Paint a Dapper Victoria

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DIGITAL PAINTING

How to Paint a DapperVictorian Cat in AdobePhotoshopby Melody Nieves 2 days ago

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What You'll Be Creating

Digital artists have the unique ability to travel back in time by tapping into the stylesand techniques of other periods. In today's tutorial I'll show you how to create a fun,dapper cat, inspired by the beautiful portrait paintings of the Victorian era. My toolsof choice will be Adobe Photoshop CS6 and a Wacom Intuos Pen Tablet. Let'sbegin!

Tutorial Assets

The following assets were used in the production of this tutorial:

Cat ReferenceAnthropomorphism Pinterest Inspiration

https://www.pinterest.com/ffaal/anthropomorphism-furry-and-animals-in-fine-portrai/http://photodune.net/item/cat/2752364http://pdfcrowd.com/html-to-pdf-api/?ref=pdfhttp://pdfcrowd.com/customize/http://pdfcrowd.com/redirect/?url=http%3a%2f%2fdesign.tutsplus.com%2ftutorials%2fhow-to-paint-a-dapper-victorian-cat-in-adobe-photoshop--cms-23351&id=ma-150304155241-9bfb7162http://pdfcrowd.com


Brainstorming: The Victorian Era

Cats, plus moustaches and suits, always equals a very fun painting! But I had noclue when I began this project that the idea of humanizing animals is so popularthroughout art history that it even has its own name.

According to Wikipedia, Anthropomorphism (dare you to say that five times fast),is the "attribution of human form or other characteristics to anything other than ahuman being."

Many storytellers have used tales of animals that speak and wear human clothessince the beginning of time.

Victorian ElementsFor digital artists, replicating traditional styles like acrylic and oil paintings is actuallyquite fun. And to get a better grasp of the Victorian era of painting, I studied manyimages from Google to pick up the commonalities in technique and form.

Here are some things I noticed that I could apply to my painting:

The subject was often positioned in front of landscape scenery or curtaindrapery.

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Subjects also were positioned at an angle facing slightly off from center view. Rich colors dark in tone were always used (reds, browns, and black). Paintings were realistic, but used choppy brush strokes for details.There was a huge focus on dramatic lighting, with lots of shadow envelopingthe subject.Museums and owners often use ornate gold frames to frame these works.

Once I had enough information, I could move on to researching the clothes to dressmy cat!

1. Sketch the Victorian Cat

Step 1I stumbled across this really great Pinterest post dedicated to Anthropomorphismand used it as a huge inspiration for this piece. Tumblr was also a great avenue forgathering references, since many people already dedicated their pages to Victorianfashion.

Creating a New Document in Adobe Photoshop I used the following settings forthis painting:

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Dimensions: 8.5 x 11 inchesResolution: 300 dpi

Step 2To start dressing my cat, I first made a very rough trace of this PhotoDune referenceusing a Standard Round Brush (B).

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Step 3Keeping all the references I gathered in mind, I dedicated new layers to sketchingthree different outfits to choose from.



Step 4After looking through my choices, I thought that combining certain outfit detailsmight make for a really great piece. With this in mind, I created a much cleanerversion of my original sketch, adding extra details like the monocle eyepiece tofurther tell the Victorian story.



Step 5So as not to over-complicate this piece, I decided that a very simple oval framewould suffice. Using the Ellipse Tool (U) I created one long oval for the frame, andthen Duplicated it, resizing the second oval into place.



Next I simply position the cat into the frame by hitting Control-T to select the FreeTransform Tool. Hold Shift while resizing to maintain the shape of the cat.



2. Create a Grayscale Base

Starting a painting on a white background can be very intimidating, so I created twonew layers to set my basic tonal values.

I filled the background layer with a light gray color using the Paint Bucket Tool (G).



Then I used a Hard Round Brush to fill the portrait and frame with a darker gray.



3. Paint the Base Colors

Step 1Control-Shift-N to create a New Layer and set it as a Clipping Mask to the graycircle. This will help keep everything you paint within the guideline of that circle.Select a Textured Brush from the Brush panel to begin painting the base colors.



Paint the base colors for the head and outfit, referring to your original references forcolor inspiration.

Step 2Set a new layer to Multiply. Pick a dark brown color to begin painting in some deepshadows similar to the style of old Victorian paintings.



4. Build Textures, Light, and Shadow

Step 1To convey realism with any piece, it's important to paint above the sketch layer.



Start painting above your sketch, making sure to carve out the structure of the cat'sface and outfit. Pay special attention to the original cat reference in order tounderstand the natural flow of hair.

