Hey there! Did you watch an anime or read a book with a demon character or other dark creatures that got your creative juices flowing? That’s great! That’s what art’s all about. So now, you probably wanna draw fanart? Well, let me slow you down there. How about you create your very own original character of the night?

 

In this very quick and simple tutorial, I’ll take you through how to do just that. I’ll be drawing an original demon character (OC); a demon girl. I drew this on Clip Studio Paint.

 

Step 1: Find references!

References are really important. Even the most experienced artists use them, because simply drawing from your imagination can turn out entirely different on your page. Using references gives you loads of inspiration and something to compare your work to.

 

For this character, I first researched other artworks of demons and photos of sunflowers (use Google Images). Then I brainstormed how I’d like my own character to look and sketched it out.

 

When designing your OC demon character, think about their personality and aesthetic. Anything around you can inspire you! For instance, for my demon girl character, I knew I'd like her to maintain her demonic look but still have a cheery persona because I'm currently inspired by the bright summer season. Therefore, I gave her sunflowers and used bright colors to paint her.

 

Step 2: Sketch!

As I mentioned before, your references and things around you will give you inspiration for how you’d like your OC demon character to look like. And this is how my sketch turned out (I got some references of horns, sunflowers, and other demons):

If you’re not a total newbie, skip this next part to Step 3. If you’re a total newbie to sketching and anatomy, here’s a quick tutorial on it (for simplicity's sake, I only drew a portrait, not a full body drawing, and it’s a very simple pose):

 

 

 

****THE FACE AND HAIR:

Use the ‘pencil tool’ and use a maroon color.

 

Draw a circle.

 

Then draw a horizontal line across the circle’s center.

 

Then draw a very long (slightly longer than the diameter of the circle) vertical line at the circle’s centre (from the top).

 

For the chin, draw a smaller horizontal line at the bottom of the vertical line.

 

For the jaw, add v-like lines at each end of the smaller line (Note; how slanted the v-like lines are will depend on the gender of what you’re drawing).

Connect the v-like lines to the circle.

 

On a different layer, draw eyes on the horizontal line across the circle.

Draw a very small circle slightly lower than the eyes on the longer vertical line going down the circle. Draw the nose.

Draw two dots below the nose. Draw a small horizontal line centered below them.

 

Draw the mouth (Note; if it’s a smile or a frown is up to you).

 

Now, draw some hair on that OC demon! Long, short, straight, curly, or wavy; it’s up to you.

The hair you draw will likely hide the ears. However, since I want pointy ears on my OC demon lady, draw two curves on either side of the horizontal line across the circle. Draw the ears.

 

 

 

 

 

****THE LOWER BODY:

Go back to the first lines layer.

 

For the neck, draw a small vertical line at the bottom of the smaller horizontal line (chin). For the chest, draw a horizontal rectangle (bigger than the circle) at the bottom of the small vertical line you just drew (the rectangle has a wider width for males and slightly smaller for females).

 

For the shoulders, draw circles (smaller than the face circle) on either side of the horizontal rectangle.

 

For the arms, draw short lines at the bottom of both circles.

On the different lines layer you created before, fill all the body’s shapes/ lines out (Note; you either add boobs for females or pecs for males).

 

When you’re totally done, ’erase’ the extra lines and shapes you used as the foundation on the first layer.

 

 

 

 

 

****EXTRA STUFF:

Draw clothes on and extra accessories (like flowers) if you want.

 

For the horns, I honestly just copied a reference image exactly. And I suggest you do the same (at least, until you’re ready for in depth animal anatomy study). However, it’s up to you if you want to include any accessories as I did. But since we’re drawing an OC demon character, I think horns are pretty essential, no?

 

 

Step 3: Base color!

Use the ‘pen tool’.

 

Make a different layer below the line art layer, then fill out the lines with any colors you want (for the skin, hair, clothes, etc.).

 

Tip: Remember to clean up any color falling out of the line art, as you go!

Step 4: Shadows!

Make a different layer above the base color layer. Select the layer’s ‘Overlay’ option. ‘Clip’ the layer to the base color layer below. Adjust the layer’s opacity to anything less than 70%. For the shadow’s color, select dark maroon.

 

I like to use the ‘Oil paint flat brush’ at a medium or large size but any brush and size are fine.

Then draw the shadows. It depends on whatever direction light is shining on your demon lady. For simplicity’s sake, light is shining from above. Tip: try to make it flow with the line art.

Step 5: Details!

I won’t be painting my demon lady hyperrealistic for simplicity’s sake. But I’ll teach you an easier way of adding in detail.

 

Make a different layer above the base color layer. Select the layer’s ‘Overlay’ option. ‘Clip’ the layer to the base color layer below. Adjust the layer’s opacity to anything less than 70%. For the lighting’s color, select white.

 

I like to use the ‘Oil paint flat brush’ at a medium or large size but any brush and size are fine.

Then draw the lighting. It depends on whatever direction light is shining on your demon lady. For simplicity’s sake, light is shining from above. Tip: try to make it flow with the line art.

 

 

To make your base colors less drab looking, take any random colors that you think might complement the base colors and paint them in as highlights.

 

Use the ‘Soft airbrush tool’, select a pinkish shade and lightly airbrush some blush onto the cheeks and lips. I personally like to put some on the ears, nose, and shoulders too.

Press Ctrl+U. You can play around with the base color layer’s ‘hue/saturation/luminosity' if you want (to get some different results).

Step 6: Extra stuff...We’re almost done!

Use the ‘Oil paint flat brush’ at a small or medium size. For the color, select white.

 

Add some shine to those eyes, horns, hair, and any other part on the base color layer.

 

Step 7: Background...We’re done. Heck yeah! ;D

It’s up to you to add a background. I don’t want to make it too complex, so I won’t paint a highly detailed background. For simplicity’s sake, just add in a shape on a new layer below every other layer, ’fill’ it in, ‘lock’ it, then select a different color and use the ‘pen’ tool to paint lines all over the shape.

 

If you want a background with a certain setting, I recommend you use a copyright-free image from Clip Studio’s catalogue by clicking the ‘Material [Background]’ tab, then the ‘All materials’ tab, then the ‘Color pattern’ tab.

 

Or get a background from copyright-free sites like Pixabay and Unsplash. You can change the ‘blending mode’ and the ‘Hue/saturation/luminosity’ to suit your OC demon character’s color.

And you’re done! Thanks for tuning in; hope this helped you draw your very own demon original character (OC)!