Adobe Photoshop provides a very wide range of options for working with photography and images. You can change the picture beyond recognition, correct flaws and shortcomings, or draw something new. It is not necessary to be an artist and create paintings. Drawing skills will come in handy when processing photos and collages.
In this article, we'll take a look at the basic drawing tools in Adobe Photoshop and show you how to learn how to draw in Photoshop.
In the photo editor, you can draw with brushes, pencils, draw straight lines or build geometric shapes.
Of the variety of drawing tools, the following are the most useful:
- Brush Tool. The size, density and shape of the brush can be changed.
Right click on the tool icon "Brush" and select a brush or pencil to draw.
Mixer Brush Tool This brush allows you to mix colors and works almost like a real painting tool.
Custom Shape Tool. By clicking on it with the right mouse button, a group of tools for drawing geometric shapes and forms will open. At the same time, the library can be expanded and supplemented with its own forms.
- Rectangle Tool
- Rounded Rectangle Tool
- Ellipse Tool
- Polygon Tool
- Line Tool
- Custom Shape Tool
- Eraser Tool removes parts of the image.
At the top of the Photoshop window is the options menu for the selected tool.
Let's take a look at the tool options Brush Tool.
The main parameters of the brush are shown in this screenshot. So, you can change the size of the brush, its hardness and shape (you can create your own brushes and download sets from the Internet), density and fill level.
Hard brush
Try experimenting with the brush settings and paint on a white background with brushes of different shapes, densities and sizes, change colors and tool type.
Let's now figure out how to draw a simple picture in Photoshop.
It is better to draw separately from the background, on transparent layers, placing each logical element of the picture on a separate layer.
Click on the color picker icon and set the active color. Let it be a shade of yellow. After that we choose Paint Bucket Tool and click on any fragment of an empty white layer. The paint will fill the entire canvas.
Let's create a new transparent layer using the command Layer / “Layers” → New / “New” → Layer / “Layer”. After that, a transparent layer will appear in the layers panel. The transparent layer works like a tracing paper: we do not see it, but what is drawn on it is visible. You can turn off the visibility of the layer using the eye icon, or change the size and shape by moving the "tracing paper" along with the picture.
Choose another color, click on the tool "Brush" and try to draw!
Just move the mouse with the left mouse button pressed across the canvas.
Of course, it is better to use a graphics tablet for drawing. When working with it, the size and density of the brush will depend on the degree of pressure on the pen, and with the help of a tablet, you can more accurately control the brush.
Adobe Photoshop has a workspace designed for artists. It differs from the space for photographers in the arrangement of panels and tools. You can access it using the menu Window / "Window" → Workspace / "Workspace" → Painting / "Drawing".
Here the brushes are arranged in the form of a list, there is a quick access to the color palette.
- reduce brush size: [
- brush size increase: ]
- Decreasing brush hardness: {
- brush hardening: }
- switching to the previous brush: ,
- switching to the next brush: .
- switching to the first brush: <
- switching to last brush: >
- swap colors: X
- default color setting (black/white): D
By changing the types of brushes and their parameters, you can control the look of the brush and adjust the size and density of the strokes. And this will achieve realistic effects when drawing.
Popular artist Aaron Blaise shares how to draw dynamic characters in Photoshop using traditional thinking.
In this tutorial, Aaron Blaise will explain how he creates realistic characters and how he uses various references in the process.
1. Create a sketch
Fill the document with a gray color, which will allow you to more accurately place light and dark accents. Create a new layer above the gray background and name it Rough Sketch. At this stage, we draw freely, without focusing on the details. We designate the main proportions and features of the character.
2. Detailing the sketch
Lower the Opacity level of the sketch to around 30% and create a new layer called Enhanced Sketch. Now we draw the details - for example, wrinkles, folds, nose.
This stage is very important, since the resulting sketch will be a model (template) for the further drawing process.
3. Apply the primary colors
The main color is the one that our character initially has, without the effect of light or shadow on it. Create a new layer below the drawing layers and call it Primary Color. At this stage, the author uses a large brush, reminiscent of a natural brush. The author starts with green as it is the dominant color. Carelessly apply green color to the character.
