Tutorial: Painting Fabric


Let's start painting some fabric. Follow these steps:

  1. Open Photoshop and create a new image file. If you do not have an image that you want to work with, the sketch that this tutorial used is located on the CD-ROM and can be used. The original image for this painting was created approximately 1584 pixels wide (2100 pixels high), and a photograph was used as a reference. You could scan the image, bring it into your program, and paint over the scanned photo, but you will learn more about the process if you paint over a drawing instead. Do whatever works best for you.

  2. The whole image is done with only a few different brushes, with the opacity set at various densities and the size increased and decreased as needed.

  3. We will take extra time to establish the face of the character before we draw the costume. This is not the best way to work and is not recommended. However, since this demonstration is about painting the costume, it is appropriate to get the major work on the face done first. Either draw an image similar to the sketch or open the sketch supplied. Figure 20.1 shows the sketch from a reference photo. Notice that at this point not a lot of detail is drawn into the sketch. This is on purpose to help us resist the impulse to just fill in the lines in a coloring-book style.


    Figure 20.1: The sketch from a reference photo.

  4. Apply a lighting effect from the Filter menu to get rid of all of the very bright white in the image. A greenish effect is applied to the top of the image and a slightly red effect is placed on the lower half of the image. We chose this lighting scheme for Figure 20.2 because we'd already decided to paint the hair a reddish blonde color and keep the fabric slightly warmer compared to the background. A green and red color scheme is very easy to handle as far as how the colors interact. The lighting is applied to get rid of the white surface of the canvas and to add subtle color that will be used in the actual fabric painting. Save your file.


    Figure 20.2: The sketch with a lighting effect applied.

  5. Because this tutorial is about painting fabric, not much time will be spent on describing the process of painting the face, hands, and sword. There is, however, value in showing the procedure as a review on how to handle these subjects. Figure 20.3 shows the face of the character blocked in on a new layer. Notice that the sketch is not completely covered and we are not trying to 'stay within the lines' of the sketch. Painting on a newly created layer makes changes and corrections so very easy.


    Figure 20.3: The face of the girl blocked in on a new layer.

  6. Continuing on the same layer, the hair is finished a bit more and the hand and sword are blocked in. At this stage of the painting (see Figure 20.4), enough finish needs to be done to give a good idea of what the final image will look like, but it would be unwise to try and finish the face and hands at this early stage. Invariably, as we finished the rest of the painting, we would find we needed to go back and repaint sections, if not the entire face. Leaving the face at a more unfinished stage will make it easier to make changes as the painting is completed.


    Figure 20.4: More painting in the blonde hair and blocking in the major values in the hand and sword.

  7. Figure 20.5 shows the painting to this point with the face, hands, and part of the sword blocked in. The painting is now ready for us to begin painting the fabric costume. In this case we will actually be painting two separate parts of the costume, the dress and the cape.


    Figure 20.5: The image ready to have the fabric painted .

  8. Create a new layer for the fabric and arrange it so that it is located underneath the layer with the face on it. As when painting with traditional tools, start by laying in the darks first, as shown in Figure 20.6. The first goal is always to establish a strong value statement. In this painting we have tried two different methods of laying in the broad dark shapes . On the right of the image, the brush we have been painting with is used. On the left, one of the default Photoshop airbrushes is used. The specific brush is Airbrush Soft Round 200. Notice that really no effort is made to stay within the forms. All that we are doing at this point is to try and separate the lights and darks of the costume.


    Figure 20.6: The lights and darks of the image blocked in.

  9. Select a dark yellow color and continue to fill in some of the darker areas of the cape (Figure 20.7).


    Figure 20.7: The dark yellows of the cape are also painted in.

  10. When the darks are blocked in, we go back into them with a slightly lighter brush and reestablish the directional folds. It is critical that when we are doing this, the color that we are using is dark enough to not punch visual holes into the darks. Try squinting your eyes at the image and see how the lighter colors merge into one large dark shape. Figure 20.8 shows the beginning of this phase as we draw in the folds of the gown.


    Figure 20.8: Drawing in the folds of the gown.

  11. Once the direction of the folds is established, it is time to start to bring in some of the lighter values in the costume. The right side of the painting shows some of these lighter values being painted in. To maintain interesting contrasts, be sure to keep these lighter values lighter than the background. Also notice that we are not using a pure white but a white that has a distinctly yellowish cast. Figure 20.9 shows the beginning of this process that will spread across the costume.


    Figure 20.9: Painting in some of the lighter values of the costume.

  12. An important thing we need to remember when painting white fabric is this: rarely is white fabric white. This may sound like an oxymoron, but it is in fact the truth. When you are painting white costumes, it is important to vary the colors within the fabric slightly instead of using gray values. If you paint white fabric in shades of neutral gray, your painting will lack life and most likely your carefully painted white costume will look gray. In the case of this particular dress, it will pick up some of the color of both the background and the yellow cape. You will notice in the highlighted areas in Figure 20.10 some rather intense and definitely not gray colors painted in to add variety and life to the white costume. Much of the color that is used to paint is sampled from within the image at this stage. It is also a good thing to put these more intense colors on the transition edges from the darks to the lights. If you paint too bright a color into either the light or dark areas, you will change the perceived color of the fabric or make it look like it had dirt or stains on it.


    Figure 20.10: Examples of intense colors added to the white fabric.

