Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Contents
Sky Chapter 03
Linda Tso 017
Sky Chapter 04
AquaSixio 023
Sky Chapter 05
Rich Tilbury 034
Skin Chapter 06
Rich Tilbury 040
Skin Chapter 07
Emrah Elmasli 045
Trees Chapter 08
Chris Thunig 052
Trees Chapter 09
Rich Tilbury 058
Water Chapter 10
Rich Tilbury 063
Waterfall Chapter 11
Don Seegmiller 071
Rock & Stone
Chapter 1 : By Richard Tilbury
elementsRock and Stone
Painting
Rock and Stone
Step 1:
The first stage which forms the starting point
carefree!
Step 4:
At the moment the light areas on the rock face
Step 6:
The image is now starting to take shape and
(Fig07).
Step 8:
In Fig08 you will see that Ive added a lot more
Tutorial by :
Richard Tilbury
Darken them but only the parts that need it, not
wont loose your basic light scheme so quickly Photoshops low opacity brushes, smudge tool
(although youll probably need to correct it very or Painters blenders its all up to you, just
often and youll see that in a minute). You can remember not to overuse them later in final
blend the general structure you have using touch ups.. Right now youre just working on
Creating a structure:
Now the general rule is to work from big surface
realistic..
obvious.
Tutorial by:
Vinegar
vinegaria@gmail.com
www.vinegaria.com
Step 1:
Take a large soft edged brush to block in the
most basic colours. I have used a very dark,
Step 2:
Choose a bright, saturated red, with mode set
Step 3:
Using custom brushes, and mainly picking
stage.
tings.
Step 5:
Use smaller brush sizes to start refining the
Step 7:
Adding more details, this time using mostly
Step 8:
More details with a small soft edged brush,
smudge tool.
Step 9:
The last step is really just checking the overall image, I decided it would be good to adjust the lighting, and this can be done quite easily with a large
soft edged brush. Chose more saturated colours with similar hues and mode set on Overlay/Soft Light/Hard Light. If you want to lighten an area,
make sure the value of the colour is more than 50%, and vice versa if you want to darken an area. These blend modes are very useful for making
things glow. I also blend out more of the too-recognizable texture from the custom brushes. If this were to be a complete painting, I would probably
spend a lot more time to add details to the supercell, which could really enhance the sense of scale.
Using a soft edged brush set on Overlay or Soft Light/Hard Light blend modes to lighten or darken large areas. These blend modes are usually bet-
ter than say Screen or Multiply since they also tend to saturate the colours a bit more.
Tutorial by :
Linda Iso
one thing: The light outline - I picked the light-orange from the previous cloud and drew the
opacity: 20 flow: 10 ).
Finished Artwork
I changed the brightness, but I think the
Tutorial by:
Aquasixio
Intro: 167, B180 ) and filled in the entire canvas. also the smudge tool to blur some sections.
This tutorial will attempt to outline a brief and You can also use the eraser to gradually fade
straightforward approach to painting a simple Step 2: out some of the edges by setting it to around
sky with particular attention to the interaction Next stage is to decide upon the positions 25% opacity.
between sunlight and cloud formations. It is of the main clouds which in this example will
aimed at beginners who are keen to find a enter the frame from the left edge. For this I Step 3:
technique to in which to tackle a very popular will use a darker version of the background With this main cloud in place it is time to add
and universal subject and one that features in colour ( R 126, G 140, B 157 ) and rough in the light source which will emanate from the
much digital painting the general shape on a separate layer. It is a bottom left corner and so on another new layer
good idea at this stage to use loose and bold I selected a pure white and placed this layer
Step 1: brush strokes and encourage happy accidents under the previous one to ensure the light is
The first step is to fill in a base colour but due that may help suggest the forms and then behind the cloud. With a large airbrush around
to the very changeable nature of the sub- refine them further down the line. You can see 400 pixels I simply blocked in the light in the
ject there is no particular hue that should be in the image that I have varied the edges to bottom corner and faded it out slightly across
chosen here. In this case I have decided upon add some interest and realism and this I did by the image.
