GUEST POST BY RAYE RODRIGUEZ

Hi Surface Pro Artist readers!

I'm Raye Rodriguez, an animation student at NYU currently interning at Frederator Studios in Burbank.

The first time I attempted to use Manga Studio was several years ago when I was just beginning high school. I was looking for a program that would give me better line quality than what I was getting in Photoshop. The interface confused me and I could never get my lines to look clean (I was having a weird anti-aliasing problem that I never fully understood). After several unsuccessful attempts at using the program, I eventually gave up on it.

I probably would have never gone back to the program if it wasn't for my dad (creator of this blog!) constantly raving about how great Manga Studio 5 had become. The picture I'm going to walk you through today is the first complete image I've ever drawn and colored solely in Manga Studio.

I started with a messy sketch of my character Rosemary that I unfortunately did not save. From this first attempt I realized that I had no idea how to draw Rosemary's arms and legs in extreme perspective.

I used what I think is the coolest tool in Manga Studio to help myself get Rosemary's anatomy down. I took one of the program's premade 3D characters, put her in the pose I was trying to draw and adjusted the camera's focal length so she was in perspective.

From there I was able to look at the 3D model as a reference for my sketch. I had to fudge it a little since the premade doll and Rosemary are so anatomically different (Rosemary's head is huuuuuge), but the model still helped a lot.

I used the Pen Tool's G-Pen with stabilization at around 9.

Next I made my first pass at inking. I used the Turnip pen with stabilization somewhere between 25-40….Big difference I know, but I don't actually remember. It was… more than before. I didn't focus too much on line weight yet, I was just trying to get it all down.

Here's where I really started to get into detail with the lines. I made areas closer to the camera and areas where lines overlapped darker, and added a border around the entire figure.

Next was coloring! Of course, I accidentally forgot to save a picture of the flat version (sorry again)…

I started by using the Auto select tool to select areas of the same color. I used the Brush Tool's "Bit Husky" brush in the India Ink section to fill in the selections. I made different layers for each color in order to make shading easier later on.

Once the flat colors were down, I locked each layer one by one and added the shading and highlights.

The last stage of this picture was adding the background. I made a pink gradient using the Gradation Tool. I used one of the premade Color Patterns on overlay to add a bit of texture.

Then I pasted a lacey Monochromatic Pattern into image. I had to rasterize it before I was able to edit it at all. I moved the bits of lace so they frame the picture. I had to duplicate the border layer a bunch of times to increase the opacity and use Layer Properties to adjust the colors… There's probably an easier way to do all of this, but I couldn't figure it out.

And that's about it! I have to say, Manga Studio really has come a long way since I tried to use it all those years ago. I wish I'd had it back when I was really struggling to understand how to create good digital line art.

I'll definitely continue experimenting in this program and using the 3D models as references when I get stuck.

Thanks for reading!!

http://dinoraye.tumblr.com/

Jonathan Woodard is a professional designer, illustrator and animator who literally wrote a book on how to "Create Comics on the IPad." Also known as "mastajwood," he created the iPad comic book "Samuel J. Coffy: Action Panda Cop" and is currently working on a wide variety of comics projects and covers.

Jon recently made the switch to the Surface Pro and agreed to share some details on his workflow. The artwork below was created in Sketchbook Pro.

You can follow his work at http://mastajwood.tumblr.com/

By Jonathan Woodard

I too have switched from using an iPad to Win 8 devices. I had originally switched to the Samsung ATIV Smart PC but after seeing how much smoother Sketchbook Pro was on the Surface Pro (in the Penny Arcade inking video), I now have switched to the Surface because of the i5 versus the ATIV Smart PC 500's Atom processor. I'm loving the switch and the Surface Pro is the perfect mobile creative tablet.

Below is a breakdown of my process, all done on the Surface Pro with Sketchbook Pro and Photoshop.

First I do a really loose sketch of what I want. Keeping it really loose keeps the energy in the final piece.

Next I make a new layer and do the lineart for the body to make sure the shape is right.

I do the armor lineart on a new layer, so that I can have variant versions of the same print.

Next I lay down the flats. Skin and hair is on one layer, armor and clothing is on another layer.

Next I'll add the shadows and highlights. Shadows for the skin and hair again are separate from the shadow layer of the armor. Up to this point it's all been done in Sketchbook Pro. I'll then create my background using illustrator and comp the two together in Photoshop with final lighting and textures.

For a little over a week, I've been concentrating on learning Manga Studio on the Surface Pro, so I hadn't tried to run Sketchbook Pro recently.

Earlier today, I got a dreaded crash upon attempting to open SBP 6.01 that was very reminiscent of the crashes we reported last month. My first guess was to try deleting the user preferences .xml file. This workaround fixed the previous crashes, but didn't work this time around.

Although I believe my Intel HD4000 driver was installed correctly, I went ahead and re-installed it. Upon reboot, Windows is advising me to install the 6/11/2013 System Hardware Update. I had first installed this update when it was released last week. There is no mention of this update involving the video driver.

Ignoring the update notice, I was able to load Sketchbook Pro again.

I've done a quick search and haven't spotted anyone else reporting this issue. What about you? I hid the offending May update. Should I hide the June 11 update as well? Until we see confirmation, I advise Sketchbook Pro users to proceed with caution and avoid installing this update.

As your Windows 8 start screen begins to pile up with desktop applications, you'll start to wish you could better distinguish one program for another and make the individual program icons better coexist with splashy Modern UI apps.

That's where OblyTile comes in. This handy free utility lets you select the program icon you want to replace, identify an alternative and creates a new start screen icon in a matter of moments. And most importantly, it doesn't interfere with your existing start items so you can confirm that the program link works before removing the old icon.

You can find out more in this XDA developer thread. Lifehacker's writeup on OblyTile includes a link to an Iconset featuring over 400 Modern UI icons. The creator of those icons, dAKirby309 has an even larger set on his DeviantArt page that features the 3DS Max and Photoshop icons seen here.

For a quick walkthough of how to use OblyTile and dAKirby309's icons, check out the video below.

Step by Step: Creating Rosemary in Manga Studio 5

Former iPad Artist Glad He Made the Switch to Surface Pro

Did 6/11 update kill Sketchbook Pro again?

Create Custom Program Tiles with OblyTile