Tutorials
.: How
to Bring Images to Life:.
| ::
Shading the Hair! :: |
[current materials] Photoshop (v 6.0), obviously. And we are working with 'Uke Holden ', who was generously lent to us by Kelly of the Arcana online shounen ai manga.
* * *
1)
Begin.
I am hoping that you've already tried the cel shading or airbrushing tutorials before trying this. Before you start, be sure to download the Uke Holden.psd file. I've basically set out the base layers. The Outline, the Hair, the Eyes (which we're not going to touch in the tutorial), the Flesh, and a white background. In case you decided to do this image completely from scratch, I've used #AAA7A2 for the hair, and #EBDBD1 for the flesh.
Because my favorite part is the hair, which also happens to be the most difficult part to color for most, why not begin with that? I'm going to show you how to pay attention to your light sources.
2) Where's the light coming from?
My main problem with some people's shaded artwork is that they don't pay attention to their light sources. You must know where the main light in your image is to shade it. Trying to decide where the light source -should- come in is difficult. If you want your character to appear mysterious, use a light source from the background. It will cast more shadows on your character's face. For this image of Holden, because of his submissive position, I've decided to make the lightsource from the bottom right. This should cause the shadows to cast behind me, making his position look even yummier. ^_~
You
have to invision it.
3) Shading the hair.. shadow.
I really hope you remember how to group layers. Go back to the airbrush or celshading tutorial if you don't recall. Click on the Hair Layer in the Layers Palette and hit the folded paper icon to create a new layer. Then hit [Control G] to group that new layer to the hair layer. Name it 'Shadow'. Remember to make a habit of naming your new layers for reference.
Now
select
a
shade
a
little
darker
than
the
hair
color.
I'm
using
#7E786D.
Hit
[Control
'+']
to
zoom
into
your
image,
making
it
easier
to
select
the
area
you
want
to
shade.
Now
hit
the
Polygon
lasso
tool
(hit
the
little
arrow
on
the
regular
lasso
tool
to
get
it
)
and
carefully
select
the
area
you
want
to
shade.
Feel
free
to
work
on
one
strand
of
hair
at
a
time,
or
get
it
all
in
at
once
like
I
am.
I've
been
shading
forever,
so
it's
easier
for
me
this
way.
Do
whatever
you're
comfortable
with.
When
you're
finished
selecting
the
hair
strands
you
want
to
shade,
use
a
large
brush
tool
to
fill
it
in
with
the
darker
shade.
With the light source in mind, I've come up with this..
If yours doesn't come out 'perfect' (mine is far from perfect -_-;), don't panic! Gradually, this will come more naturally to you. Using the polylasso tool is highly recommended for nailing difficult shading that involves hair or clothing folds.
4) Making it shiny.
The picture still feels naked, doesn't it? ^_~ What have I been annoying you about? That's right~! Light sources! Anime style characters tend to have really shiny, sexy hair. A lot of people have asked me how to make decent highlights in Photoshop, and trust me, it is insanely easy.
1. First of all, make sure the color you're using is white, then just use a medium sized brush to color a line across the character's hair.
2.
Now,
hit
the
smudge
tool
(a
little
finger
pointing
down
)
at
a
toerlance
(opacity)
of
about
60%
and
brush
up
against
the
direction
the
hair
falls.
See
how
much
nicer
it
looks
now?
3. To finish it off, go back to the layers palette, and where the drop down box says 'normal', pull it down to the 'overlay' option. If you prefer leaving the layer to normal, feel free to do that.
Gorgeous, huh?
5) Adding Depth.
This next step is frequently ignored or unknown by artists, but I use it to add depth in my images. Because this is an advanced shading tutorial, I'll oblige. ^_~ Go back to your base hair layer, and select the Dodge tool. If you forgot where it was, lookit:
1. First of all, lightly dodge the right side of the character's hair. It really seems like a stronger light is shining on it. To compensate, grab the burn tool and lightly burn the left side of the charcter's hair.
See the difference from the original? It's VERY subtle, but it's there.
2. The dodged side looks fine, but we need to compensate for the shadow we added to the left side. Go to the Shadow layer and burn the left side again. How does it look so far?
Sexy, isn't he? ;) The hair kicks ass, but don't forget that the flesh needs shading too!