Stylised Kingfisher in Procreate

1. Class Introduction: Spring is in the air, and I'd love to invite you to celebrate this beautiful season w illustrating a charming Kingfisher. Yes, once again. Hello, and welcome to my new class. My name is Irina. I'm a UK illustrator and the artist behind the brand of Busy Mae Studio. Whether you joined my previous class where we painted the Kingfisher and digital watercolor. Oh, this is your first time drawing the bird with me. This class will explore a completely different approach. This time will transform the Kingfisher into a stylised character full of personality. By the end of this class, you'll have a delightful illustration ready to use for a children's storybook or for your own personal or commercial projects. We'll start by adjusting a realistic sketch and turning it into the base for our character. I'll guide you step by step as we map out the main colors, add unique details, and finish with some cute accessories that will make our Kingfisher feel truly royal and special. For this class, I'll be using my Scratchy Feely Procreate brush set available in my Skillshare shop. It's a set of specially created brushes that you can use if you need to add more texture defects to your illustrations. However, when you enroll in this class, you'll receive a free mini taster set, which includes everything you need to create this adorable character. This mini brush set, along with other resources for this class, will be available for you to download for free. Whether you are an inspiring children's book Illustrator or simply exploring your own illustration style, I'm sure you'll find this class both useful and inspiring. It's packed with helpful procreatives and plenty of creative inspiration. Are you ready to tackle the illustration of His Majesty, the King of the Woodland fond with me? Then get your iPad ready, grab your pencil, and let's begin. 2. Class Project: That's wonderful. For your class project, I would like you to illustrate a stylized version of the bird of your choice. If you've already done the watercolor fisher class, it would be ideal if you stylize the same bird you've done in watercolor for most striking comparison effect. Feel free to follow this class step by step, which will be a great practice for stylizing a bird for a children's book or for your own personal project. Please consider uploading your illustration here on the discussion section or on social media, so we can admire your artwork and draw some inspiration from. 3. Tools and Materials: For this class, you will need an iPad or an iPad pro with procreate installed on it. You will also need a pencil, the brushes, featuring the scratchy philly set, you've got a new taster for free, which is more than enough to create our lovely stylised Kingfisher textures to create overlay, colour swatches, same as from the previous class. And if you've not done the watercolor Kingfisher class, there is the sketch of a realistic Kingfisher, too, which we're going to stylise in this class. 4. Kfs stylizing finished: So I've copied and pasted the sketch of the skin feather from the watercolor class. If you're not done that class, you can download the sketch from the resources section. I'm looking at a very realistic sketch of a kingfisher and asking myself a question. What can I do to turn a realistic kingfisher into its stylized version, preserving the features that still make it recognizable. By the way, I talk about stylization in more details in my whimsical bird class. So make sure you go and check it. The very first thing I'd like to do is increase the head size. The exaggerated head will give my character more cartoony and cute look. I would also like to turn the head behind to give the bird a bit more character, so I flip the head horizontally. You can erase the unwanted lines if they are interfering with your vision. Next, I would like to reduce the size of the beak, but only a touch, as the beak is one of the main features that make the bird recognizable as Kingfisher. To get even further away from the realistic look of my bird, I would like to change the shape of the wing slightly, making it more rounded. For that, I go to the adjustment menu and select the liquefy too. With the push option selected, I start changing the shape of the wing. After some consideration of what else can be done to drift even further away from realistic look to stylized look, I decided to make my kingfisher an actual king. It's a very serious role that comes with a lot of responsibility. So now I'm going to try and reflect it in the bird's character. Firstly, instead of sitting, my kingfisher will be walking, probably contemplating about some serious strategic decisions to take. So I'm adding a pair of longer legs. This changes the position of the tail, as well. Instead of being directed down, it's gonna be behind the body. I'm also going to play around with the shape of the eye, a great opportunity to give the character some attitude as a king. Now, our stylized version of the Kingfisher is pretty much ready. But in the last minute, I decided to emphasize it as a king even more. So I'm adding some king style accessories, a fur cloak, not too long, only a color type, just to make a point and, of course, a crown. And our stylized kingfher sketch is ready. I usually make the step of cleaning up my sketch before colouring, but you can do it if it makes it easier to paint for you going forward. Now we are ready to start coloring. 