Step 4:
With these two key components blocked in it is time to refine the main cloud by varying the tones to prevent it looking too flat. So using the eraser
tool partially begin erasing areas to give it some form and also fade some of the edges as well as perhaps adding in lighter accents using a paler
blue grey.
Step 5:
It is now time to begin adding in some of the detail that will make up the distant clouds that will run along the base of the canvas to the right as well
as add in highlights around our main cloud where it thins out and catches the sunlight. Again on another layer I start to paint in the highlights using
a pure white by first outlining the top edge of the cloud with some thinner wisps extending from the right edge. Lastly I suggested a formation of
clouds in the distance by just painting in the top edges which have caught the light using a small airbrush around 3 - 5 pixels.
Step 6:
In order to add a little more drama and volume to the cloud I added some darker tones on a separate layer which was set to Multiply but made sure
to focus these only on the far left where the sunlight is at its brightest and so increase the contrast.
Step 7:
With this layer done it is just a question of refining what we have already done by either adding one or two final layers or manipulating the ones
already in place. For the purposes of this tutorial I worked on the existing ones and painted in some finer lines along the top of the cloud to give
it some definition and highlights. I also painted in some traces of detail across the middle of the cloud to give it some form as well as some small
smudged clouds around it. Here is the finished article done in about an hour and a half.
Conclusion:
It is a good rule of thumb to paint in rough shapes and then use the Gaussian blur filter to
soften the shapes and then using a small airbrush simply add in a few sharper lines to create
the forms. It is not often necessary to add an equal amount of detail across the entire painting
because the brain does a very good job of filling in where the eye is only offered a suggestion
of something.
Tutorial by :
Richard Tilbury
Step 1
The first stage, as always, was to make a quick
copy of the drawing on a new layer using a
small standard airbrush set to about 8 pixels
wide and set to Multiply. This will act as our
guide for the painting, which you can see in
Fig.1.
Step 2
Quite often I place the predominant colour down
across the entire canvas, which in this case
is a light brown (R157, G103, B76), but here I
wanted to keep a white backdrop, so I made a
mask around the drawing and then filled in the
body only (Fig.2)
Step 4
Now that the body has begun to take form, and
I know roughly where the light is falling, it is time
to create a new Shadow layer which will be set
to Multiply. This will define the key shadows and
will be done using a soft airbrush and will help to
further define the forms. The colour used can be
seen in the top left (Fig. 4).
Step 5
You will notice that, so far, the detail has
been defined tonally, with various sizes of the
soft airbrush. Certain areas, such as the lips
and around the deltoid muscle at the top of
the left arm, have used a hard round brush
which creates a more clearly defined edge, as
demonstrated by the two brush strokes in Fig 4.
Step 7
There are essentially two further layers that I
will use before flattening the image and making
colour adjustments. One shall be reserved for
detail only, namely the nipples and veins, and
the other will be called refinements which shall
be another highlights layer in essence. In Fig.
6, you can see this layer isolated over the base
layer. It is set to Normal blending mode and
uses the same colour as the highlights layer.
The purpose of the layer is to enhance what is
already there by using finer strokes, as well as
paint in the brightest areas. Keeping this as a
separate layer just means more control when
making final adjustments to the tonal ranges.
Step 8
With this layer complete, and the small details
painted in, it is just a question of making some
minor colour changes, which in this case means
a colour balance adjustment layer which I
tweaked towards a more yellow hue. One last
layer, which is set to Soft Light, is used to add
some colour to the ears and lips, as well as
some of the random areas, to add a little colour
variation.
Step 9
One could now add some blemishes and marks,
along with some subtle colour variation, to help
reduce the consistency of the skin tones.
