashell, I'm going to give these dots a minute or so to dry and then I will go in and erase those pencil lines. All right, so that gets rid of those extra lines. And I would say that our little starfish is complete. So we did a great job kind of creating some texture there. So now we are going to move on to this seashell, and then we will go onto this guy which is going to be the most complicated with the most different textures. So let's move on to the next lesson. 7. Inking: Seashell #2: We are moving on to lesson number three, and we're gonna be working on this seashell here. Just like in our last two lessons, we are going to start with an outline. So I'm going to grab my pen and get started. So this seashell has a lot more texture and ridges than the last ones that we've worked on. So that's why we have waited for this one to be number three. All righty. Outline is all set. And then so just like this one where we did the shading first and then added the swirl, the darker areas later. We're going to do a similar thing with this one. So I am going to shade all of the different ridges and everything. And then we will go in and add some of the striping around the shell with a larger point. Or again, you can use the same size if you want to. That is how I'm going to go about tackling this seashell. Okay, so for this one, I'm going to be starting with my really fine tip. And what we're going to be shading first is the area in-between these areas where it's more raised. So all of these little bump up, those are where the seashell is raised in its texture. And then all of these little areas in between are where it's darker. So we're going to start by shading in those darker areas to highlight all of these kind of raised bumps all around. So that's what we are going to start with first. So I am going to actually start in the middle because sometimes spacing can be tricky when you're doing seashells like this. I feel like when you start in the middle, it kinda gives you a better area if because sometimes if you start on the edge, you'll like around a room where it gets really fine here. So I like to start in the middle. So that's what I'm going to be doing. So I am going to first make a dot border along this side here. That is going to give me an idea of what I'm following. And then just lightly shade in this darker area. And this isn't going to be too, too dramatic. The lighting isn't nearly as dramatic as our starfish. Right? So there is kind of our first shadow finished. Again, kinda just creating these two lines so that we know what we're shading between. This is definitely a project that looks kinda crazy close up. So just like the other two, on every time you finished a stripe here, take a step back, see what it looks like. It's in perspective. Then go in for the next one. We also have a ton of pencil lines on here. So once I finish all of these shadows, I'm going to go in and erase all of that pencil, which is going to make it a lot easier to see the full effects. But this is definitely one where I needed to do a little bit more pencil sketching than some of the other ones that we looked at. Just because all of these lines are or can be hard to follow. So I made a more detailed sketch. And then just keep moving along side here. Then, as you can see, I'm creating a solid line here because it just gets so thin. That is the best way to kinda mark that and it is darker anyway. So what works best for me? And as we start working to the side here are the ridges get a little bit looser and it's not quite as stripy and contrast it as it is in the center here. So keep that in mind. This is where it starts to loosen up a little bit. I'm going to change my strategy a little bit. This kinda see shell is definitely more complicated. So if this is your first time doing one like this, don't stress too much. I have done many of them over the years. So I had gotten a little bit more practice in, and I'm a little bit more used to focusing on all these different lines at once. But it definitely takes practice. Again, you can always go in later with that thicker dot or larger pen tip so that we can create those darker areas and shade even more. I like to start out with this later shading. Alright? And then I guess kinda made the mistake of going this way. So now I'm going to let that dry for a second before I go the other way so I don't smudge any of those dots that I've just created. Alright, let all those dots dry for a minute and now we're going to start working in the other direction. So again, I'm starting off by creating a border so that I don't shade into that lighter area. Lately, shading in this shadow. Also optional, as I've said, I've been using little dot borders to kinda outline this. But if you want to actually draw lines to separate these different areas and that's totally an option, just like how you can just do dots as the border on your seashell instead of creating an outline like I do, that is totally up to you as well. I've done it both ways on previous drawings. Experiment both ways and whatever makes it easier for you, especially if it's your first time. Inking a shell like this. And getting closer to this edge. We're approaching the area where it kind of is a little bit less marked with the light and dark where it kind of gets a little bit lighter like this. So this will be our last dark ridge that we're doing. Oh, no. Shifting perspective here. Right? Almost finished with this part. And then we will go in to add some of these stripy areas. Alright, so we're kinda finish our initial part here. And like I said, I'm gonna give those dots a little bit to dry and then I will be erasing the pencil lines so we have a clean slate to work on adding some more details. Alright, it took some time to erase all of those pencil lines. Camera. And so now this looks so much cleaner and it is ready for some more