Hello everyone!

For this month I'd like to show how to effortlessly create a holiday card, by using Nengajou (年賀状) as an example. (In Japan you give these cards to acquaintances (for New Year).

◆　STEP 1 : Relevant Objects

First let's think about the most common objects for the type of holiday card we want to draw!

 

As an example, for Nengajou incorporating the Eto of that year (2022: Tiger) and the date is common.

Gathering these relevant objects will help get your creativity going for the next step!

◆　STEP 2 : Sketch

For the canvas setting, I'll choose the template 【Postcard】.

For my Nengajou I want to put a Tiger-version of my character into the middle of the card,

I'll first sketch that up and roughly put in colour!

After the character's sketch is done,

We'll continue by roughly putting in a background!

 

For this sketch, it's not important to draw clean lines or fine details.

Rather than that, focus on creating a nice Balance between the character and the objects.

I expand the width of the canvas to create this space for the minimized and blurred sketch and a colour palette of the colours used in it.

The reason I keep the rough sketch up there, is to see whether the balance is alright like that.

 

You don't want to lose the balance of the image while redrawing the clean lines.

◆　STEP 3 : Background Tool ◆

For the background of the card we can use the several 【Figure】tools, optionally in combination with the 【Symmetrical Ruler】

Or the 【Special Ruler】

The 【Special Ruler】is quite handy when creating patterns.

The angle of the set ruler line transfers to all of your strokes.

So the distance between the lines may vary, but the angle always stays the same.

You could use the 【Figure】and【Special Ruler】tool in a holiday card like this!

If you want a 「Base Pattern」for your card,

you might also use the 【Figure】tool like this:

Save these shapes with a transparent background and shrink the canvas fittingly.

Next 【Import】the saved image of the figure, but be sure to import it as

File→　Import→　Image as Pattern

The image will repeat itself like this.

And when you shrink the image,

You will have a nice simple base for your card!

◆　STEP 3 : Background ◆

So gathering the relevant objects, using 【Figure】and 【Asset Brush】

We get this result,

Since a holiday card should be kept simple and organized I will not add any finer detail to it.

Looking at the small rough sketch, there's only the '2022' in the foreground missing.

◆　STEP 4 : Adding white Frame

For the brush-like look of the '2022', I used this Asset Brush.

This way you have a nice white frame, helping the '2022' to pop out more!

◆　STEP 5 : Adjusting the Character

Keeping in mind that you might wish to print out your card,

I decided to only have one shade of shadow for the colouring.

With too much detail it would not fit to the simple background I prepared.

So make sure to always keep a harmonious relation between character and background .

For this character the most important point is the 「Lineart」.

I add thicker lines at random spots to also give it that brush look.

Always try to keep the overall style of a drawing consistent.

As a comparison why, let's take a look at the adjusted 「Lineart」.

The thick lines just help bring the harsh black brush lines in the background and foreground together. Without the thick lines those two objects just seem disorientating.

◆　STEP 6 : Checking Layout

Like I mentioned, with cleaner lines and finished objects, the layout might no longer be well-balanced.

 

To check for the balance of the drawing, always zoom out to not get lost in the details.

After checking my drawing here, I realized that there was a lot of 'weight' on the sides of the drawing.

This unintentional weight causes the middle of the background to look too empty.

 

So to counter that imbalance,

I make a basic pattern as shown before,

Erase unnecessary parts

And like that, I now have my final Nengajou!

◆　Final Comment

Thank you for reading this tip, I hope it could be useful to you!