As we know, skin tones vary by the races and countries we live in. The skin that Im going to paint belongs to a white man, with a medium-toned skin. I
continue by opening a new layer between the sketch and the medium skin tone layer. I start to determine general forms with the soft brush that you will
see detailed in figure 04. The colours that I use while painting the forms are the darker and warmer tones of the medium skin tone that I used before. I
pay more attention to the general stain values, then going more into the details and trying to figure out the form of the skin, the curves of the muscles
and the colour of the final skin tone. (figure 05). For the next step I can start to apply the highlights by considering the angle of the light source. I use the
yellowish and lighter tones of the skin, so that the form starts to slowly become more defined (figure 06). After being happy with the highlights and the
shadows of the form, I start to paint over the lines and try to make the painting look more realistic (figure 07). The brushes I use while painting over the
lines are the airbrushes that I use frequently, and the hard-edged brushes which I use to paint the sharp edges (figure 08).
NOTE: Skin takes the form of the muscles and wraps it like a cloth. One of the most important things that we should pay attention to, whilst painting a
realistic skin texture, is successfully applying the curves of the muscles. If we take a look at the shoulder muscles, we can see the harmony between the
skin and the muscles under it (figure 09). Human skin is a reflective surface, in despite of its matte appearance. If we look at the area between the bicep
muscle on the upper arm and the ribs (figure 10), we can see the bouncing light effecting the bicep area. We call this radiosity . This reflection changes
depending on the colour and the density of the light. It is important to get the reflections right, whilst painting a realistic skin texture. After painting over
the lines (figure 11), I can start the detailing process. The best way is to examine our own skin to see what kind and amount of detail it has. Skin has
details like freckles, hair and spots. Now, Ill try to apply these details to my painting. I can start with the freckles and spots detail. One of the best ways
to produce freckle details, is to create them traditionally by using a brush and watercolours. All you need to do is to spatter some watercolour paint on to
white paper. After creating the spatter effect, you scan it and make it ready to use digitally.
Using Photoshop, I desaturate the spatter texture and adjust the levels
until it becomes pure black and white (figure 12). Then I copy this texture
on my painting and apply it to the suitable places. To integrate the freckles
with the skin I change the layer properties of the layer to colour burn,
and to make it less dominant I decrease its opacity to 50% (figure 13). To
make it look more homogeneous, I erase some of the spots. I also apply
some brown coloured spots to make the skin texture richer (figure 14).
The other way of make the texture look more detailed is to add some hair
to it. I paint these hairs on the lower arm with a thin, hard brush one by
one (figure 15).
The colour of the hair I chose is a lighter tone of the skin colour ( R: 199 , G: 154 , B:116). (figure 16) . Another detail which reveals under the skin,
is the veins. I add some blue-ish, grey coloured vein details on the bicep muscle with a soft and calligraphic brush, without over-doing them. To make
them pop out more I add some highlights to them with a lighter tone of the skin colour (figure 17). After adding all these details, Ive almost finished the
painting. There are just some colour and contrast adjustments left to be made. Over all my layers I open some Adjustment Layers like; brightness/
contrast, colour/balance and hue/saturation. You can find these by going to the layer menu and clicking on the New Adjustment Layer. I increase
the contrast and decrease the saturation a bit. Also, I adjust the colours by the help of Colour Balance and make them look more accurate. As a last
step I will add a noise effect over the skin to make it look rougher. I open a new layer and fill it with a greyish tone of the skin colour (for example:
R:180; G: 170; B:150). After this, I go to the Filter menu, click on Noise and select Add Noise effect, then make these adjustments: Amount: 400%,
Distribution: Uniform (figure 18). After this, I use the Spatter Effect to make the noise look messy and unbalanced. (Filter> Brush Strokes >Spatter).
Then I apply Blur Effect on the same layer twice. (Filter> Blur> Blur) (figure 19). Lastly, I decrease the opacity of the layer to 4%. Finally, my skin
painting is complete (figure 20). This is the method I use to paint realistic skin texture. I hope you like it.
illustration.
