Post by Bullet on Aug 12, 2012 7:04:22 GMT -5
The Ultimate Shading Guide
First, you want to, of course, find some UNSHADED lineart. And then, take a good art program like SAI or Photoshop (but if you want a free one, look here). Having a transparent background (a checkered background represents transparency) makes shading a lot easier. So, when you open the lineart in your art program, the first thing you want to determine is if you can see grey and white checkers.
If this is what you see, then good! But, if all you see is a plain white background, you'll need to get the magic wand tool and click anywhere OUTSIDE of the lineart itself.
Next, you'll want to take the eraser and completely erase anything in the selected area. Now you should have clean lineart, and shading it should be easier.
For this tutorial, we'll use some of my lineart.
What you want to do before shading is color the lineart. I won't be teaching you how to do that in this tutorial...You always color first because the main color of your character's pelt will determine what color the shading is. For example, if your lion/wolf/whatever was mostly white, you'd want to use navy blue shading. Anyhow...here is that image colored.
So, very bland, right? Well, that's when shading comes in! Because of my character's very neutral colors, I'll be using a shade of purple/blue.
Now, here is a list of certain colored shades that go good with specific colors.
White - Blue Shading
Neutral Colors (Brown, Tan, Etc.) - Purplish, Blueish
Dark Colors - Purple
I still need to experiment to finish that list. Anyway, now you should have two layers. One with the lineart, and one with the colors.
Now, make a new layer between Colors and Lineart. Never EVER do it on top of the lineart layer. That is a big NO NO.
Alright, got the color of your shade? Take the magic wand selection tool and click it anyway OUTSIDE of the lineart. Now, go up to the top and click "selection" and then go to "inverse". This reverses the selection.
Okay, on your SHADING layer, color COMPLETELY over whatever is in the selection. It should look something like this.
Don't fret! This is completely normal. Now, double check and make sure you're on that same layer. Now, determine which direction the light is coming from. In my picture, the light is coming down from the top right corner.
Now, set the layer opacity to around 40 to 50 percent.
Alright, now take the eraser tool and begin erasing the purple on the same side of the body/face/whatever as the light is shining from.
You should get something like this.
Alright, now take the blur tool, set it so 100%, and run it over the edges of your highlights. After your done, you should end up with this.
Now press "selection" at the top, and then choose "select all". Now, if you use SAI, click "Filter" and choose "Brightness and Contrast". Mess around with those settings until the tones are bright and vibrant. If you're using Photoshop, the "Brightness and Contrast" options will be above the lays windows. Not too sure with Gimp.
Now that we've gotten this far, you'll want to make a new layer, get a small brush (about 2 or 3 size) and just put white on the very edges. Make VERY thing white lines. Do not make them too thick, or it'll be a shading over-load and your picture will look too cluttered. Now that I've done all this, I am left with this.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OVERALL STEPS THROUGHOUT THE SHADING PROCESS
[/size]First, you want to, of course, find some UNSHADED lineart. And then, take a good art program like SAI or Photoshop (but if you want a free one, look here). Having a transparent background (a checkered background represents transparency) makes shading a lot easier. So, when you open the lineart in your art program, the first thing you want to determine is if you can see grey and white checkers.
If this is what you see, then good! But, if all you see is a plain white background, you'll need to get the magic wand tool and click anywhere OUTSIDE of the lineart itself.
Next, you'll want to take the eraser and completely erase anything in the selected area. Now you should have clean lineart, and shading it should be easier.
For this tutorial, we'll use some of my lineart.
What you want to do before shading is color the lineart. I won't be teaching you how to do that in this tutorial...You always color first because the main color of your character's pelt will determine what color the shading is. For example, if your lion/wolf/whatever was mostly white, you'd want to use navy blue shading. Anyhow...here is that image colored.
So, very bland, right? Well, that's when shading comes in! Because of my character's very neutral colors, I'll be using a shade of purple/blue.
Now, here is a list of certain colored shades that go good with specific colors.
White - Blue Shading
Neutral Colors (Brown, Tan, Etc.) - Purplish, Blueish
Dark Colors - Purple
I still need to experiment to finish that list. Anyway, now you should have two layers. One with the lineart, and one with the colors.
Now, make a new layer between Colors and Lineart. Never EVER do it on top of the lineart layer. That is a big NO NO.
Alright, got the color of your shade? Take the magic wand selection tool and click it anyway OUTSIDE of the lineart. Now, go up to the top and click "selection" and then go to "inverse". This reverses the selection.
Okay, on your SHADING layer, color COMPLETELY over whatever is in the selection. It should look something like this.
Don't fret! This is completely normal. Now, double check and make sure you're on that same layer. Now, determine which direction the light is coming from. In my picture, the light is coming down from the top right corner.
Now, set the layer opacity to around 40 to 50 percent.
Alright, now take the eraser tool and begin erasing the purple on the same side of the body/face/whatever as the light is shining from.
You should get something like this.
Alright, now take the blur tool, set it so 100%, and run it over the edges of your highlights. After your done, you should end up with this.
Now press "selection" at the top, and then choose "select all". Now, if you use SAI, click "Filter" and choose "Brightness and Contrast". Mess around with those settings until the tones are bright and vibrant. If you're using Photoshop, the "Brightness and Contrast" options will be above the lays windows. Not too sure with Gimp.
Now that we've gotten this far, you'll want to make a new layer, get a small brush (about 2 or 3 size) and just put white on the very edges. Make VERY thing white lines. Do not make them too thick, or it'll be a shading over-load and your picture will look too cluttered. Now that I've done all this, I am left with this.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OVERALL STEPS THROUGHOUT THE SHADING PROCESS