Chapter 15: Painting a Face | Digital Character Design and Painting: The Photoshop CS Edition (Graphics Series) (Charles River Media Graphics)

A face may be one of the most difficult subject matters that an artist tackles. In this chapter, we will paint a human face. The techniques presented here are pretty much applicable to painting any sort of face, be it human or alien.

Tutorial: General Working Methods That You May Want to Use When Painting a Face

Here is one method you can use to realize a full- color , digitally painted face and head. Just follow these steps:

Start by making a sketch, as shown in Figure 15.1. You can draw it by using either the traditional paper-and-pencil method or drawing directly on the computer; it really does not matter. If you start with a pencil sketch, you will, of course, need to scan the image into your computer. At this stage, you should consider resolution issues, along with what the final output will be. Will your image be used for print or on the Web? A print image will need to be at a much higher resolution than a Web image. When starting with the scan, consider working with an image that has a resolution of 200 dpi and that is grayscale. A 200-dpi resolution is large enough to let you include all the necessary facial details, is high enough resolution to print well, and is small enough as far as memory requirements to allow you to paint quickly. If you are going to be drawing directly on the computer, make sure that your output resolution is set when you create the image. Most of the imagery you will paint will probably start at fewer than 1,500 pixels in the largest dimension.

Figure 15.1: The beginning sketch.
Once you have set your resolution and have a basic design ready, you are ready to move on. A pencil-sketch scan usually contains a large range of gray values as will a sketch drawn directly within the program. In this particular case the drawing paper had numerous small, colored flecks. These types of things left in the sketch can be distracting and should be made less distinct if not eliminated. If not much variation exists between the strokes that you are drawing with or in your scan (i.e., the sketch is predominantly black and white), you may want to skip this step. If the sketch contains lots of distracting marks and you want to remove them, use the Levels command (Image > Adjustments > Levels). Use this command to reduce the number of gray values while leaving the image looking cleaner without the speckles, as shown in Figure 15.2.

Figure 15.2: The sketch after we used the Levels command.
Save your file-we cannot emphasize this step enough. Make it a habit to save numerically named versions of your work. One of the best things about digital painting is this ability to save multiple versions to which you can revert if you make a major mistake.
Cut and paste the image back into the original.
Set the Composite Blending mode to Multiply, as shown in Figure 15.3. This provides a top layer where the white has become transparent, allowing you to paint on the background layer while showing the original sketch through the top layer.

Figure 15.3: Converting the layer's Blending mode to Multiply.
As a general rule, it is not recommended that you paint on a white background. The reason for this is simple. Against a white background, especially on the computer monitor, virtually every color and value will look too dark. Therefore, you should always add a tone of color to the background of the image. In Photoshop, fill the background layer with either a color or a gray value, as shown in Figure 15.4. We chose the color in this case to contrast with later colors that will be added as we paint. You could add a gradation if you prefer.

Figure 15.4: Adding color to the background.
Create a new layer for this next step. In Figure 15.5, a violet color has been added into the turban area on the new layer. Always, when painting an image with a substantial amount of skin, begin by painting in some of the surrounding colors. These colors will influence the choices you will make as you pick colors for the skin areas. The reason for painting on a new layer will become apparent should you need to make corrections later in the painting. It is much easier to fix errors if the main elements of your painting are separate entities. Most of the painting in this image is done using only two or three brushes. The main brush used is the default brush, Airbrush Pen Opacity Flow. We tweaked the size and settings of the brush slightly as needed.

Figure 15.5: Painting color into the turban.
Create another new layer, as shown in Figure 15.6, and begin adding the skin colors. You must go to the Color palette and actually select the individual colors that you want to use because the image contains limited colors. At this point, experiment with finding colors that you actually want to use. Begin by picking the darkest colors of the skin and blocking in the whole shape of the face. Doing so will help you establish the value range of your image. Do not concentrate on laying color down only on the figure. Work all over the image in these early stages to maintain the color theme.

Figure 15.6: Painting in the large dark shape of the face.
In Figure 15.7, the planes of the face are being carefully developed as you refine and add lighter colors to the face. You do not need to try and blend the color at this time. Let the overlapping edges of the brush strokes be the areas where you sample the colors you paint with.

