[Intro]

[Step 1]

[Step 2]

[Step 3]

[Step 4]

Step 5

[Step 6]

[Step 7]

[Step 8]

[Finished Artwork]

 

5. Highlight and shadow time! Hope you've been taking notes so far kids 'cause here comes the detail stuff -- how to turn an otherwise flat-colored image into a shiny, pretty piece (I'm not being conceited ^_^; really!) Now, there is one set of tools I use very frequently here : the burn/dodge tool.  This tool lets you increase the darkness/lightness of an image and applies just like the paintbrush tool.  Be ready to experiment, because it'll take you a little while to get used to using this tool and to find what combinations are right for you. Click on a channel while holding <ctrl> to select an area of your desire.  For this part's purposes we'll use Lara's right arm. Activating the Burn tool for shadows and the Dodge tool for highlights, try creating some basic light effects along the edges of the body, as though the light was coming from above and the shadows are below as a result.  Note that Burn/Dodge has three options : Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights.  Below is an example of Midtones (you can see the marching ants walking along the inside of her arm, and the circle next to her elbow is my brush)... As you can see the Dodge effects are very light, like it's simply brightening up the color, while the Burn effects are adding darker color to the arm.  And below we have an example of Highlights... In this example the Dodge tool increases the lighting significantly and acts like an opposite of the Midtones Burn, adding lighter color to the section as well, while the Burn tool is an opposite of Midtones Dodge, mainly darkening the area by increasing the black in the selected area.  I've found that by mixing these various types of Burn and Dodge a person can come up with some really nicely colored shadows.  Below is an example when both are mixed, and when they're applied in higher detail (using smaller brushes, for instance)... When Burn and Dodge can't do the whole job, I use one other tool for coloring : the airbrush.  However, this is almost exclusively saved for glowing highlights (like off metal surfaces) or in adding shadows (like when an arm crosses over another).  However, I like to save this tool for almost last in the whole project since highlights and sahdows can appear on or with the background, as well. The most important thing here is practice.  It took me a while to get to this point, and very few of you will hit this perfectly overnight (and those of you who do ROCK!).  Just try out different techniques and with time yuo'll do great! Oh yeah, almost forgot...  SAVE YOUR FILE WHEN YOU GET THIS PART DONE!  Actually, saving frequently while doing this part might be a good idea, moreso than for the other sections as detail work stinks when it has to be redone. NOTE! Some of you that don't have Wacom tablets will not have as much freedom when applying Burn and Dodge, as Wacoms can adjust pressure based on how hard you press down with your pen while the mouse has no such luxury.  For these people to get varying pressures, you'll have to go to Window --> Show Options and change the opacity slider to lighter and darker values as you work.  It's not as fast or easy, and I know where you're coming from folks (I had to do this for years until I got this Wacom tablet), but it's the only way to get varying pressures and different strengths of darkness and light.