Character Concept Art: From Grayscale to Full Color Illustration

2. Introduction: Layers: - Hello and welcome to the character concept Art. - From grayscale to full color illustration. - A layer based Photoshopped coloring class to get started. - Let's cover some basics to create my picture. - I'll be working with just one simple brush. - It's one of the default Photoshopped brushes this one here. - I'm going to adjust it a bit so that it's more to my liking. - I'm opening the brush window, - which you can also exist from the mini. - I'm going to check the shape dynamics. - I'm making sure that Sister Therese it to Penn pressure. - Also check transfer The first corruption should likewise be said to pin pressure. - Now go back to brush, - tip shape and lower to spacing to, - let's say, - 10%. - This should be all right. - Yeah, - look skewed. - The only thing I will be changing is the hardness of the fresh. - It can be adjusted in the right click money. - If we lower the hardness, - we'll get the soft edged brush. - I'll be using it sometimes, - but most of the time all work with brush, - Hartness said. - 100%. - Now, - let's take a look at the layer swing dough. - Here is our background player. - I'm going to make a new one. - On top of it, - intra random shape. - I can change the layers transparency by adjusting the opacity value. - Here, - I can also lower the layers feel, - and the effect will be the same. - That is, - unless you have any layers tell supplied. - But we'll get into that a bit later. - Another thing I can do is lock some of the layer properties to explain deceptions that will - begin from the end. - If it's just a last option, - the layer will be entirely locked, - and I won't be able to change it in any way. - This is useful if you don't want to make accidental changes to some of your layers. - Second from the right disposition, - like I can still draw on the layer, - but I can't move it around. - Next to it is the pixel lock, - which is the opposite off position. - Look, - I can move the earlier around, - but I control anything on it. - The last option. - Issa. - Basically luck, - which I use a lot. - It allows you to change the color of the existing big source. - Simply put, - it means I cannot draw on my shape and don't get out of Flynt's. - I'm going to hide the background player now, - and as you can see, - the transparency of the original shape remains. - But I can no freely paint on it. - There is another option that allows you to make changes to a layer that gives even more - freedom, - and that is later linking. - I will make a new layer on top of my shape and holding out hover the cursor between the two - layers. - As you can see, - a new icon appears. - If I click between the layers while holding the L key, - the upper layer gets sling to the lower layer. - The lower layer is the parent layer, - and all changes that will be made on the top player will apply only to the pixels existing - on the parent one. - If I break the link between the two, - they start acting like independent layers again. - This is similar to pass city luck only you can make multiple later sling to the same parent - layer, - so can make changes much more freely. - Additionally, - any effects from the layer blending modes will apply only to the parent layer and not all - the layers below, - as would happen if there was no link. - Another interesting option that comes with the layers it's masking. - The exception allows us to cover parts of a layer. - I can create a layer mask by clicking this I can hear. - Now I can move between the layers, - continent and the mask. - As you can see on the miniature here, - the whole mask is right now it means that no part of the layer is hidden. - However, - if I start trying on the mask with black, - the contents off my layer disappear. - If I drawing the same place with white again, - they will get uncovered. - And if I use grace, - I can control the transparency of the layer. - So to put it simply, - a mask decides how transparent my layer is. - The closer to white demora park the layer, - the closer to black demo transparent it gets. - Remember to selecting in term the left. - If you want to make changes to the layers, - contents and the miniature on the right. - If you want to adjust in, - mask the respond More thing worth noting when it comes to masking. - If you look between the layer and the mask miniature here you will sealing symbol. - The mask is linked to the contents of the layer, - and if I want to change their location, - they will move together. - However, - if I just turn link the mask, - I can now move the mask in the layers content separately. 3. Introduction: Blending Modes and Styles: - Now we're ready to move to delay or blending modes. - Basically, - blending multi is the property of a layer that decides on how it will interact with the - layers below. - You can set it choosing from this money. - Depending on which one you choose, - he will get a different effect. - There is quite a lot of them, - and they might seem confusing and first. - But they can make your work much easier, - and they're quite fun to use once you get to know Adam. - As you can see, - the blending modes are grouped. - Each of the groups contains modes with different properties. - The first group is made of normal layers, - or duris, - knowing direction between the colors of the objects. - The 2nd 1 makes the picture darker, - the 3rd 1 lighter, - the mounting. - These two groups are the opposites of each other. - Darken has the opposite effect to lighten, - multiply, - to scream and so on. - Next group is the layers that affect contrast. - They make some of the colors darker and some lighter. - Next, - we have to inversion and took insulation modes. - Leslie Touristy Component Group. - The blending modes I use the most we're working our darkened, - multiply lightem screen overlay, - soft light and the liars from the competent group. - These 30 moods that I will never explain in more detail. - But you might like to experiment with all of them to see what effects they create in the - description. - I really include a couple of flings to more in depth articles on blending modes. - For