Constructing a simple blob character in Inkscape

Inkscape Video Tutorial

In this video tutorial, I will be constructing a blob character in Inkscape. The video was requested in a comment on my youtube channel to show the use of blurs, shading, gradients, and the clipping group in real-time. There is no timelapse in this video. You see all the little [and bigger] stuff-ups. I didn’t edit them out. All I did was add the narration and some comments.

Personally, I love using blurs and clip masks in Affinity Designer. Even after a few goes and two character-design videos, I struggled with the features in Inkscape. The blurs and the layer modes just didn’t change or were reset when altering one part. All the multiplies had to be added later – I realized after the recording that none of them stuck. :(
My approach to the clipping group is rather brute force. I just cut all designs and paste them into place inside the clipping group. That way I know it works. Moving things inside the layers panel is a hit and miss. Inkscape’s layer panel just doesn’t feel as easy to handle as Affinity Designer, Corel Draw, or Adobe Illustrator. As soon as I work on a more complex design the layers become extremely important for finding and changing things.

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I hope you had as much fun with this video on creating a game character concept in Inkscape as I did. It was a challenge due to my rusty Inkscape skills but it was good fun. So much fun, that I couldn’t leave the smithy like this and had to spend a little extra time on him to polish him some more.

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The final verdict on Inkscape vs Affinity Designer

As I mentioned in the earlier post, it’s a matter of personal preference. Adobe and Corel have gone down the subscription route [along with a lot of other software developers] and I am no fan of it. Call me old-fashioned but I still believe in buying a tool and using it the way I want. Therefore, my choice is Affinity Designer . It’s a great tool, geared around a user-friendly UI and a good range of functions. Its scope is not as wide as Illustrator’s. There are still some essential functions missing [warp, deform, perspective, etc.] but it’s great fun to use it.
Inkscape’s approach is a lot more technical and feels less artistic. There are issues with the responsiveness and the handling of very complex illustrations. Yet, most of the designs I create in Affinity Designer could be done in Inkscape as well. It would just require a slightly different approach and might take me a little longer.

I do like having both tools [as well as Corel Draw] at my disposal. It allows me to bypass problems specific to one tool by using another.

2Dgameartguru - adding shading and detail to your vector designs
2Dgameartguru - adding detail to character designs
2Dgameartguru - refining a game character
2Dgameartguru - refining a game character
2Dgameartguru - animation a game character in Spine
2Dgameartguru - adding shading and detail to your vector designs
2Dgameartguru - adding detail to character designs
2Dgameartguru - character concept Smithy
2Dgameartguru - character concept blob in Inkscape
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Check out more video tutorials on the youtube channel!

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2dgamearguru - working with compounds
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2dgameartguru - cute and colourful character design
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