Creating cool textures with a pencil
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To create cool textures on your cartoon characters, you don't need to use the latest graphic software (although it might help!). You can create nice textures using a simple pencil and lots of imagination!
In this tutorial, I will show you 21 examples of textures created with a 2B pencil. The drawings were made using painter, but the results are pretty similar to what you could achieve using a real 2B pencil!
The first texture is a simple one. I've only drawn a couple of dots (and some of them are rather small lines than dots). You can create very sophisticated textures using only dots, but you need to be patient too!
Another simple texture sketched with horizontal and vertical lines. Right now, my examples are basic and maybe a little obvious! Later on, you will have the opportunity to see examples integrating these basic textures to create more complex drawings!
This texture is interesting. It is quite easy to create and can be used to represent many elements like water or clothing. Just make sure that lines are not touching each other too often (see the top-left part of the drawing) otherwise it might become hard to read.
Drawn using small lines, this texture is perfect to illustrate fur. Make sure that lines drawn in various direction to keep the organic look of the texture.
Another simple yet effective technique! Perfect to illustrate clothes or a floor, this texture is easy to create and enjoyable to look at! A nice example that you don't need to sketch complex patterns to come up with cool textures!
Another variation using only lines. However, don't overuse this one since it might be a little hard on the eyes!
This example is using semi-circles (drawn with one simple line). Pretty effective and easy to create too! It's now time to create textures using more lines and less white space!
This texture was sketched using lines drawn in a 45 degrees angle. However, the left part was drawn using more lines, which gives a small shadow effect to the texture. A very basic and effective way to add tones and variations to the image.
Another simple texture created with only two lines. However, this one might be better when combined with another technique like dots or grey tones!
This one was done using only semi-circles. It does look like a pile of dust!
I really don't like this one. It's ugly and doesn't really add anything good to the drawing. You must experiment a lot to come up with interesting textures. And sooner or later, you will create cool textures that are useless or inadequate. Don't worry! It's part of the learning process!
This other example isn't necessarily good or bad. You just need to match it with the perfect object!
Using a 2B pencil can be interesting if you are able to explore all possibilities offered by this tool. Smudging small areas is a simple technique that can give fascinating results! That's what I did to create the background of this weird texture!
So far, I have used mostly dots and lines to create my cool textures. But you can also use shapes like circles or rectangles to create a nice and effective textures.
This one is very easy to create. Just draw a couple of squares and add some light lines of the left part of your shapes. You can also add some subtle dots in the white areas to complete the texture.
Like you can see on this picture, you don't need to create perfect shapes (the squares) to create a drawing that is fun to look at. Irregular and sketchy lines will give an organic and warmed atmosphere to your artwork!
Another simple yet effective texture! All you need to do is draw the leaves, add a couple of lines inside each of them and create shadows using light and dark grey tones.
This one is a little more complex to create. Drawing shadows is not very difficult to achieved. But drawing these shadows in the right places is the real challenge of this texture.
The last four examples are drawn using a mixed of various cool textures like circles, dots, lines and a variety of grey tones. In this example, each of the shadows below this circle were drawn using small vertical lines and one long circular line.
In my opinion, something is missing in this one. The background should be darker or lighter to make the whole thing enjoyable to look at. A good example that you should always go for a very simple texture or a complex one.
Something between both can only be distracting and not very convincing.
A nice, complex and very effective texture. Each circle is filled with small (and empty) circles. Then, I've just added some lines on the bottom of the main circles. Finally, the space available between each main circle is loaded with dark and thick lines.
Last but not least, this cute texture made of miniature blood cells! Notice that all small circles have been covered with a grey tone to give more depth to the drawing.
I've just shown you a small sample of what you can achieve using a simple 2B pencil. You are only limited by your imagination! A black and white drawing can be very interesting to look at if you are able to create textures that are believable and well-drawn. Feel free to experiment!
I also encourage you to create a notebook filled with all the best textures you can come up with! No doubt that I have lost many nice textures that I have created of the years just because I didn't take the time to make a copy of them!
I hope you had fun looking at these cool textures! Keep on drawing!
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