Creating a detailed illustration in Affinity Designer with RSKT

RSKT aka Rhys Thomas is 2D artist and 2D/3D animator from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland Australia - in this session he will not only show you how to get started in the world of digital art, but also a complete workflow for creating detailed illustrations using Affinity Designer.
We’ll be covering basic use of vector and pixel tools, as well as various techniques that can be used to create a finished piece of art.
Also he created all the music and sounds effects!
More from Rhys here:
KZbin Channel: / @rskt_art
Etsy store: www.etsy.com/au/shop/RSKTstore
Instagram: / rskt_art
Facebook: / rskt.thecapableartist
Portfolio: rskt.myportfolio.com/
Affinity Creative Sessions
Led by top creatives who use Affinity, Affinity Creative Sessions give you the chance to follow along as incredible artists, illustrators, designers and photographers work on a project using the apps.
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You can find out more about the Affinity suite, including getting access to free trials, over on affinity.serif.com/.

[@Mystic_Dragon_Art]

RSKT is a great teacher, I love how he goes into such detail and is very beginner friendly. Please have him on again!

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks so much for saying that! I hope to be on again some day as well :)

[@ronsone8373]

Second that ☝️☝️

[@charlene6306]

Stopped after 17mins to leave this comment. Blown away by how good this tutorial is. The instructor is really good and engaging. It’s such a rare quality in so many YT vids. IMHO

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks so much for saying that! :) I really tried to cram in as much as possible for this one.

[@mr.h3429]

This dude is an amazing artist and a great teacher! He needs more subs. Thank you RSKT for more amazing content.

[@RSKT_art]

No problem! Thanks for the kind words! :)

[@CharlesMercer]

I love your humility and your excellent coaching methods. No jarring ego. No wonder Affinity wants you on their team. I would too. If I had a team.

[@minhduonguc1787]

I just drop by and see this video. It is awesome, really.

[@reneerose9730]

Absolutely loved this tutorial. This is one of the best I’ve seen. Thank you for being so cool about showing your process. I def. Had a number of awesome take aways from this video!! You’re awesome. Can’t wait to see more of your content.

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks so much! Glad you were able to get something out of it :)

[@rodiquart]

Best carrot art ever. Love it

[@FitMoose]

Dude you're an absolute hero! Just started on Affinity Designer and learned so much about colouring from this. Thanks a lot!!

[@RSKT_art]

No worries! Really glad you learned something from this :)

[@graftedworks]

Super easy to follow! This is one of my favorite Affinity Creative Sessions for sure. Thanks, @RSKT!

[@RSKT_art]

So happy to hear that! Thanks so much! :)

[@Kallah_DaughterOfYAHUAH]

Yeah I actually enjoyed what he showed me.

[@RSKT_art]

@@Kallah_DaughterOfYAHUAH So happy to hear that :D

[@davidpreston3624]

Dude you rock. And you are obviously into another one of my favorite past times, music production. Looking forward to viewing more of your content, as I am just getting started in digital art.

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks so much! Somethings I think I enjoy making music more than making art! Definately a fun balancing act :)

[@anikafp]

Fantastic! Thoroughly explained and easy to follow the whole process. Thanks for this!

[@RSKT_art]

So glad you liked it! :)

[@XcosmogenesisX]

finally some more great artwork from RSKT :). Thank you

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks so much!

[@christinalupo2119]

I just looooove how detailed he was and literally explained it to a real beginner! thank you with allllll my heart! this has been one of the besttttt tutorials ive seen on affinity and really appreciate you!! also, you're such a bad ass artist!!! I hope you do more tutorials pleaseeee!!!

[@RSKT_art]

Haha thankyou so much. Comments like these really warm my heart :)

[@yusufokur9926]

thank you for the clipping mask part

[@craig8059]

Very good instructor! Thank you!

[@liviere1]

Amazingggggggggggggg!!!!! your illustration is really amaaaaziiiinggggg!!!!!🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

[@donnascreativespace]

what a fab tutorial!! I learnt so much from you, thank you so much.