Next, add other colors for variety. At this stage, you can also work quickly, clearly and without thinking about the details. Time to experiment! The resulting drawing will be the basis for further coloring.
4. Create the first shadow layer
Create a new layer on top of all the others, call it Shadows. Set the blending mode to Multiply. This will allow the base color to be visible through the shadow layer. We start sketching the shadows with the chosen cool color of the middle tone.
At this stage, you can also do everything quickly, but be careful.
5. Draw Direct Lighting
Next, create a new layer on top of the rest and name it Direct Lighting. At this stage, it is very important to remember the temperature of the flowers. The author uses a cool neutral color for shadows, but warmer and purer colors for highlights.
We start painting on lighter areas where the light falls on the character. We use warm green and yellow shades. We can see that our character is already starting to take shape!
6. Denoting reflected light
Create a new layer below the Direct Light layer and name it Reflected Light, then choose a color that is slightly warmer and brighter than the shadow color that surrounds it.
The key factor here is caution and subtlety: draw carefully.
7. Designate highlights
Create a new layer and name it Highlights. Open the Color Picker, select some light color and significantly increase its brightness. Then we draw directly light highlights where it is necessary. The author also adds a glow around the edges and deeper shadows.
8. How to Create an Autumn Background
Next, create a new layer below all the other layers and name it Background. Using a natural brush, very quickly start sketching in the background with “autumn” colors that contrast favorably with the green character.
We draw the background with darker shades so that the character stands out better. Then click Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur (Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur) and set the blur to 25 pixels.
9. Use photo references
The elephant skin texture will help create cool skin for our character! Select a small section with the Lasso Tool, drag onto our illustration and lower the Opacity to 30%. Then click Image – Correction – Exposure (Image> Adjustments> Exposure), increase the Gamma value and adjust the Exposure value to increase the contrast. So adjust these settings along with the Opacity level until the texture fits perfectly into our drawing.
10. Set the texture for our character
Next, go to Editing – Free Transform (Edit> Free Transform), change the size of the texture and then select Editing – Transformation – Curvature (Edit> Transform> Warp). Now we can form a texture so that it fits our character in its shape.
11. Add Light Flares to Textures
At the end of this stage, the texture should look like a part of the character, that is, completely merge with it. Create a new layer on top of all the others and name it Highlights on textures. Then choose a fine, thin brush and start painting highlights on top of the textures, where the light falls.
12. Draw spots on the character's skin
Create a layer below the "Highlights on Textures" layer and name it "Spots". Set this layer to Blending Mode Multiply.
Now, using medium tones of greens and reds, we carefully begin to draw spots and stripes on the character's skin. This will make it more interesting and also help define the shape of the body.
13. Draw the elements in the foreground
Create a new layer on top of the rest and begin to freely paint the leaves and branches in the foreground. And since all this will be blurry, there is no need to diligently draw all the details. However, the author carefully creates these elements using several layers.
When we have drawn everything, merge all the layers and go to Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur. Set the blur to 35 pixels. This will give the image a nice depth.
14. Finishing touches
Copy all layers with the character and merge them into one layer. Then we make invisible all the original individual layers. Select a tool Blur (Blur tool) and setting Airbrush brush (Airbrush setting). Set to about 300 pixels and up to 50%.
Now we start to blur those areas on the layers with the character that we want to make out of focus. This is done in order to draw the viewer into the main part of the drawing - in this case, the face of the character. And also it will give the drawing a certain photographic look. Finally, we align the image and adjust the exposure and saturation to make the drawing look bright and beautiful.
Today, art is gradually moving into the digital plane. More and more people are trying to create with computers: draw, create music and animation. For many, the ability to create digital drawings is not just a hobby, but also a good opportunity to earn money.
You can draw on a computer using various software, but one of the most popular drawing programs is "Adobe Photoshop". But how to learn to draw in Photoshop?