Step 1: Before actually starting up the computer I produced a quick ink sketch on aquarelle paper to lay down some interesting shapes, find
a decent composition and define the general direction I plan on going into. Besides the fact that I am able to stay looser when exploring an idea
traditionally before fleshing it out in Photoshop I find that the paper structure and ink shapes will give the image a subtle naturalistic quality that is
otherwise difficult to reproduce digitally. When sketching, even at this early stage, it may be worth to hint at perspective and volume by blocking out
some of the inner shapes with a few strokes instead of solely relying on the outlines as this will initially give a clearer idea of where the drawing is
headed. (Fig.01)
Step 2: After scanning the sketch I first of all applied an overall Brightness/Contrast layer to darken the image enough to allow me to add
both, darker and lighter values when rendering the volume of the tree later on. I then roughly filled the shape of the tree with a base colour in a
multiply-layer using a medium sized chalk brush. Though the brush itself generates a solid coat of colour the outline of it makes the smudges look
more natural than a normal round brush would, resembling somewhat of marker sketch. (Fig.02)
Step 3: Since the subject matter is characterized by a rather limited colour spectrum and sharp, contrasty lines in a usually diffuse light
situation I am using what I call a shape-based approach in creating this image rather than setting a definite light source and going straight for a
realistic light source-based rendering. In doing so I try to define light and dark areas that form shapes by contrasting each other. In achieving this
the snow patches in this picture play an important part and I start laying out them in broad, rough strokes with a smaller charcoal-shaped brush.
(Fig.03)
Step 4: By darkening the base layer of the tree slightly more I increase the contrast between snow and organic structures further and start
blocking out details of the trunk, rocks, and grassy bits to begin generating volume as well as giving more shape to leaves, roots and branches.
Adding just a subtle touch of colour on in places will be enough to prevent the image from looking too monotone. (Fig.04) .
Step 5: Next, the cleaning up of the yet untreated areas could begin. In doing so I found it important to angle the sharp outlines of shapes of,
for instance, the snow patches in interesting ways to generate appealing compositions and as such filling white space by relatively simple means.
This ensured that none of the less important areas would become overworked and the focus stayed firmly on the tree. (Fig.05)
Step 6: As the detailing continued by fleshing out the texture of the bark I also took the opportunity to add small gimmicks such as icicles and
tiny tracks to break up larger shapes and lines into smaller ones and invoke a touch of lively playfulness. A slight gradient as a background not only
helped to juxtapose the contrast of the snow patches on top of the tree further but also gave a subtle hint at a damp sky. (Fig.06)
With the tree painted up and the largest part focal point from the base of the gnarly trunk Chris Thunig
of the clean-up work completed I decided over to the right towards the fence. The http://www.thunig.com
to add some patchiness to the gradient to comparably young, slender and fragile plant
the CG feel.
as another means of
contrasting shapes
Step 1:
The first step is to draw in a rough shape that
Step 2:
Then using one of Photoshops standard dual
right.
Step 3:
Then in order to add some volume and
Step 4:
The next stage is to add some further highlights on the same or a new layer as well as some extra branches that appear in front of the foliage. It is
important to remember that the branches and foliage spread out in every direction as well as towards the viewer and so branches disappear behind
leaf groupings and also overlap them at points (fig 06). You can see the extra highlights when you compare the picture to the previous image. These
represent the leaves that have really caught the light and often appear very pale due to their reflective quality.
Step 5:
All that is left to do now is flatten down the layers of the tree and then using the colour dodge and colour burn tools enhance some of the qualities
of the light across the branches and foliage. I also decided to add in the sky painting from last months Elements tutorial and tweaked this using the
Colour Balance and Hue/Saturation values to give it a sunnier and warmer quality. You can see the final result in.
Tutorial by :
Richard Tilbury
Painting Water
During this tutorial I will try to outline one
atmospheric perspective.
upper right.
dodge.
are co-dependant.
