Line Art Tutorial, Part 2: Special Effects
Now that you’ve gone through my first tutorial on colorizing line art, we will build on the techniques covered there to add even more effects to our line art.
In the first tutorial you learned how to create a line art layer which contained only the black line art and a color layer below it. In this tutorial, you will learn several techniques to enhance your illustrations, including..
- Importing Elements
- Recoloring lines
- Shadows
- Highlights
- Screen
- Layer Sets
- Photographic Backgrounds
- Fog
- Variations
Importing Elements back to top
You may find that there are other images you would like to add to your picture. It can often be easier to scan in parts of a drawing separately and arrange them in Photoshop individually instead of drawing the completed image all at once.
I am a fan of the 80's "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero"
comic books and toy line. I am also involved with various GI Joe and Cobra fan sites and
I regularly contribute artwork.
For this tutorial, we will work on this inked and scanned picture of the Cobra villain "Croc Master."
If you would like to work along with me, click on the image above to view a larger version of the illustration. Then you can right click on it and choose Save Picture As, and save it on your computer so you can practice with it in Photoshop.
Just as we did in the first tutorial, isolate the black line art on it's own layer above the background and color layers and save it as a .psd file. If you need help with this, review the first tutorial.
Cobra
characters and vehicles almost always have a Cobra sigil (or icon)
somewhere on their uniforms. The Cobra sigil, which you can see
on the right, is a complex logo. Typically, artists draw the logo
by hand each time. But this is difficult to do consistently, and
a lot of artists just draw it quickly. I discovered that I could
reproduce the sigil perfectly each time by using a scanned version
of the logo. (Actually, I scanned it and traced it as a vector
object in Illustrator.)
You can also download a large version of the sigil for your own use by clicking on the sigil shown.
Whenever I need to add a Cobra sigil to a drawing, I don't draw it by hand, but instead import the scanned sigil on a new layer above the drawing. The first thing we will do is add a cobra sigil to the blank circle on the upper left part of his his shirt.
1. Since we have already have the line art scanned and in the three
layers (Line art, color, and Background), we are ready to import. Drag the Cobra sigil on to the Croc
Master drawing. Rename the new layer "Cobra sigil."
Since you saved the sigil on its own layer as black and transparent pixels, not as black on a white background, you should be able to see through it. (If not, delete the new layer and perform the procedure from the first tutorial on the Cobra sigil image again).
You
can also use the free transform feature to add perspective by
holding down the CTRL key and dragging one of the vertices. As
it is, the rotation should be all that is necessary for Croc Master.
You have now added his Cobra sigil and Croc Master is looking good!If I want more than one sigil in an illustration, I normally draw a selection marquee around the large sigil and ALT-drag it to approximate location I need before I transform each one individually.
Color Holds back to top
Sometimes the area you want to color is the line art itself... that is, you want to recolor the black lines with a different color. In this picture of the villain "Croc Master," there are several lines we will to recolor. We'll start with the logo.
Croc Master's logo is actually a red sigil on a black circle. We currently have a black sigil on a white circle.
1. Click on the eye icon next to the "Cobra Sigil" layer in the Layers palette to hide the layer. You will hide the layer firs while you fill in the circle below it with black.
2. Click on the "Color" layer. Use the Bucket tool to fill the circle with black. Once again, make sure you are on the "Color" layer and not the "Line Art" layer.
3. Click on the "Cobra Sigil" layer in the Layers palette to show the layer. Nothing will appear since the sigil and the circle beneath are black.
4.
With the "Cobra Sigil" layer selected, check the Lock
Transparent Pixels checkbox on the far left side of the Layers
palette.
Locking transparent pixels means that you can't erase or paint anything that isn't already there on the layer. Thus, you can only paint what's on the layer, which in this case, is the sigil.
5.
Choose a red color from the color picker and use the Brush tool
to paint the sigil completely.
As you paint, sigil will appear in red.
Making the transparent pixels "off-limits" is akin to making a selection of the opaque contents of a layer. This works well with our sigil layer, and it can also work with the line art layer.
You want to fill Croc Master's legs and mask with black, but to do so would hide the line art contour lines since they are also black. To contrast the line art from a black color, you can make the lines a different color, like white or light blue. You can repaint the line art by locking the transparent pixels.
6. Click on the "Color layer" in the Layers palette.
7. Use the Bucket tool to fill the legs and mask areas with black.
 The
line art is merged with the color fill.
There may be a little bit of a border between the black fill on the color layer and the black contour lines on the line art layer due to anti-aliasing. But it is not enough contrast to show the detailed line work. You should use the Brush tool to fill in any nooks and crannies that should be black. |
8. Click on the "Line Art" layer.
9.
With the "Line Art" layer selected, check the Lock Transparent
Pixels checkbox on the far left side of the Layers palette.
10. Choose a medium range blue color and paint the line art areas of the mask and legs blue. You can use the Airbrush tool (Keyboard Shortcut: J) to paint the line art for a subtle blend or you can paint solid blue with the regular Brush tool.