Step 2



Add a New Adjustment Layer for Hue and Saturation and set it as a ClippingMask to the gray circle, as in our previous steps. Adjust the Lightness to -70 sothat we can establish more contrast between the cat and the background.



Step 3Painting with Layer Blend Modes allows us to adjust the colors without ruining ourwork. Here I used a layer set to Overlay to brighten up the piece a little, by paintingwith a warm yellow color.



Step 4Experimenting can lead to many surprises! Adding an additional light source willhelp to make this painting really pop, so I use a mixture of Hard and Soft Round



Brushes to paint where the color catches the cat.



5. Paint the Background Curtain

By keeping the different components of this painting on separate layers, we caneasily add background elements like a red curtain. First, I add a new ClippingMask to our portrait circle and position it underneath the cat layer. Then I use aHard Round Brush to begin painting a red curtain reminiscent of typical Victorianpieces.



To finish the curtain I switch over to a Grunge Brush to add texture as well as thefinishing touches.



6. Further Develop the Fur and Outfit

Step 1Now it's time to make this painting come to life! Build the texture of the fur by usingshort strokes in the direction the hair flows. Use a Hard Round Brush to establishthe overall texture, and then transition to a Soft Round Brush to create an airierfeel.



Step 2Set a layer to Multiply to deepen the shadows of the overall piece. Then setanother layer to Overlay using the color white to light our subject for added contrastagainst the dark background.



Step 3In order to paint fur realistically, you'll have to paint several layers of shadows, midtones, and highlights to establish the appropriate body and movement. Vary yourstroke length and try not to hack at the fur or else it'll create an unnatural effect.



7. Use Adjustment Layers to Intensify Colors



I can never finish a painting without an Adjustment Layer or two. Go to Layer >New Adjustment Layer > Levels and adjust the Shadows, Mid tones, andHighlights Input Levels to continue punching out that contrast.



Add another New Adjustment Layer for Color Balance, adjusting the Midtones



and Highlights to bring out the bluer hues.



8. Paint the Frame and Background

Step 1Let's move on to the frame and background. Use the Ellipse Tool (U) with a fill ofwhite to create an oval shape on top of the sketched frame.



Step 2Right-click and select Blending Options. Add a Drop Shadow and InnerShadow.



Step 3Add new layers and set them to Clipping Masks for the shadows, color, and textureof the frame. Keeping these all on separate clipping masks will allow you to paintwithout worrying about going outside the lines.



Use a deep red color as the base of the frame, and apply a bright gold texture ontop of it with a Grunge Brush.



Here is the final frame.



Step 4Time for the background color. Fill a New Layer with dark blue and set it as aClipping Mask to the gray background. You can fill the gray layer itself, but I alwayslike to keep my options open by creating new layers that are easily adjustable.



9. Create a Damask Pattern

Step 1Let's hang this Victorian painting on the wall with an easy Damask Pattern. Sketch



the outline of a custom damask design on a New Document in Photoshop. Fill thedesign with black using a Hard Round Brush.

Step 2



Duplicate this design several times, positioning the duplicates into place using theFree Transform Tool (Control-T). Merge the layers. When you're finished, use theRectangular Marquee Tool (M) to select the design and go to Edit > Define BrushPreset to create your own damask brush.



Step 3Use your custom damask brush to carefully stamp the brush on one half of the wall.Duplicate and Flip (Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal) the layer to complete thebackground. When you're finished, set the layer to Vivid Light and bring down theOpacity to 12%.

Add a simple Vignette effect by Filling a New Layer with black and Erasing thecenter with the Eraser Tool (E). Set the layer to Soft Light and bring down theOpacity to 80%.



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10. Finishing Details

Time to finish this painting! Using the Brush Tool (B), take a Hard Round Brushwith high Opacity (50-100%) and finish cleaning up the painting. During this stage Imostly focus on making sure that details are well defined and not too blurry.

Don't forget details like whiskers, the gold chain for the monocle eyepiece, and thevest buttons. And of course, add additional hairs affected by that colorful lightsource!

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Your Dapper Cat Is All Done!

I hope you've enjoyed following the process for this fun digital painting. You canlearn many techniques to improve your art by researching traditional styles andattempting them in Photoshop. Good luck! And feel free to help me come up with aname for my dapper cat in the comments!



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Suggested Tuts+ Course

Related Tutorials

Difficulty:

Intermediate

Length:

Medium

Categories:

Digital Painting Adobe Photoshop

Character Design Portrait Vintage

Patterns

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About Melody Nieves

I'm an artist who loves to paint inPhotoshop while helping others learn too.Follow me on DeviantArt or tweet me

@MelloNieves and tell me what tutorials you'd liketo see next!

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Paint a Dapper Victoria

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