7/27/2019 tutorial 10000.pdf

1/4

n this workshop Im goingto share some of the image

techniques Ive picked up

in 12 years working as a

professional artist, focusing on texture

and colour. This workshop is divided

into five main sections: brainstorming;

preparing your canvas for colouring;

colouring, from inside out; texturing;

and the final touch up.

As always, it is vital to know what

your artistic direction is prior to

PAINTINGNEW WORLDS

Istarting workon your painting.

What kind of style,

design element, the canvas size,

final output file format, and so on.

These are essential. If you have not

received any brief from your art

director, make sure you ask!

If this is a personal project, I strongly

advise you to work out a fictional brief.

You can also see my painting processes

in the videos on your free DVD.

December 200778

Workshops

Leong Wan KokCOUNTRY: Malaysia

Leong Wan

Kok is a

full-time

illustrator,

specialising in

character design and

illustration. His work can

be seen in various media:

art print, illustration,

posters and comics. At

the moment, Kok is

working as an art

director in an animation

house. He has worked for

clients including King

Comics and Spicy Horse.

www.1000tentacles.com

DVD AssetsThe files you need

are on your DVD in

the Leong Wan Kok

folder in the Workshops

section.

SOFTWARE: Photoshop

CS3 (demo)

Photoshop

Leong Wan Kokshows you how to use great texturisingtechniques whilst painting a far away land

UNI24.tut_illus 78 5/10/07 4:18:42 pm

7/27/2019 tutorial 10000.pdf

2/4

In depth Painting new worlds

UNI24.tut_illus 79 5/10/07 4:19:07 pm

7/27/2019 tutorial 10000.pdf

3/4

3 Colouring, frominside outI convert the file to CMYK, due to the

brief for this project. Do not flatten the

layer when prompted. On top of the layer,

create a new one. Choose Paint Bucket

[G] and fill the whole canvas with a

suitable dark colour. Here I go with warm

brown for the base coat. Set the layer to

Multiply so that the pencil layer is stillvisible underneath, making it easy for

you to use for reference. My personal

preference is to start colouring the

characters first, then background, which

I like to think of as an inside out

method. This enables me to judge the

relation of the colours more precisely.

Constantly change your brushs Opacity:

I like to work somewhere around 20 to

50 per cent, with Flow set to 68 per cent.

This builds up the colour nicely.

5 Texture mappingThis is one of the fun parts andchallenging process. To give the painting

a unique rusted look, I choose a rusted

metal texture as my base. Open a new

layer, paste the texture in and set the layer

mode to Multiply. Decide where you want

to map the texture. Move and scale the

texture to the right size. Make sure the

texture size is relative to the painting, or

else it will look out of place. Delete the

areas you do not need from the texture.Once nicely mapped, change the textures

Opacity. Adjust the Brightness/Contrast

of the texture. Erase the hard edges of the

texture by using the Eraser tool. But,

overall, make sure it looks subtle and

merges well with the painting.

4More layersMake full use of Photoshops

layers. This is most advisable as you canalways return to that layer and make

changes if you need to. Bear in mind that

the more layers you have, the heavier the

file will be. You need to balance it out,

and sometimes merge selected layers

(Ctrl/Cmd+E). Change the brushs size

by exploring the brush list and change

the diameter with ] increasing and [

decreasing. Remember to save your

files constantly.

1 BrainstormingRead the design brief carefully.Design your character and roughly work

out some thumbnails, rough and fast.

They dont need to be neat at this point.

Get the overall feel for it. If time permits,

develop your characters. Think of the

environment they dwell in, what kind of

climate is it, what clothing do they wear?What are their characteristics? Consider

these questions and slowly you will start

to feel for your painting. I believe this

will make the painting more interesting.

2 Scan your imageOnce the layout is done, scan it in .Usually I go with 300dpi, greyscale. I opt

for this because it gives certain touch to

the pencil outline. Open the scanned file

in Photoshop, and make sure the pencil

layer is set to Normal.

December 2007

Workshops

December 2007

80

The NavigatorAlways have the

Navigator shown beside

your work in Photoshop.

(Window>Navigator if

its not already showing

when you launch the

program. When you

work on your painting,

you will constantly want

to know how the whole

image looks, so you canjudge such things as

colour combination and

proportions. The

Navigator makes it easier

for you to do this without

constantly having to

zoom in and out.

UNI24.tut_illus 80 5/10/07 4:19:14 pm

7/27/2019 tutorial 10000.pdf

4/4

6Colour expansionI usually keep on painting one

character until its done. I feel comfortable

seeing the characters take shapes one by

one. This is my preference. Now Im

moving on to the second character. I

create a new layer to paint on. Toggle

between Normal and Multiply layer

modes. For the shadows, I go for Multiply;

for detail and new colouring, I go for

Normal. Try these out and you will get

the feel of it.

7 Texturemapping, againFor a new texture, follow the same process

you did in step 5. Its important to

remember that subtlety is the keyword.The texture is here to enhance, not to

overpower the whole painting. Dont

make it look too strong or introduce too

many texture maps. It will make the

painting looks congested and stifling.

Balance is the art here. If you need to,

make colour adjustments to the texture

map, using Curves, Colour Balance,

Hue/Saturation and Brightness/Contrast.

Make the original texture look flat by

erasing the lighting and shadow on it

before mapping.

8Decoration andaccessories

A nice painting consists not only of catchy

character design, focal point and a good

composition, but also introduces small

elements and details. These will definitely

spice up the work. Add some supportingcharacters here and there. Make it fun!

9Keep focused

The painting seems close tocomplete, but is actually far from it.

Maintain your patience. I know when

the painting is nearing completion, its

sometimes tempting to rush it a bit. But

refrain from that! Youve come a long way

with your painting and it would be a

shame to spoil it by rushing at this late

stage. So keep your patience and stay

focused. Its good to always have the

Navigator open in your scenes at this

stage (see the Pro Secret on page 80).

10Final touch upStep back and take a look at yourpainting from afar. Half close your eyes

to view the colour combination again.

Look for areas where the colour is

popping out. Fix any problems you see.

Detail is the key factor here. Adjust the

colour for the last time. Hit Tab to close

all the palettes. Take a good look at your

image. If it makes you smile, you know

you have yourself a nice artwork that

you can be proud of.

December 2007 81

In depth Painting new worlds

Using fullscreen modeAs you come towards

the end of your painting

process, its a good idea

to close all your windows

except your painting and

turn it to full screen

mode (by hitting F). By

getting rid of any other

distractions on your

desktop, its easy to spot

any mistakes in you

painting, such as poorcolour choice. This is a

good idea if you feel

your painting has a

problem, but you cant

identify what it is exactly.

UNI24.tut_illus 81 5/10/07 4:19:23 pm