Base for drawing
Often people ask if you can draw in Photoshop if you don't know how to draw in principle. Experienced digital artists argue that this is not necessary at all, because you can learn how to draw from scratch. However, the principles of drawing are the same as when creating drawings on paper: perspective, rendering of color and light, shadows, proportions and the basics of composition. That is why it is believed that it is easier for a person who knows how to draw to master the creation of digital illustrations in Photoshop.
Before you start mastering drawing on a computer, familiarize yourself with the basics of drawing in principle. This will greatly simplify the task, and you will be able to create more beautiful and realistic images on your computer faster.
In addition, it is desirable that you familiarize yourself with the "Adobe Photoshop" toolkit. In this way, you will be able to understand its main features and, if necessary, use them without wasting time searching for the right tool.
How to draw in Photoshop: tablet or mouse?
As a rule, the average user does not have a graphics tablet, so for drawing he is forced to arm himself with a regular mouse. Drawing with a mouse has its drawbacks: it is more difficult to control the accuracy of lines and strokes, the hand gets tired quickly. If you decide to learn how to draw on a computer, at first you should still take an interest in how to draw in Photoshop with a mouse. Once you start creating images with the mouse, you will be able to see if you enjoy this activity and if you want to explore it in more depth.
Sooner or later, drawing lovers still decide to buy a graphics tablet. It is easier to work with it, because it gives the impression that you are drawing with a pencil, and the hand is in the usual position.
How to learn to draw in Photoshop?
Roughly speaking, there are three main paths that you can take to learn how to draw in Photoshop:
- Attending full-time courses on drawing in Photoshop. This method is quite expensive, but its main advantage is that your teacher will always be next to you, who will help you correct the shortcomings of your work.
- Taking online courses on topics that interest you. Although these courses are also paid, they allow you to study at a convenient time and place for you, eliminating the need for you to make time in your usual schedule to attend classes.
- Learning by lessons and video tutorials on the Internet. There are many inexpensive and free drawing lessons on the net. By choosing the ones you like, you can gradually master drawing in Photoshop.
Basic drawing tools in Photoshop
Brush (Brush) - the main tool that you will use. With it, you can create a variety of lines. How to draw in Photoshop with a brush? It is enough to select a tool on the panel and draw the desired line with it. It would seem that everything is simple, but the matter is complicated by the fact that the tool has many settings. If you look into them, you will see that the brushes can be of different shapes, different sizes, hardness, etc.
Eraser (Eraser) will help you remove the failed details from the picture. It can also have a different shape, size and stiffness. The principle of its work differs from the brush only in that it erases. It is important to remember that to erase it will be the background color, whatever it is.
Fill (Paint Bucket) will help you fill a certain area of the image with the desired color.
Gradient is a fill tool that allows you to create a smooth transition between colors. Gradients can have different shapes and be directed in different directions.
How to draw a straight line in Photoshop?
Drawing is basically drawing lines. Of course, later with the help of various tools they are brought to the desired form, but still it is necessary to draw lines.
To create straight lines in this program there is a tool called “Line”. You can select it by clicking on the icon on the toolbar or by pressing the "U" hotkey. Then you can choose the size, thickness, etc. To draw a line, drag the mouse while holding the left key.
Another way to create a straight line is to use the Brush tool. Select the brush you want and put a point with it anywhere in the picture. After that, hold "Shift" and put the second point. You will see that the points you set will automatically be connected by a segment.
How to draw a curved line?
The easiest way to draw a curved line in Photoshop is to draw it freehand with the "Brush" or "Pencil". If this option seems too simple for you, you can draw a straight line and then curve it using Photoshop's tools. This is done quite simply and does not require any skills. Try!
In the previous three lessons, we talked about processing ready-made images. This and the next four articles will focus on the tools for creating your own drawings from scratch - drawing tools that Photoshop has in abundance.
Today I will talk about the tools of the group. There are four in total.
- Brush. Simulates painting with a real brush. You can change its size, color, shape.
