Okay, so today I wanted to make something silly, like, a cowboy riding a horse, but you know, digital art style. I’m no pro, but I like messing around with this stuff.
First, I fired up my trusty art program. I usually just doodle, so this was a bit more ambitious than my usual stick figures.
Getting Started
- I started with a basic sketch. Just rough shapes, you know? A circle for the cowboy’s head, a bigger blob for the horse’s body. It looked ridiculous at this point, more like a potato on a sausage than anything else.
- Then, I slowly started adding more details. The cowboy got a hat, a lumpy torso, and some stick-like arms and legs. The horse got a bit more definition too, with a head and some legs that didn’t quite look like they belonged to the same creature.
Refining the Mess
This is where it got a bit tricky. I spent a good chunk of time just erasing and redrawing lines. Trying to make the cowboy look less like he was melting and the horse less like it was assembled from spare parts.
- Added some basic shading. This helped a lot, actually. Even just a little bit of shadow made things look a bit more three-dimensional.
- Gave the cowboy a little vest and some boots. I even tried to draw a little lasso, but it ended up looking more like a tangled noodle.
- The horse got a mane and a tail. I tried to make them look all flowing and majestic, but they mostly just look like scribbles.
Coloring and Finishing Touches
I’m not great with colors, so I kept it pretty simple.
- Brown for the horse, a lighter brown for the cowboy’s clothes.
- A blue sky, because, well, it’s a sky.
- I tried to add some details, like stitching on the cowboy’s vest and some texture to the horse’s coat, but it’s probably not very noticeable.
Finally, the art had been done!
It’s definitely not going to win any awards, but hey, I had fun making it. And it’s definitely a step up from my usual stick figures. Maybe next time I’ll try adding a background, or maybe even gasp another cowboy!
