APR
27
Cel Shading
Part I
The first thing I do when starting any sort of drawing in Photoshop is fill the canvas with a color. Any color will do, but usually it’s a grey-ish color, so that I can see the lines better. I never sketch or color on a plain white background because it makes it difficult to judge color. Its also easier on the eyes not to draw on a bright white background.
So starting out with just a blue background, and a new layer set on multiply, I sketch out a real quick Kamie face.
Notice how I have Photoshop's workspace set up. I never liked the default Photoshop set up so I use this custom work space. Also I have my own little set of brushes that I use for drawing. My “pencil” brush is just a normal round brush that’s usually 2 to 4 pixels wide with the opacity and flow controlled by the pen pressure. (I’m using a Wacom tablet, if you couldn’t tell.)
That’s pretty good for a sketch, so let’s move on and do a quick ink job. For inking I use a size 6 to 10 pixel brush, with the spacing set to around 40%, and the radius is controlled by the pen pressure. I’m also going to make a new layer for the inks, set that on multiply, and bump down the sketch’s opacity so I can see what I’m doing a little better.
Remember that line variance is a key to getting a good looking inked drawing. Bigger objects need fat lines, and small details need smaller lines. Don’t just ink your drawing with a stiff radius; otherwise it becomes flat and boring.
The first thing I do when starting any sort of drawing in Photoshop is fill the canvas with a color. Any color will do, but usually it’s a grey-ish color, so that I can see the lines better. I never sketch or color on a plain white background because it makes it difficult to judge color. Its also easier on the eyes not to draw on a bright white background.
So starting out with just a blue background, and a new layer set on multiply, I sketch out a real quick Kamie face.
Notice how I have Photoshop's workspace set up. I never liked the default Photoshop set up so I use this custom work space. Also I have my own little set of brushes that I use for drawing. My “pencil” brush is just a normal round brush that’s usually 2 to 4 pixels wide with the opacity and flow controlled by the pen pressure. (I’m using a Wacom tablet, if you couldn’t tell.)
That’s pretty good for a sketch, so let’s move on and do a quick ink job. For inking I use a size 6 to 10 pixel brush, with the spacing set to around 40%, and the radius is controlled by the pen pressure. I’m also going to make a new layer for the inks, set that on multiply, and bump down the sketch’s opacity so I can see what I’m doing a little better.
Remember that line variance is a key to getting a good looking inked drawing. Bigger objects need fat lines, and small details need smaller lines. Don’t just ink your drawing with a stiff radius; otherwise it becomes flat and boring.