- Pencil. Perhaps the most understandable tool of the group, because everyone used a pencil in real life. If the contours of the lines drawn with a brush are blurred, then the pencil lines have clearly defined edges.
- Color replacement. Recolors already drawn objects. Thanks to it, you can easily change the color of an element already in the picture.
- Mix brush. A new tool that also simulates a brush, but with it you can mix colors on the canvas and on the brush itself, set the moisture content of the paint, etc.
Now let's take a closer look. Create a new Photoshop document with a white background and experiment with the tools: painting is rewarding, fun and won't hurt anyone. To display the tools, double-click on the icon with the left mouse button or once with the right mouse button.
Brush
If you have ever painted with a brush (and you did paint), then you do not need to explain the meaning of the tool. After activating it, you will be able to draw by holding the mouse button over the canvas.
Take a look at the options bar: all the settings for the brush, like any other tool, are there.
Clicking on the icon will access the brush settings. Here you can choose a brush from a ready-made set or create your own template. You can set the shape, size, hardness and angle of the tool.
But you can fully enjoy the settings by executing the command Window -> Brush of the main Photoshop menu.
In the left part of the window there are checkbox tabs that allow you to configure, enable and disable certain properties of the brush.
- Brush print shape. The tab that is open by default, on which the parameters we have already considered are located.
- form dynamics. Using the elements of this tab, you can configure how the brush properties will change directly during the drawing process.
- Drawing. The scatter slider allows you to change the density and width of the generated lines. The counter sets the number of scattered elements - the larger the value, the thicker the brush draws. The fluctuations of the counter allow the elements to spray unevenly. If you select the Both axes checkbox, then the paint will also be sprayed horizontally.
- Texture. Here you can select a picture pattern and customize it. In particular, set the brightness, contrast and depth of colors.
- You can add another brush to the main brush, the settings of which are set on this tab.
- Color change over time settings: Hue, Saturation, Brightness, Purity.
- Allows you to set dynamic changes in saturation and transparency.
- The settings determine how the virtual hand holds the hand. In particular, you can set the appropriate tilt angle, rotation and pressure.
- Noise. This is the checkbox by which you will add noise to the brush trail.
- Adds paint to the edges of the brush print, creating the effect of watercolor painting. The tool does not have a settings window.
- Overlay. Checking the box creates the effect of splashing paint from a spray can. The longer you hold down the mouse button, the stronger the effect.
- Smoothing. The checkbox is checked by default. Remove it if you want the outlines of the drawn lines to become clearer and sharper.
- Texture protection. Check this box if you want the default texture of the selected brush to not override the one you set.
These settings should be enough literally "for all occasions." Experiment to understand their practical application.
Pencil
With this tool selected, you can create sharp, crisp, thin lines, as if you were drawing with a regular pencil. The tool parameters are the same as the brush parameters, even the settings window will be the same (Window -> Brush).
On the options panel, in addition to the icon that opens the template set window, there are several more elements.
Color replacement
The tool allows you to recolor already created objects, and the abundance of settings makes it possible to do this with the highest quality, while maintaining textures. You can change the values either on the options panel or in the window, which is opened by the command of the main menu of the program Image -> Correction -> Replace Color.
Mix brush
This tool differs from the already considered regular brush in that it allows you to mix the color of the brush with the color already in the picture, achieving a finer processing of the image. The settings are almost identical to the parameters of a regular brush, and we have already talked about it.
This lesson is over, and I suggest you move on to the next one, from the next one you will learn how to create even geometric shapes very quickly.
If you don’t have the opportunity to spend at least a few years on thorough and painstaking drawing training, and then a detailed mastery of the editor’s capabilities, and you still want to draw ... Perhaps these tips for beginners will help you at least avoid mind-blowing pictures and save a lot of time in stepping on rake.