Once I add the other colors (on the "color" layer as per the previous tutorial), I get the following result...
Croc Master is getting closer to completion.
Shadows back to top
The next thing we are going to do is add shading and highlight layers.
1. Click on the "Line Art" layer in the Layers palette.
2. Click on the Create New Adjustment layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette and select "Brightness/Contrast" from the pop-up menu. The Brightness/Contrast dialog box appears.
3. Drag the "Brightness" slider to the left to a value of -70 and the "Contrast" slider to the right to a value of +14 and click "OK." The entire image appears darker. You will fix that in a minute.
4. First, you will rename the layer. Hold down the ALT key, click on the "Brightness/Contrast" layer name, type "Shadow," and click "OK." The layer is renamed.
Whenever you apply an adjustment layer, a layer mask is also included next to the layer thumbnail. If you want to adjust the Brightness/Contrast settings, you simply click on the layer thumbnail and the Brightness/Contrast dialog box will appear again.
The layer mask is represented by the white box to the immediate left of the layer name. (In the graphic below, the finger icon is on top of the layer mask.) The chain icon indicates that the layer mask is linked to the layer it is masking.
What is a layer mask?
A layer mask acts to identify which parts of a layer appear at full opacity and which parts will be fully transparent. In this case, the adjustment layer isn't blocked at all- the entire image is dark. That is because the entire layer mask is filled with white. White on a layer mask is equivalent to full opacity and black is full transparency.
You can add layer masks to normal layers, but they come by default with any Adjustment layers.
5. To better understand how layer masks work, you will paint on the layer mask. Press "D" to reset the default colors (black and white). Normally when you set default colors, black is the foreground and white is the background, but when you're on a layer mask, the reverse is true. White is the foreground color and black is the background color.
6. Press "X" to exchange the colors. Now black is the foreground color.
7.
Use the Brush tool (Keyboard Shortcut: B) to paint a black line
across the Croc Master.
Where you paint appears lighter than the rest of the image. In essence, when you paint with black on the adjustment layer, you are "erasing" the shadow created. Notice too that the layer mask thumbnail now shows a small black mark where you painted.
8. On a layer mask, as black creates full transparency and white creates full opacity, so then the different levels of gray create different levels of transparency. The closer to white, the more opaque the adjustment layer appears. The darker the gray, the weaker the adjustment layer effects are seen. Take a minute to experiment with different levels of gray to see the different amounts of dark and light that they create. Don't worry about the quality of the shading you're making- you'll erase all of it in a minute.
9. Press the the "D" key to set the default colors so that black is the background color.
10. I have found that the easiest way to apply the shadows using the adjustment layer is to start with a canvas that is empty. Hold down the CTRL key and press the DELETE key. This will fill the entire area of the canvas with the background color, which is black.
Now
that the adjustment layer is wholly masked, you can apply the shadows
where and how you want them directly by unmasking the shadow layer
a little at a time. No matter what color you are painting on, you
will be darkening each color by an equivalent amount. Before you
go on to paint the shadows in, we will review one technique to create
a gradient shadow.
11. Select the Magic Wand tool in the Toolbox (Keyboard Shortcut: W) and click on the Croc master's shirt on a spot without a "bump." A selection marquees appears on his shirt that excludes the "bumps."
12. Select the Linear Gradient tool from the Toolbox (Keyboard Shortcut: G). Depending on which version of Photoshop you have, it might be by itself or under the Bucket tool.
13. With the linear Gradient tool selected, place the cursor at the bottom of the selection marquee and drag upwards to the top of the selection marquee.
14. When done, press CTRL D to deselect.
You have added a gradient on the shirt which extends from dark to light but excludes the "bumps," making them stand out.
At this point, you can go ahead and paint the shadows on the "Shadow" adjustment layer at your own discretion. I recommend painting with different levels of gray, reserving absolute white for only the most heavily shaded areas. You may also want to use the Airbrush tool for subtle shadows and use gradients to make smooth gradations.
And remember, if you make a mistake, you can easily fix it by painting with black. Try to maintain a consistency in the light sources that affect the character.
After applying shadows, I get this result...
Highlights back to top
Just as you added shadows with a shadow adjustment layer, you can add highlights using the same technique.
On your own, try using the same procedure you used to create the "Shadow" adjustment layer and create a "Highlights" layer. The only difference is instead of dragging the Brightness/Contrast slider to the left, drag it to the right to a value of +70. Name the layer "Highlights."
Highlights are usually less prevalent than shadows, but they can still add a lot to the final result. When I add highlights to my version of Croc Master, this is my result.
Screen back to top
Highlights in comic books are very common these
days... when you see highlights or a reflection off of metal, the
highlight can be so bright that it overpowers the shadows around
it. This technique is more and more common in comic book coloring
today.
(Click on the image for a larger version).
As an example, look at how the glow of the fire behind this B.A.T. seems to overpower some of the line art work in his legs.
