What are you doing right now?

[Deidre32]

Relaxing with hubby.

 

[tall73]

I mainly use the airbrush for all kinds of shading and highlighting. I have used a watercolour brush for shading and I might try it again with the second line art piece.

As for the layering, I’m still getting to know my way around that, lol. I’ve found that I very much dislike a lot of layers. Folders are so nice though. I use that for colouring. I use layers for basic colour for every separate detail (hair, skin, attire/accessories, etc), and use shading and highliting as different layers.

What’s your approach for yours?

It really depends. I have used transparent and soft brushes on some works, slowly (very slowly) building up slight differences in tone. Generally I use Corel Photopaint, similar to photoshop, with 89 or so transparency on the brush and 100 soft edge. Layers are important for adding shading, and you can use the transparency sliders on the layer to really blend in adjustments. Some of the results can be great, but you get really soft edges on most items, and it takes way too long. Here is an example of some of those:

The airbrush can be similar to the above approach, but I find it faster. This was airbrush:

I have been trying to do some more opaque works at times. They are faster by far. They are similar to an oil paint feel. These were done in Corel Painter with oils. It doesn't use layers or transparency as much. It just blends with the brush.

This used a mix of the two:

And then after taking a break for a while, and now coming back to things, I have had less time for digital painting. I have been doing more pencil and pen work again. But when I do a painting now I have been making a greyscale value underpainting first. Then I tint it in photopaint. This is quicker than my old style. Because you do the values first in greyscale you make sure you get enough contrast and form. If you want you can even do the greyscale in graphite and then tint it in the program from there. Which means you can do the majority of it in traditional, then only use the digital at the end. As I get older I find this works better for me as long hours of digital painting bother my eyes a bit.

Here is a small sketch I did recently as an example of the technique:

Rough pencil lines

Shaded in digital

With slight tinting.

 

[Paidiske]

I love the tulip!

 

[tall73]

I love the tulip!

Thank you. It took ages, but I was pretty happy with how it came out.

 

[Swan7]

@tall73
Those are really good! The cup of water and the crushed can would be quite difficult for me...kudos to you for being able to!

Yeah the layers I’m still trying to keep as little as possible, though I am liking this clip feature a lot. It helps me from going outside what I’ve coloured. Shading is much easier that way.

 

[tall73]

Yeah the layers I’m still trying to keep as little as possible, though I am liking this clip feature a lot. It helps me from going outside what I’ve coloured. Shading is much easier that way.

Yes, it definitely is easier to shade if you can limit it to various areas.

One other thing to consider, one of the most important aspects of shading is the contrast. Most times artists don't get dark enough darks and light enough lights, so they lose the illusion of form. The values and contrast carry more of the image than the colors, and make the image pop. One way to make sure that you are getting this correct is to take your color image that you are working on and make a new copy that you desaturate. Once you can see the greyscale version the contrast issues usually become apparent.

Also, while in traditional media you might have to build up values gradually through layers to get the contrast you want, in digital there are some shortcuts. I can lay in a first layer of my values then adjust levels to enhance the effect, then go clean up the rest of the effect with manual brush strokes.

By adjusting levels you can control the darks and lights separately (as opposed to contrast, brightness, intensity settings which don't quite give the same control over that element). This way you can enhance contrast by deepening the darks without blowing out the lights.

Sometimes after using level adjustments to increase contrast you might need to knock down the saturation just a bit to get back to more understated color, but still maintain the new values.

However, there may be times where you want more understated values or less saturated colors. So depending on what you are going for it may not be best.

 

[Guy Incognito]

Watching an awesome youtube series called History of Power Rangers, this episode specifically about the second series - Power Rangers Zeo.

 

[Dave-W]

Just got done listening to the YouTube video I put up on the other thread.

There is something about that song that has moved me deeply since I first heard Paul do that; just him and his acoustic guitar several months before the album was released.

Share a music video that reflects your mood

 

[Swan7]

Yes, it definitely is easier to shade if you can limit it to various areas.

One other thing to consider, one of the most important aspects of shading is the contrast. Most times artists don't get dark enough darks and light enough lights, so they lose the illusion of form. The values and contrast carry more of the image than the colors, and make the image pop. One way to make sure that you are getting this correct is to take your color image that you are working on and make a new copy that you desaturate. Once you can see the greyscale version the contrast issues usually become apparent.

Also, while in traditional media you might have to build up values gradually through layers to get the contrast you want, in digital there are some shortcuts. I can lay in a first layer of my values then adjust levels to enhance the effect, then go clean up the rest of the effect with manual brush strokes.

By adjusting levels you can control the darks and lights separately (as opposed to contrast, brightness, intensity settings which don't quite give the same control over that element). This way you can enhance contrast by deepening the darks without blowing out the lights.

Sometimes after using level adjustments to increase contrast you might need to knock down the saturation just a bit to get back to more understated color, but still maintain the new values.

However, there may be times where you want more understated values or less saturated colors. So depending on what you are going for it may not be best.

you know, I never thought about the greyscale trick. I will have to try that! And yeah, trying to get the contrast just right is really difficult. >.<

 

[Guy Incognito]

Just got my "ranking the trek films - tos era" post up on my website. Now chillin with my puppy.

 

[Dave-W]

Eating lunch

 

[Deidre32]

Working today then off the rest of the week!!!

 

[Paidiske]

I have a busy day ahead; one meeting after another. All good meetings but I hope I get a chance to at least check my email in there somewhere!

 

[Bumble Bee]

I am waiting for dinner because I haven’t eaten all day.

 

[Deidre32]

Went out to dinner tonight with hubby and my parents. A few years ago, I didn't always like being around my dad, but now I do. It was a great night out.

 

[DZoolander]

Was bored so found my first ever post here in the Marriage forums...lol

A little Lost along the way

 

[Deidre32]

Was bored so found my first ever post here in the Marriage forums...lol

A little Lost along the way

lol

 

[Paidiske]

I walked around the corner to a cafe for a meeting. By the time I came out it was pouring - and I mean pouring - with rain. Have scurried back inside and am about to go and find dry clothes...

 

[Dave-W]

Just got done reading the email from US Dept of Commerce giving us all 2 hours of admin leave tomorrow:

Distribution: All DOC Employees (Except USPTO)

In recognition of the Thanksgiving Day Federal holiday on Thursday, November 22, 2018, Department of Commerce employees have been granted an early dismissal on Wednesday, November 21, 2018. With the exception of emergency employees, all Department of Commerce employees in a duty status (including employees on telework) on Wednesday, November 21, will be excused from duty 2 hours prior to their normal departure time. For example, employees regularly scheduled to work from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. will be excused from duty at 2:30 p.m.
​

YAY! We get to leave early tomorrow! And since the 21st (tomorrow) is my wife's birthday - that is a GREAT present for her from our office. (she always wants to leave early)

 

[Deidre32]

I walked around the corner to a cafe for a meeting. By the time I came out it was pouring - and I mean pouring - with rain. Have scurried back inside and am about to go and find dry clothes...

I hate that, I don't mind the rain, in fact, it's quite lovely and calming, but I hate when I have to be somewhere, and I'm soaked.