SAD NEWS before we begin: I have lost ALL steps that I saved for this tutorial. EVERYTHING besides this text! Luckily, the final step was backed up, so this tutorial will be a bit crippled. It happened just as I was finishing this html. I moved the complete directory, and the computer decided it cannot copy it to another position while still deleting the previous directory. Go figure.
Below is the original text as planned. I apologize. Hopefuly you'll be able to pick atleast some information through the text.
Hi Everybody, and welcome to another "Brawe Scene" Tutorial.
ANOTHER ONE? - you may ask, after you've PREVIOUSLY read the Exterior Scene Tutorial.
Yes, as a matter of fact, in the previous installment, we talked about different aspects of the scene, including haze, light, shadows, overal tone value...Value? - now did we?
Well, no, we haven't talked about color values, so as I was working on this interior scene, I thought that you might like to know how to do things the other way around.
So, before we begin I'll name key differences between this tutorial and the previous one.
In the latter, we started with outlines, filled them with colors and then adjusted lightning, shadows and other aspects of succesful scene creation.
But in this issue of "Do it the BRAWE way!", we're gonna take the opposite route. We are going to paint the shadows, highlights, lightning and details first, and then add colors.
It'll be fun, I promise.
Basically, this is the way traditional paintings were done. Artists like Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Rembrandt used a technique called the:
UNDER PAINTING
It's a very fun way of sketching in the composition, light values and shadow. They used gray, or, in case of sunny themed paintings, brown paint to quickly splat down the underlaying structure of the piece. Doing this, it assured the painter that the warm tones will shine through the upper coats of paint. We are not going the same route, since we are using the computer, but you will find many simmilarities.
For this you'll need:
- a computer
- tablet (preffered), but a mouse will do
- a favourite package like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. Painter will do too.
- around 6 hours of your precious time
- a bag of peanuts
Ok let's go:
THE SKETCH
What you can see above is a mess. You can make one, I'm sure (if not go ask your parents). But what is important here, is that you lay down your composition quickly and alter it to fit the "art direction" needs. Again, I emphasise that you get as much information possible from whoever asked you to do the picture. REALLY think about what you are trying to accomplish. It'll save you loads of time later on.
Just so you can follow, the main thing for me was a cupboard you see on the right side and a little chest that will reside on on it. Near the door should be boxes covered with cloth.
The strokes are wide, LOOSE and I pay attention where I want the light to come from. I also want the chest to be visible, so the light must fall on it. Some indication of the foreground objects to nicely round up the image and lead the viewer to focus on the cupboard and the chest.
Also, you immidiately take care of perspective, so draw those lines wherever you can. They will help a great deal later.
sketch 02 (sorry, doesn't exist)
Ok, some minor alterations to the image, enhancing the outlines of the cupboard and boosting the contrasts. ALso, I think blue could work better as a main ambience color, so I shifted the hues to have warmer light and cooler shadows. What happens in between, well...just happens.
You'll notice I flipped the image, as I remembered that the roof is broken on the right side of the Windmill =).
1..
I have skipped several steps as they are described in the previous exterior tutorial, but just for the sake of the argument I'll run down some key steps.
1. After establishing the right contrast and composition of the picture I open up a new layer and fill it with a middle value, somewhere between the shadows and the light color. It turns out as a nice desaturated blue. Quite dark if I might add.
I set it's transparency so I could barely see the sketch beneath it. This way I am not bound by the scribblings and they act more like a guides.
2. As mentioned in the previous tutorial, I trace everything on a new layer with the smallest 1 pixel brush. The main difference here is that I really went in "sketchy", not following the given lines religiously. This way I could give more "charm" to the shapes and twist the perspective a bit. (notice the bottles in the left corner)
3. The foreground got it's separate layer, as well as the cupboard. This will make the selection of "planes" much easier, but it is not mandatory that you do that.
2.
Ok, this is where the fun begins.
After you've established ALL of your details, like those planks on the floor, the chest or the saw on the side of the cupboard, it is time to go on the layer you've previously filled with your middle value.
You've probably noticed that I pretty much defined the foreground. The color of the foreground will be used for shading.
So, picking this color I went in with big brushes and added darker areas. There is no need to be careful here, just lightly start adding darker tones.
Notice darkened areas in the roof, behind the pillars, shadows for the planks et cetera. Those were all done with a 10-15 pixel brush, set to 10-20 opacity. If you need it darker, just go in and bold those shapes.
