Steve Harpster - How to Draw Video Games: Create Unique Characters, Worlds, Levels and More

Surfaces

Index cards

Sketchbook

Sticky notes

Tracing Paper

Watercolor Paper

Mediums

Brush Pens

Colored pencils

Micron art pens

Pencil

Pentel pocket brush pen

Prismacolor Col-Erase colored pencils

Sharpie black permanent markers

Watercolor paints

White ink pen

Other Tools and Supplies

Adobe Photoshop (optional)

Electric pencil sharpener

Kneaded eraser

Watercolor paintbrushes

If you picked up this book you must like video games, but it is my hope to make it just as fun to create video games as it is to play them. Lets face it, there are huge differences between drawing and video games. A video game is easy to pick up and play while drawing.... Well, wait a minute... Drawing is something you just pick up and play, too! Okay, well, in video games the more you play and increase levels, the harder it gets, but drawing.... Oh, nope, another bad example. Drawing also gets harder the more you increase your skill levels. So how is a video game different from drawing? I know! There is no high score when it comes to drawing. But wait, if theres no score then how do we know if we are good at drawing or not? When youre drawing you dont get one-ups or bonus points or even a chance to save your initials in the high scores. How do we know who is and who is not good at drawing? Unfortunately too many people decide they are not good at drawing and give up on it. So give me a chance to help you with your drawing skills. The goal of this book is not only to make you a better artist, but to help you get those ideas from inside your head and onto that piece of paper. And I think I have some helpful and clever tricks for that. So grab your pencil and your paper and lets draw!

STEVE HARPSTER

Your drawing quest is about to begin. The goal of this book is to teach you skills and tricks to make you a more confident artist.

You will learn how to create amazing new worlds and difficult levels to play and solve.

You will not only learn to draw the characters in this book, but you will also learn the skills to create your own awesome characters.

This book will inspire ideas and motivate you to draw and create.

There is no end to your imagination. The trick is how to get those ideas from your brain onto the paper.

Dont worry about making mistakes or trying to make perfect art at first.

The key to getting better at drawing is to...

Stop playing video games and start drawing games!

With a little practice...

Youll be amazed at what you can create.

Here are the basic drawing tools that will be used in this book. These items can be picked up at any art supply store and are fairly inexpensive.

1. Prismacolor Col-Erase colored pencils for the rough drawing phase because they are erasable. Try different colors to see what works best.
2. A quality electric pencil sharpener. A cheap pencil sharpener will break your pencil tips, especially colored pencil tips. A sharp pencil will also make adding details much easier.
3. Post-it notes or index cards for rough drawings and thumbnail drawings. Buy the big packs... youll need them.
4. Kneaded erasers are great for erasing large areas, or shape them to a point for tiny areas.
5. Sharpie markers are perfect for thick lines and blocking in large areas of black. Plus, they are cheap to purchase by the box.
6. Micron art pens are great for fine lines and come in a variety of sizes. Try using different sizes for different line effects.
7. Sketchbooks are a must. There are many kinds of sketchbooks with different types and sizes of paper. Try out different sketchbooks and see what you like best.
8. Traditional colored pencils are an easy way to quickly add color to your characters. They offer a wide range of colors and they can be blended to create a variety of effects.
9. Brush pens are a great way to quickly get thin and thick lines with one stroke. These pens are not easy to use at first. With some patience and lots of practice, a brush pen can take your drawings to the next level. I love the Pentel pocket brush pen.
10. A white ink pen can create really cool highlights and also cover up mistakes. I have tried many different versions, but the one I like the best is the Gelly Roll white ink pen.

Rough Ideas

In this book we will be using sticky notes or index cards to create the initial rough ideas for the characters, vehicles and worlds.