Getting the Most out of MSPaint
The super-short summary is this: play to your strengths. Minimize the effects of your weaknesses.
1: Set up Your Canvas.
It's annoying to only be able to "undo" three times. What you need is a back-up, something to keep you from losing all of your work when you mess up. Here's how I extend my undo ability.
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When you first start a new doll, go to the bottom right corner of the screen and find the little resize spot. (It's under the made-up cursor in the picture.) When you get the resize cursor, you click and drag until you have a nice, big canvas. |
| Here's an example: This is part of the bitmap file I used to make the dress for the next section. You can see where I "saved" the base, the outline of the dress, and where I stopped and changed the color. The more you keep, the easier it is to go back and correct a mistake or make a change. |  |
2: Choose the Right Palette.
The best way to explain what I mean is just to show you with an example.
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Here we have two identical, plain red dresses pixel-shaded in MSPaint. The point is that even though the shading isn't perfect, it looks okay. Version #2, however, looks better-shaded because there is less distinction between the colors in the palette. |
Now, it's awkward to get your own colors in Paint, so you may be looking at palettes other people are offering online. That's a great idea, but you should know that most of what you will find is going to be more like palette #1 above. For MSPaint, you want as many shades as you can get, as close together as you can get - you want something more like palette #2.
Notice the long, narrow strip underneath. That's what I usually build for myself - one long palette, so I can choose to start wherever I like. Xandorra has a tutorial on a great technique that will help you to make your own palettes more easily (Tutorials > MSPaint > making palettes).
Sources for MSPaint-friendly palettes:
- My palettes page.
- Xandorra (Tutorials > Resources > palettes).
- Swan Lake (Tutorials > Colors).
- rebel scum [inc] (site > tutorials > color palettes).
There are times when you'll want more shade distinction in your palettes, e.g. for certain fabric effects or for shiny metals, but as a general rule of thumb, the smoother the transitions, the better.
3: Keep it Small!
It's simple, really: small things are easier to pixel-shade than large things. You can do folds in fabric, but it's pretty easy in more advanced programs and really hard with pixel-shading. So when you're first starting out, avoid the temptation or keep it simple.
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To the left, in blue, we have Ivaité, looking really irritable since her dress appears to be sticking to her legs. I wasn't ready to shade that kind of skirt at the time. To the right, in brown, is Pralle, looking much happier in her simple dress. Note that I did manage some little pleats at the bottom, but I left the larger open space shaded only around the edges. Both bases are by Josie. |
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By the same token, most people are happier with the results they get if they start out working on small bases. Those really enormous bases out there (many of which I now use and love) are great for detail work and can make impressive dolls, but for most people, they are a lot more difficult to work with. You'll get there in time, but when you're starting out, attempting to shade big bases can be needlessly frustrating.
4: Use Pixel-Shaded Bases.
Aside from being a whole lot easier to fill with color, pixel-shaded bases are great if you're just starting out at shading and don't have a feel for shape and shade just yet.
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Yes, it's the same dress. This version is a bit more simply-shaded - this technique produces clothing that looks skin-tight, so I usually tweak it a bit to soften some of the lines. I picked a different palette, too, so you can see what I'm doing better. Basically, you can just mimic the shading of the base! The flood-fill tool will work wonders here. Note that I left the legs alone and just filled in that area at the end. Note also that the bottom of the skirt is not shaded. |
5: More Cool Tricks!
- Xandorra has a tutorial for using the color replacer tool in MSPaint, a built-in feature that I bet you didn't even know you had (Tutorials > MSPaint > colour replacer). The rest of her MSPaint tutorials include tips on the semi-transparent clothing effect and how to pixel-shade a full skirt or little folds in a dress.
- If you want to do animation, there's a simple freeware program called "Unfreez" that you can use. The Tudor Doll Company has a tutorial (help > "Animation for the MS Paint Crowd"). Best for simple effects, which are all you really want for a doll, anyway.