5. Painting Main Colours: On. So we've created a sketch of our stylised Kingfisher, and now we are ready to bring him to life with color. I've created a screen size canvas, and before I start coloring, I would like to do some preparations. I add texture to most of my illustrations, and this song will be no exception. You can find the two texture files in the resources section to this class. First, I placed a texture called cement on my canvas, and they change the blending mod to soft light and reduce the opacity to 55 58%. Next, I place the concrete texture on top of the cement texture and change the blending mode to color burn and reduce the opacity to 43%. I put both textures in a group and lock them so I don't accidentally start drawing on them. Next thing, I change the background color as I believe that it will benefit my illustration more than a pure white option, making the colors pop. You can see the value on the screen. Next, I'm reducing the opacity of the sketch so that I can barely see it. Now I create a new layer and place it right between the background and the texture group. And from now on, all the layers will be built around it. I'm going to start with the blue area of the bird, which is the top of the head, the wing, and the tail. For that, I pick the dry pastel brush and the lightest blue colour. I'm making sure that the opacity is 100%, and the size of the brush is comfortable for the size of my illustration. Now, I would like to mix in some mid tones of blue, so I start adding darker color here and there. Mostly where shading naturally occurs. If you feel that you need to clean up some edges, I recommend to use the contour brush as eraser. I would like to keep my bird mostly floffy, so I'm only erasing the inside of the wing, the bottom of the tail, and some blue off the face. Next, I create a new layer underneath the blue part, and that will be the orange part of the bird. With the same dry pastel brush, I pick the lightest shade of orange and start covering the orange area of the bird. I'm mixing in some dark shades of orange to create a nice colour variety. Now I'd like to add some white areas. So on a new layer with the same dry pastel brush, I select the pure white colour and add some white areas around the bird's head, gently mixing in with the orange. For the beak, I select a different brush, the contour brush, as I want the beak to have much sharper edge. Using the medium value of brown, I fill the beak with a colour. I would like to mix in some more colors. So I'm using the Alpha log on the beak layer to make sure that the colors don't go beyond the beak. I pick the darkest shade of brown, and with a dry pastel brush, I'm adding some darker colour in the bottom of the beak. Now, with the lightest shade of brown, I'm painting some lighter area on top. And now back to the contour brush, I would like to add some lines to the beak using all three values of brow. Finally, I need to add some color to the eye. On the new layer with a contour brush, I pick the pure white color. I pass it 100%. I'm filling the eye white with a colour. On a new layer, clipped to the previous one with a mask, I pick the pure black colour, Troy circle and fill it with colour. So the color base of the character is ready, and in the next lesson, we'll add some shading. 6. Shading: In this lesson, we keep working on the colors. So let's add some shading. First, I'm going to work on the orange part of the bird's body. So I add a new layer and clap it as a mask to the orange part. I change the blending mode to multiply. The brush I'm going to use for shading is the gold spray. I pick the darker value of orange and reduce the opacity of the brush. With light touch motions, I start adding the shades to the body. I'm switching my brush to dry pastel, as I'd like to make some more vivid shades. I'm also adding some shading to the body, creating the effect of soft feather texture. Now let's move on to the blue part. I add a new layer, clip it to the blue part, and change the blending mode to multiply. With a gold spray brush and the darker value of blue, I start adding shades where they would most naturally C. Now I switch to the dry pasta brush, pick the mid value of blue, and add some more intense shading. I'm adding some lines on the wing representing the longer feathers. Next, I'm going to add some details on the eye. On a new layer, clapped as a mask with a dry pastel brush, I pick the pure white colour and reduce the opacity and the size of the brush. With gentle moves, I add the white curved line to the pupil, creating a glass effect. Now I increase opacity to 100%, slightly reduce the brush size, and add a little dot for a highlight to the pupil. And the next lesson, we'll add some more details to evolve our character even further. 7. Adding Details: I'm going to start with working on details of the wing and the body. Before anything else, I'd like to add the legs to the bird. On a new layer, blending mode multiply with a contour brush and the mid tone of orange, I draw the legs. Nothing complex, two sticks. Now I'm going to work on the wing, and I'd like to start with adding some feathers. I create a new layer and pick the contour brush. I reduce the size of the brush and pick the darkest shade of blue. I start drawing feathers on the wing. They're going to be this kind of shape, quite big and exaggerated, arranged in two rows. Now I'm going to add some details to the feathers with the same contour brush. Switching between blue and white, I'm adding these line details. With the eraser, I'm going to clean up the lines on the feathers. Now, I feel like making the feathers even more visible. So I go back to the shading layer, select the dry pasta brush, and the medium value of blue. I add some extra shading. Next, I make a new layer, pick the scratch brush and the pure white colour and start adding some scratchy lines on the bird's head, which create a nice, interesting texture. And some of the wing and the tail as well. I'm drawing some white V shaped individual feathers on the orange part of the body. Also adding some scratches on the beak. Now I create a new layer, change the blending mode to multiply and start adding some dark blue and orange details with a in brush. To complete the details, I pick the dry pastel brush and add these little fluffy spots of white typical of the Kingfisher to the head and to the wing. So now the details have been added, let's work on the accessories. 