"Melon" Penciling, Inking, and Final Color Indie Game Test for U.F.F

Welcome to The Melon Shack, H-Gamers!
I would have to say this is a bit of a special posting.

In this weeks posting I thought I would take a detour from the average progression updates and talk/show off the steps The Shack Keeper will take to make the final game cg look.

I had the opportunity between the regular life grind to play around with , "Melon". (Spokesmodel for, "The Melon Shack"). It's been awhile since we had a post involving her and she was feeling left out. Here's a test I ran though with her this week to try and finalize the approach to the final look of the CG's in U.F.F, a step by step inside look at what the Shack keeper does in the Shack:

1st - We start out with a -Rough Sketch- of the chosen image/scene. (and I do mean rough, unless you plan on using your pencils work in the final project no reason to waste time cleaning up your lines )

• 2nd - Inking-  this is where my clean up happens. There are many options when it comes to inking, The shack keeper grew up inking with old fashioned pen and paper (ink and brush, rapidograph pens, crow quills, etc) in present day, it's all about the computer and your trusty Wacom Tablet. The program I bought and currently use for the game is an older version on Manga Studio.

• 3rd -Base Color- color it in. Choose your palette for your characters and always use those colors unless your adopting the character to fit a certain type of lighting situation.

• 4th - Shadowing- there's only so much to say, about this step, get a general idea of the light source in your head and color it in. With that said it's important to be happy with your shading in the end, everything else flows easier if this is right.

• 5th -Highlights- Throw in some shine and detail, your work will thank you for it. Again remain aware of your imaginary light source.

• 6th and final step. -Soften it up-  When inking I'll keep the face, hair, clothing, and skin on separate layers. This will allow me to achieve a softer look easier, simply by selecting my lines and changing the colors. More or less, This will be the end Goal for the CG's images for U.F.F. If I can get the game to look a sharp and clean as, "Melon" here, I'll be very satisfied for the finished look of my first garage house indie title. 

And that's that. I hope you enjoyed the inside look as much as I enjoyed playing with, "Melon" ^_~.

Cheers,

The Shack Keeper