[@chetwyndconservation2231]

Fantastic video! RKST was super generous and humble in sharing his process and I feel I learned more useful techniques than in just about any other session. I'm going over to his channel, but I hope Affinity will feature him again here.

[@RSKT_art]

I come back to check on the comments for this video from time to time. Still so stoked to see this tutorial is proving useful to some people. Glad you were able to get something out of it and thanks for the kind words.

[@Charbythedesert]

You sir are very generous with your information. Thank you for this enlightening Affinity tutorial.!

[@RSKT_art]

No problem at all! Hope it helped you out in some way :)

[@jwoluenpao]

Thank you for your demonstration. It really helps a lot.

[@trace1301t]

Version 2 now has a few of the features missing from the previous version especially the vector warp tool and shaper tools. Would love to see an updated version of this video to V2.

[@barrywebber]

Looking forward to this Rhys.

[@RSKT_art]

Cheers! Hope you like it :)

[@Goldmangun]

Super-impressive, thank you!

[@RSKT_art]

No problem! :D

[@blademanu7]

Excellent tutorial thank you 🙏

[@loicmiame5669]

Thanks a lot for showing us the process. God bless u

[@frankligas2249]

Thanks for the video. Love your work.

[@RSKT_art]

Cheers! :)

[@jehsd1234]

Yes! This is awesome!

[@RSKT_art]

Cheers! :)

[@josea.cortes3112]

Realmente un video superpedagógico, sencillo, donde se muestran el desarrollo del proceso incluyendo las herramientas que se utilizan, un aprendizaje perfecto. Un video excepcional. Muchas gracias por compartir el video y quizás me quede corto en los en los elogios.

[@RSKT_art]

Had to translate that, so sorry for the late reply. Thanks so much for the kind words! I'm really glad you got a lot out of it :)

[@etiennejulius1179]

Excellent Video. Thank you for sharing.

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks and no problem :)

[@mufeedco]

This the best tutorial for AD. Thank you 😀

[@RSKT_art]

Dude. Thankyou! :D

[@sinfull9987]

Amazing Tutorial from a talented artist. Really like the style and your explanations of your approach was really clear. I particularly liked the shading/highlight comments just go wild don’t worry too much about where the light source is. In your style it really works. Would love an explanation of how you achieved the light blue/dark blue effect on the tv screen. It looks really cool.

[@RSKT_art]

Thankyou so much! Yes! I realised I forgot to talk about that when I watched this back live. Basically the "static" is just a stock image. It was multiple colours, so I used curves to make it all blue. There is a soft blue glow around the edge though. I did this with a basic soft brush and set it to colour doge. This gives a soft glow over the top that's kinda subtle. Hope that helps and thanks for tuning in :)

[@sinfull9987]

@@RSKT_art thanks for the explanation. I will have to give that a go

[@RSKT_art]

@@sinfull9987 no problem!

[@thegraedler]

Perfekt Tutorial!

[@ChinqMiau1]

Great tutorial, thank you!

[@RSKT_art]

No worries!

[@garyalvaradopro]

Genial este aporte, gracias por compartir

[@RSKT_art]

No problem! Glad you liked it :)

[@sar2908]

Outstanding!

[@RSKT_art]

Thankyou :)

[@shortstrends3590]

plz can you provide us the link to the brush pack ?

[@coacollective691]

Amazing!

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks! :)

[@BeeOutdoors]

Apart from being a awesome artist I think I actually like your attitude, subbed 💪

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks so much! :D

[@sactownaimee]

Awesome Tutorial - I'm going to try to use what I've learned to add more depth to my elephant character and perhaps create some friends for her :)

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks so much! Hope it helps your elephant character stand out :)

[@scotttaylor7899]

Brilliant tutorial, really enjoying it. Can I ask if you use a graphics tablet to draw, or are you just using the mouse?