detail. So for these different stripes, they go across the show. I'm going to use a couple of different pen sizes just to create different textures and just add some visual interests. So I am going to first just go up one size with the 01 and take a look at the shell. And we will start with some of those lighter stripes. So just like how it's darker, where we've done the ridges and the shadow, the stripes that you're creating. You also want to make them darker in that area and then later on the lighter areas. So I am actually I'm not going to draw a pencil lines for everything, but I'm just going to start with one. So it gives us an idea of the proper curve that we want to be creating these stripes. So I will go in and actually going to start creating it in the darker areas first, kind of an idea. And then it fades out on the side. All right, so right now we just have it in those darker areas and then these highlights will go in and add it as well. That's kind of our first little stripe. So some of them will fade a little bit like this one that I did. And then some of them are a little bit more of just a harsh line across. So the next one will create more of a line. Again, a couple of dots and lighter areas and then much darker. Shadows, gifts that effect across there. And then put down this size and I will get the zeros. We will create another one. For here. This one's going to be a little bit thicker. So again, start in the darker areas to create how big it's going to be. Making sure it curves with the natural part of the shell. And then filling in the lighter areas in between. And then I'm gonna do just like a couple of more details. At the bottom here. Right now our shell is coming to life a little bit more. And do need to add a stripe on these outer corners. All right, and now let's look at some of the ones at the top here are a little bit thinner, so I'm actually going to draw these little dashes, darker area. And then just add some dots on top. Again, curving with the natural shape of the shell. Which really makes a difference in giving it some dimension. There's kind of more up here. Make it even later. You can make your shell as stripy as you want. I'm just gonna kinda keep adding stripes on here until I really like the look. Right? I think we still need one like thicker stripe here. And again, taken those seconds to step back, see what it looks like from a four. Alright, and you can certainly keep adding details forever to a shell like this. But I think I'm going to go ahead and call this one finished. So in our next lesson where we will move on to our final seashell of the class. 8. Inking: Seashell #3: All right, It is time for our fourth and final seashell here. So just like with our other three, I'm going to start with a quick outline. Same size that I used for the other three. I am just going to go ahead and do that outline. Alright, and now that I have my thicker outline around the edge, I am going to go in and outline some of the interior parts here. Okay, So I have the 02 and I'm going to line this here. The marks where the shell curves inward, kind of outlining this lip here. And then I'm going to do the same thing along this side. Again, this is totally a design choice. You can do an outline like this or not completely and totally up to you. And then I'm just going to do one there. Alright, so I went in and erase all the pencil lines that I was able to outline over. And now it is time to get into some stippling. So I think I'm going to treat the seashell kind of like I did the starfish, where I'm actually going to do the texture first and shade second. Whereas with the other two, we did our shading first and then added some of that detail over top. This one has so much unique texture and striping that I want to start with that. And then we will go back in with a smaller dots and do that little bit of shading that we need to do. So easiest place to start, I'm going to start with this lip to the shell right here. So it has these couple different darker stripes. So I'm going to start with that. So using this zero to size, I already sketched in kinda where those stripes are. So I am going to get started. So starting where it's darker, which is towards the edge, but it doesn't go all the way to the edge. So I'm going to just kinda work in strips and kinda fade it towards this inner edge. This shell is really cool. I definitely haven't inked anything quite like it. Definitely a complicated one. Why I saved it for last. Let me bring you guys in a little bit closer. Get a better idea of what I'm doing. Like I said, we're creating these darker stripes first and then we'll go back into shade the area in-between. Oh, afraid. And then now that we've done that, it actually pretty much just has lines along here. So you could do that in dots. Just like this if you want. Or you could do just lines like this. I'll do some of each. A little bit thicker at the bottom here. Alright, so leave it at that. And then at, so all of these stripes across the shell here have these little semicircle texture. So I'm going to start working on that. So you will want to make sure that you've sketched in your lines so that you are following those natural stripes of the shell. I'm just sketching them in a little bit more so we can see. And then we'll have this, this area out here is a little bit separate two, it has some little stripes but they're a little bit lighter. Right? This is gonna be kinda creating similar texture to it Can we created on this seashell? So I'm going to use a couple of different sizes. So I'm going to start by doing some of the darker parts with this size. Again, this is something where I wouldn't focus too much on like copying the reference photo, as long as you get an idea of what kind of texture you're creating, you don't need to focus on placing it exactly like the shell and the