How to illustrate using Affinity Designer - Complete Workflow!

In this video, I'll show you the steps I take when creating illustrations using Affinity Designer. These same steps could be altered and applied to nearly any piece of design software, so feel free to experiment with it. I hope this proves useful to all of you Enjoy!
All music on this channel is produced by RSKT
RSKT LINKS (Website, Store, Channels & Socials):
linktr.ee/RSKT
Frankentoon:
frankentoonstudio.com/
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
00:56 Rough sketch
02:10 Main shape outline
04:14 Details
04:54 Clipping masks
05:50 Basic shading
07:30 Additional shading
08:21 Hard shadows
09:46 Hard highlights
11:34 Adjustments
15:11 Quick recap
17:10 Outro

[@Josiah_Harder]

I dont like how the lines are pixelated as theyre being drawn and then smoothed out afterwards. Is there a way to change this? I just bought affinity designer and this is bothering me a lot

[@RSKT_art]

Hey, not sure what you mean to be honest. I don't seem to have that issue. The o ly thing I can think of is that my canvas size is usually pretty big (around 5000px square), so maybe at smaller resolutions lines are rasterized while you draw them? I'm not too sure. Sorry I'm not much more help :/

[@Josiah_Harder]

@@RSKT_art Sorry it is kind of hard to explain but basically it seems like the lines are extremely poor resolution immediately after drawing them but once I lift my pen from the screen the line undergoes some sort of processing which smooths it out and removes the pixelated edges that made it look low in resolution.

[@RSKT_art]

@@Josiah_Harder Ahh okay. Are you in the Pixel or Design persona? Vector (smooth) brushes are only avaliable in the Design persona. If your brushes are coming out as pixels, you must be in the pixel persona. You can't access pixel brushes in the design persona and visa versa. So my original rough sketch at the start is using the pixel brush, but then I switch to the design persona and use a vector brush to do the actual linework. Hope that helps you out man :)

[@Josiah_Harder]

@@RSKT_art Youre being exceptionally gracious and patient with me I thank you for that haha the problem might be with my computer or pen maybe then because when I use pixel persona my lines are rendered in full resolution but with high latency behind my pen for the initial part of the stroke until it catches up. But when I switch to the design persona the pen is very fast and responsive but the resolution is low until I lift my pen and it processes the line. This is the case with both the pencil tool and the vector brush tool. If this is abnormal and not something to be changed in settings then it must be a problem on my end haha

[@RSKT_art]

​@@Josiah_Harder Haha, no worries mate. Yeah that is super weird, I've never had that issue before. Only thing I could reccomend is​ trying a different machine and seeing if the result is just local to yours. There is a forum for Affinity users as well and the devs are usually pretty quick to get back to people, so try that if nothing else works. Hope you get it sorted though! :)

[@soefatitv9264]

It's truly astounding how easy the internet makes learning these days. Thanks for the tutorial, my guy.

[@shirleykathan-sayess5764]

SO helpful! Thank you so much. I’m 74 and really need a good tutorial. You have given me hope that I can do this. ❤ Shirley

[@RSKT_art]

So glad to hear you found this helpful! Thankyou for the kind words :)

[@l2pq825]

Omg, you explained it very simply! It's really easy to understand. Thank you so much! I've always wanted to learn these.

[@rekeguf]

I absolutely loved this. So informative, useful and inspiring. And loved the summary at the end. Thank you!

[@RSKT_art]

So happy to hear that! I'm happy that this video has continued to inspire other artists such as yourself :)

[@kirstymoore1867]

Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to do this video. I have been using AD for about a year (no graphic design or creative skills whatsoever beforehand) and love it, but am completely stuck on an intermediate plateau. I haven't been able to find detailed workflow to move ahead and have learned so much from watching your work. I'm so grateful, and going over to check out the rest of your stuff.

[@RSKT_art]

No problem! Don't worry, I've hit many of those same plateaus myself and can totally relate. Really glad this video was able to help you out of it and that you're ready to keep on going. All the best :)

[@gabbyg561]

Thank you for sharing your artwork and talent with us. I have Affinity and the Frankentoon brushes but had no idea what they or any of the other brushes can do. Your work is gorgeous!

