Tutorials

Before we had powerful desktop computers, artists who wanted to color their work resorted to traditional means. Methods such as colored pencils, markers, paints, and crayons were some of the ways used. But now, a relatively new technique is at your disposal and it's called "CG'ing." CG'ing is basically a way to colorize images using your computer. The final result is a product where the colors are highly consistent, and where both shading and highlighting really stand out. Most of the work I have on my site is CG'ed. At first, I used Paint Shop Pro 5 to do it, but now I use Paint Shop Pro 7. It also took me quite a while to develop techniques that served me the best. The aim of this page is to expose you to some of the tricks I use to sketch and colorize my work. Every one of my pieces tends to follow the same basic structure. The six main steps are: sketching, scanning, outline, colors, shades, and shines. Using the image of Aoi on the right as an example, I'll take you through an overview of each of these. In this tutorial, I assume that you have some familiarity over how paint programs and layers work, so I won't describe everything in laborious detail. Let's go!

Aoi with her colors slightly transparent. You can see some of the sketching details behind her!

Caveats
Before I begin, it's worth pointing out a few caveats. First, Paint Shop Pro 8 and 9 handle lines in a very different way from version 7. I personally find the approach I describe below more convenient because I can make one arc at a time, instead of maintaining a massive vector. Although the "new way" is similar to the approach Photoshop/Illustrator and Gimp use, I've gotten rather good at the "old way" and I'm naturally reluctant to change. It's also worth noting that my way is certainly not the most efficient method. It's probably faster to ink an image by hand and then transfer it to the computer. I choose this way because I'm rather wobbly when I draw and I fear I'll screw things up when I ink (not to mention lose the sketchy integrity of the original). Plus, I like using the computer to resize and re-proportion things if I don't draw them right the first time.

Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7 versus Adobe Photoshop
Perhaps you're still looking for the best paint program to use. Obviously, this tutorial focuses on Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7 techniques. A lot of other people use Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop is generally heralded as the primary choice for professional computer artists. Although I have used this program and respect those who use it, Photoshop is not my personal preference. The major difference between the two products is that Photoshop costs upwards of $600, whereas you can find PSP7 for less than $100 in most circles. On sale, I bought my copy for only $19! That's a steal, folks, for a program you'll probably use everyday. People say you can pirate these programs, and it is true. However, I am a firm believer in rewarding those who produce awesome programs. So, when it comes to critical programs I use on a daily basis, I do the right thing and pay the authors. Clearly, a college student like me doesn't have $600 to blow on some paint program. While I may agree that Photoshop has a few features over Paint Shop Pro 7, I do not believe it has enough to justify a $500 leap in price. And clearly, there's little you can do in Photoshop that you cannot achieve in Paint Shop Pro 7. But, of course, please use what is most comfortable to you. The techniques I describe here are valid for Photoshop, as well as versions of Paint Shop Pro 5 and up - the names are just different.

Step 1 - Sketching
It is always best to lay down some ground work before running headlong into the paint program. Bezier curves or not, it is difficult to draw stuff from scratch on the computer screen using a mouse. That is why I pencil out all of my stuff first, before scanning it into the computer. Sketching, for me, consists of two steps. The first is to draw a ball-and-wire frame of the basic pose, and then flesh out the details. From the start, the ball-and-wire frame is fairly generic. It would work for a human just as well as a saurian. The difference emerges in the details, particularly the characteristic snout that all of the saurians have. Although you should try to do this step neatly, it is not essential to make everything absolutely perfect. If things seem out of proportion, they can be easily resized prior to virtual inking. Don't bother too much with erasing either. Feel free to go over lines as many times as it needed to get it right!

The ball-and-write pose that will serve as the foundation for everything else.

The details are fleshed out now. The body is defined and hair is drawn in.

Step 2 - Scanning
The next thing you'll need to do is scan the image into the computer. If you don't have a scanner, but have that inner artist in you, I would strongly suggest picking up one. Scanners can be found for a relatively cheap price these days if you read the Sunday circulars and look for sales. My Hewlett-Packard cost all of $39. I've personally seen VisionTek scanners among others for low as $19. Scanners can be used for a plethora of things - not just this. They are a very useful peripheral to have.

Anyhow, when you scan the sketch in, you should probably do it in monochrome, but not the two-color monochrome. That is useful if you inked your art beforehand, but since I do the inking virtually, all I care about is seeing the details I drew in before. Scan it right into your paint program.

Step 3 - Outline
When I outline my image, I use virtual inking. It is essentially inking the image on the computer to create an outine for the colors to flood into. I like this method because you don't have to worry about screwing up and ruining your picture. You might be inclined to ask a very logical question - how the heck do you trace the outlines of the image with a mouse? Yes, it's true, it is not an easy task. There is a trick to it though, and it comes in the from of Bezier curves. A Bezier curve is a mathetically-defined curve. In Paint Shop Pro 7, you specify the starting and endpoints. Then, you can adjust the curve at two points before the final line is created.