[@RSKT_art]

Sorry for the late reply - I do use a graphics tablet (intuos pro), but I also have a video on my channel that shows you how to draw just like this - only using a mouse! Hope you can check it out :)

[@robhansen5971]

Man that carrot been through some serious shiz. Great tutorial brother, thank you!

[@chinaminer]

Hi RSKT, thanks for this video, really well done! One question btw as I'm new to AD: Once you completed the carrot drawing how would you be able to resize it in a way to keep the scale of both pixels and vectors ? I mean: what happens when you mix pixels and vectors and then you decide to resize the whole drawing ?

[@RSKT_art]

So the pixels will eventually lose their resolution if you scale it, which is why it's important to set up your document size first. That said, their are tonnes of upscalers available now. I've run my art through a few of them and have managed to get them to 8 times the size without losing any quality, so you could just do that if you needed to :)

[@ghouling1111]

Interesting an Aussie did a USD based fire hydrant :') Agree with Mr.H Amazing artist and great teacher.

[@RSKT_art]

Haha, thanks. I figured I'd draw a hydrant that more people were familiar with. Spent so many years seeing the US ones in movies and video games that it's even more familiar to me! Cheers for the kind words :)

[@garrygannell2636]

Hi - I am late to this video - but it looks really great. Thanks for doing it. A (slightly irrelevant) question - I loved the animation of your sketches (eg starting around 14.11). How do you get that onto the video? Thanks

[@fonchifox]

That’s probably made in Procreate App in the iPad. It has that history video feature.

[@viskontas_art]

I wish that one day Affinity will make something like a Blob brush from Illustrator. This is the tool I miss the most.

[@candrahalim5023]

like this software 😊

[@skullsarecute]

Lmao me thinking that was a rat the entire time until you mentioned your wife. Amazing video! So excited to use this as a guide for learning myself. I’m super excited that it seems like this would be applicable to a huge array of art and art styles.

[@LumbreraEnMiCamino]

i like your video my friend, cn you share your brushes that you used for sketch?

[@Craftyshirley]

Hi I'm following along with your tutorial when you draw the carrot are you using a graphics tablet or is this done with a mouse please? Total beginner 😊

[@RSKT_art]

Sorry for the late reply - I'm using a graphics tablet, however, I have a video on my channel that shows you how to draw like this with just a mouse. Feel free to check it out :)

[@carlos_cub]

Do you recommend getting that giant textbook that affinity designer has?

[@3lscreatives66]

hello there, just new using affinity designer. how to get the brushes that you're using specially the frankentoon inks pro?

[@w.ericachristopher4677]

I enjoyed this tutorial. Do you have videos similar to this for beginners that’s incorporates explaining how each tool is used step by step. For me you was moving quickly. Also, I’m curious as to how long each drawing to you. Thanks for your time. Looking forward to your response.

[@Affinitybyserif]

Hi, we have a full range of tutorials on our Affinity Designer channel: www.youtube.com/@AffinityDesignerOfficial Hope this helps!

[@Sh4rpy82]

Guys a can't find the frankentoon brushes anywhere??? Please help 🙏

[@ddesigny2373]

I hope something really different, and I hope to see you the all Affinity software working with Chromebook & Chrome OS very soon because a lot of designers switching to Chromebook & Chrome OS

[@kristlehilario5125]

Are u using a graphic pen/tablet for this tutorial?

[@dru672]

how long did the main graphic take? not counting brainstorming and drawing just the digital?

[@RSKT_art]

I'm not too sure as it's been a long time since I made this. These sorts of illustrations usually take me about a week of on/off work. I think that total amount of footage clocked in somewhere around the 50hr mark.

[@catcute1094]

Hey I want to know if I can use affinity on pen display Wacom? (not pen tablet)

[@RSKT_art]

I'm pretty sure you can, but don't quote me on that

[@ivanyoung4246]

How did you get that section of your premade art photo onto the board like that!!