[@RSKT_art]

No problem at all! Thanks for the kind words :)

[@MrBcosy]

Really great! Thank you for this. Your video made my day, I always struggled to illustrate with AD. Now it's much clearer to me. Perfect!

[@RSKT_art]

That's so great to hear! Happy illustrating :)

[@FarmerWan]

Brilliant, simple clear explanations of workflow and processes, love your work. Thank you!

[@RSKT_art]

No problemo! Thanks for the kind words!

[@gigipaquette]

WOW! I had never seen any of your videos before and I don't draw - I LOVED this video so much! I love how you broke down all the steps and showed us step-by-step how each stage is completed and in such simple and layered instructions. Thank you so much. It makes me want to draw something... I am new to Affinity and really like how easy it is to use for a new-by like me - and I like it so much better than Adobe programs. Thanks Again and have a wonderful day! Gigi

[@RSKT_art]

Haha wow, what a wholesome comment. Thanks so much for taking the time.to write that, I'm glad it was inspiring to you. Definitely give it a go and let me know how it went. :)

[@sarahgreene8997]

Fantastic. Such an amazing tutorial for illustration. I hope that you do more Affinity videos. Thank you. Just subscribed. Cheers

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks for the sub! More Affinity videos coming soon :)

[@rycoryco2888]

Excellent. Really appreciate the summary. Look forward to your course & hope you will create more Affinity Designer tutorials.

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks! Course is slowly getting there, and I have a couple of affinity related things in the works. :)

[@jacintatate]

Wow, I love this. Just bought Affinity Designer yesterday and have no clue what I'm doing but this video helps give me ideas. I also love how you don't stick to the rules and you try different things, Gives a more crafted and edgy feel which is awesome!

[@RSKT_art]

That's awesome! So glad this was useful to you :) Thanks for tuning in.

[@martinagiulianalopez224]

wow! we always have everytNice tutorialng to learn! Great to know you!

[@manic001]

Awesome Tutorial! Love that it is in digestible chunks very nice!

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks a lot, really glad you liked it :)

[@marksss432]

You cannot imagine how that helps me. I'm doing an illustration and had a couple of problems, but not anymore ! ^^

[@RSKT_art]

Awesome! That's so great to hear, I'm really happy you're able to get some use out of this :)

[@guillaumejumel5578]

BROTHER, YOU ARE THE BEST!!! You oooh really helped me!! THANK YOU VERY

[@DanieL_35]

Thank you for tNice tutorials very clear and concise tutorial. Look forward to more videos from u

[@whomadethatsaltysoup]

Wonderful tutorial! Thank you so much for sharing. I'm looking forward to creating some artwork from my photos, and this has emboldened me to plunge into my newly acquired Affinity Designer 2.0.

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks so much! Glad to hear you're enjoying 2.0 so far :)

[@alexandervanlohen4229]

I love your style and the way you explain things, thanks a lot !

[@RSKT_art]

Glad you like them!

[@joanbree5350]

Just purchased designer for i-pad today. Have been looking at various YTs and must say I love your rendering of this. Will be watching more. Thank you !

[@RSKT_art]

That's awesome dude! Glad this could help you get started :)

[@amandacampos2496]

With all the soft soft tutorials that exist on YT, yours just created that "light bulb illumination" mont in my head. Thanks for taking the

[@user-bw2yi3mc7n]

future! Great tutorial and wholeso community! Stay safe in these tis and keep your heads up! Do what you want that inspires you,

[@stavroshalvatzis2947]

Looks great! More please...

[@RSKT_art]

That's my old uni lecturer everyone! Check out his channel for some great writing advice! - Thanks Stavros :)

[@JiggsysShed]

Awesome tutorial. I'm by no means an artist and never sure where to start, but following along, I manage to create something that I never thought I would be capable of. Now just need to take time to learn this programme even more. Thank you for sharing.

