Linework: Cleaning up?

[3DZealot]

Hello everyone.

I recently did some concept drawings for a 3D challenge over at cgtalk. Since time was a factor, I produced this rough sketch for my entry:

http://www.3dzealot.com/cgt_challenge/CGT_ICON_Sketch1.jpg

Please ignore my poor drawing skills for the time being.

I've always drawn with VERY bold lines. Scribbles is more the word. At any rate, I can't really figure out how to cleanup my drawings. To "digitally ink" them, so-to-speak. I use Photoshop to do most of my 2d drawings, and I can't really figure it out. If I erase areas to unify the line work, it really becomes a horrible mess. I'm theorizing that alot of artists utilize an additional layer, and draw over their original?

Any advice on cleaning up line work would be wonderful. And as a somewhat related question, I'd love to know if there exists an online tutorial on line weights...something I really need to learn/practice/understand.

Anyway, thanks for the lengthy read, and please forgive the newb line of questioning.

-3DZ

:D

[JoShuA]

hmmm. If it's the line work that's one thing, but if you want to know how to make it so you can color underneath your linework this is what I do:

1. Select the whole image
2. Copy the image
3. go to the channels tab and create an alpha channel.
4 paste your image into the alpha channel
5. Hold ctrl and click the thumbnail of the alpha you just created. It should turn into lots of tiny selections.
6. Invert the selection
7. Go back to the layer panel
8. Create a new layer and fill the selection (It should still be selected) whith black or whatever.
9. Make a layer or white or whatever color underneath the new "outline layer.

Now you can paint underneath your line work!!

A.Q.? (haha that means "any questions" it's sort of this cool new slang,)

P.O. (that means "Peace Out")

[Kaylon]

Or .. just duplicate your line work layer... and make the layer a multiply ... place new layer under this and fill a colour ..start painting ....

As far as clean up goes, for the most part I do a new layer above the sketch and re-draw it as clean as poss ...