Final Texture Details

To complete the main textures, we need some particulars that don't yet exist. In addition to enhancements for her body and face, we will also add Kila's teeth and tongue. Figure 9.15 shows the model with all these final details included.

Figure 9.15. Kila with details added to the textures (See page C5 for color version.)

Start with a new layer for each detail you addyou can always collapse them later, merging them into a single layer.

Face

Let's look at the face first; this is shown in Figure 9.16.

Figure 9.16. Add detail to her face, including the eyes, eyebrows, and hairline. (See page C13 for color version.)

Rememberif you are at all unsure about how something should look, refer to a photographic reference. You can also search online for other artists' texture pagesjust don't use the actual images in your artwork.

1.	First, draw in the pupils and iris outlines of the eyes, but don't add any highlights to the texture; we will be putting these in later. Adding these eye elements will really make a differenceKila will no longer look like a zombie! The background text states that Kila's eyes will glow. You don't need to be concerned about that here because it can be better achieved by using an in-game effect. Use a light gray rather than pure white for the "whites" of Kila's eyes. No one's eyes are pure whitemore importantly, though, the light gray will make the highlights we will create later stand out nicely.
2.	Next, give her some eyebrows; these will help remarkably to complete the look of the face.
3.	In the concept render, Kila has very dark eyes with pink eye-shadow, so implement these into the texture next.
4.	Using the base hair color, carefully sketch in the hairline at the top of her forehead, applying the Blur tool to smooth it out a little. This will help break up the currently solid hairline.

Originally, the eyelashes were to be left black, but after consulting with the lead artist it is agreed that they would benefit from additional detail. We have the texture space available, so we will add this eyelash detail later on in the chapter.

NOTE

You will find while working with your manager that the specifications of a character will often change, and the look may deviate somewhat from the main concept artwork. If lots of changes are planned, don't be afraid to voice your own opinionschedules are very important, so if changes look like they're going to take an extra three weeks, let your manager know this. And do it before you begin editing; it may turn out that you won't have time to implement the changes. You don't want to end up having to cram three weeks of work into one.

Let's move on now and focus on the elements at Kila's waist.

Waist Area

At the waistline, we have two main areas we can enhance. Kila has a chain that wraps around her stomach, acting as a belt. Below that, it looks like her navel is pierced, so we should implement this, too. Finally, there's the belt, which needs the buckle and some other details added to it.

You can see all of these details in Figure 9.17.

Figure 9.17. Add detail to the belt and other items at the waist. (See page C13 for color version.)

Jeans Detail

Continuing down the model, we next come to her jeans. At present, the jeans look fine, but there are a number of areas we can improve.

Denim Grain

Denim, like most cloth, has texture. In this case, it has a grainy look. Using Photoshop's Noise Filter, we will add this graininess to make our texture look more like real denim. (Later, this technique can also be adopted on Grae to give his skin more texture.)

1.	On the Flats layer in Photoshop, use the Magic Wand tool to select the blue area of the jeans (Figure 9.18a). Figure 9.18. Use Photoshop's Noise Filter to add grain to the fabric of the jeans. (See page C6 for color version.)
2.	Duplicate this area into a new layer; go to Edit > Copy (Ctrl+C/Cmd+C) and then Edit > Paste (Ctrl+V/Cmd+V). NOTE Make sure the new layer exists above the Lighter Tones, Darker Tones, and Shadows layers. This will make the new layer appear to be over-writing the others, but don't worrythis layer will actually overlay the others (Figure 9.18b).
3.	Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. This opens up the dialog box seen in Figure 9.19. Figure 9.19. The Add Noise window
4.	Set Amount to about 8.3, and set the Distribution to Gaussian. Make sure Monochromatic is enabled; this will keep the noise the same color as the jeans.
5.	Click OK to apply the filter (Figure 9.18c).
6.	You need to adjust this layer so that it loses its color information and also adjusts the saturation of the jeans. Do this by going to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate.
7.	Adjust the overall brightness by going Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast and setting Brightness to 35 (Figure 9.18d).
8.	Finally, this layer must be transparent so that you can still see the detail below it. Set Opacity in the layer window to 15% (Figure 9.18e).

With the jeans grain complete, let's now add the seams, and finally the tears at the front of her thighs.

Seams and Tears

To complete the jeans, we need to add the seams that run down the inner and outer legs, as well as the tears in the fabric at the front. Both these enhancements can be seen in Figure 9.20, and both features should initially be created on new layers.

Figure 9.20. Kila's jeans with details added (See page C14 for color version.)

As illustrated in Figure 9.21, the seams are created by using the Line tool with a lighter color to trace the inside edges of the UV Layout. The lines will be slightly too thick, so go in afterward and carefully trim off a few pixels. The idea is to give a slight hint of the detail needed.

Figure 9.21. Run the seams down the inside and outside of the leg. (See page C14 for color version.)

The rips in the jeans legs are initially created on a number of layers: the main skin color, then shading, and finally the white strands that hang over the tears. When you are happy with the results of your work on these layers, you can combine them into a single layer.

Tattoo

To finish off the main body of our character, we next will add her trademark tattoo that exists on her face, back, left arm, and hand.

The winding tattoo should first be created on a separate layer, since you will need to adjust the layer's opacity so that the tattoo appears to overlay the other details (Figure 9.22). Setting the Opacity to about 60% should work well.

Figure 9.22. Once the body is complete, we can add another layer for the tattoo. (See page C15 for color version.)

With all the main body textured now, let's look at the inside of the mouth.

Inner Mouth

As seen in Figure 9.23, we next work on giving color to the inner mouth, tongue, and teethready for any lip-synching she may need to do.

Figure 9.23. The inner mouth with textures

At present, the UV Layout for the teeth is not very efficient. The entire rows of top and bottom teeth need to be squeezed into this small area. What we can do is assume that her teeth are perfect, so we create one half and mirror the geometry for the other halfmeaning we only have to draw half of her teeth, allowing us to add more detail.

1.	First delete the left side of the teeth geometry.
2.	Adjust the UVs so they take up more space on the page (Figure 12.24). Figure 9.24. Adjust the teeth UVs to take up more space on the page.
3.	Now duplicate and mirror the existing half of the teeth, creating the left side.
4.	Finally snapshot the UV map again and load it into your .psd file for Kila's head in Photoshop. You can now draw the teeth onto the texture page. You can see the current texture pages in Figure 9.25. Figure 9.25. The current texture pages (See page C5 for color version.)

Hair

With Kila's main body and head nearing completion, let's work on her hair. As demonstrated in Figure 9.26, creating the hair is simply a matter of building up different layers of hair using gradually lighter tones.

Figure 9.26. Build up the hair texture page (See page C14 for color version.)

TIP

Try to keep to individual strokes when building up this texture; don't be tempted to "scribble" the hair.

1.	Working backward this time, first create a darker base layer (Figure 9.26a).
2.	Add a lighter layer, drawing only where the light would strike the hair. In this case, the part and the area tucked behind her ear need to be darker (Figure 9.26b).
3.	Again step up the lightness, adding a third layer to the hair. The three strips that exist under the outer layer of hair should remain slightly darker to help give the hair depth (Figure 9.26c).
4.	The basic hair is more or less complete now. The final steps are to add highlights, and to darken the area where the hair curves inward (Figures 9.26d and 9.26e).

Kila's texturing is finished (Figure 9.27). It's Grae's turn now; simply follow the same steps to create his textures (Figure 9.28).