8. Accessories: We can switch the sketch back on and let's start with the fur cloak, which is going to be very simple. But before we do that, I suggest that we put all bird layers inside one group to get them out of the way. I make a new layer and pick the dry pastel brush. With pure white and 100% opacity, I start filling the cloak area with the color. I would like it to be a paque so I duplicate the layer. Now with the same brush and the pure black colour, I start adding the black details to make the cloak look truly royal. I'm going to add a little bit of shading in the bottom of the cloak, so I create the new layer, clip it as a mask, and change the blending mode to multiply. With a gold spray brush and the mid value of blue, I add some shading on the cloak. Now I switch to the mid value of brown and mix some color in the shin. I pick the contour brush, and with the brown color, I add these little ties to the cloak. Now let's work on the crown. After some consideration, I've decided that instead of a typical standard crown, I'm going to give my Kingfisher a leafy crown to make him look like a true nature inhabitant. On a new layer, using the Cantor brush and the mid value of orange, I draw a leaf shape and fill it with colour. I will need seven leaves, so I duplicate this layer six times to create seven copies. The leaves are going to be arranged in two rows, front and back. I'll start with the back throw. I switch off the front four leaves and focus on working on the three back ones. They will be slightly larger than the front four, so I increase them in size. They'll also be darker, so I'm going to drop the darker value of orange on them. Now, I adjust the position of the leaves, making sure that I'm happy before I merge all three of them in one layer. Now I create a new layer, clip it as a mask, and with a scratch brush and the lightest value of orange, I start adding the line details. I add a new layer in between and change the blending mode to multiply. With a dry pastel brush and the darkest value of orange, I add some shading to one half of the leaves to make them more interesting. Now I think the shading is too dark, so I start playing around with different blending modes and eventually opt for screen. Next, I'm going to work on the front row of the leaf crown. So I switch on the four leaves layers and start arranging their positioning and size till I'm happy. Then I merge them in one layer for convenience. I create a new layer, clap ittasa mask and change the blending mode to multiply. With a scratch brush and the mid value of orange, I add the details to the front limbs. I pick the dry pastel brush and add some shading to the volume. And now our King's accessories are ready. 9. Finishing Touches: Our stylised illustration is almost ready. To make it look complete, I would like to work on some finishing touches. First, I would like to soften the sharp edge of the beak. For that, I'll go back to the Big layer and switch Alpha lock off. I pick the smudge tool, the dry pastel brush, and making sure that opacity is set to 100%, and the brush size is reduced. I soften the front edge of the beak, blending it to the fluff of the head. Next, I would like to add some shading on top of the head underneath the crown. For that, I'll go back to the blue shading layer, and with the cold spray brush and the mid value of blue, I paint some shading under the crown. Next, I would like to set the eye a little deeper. For that, I create a new layer directly under the eye, change in blending mode to multiply, and with a dry pastel brush and the midshade of brown, I add some deeper shading around the eye. I'm going to add some shading on the white of the eye, so I create a new layer on top of the eye and change the blending mode to shade. I pick the gold spray brush, reduce its opacity, and gently paint around the white of the eye, making it more rounded. I would also like to add some kind of ground so my Kingfisher is not floating in the air. I create a new layer under the feed layer, and with a dry pastal brush and the brown color, I paint a ground. Finally, I would like to add some more texture to the orange tummy. So I create a new layer on top of the orange, clap it as a mask and with a sea salt brush, and the mid value of orange. I'm adding some texture here and there with a tap, tap, tap motion. There you go. The stylised Kingfisher is ready. Oh. 10. Final Thoughts: Thank you so much for joining this class. I hope you enjoyed it and that you're happy with your newly created stylised Kingfisher. If you decide to share your artwork on social media, please kindly consider tagging me. Next time, we'll illustrate the same bird, but in an absolutely different way, please follow me to make sure that you don't miss any new classes. Hope to see you next time.