This entry is a bit different than the others, because it's meant to be informative! I was recently asked how I make chibis in my style, so I thought this would be a nice opportunity to share a bit of my know-how!
Let's get started!
1) Start with/Draw out a Base. I created my base from the first chibi I drew by simply drawing a basic outline over the finished artwork. I kept the legs on my base to keep the height of each chibi somewhat consistent, and left the arms off so they wouldn't get in the way of me drawing a pose.
To draw mine, all you need to do is draw a large potato for the head, then sketch out the style of torso you'd like. I highly suggest that you always give your character a neck, so they don't suffer from a terrible case of noneckitus. It's also important, oddly enough, to try and keep your chibi proportional. Sure, there's a giant watermelon on its head, but that doesn't mean it needs to have elephant feet as well.
Here's a few things to think about when making a drawing:
>When hanging down, the arms of your character should fall right at their mid-thighs.
>You should be able to pretty neatly split the body of your character (excluding the head) into thirds: The chest, the waist/hip region, the legs.
>The feet and hands of your drawing should be
roughly the same size. The feet can be a bit larger, but try not to make them huge.
NOTE: Try and keep the base on its own layer. This will make cleaning up your outline 9001% easier.
2) Give it a Face! As you may notice on my base, all of my chibis start out with some blank eyes already drawn. While this is more or less because I don't feel like drawing the same eyes over and over, this also helps to give a reference as to how/where you should draw the character's hair.
My characters' faces are pretty simple: Eyes, eyebrows, mouth. Nose is optional. For a chibi style like this the eyes are, generally speaking, going to pretty large. The other features are present, though not as prominent. If you take no other advice from me, just remember that the eyebrows are the most important feature in drawing a face. The way you draw them will separate a happy character from a diabolical monster or emotional wreck, so be sure you draw them right!
3) Sketch out a pose/limbs. At this point, (Making sure you're in a new layer) sketch how your characters arms and legs are going to be situated in your drawing. The possibilities are pretty endless, but for starters it couldn't hurt to try something basic like having your character's hands on their hips, or perhaps their arms just hanging down.
Keep in mind that
the pose of your character plays as much part in conveying emotion as does their facial expression. Sure, your character could be frowning, but giving them crossed-arms or even a hand on their hip will help to get the point across that they are NOT happy.
4) Sketch out some hair! Oh hair... I loathe thee... Drawing hair isn't actually that bad, so Hakuna Matata! Making sure you're in a new layer, try and give your character's hair a general outline. I stick with gesture lines for the hair (rather than outlining each strand) because A: It looks cleaner, and B: The shading will take care of most of the details. Just give a general idea of with direction the hair is laying in, and you'll be fine.
5) Sketch out some clothing! Same as with drawing hair, drawing clothing isn't as bad as it seems. I generally give the clothing a quick outline (in a new layer), then go back in with a smaller brush/pencil tool to add wrinkles, pockets, and other finer details. It may seem easier to leave out the little details, but they really do add to the look of your chibi if you take the time to add them in.
6) Clean up! If you check out the .gif up top, you'll notice that after every time I draw a new section to my chibi (hair, clothes, etc.), I go back and erase a few lines. These lines are from the base of the chibi, which we've been keeping secluded in its own layer. By keeping it down there, we can simply go back and erase the parts of it that will be covered by the newer sections. If your character's ear is covered by hair, for instance, now you can simply go back and erase the whole ear.
7) Merge together your outline layers.
8) Fill in the character's base colors. In a new layer (beneath the outline), use any colors of your choice to fill in your character. Be sure and stay within the outlines of each section!
Try not to pick any colors that might be an eyesore. Colors such as bright reds and greens can be especially painful to the eyes, so, at least for the sake of others, try not to use them excessively.
9) Shade! :o My style of shading a chibi is pretty simple, as I only use three shades of each color. To add shadows, I draw along the (generally left) edge of a section where the light would no longer be hitting the character. On a chibi's head, for example, there would be a shadow under the hair, where the face is being covered.
There are a few shadows I add for stylistic purposes, such as the shadow along the eyebrow's bottom edge, and the shadows around the eyes. They don't have to be there - I just like them to be there.
10) Highlight! There are many ways to add highlights to a piece, but I choose to do it by adding small flecks of light to my drawing. I do this by selecting a fairly bright shade of a section's color, and adding a small group of dots where the light would be hitting the most. I generally group my dots in 2 or 3s, but you can use however many you feel comfortable with.
11) Merge together your drawing's layers and save.
