This is my first drawing tutorial on how to draw little surreal islands, like the one below. Enjoy!

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This is the first part of three and at the end you are going to know, how to create a surreal handdrawn scene all by yourself!
In my previous posts I gave you a little insight in my book project, unfortunately I had no time to carry on with it until now
Today I want to use the opportunity to show you, how I create my drawings step by step, so you can easily follow along

This will be the end result

Step 1: draw the outline

The very first step is always to have a rough idea what you want to draw, or in this case what topic your little island is about. I want to end up with a swamp like scenery, so I've choosen a toad to sit on top of my island.

First I draw the outlines very rough and light with a soft pencil. Then I try to trace the sketch with one fine line. For the islands just draw a little mountain upside down and add a spiky grasslayer on top of it.

Step 2: Patterns!

For the stone/ dirt like texture I use easy crosshatch patterns. Important is that you try to draw them very clean. Take your time to get used to it! Add some first shadows too.

Step 3: dark outline

For the most important lines that are creating a contrast to the rest of the picture I use a thicker fineliner.
Now you are ready for the last details.

Step 4: shadows and details

This is in my opinion the most important step and makes the difference between a boring and an interesting picture: the shadows and details.
Shadows are so important because they add a 3-dimensional feeling to your drawing. For the shadows I use a thicker fineliner and add another layer of lines in the opposite direction to the already exsisting lines. Also try to imagine a surce of light, that your shadows are throughout on the same site.

In the end I added a few flies and dots, to make the texture of the toad more interessting.

Step 5: Paint in

The next steps are going to be, how you get your drawing digitaly and to add some color to it.
But that I am going to explain in the next tutorial.

Materials:

That are the fineliners I use to create my drawings. They are very thin and perfect for detailed drawing.
My favourite sizes reach from 0.05 mm to 0.7 mm!

Thank you for your time and share your opinion with me on my first tutorial!

If you like what I do I would love some nice words, a like,

a follow or anything else :)

Have a nice day everyone!

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