reference. So starting with these thicker, darker bands, you can also just do some lines. Some of them are pretty thin. So yeah, just focusing on creating those textures and then will really bring the shell to life when we do the shading after this part. Like I mentioned in the other videos, taking a second to step back, always helps. Bigger picture of what you're creating and doing this top row up here. And then we'll continue to move up the shell with this texture. All right, like how that's coming along and now I'm going to add these couple of strips along this edge, right? And then again, we can always go back in and add more texture if we like. But that's kinda where I'm going to leave it until I do some more of the shading. I can see how I like it altogether. All right, next we're going to continue to move up the shell. Kinda making sure that I have my lines sketched in there. I'll continue with that texture. Just creating these little half-moon shapes. Just continuing to get smaller and smaller. But this will be a lot easier to see and tell what it looks like once we do some shading as well. I just think this texture is better to get out of the way without the distraction of the other dots on the page from shading. Because I think that can be a big decision on how you want to go about your process. For some people, it can be distracting, shading with all of this already going on. And then for some people it's the opposite. The shading distracts us from creating these textures. So that is up to you and your brain, how you want to go about it. And then once we get up here, we kind of lose that texture a little bit. There's just some shading and streakiness. Alright, so I am going to leave it at that. And then we will go in and do some shading. I'm going to let this dry for a second and then I will go through and erase all those pencil lines so that we have a little bit more of a clean slate to start shading with. Alright, so I just erased all the pencil lines in there, which again, you can totally leave on there if that helps you when you're shading, I'd just like to have a clean slate. Makes it easier for me to see and you can still tell where all those stripes are because of where our little half-moon shapes stop. So I am going to grab my zeros are five, my favorite tiny little one, and start shading. For the shading, I'm going to start top-down because I always like to start with the smallest area, finished that and then move on to the larger areas down here. I am going to start with the top up here. You don't need too much. Just kinda darkening the one edge. Alright, and then here is when we get to the different stripes. So working on delineating where those are, hiding some really tiny dots in there. I know it's hard to see. And so much of this technique and pen size choices is depending on how big your inking, your seashell. I mean, I'm thinking this pretty small. But you could be entering this, the size of this whole paper and it would totally change how you're working. So the size of your subject is super-important, and that's kind of how you'll make a lot of your decisions. I tend to often work pretty small because I'm doing a lot of pieces and this kind of flash sheet style that I talked about. So I'm doing a lot of different smaller things on one big piece of paper. If I was just drawing one huge jellyfish, I would make different decisions than just drawing something small. Seen some crazy work though from stippling artists that work really big. Which I think is so cool. I think the largest piece I've done where I've like fully stippled the artwork is 16 by 20. You think much bigger than that? I might lose my mind. But it's really cool to see dots like this in such a large scale. So you can see I'm using these little dots to create those little lines in the show. Now I'm going to go in and do some shading darker along the bottom edge of each of these rows. Now all I can think about a scale And I wanna do something gigantic. All right, Now we've finished this whole top part and now we are just shading this outer part here and then the inner part of the shell. So this part over here, I am going to add some detail because there is a little bit of stripy texture shown over here. We get a little bit of light striping along this part. Now just shading really lightly. Tween these stripes. Now really is crazy. What just a couple of dots can do? Like I said, always start sparingly. You can always, always, always add more. Got this little corner here. The shell twists. And then along this edge as well. All right, and now we just need to shade the inside here. You can see on my reference photo that the sun is shining through the shell. So you are seeing some of the texture through it. I'm going to treat it as smooth shell like there's no light shining through it. So I'm just going to keep it dark along this part where it's curving into the shell and then just kinda lighten it up along here. Like I said, it's always Your decision to how closely you want to follow a reference image. I'm just going to shade this pretty lightly and then we'll take a step back and see how we feel. And I'm going to shade it a little bit darker along this edge as well where it curves in. Alright? And you know, I think that is too light. I definitely think we need to darken it up more. So I'll go back starting in my darkest area and continue adding more dots. I am just trying to kinda methodically work across, adding more dots. Darken up around this edge. Alright, I think we can kinda step back a bit. And I think I will call that finished. We have inked are three different seashells and our Starfish. I hope you guys enjoyed that. And next we're gonna get into our bonus lesson about how you can create a seamless pattern with what you've just created. 