Basic Painting with Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop CS to CS5 Illustration color work.

Adobe Photoshop CS-CS5 Painting Tutorials

Photoshop Paths | Airbrush/Brush Tool | Basic Painting | Layer Masks | Color Management

This tutorial is a continuation of page 1. We are now ready to start painting. If you would like to download a high-resolution test sample of the line-art subject below, Click Here. Remember to place this line art layer above your paint layer in the Layers Palette window, setting this layer to "Multiply." The "Layer>Multiply" effect will essentially remove the white background and leave only the line art visible.

The first color we will use is 100% black. In Fig. A we start with a 100 pixel brush size and drag the Paintbrush back and forth horizontally while keeping the brush half way out of the selected area. You can use the "Shift" key to constrain Photoshop's Paintbrush to a perfectly flat horizontal line. Note: The following hardware and software was used in this tutorial: An Apple Mac Pro desktop computer, a Wacom Intuos 6x8 drawing tablet, Adobe Photoshop CS-CS5 photo editing software and a properly calibrated monitor.

In Fig. B we use a smaller 50 pixel brush size and drag the Paintbrush back and forth horizontally while again keeping the brush half way out of the selected area along the bottom edge. This gives the shadow a harder (sharper) edge.

In Fig. C we use a 30 pixel brush size and drag the Paintbrush back and forth horizontally in the mid-section of the tube. This simulates the horizon line between sky and earth.

In Fig. D we use a 20 pixel brush size and drag the Paintbrush back and forth horizontally in the upper 1/3 area of the tube. Additionally, we drag the brush along the upper edge of the tube while keeping the brush half way out of the selected area as we did in Fig. B.

Basic Photoshop Painting Tutorial - Painting 1

Until now, we have worked with the 100% black color exclusively. Now we start the color tinting process. This time we set the Photoshop Paintbrush Mode to "Multiply". This darkens the value (density) of the painted area, as well as tinting it. In Fig. E we use a larger 30 pixel brush size and drag the Paintbrush back and forth along the horizon line with our brown color. Remember to use the "Shift" key to constrain the Paintbrush to a perfectly flat horizontal line.

In Fig. F we increase the brush size to 50 pixels and drag the Paintbrush back and forth along the horizon line and along the bottom edge. Continue this process until the desired color and darkness is achieved.

In Fig. G we use our blue color and repeat the process until we achieve the desired "sky" color and darkness. If the color tint is building up too rapidly, you can dial back the Opacity in the Paintbrush toolbar. This makes each stoke more subtle. In Fig. H we see the chrome tube along with the other finished components.

We now add the finishing touches to our chrome tubing by creating a highlight edge on the foreground rim. Click on the line art ("Internal Parts LINE") layer to re-activate it. Using Photoshop's "Magic Wand" tool, select the inside areas of the chrome tube. Once you have made the selection, use the Photoshop "Nudge" tool (arrow keys on your keyboard) to move the selection 1 or 2 pixels to the left. Now click on the inside areas of the chrome tube while holding down on the Option Key (Mac OS) or Alt Key (Windows). Notice that the cursor has a minus sign next to it. This will de-select the inside areas of the chrome tube, but leave intact the 1 or 2 pixels that are now out of the selected areas.

Using the "Nudge" tool (arrow keys), move the selection back to its original position. Click on the tone ("Internal Parts TONE") layer to re-activate it, then click on the "Paintbrush" tool. Use the key command Ctrl-H (Windows) or Command-H (Mac OS) to hide the selection "Marching Ants." Using pure white from the Swatches palette, slowly paint the highlight in.

In the last sample of our ghosted illustration (below) you see our chrome tubing incorporated into the finished piece. There are many different approaches to accomplish the same ends, but through countless hours of trial and error, these techniques are what I have found to be the fastest and most consistent, using Adobe Photoshop as a drawing program.

Note: The following hardware and software was used in this tutorial: An Apple Mac Pro desktop computer, a Wacom Intuos 6x8 drawing tablet, Adobe Photoshop CS-CS5 photo editing software and a properly calibrated monitor.

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