You might notice two little glints of reflection on the metal in his chest plate and elsewhere. These glows and glints add to the illusion of reality, and are all created on a special "Screen" layer.
"Screen" actually refers to the "Blending Mode" of the layer. A Blending Mode is a characteristic of a layer which controls how its pixels interact with underlying layers. Blending modes can make the layer appear semi-transparent (such as the "Multiply" mode), change the colors based on underlying ones, or only show certain pixel colors based on their brightness. In the case of "Screen," according to the Adobe manual, it "looks at each channel's color information and multiplies the inverse of the blend and base colors." What this means in English is that it always brightens the colors you paint (unless you're painting with black). It had the same effect as "photographic slides on top of each other" which always brighten each other. It's a good blending mode for adding bright highlights.
1. Click on the Creates new layer icon in the Layers palette. Rename it "Screen" and choose "Screen" from the Blending mode drop-down list in the Layers palette.
2. I usually sample a color from the page and use it to brighten an area. Use the Eyedropper tool (Keyboard Shortcut: I) to sample the gray metal bracelet on Croc Master's right wrist and airbrush a highlight on the bracelet.
I
set the pressure on my Airbrush tool to around 20% because I like
to go slow. It's quite simple to paint too much when you're in screen
blending mode, so I add a little at a time. You can use the same
color to add soft highlights to the various metal pieces such as
his belt and breathing apparatus.
Where
and how you add the highlights is up to your own artistic sensibilities.
Keep in mind which things should have a stark highlight (skin usually
doesn't and other "flat" textures like dry cotton don't
either). I sampled the light blue line art on the mask and painted
a highlight on the top of the mask to suggest it was wet rubber.
I also added some light blue highlights on his legs.
Lastly,
I gave the "cats eye" belt buckle Croc Master a yellow
glint. My end result was this...
Layer Sets back to top
If you have Photoshop 6 or later, you can create layer sets to manage you layers a little more easily. Most of my illustrations have at least 6 or so layers, sometimes as many as 30. It's impossible to see them all in the Layers palette, so some abbreviation is helpful. I like to put all of my lighting layers into a layer set together.
1. Click on the black triangle in the Layers palette and choose "New Layer Set" from the Layers drop-down list.
2. Rename the layer "Lighting" and click "OK."
3. Drag the "Shadow," "Highlight," and "Screen" layers into the new layer set.
Background Pictures back to top
You can save the photo above to your desktop and add it in to your Croc Master photo.
I
learned the “photo-background“ technique on a job. I
once had an assignment that I had to complete very quickly involving
a dozen cartoons. I didn't have time to draw detailed backgrounds
for each picture, but I came up with a unique solution: I imported
photos to serve as my backgrounds. It was a quick and easy way to
add a realistic environment.
While this can be an effective approach, it can also be tricky to find a picture that matches the angle, size, lighting, and overall feel of your drawing.
I tweaked the photo I used here quite a bit to make it darker and more green. There is a crocodile in it, though you can't really see him very well when you add Croc Master back in.
To add the background picture, simply open the photo in a separate Photoshop window and drag the picture into the Croc Master image. In the Layers palette, rename the layer "Photo" and drag it so that it is just above the "Background" layer. Use the Transform command (Keyboard Shortcut: CTRL T) to resize and stretch the photo as necessary.
Special Effect: Fog back to top
One final special effect that I wanted to add was fog. Swamps are damp and musty, and I thought it would add a nice atmospheric touch to have Croc Master somewhat surrounded by fog. To review the steps I took....
1. Create a new layer on top of the other layers and name it "Fog."
2. Fill the layer completely with a light blue/gray color of your choosing (blocking out your illustration, for the moment).
3. Choose Filters>Render>Difference Clouds.
4. Change the layer blending mode to "Screen."
5. Reduce the layer opacity to 50%.
6. Use the Eraser tool on the airbrush setting to erase the fog directly in front of Croc Master.
Any part of his body that is closer to the viewer should have less or no fog around it. You might leave the fog around his feet, however. Erase the fog as necessary to suit your own tastes.
Variations back to top
This illustration is now almost complete. The very last step I have in an illustration is to try to unify the color of a drawing. I do this by using Variations. Variations is a layer adjustment that can sway all of the colors on a layer in a certain direction.
1. Create a new layer on top of all of the other layers and rename it "Variations."
2. Press CTRL ALT SHIFT and "E" at the same time. This creates a copy of all of the visible layers on the current layer.
3. Choose Image>Adjust>Variations. The Variations dialog box appears. You can now tweak the illustration however you want by choosing from among the different options.
I changed the Intensity slider at the top closer to "Fine" and clicked on the "More Yellow" window a little as well as the Magenta window. You should choose whatever adjustments you think best, of course. My result, at long last, is this...
I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial. The methods I outlined here are certainly not the only ways to achieve the ends we got, and I would encourage everyone to explore as much as possible on their own with different settings. Many of the things I discovered are only a result of fooling around on my own. I can't stress enough the importance of personal exploration when it comes to understanding Photoshop. Good luck and I hope I've inspired you!