These tips arose quite spontaneously and unexpectedly. Recently, more and more often I have come across people who want to draw, but being at the very beginning of their journey, they sometimes make fatal mistakes that further affect their development. Of course, sooner or later, those who really set themselves the goal of learning how to draw quite tolerantly or even more, understand their mistakes, find the right solutions, read many books and articles. But this process can take much longer than we would like. And that is why I decided to write tips that would help to see or avoid some mistakes now, and not wait for an accident in a month or even a year, when the habit of drawing is already developed in this way and you don’t want to change anything, and the desire to draw would better terrorize the brain with displeasure.
These tips are for those who are just armed with a tablet. But perhaps those who already know how to draw a little will find something useful here. This is the first part of the tips, combining the most basic and the most-most-most.
I will say right away - you still need to learn the basics! But if you don't have the time or opportunity, then you have two options: don't draw at all, or learn as you go. If you chose the latter, feel free to read on.
Remember that everything that will be forbidden to you, of course, can be used, but you need to do this only when you understand what to do with it, otherwise the bumps from the rake will grow, and there will be no result.
TIP 1. Standard brushes in the form of grass, stars and other nonsense are evil for you for the next few months of communicating with a tablet and Photoshop.
This is evil, at least until you realize that you can do just fine without them. In the meantime, we strictly remember that the first months of your close communication with the tablet, your only brush should be ... a standard round hard brush. Okay, it can be square, rectangular, and, in general, no matter what shape. Solid. Not soft.
A soft brush is, of course, also useful, but for a start it is best to forget about it or, if you still encroach on it a little, do it in small doses and leave a hard brush as a priority for now. For a couple of years, I heard so many phrases like “if someone told me this,” that I was definitely convinced that this advice was correct. So - trust me! Or ... kill it. That's your business.
Many artists eventually make (or borrow from others) basic brushes for themselves. They usually have torn edges for better blending. But for you, all this is completely unnecessary now. Forget about all those brushes that are full on the Internet. Learn to master at least a little round rigid, and only then complicate it.
If the desire to use other brushes is too great - go to Photoshop and delete all the brushes except for the hard round one ... okay, and still soft, and forget all the known ways to create brushes. For a while, of course.
Do you urgently need grass, leaves and butterflies? So what's the deal? Draw!
TIP 2. Your first drawing or the next next one, if you have already drawn, should not be your favorite cat, dog, brother, sister, mom, dad, but ... tone stretching.
And .. no, not to train the pressure of the pen and the evenness of the lines, but in order to learn how to make smooth transitions. Most beginner artists suffer from the fact that they simply do not know how to mix colors and smooth planes. And, of course, the easiest and fastest solution is to use a soft brush, and this, in turn, leads to terrible results, which then lead especially faint-hearted artists to psychological trauma. Okay, the last one is a joke, but the fact remains. Therefore, before you start drawing, whether it is desirable or not, you definitely need to learn one simple but insanely useful technique.
So from this:
We'll get this:
So, the most optimal and successful way to mix colors and create a smooth transition is to use a hard brush, as it allows you to create many transitions and maintain the "clarity" of the picture, which gives it liveliness. A soft brush allows you to seemingly make smoother transitions:
But such smoothness is rarely beneficial. It is good for creating a general volume of the background, but whatever one may say, if you look closely, you can see that there is a feeling of blurring, and when this method is applied to a drawing, for example, a portrait of your sister, everything looks even worse.
It's up to you, of course, which option you like best and ideally you should be able to use both, but you need to know when you can use a soft brush and when you shouldn't. In the meantime, we still do not know this very well - the best option is to listen to smart aunts and uncles, whom I shake like a ripe tree, and do as they say.
So, let's start our stretching.
In order to make such a simple stretch, you need to arm yourself with a hard round brush. Personally, I prefer for the base brush to turn off the pressure reaction of the pen, which would determine the thickness of the line, but the reaction to transparency is just that. But this is already an amateur. With Photoshop settings, I believe, everyone can make friends if they are not too lazy. And I will talk about something else.
1. So, we take black and paint over half of our drawing with it. Well, or approximately the part that, in your opinion, will be ... a shadow.
