Tutorial: Painting the Window into a Character s Soul, the Eye

Tutorial: Painting the Window into a Character's Soul, the Eye

In this tutorial, we aren't doing any preliminary drawing or scanning sketches ; however, if doing so makes you more comfortable, feel free to scan in a sketch or drawing that you have done. To paint an eye, follow these steps:

1. Start Photoshop and create a new image document (600 x 600 pixels is a good size ). Make sure that the white of the image is covered. Either create the image with a colored paper or fill the canvas with a light-gray color .

2. Select the Airbrush Pen Opacity Flow brush. (This brush is a default Photoshop brush; if you do not see it in your Brushes palette, reset your brushes.)

3. You need to make one change to the default brush before you begin drawing your eye. In the Brush Tip Shape palette, change the hardness to about 50%, as shown in Figure 14.1. By changing these settings, you create a brush that looks slightly softer along the edges as you draw. This brush also tends to produce a softer gray if you press lightly on your stylus and becomes darker as you press harder. This is a great way to work because your initial strokes are light, and as you refine your drawing, you can press harder to make the strokes darker .

   
   Figure 14.1: Brush settings for drawing the eye.

4. Set your brush's color to a mid-value gray, set the opacity to about 30% and the size to around 10, and then begin drawing an eye. As you draw, remember that the eye is basically spherical in shape and is surrounded by the fleshy folds of the eyelids. While drawing, you must always remember the three-dimensional aspects of your subject, or your images will look flat and lifeless. Your initial sketch should look something like Figure 14.2.

   
   Figure 14.2: Beginning the drawing.

5. Continue drawing until you have a fairly representational eye, as shown in Figure 14.3.

   
   Figure 14.3: Continuing to draw the eye.

6. Let's add a little color to the sketch. From the Filters menu, choose Render, and then click Lighting Effects. Add an omni light right about the iris of the eye. Change the color of the light to some nice fleshy color. Move the Brightness slider down so that all the color is not washed out to white. Once you apply the effect, your image should look something like Figure 14.4.

   
   Figure 14.4: Lighting effect applied to the sketch of the eye.

7. Switch to the Airbrush Soft Round brush. Set the Opacity slider to a fairly low value of between 20% and 40%. From the Color palette, select a dark orange color to represent the dark flesh color and begin painting in the shadow areas of the eye, as shown in Figure 14.5. Do not worry about 'staying in the lines'; just concentrate on getting color down. Do not paint too opaquely or you will lose your underlying image. Switch back to your original brush and paint in some of the iris's color. Notice that the colors used in Figure 14.5 are not intense . A painting of uniform, bright intensity is very tiring on the eye.

   
   Figure 14.5: Painting in the shadow areas and the iris's color.

8. Select your original brush again if you have changed back and forth to the Airbrush, and start redrawing any of the eye that was painted over too opaquely. Begin to add in more detail and brighter color, as shown in Figure 14.6.

   
   Figure 14.6: Redrawing the eye over the airbrushed colors.

9. Start to work some lighter color into the image. Notice in Figure 14.7 that as the eye is painted, deep reds and subtle pinks have been put in the corners and lower lids, that the hazel color of the iris is not intense, and that the white of the eye is anything but white. Also notice the amount of red that is in the deepest shadow areas. Try to use deep reds instead of blacks when drawing the darkest areas. Black will kill the life of the image, whereas deep red will add life to it. Do not worry that the strokes are looking rough at this point.

   
   Figure 14.7: Working lighter colors into the eye painting.

10. Continue to add more color. Do not get too intense, but do get brighter. In Figure 14.8, some greens and browns have been added to the iris, the white of the eye has been lightened, and some lighter flesh tones have been added around the eye. Also notice that highlights are being added. Because an eye's surface is wet, the highlights are very sharp and shiny. The edges need to be relatively crisp and lean slightly toward the color of the light source. All of this work is done using the original brush while varying the size and opacity where needed.

    
    Figure 14.8: Adding more color to the iris of the eye.

11. By now, your eye looks pretty good, though it is somewhat messy. Let's clean it up some, as has been done in Figure 14.9. Use the blending method described in Chapter 11 and begin to smooth out some of the rough strokes. Remember that you are not trying to obliterate the strokes but simply soften them a touch. The last thing to do is add back some of the detail that has been blended out. Switch back to your original brush and redraw some of the small detail in the creases and lids of the eyes that may have been lost in the blending process, add a few eyelashes, and you are done, as shown in Figure 14.9.

    
    Figure 14.9: Slight blending and reestablishing the detail to finish the eye.