Figure 15.7: Defining the planes in the face using lighter colors.
Notice in the closeup of the painting in Figure 15.8 that some of the underlying background color shows through the skin colors that are being painted. This is particularly apparent in the temple area of the head. Try to get some of your background colors into the figure and, if possible, some of your foreground colors into the background. Do not be concerned with 'staying within the lines.' Notice in Figure 15.8, particularly within the circled area, the high saturation of the colors in the flesh. Notice too, that the purple is reminiscent of the color of the turban. This is the reason you paint the colors surrounding the skin at the beginning.

Figure 15.8: Notice the intense color and the different colors in the face, as you can see in the circled area.
Begin sampling some of the colors within the image itself using the Eyedropper tool and painting with those sampled colors. (Photoshop's hot key for the Eyedropper tool is Alt; using the hot key makes it very fast to sample and go back to painting.) You will still need to go to the Color palette for some colors, but more and more you can simply sample colors that are being created within the painting.
At this point you can merge the sketch layer and the layer you are painting the skin color on. Continue to refine the drawing while painting in more detail and gradually covering the sketch. Figure 15.9 shows a closeup of the face. Notice that you can see some of the sketch only in smaller areas as it is covered in the painting process. This is most noticeable around the mouth.

Figure 15.9: The merging of the sketch and painting layers .
Figure 15.10 shows the entire painting and how the features are being refined and developed. Notice how simply the eye is painted. There is no need at all to paint every eyelash. Also be aware of the subtle but noticeable color change in the corner of the eye. If you simply use a dark brown or black for all of your darks, you will end up with an image that looks dead. Notice the highlights that are being developed on the skin, particularly on the tip of the nose and the eye; this is where the background color is now being integrated into the overall skin color in a most dramatic fashion. This is just a matter of using the background color as the highlight. In dark- skinned people, the highlights on the skin are generally much more specular and shiny than in people with light or pale skin.

Figure 15.10: The background color being used as the highlight color.
Using the same brush, continue to paint the rest of the head. As you can see in Figure 15.11, you gradually and ever so slightly cool the warmer colors of the face using the blue green of the background. The shadows of the figure vary from warm to cool. Varying the colors of the shadows will keep the figure looking alive . Work your strokes across the form, meaning that the strokes are perpendicular to the long axis of the body part being painted.

Figure 15.11: Refining the painting and cooling the colors in the flesh using the background color.
The underlying sketch is just about painted over completely by this time. Continue smoothing and refining the face, adding highlights where appropriate and blocking in some color in the background and shirt area. Remember, the highlights should take on the cast of the surrounding color (or, in this case, a slight blue). Some serious consideration now needs to be given to the background and collar area of the painting. The background is a combination of flesh tones mixed with the background color and some blue/purples to bring in some of the turban color. Begin to establish the shadow patterns within the turban, separating the light side from the dark side. The shirt is painted in golden tones. This is not by chance; these golden tones are picked to enhance the colors in the face and contrast the purple turban, as shown in Figure 15.12.

Figure 15.12: Adding the background, shirt, and the value patterns within the turban.
Figure 15.13 shows a closeup of the face so you can see all the color and general simplicity of the brush strokes used to paint.

Figure 15.13: A closeup of the face
Additional work is now concentrated on the turban (see Figure 15.14). Merge the turban layer. Using the same brush, refine the lights and darks and cover the sketch as you build up the color.

Figure 15.14: Painting the turban.
In Figure 15.15, you are pretty much finished with painting the face. You should now have the background painted. The turban is painted with enough detail that the viewer will understand what it is yet it will not compete with the face for attention. For this study, the shirt will remain just roughed in.

Figure 15.15: The finished face.
The portrait needs one more thing to make it more intriguing and that is some jewelry . Create a new layer and paint a pair of earrings on your figure. Do not overstate them as you want them to add interest to the face and not compete for the viewer's attention. Save your file and you are done, as you can see in Figure 15.16.

Figure 15.16: The finished face with earrings.