2. Now we take and lower the Opacity and Flow parameters of the brush (they are located at the top of the menu) to about 40-50%. The lower the Opacity value, the more transparent our color will be, and if you draw a line, then the bottom color layer will also be visible through it. Essentially, Opacity can be compared to paint density. The higher the value, the higher the coverage. The Flow value determines the density of the "flow". Roughly speaking, by combining these two parameters, you can achieve different effects from the brush without getting into its other settings. But back to our sheep.
So, with the chosen black color, we paint over half the white color. Moreover, this must be done in one motion, without tearing off the pen. If you tear it off, then the previous stroke will cover the one already drawn and blending will occur where we do not need it. Now we take the new resulting color with a pipette and paint over half black with it. As a result, we will get something like this:
3. Next, we reduce the diameter of the brush, well, I think you understand why? And we take the resulting color on the left (on white) and paint it half white, and then do the same with black. And we get something like this:
4. I think it's clear what we do next? We begin to go from left to right or from right to left (whichever is more convenient for anyone) and, taking a color, paint over half the neighboring one. Then we take the remaining piece of the unpainted color and paint over the next piece by half, and so on. In general, we actually did something like stretching.
It is crooked in places, but I did it solely as an example of technique.
5. Now we reduce the Opacity to 15-30% - it already depends on personal priorities, for example, I use within 20% usually or more if the pen pressure mode for the brush works, and we continue to do the same. Again and again. In general, this lesson is made solely for training. As a result of it, you yourself will figure out how best to create transitions. What pressure to choose, how to apply colors. And all this will only help to understand. You are unlikely to be perverted just like that, but sometimes this will be needed.
As a result, we will get something like this:
Once you figure out this simple task, I advise you to try to translate Opacity and Flow to pen pressure in the future. And learn to work that way. Firstly, this will at least reduce your time for constant distractions to change parameters, and secondly, you will learn how to manipulate pressure more subtly while drawing, which is already cool in itself!
Now let's discuss color stretching. Here everything is essentially the same. There are only two ways to stretch. More precisely, not so. The method is still the same, but the actions are slightly different and the result is .. different.
Option 1. Transition from one color to another, bypassing intermediate colors. This method is similar to a one-to-one b/w stretch.
However, it is not very good for cases where the colors are far apart on the color wheel. And, as you can see, the color at the mixing point “falls through” into gray, which is sometimes not very good for the picture and can lead to “dirt” in the future, but it can be convenient for the background, where the colors should be less saturated than the front plan.
Option 2. Transition from one color to another through intermediate colors in the color wheel. Here the essence is the same, but we add colors that are between our two main ones. I will not explain what a color wheel is and what an intermediate color means. Read color theory and you will find a lot of useful information. Over time, you will learn how to add several intermediate colors at once during the blending process. In fact, this is how drawing happens - by adding and mixing different colors. Discovered America, right? But now we will try to do it in a simple way so that you understand how it all works.
So, first we divide our drawing in half into Yellow and Purple. Then open the palette and take a color somewhere in the middle between these colors, and with Opacity 50% paint over half yellow and half purple. Voila and we get two intermediate colors.
And now the most interesting! Open the palette and go over the entire stretch with an eyedropper. First on the first, and then on the second. Really interesting? We are going through the same range, BUT in the second case, the colors are more saturated and brighter. And that's great, right? By adding an intermediate color, we made our stretch more lively and it was not difficult at all.
Keep this in mind and your drawings will immediately become more alive. This, of course, is difficult to implement right away, but over time you get the hang of it and everything will work out. The main thing to remember about this when you draw.
One aspiring artist asked me to make a video of the stretch because simple steps were not enough for him. He held a pen in his hands for the first time and never worked with Photoshop. I recorded a short video that shows how I did these stretches. It's very simple, but this kind of pen training is actually very useful, especially when working with color. It would be great if you set the Opacity and Flow to pen pressure when you run it. By the way, in this case, you do not have to lower these parameters very low. This can be seen on the video. I use 50% Opacity almost all the time.
TIP 3. Tool Finger (Smudge Tool) should be used extremely rarely and in no case for mixing colors!
