coloring tutorials!

[Aran]

Okay, lineart is no longer a problem. I found tracing them over looks just as good... but now I want to color, shade/highlight my pics so I'd like to hear of some of the nice coloring tutorials plz ^^

 

[Shadow_Strike]

Are you trying to draw like someone else?

Firstly, the knowledge of shading and highlighting don't come in a tutorial.
That you really have to learn yourself. They'll show you where they shaded on their characters, and kinda show you what colors. But do you understand shading? What causes what where?

Can you shade with a pencil well? If not, your digital shading abilities will still be sub-par. This goes with highlights.

Color Theory, its good to know color theory. Color theory and shading go hand-in-hand.

Honestly, tutorials are useless if you don't understand the things you learn by observation.

Good quote

Avoid using dodge or burn settings, its often a poor substitute for proper values and color.

But to tickle your fancy...
http://www.steeldolphin-forums.com/htmltuts/painting_steps.html

 

[Aran]

No, I'm not trying to draw like someone else. I don't do that.

I may not have gone deep into color theory but I do know how to choose my colors. Yes, I'm in an advanced art class, so I know my shading rather well I think. But, I understand the tutorials are useless, but I'd much rather know how they color, like what type of brush and what type of technique they use (stroking or stippling, for example).

But thanks for the fancy-tickling ^^

 

[SoULWaKe]

yea I'd like to see something like this too, beyond those tutorials that only show you what they did I'm not really sure, but I know that tana is starting an art academy, maybe we could talk to her about helping us out with something like this also?

 

[~Atlaswing~]

Uhmm, Shadow, your QUOTE doesnt exactly have an absolute point... I use dodge and burn... My colors turn out nice...

 

[Shadow_Strike]

Uhmm, Shadow, your QUOTE doesnt exactly have an absolute point... I use dodge and burn... My colors turn out nice...

Not as nice if you didn't use dodge and burn! Tell me, what in real life has exactly "blacker" shadows and "whiter" shades? While answerable, your answers are not everyday things. For example, a white dwarf star, white! Pure white!

Im looking at my white toilet roll right now, why its on my desk I have no fricken clue, theres blue in the shadow and a yellowish tint from my white bulb.

While things "look" grey, it is infact not. You know those people who cant draw a 3d lookin' cube? Thats because the human mind unwraps 3d objects to identify what it is. Because they unwrap the 3d cube into a 2d form, they can't draw it without lots of observation.

Thats why dodge and burn < good shading skills.

 

[TheBlackMarket]

Indeed. Dodge and burn tools are generally frowned upon for shading because nothing just gets darker with a lowering of value as shadow_strike has said; the hue gets bluer for some reason (Shadows are cooler than highlights... I relate this to feeling hot in the sun, but cool in the shade) and not just darker. While one can get away with making a pretty good looking picture using the dodge and burn tools, they get better results with actual shading.
Of course, there are three different modes for dodge and burn tools that have separate effects (I think Shadows mode makes your burns more saturated? I dunno, I haven't used the tool in ages) but it's best to learn to shade with color instead of relying on a tool to do the shading for you.

I was going to link to a place that was filled to the brim with tutorials, but I seem to have misplaced the link. I'll have to go ask around again...

 

[Aran]

No burn, no dodge! Got it! And, TheBlackMarket, its splendid to have your royal comments, sire ^^!

Hey, I'm not supposed to color on the same layer as my lines am I?

 

[SoULWaKe]

nope, and its a really good idea to color each section on a different layer too, such as skin, clothing, hair, eyes, etc., this allows you to go back later and make changes easier, thats what i do anyway

 

[Aran]

what type of brush should i use? what style? big/small?

 

[Rye]

Technically, if you don't overuse the burn and dodge, you could use them. In addition, you should just practice coloring to see if you like coloring with a small or big brush--depending on what you feel more comfortable with, you could either like a small brush or a big brush.

 

[Shadow_Strike]

Pfff, and people write me off, but "oh teh noes, TBM ps-ots something! he's right!".

I'm getting that vibe right now.

 

[TheBlackMarket]

By default, Photoshop uses the "[" and "]" to make your brush size smaller and larger respectively. You can use this knowledge to adjust your brush size depending on the situation.

By the way, I found that link full of art tutorial links and such.
http://www.sumaleth.com/links/
I'm sure they've got some things you could learn about using the programs in general, not just art.

@Shadow
Heh, yeah, I've noticed that happening too. It's kinda rediculous, really.
That's how it works with my parents, too. My dad'll tell my mom something for years and YEARS, but it's rubbish until she hears it from Oprah...