[stuffAEAmade]'s New Color Tutorial

I have a new way I CG now, the old way I did (A Method of Coloring) takes longer than I like, and makes things a little too smooth for my tastes. :P

I have Photoshop Elements 2.5 and a tablet, but this should work on most programs. Just adjust the pressure/opacity on whatever brush you're using to about 70.


Step one as always is setting up your lineart. I open up my scanned .tif, duplicate the line layer and set to multiply. Delete the old layer and you're ready to begin.

Isn't he adorable? ^^


Okay, now we lay in our flats, the base colors for each area. Usually I make a separate layer for each, because I am a messy artist. With this piece, some things can be clumped, to make going through layers easier. Mine are as follows--
ink
hat/belt
hair/pants
shirt
beater
skin
The eyes will be placed in as I get farther along. :D
Also, don't worry too much about little white spots near the lines. We'll cover them as we paint.




Pick an area, and start shading. I tend to just use the Airbrush drop shadow brush unless I'm trying to create a texture.
I start with lowlights, and then do the highlights. I also create a little pallatte with the tones I use for easy refrence. :)

And just keep on with all your layers.



Alright, I've got everything but the shirt rendered, but I'm going to do his eyes now. Make yourself a layer and zoom in really, really close.
Then lay in you base color.




Now, airbrush in lowlights and highlights. We want these eyes to shine!
On the lowlights, I paint around the outer edge of the eye, and around the pupil. I removed the black and put in the darkest blue I used instead.
For highlights, lighten the area of the iris between the pupil and edge.
You can also add shineys and any other little effects you like. I draw a dark cresent around the pupil on many of my eyes.




Okay, now everything is painted. Now I go through and clean up the lines and make any additional adjustments to the image.
Basically just smoothed areas where white blips were still showing.




Now we need some manner of background.
Just slap in something with gradients and patterns, and viola! instant pin-up. :P

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Using soft-edge brushes and a low opacity will allow for a lot of blending.
Painting is good. Try to use color, not just dodge and burn.
Paint big, if your computer can handle it. Things will smooth out with the resize, and you don't have to go in with such tiny brushes.
300 dpi is good.
Save often. It hurts when you loose hours worth of coloring.
Going to test something? Make a back-up layer first, especially if you won't be able to undo all the changes.
Make sure your lines are closed, and convert them to pixels using threshold. Flatting becomes a breeze.
Whenever you find yourself in front of a mirror, study the way light and shadow wrap around things.
Experiment. Happy accidents happen. But save often.
Don't expect people to tell you exactly how to paint your image. Use your imagination.
Warm light, cool shadow. Cool light, warm shadow.
Backlighting + secondary light sources. Try it.
Warm up a bit, and relax. Take a break every now and then. Keep your wrists loose.
Save. Like every 7 minutes.
Avoid pure white and black. Everything has some color to it.
Start with the background, if applicable.
Practice, practice, practice. Mad skillz don't show up overnight.
Learn from your mistakes.
And remember to save.

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See what happens when you practice?

August 2006 December 2006

Elftown Tutorials. Good stuff.