4. Draw Mode

Blender's Grease Pencil offers a unique feature: the ability to draw directly in a 3D environment. In this course, we'll dive into the first and most essential mode - Draw Mode.

2. Getting Started

When starting with the 2D animation in Blender, you don't begin in object mode but directly in draw mode. This lets you dive straight into drawing on the plane.

> Tip: Use the camera view by pressing 0 on your keyboard or clicking on the camera icon in Blender. This lets you view your drawing from different perspectives.

3. Drawing in 3D Space

One of the most mind-boggling features for beginners is understanding that you're drawing in a 3D space. This means your drawing will look different from various angles. Depending on the viewpoint when drawing, the final artwork might appear on different planes when rotating the view.

4. Tools in Draw Mode

If you've used applications like Procreate on iPad, you might notice some differences. While the iPad offers a more natural drawing feel, Blender provides powerful 3D capabilities.

Drawing Tools:

1. Basic Tools: Located on the left, tools include:

• Draw: The primary tool for drawing.
• Fill: Fills a closed drawing.
• Erase: Erases drawings or parts of them.
• Other tools include tint, cutter, etc. which are more for vector style drawing.

1. Stroke Options: At the top, you'll find options to adjust:

• Radius
• Pressure Sensitivity: Toggle it on/off to either have varying stroke widths or a constant one.
• Strength: Adjusts the intensity of the stroke.
• Stabilize Stroke: This helps in controlling and smoothening your lines, especially if you want clean and precise lines.

1. Brush Presets: Blender offers several brush presets. Some advanced ones even use PNG textures to give unique brush effects.

Materials in Draw Mode

Materials in Grease Pencil are different from traditional drawing programs. Instead of just choosing a color, you define materials that can be applied to your drawings.

• Defining Materials: Found in the material properties tab (represented by a ball with squares).
• Stroke: Choose a color for your drawing stroke.
• Fill: Select a color to fill the drawing.

> Pro Tip: By changing a material's properties, all strokes using that material will be updated. This allows for non-destructive drawing, as you can modify colors and stroke properties even after completing your artwork.

Drawing with solid materials

If you have a solid fill material selected and you use the regular drawing pen, your sketches will be solid. Be cautious with layering: if you sketch over the lines layer, for example, you might cover lines you want to keep. It might feel a bit quirky at first, especially with the straight line you always get from the starting point. However, with time, you'll get the hang of it.

5. Working with Layers in Grease Pencil

After diving deep into materials, let's shift our focus to layers.

When you're working within the 2D animation software, right above the materials you'll notice layers. Here's how to visualize them:

1. You can track your layers in the timeline.
2. Another perspective of the layers can be seen right next to materials. Both of these views synchronize with each other.
3. Selecting a layer means you're now operating within that layer. For instance, if you sketch something now, the drawing will reside behind the currently selected layer.

> Quick Tip: Think of layers like in Illustrator or Photoshop. A layer on top will always overshadow the layers beneath it.

If you've been fiddling around with the default 2D file, you've probably seen the stroke object. It's a Grease Pencil object, and it generally comes with two preset layers.

However, let's say you decide to create a fresh Grease Pencil from the object mode. This will only contain one layer, often labeled as GP layer.

6. Managing Layers

Here's what you can do with these layers:

• Add Layers: Simply click on the '+' icon. New layers will stack on top, meaning they'll overshadow the previous layers.
• Delete Layers: Just as you can add, removing layers is just a click away.
• Reorder Layers: Drag and drop to change which layer overshadows which.

Pro Tip: Use layers to your advantage. They are exceptionally handy in organizing your work. For instance, if you're sketching eyes, create a new layer for it. If you're going to animate the pupils, give them their layer. This separation offers greater flexibility during the animation process.

Conclusion

To wrap up the drawing mode discussion, always remember you're still operating within a 3D environment. Your sketches, regardless of the mode or layer, will still adhere to this environment's rules. For instance, if you sketch while in front view, changing your perspective might make your drawing intersect with previous ones.

For beginners, sticking to the camera view is recommended.