skin painting?

[BeckyWC]

Have you checked out these sites:


http://www.gfxartist.com/features/tutorials/14030

http://www.gfxartist.com/features/tutorials/14033

http://www.3dluvr.com/content/section/9

I hope these can be of some help to you.

Becky

[oniijin]

thanks much becky! the first two were more theory...what I was looking for was more how to in painter. I think the third link will have what i'm looking for...lots of tutorials to read through. if not...i'll come crawling back here to bug u guys =]



update*
ok...I'm gonna give that a shot. Maybe my original goal wasnt to be THAT realistic. more...
http://membres.lycos.fr/ultimatrix/

putty/plasticy? but i'm gonna learn both. =]

[nafa]

You can really get realistic (photo-realistic) after you follow the 3dluvr tutorials. Also remember that the "simply water" or "just add water" blender will "fade-out" the colors after repeatitive blending, so you will have to add back some of the original hues in relevant parts of the painting and blend again.

[oniijin]

i think im gettin a little better. im trying to color a drawing of mine, but just the arm to keep it basic. (my 8 face attempts failed horribly).


here's what i have so far. it does look a bit flat... but if i dry the layer, and smooth, how will i add more hue back to it?

ps...i havent gotten my intuos 3 yet...so im doin all this with a mouse.. =(
http://onii.co.uk/liz.jpg

[oniijin]

HELP!! it's been a few hours...and i still cant fix it. I know there's a lot wrong with it...but it's my first time =(


i notice mainly tho:
1. color is too brown, even tho i used the pinkish palette
2. havent read the lips tutorial
3. something just looks...totally wrong...

::sniff::


edit* please help...it's been 4 hours now..stupid mouse..hand getting cramped. I think I'm going to stop for the night (5:30am).. I don't like it at all =( looks way too goofy.

[oniijin]

>=|
7:30am... was way too unhappy with how my first attempt with painter turned out...took a break and tried from start again. a little better? =/

http://onii.co.uk/liz2.jpg


when u guys wake up...lol...please take a look and let me know how i can improve the look! (mainly im having difficulties with painter.. grrr)

[iliketheska]

Well I don't know too much about Painter, but from just an artistic viewpoint I'd say the lack of contrast is what is holding it back. I don't think you have the skin getting dark enough quickly enough andound the surface. So yeah, I'd go in and try to make the dark areas a bit more dark. But then again, I am no expert on this. Good luck. :)

[nafa]

To add color to dry layer, have you tried wetting the layer?

I think the latest attempt looks a lot better than the earlier one. I also think that you may not have put all the shadows in the right places. Are you drawing from reference or from imagination? If you have not fully mastered the concept of highlights/shadows for portraits, it would be easier to draw with reference to life objects or photoes.

I located a portrait tutorial (http://www.bearclover.net/art/photoshop-portrait.html) that matches your layout fairly closely, except with a lower-angled light source. Comparing yours against the tutorial may offer you some hints.

Good luck.

PS. you may wish to try other brushes (airbrush, oil etc) in you quest to improve skin painting. They may speed up your learning process in eliminating the need for drying/wetting.

[GoldCoin]

Kaburaya is a very very generous painter, has shared much,... both techniques & brushes ...

http://kaburaya.pobox.ne.jp/eng/index.htm


Rene' has some wonderful painting tutorials in her secret room in the forum...

she has added a couple of new ones of late..


http://www.reneblom.com/forumadv/login.asp?target=default.asp

And another...
http://mongi.ice.org/tutes-anna.php (http://mongi.ice.org/tutes-anna.php)

And more, many more Painter tutorials (6 pages) ... look at the top of the page..select "Painter."

http://www.designertoday.com/tabindex-3/tabid-9/DesktopDefault.aspx


And another... hunt & search the whole site.. some great Painter tips in painting

http://www.artlair.com/startart/index.html

http://animatedbuzz.com/tutorials/drawingjam01.html


This is one of the longest thread... over a thousand posts... Michael Campbell shows and teaches along the way.

http://www.zuga.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22707&highlight=campbell (http://www.zuga.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22707&highlight=campbell)

http://www.tlbtlb.com/index.html

Download some of her great custom brushes... Many Painter tutorials, look behind each of the square pix.

http://www.tlbtlb.com/links/index.html



Found these as I was looking for a couple newer portrait tutorial.. so far haven't found the ones, I was searching for yet.. Will keep looking.

Found one .. http://www.oberfinearts.com/Steps

then this one.... http://www.makeshiftmiracle.com/TutChar.html (http://www.makeshiftmiracle.com/TutChar.html)

[brenly]

I like the colors, you just need to increase the contrast. Be more confident in where the light is coming from. To me it looks like its coming from the top right. So there should be more shadow under the nose, under the bottom eyelid to define the eye, under the cheek, etc
Tip: dont waste your time with the airbrush, they dont work.
A good way to work in Painter is to work rough and fast. Put in all the colors roughly, the shadows, mid tones and then highlights and then blend them all together. use the blend tool to get the smooth look.
From my experience Painter is not very good at layering colors.

[Jinbrown]

oniijin,

There's a great tutorial by Painter Master and author of Digital Character Design and Painting, Don Seegmiller, on the Corel site. Though he uses Painter IX Digital Watercolors for this painting, you can apply his principles for the general process, color, lighting, etc., even if you choose to use other brush variants.