  13. As you paint you will want to remember that the lightest lights in the fabric are closest to the center of interest, which is the face. As the fabric gets farther and farther away from the head, the values get darker. Because the major patterns that were first sketched were somewhat lost in the initial lay-in, they are reestablished and cleaned up here. Most times when painting fabric, all you will need to do is a convincing job of three values: a dark value for the shadows, a mid-value for the majority of the fabric, and a light value for the highlights. In this particular painting, the mid-value is more part of the dark shadow than a true mid-tone. Remember that everything is relative and that the mid-value for a white costume is not the same as the mid-value for a darker fabric. As shown in Figure 20.11, the folds are refined even further; use straight lines and draw with the darkest of the three values. Notice that many of the darker colors in the cape are repeated in the darks of the costume. This is a technique that will help unify your paintings.


    Figure 20.11: Refining the costume and keeping the lightest lights close to the face, which is the center of interest.

  14. At this point, the darks of the painting appear too dark and much too muddy. To rectify this, we will use one of the new and quite useful features in Photoshop CS. Make sure that the costume layer is the active layer. In the Adjustments menu go down and select Shadow/ Highlight, as shown in Figure 20.12.


    Figure 20.12: The Adjustments/Shadow/ Highlight menu.

  15. You will notice an immediate change in that the shadows of the fabric are lighter and more colorful . For our purposes, the default setting seems to have handled making the shadows less heavy and dreary-looking (see Figure 20.13), but feel free to play around with the sliders until you get a look that you like.


    Figure 20.13: The results of using the Shadow/Highlight adjustment.

  16. Continue to define and refine the folds of the costume into the shadow area of the figure, as shown in Figure 20.14. Figure 20.15 shows a closer look at the continuation of this process in the lower part of the figure. Notice the variety of colors used in the shadows. Figure 20.16 shows the whole painting to this stage.


    Figure 20.14: A continued refining of the fabric on the shadow side of the costume.


    Figure 20.15: Notice the variety of colors used in the shadows of the closeup of the costume.


    Figure 20.16: The whole painting to this point.

  17. Now it is time to start working on the cape part of the costume. Working in much the same way as you did in earlier stages of the image, select some golden colors, and working from dark to light, rough in the cape as in Figure 20.17. This can be done on a separate layer or, in this case, on the same layer as the white gown.


    Figure 20.17: The initial paint-in of the cape.

  18. The costume is beginning to look pretty good at this point, but the image overall is looking fairly boring. A simple way to fix this would be to add some interest into the very plain background. Because we have painted both the face and the costume on separate layers, adding interest to the background is an easy chore. Individual layers will eliminate the necessity of carefully painting around the contour of the figure if all the work had been done on one layer. Figure 20.18 shows a texture selected to use for a background because of its sky-like feel. This texture file can be found on the CD-ROM.


    Figure 20.18: A texture for the background.

  19. Copy the entire texture and paste it into your painting. Depending on which layer is active, you will probably need to move the new texture layer down beneath both the face and costume layers. Figure 20.19 shows the painting with the texture pasted in.


    Figure 20.19: A texture pasted into the background.

  20. While a definite improvement over the plain-gray background, there is still room for improvement. The texture as it stands is too light for the figure. There are two solutions to this problem: either we can make the figure lighter or the background darker. As it is easier, we opt to make the background darker. This is very simple to do. Simply change the blend mode to Multiply and use the opacity slider to get a look that you like. There is no right or wrong; just go with your own personal feeling. Figure 20.20 shows the texture layer changed to Multiply.


    Figure 20.20: A texture's blend mode changed to Multiply.

  21. The painting is now very harmonious in its color scheme. At this point we are in the final cleanup and finish phase. Switching back to the costume layer, the right sleeve is finished and the contours of the costume are cleaned up using a combination of the brush tool we have been using and the Eraser tool. Figure 20.21 shows our progress to this point.


    Figure 20.21: The result of finish work to the right sleeve and cleaning up the contours of the costume.

  22. Because we have spent most of this tutorial on painting fabric, a few things on the face layer now need to be brought to a finish. We will not spend time on how to make these finishes as this material has been covered in earlier chapters. Switch back to the face layer and finish the hair of the girl as in Figure 20.22. Continue to finish the work on the costume. It should be for the most part complete at this stage.


    Figure 20.22: Finishing the hair.

  23. Create a new layer and finish painting the sword as in Figure 20.23. Do any final touchup on the costume and face layers that needs to be done.


    Figure 20.23: Finishing the sword.

  24. On the texture layer, paint in a subtle light area just to the left of the face to help focus the viewer's attention on the center of interest (Figure 20.24).


    Figure 20.24: Painting a light area in the background just to the left of the face.

  25. One last step to add that little something extra to the final image: create a new alpha channel and fill it with a radial gradient as seen in Figure 20.25. Back in the Layers tab, merge all the visible layers. Now you have only one layer containing your face, costume, and background. Load a selection from the alpha you created using the gradient. Copy and paste the image back into itself. Change the blend mode of the new layer to Multiply and adjust the opacity to suit you. The results are seen in Figure 20.26. What you have done is create a very subtle transition of the light that gradually gets darker as you move away from the face and upper body of the figure. This helps accentuate the play of light across the form and leads the eye just where you want. Your image is now finished.


    Figure 20.25: The alpha channel created and filled with a radial gradient.


    Figure 20.26: The finished image.




Digital Character Design and Painting
Digital Character Design and Painting: The Photoshop CS Edition (Graphics Series) (Charles River Media Graphics)
ISBN: 1584503408
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 112

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