Before we get to this though, it would be wise to not only save your scanned image, but also resize it by 200%. One of the things that produces a great, professional look is to resize the image after you're done with it. Then you don't have ugly pixels hanging around, and the shades and shines blend very nicely in an effect called "anti-aliasing." The bigger you start and the smaller you end up, the higher the quality of your final picture. Also, make a new Raster layer and call it Outline. Layers are very important. Take the Bezier curve tool and set it for a width of 2. Then, just trace the outlines this way. Try to pay attention to avoiding "holes" in the outline where the colors can flow out later on. You probably can't catch them all at this point, but try to minimize them.

Getting ready to start virtual inking, with the tools set up and Outline layer created.

Example of how the Bezier curve works while inking Aoi's hairband.

The finished, virtually-inked image of Aoi.

Step 4 - Colors
Now the fun starts - we color the image. First, a point of notice. At this point, you'll want to create another new layer called Colors. You'll also want to turn off the Background layer (where the original sketch is). The reason why is because I color using Flood Fill, with the added parameter of Sample Merged. Sample Merged means that when you flood fill, Paint Shop Pro 7 will take into account all layers as if they were just one. This is why I don't have to duplicate the Outline layer and color into that. Of course, if you have the Background layer still on, this method gets screwed up, so that's why I turn it off. So, take your Flood Fill tool and just start filling in the outline on the Colors layer. If the color floods out (e.g. there's a gap in the outline), undo, switch to black and patch the hole, then fill it again. Focus on just using solid colors at this point. I also color in the whites of the eyes at this point. On this image, I had to use the Eyedropper tool and refer back to some older CG'ed images of Aoi to get the colors. One idea you might want to take advantage of if you intend to use the same colors over and over again in future images is to create a palette. Like a real artist does with his palette, you can make a small graphic containing all of your common colors and then use the Eyedropper to select between them. One thing you might notice in this image of Aoi at this point is that I haven't drawn her stripes yet. I save that until after the Shading phase. It is just easier to do it then.

Aoi, with the Colors layer now in place.

Step 5 - Shades
Now, of course, you could have stayed with step 4 and called it a day, but I think there is a lot more to do! Without shading and shining, chances are your image will look rather flat and two-dimensional. I like my images to stand out and give the illusion of depth. This is best achieved through shading and shining. The first method, shading, is the most important. Here, we make some edges darker than others to give the idea that light is falling on the subject. For this tutoral, I will pretend I have an unseen light source in the upper-left corner of the image, shining downwards. Then, I just shade where I believe the light would not naturally fall, generally on the underside of the body and in areas beneath arms, legs, the head, the crotch, and so forth.

The way I shade is remotely similar to the Outline phase. First, I create a new layer called Shades. Unlike the others, which are defined as Normal layers, I make Shades a "Multiply" layer. This is just like if you drew a marker streak on paper, and then drew another line through it. Where they intersect, the color is much darker. If you use the same color for both lines, you produce a darker tone of that color. To actually draw the shades, I again use the Bezier curve tool. Then, I Flood Fill using the same Sample Merged setting as before. Try to concentrate on one color at a time. This is the most fun step, in my opinion. The character really begins to come alive!

I also saved the drawing of Aoi's stripes until now. I draw her stripes on the Colors layer, beneath the Shades layer. Then, I Flood Fill the areas on the Shades layer as need be. It beats having to constantly switch colors on the Shades layer.

The shaded version of Aoi, before I draw her stripes in on the Colors layer.

The shaded version of Aoi, now with her characteristic blue stripes.

Step 6 - Shines
If you thought the shading gave Aoi a lot of depth, then you'll be happy with what shines will do. In this final step, I brighten certain areas to emphasize shininess. This is how you can make things appear slick, or perhaps just covered in water or sweat. The areas that you shaded in the last step should be opposite the areas you shine.

I create another new layer, this one a duplication of Colors, called Shines. So, the final layer hierarchy for this image is:

Background -> Outline -> Colors -> Shines -> Shades

Essentially, you take the Retouch tool and set it to Lighten RGB. Set the Hardness and Opacity to 10, Step to 25, Density to 100, and change Size as you need to. Then, just go at it. Sometimes I get a bit carried away on this step because I think shines are really pretty. Case in point, Aoi's hooded sweatshirt (sweatbra?) would probably be made out of flannel or similar material that would not be intrinsically shiny. But, I shine the top of her breasts anyway. Go figure. The shinier something is, the more concentrated the spot of light is.

Another thing to try is to use the Magic Wand and define regions to use the Retouch tool in. This is helpful if you want to brighten areas within an outline, rather than indiscriminately brightening everything in the path of the Retouch tool. It also allows you to enhance the edges without consequently brightening the black outlines.

Now Aoi has shines in all the right places!

Finished!
Now you can take the image and resize it anywhere from 33% to 70%. Try different percentages and see how it looks. This iamge took about one and a half hours to do. Here's how the image finally turned out!

Kawaii, desu ne?

Thanks for reading this! I hope you found it a bit illuminating. You can send comments to me if you want!