9. Bonus Lesson: Create a Seamless Pattern: Alright, I hope you all had so much fun inking some starfish and sea shells today. And now I want to get into the bonus lesson that I've included with this course, which is all about how to create a seamless pattern with what you've created to them. I created a seashell pattern was actually the first ever repeat pattern that I created, and it has been my best-selling print of all time on print on demand sites like Redbubble societies six and spoon flower. So it is one of my favorites. I have tons of products that I have it printed on, which is what inspired me to add this bonus lesson specifically in this course out of the whole series. So I will go through all the steps will need to create your own pattern today. For this lesson, you will need your computer and we will be using Photoshop to create our pattern. Although there are tons of other programs out there that you can use, you will also need a scanner. Use the Epson perfection B39 scanner. It allows me to scan a super high-quality, which is what you want, especially if you're gonna be printing your designs large scale. So you want to go ahead and scan your work, although you of course have the option to photograph it if that works for you. And I will pull up my screen so that I can show you guys what we're gonna do. Okay, so I have pulled up the scanner program on my computer, so we're gonna get ready to scan our image. So first I'm going to click Preview to make sure that I'm gonna be scanning the correct part of the image. Alright, so this does give us all of the image that we want. And firstly, you want to make sure is what DPI are you scanning, which means dots per inch. The more DPI, the better quality or scan is. So I typically always scan in 1,200 DPI that is high enough to print most large scale. But you can really go crazy and do as much as you want. It just depends what your scanner will let you do. I have a lot of options, but it does take up a lot of storage. So I think it would probably take crazy long take up so much space if I did it all the way and 9,600. So I have it at 1,200. Then the next thing that I can do is I can actually select the area that I want to scan. So I am just going to select an area that encapsulates all of my seashells. And then I have, I'm going to be scanning it as a tiff file and automatically sets the filename for me here. So I will change that later and it's going to scan to my desktop. So the next thing that you're going to do is click Scan. And I do suggest putting a little bit of pressure on the top of your scanner just to make sure that your piece gets a really crisp scan. So let's start scanning. Okay, I just spelled that way up for the scanning does take a little bit. But next we're gonna get into Photoshop so we can get to creating our pattern. So I have pulled up Photoshop and then you're going to click new file. Because we're creating a repeat print. You definitely want a square. I use a 12,000 by 12,000 pixels square for my seamless prints. Because that is large enough for most print on-demand files. And that is just what I like to use. You want to make sure that the resolution is 300 so that it is high enough, again to be printed. And then if you are going to be uploading this for print on-demand, most print-on-demand sites do RGB color. So make sure that that is set as well. So I'm going to click Create. And now we are going to put our tiff file in your desktop. All right, and I'm going to rotate this. Pull this up to size. Click, Check mark. Okay? Now, first step towards creating our repeat print is of course we need to separate out the seashells because right now we can't really do anything. This is just one big image. So we want to separate each of the seashells out and then we want to remove the background. So first thing that you want to do is I'm gonna go over here to my Polygonal Lasso Tool. And I'm going to lasso out each of the seashells. Control x 0. Wish I always forget to do. You need to rasterize the image first so that you can cut something out of it. New layer and place that seashell on the new layer. We're going to hide that for now, go back to our original layer. Do it for the next element here are starfish. Man, that as well. All right, number three. Number four here. All right. And now we can go ahead and delete this original layer because we don't need any of these other elements from this original image. Which again would be different if we were doing the full flashy editing, but we're going to delete that for now. Now. Next thing I'm gonna do is hide that background and we're gonna go in and edit our first seashell here. So I'm going to zoom in a bit and I clicked my magic one tool because that's what I'm going to use to select the white area around so that I can get rid of that. So I am going to check contiguous, which means that it's only going to select the part that's outside the black line. It's only going to select these white parts that are touching each other. If I take contiguous off, it will select all of the light. So if I de-select, uncheck contiguous, and you'll see all of the white areas are selected. So you can edit it either way, but I edit the outside first. Going to select that. We zoom in to make sure that it's selecting all of the areas that should want. Make it a little bit tighter if you need to. But again, this is just a fun exercise as well. So don't need to get too hung up on these details. And just hit Delete. Whoops, I'm on their own layer. And layer four hit Delete. So now you have your first seashell with no background here. We'll go on to the next one and do the same thing. Zooming and making sure that everything is selected. And delete onto our Starfish. Delete this guy, right? So we have remove the background from all four of our elements here. Actually, I'm going to go in and remove all the other white area while we're at it, might as well show you guys a couple