[@RSKT_art]

That's so awesome to hear! Really happy to hear this helped :)

[@jamille101]

Thanks for this video! I dont know why I'm so hard on myself when it comes to shading and highlights. I always stop at basic color and then I hate it because I know I'm not gonna add shading or highlights. Then I just went to not doing color at all. But I decided to try again and I'm actually happy with the results! Thanks again!

[@RSKT_art]

That's awesome! Glad to hear you got something out of this :)

[@Reqriz]

Incredibly knowledgeable and we'll-spoken teacher. Nice tutorials comfortableness with the subject makes starting soft real exciting!!

[@MenelikiGaming]

Awesome video! Really interesting to see how other people approach their designs. Learned quite a bit! Thank you!

[@RSKT_art]

No problem at all! Thanks for tuning in :)

[@labsquadmedia176]

Thanks for the clear, straightforward presentation and the helpful recap.

[@RSKT_art]

No problem at all! :)

[@jaydraws2019]

This is so amazing. Glad I found your channel. I'm sure your subscriber numbers going to hit the roof soon. Being a good artist is one thing but being able to break it down and teach it to others is one whole new level of skill which most can't do properly. Good luck mate.

[@RSKT_art]

Hey thanks man! I really appreciate that. Pretty stoked to get this many subs in 2 months, so we'll see. My next few vids are going to switch apps, so If half my audience doesn't click on it, then it might mean the channel does poorly for a little while (youtube stops recommending things if your subscribers aren't engaging). I've got a bit of experience with training people though, so it's glad to hear that's all paying off haha.

[@sarahgreene8997]

Fantastic! Such an amazing tutorial. I hope that you do more Affinity videos. Thanks so much. Just subscribed. Cheers

[@RSKT_art]

@@sarahgreene8997 no problem! Thanks for sub, and yes, more Affinity coming soon. :)

[@bariss8804]

Thank you so much I’m making soft so fast now back then I was confused, thanks

[@ElNervio99]

Thank you so much! TNice tutorials video helped produce fire soft thanks bro❤️

[@starfire7a]

Very helpful. Thanks for sharing your workflow!

[@RSKT_art]

No problem!

[@ramisoussou]

Hey man, very clean, interesting and professional. Good sNice tutorialt.

[@PSSGANESHBCE]

that was a nice video it definitely helped out, thankyou so much and you just earned a sub

[@fathimasulha9720]

Ima download it thanks for sharing!!

[@RSKT_art]

No worries!

[@valentinaranucci2445]

Thank you so much this helped a lot!!!! You saved my life

[@gulileohq7425]

Very good video, we want more video like this. Easy to understand. Very nice.

[@RSKT_art]

Thankyou! More will be coming. Literally just moved into a new house today so still getting internet and new home studio set up. Hope to be back up and running soon :)

[@jmedeirosneto]

Thank you so much share your workflow, I feel finally i can do something good now!

[@RSKT_art]

No problem at all! :) Hell yeah, that's the spirit!

[@JoanneRyallHandEngraver]

Really great video. Makes Affinity much more versatile than I thought possible. Thank you! 😊

[@RSKT_art]

No problem at all! It's quite the powerhouse when you dig deep enough! ;)

[@christophergamezestrada6701]

I can't thank you enough... hands down the best video for beginnners

[@StefanSteinbauer]

I learned something about my process when watching yours. Thank you for sharing...

[@RSKT_art]

No problem, hope it helps you out in some way :)

[@nonamec4787]

TNice tutorials is just the pick up I needed, thanks man

[@brisaims]

Awesome video! This helps SO much👍🏻🙏🏻 Please keep Affinity Designer tutorials coming!😭

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks heaps! I've actually got a couple of other things I wanted to show in Affinity Designer, so I might upload them in between my next few vids (which involve procreate).

[@twinqlez1]

Wow, I am going to show this to my 13yrs old son, he likes to draw in the windows app, I would love him to see this and upgrade to affinity designer or photoshop even illustrator! Thank you for this great video. and PLEASE DO MORE! you've got my attention I subscribed! Lol

[@RSKT_art]

That's a great idea! I honestly wish I knew about this style of illustrating when I was 13, so I really hope he finds it useful! :) More content is coming :)

[@ygccardenas]

Awesome video, thank you 🙏🏽

[@RSKT_art]

Glad it was helpful!

