Kuuuuuuu ;A;
Even if you need to be bolder with shading, I really like the soft feel of the colors, especially the hair. If you want to experiment with shading I suggest doing it on a separate layer and messing around as you see fit. I think the technique in this tutorial is quick and easy, unless you want more creative freedom with the colors.
Have fun then? I hope you draw more Haibane Renmei fanart. c:
I think this looks so cute, I agree having some shadows will make the cute Kuu stand out more but like most awesome artists have already shared their knowledge with you which are exactly like my techniques lol, except for a thing or too.
What I do first before I color anything is, I grab a normal brush a very bright colour (like red for eg.) and I draw a silly sun lol and draw (on a new layer above the lineart) and draw where the sun or light will hit the object which in this case would be Kuuu and then I set opacity to around 60 or so per cent and on another layer bellow the lineart of course I do my basic colouring and on another layer I do my even basic shadow ( see it like a darker colour from the basic ones you already have), what I found it, if you add a different colour to your shadows from your basic colours the shadow will pop out more and the drawing itself will become more real and 3D-ish, like it has actually volume.
And example would be, on his sleeves which are blue you could add some purple and slowly make it fading away.
You know what I just remembered something I did when I first started colouring, you could use the gradient. I used it for all my shadows and I still use it along with actually adding my own shadows. This will make all your shadows blend in.
Okay here's a recent drawing which I used all this techniques other artist's mentioned as long as the one I also wrote now.
Also never forget mess around the the highlights and saturation like A LOTT! Don't be afraid to pick up the most craziest baddass colours, it'll probably make the drawing even awesome ;D
Was I understandable? I'm sorry if I wasn't ;A;
Also I wouldn't mind doing a quick tutorial just for you, just to give you some help to start up :3
Thank you! That's exactly the kind of brush set I was looking for. I'm excited to start experimenting with them.
And as for the "pickup" method—I use that a lot for other things, but for some reason, it didn't occur to me as a useful tool for painting. I feel kind of silly.
Hi, saw you wanted a critique from the Critiquers United world.
I like the color combo, great job!
I agree with you on the shadows, you could use more contrasting shadows. If you would like some examples go check out some of my digitally colored art, when I started out I was timid, now I cant get enough of contrast haha
and depening on what you want...I will use a watercolor brush, or blur normal brush when I use it. depends on your tastes.
Ooh, dark-to-light is a really interesting idea. I think I'll try that, if only to experiment.
Thinking about my style more: I can do bold shadows when they're more defined (think cel shading), but I guess I have a hard time trying to make them look blended. They just seem to sit awkwardly on top of the normal color, so I drop the opacity back until they don't look so out-of-place. By then, of course, they're hardly visible. I'll try using levels/contrast/brightness to bring the dynamic range back up; that will probably help.
As for brushes, I don't know. Maybe something with a more intuitive shape for drawing lines, or some that would be useful for pulling/blending colors together. I guess I'm looking more for things that help emulate real-life media. The regular circle and calligraphic brushes seem really artificial to me—maybe I just need to learn how to use them better?
Thanks for your input!
Last edited by Sara at 2:04:54 PM EST on March 7, 2010.
Thanks for the reply! (And you communicate just fine. ^_^)
Believe it or not, I actually have several different layers of shadows on here. I think I just got worried that she looked too dark, and kept knocking the opacity back further and further. So most of what was originally form delineation turned into color variation instead. It keeps the image from looking completely two dimensional—but not by much.
I do find shading easier (and not so scary, haha) when drawing with pen or pencil. Maybe in the future I'll make a thumbnail sketch in pencil and lay out where the shadows should be. That way I'll just need to paint them in, instead of going through a lot of digital trial-and-error.
The colour choice in this is pretty nice, everything matches, no "wtf? whats with the colour choosing?!" XD
but yeah, i agree with you with the shadows
you need to be more bold with it
currently, i can't really tell you even added any shades in places other than the hair
i think you shoulddddd
a) decide on the light source (draw a light bulb there or something)
and then
b) go crazy with the shading lol
if you're timid with the shading, thenn you can first shade on one layer (lets name this L1) with the setting set to "normal"
then after that, change the setting of L1 to "multiply"
and duplicate L1 to get L2, this could make your shading considerbly darker and more noticeable
if you want, you can blur either L1 OR L2 to get a more ..blended shading
another suggestion is to shade on one layer, and gradually add more layers with more shading.. so that in each individual layer you have a bit of shading.. i find this a lot easier and less scary to intensify um.. shadings in drawings ...lol
im not a very good communicator T___T
oh, and as for photoshop brushes, i use the standard circle brush most often now
before,when i first started ps, i went on a brush craze, but i found out now that.. they don't really add much...
if sometimes, brushes helps in adding texture =3
like hair, when youre too lazy to draw your own lol
SpiffySporkPerson
Otaku Eternal | Posted 03/08/10 | Reply
Kuuuuuuu ;A;
Even if you need to be bolder with shading, I really like the soft feel of the colors, especially the hair. If you want to experiment with shading I suggest doing it on a separate layer and messing around as you see fit. I think the technique in this tutorial is quick and easy, unless you want more creative freedom with the colors.
Have fun then? I hope you draw more Haibane Renmei fanart. c:
ShadowLight
Otaku Eternal | Posted 03/08/10 | Reply
I think this looks so cute, I agree having some shadows will make the cute Kuu stand out more but like most awesome artists have already shared their knowledge with you which are exactly like my techniques lol, except for a thing or too.