[@RSKT_art]

Do you mean the rough draft? Just dragged the image from a folder and dropped it onto the canvas. Hope that helps :)

[@Sage3356]

Can someone Who has never drawn before draw something from scratch directly from affinity designer or Is drawing with paper and pencil BEFORE using the program a necessary step?

[@RSKT_art]

It's definately not a necesary step. Sometimes sketching on paper can feel a little less restricted and yield interesting results, but the same can be said for drawing digitally. Whatever works best for you is the way to go! I find myself using both methods :)

[@gregbowen617]

I’m unsure how he got the drawing into the application. Scanning, or some other method because it wasn’t clear in the beginning?

[@RSKT_art]

I just took a photo of it with my phone, saved it to google drive, and imported it from there :)

[@dukesanddaggers]

Do you use a mouse or a pen when drawing the curves?

[@RSKT_art]

I use both, depending on what I'm doing. You can actually draw stuff like this without a graphics tablet at all, and I have a video showing how to do that on my channel if you're interested :)

[@toolgrey9166]

How come when I create a layer to put below my main outline and details, to color in the shape. It goes outside the drawing? I'm a bit confused

[@RSKT_art]

Nice username and profile pic! Big fan of Tool. Anyways, I'm not sure what's going on with your document. Just make sure that when you go to paint inside of your clipping mask that you have the layer selected and start painting directly on top of it. If it doesn't clip automatically, you can just create a new pixel layer and then drage that into your clipping mask layer, and it should act as expected. Hopefully that helps. Best of luck :)

[@toolgrey9166]

@@RSKT_art Really? That's awesome man! It's impossible to not like tool. And thank you for the advice, I'll try and make sure I do everything correctly. Thank you man!

[@RSKT_art]

@@toolgrey9166 No worries!

[@jaufrey]

Great tutorial ! Between the OP1, the OPZ and the Pocket Operator, I think it's safe to say the artist is quite a Teenage Engineering addict, right ? :D

[@RSKT_art]

Haha I wish. I have the PO33, and finally saved up enought money to buy the OP1, but got a Synthstrom Deluge instead. Couldn't be happier.

[@Hotcoffeedoodles]

My mask layer produces a white colour instead of a darker shade colour on the carrot, confused.

[@RSKT_art]

Hey, which exact part are you referring to? Not sure what's going on but I'm happy to help :)

[@Techrival]

Damn the time! I'm in the wrong timezone to participate in the chat unfortunately. Ah well.. I'll definitely watch the video after the fact though. 🍻

[@RSKT_art]

Haha don't worry, it's gonna be 1am for me! Don't sweat it, get some sleep lol

[@Slingshooting_Downunder]

@@RSKT_art Making you stay up late, eh? ;) I'd love to say I'll be there to show my support but I'll more likely be in bed! Catch up with you soon, hopefully :)

[@RSKT_art]

@@Slingshooting_Downunder haha no problem, you can always reach out to me later if a question isn't answered in the chat

[@ryanlea750]

What kind of drawing tablet is this? What are you using?

[@RSKT_art]

I'm using an old Intuos Pro (the earlier model, not the old one) for the desktop part, and an iPad Pro for the second part. You could use whatever you like though, and can pull a lot of this off without a tablet to be honest. This might even be the subject of my next video.

[@RSKT_art]

Hey. Not sure if you've watched it yet or not, but I just released a new video on my channel that shows how to make art like this without a graphics tablet. Hope it's useful to you :)

[@chariouibouchaib4416]

Could you provide us with the brushes you are using in this tutorial please?

[@RSKT_art]

I can't, but they're available on Affinity's website and on Frankentoon's Website. He has a free vector brush pack (inks pro) that I use for the linework. Then I use (texturiser pro) for the textures, and (propaganda pack) for the background elements. Some of these cost, some don't. It doesn't matter what you use at the end of the day though. And you can always make your own :)

[@chariouibouchaib4416]

@@RSKT_art Thank you so much for the answer :)

[@RSKT_art]

@@chariouibouchaib4416 no problem! Best of luck :)

[@zed10zm]

@@RSKT_art i cant find the inks pro

[@101touchapps]

I fainted when i saw the Carrot....but after a few mins...hello Carrot

[@dr8627]

this is the skill im lacking currently, my music production is getting better but havent graphic designed in a long time. i was suprised how actually intuitive affinity is if you have even a little grasp of what you are doing in there.