Quite often, novice artists, not knowing that colors can be mixed thanks to Opacity and Flow, begin to mix, it would seem, the only available way - with the finger tool. And then it becomes so habitual that even remarks like “don’t use your finger”, “you can see that you used your finger”, “very blurry”, etc. can no longer force them to retrain. And the hedgehog, continuing to cry and prick, climbs again and again on the cactus, until a local crisis sets in and the person simply stops listening to what they say to him.
So, so that this does not happen, I say right away. We exclude the finger as such for the near future in general. It is convenient for them to do little tricks, correcting or distorting the lines. But they don't mix colors at all. Because the effect will be like ... right, like smearing paint with a finger.
As an example, here is a small picture. The circles are very small, but the essence should be clear. Of the people I interviewed, who are not connected with drawing and do not understand what and how they mixed, the majority settled on option 4 in attractiveness. Which, in fact, is true.
Figure 1. This is the color base. We have a circle, a cast shadow and light. In fact, we just have three spots that we need to mix.
Figure 2. As you can see, the result is not bad, but blurry. And with large image sizes, we get just one solid “soap”. This color mixing occurs when using a soft brush or when using a finger with soft brush settings. In the larger picture, you can see how the colors are mixed with your finger. As you can see, we just have a blurring of the line and there are practically no intermediate colors.
Figure 3. Everything is really bad here. I blended in this circle with my finger with a hard brush setting. Unfortunately, a lot of novice artists use this option and it's terrible, believe me. On the larger version, you can see how scary everything looks. Of course, many craftsmen manage to bring the use of the finger to perfection, but almost a few manage to make sure that the work does not give away the “finger effect”.
Picture 4 - well, here we mixed at different values of Opacity with an ordinary hard brush. As you can see, the option looks more voluminous due to the fact that as a result of mixing we got a lot more shades and transitions. Well, of course, you can see what a strong difference and advantage this method has over others.
Summing up, I repeat - never do not use your finger to mix colors.
TIP 4. As much as you want to not learn color theory - you will have to do it sooner or later, but some rules just need to be learned right away.
So, having mastered the most important thing - mixing colors, we boldly go into battle and draw-draw-draw. Of course, we forget about color theory because there is a lot to read there, and indeed, why do we need it? Yeah ... And then, when, it would seem, we can already draw more or less pretty, we suddenly hear for ourselves “few colors”, “everything is monophonic”, “if the shadows are warm, then the light is cold”, “dirt” and so on Further. And we immediately fall into a stupor / panic / sadness / rejection (underline as necessary). After all, how is it! How so?? Yes, not so. We forgot about color theory. And it’s not for nothing that so much has been written about her.
I will not write here what has already been described hundreds of thousands of times. I advise you to type in the search "Color Theory" or "Fundamentals of Color Science" and read one full article. Of course, you won't remember anything the first time. Only the basis will be deposited in your head in the form of the fact that there is a color tone, lightness (tone), light, shadow, half-light, penumbra, reflexes, highlights, saturation, warm-coldness, well, and a small list.
Well, then you just need to learn very simple rules that you should remember and keep in mind every time you draw. And also remember that they are all interconnected! Over time, you will simply begin to apply them without thinking about the wording, but you will simply feel and know that it is necessary. Perhaps you will find your way to comprehend the theory of color. But while this is all ahead - just remember the following and it will be much easier for you.
Color change according to the shape of the object.
1. By lightness:
- Light color, moving away, darkens.
- A dark color, moving away, brightens.
2. By saturation: moving away, the color goes out in saturation, weakens.
3. According to heat and coldness:
- Cold colors, moving away, will warm up.
Warm colors, moving away, will get colder.
4. In the light, the color is lighter, in the shade - weaker and distributed over halftones.
5. By warmness - if you chose a warm light, then the shadows will be cold. If you chose cold light, the shadows will be warm.