[@karinmariajaramillo260]

Thx .Nice easy beginners guide. helped plenty!

[@PumpkinPails]

Could not figure out how to simply add color within a drawn shape until now. I would never have thought to use the pencil tool. Haha! I spent hours fiddling with trying to join lines and merge them and all sorts of nonsense, and all I needed was the pencil. Thanks so much, now I can really dive into this program.

[@RSKT_art]

Haha true! Well, glad we got it sorted for you. Hope all is going well now!

[@katka1149]

BROOO thankyou so much, this really helped and the tutorial was really easy to use as well :)

[@DigitalArtforKids]

wow, this is the most detail tutorial i've ever seen. thank you so much.

[@RSKT_art]

That's awesome to hear, thanks! :)

[@DigitalArtforKids]

@@RSKT_art Good luck with your channel.

[@RSKT_art]

@@DigitalArtforKids Thank you!

[@GamePlay-po1fz]

Wow!! This is great! Keep uploading more of your tutorials!!

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks! I'm moving house right now (like, literally...as we speak haha), so I might be MIA for a week or so while I get setup. I do have a few more "follow along" tutorials like this planned for Affinity Photo and Designer, so hopefully they'll be out in the near future :)

[@GamePlay-po1fz]

@@RSKT_art waiting for affinity photo tutorials too!!

[@Samuelchandra0]

Thank you! That was a great tutorial!

[@Anaphase001]

So talented. I'll never be this good, but I've picked up some useful tips. Thank you 😊

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks for the kind words, but please don't put yourself down. You can do this, and with enough practice, you will. Definitely keep trying, hopefully my drawing course will help you out too :)

[@coderXgaming]

Will be following

[@Bayaka_fivestar]

basics it's encouraging to learn a little bit more! Well done!

[@walkingtalkies3566]

Awesome tutorial

[@RSKT_art]

Thankyou! :)

[@blazeafeef]

Wow what an acNice tutorialevent! Best of luck for the rest of your future, I’m looking forward to being able to invest when I turn 21 in November!

[@user-ki7qf6gn6w]

eventually it all snapped into place and I started learning how to add all the effects, titles, motion text. It was pretty cool to see my

[@dank0ch]

this is awesome! thx a lot!

[@RSKT_art]

No problem!

[@deyno0588]

that was so use full! !

[@RSKT_art]

Glad to hear it :)

[@marcyyoung4051]

Uhhhhwoahhhhh....what a fantastic video!! Oneeeedayyyy...maybe...I could do this!! So freakin cool!! Thanks so much!!!

[@RSKT_art]

You can do it right now! Just give it a go :)

[@mesasavage]

Great video and very cool artwork!

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks so much! New video is dropping next week showing how I've animated art like this now. Stay tuned! 😊

[@klizzy1697]

Thanks bud! great video and instructions.

[@curtis5799]

This video should be the first tutorial you see when opening affinity. Excellent job.

[@RSKT_art]

Haha thankyou so much!

[@muhdhilmi1506]

U made it simple man ur subscribers are well deserved

[@FlameBeast25]

OMG! I use the same brushes you have in the top right at 1:17! With the same thicknesses as well! (8, 16, 32, etc.) Just a coincidence.

[@HMaxTube11]

Tremendously helpful tips and techniques💫💥👍👏

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks :)

[@juanpalacios9194]

Thank you so much, I’m learning tNice tutorials in quarantine and you made it very simple I really appreciate it, thank you for going over every little

[@harimbas5017]

utilised and enjoyed wNice tutoriallst increasing in value.

[@Yeshadobariya006]

you explained. Thank you so much.

[@maharajgaming7235]

Really nice job. I did so stuff with MIDI/DAW/soft banks wayyy back in like 99/00 in college and was ok at it. I bought soft soft last

[@OuterLimitsOpenRoad]

That was so helpful. Thank you for creating it.

