Getting Started
So you've gotten through that word wall I created on the first post, and you're interested. But where to begin?
First off, choose the line art. I'll describe more of this process in a later post, but for now we'll keep it short and sweet. Then once you've loaded it onto your editing program (I use Pixlr X, it's amazing for line art) you unlock the layer and add an empty one. Your lines must always be the very top layer.
Now onto picking the colour. Either this is a custom, or you're doing whatever pops into your head. At first, I suggest doing a simple base colour, like chestnut or bay. To get a realistic shade, I find a stock image of that same colour, load it onto the editor, and then use the eye dropper tool to pick out the right shade. Try to find a part of the horse that isn't completely in shadow or light, for a neutral realistic colour. This stage does not apply if you are going for a fantasy horse.
Then, on that empty layer you added earlier on, colour in the horse. This sounds simple. It is, but not as much as you would think.
I generally use the polygon lasso tool and nip around the edges of the lineart - if it has thicker lines, this step will be much easier, but even thin ones are airly easy to use.
If you don't have a lasso tool, I like going around the edges with a smaller 40px brush with 20% softness first, to make sure I stay in the lines. Once that's done, I can move onto a 100px to fill in the whole horse. The size in pixels may vary, depending on the size of your canvas. If you're working on a 3000 × 3000 canvas, you'll need a larger brush, and same goes for smaller ones.
So now you're done with the base...or so you think. Go around the edges of it with a 20% softness eraser brush, making sure you left nothing outside of the lines. You will probably need to do this again once you've shaded, but it is still definitely worth it to do it now. Ends up saving time.
Once you've done that, make your eraser brush even smaller and erase the area that covers the eyes. Do not erase anything else. You'll understand this later on.
Voila! You are finally done with the base of your horse.