those of you, - I would like to know a bit more on the subject. - All right, - so let's get started to explain how these blending modes work. - I will use to images a prepared before they're on separate layers, - and they will moved in so that one is on top of theater. - The default mode for each layer is normal. - The upper layer covers the lower one and makes it invisible in places where the opacity is - 100%. - Now let's change the upper layer smote to see how the interaction between the objects will - change dark in comparison to layer, - speak so for pixel and uses the darker pixel value to display. - No part of the image gets lighter. - Multiply darkens the lower layer based on the darkness off the upper layer. - Any a play tone darker than white, - dark and steal our layer. - Why it becomes transparent night and comparison to layer. - Speak so for pixel and uses the light. - Repeat so value. - No part of the image gets darker. - Screen brightens the image by lighting the lower layer based on the lightness of the upper - layer. - The result is always later and makes it a good mode for correcting over their trading. - Overlay uses a combination of this cream blend mount on the lighter pixels and the multiply - blonde mode on the darker pixels. - It is this a hope strength application of these modes and the meat tones, - namely 50% crate, - becomes transparent. - A soft light is similar to the overlay blend mode, - but results in a much self termer organic effect. - This is definitely the mode that I used the most. - The names of the months Incompetent group can give you a pretty good idea of what the - result is going to be. - So he moat changes the here off the lower layer to the hue of the upper one, - but leaves brightness and saturation and changed. - It's useful for septal color changes, - but the effect might be unnatural. - If the change is big situation mode changes the situation of the lower layer to debt of the - upper one that leaves brightness. - And here alone, - these mode works great when you want to tone down to strong colors. - Color remote changes the hue institution of the lower layer to the human situation of the - upper layer, - but leaves luminosity as it is. - It's the first way of changing colors, - but might require some work with adjusting values, - especially if you're trying to change the pred or purple into yellow or the other way - around. - Finally, - Lunesta mode changes the Lebanon's off the lower layer to the imminence of the upper layer - while living human searchers in the same. - This one's good for lightening and darkening in the area without changing the color. - Leslie. - Let's take a quick look at delayer styles. - They can be accessed from the money or by double clicking on the layer. - A new window appears with a number of options to choose from. - You can create customs tales using one or more of the following effects. - Drop shadow. - It's a shadow that falls behind the compensate off the layer, - while inner shadow as a shadowed, - it feels just inside the edges of the layers content, - giving delayer resist appearance outer glow and inner glow at close that emanate from the - outside or inside edges of the layers. - Continent battle on Bimbo's at various combinations of highlights and shadows to a layer. - It can give a three D like effect. - Certain applies interview shading that creates a satiny finish. - Color. - Grady int and Pattern Overlay feels the layers content with a colored radiant or a pattern - and finally, - dory stroke that outlines the objects and the current layer. - Reason, - color ingredient or a pattern. - It is particularly useful on hurt edge shapes. - Each of these effects has its own, - many with a number of settings. - You can adjust your liking the ones they use the most, - or drop shadow outer glow and stroke after riches. - The style someone to use and confirm. - And you I can will appear in the right off your layer as well as the least of effects. - Currently, - news. - You can hide them selectively or all the worms. - Now here is where we can see a difference between layers of Bay City and feel. - If I lower the opacity, - both the layers, - original contents and effects become transparent. - However, - if I lower the field on the layers, - contents to fade out while the effects remain at full strength. - If you want to remove the effects, - simply drag the F X I can over to the bean a the lower right corner off the layers window. - For those of you who would like to learn a bit more about layer, - styles included laying with third your information and that's it for this part. - Next, - I will show you how I use all these layer options while working on a proper illustration. - Stay tuned. 4. Grayscale: - Normally, - I begin working by making a quick sketch of what I'm trying to draw on a separate player. - Quite often, - it's very messy, - since none of the lines are going to be visible by the time I'm done. - Next, - I make a basic color feel under the sketch layer. - Most of the time, - I stick to neutral 50% Cray. - After debt, - I make another layer between the great background and the sketch and begin shading. - As you can see, - I use the sweaters window to pick my colors. - I'm using a switch set I found online. - If you're not used to swat us, - you can keep your pull it in a separate fail on the site. - I don't get into too many details at this stage. - It's just a base where I decide on where the lightning comes from and captured the general - shape of the elements. - I work with me tones, - leaving the lightest and darkest stones for later. - I usually finish this state quite fast, - sometimes accidentally make my sketch on the background layer, - but there is no reason to panic. - I just duplicate the layer, - said it to multiply, - cleared, - background and continue as they normally would. - When I'm satisfied with my base trading and make another layer on top of the sketch and the - real work begins, - these stage tends to take quite a long time. - So I sped up the video considerably and cut some persons out of it. - Nothing very important happens during the cut of sections. - I just continue working on