Post by jabbro on May 8, 2009 7:08:32 GMT -9
This is an old Photoshop tutorial that I have found invaluable in making hair, fur, or anything with a lot of little strands. You can also apply the technique to other things. I am in no way a master of it, but it does give you a huge leg up in that department.
www.biorust.com/tutorials/detail/148/en/
A few bits of advice.
When using the brush, these two keys resize the brush down and up automatically: [ and ]
I use them a lot since I do everything without a tablet and it saves tons of time.
Step 1:
They way I do coloring is a bit odd. Suffice to say that I do not have a separate layer for each color as in step one. As long as you can select it or use a Marquee tool, you are good.
Step 2:
I create a whole new layer for this for several reasons. Since I do not have a good tablet, as used in the tutorial, I use the mouse, and bring the Opacity and Flow of the brush tool down to about 50%. This allows you to do layering nicely. Also, depending on the color, setting this layer to Multiply in the layering options gives some cool shading.
Step 5:
To get the tips suggested, I alternate between the brush in step 2 and the Smudge Tool. It works for be better than erasing. Keep in mind that if you go this way you'll need to have the area you are coloring highlighted by the marquee so that you do not smudge outside the lines.
Step 8:
I combine this in the same layer as step 2 (Usually doing them both at the same time). I tend to use the fuzzy brush and just make it huge. Keep the Opacity and Flow at half for this.
Step 10:
Doing this with a mouse will drive you insane if you try it the way described. I use a brush that I believe was designed for grass. Don't forget to bring the Opacity and Flow back up to 100%.
In the PS that I use (v7) there is a brushes tab in the left corner that has all the effects. I usually have the Scatter turned on. In the Shape Dynamics, I turn the angle jitter to about 4%. The last thing to do is fix the angle and spacing. It is in the Brush Tip Shape section. I usually space things out a good bit. the circle with the arrow changes the facing of the brush. I use this a lot to make sure the hi-lights flow the right direction.
At the very end, I usually select the colors on all the layers, and use the Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation menu to fiddle with each layer until I get colors that either contrast or blend better. this is the real reason I put the shades, mid-tones and hi-lights all on different layers.
Good luck and have fun coloring. If any of this sounds confusing, let me know. The Tutorial gives a good overview and you may want to follow it exactly as it is written the first few times rather than experiment as I have.
www.biorust.com/tutorials/detail/148/en/
A few bits of advice.
When using the brush, these two keys resize the brush down and up automatically: [ and ]
I use them a lot since I do everything without a tablet and it saves tons of time.
Step 1:
They way I do coloring is a bit odd. Suffice to say that I do not have a separate layer for each color as in step one. As long as you can select it or use a Marquee tool, you are good.
Step 2:
I create a whole new layer for this for several reasons. Since I do not have a good tablet, as used in the tutorial, I use the mouse, and bring the Opacity and Flow of the brush tool down to about 50%. This allows you to do layering nicely. Also, depending on the color, setting this layer to Multiply in the layering options gives some cool shading.
Step 5:
To get the tips suggested, I alternate between the brush in step 2 and the Smudge Tool. It works for be better than erasing. Keep in mind that if you go this way you'll need to have the area you are coloring highlighted by the marquee so that you do not smudge outside the lines.
Step 8:
I combine this in the same layer as step 2 (Usually doing them both at the same time). I tend to use the fuzzy brush and just make it huge. Keep the Opacity and Flow at half for this.
Step 10:
Doing this with a mouse will drive you insane if you try it the way described. I use a brush that I believe was designed for grass. Don't forget to bring the Opacity and Flow back up to 100%.
In the PS that I use (v7) there is a brushes tab in the left corner that has all the effects. I usually have the Scatter turned on. In the Shape Dynamics, I turn the angle jitter to about 4%. The last thing to do is fix the angle and spacing. It is in the Brush Tip Shape section. I usually space things out a good bit. the circle with the arrow changes the facing of the brush. I use this a lot to make sure the hi-lights flow the right direction.
At the very end, I usually select the colors on all the layers, and use the Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation menu to fiddle with each layer until I get colors that either contrast or blend better. this is the real reason I put the shades, mid-tones and hi-lights all on different layers.
Good luck and have fun coloring. If any of this sounds confusing, let me know. The Tutorial gives a good overview and you may want to follow it exactly as it is written the first few times rather than experiment as I have.