This would be a good time to save your work =) (edit: oh, the irony). No, this would be a good time to clearly define where your light will shine through and mark the parts that the light rays hit. (see the small blobs of color on the right, where
the light hits the floor).
Also, notice that I worked some more on the foreground, adding shading and material attributes to planks, cloth. I also gave more "randomness" to the bottles, so they stick out unevenly.
Added the chains to give more detail to it, but still sticking to the same palette. No need to go overboard with detail here, atleast not until you define the objects and the overall feel of the scene.
3.
Here is where I moved to the cupboard details. Using a SLIGHTLY different color I make it pop up even more. As mentioned before, this is a crucial part of the scene, so you may want to bend the rules a bit. Go even further with contrast until it REALLY sticks out.
As you can see, I started adding LIGHT values. As with shadows, go loosely here, define the ray casts, the "bloom" effect, and parts where the light hits the floor, walls and objects.
The "BLOOM" effect usually appears when you are in a dark room and look through an open window. The amount of light blinds your eyes, and you see things blurred. The best way to notice this, is taking the photograph. The strenght of light exposure really "BURNS" the shapes and lines, and you are left with blobs of color.
See that the chest is now defined better, aswell as the little shelf on the left side.
Try to do everything on a same layer, and do it one pass at the time. You'll end up with a nice mixture of color values which you can later on use as a "scale", from darkest colors to the lightest.
4.
Ok, we've covered the whole picture in tones, so now it is time to emphasize the light sources.
Open up a new layer and start adding LIGHT colors one pass at the time.
There are three key points, I let the light come in from all sides (even two sources on the left). This gives instant contrast to the picture, shadows go deeper in the dark values, while your light affected areas pop up a bit.
As always, the further you go into the production, the more limited you become. So, in order for this to work, you have to closely consider where your light rays will hit. Think where the light will be obscured by the objects and where it will penetrate deeper into the room. Keep in mind that the light spreads, so, you want the light intensity to gradually weaken. Especially in the closed, dusty rooms like this one.
5.
And we are finally there. It is time to add colors to your light and shadow values.
Open up a new layer, each for every plane you have. I started on the foreground first and then went onto the cupboard plane.
See how the chest IMMEDIATELY pops up?
Now, the picture may be dark on some monitors, but try to download it and zoom a bit to the bottles.
Here, I'll do it for ya.
6.
See how many values we got on the bottles, how defined their volume is? Notice the subtle differences on the plank on the very left edge. And this was only achieved with the splats of color on the right side. Now imagine what would happen if you used a couple of broad strokes with different colors on that plank. You would get a variety of values, increasing the spectrum, making your image more alive, more painterly. And you get that without worrying that you will mess up your details, light and shadow areas.
And what's even better, after you've colorized EVERYTHING, you can change very easily if you want those bottles to look blue, red or whatever. The underlaying structure of light and shadows carries out objects volume, regardless of what you do in the colors.
Oh, and if you wish to add even more detail, sure go right ahead. Switch back to your value layer and start adding little cracks, dents, small intricate detail. You immediately see the results on full colored, almost finished painting.
Cool, huh?
So, now we will quickly establish the color palete to use in this image.
7.
I didn't use a lot of colors here, as I wish to keep viewers attention only on the cupboard.
Note that all of the colors that are added on a separate layer are done in the same manner as the bottles above. No heavy discolorations, just flat colors.
But, as you can see the whole atmosphere looks a little bland.
So, we are gonna fix that.
8.
COLOR BOOST! Woohooo...
I guess I went a little overboard, but this is actualy a good example of what I did.
I added more RED's to middle values, BLUE's into the shadows and YELLOW into the highlights. You see how the colors are warmer in the lit areas, while remaining blueish in the shadows.
Actually, those are not really "shadows" per se, but more of ambiental lightning we did in the previous steps.
In the real world these values are not as exaggerated as here, but since we are dealing with a cartoonish world, it's good to go a bit overboard.
Well, that's about it what I wanted to say in this tutorial.
Next, you can add as much detail in the scene as you wish, just keep adding outlines on separate layers and adjusting values in the Shading layers. Also, you might want to ajdust the overal lightness, I think I went too dark for ambiental values.
9.
Here is the fixed version.
I hope you enjoyed and learned something. If you have some problems or questions, ask on the forum.
Take care till next time,
KB.