Step 7: Using the chalk brush I have to do is select a dull pink with an RGB value water in the mid distance from a low sun and
added some marks across the water but of 146,134,136 and fill a new layer entirely. help the sense of perspective. You can see in
concentrating around the central section of the Then set the layer mode to lighten and erase Fig 8. On the left of the line where the layer has
image on two separate layers similar to the areas near the base of the image and across been added compared to the right side which
way I made the initial highlights. I then blurred the clouds (Fig 8). This will produce the subtle is as it was.
both layers slightly to soften the effect and the impression that more light is bouncing of the
Step 9: We are now going to add a warmer overlay across our sky and the lighter areas of the water. We can limit the areas we apply the
colour by going to Select Colour Range and using the eyedropper to select the highlights. Once done feather the selection by no more than 2
pixels and again on a new layer fill in with an orange yellow and set the blending mode to Colour at around 25% opacity. In fig 9. you can see again
the before and after effects of this and how the yellow has been limited to the lighter areas.
Step 10: Last of all we are going to add one more overlay to the water only so that the sun is the brightest area in the picture. Choose a pale
orange and fill in an area across the whole of the water and then set the blending mode to multiply at around 20% opacity. In Fig 10 you can see
how this looks before we change the blending and how it looks afterwards. On this layer I have erased some of the colour across the sky so there
are some cooler blue tones remaining in order to avoid too much uniformity.
Tutorial by :
Richard Tilbury
Figure 1:
You first need to begin with something to paint
Figure 2:
As the water pours over the rocks, it leaves moisture wherever it spills and you wan to get this
effect. The simplest way to accomplish this is to add another layer, change its composite method
to either multiply or gel and paint a darker layer. You can see in the image the initial values on
the bottom of the rock and how they become more refined as I work them into the higher areas of
the rock. I find that I will almost always lower the opacity of the layer and apply a slight blur. The
amount of opacity and blur is strictly an individual choice. I leave this on a separate layer for the
time being incase I want to make some changes as I paint the water.
Figure 3:
This figure shows the wet layer after it has
Figure 4:
Using a chalk brush, I indicate the initial fall of
look.
Figure 5:
I continue to refine the water paths a bit
getting some smaller streams pouring over
through.
Figure 6: Figure 7:
Using the same brush, I begin to develop the I work down the surface of the rocks adding
look of the sheets of water as they spill over additional white into my colours as the water
the rocks. I refer to good reference materials bubbles and splashes. I try and make the
to make sure the effect is natural. Remember, water take a path in the rocks that will feel like
all of this is taking place on the water layer. a natural flow in the cracks and crevices.
Figure 8:
The water is not only white but changes colour
variable splatter airbrush, I paint in some something in the picture to give the viewer a sense of the size. In this case, on a new layer, I
big splashes where the water hits the rocks. added the flock of birds. Now, you the viewer know that the waterfall is not very large and not just
Almost always, I will need to go back in with a trickle but maybe just 12-15 feet in height on the first tier. I do arrange the birds pretty carefully
the eraser and gently erase here and there to after painting them in.
Figure 10:
Using the digital airbrush, I add the misty
Figure 12: I switch to Photoshop at this point to add a rainbow. Once again, on a new layer I create a circular marquee and fill it with a
circular gradient. The gradient is custom build to utilize transparency. I reversed the order of the colours to add more strangeness to the scene. The
colours are harsh, too saturated, and the placement is bad but since we are on a new layer, this is easily fixed.
Figure 13: Using the Gaussian blur tool in Photoshop, I soften the rainbow. There is no correct amount and you will need to experiment to
get just the right amount for your individual image.
Figure 14: I scale the size of the waterfall down and position it where I want it. I lower the opacity to about 40% and also change the
blending mode to colour. This gives me a very nice and subtle rainbow like you might expect to see with a waterfall.
finished.
Tutorial by :
Don
Seegmiller
Introduction:
The original character of the Swordmaster
was created by Seong-wha Jeong and we
had 3DTotals in-house 3d artist Richard
Tilbury, re-create the character in 3dsmax
as well as create the textures in Photoshop,
in our new precise, step-by-step tutorial for
highly polished, low polygon game character
with detailed texturing for real-time render-
ing. We have also converted the tutorials into
Cinema 4D, Maya, Lightwave and Softimage
platforms. Even if you are not a user of one of
them, the principles should be easily followed
in nearly all other 3D applications.