normal layers and rendering the picture. - I add layer Sarandon Lee. - When I'm not sure if the changes, - I'm going to make alternate 12 so that I can remove them easily. - If I start having too many layers, - emerge some of them or collapsed the entire picture to one layer. - At this stage, - I begin to go over the original lines, - covering them and redrawing some parts. - My working process is quite messy, - several seems keeping from one part off the picture to the other, - only to come back to it after a moment. - It's a bit counterproductive, - but it gives me from getting bored too fast. - I started make turns and gradually at lighter and darker values. - I take my time with both value and color, - build up and over, - paying the same elements multiple times. - It takes a while. - But that's the most convenient way for me to work and help me make everything look more - voluminous. - The reason they started using this particular technique is because when I used to work in - color from the beginning, - I tend to get distracted with hues and shades and often ended up with very flat looking - pictures. - Working with grayscale, - they can focus on lightning and volume. - It's much easier for me to capture depth with time. - I learned to it natural looking colors. - Now this is my favorite way to paint digitally. - - I - flipped the canvas as a work so that it's easier for me to spot various mistakes. - But as I spent more time on the picture, - I start losing my distance to what I'm seeing on the screen, - and sometimes it takes me a while to pinpoint what's wrong with it. - This is way rarely finished a big picture in the cars off one day. - I like to put it aside and come back to it after a day or two with a fresh eye. - Now, - as you can see, - I chose to draw a warrior girl off sorts. - Her custom is a bit stylized, - so I guess it might not be the best choice of attire for actual battle. - Still, - I wanted to make a picture where I could show you how I approach various materials. - Here we have about five or six of them. - There is human skin, - her plain fabric, - leather, - metal and a bit of foreign. - You're the shoulder guard. - Each of these has its own texture. - But another thing I'd like to point out is the different speculative of the mo. - This means that each have a different amount of shine. - I tried to make the skin look smooth and even in case of the face to resell. - It'll shine to it around the nose, - eyes and cheekbone area, - but not much more. - Her and for is rather similar, - but the shine on the her is much stronger. - Plain fabrics such as cotton has almost no shying to it. - This is why I make sure to put any strong highlights on it. - I worked mainly with me terms and shadows. - Next this letter There are many kinds of it with various amount of speculative e. - For this picture, - I chose the type of letter with legal shine to it. - Metals on the other hand, - have very high speculator T. - This is where I use the strongest contrasts. - I also make the shading a bit more rough to show that the surface is not perfectly smooth. - Sometimes I also had scratches and other kind of damage to it. - At some point during rendering, - I decide to accentuate the highlights and shadows more. - And this is when I first used the blending modes. - Usually I create a separate layer on top and set the mode to self flight, - the new slight and dark race to emphasize the shading. - If the effect seems too strong, - I didn't lower the capacity of the layer. - When I'm happy with how it looks, - I just continue rendering on normal layers and repeat the process if necessary. - Now - let's talk about death. - There are many ways to make the picture look more three dimensional, - and some of them can be applied in the grayscale stage simply, - but things that are the closest to the viewer will have higher contrast and detail levels, - then the ones that are further away. - This is why I make sure not to put too much detail on the Cape Disorder and the characters - left arm and make them closer to the background. - Cray. - This effect is obviously stronger than it would be on a photo. - It can be observed more clearly in real life. - When we were looking at objects that are quite far apart, - however, - it helps to make the image read more clearly and seems to be a common practice for many - artists, - especially in game concept art. - - I - would like to emphasize that the workflow that you can observing this class is by no means - the only correct way to use this technique. - What I want to do is to give you an example off how powerful a tool Photoshopped layers can - be. - So experiment with the tool, - say, - introduce and find your own way off using this technique. - And don't be discouraged if your first tries don't look quite like you expected him to. - Like anything else. - It takes time and practice to master this technique. - I've been working with it for over three years, - and I still keep learning new things. - On the other hand, - maybe that's why I enjoy it so much. - It gives me plenty of possibilities and a lot of from for improvement, - the grayscale stage is almost over. - I could spend more time fixing mistakes in smoothing out shading, - but I'm going to leave the image a bit rough and move on. - I will continue working on later when I vetted colors to my picture. - The next part is going to be all about blending modes. - I will show you how I usually colorize my pictures and how I fix me stakes. 