[@RSKT_art]

Ah, I feel this. When I get brined out of visual art projects like these, I switch to focusing in music production. There were a number of years where I only focused on music, and my art skills vegan to deteriorate. Fortunately I've found a happy balance now. Keep at it! One step at a time :)

[@agungprabowopurwokerto]

What application to sketch?

[@RSKT_art]

I used procreate for the sketch in this, but you can definitely use Affinity to record this. I was having issues with the iPad screen recorder (hence the missing footage towards the end), so I used Procreate simply for its time-lapse playback (so I could show the sketching progress for this video).

[@agungprabowopurwokerto]

@@RSKT_art Nice tutorial, I love it, waiting for the next step by step detailed tutorial from you

[@RSKT_art]

@@agungprabowopurwokerto Cheers dude! More stuff coming on the channel soon. Just waiting for work to die down a little bit. :)

[@hansendesigns]

Video starts at 4:19

[@mrhinaldy]

I ned apps affinity design for android Tab

[@Sai_Chaitanya]

Affinity Is So Good, but don't know what forcing me to use Adobe Illustrator 😪

[@lemuju]

Dude, Frankentoon made Affinity more cool!!

[@RSKT_art]

Definitely!

[@SoundtrackSpotlight]

Is RKST Chad?

[@kirstymoore1867]

Do you risk it for a biscuit :)

[@RSKT_art]

Haha, only if TimTams are on the table ;P

[@bernardmaegraith2655]

I'm resigned to the fact that my root veggie creations will always resemble turds. I call them turdnips. Compositing style is now the art of composting.

[@tallieb3053]

NOBEL PEAACE PRIZE he wins it all, give him your hard earned money

[@RSKT_art]

Hahaha! XD

[@bw-dude]

I‘ve seen this so often now, done by so called „Professionals“ who actually seem to have no idea what they are doing. But setting DPI „to 300“ or anything else will make absolutely NO difference to the quality of your drawing, if your document units are pixels. If your canvas is 5000x5000 pixels, NOTHING will change on the screen if you set DPI. Only if your document dimensions are given in centimeters, inches or other PHYSICAL measurements, you can control print quality by setting DPI. This really bugs me.

[@RSKT_art]

You are absolutely right! It's an old habit of mine from an old workplace. We were always told to make sure it was at 300, because there were too many mistakes being made among other people in the team when stuff went off to the printers. A massive "300DPI!" took up a good section of the whiteboard in the office lol. I wanted to go into this bit in a lot more detail, but the video was already clocking it at an hour, so I thought if I showed people 300 to be printed, and they accidentally selected something other than pixels, at least they'd be safe. I appreciate what you are saying though, hopefully you still got something useful out of this video.

[@bw-dude]

@@RSKT_art Cheers mate, I appreciate your reply. And you are right that nothing bad will come from setting it to 300 or another high value.

[@sinfull9987]

OMG. This has to be one of those times where I have stumbled across a truly enlightening piece of information. I am just starting out and a truly terrible artist, but this explanation of dpi means nothing if you are working in pixels but only when working in cm, mm, inches etc will stick with me forever thank you @bwdude @rskt I also see so many tutorials where this is just arbitrarily set.

[@RSKT_art]

@@sinfull9987 I'm really glad this part of it was useful to you. Also really glad for @bwdude's comment as well, it really helped clear some things up for people :)

[@Shadowthevampire]

Instead of clipping masks why don't you just use the paint bucket tool

[@hilarysutherland682]

Video could be really great but that bell is so annoying. I’m not sure I can watch the entire video!

[@deltron2000]

Great tutorial and nice design example! Would be very nice if you make some american or "grungy" style comic drawing/inking tutorials.