I’ve finally wrapped up the drawing of Portgas D. Ace. It was a solid project to work on, but I’ll be honest—it was a lot harder than I imagined it would be when I first sat down. Still, those are the kinds of projects where you actually end up learning the most.
The Shading Process
After finishing the lineart, I moved into a 4-layer shading process. This was the real test. Since I don’t use color, the shading had to do all the work to make Ace look three-dimensional. I spent a lot of time layering the tones to get the contrast right, especially on the shadows under his hat and the definition in his muscles.
One thing this project taught me is that I need to upgrade my gear. I did this one with a limited set, but to make this kind of shading easier and more effective, I need to pick up a wider range of pencils—specifically some 2B, 4B, and 7B leads. Having those softer options would have made getting those deep, dark tones much more effortless. Using the right tool for the right layer of shadow is definitely going to be my focus moving forward.
Final Thoughts
Even though I hit a few walls during the process, I’m happy with how it turned out. The jump from clean lines to a fully shaded piece is always satisfying, and it really brought the character to life. This project pushed me to think more about value and depth, and I’m ready to take what I learned into the next one. Thanks for sticking with me through the progress on this piece.
Check my artstation page for a full breakdown of the project!