Painting a Face with Digital Watercolor in Corel® Painter™ IX by Don Seegmiller (http://www.corel.com/painterix/training/tutorial_watercolor.html)

Spend some time looking at Don Seegmiller's art to learn more about how he uses color, both in the basic painting and in highlights and shadows:

The Art of Don Seegmiller (http://www.seegmillerart.com)

I think his site will not only inspire you, but also give you some insight into how one of the great Painter artists works.

[oniijin]

thanks all for all the tuts and links. i'll have to make my way thru it all. i'll also be getting an intuos3 soon...so that should help out.

[fromeo]

Great links! These will help a ton. Thanks

[nafa]

Correct link for the long thread by Michael Cambell for those interested:

http://www.zuga.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=22562

[Lunatique]

The most important thing you should understand is value and colors. No fancy brushwork will get you great skin tone unless you understand the foundation of what makes skin look like skin.

Study how skin reflects light in different states--in the shade, under the sun, in the dark, with artificial colored lights, when wet..etc. The skin will reflect the cool blue sky outside, and it'll also reflect the warm lights indoors, and everything else around, depends on the strength of the light, the color, and the distance.

Study how different skin colors reflect light--for example, Africans have dark skin that reflects a lot more of the ambient light around them. Skin is also transluscent in certain areas, and light will shine through them--particularly cartilaged areas like the ears, nose, and areas where there's very little fat, but a lot of skin like the hand. That's why when you hold up your hand against the light, you'll see the warm orange through your skin around your fingers, webbing of thumb and forefinger..etc.

There are also veins that are close to the skin, for example, on the breasts of women, the color tends to be cooler due to the veins that are close to the skin, and also because the skin is stretched around a lot of fat, and we know that fat is a very pale color.

When you understand these things, you can paint in any style and skin will look like skin. There's absolutely no reason why you have to paint very smooth brushstrokes in order to depict skin. Look at the works of John Singer Sargent. He's widely known and revered as one of the best portrait painters in human history, yet he paints in a very loose style. His depiction of skin is far better than most artists who slave over small details and laboring over invisible brushstrokes.

[Nolita]

Hi,

I'm not a total expert, nor have I completed my masterpiece yet. Still I can tell you the one thing that helps me the most with Painter.

I treat it as real/natural media. I was getting tons of muddy colors before. Part of the problem back then was that I was failing to treat it as real/natural media. I compartmentalize it in my brain. Yes it's digital media, but somehow almost all the rules of natural media apply. My first suggestion is to keep your original drawing on a seperate layer. Some people like to keep theirs on top, but that doesn't feel natural for me. I keep mine on the bottom.

Anyway, since you're starting with a pencil drawing I think your best bets may just be to either adjust the contrast, or opacity(depends on what layer your drawing is on) so that the drawing is very faint(as is ideal for real watercolors), or to make sure that layer above the drawing doesn't pick up the lower layers. It's looking to me, like the paint is just "picking up" some of your "graphite". That's completely normal with Painter. Unless you make sure that you click the appropriate boxes early in the game, you can wind up mucking up a bit(I'm pretty sure we all do it:)).

Here's the deal, make sure that pick up underlying color is not checked(if the drawing is on the canvas, or below your watercolor layer), then make sure to check the little lock on the layer with your drawing(sounds silly but it really can save some hassle, just lock any layers you don't want changed).

Even though this forum is geared towards Painter specifically, you may want to check out the various tutorials at sites like Elfwood, Epilogue, WetCanvas, and even any sites that specialize in real watercolors or "traditional media". In fact you may want to make a special trip to Epilogue just to read Socar Myles' tutorial on color theory. Also there's a tutorial there in the ezine section specifically about grey. It's an in depth article about what exactly grey is, and how it can deaden colors and flatten out a painting.

Also, definitely check out the walkthroughs right here at CGNetworks. They're located in the articles section. The artists all have their own apps of choice, but it's at the very least fun to watch the process, and it's definitely educational to read about the process of creating art.

Lastly(hope you've managed to read this far into my long and tedious post) try this tip I learned from someone who doesn't even use Painter: convert your painting to greyscale. You should be able to see strong tonal contrasts. If they aren't there then odds are, you need only to intensify your darks, then gradually lighten the color as it's starting to reach highlighted sections, and really apply some color theory to your highlights as well as your darks. Then the pics will pop!

By the way(in case you haven't allready done it) make yourself some captured brush variants for the hair. You'll save a ton of time that way.

[Nolita]

I realize I should have edited my previous post, but it's really long and it's imperritive you read this bit. If you choose to try converting your pic to greyscale, make sure you DO NOT SAVE. After studying the greyscale make sure you undo the effect, or else you'll never get your colors back without painting them back in:(

I'm trying to figure out a way to just have an effect work on only a single empty layer, then effect the lower layers. Untill I figure it out, undo is your only option.

[Jinbrown]

Hi,

Undo doesn't have to be your only option if you expand your thinking a little:

In Painter, use File > Clone. Then, to approximate greyscale (since Painter doesn't have true greyscale), use Effects > Tonal Control > Adjust Colors and move the Saturation slider all the way to the left.

Now you have a "greyscale" version of your image to use as reference while adjusting colors in your working image.

[oniijin]

thanks for all the suggestions guys. i'm gonna wait for my intuos3 to come in before i try anymore....this mouse is killing my hand

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