To approach this character design tutorial I am doing a redraw of an older image that I first made back in 2003. For the original character illustration I used highlighters, so when remaking the image digitally, I want the colours to be just as bright and vibrant as the highlighter ink from my original drawing.
When working digitally (here using Photoshop), creating a bright colour scheme is easier said than done, given that there isn’t a specific setting for neon colours. In order to create a similar effect, it’s much more about how the colours interact with one another. The relationships between the highlight and shadow colours are what determine whether the colours look bright, so it’s really important to think about the palette as a whole throughout the process.
Over time, I’ve developed a number of tried-and-true digital art techniques that always help me to create bright colours that still feel unified and cohesive. The best digital art software has so many helpful tools to use for this purpose, including colour-editing tools, which allow me to tweak and modify as I…