What I do first before I color anything is, I grab a normal brush a very bright colour (like red for eg.) and I draw a silly sun lol and draw (on a new layer above the lineart) and draw where the sun or light will hit the object which in this case would be Kuuu and then I set opacity to around 60 or so per cent and on another layer bellow the lineart of course I do my basic colouring and on another layer I do my even basic shadow ( see it like a darker colour from the basic ones you already have), what I found it, if you add a different colour to your shadows from your basic colours the shadow will pop out more and the drawing itself will become more real and 3D-ish, like it has actually volume.
And example would be, on his sleeves which are blue you could add some purple and slowly make it fading away.
You know what I just remembered something I did when I first started colouring, you could use the gradient. I used it for all my shadows and I still use it along with actually adding my own shadows. This will make all your shadows blend in.
Okay here's a recent drawing which I used all this techniques other artist's mentioned as long as the one I also wrote now.
Also never forget mess around the the highlights and saturation like A LOTT! Don't be afraid to pick up the most craziest baddass colours, it'll probably make the drawing even awesome ;D
Was I understandable? I'm sorry if I wasn't ;A;
Also I wouldn't mind doing a quick tutorial just for you, just to give you some help to start up :3
The crazy bubbly shadow
KitKatKitty
Otaku Eternal | Posted 03/08/10 | Reply
I like it! Great job!
I actually like the thinner lines! It suits this art work very well. ^_^
Last edited by inuyashadorky at 4:27:35 AM EST on March 8, 2010.
Sara
Otaku Legend | Posted 03/07/10 | Reply
@zero guardian:
Thanks for the advice!
Sara
Otaku Legend | Posted 03/07/10 | Reply
@:
Thank you! That's exactly the kind of brush set I was looking for. I'm excited to start experimenting with them.
And as for the "pickup" method—I use that a lot for other things, but for some reason, it didn't occur to me as a useful tool for painting. I feel kind of silly.
zero guardian
Otaku Eternal | Posted 03/07/10 | Reply
Hi, saw you wanted a critique from the Critiquers United world.
I like the color combo, great job!
I agree with you on the shadows, you could use more contrasting shadows. If you would like some examples go check out some of my digitally colored art, when I started out I was timid, now I cant get enough of contrast haha
and depening on what you want...I will use a watercolor brush, or blur normal brush when I use it. depends on your tastes.
Sara
Otaku Legend | Posted 03/07/10 | Reply
@:
Ooh, dark-to-light is a really interesting idea. I think I'll try that, if only to experiment.
Thinking about my style more: I can do bold shadows when they're more defined (think cel shading), but I guess I have a hard time trying to make them look blended. They just seem to sit awkwardly on top of the normal color, so I drop the opacity back until they don't look so out-of-place. By then, of course, they're hardly visible. I'll try using levels/contrast/brightness to bring the dynamic range back up; that will probably help.
As for brushes, I don't know. Maybe something with a more intuitive shape for drawing lines, or some that would be useful for pulling/blending colors together. I guess I'm looking more for things that help emulate real-life media. The regular circle and calligraphic brushes seem really artificial to me—maybe I just need to learn how to use them better?
Thanks for your input!
Last edited by Sara at 2:04:54 PM EST on March 7, 2010.
Sara
Otaku Legend | Posted 03/07/10 | Reply
@FalseDelusion:
Thanks for the reply! (And you communicate just fine. ^_^)
Believe it or not, I actually have several different layers of shadows on here. I think I just got worried that she looked too dark, and kept knocking the opacity back further and further. So most of what was originally form delineation turned into color variation instead. It keeps the image from looking completely two dimensional—but not by much.
I do find shading easier (and not so scary, haha) when drawing with pen or pencil. Maybe in the future I'll make a thumbnail sketch in pencil and lay out where the shadows should be. That way I'll just need to paint them in, instead of going through a lot of digital trial-and-error.
FalseDelusion
Emperor (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 03/07/10 | Reply
The colour choice in this is pretty nice, everything matches, no "wtf? whats with the colour choosing?!" XD
but yeah, i agree with you with the shadows
you need to be more bold with it
currently, i can't really tell you even added any shades in places other than the hair
i think you shoulddddd
a) decide on the light source (draw a light bulb there or something)
and then
b) go crazy with the shading lol
if you're timid with the shading, thenn you can first shade on one layer (lets name this L1) with the setting set to "normal"
then after that, change the setting of L1 to "multiply"
and duplicate L1 to get L2, this could make your shading considerbly darker and more noticeable
if you want, you can blur either L1 OR L2 to get a more ..blended shading
another suggestion is to shade on one layer, and gradually add more layers with more shading.. so that in each individual layer you have a bit of shading.. i find this a lot easier and less scary to intensify um.. shadings in drawings ...lol
im not a very good communicator T___T
oh, and as for photoshop brushes, i use the standard circle brush most often now
before,when i first started ps, i went on a brush craze, but i found out now that.. they don't really add much...
if sometimes, brushes helps in adding texture =3
like hair, when youre too lazy to draw your own lol
try:
http://www.deviantart.com/#catpath=resources/applications/psbrushes&order=9
e.g. these ones:
http://keepwaiting.deviantart.com/art/FUR-BRUSHES-PHOTOSHOP-CS3-103454575
http://yumedust.deviantart.com/art/23-Brushes-for-Photoshop-117421513 (ignore the leaves ones in this..)
http://wen-jr.deviantart.com/art/Smoke-and-Clouds-Brush-79379090
Rein Akira
Otaku Eternal | Posted 03/07/10 | Reply
I luff Kuu!!! XD She's so adorable and full of energy! Lol... Great pic!
*Hugglz and Faves*