5. Color: - Usually it begin coloring by collapsing the grayscale base and creating a new soft light - layer. - I colored the picture using a self trade of page and critically introduced different hues. - This is when I said the colors of each element, - although quite often I change my mind as they continue. - I control the strength of the color with pen pressure, - or I change the brush of Bay City. - I don't worry too much about making the shading perfect and staying in lines. - I can correct everything later. - When I have my basic color, - said, - I make a new softly player and add to the color of the picture. - Self light gives the reader septal effect, - so it usually takes more than one layer to get a vibrant shade. - I really like working with this mode dough because it gives me much more control over the - color and doesn't raise the situation in the contrast as much as overlay, - I try not to is just one hue for each element. - Rather, - I makes various used to get a more natural looking effect. - I created another softly player and continue adding different Houston shadows. - It's worth noting that highly situated, - pure shades are visible on well late surfaces, - while the shadows display darker, - more dirty colors. - This is caused by the way human I works to see a vivid color. - We need strong light, - so naturally the Deemer delight the lower the situation. - Next, - add a multiple a layer and fill it with page. - In order to make the colors darker, - I shade on it, - using the light orb age to get a more natural looking effect, - sometimes a reluctant opacity of the multiple layer. - Before start shading, - I had an overlay layer to give more contrast to the metals under consume of the shadows. - Then I continue adding color on soft light players. - - I - decided to change the color of the stocking. - Seamster seems to be to Madrid on the picture. - To do that, - I use the layer with blending modes to color, - then adjusted values using multiply. - Now, - as I am happy with my color base, - I collapse the layers and start smoothing out stating and adding details on normal layers. - Most of the time, - I used the colors that are already on the canvas. - Occasionally, - I will use multi play and screen layers to darken and lighten parts of the image. - - I - would like to remind you again that the way I use the layers isn't the only correct way to - go. - The order and amount off layers I use is different for every picture I work on. - These lessons simply offers a sample on how you can approach the coloring, - so use as many layers as you like and said the blending modes to the ones that are most - convenient for you. - - Now - . - My basic colors are done, - and it's time to finally fix the mistakes I've made. - I collapsed the layers and useless so and transform tool to correct the placing and shape - of the facial features. - I clean up on a normal layer. - Now that's much better. - - Using - similar method I just the shape of the shoulder guard. - Then continue adding details to my picture. - The rest of the video footage I've prepared for this lesson uses the same techniques I've - already described, - so allow me to leave the remaining part without commentary. - In the next lesson, - I will explain how to a textures, - emphasized that a bit more and then create quick color variations using various blending - modes 6. Textures and Final Touches: - it's time to have some textures to my picture. - I'm going to start with letters. - I use a tiled letter to extras a base and set a blending mode that I think should work well - . - I settle on overlay, - but it raises the situation to match. - So I had a correction, - layer said the situation to the lowest value and link it to my texture layer. - Next, - I use a mask on the texture layer, - hiding, - enter content and gradually uncovered areas where they want the texture to appear and - repeat the process with another letter texture to make some elements stand out. - Next, - add the chain mail whenever possible. - These photos that I've taken myself. - But most of the time I was public domain images and three textures that some websites offer - . - I'm including a couple off links to such sights in the description. - My medals ended up looking a bit dark, - so before he had textures, - I lightened them a bit with a soft layer and it just the opacity. - I proceeded textures to the metal elements. - The images I'm using now are not held, - so I'm using his temp tal to copy them to places where the original image didn't reach and - then use the mask, - accentuate the highlights using an overly layer and another Dexter. - This one is actually a photo of first, - but it gives nice turns, - men said to leave it light. - Now that the textures air added, - I continue to clean up. - I lighten the color of the glove on characters left hand and disorder to make them look - like they're slightly behind. - After I have done a couple more fixes, - I create a new, - normal layer, - lower the hardness of the brush and, - using the background gray, - go over the areas that are further from the viewer and over the edges of the character to - accentuate the death some more. - When I'm done, - I lower the layers of pasty a bit. - Another way to accentuate death is to diese chew earthy elements that referred her away to - make the ones in the front pop. - In order to do that, - I will use an adjustment layer and de centering the whole image. - Then, - using a mask, - I will remove the effect from the parts that I want to stand out. - When I'm done, - I emphasize the lightning went an overlay layer and finish off with some small detail 7. Color Variations: - the picture is complete. - Now I'm going to make a couple of alternative color variations for it. - The ability to change the colors of your pictures fast is especially useful when working - for a client or in the game development. - I begin with a color layer and decide on which shades I'm going to pursue. - As you can - see, - using beige over red results in a dark, - grayish color. - That is because the values of those colors are different. - I'm going to lighten the her in some other elements with a soft layer and then a screen - layer. - I switch between the two and tell him, - satisfied with the colors. - - Now - that we have a lighter version, - then let's make another one this time darker again. - I begin with the color layer. - I use the situation layer to fade out some of the colors and in a multi player to make the - skin entire darker. - I looked capacity of the layer for more convenient shading. - I continue working with color multiply and soft light layers until I like to result, - - and - that's it. - I hope injured this class and that it will motivate you to experiment with butter shuttles - and lay eruptions. - Remember that practice makes perfect good luck and thank you