Colouring Extras
Metal Shading:
My technique for shading metal objects
Basic Shading - Shade the metal object so it looks three dimensional.
First Highlight - Put in the first set of highlights, depending on where the light source is coming from. If the metallic object has a sharp edge, place the highlight next to the line art; if the object’s edge is around, then place the highlight near the line art, but not touching it.
Second Highlights - The second set of highlights deal with how the metal reacts to the light. How metallic is the surface? Does it shine brightly when light hits it, or only dully?
Also, a good way of showing metal is to place highlights right next to dark shading. Where the shading is darkest, put in highlights. This will make it look like light is bouncing off of other sources instead of just the one.
Colour Shine:
Step 1 - Using a non shadowed brush, draw where you want the highlight to be. Don’t draw the entire length, because you will be stretching it out using the smudge tool
Step 2 - Select the smudge tool and stretch the highlight to where you want it to be
Weaker Highlight - When dealing with fabrics and other things that don’t have stark highlights, you can use a slightly lighter colour than the highlight you used. Because you’re using a non shadowed brush, it will stand out far more than if you used a shadowed brush
Fixing - If you draw your highlight, but it isn’t in the shape you want it to be, you can always go in with an eraser and fix it until you like it. Then drag it out with the smudge tool.
Low Opacity Erasing - The final step to this technique is, again, low opacity erasing. This smoothes out highlight so it blends into the picture, but still stands out.
Dramatic Shading/Highlighting:
Shading - Create a new layer and colour in the shading or highlighting where you want it
Low Opacity Erasing - Once again, use the low opacity erasing technique to achieve a nice gradient.
Changing Your Mind - The great thing about using layers is that if you don’t like something, it’s so much easier to go in and change it, instead of trying to isolate it from everything else. Here, I decided that I didn’t like the dark green I used and changed it to a light pink by going into “Image,” “Adjustments,” and “Hue/Saturation.”
Tattoos:
Method 1: If the tattoo is black, you don’t have to mess around with it, since the line art is also black. Simply take the dodge tool, lower the opacity to around 18, and change the range to “Shadows.” Then just go over the parts of the tattoo that would be lighter. And poof, you have a black tattoo
Method 2: This one deals with coloured tattoos.
Step 2 - Next, you want to invert the new layer. This will let you see where the isolated line art is in relation to the rest of it. Since you only want the tattoo, erase the lines that aren’t part of the tattoo. With that done, click the eye icon next to the tattoo layer; that will make it disappear. Now erase the tattoo that was apart of the line art, since you don’t need it anymore.
Step 3 - With the tattoo isolated, go into the layers option and darken the white to grey.
Step 4 - Next, select the Colour Balance option, under “Image,” “Adjustments,” and add a colour to it. It doesn’t matter what colour it is. You’re going to be changing it in the next step anyways.
Step 5 - Now that the tattoo is coloured, you can change it to any other colour easily. Go into “Hue/Saturation” to change it to the colour you’re looking for.
Step 6 - The last step, just like in the first method, is to take the dodge tool and go over the parts of the tattoo that would be lighter. Don't forget to use the burn tool to for the darker areas of the tattoo.
Using Line Art More as Shading:
Low Opacity Erasing - Use your lowered opacity eraser, but this time, instead of a shadowed brush, use one with no shadow. This is so you can work with some lines without it interfering with others. By lowering the intensity of the line art, you can subtly bring out more of the colouring while maintaining the line art.
Shading Swords:
Step 1 - In the layer containing the line art, select the magic wand tool, and click on the area of the blade you want to colour. Go to “Select,” “Modify,” and “Expand.” Change the number 3 or 5; this will expand the area of the magic wand to beyond the line art.
Step 2 - Create a new layer below the layer that contains the colouring of anything attached to the blade (I’ll get to the reason in a second). Now select the gradient tool and create your gradient however you see fit. Repeat this for whatever facets you have on your weapon.
Step 3 - To create the affect of the blade actually being attached to the rest of the sword, you need shadows. Shadows on gradients can be tricky, but there’s a way to get around that: Create a new layer above your blade layers draw black shadows around any designs on the blade. Use the opacity option at the top of the Layers window to soften the shadows.
Step 4 - The final part is the shine of the blade. Again, depending on how metallic it is affects how much shine you put on it. Treat it like you would any metallic object, keeping in mind how the shape bends and reflects the light. And with that, you have a blade.
If you like you colouring with the sharpness of the stark shine.
Adding a dramatic flair to your colouring.
There are a few ways to deal with tattoos. These two deal with tattoos that were already drawn in solid with the line art.
Step 1 - The first step is to isolate the tattoo itself. To do that, take the lasso tool and surround the area. Copy and paste the section, lining it up with the line art below it.
I’m not really sure what to call this, hence the corny title. Basically, it’s somewhat erasing part of the line art to let the colouring show through more.
My technique for colouring bladed weapons