[@RSKT_art]

No worries at all :)

[@allanniklas5440]

This tought me quiet a lot. Thank you.

[@RSKT_art]

No problem! :)

[@radwaadel6230]

Take a week just learning the basics and you will be good, I been using soft soft since it was Fruity Loops back in 03, and still learn

[@vickylondon1543]

understand the basics of the software untill now. Your guide is very very good quite simple and very helpful. I gave you a like and a sub

[@angelespino8698]

TNice tutorials is really well done Mike, thanks for putting the ti and energy into tNice tutorials.

[@loicmiame5669]

Thanks thanks and re thanks again and again. Great, deep, powerful and in the same time simply job. Thanks too for these steps explanations....

[@RSKT_art]

No problem at all! Glad you found it useful! :)

[@AmaurysTorres1]

Thank you so much 🙏 you really helped me 😊😊😊

[@RSKT_art]

Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching :)

[@alanfadlan6983]

TNice tutorials was an amazing tutorial. You are a great teacher

[@tdglitching6348]

THANK YOU!!!! you actually guide your viewers through soft, unlike so videos that rush the whole tNice tutorialng or talk too fast.

[@wongtongwing8694]

unbelievably well explained...to the point, no wafsofte wafsofte chat...you´re the dude ..thanks!

[@tazzytyoung19771]

I love that color changing keyboard in background

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks! It's a HyperX. Quite customizable and really responsive :)

[@JW-uu9je]

this was great!!! more like this please :)

[@RSKT_art]

Hopefully will have some more tutorials out some day :)

[@TheMaP142]

TNice tutorials is the channel that made start actually creating instead of being intimidated by the software. Thanks for a new form of therapy

[@szczurekk1155]

So I went into soft soft and tried to intuitively grasp the basic fundantals. And now listening back I feel like I'm one step ahead of Nice tutorialm.

[@addyo-o9216]

Nice man ty

[@rfzzkx]

I’ve watched hours of videos and tNice tutorials one is the first that explains it in a way a complete beginner could understand! Great video

[@fuckinchencho]

Cool video, thanks

[@RSKT_art]

No problem! Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@MrJonesKaraoke]

Brilliant!

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks!

[@sheltonsimmons1665]

thank you so much this has helped me allot

[@RSKT_art]

No problem at all, that's so good to hear! :)

[@3jkptradingandservices998]

was a life-saver. Thanks a lot.

[@HalkerVeil]

Very nice overview.

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks!

[@ercanyuksel7010]

yo bro, really thankya. Big respect

[@briocheatete]

Very nice. Thanks mate.

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks! No problem! :)

[@cristianopepineli2687]

Thank you for this work

[@daigoxdh]

make my first ever drum loop. I'm not and expert at soft yet but I have learnt a lot at producing and looking back at my journey, I just

[@asrodinsulaiman1404]

Genius move!

[@misteriossobrenaturais5038]

TNice tutorials was an amazing video! you really Nice tutorialt all the key points for the basics without ever over complicating anytNice tutorialng. A hard job and you did

[@hariomtelecom2112]

thank you so so so much your a great person you helped

[@rebelgonebad]

Fantastic work, so glad found this. Got a lot of Frankentoons brushes for Procreate and Affinity, but struggling for some reason getting head around Designer. Photoshop I can do in my sleep but hate their payment model, and its become so damned slow and bloated! Keep up these vids mate, spread the word.

[@RSKT_art]

Thanks heaps! Yeah, Frankentoon's brushes, assets and artwork are just plain amazing. Love his work. Easiest way to think about Designer is basically 'designer persona' is a little bit of adobe illustrator and 'photo persona' is a little bit of adobe Photoshop (but without a lot of the photo editing stuff, you need affinity photo for that). I'm not a big fan of Adobe's payment plans either, but unfortunately I still pay a subscription for training people in and for some of the other work I do. I do love Affinity Though, even if there are some gripes I have with it. It just really clicks with me and my workflow in a good way. Stay tuned for some procreate stuff coming soon! :)