of other tricks. With this. You definitely want to make sure that you are selecting all of the white gray areas they aren't going to want. In your final piece. Again, getting tight in there, making sure it's selecting everything that you want. Delete. So now you just have the black areas on your transparent backgrounds. We will go through and do that with the other ones. She also mentioned you want to hold down the Shift key so that you can keep adding selection as you go. Otherwise, you end up selecting a new area instead of adding to your selection if you were trying to select those gray areas. So when I collect that, if you want to add this gray area and if you don't click Shift button, then you will just select different area. We're adding to that selection. Delete. And now we have our three different seashells, which look really crazy right now. Let's move them all away. And then reason that I remove the background, but I wanted to show you, is that what I like to do is go to the little fx button down here, color overlay. And you can see I haven't set to blue for something else I was doing earlier. But this is where you can choose and it's super easy to recolor your artwork just using the color overlay tool, especially when you're working in black and white. So even if you want, don't want to use a different color, I recommend just doing color overlay and black because it will get rid of any little white specks that you didn't get and just uniformly make it black. So that's what we're gonna do for each of these layers, is just color overlay them with black to make sure that everything is nice and bold. It's definitely hard to see the difference on this scale, but when you the image blown up, it makes a huge difference. Alright, so now we have our four elements. Next we are going to get into creating our pattern. Now the last part is the most fun and this is actually creating our repeat print. Photoshop has a really helpful tool called Pattern Preview. So you go to View pattern preview it, okay? And it repeats your design infinitely in all of these squares, you can zoom in and out and see what it looks like. Purple, white background back on here. Let's see a little bit better. So this is how we create our print. Basically Photoshop is creating it for us. We just have to go in and fill our square. So we have our four seashells here. So obviously we're going to need to repeat them a couple of times within the square. Otherwise it's going to be for gigantic seashells and the square. So you can click on each of them. Hit command C, Command V so that you can copy them a couple times. And I don't want to move me grab one of these. Right? Okay. So that gives us at least two of each of them to start with. Does not like to be selected. Okay? So if you want to change the size of them, super easy, click Control T puts you into transform and then you can make them bigger or smaller. I'm going to probably make a lot of these a little bit bigger. So I'm just going to start with putting a starfish kind of in the corner there. I tend to start in this top corner and then kind of fill in as we go. Then select your neck crucial. Again, Command T. And then you can move them around wherever you want. And then you can kinda just work to make them fit however you want. This is so fun as Pattern Preview tool makes this whole process so much easier. I used to have to do this on Adobe Illustrator and it was so complicated. Like this just is so cool. So again, you can zoom out and really see what it's looking like. You can rotate or even transform. You can flip horizontal or vertical to make your pieces look different. To be a little bit more variety. You know, you can just keep making these different sizes. Flipping them around bigger. And always hit Command Z if you make a mistake to quickly fix that. And honestly it's getting a little bit repetitive with just four elements that we have to use. So having more elements and more varying sizes will give your pattern a lot more interests on. I wanted to just show you what we could create from today. So we pretty much have R-square all filled up. So like I said, you can zoom out and see how that is going to look in a lot of different scales. So maybe we printed this small on a bedspread or something and then maybe on a mug it's a lot bigger. So that is the easy way to create a seamless print with Photoshop. So once you're finished, again, you can go to View pattern preview to turn that off. So now you have your pattern block that you can upload to all these different sites. You can make different color combos and do all different things. But that is the basics of creating a seamless print. So now you have somebody else that you can create from today's class. 10. Final Thoughts: Thank you so much for following along with today's class, and I hope you really enjoyed what we created today. I really hope you stick around for the full series. I think we have four more classes to go to finish this up until we have a complete flat sheet full of marine life. If this is the first-class you've washed in the series, you have four other ones you can go back and watch and then don't forget to follow me here on Skillshare. So you know, when I release the next one, if you enjoyed the bonus lesson and want to learn more about how you can monetize your art. You can check out my other courses, income for artists, as well as getting started with print on-demand if you want to learn more. Also, I feel like I have to say that it is completely valid to be just enjoying art as a hobby and you do not need to look to monetize everything that we do. Creativity is so healthy and important for all of us. So always keep that in mind. If you enjoyed today's course, please don't forget to leave me feedback in a review and follow me here so that you know, when the next class is coming out. See you soon.