I. INTRODUCTION

Hello! Hello!

 

I can’t believe the stuffing of the turkey season is over, and now everyone is getting ready for the holidays and spending some quality time with their chosen family. I hope that everyone had a safe and memorable halloween/thanksgiving to those that celebrated it and that they're ready for what the month of December has in store!

 

Now my lovely peeps! How about an introduction for those of you that are wondering who the flapjack is this person?

 

My name is AlluringCalamity, and I am currently studying to get my Bachelor’s in Computer Animation.

 

I have used a numerous amount of drawing programs but the one that I have used for the longest time is Clip Studio Paint. I feel that one thing that I really enjoy about this program is how I can easily modify and customize specific attributes of Clip Studio to ease my drawing process. Which inturn makes creating art truly enjoyable every time I pick up my pen and let my imagination run wild.

 

So hit that adventure theme outro, and come along with me to get into the overview of today's video.

 

II. OVERVIEW OF THE TOPIC BEING DISCUSSED

 

I am Nigerian American, so I wanted to create a tutorial dedicated to the foods’ I eat during the holidays with my friends and family, there are dishes that I only enjoy whenever I go back home for the holidays or take a trip to Houston to get the authentic flavor of these classic dishes.. So I want to go over the one that I find to be the most eye-catching and tastiest ones from memory.

 

Which is egusi stew their is some assorted meats that you can put into it, the time it tables to make this soild dish motivated me to actually chill with my mom in the kitchen to learn how to cook at the ripe age of 9. But I will also show the joys of using a reference from my own family table of celebration as the festive feast table spread. We are going to focus on the steps I take to draw any type of meal from spread and solo dish. In order to ensure that the drawing showcases the scrumptious nature of the meal. So come along with me!

 

And let's begin the tutorial!

III. REFERENCES FOR THE TABLE SPREAD & SOLO DISH

I took a moment to draw a solo dish and a table spread. To explain the process of how I achieved my style of drawing with an image of the end results. For the table spread I collected references, I took my family's thanksgiving table, the types of food we eat, the containers, and pots we used to store our food from getting cold as they are lying in wait for my brothers, mother and father to finally eat from it. This reference allowed for me to have an understanding of where specific parts of the dishes would be placed on a table spread. Drawing inspiration from reference does not make you more useful than an artist, it shows that you wanted to make the object you're drawing feel like that can exist outside of your canva.

They help with rendering tricky lighting, shadows, reflections and so much more. So do not be afraid to create your own references, take pictures of objects that you wanting to make in your art, and have it by the side of your pic to call back to whenever you are needed to register what is going on in the space of your work.

 

Right after finding/creating references, you will load up your new canva and select the pen tools, looking through them I normally go with the airy pens to make my general sketch of my dish making sure to sketch out the general shape of the meal. Knowing that Egusi stew is made from a combination of beef chuck roast, red onion, ground crayfish infusing the stock with layers of flavor. I added some shrimp in the mix just because I am a huge fan of shrimp in my stews.

The reason why I normally use a pen or pencil tool to create the general forms of the ingredients/ plate. IS TO Make sure to not focus on the details of the beginning process of the drawing, for instance you have to take it one step at a time as if you were walking up the stairs. If you decide to go ahead and jump to the farther step you can get seriously injured. Which is why during this time of brainstorming you should allow your strokes to move across the canva freely and vaguely, to what you are taking note of in your references as well as your memory of what you see in life.

IV. TRUST THE PROCESS

So when you move along to the next stage you can create roughly generalized forms for the spread/food using the airy lighter in opacity pen over the shadows, landing on the table, in between the cracks of the fruits and solid foods where there is a shade from the absence of light. Now there is a tease of volume within the objects of the singular food standing on solo, and the spread with a collection of meals/and dishes.

 

Before we get into deciding the base color for each of the objects that we created, an outline with the g-pen for all of the silverware plates, fruits and food. I do go back and forth with making my sketch and shadow layers visible to recall the areas that are and aren’t receiving light or shadow.

Making sure to use the eyedrop tool if I find another object in the spread/dish that has the same base color.

 

So afterwards I use the fill bucket tool to drop into the center of the object to fill out the entire thing with that base color.

My favorite part which can be considered where patience is being tested, is the blending portion. Where you select the brush tool and head over to the water color brush to blend the blobs of shadows to the rendered objects once all of the layers make sure to change the effect of the sketch to Overlay so the color underneath bleed through the sketch to give it more of a whimsical variety as to how its colors are determined by the objects/foods it is resting on.

Then you will go in with your thick oil paint brush to really bring back the harsher creases of shadow so the areas that feel as if they are being washed away due to the blending over the entirety of the spread. After which you'll add highlights, shadows and shades interchangeable, to where the areas of the work needs them. Take our time with how you are painting around areas. You will gradually start to be more precise and critical with where you put your next oil paint stroke, oil flat paint brush, g pen, etc the more you work on the blending portion.

When you find yourself done with rendering the spread you can not select a dark purple color from your wheel and change the layer to multiple before using the soft airbrush tool to generously place it in areas that receive less direct lighting.

And then create another layer for the color dodge or glow effect using the same tool to put in areas that receive direct lighting or reflections.

You can still go back and tinker with the layout since the effect layers are separate from the painting itself if you are wanting to add more detail, you will have the opportunity to make your own background if you desire when you are done and then proudly sign your name to your piece.

V. CLOSING REMARKS

Ohhh you've made it to the end of the video. It was one ham of a long video, but I wanted to give my insight to some of the customization settings that clip studio paint has to offer their artist when they are creating their own festive meals. Remember that tools that you are uncertain about, anything you don't encounter as much doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to draw with them. There are some settings in the tutorial that I did not go over because I wanted to introduce y'all to the presets that I use and can best go into detail about without overwhelming individuals that are wanting to get a start to creating their own festive meals. As of right now I feel its best to take it day by day as cheese and annoying as that may sound. Consistent practice makes art that you can appreciate, and love for the development you've grown over time. Imma be joining yall on that boat too, so don't be shy scoot over. Remember that consistency builds progress, copy what you see, study what you copied, practice what you studied from imagination, construct what you observe, study what you observe, then practice what you studied.

 

It was a pleasure making this sea creature tutorial and I hope you enjoyed it! Wish all of you artists good luck, this has been AlluringCalamity time to head out, peace!

 

THE END