6. The color in the shadow "lights up" by saturation. That is, it becomes more saturated.
These rules were very useful to me, since the simple phrase “the farther the subject, the lower the contrast on it” at one time led me into a stupor, but when I figured out the rules, I completely understood the essence of what was said. Needless to say, I didn't make the rules. They are taken from one excellent article about the Fundamentals of Color Science, where this issue is discussed at a very primitive level. I advise everyone to read it, but do not forget, in the future, be sure to familiarize yourself with the classic voluminous theoretical calculations.
Well, to make it clear for those who do not know how lightness and saturation change on the palette in Photoshop, I will give you such a picture that will help you navigate. With warm-cold, you need to act according to the circumstances and remember that blue and green are considered cold, and red and yellow are considered warm.
All? Well, practically yes. The main thing to remember is that color is deceiving. If you've read color theory, you'll understand what I'm talking about. For example, gray surrounded by red will look like blue, and brown surrounded by green colors will look like red, etc. So know the theory, but don't forget see what you are drawing.
TIP 5. Don't use the Burn and Dodge tools to create shadows and highlights.
So why is it bad to use Burn? The fact is that light and shadow, and, in fact, the very color of an object sometimes, under the influence of the environment, acquires a different shade, different from the base one. There are a lot of nuances regarding shadows, but we will talk about this with you later. Now we only need to know that Burn and Dodge are not a lifesaver and all they do is change the color saturation, while we also need changes in color and lightness, which we will not get at all with this option.
Let's look at an example of using Burn to create shadows and compare it with shadows created with a hard brush.
As an example, we use the already familiar ball (Fig. 2), which we obtained from Fig. 1 by mixing superimposed base colors. With the help of Burn, we strengthened the shadow, but the light was added with the help of Dodge (Fig. 3). Well, in the last picture (Fig. 4), we used additional colors for light and shadow, and also used a hard brush.
Now let's open the color palette and use an eyedropper to go through the primary colors of the ball obtained by the Burn and Dodge method.
And what do we see? And we see that the shadow has become more saturated, but that's all. The range of colors used is critically small. Such works are often called "fried" because they really look like drawings slightly fried in the oven. No "mention" of ambient lighting on our ball.
Now again, arm ourselves with an eyedropper and check our colors on the last, correct version.
As you can see, in the light we have seemingly completely invisible green colors, while the shadow has become more red. From the side, the ball looks much more saturated than before, but at the same time there is no feeling of friedness, because we tried to do it right. Not ideal, of course, but the essence should be more than clear.
Well, now let's digress from the balls and consider all the same, but on the example of a sketch that Sandlady kindly provided to us.
Figure 1. This is a basic sketch with color and chiaroscuro scattered around.
Figure 2. Deciding to show what happens when a soft brush is used, Sandlady carefully smoothed out all the transitions. As a result, we got a smooth, blemish-free skin. But if separately it still looks normal, then with a larger size and detail, we will get just soapy soap. All the flatness and texture resulting from the overlay of colors disappeared, and just spots of different colors formed. This is especially noticeable in comparison with Figure 4.
Figure 3. As is usually the case with beginner artists, the colors for light and shadow are most often taken according to the base. To show this, Sandlady deliberately reduced all the colors of the picture to one tone, and then used the Burn tool. As a result, the shadows were saturated, but due to the lack of additional colors, we got a fried Asian. You can't really call it appetizing. Rather painful.
Figure 4. Here Sandlady used a hard brush. Due to the many small facets that are obtained through a simple color mixing technique, the face looks textured and voluminous. To maintain and up the contrast, a bit of bright scarlet was added, which made it possible to intensify the shadows instead of using the Burn tool, and, I must say, the result greatly outperforms its neighbors.
Well, that's the end of the first five tips.
Summing up, I want to note that the examples given are illustrative, but not completely. On large canvases, all these subtleties become more noticeable. It's like if a small spot of dirt unpleasantly touches the eye, then a large spot simply spoils the whole work. Perhaps now that you know what exactly leads to the formation of “spots” in the drawings, you will make the right decision in choosing the tools for creating shadows and lights in your subsequent masterpieces.
Enjoy learning while drawing and don't forget that theory is still important! Find some time for her.
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