Poodle Skirt Tutorial

Draw a belt and then the outline of the skirt. Make it quite pouffy and add some lines for folds at the bottom. Don't worry too much about being neat now, just get the shape how you want it.

Now neaten up the edges so they're only one pixel thick. You can also smooth out the lines and alter the shape a little here.

And you'll end up like this.

Start shading using colour 2 in the first palette. I've made the shading lines quite long but you can make them shorter if you want to. Also add a few lines at the top of the skirt. There don't have to be the same amount as there are folds at the bottom, just add enough so it doesn't look too cluttered.

I can't really explain this very well, but when you build up the shading try to make long triangles. The blue is the darkest colour and the red is the second darkest. Draw red lines either side of the blue triangle. Don't stop them at the top of the blue (A), keep going until these lines merge into one line (B).
If that didn't make any sense, don't worry. You can follow this tutorial without reading this step.

Add more shading using 3. As you can see the fold on the far right has no room left for highlights, but as it's tucked around at the side this doesn't matter, it'll make the final skirt look more realistic.

Now fill the rest of the skirt using 4.

Start adding highlights using 5. Try not to let colours 3 and 5 touch. I've shown this in green so you can see it.

Now add the last highlights in 6. Again, I've done this in green so you can see.

Change the colour of the outline to 1. You can do this right at the beginning, but I didn't because I find it's easier to shade that way. I've also shaded the waistband here.

Now for the poodle! Using colour 1 of the second palette draw the basic shape of a poodle in the bottom corner of the skirt (left or right, it makes little difference, but I prefer my poodle to be facing inwards). I've shown the shape of my poodle in dark grey at the side. As you can see it's not very good, but it doesn't have to be perfect.

Shade the poodle following the shading of the skirt.

I've added a little pink collar to the poodle. Use the darkest pinks so the collar shows up on the skirt.

Now add a lead using the third palette. I've done mine long and swoopy, but you can do it any shape you like.

Like the poodle, shade this following the shading on the skirt.