This
tutorial explains a method and technique
mostly useful when applied on a
slow compuer and when the only input
tool available is a mouse and a
keyboard, no graphic tablet.
For
this digital painting, I used
Photoshop 6, an optical mouse
on a Pentium 300Mhz with 128
MB of memory, displayed at 1024x768
resolution on a 17" monitor.
This
drawing was inspired by a vivid vision
from a nightmare.
The
first and most important step for
me is to set the right mood for the
illustration. I chose to use an orange
background color because flesh tones
can be easily rendered from it.
I
then sketched the main subject on
a separate layer (set on multiply)
that I kept above the plain colored
background.
I
then sketched the main subject on
a separate layer (set on multiply)
that I kept above the plain colored
background.
At
this stage, I used the Paintbrush
tool set on normal mode with a 10%
- 50% opacity black smooth brush
varying in size from 5 to 80 pixels
wide.To
avoid slowing down the computer
during the sketching process I prefer
working in low resolution (72 DPI).
This way I can draw enjoying a more
natural flow without having to worry
about Photoshop catching up on my
last stroke.
Also,
I did not spend any time on details
during this phase: I fully concentrated
on roughing out the shapes, volume
and composition.
Step
2 - Turning on the light
Sketch finished, I resized the
image to a higher resolution (300
DPI). The focus shifted to refining
the lighting in the sketch layer.
For
this stage I employed an opacity
"subtraction" technique.
I relied heavily on the eraser
tool (10%-30% opacity medium sized
hard-edged brush) to lighten up
areas that were too dark. While
sketching, I had decided that
the main light source would be
positioned very high above the
subject, almost perpendicular
to it.
On
a separate layer, I started painting
the main figure using the Paintbrush
tool set on normal mode with a
30% opacity smooth brush varying
in size from 10 to 50 pixels wide.
I referred to the poser render
for the main shapes and their
position. The perfect place for
a light source when you need it
to cast strong and dramatic shadows.
I zoomed in to 200% and started
working on the demon's head. Where
I felt a highlight was needed
I erased pixels to reveal the
orange background below.
I
imagined the demon skin as being
very rough and wrinkly, with many
heavy folds layered on each other.
I begun defining its base texture
by adding smaller highlights (with
a 5 pixel wide hard-edged brush)
where I felt skin creases and
folds should go. Once finished
with the highlights, I was left
with a very light amount of pixels
on the figure layer. I planned
this, because the next phase in
the drawing was mostly based on
smudging.
Step
3 - Details
Here is where all the rough
edges disappear and the highlights
blend in.
The
smudge tool is the slowest Photoshop
painting tool and I find its
performance not to be fast enough,
not even on a powerful PC. This
is why I made sure to arrive
to this step with the least
amount of pixels to smudge.
Also, while working on this
step I paid careful attention
to every brush stroke so to
avoid having to go back and
fix areas of the drawing later
on in the process. Mostly, I
used the smudge tool set to
normal mode, 40% opacity and
a brush size from 10 to 30 pixels
wide. The goal was to blend
all the highlights I had put
in place before, making sure
at the same time to shape all
the skin folds and creases in
a very organic (and twisted!)
way.
After
having blended the highlights
in, I had to use the paintbrush
tool to darken many areas. I
applied short strokes of black
pixels where needed and then
I smudged them and shaped them
to add detail to shadows that
were lacking in strength. This
is a technique I use when I
paint in real media (oil colors
on board) and I love to apply
it to the digital medium.
This
step was definitely the slowest
part of the whole process (probably
35 hours of work, 2-3 hours
a day for a few weeks).
Step
4 - Textures
Once I finished adding details
and finer shadows, I decided
that in order to add more realism
to the main figure, I had to
apply textures to it.
I
started by flattening the main
figure and the background layers
into a single one. To create
the texture, I scanned the skin
on the palm of my hand at 600
DPI and saved it in Photoshop
format (PSD). I opened the new
file in Photoshop and I created
a seamless pattern (using the
clone stamp tool to blend areas
closer to the edges). I tested
out the pattern to see if it
would tile without a seam and
when I was happy with the results
I saved it as a PSD file.
Next,
I went back on editing the demon
illustration. I used the mask
tool to create a selection that
would encompass the main figure
and then I saved the selection
as an alpha channel (for later
use). To apply the newly created
texture I used the Texturizing
filter. I set its size at 150%
with relief set on 10. After
the filter was applied, I used
the recent Photoshop feature
that allows to "fade"
out the last effect that was
applied. I set the fade out
value at 60% to reduce the strength
of the texture on the main figure.
Now
the skin had achieved a realistic
gritty look that reminded me
of elephant skin. The image
was ready for the next step.
Step
5 - Final Highlights
The dodge tool is my favorite
tool when it comes to creating
highlights on flesh. It is very
helpful when used correctly.
I set the dodge tool to highlights
and starting from a red-orange
base, I easily brought up lighter
oranges and yellow tones. I
proceeded to apply the effect
on all the areas that required
highlights using a small brush
and an exposure mostly set on
25%.
For
lighting up larger areas I used
the paintbrush tool set on "overlay"
with a light color (yellow and
white) and opacity of 10%. The
overlay blending mode works
really well when you need to
add light to an area while at
the same time avoiding drastically
changing its hue (color), like
the dodge tool often does. During
this step, once again, I add
to darken many areas and also
I colorized a few details of
the subject such as the horns
and teeth to give them a more
yellow appearance.
I
had fun adding many smaller
additional details: a vast number
of veins and skin folds, teeth,
saliva and eyes on the heads
embedded on the demon's shoulder.
Step
6 - Background and fine-tuning
The
main subject was ready. All
I needed now was a background
and some minor foreground elements,
such as the pool of liquid the
demon is partially immersed
in and the long stick/scepter
in its tentacle's grasp.
For
the background I used 3D Studio
Max to render a cave wall. The
process would require a tutorial
all on itself, but for simplicity
I will explain the major step
involved in it: I used a few rock
textures I had created before.
I blended them together into a
seamless pattern and saved the
image. I then imported it in 3D
Studio and I assigned the pattern
as a bump and diffuse material
to an object that was illuminated
by a single red light source.
The
scepter in the demon's tentacle
was created in 3 steps. First
I put the scepter on a separate
layer (below the demon's layer).
Then a texture was applied to
it using the texturizer. Finally
I used the dodge tool to bring
highlights up. I also drew a chain
and a hanging skull on top of
the scepter (this alone, took
me 8 hours).
At
this point, in order to blend
everything together I had to
have the demon on a separate
layer. I went back to the demon's
layer and erased everything
around its edges so to have
only the demon remain. Now I
loaded the rendered background
image in a new layer and I moved
it below the demon's layer.
I cleaned up a few stray pixels
from the layers above the background
and then I flattened the image.
What I was aiming for now was
to join all the elements into
a harmonious whole.
I adjusted the image levels
and colorized it until I obtained
a more uniform feel and tone.
