Jan 6, 2012

Coloured version of Helena's picture

I tried to colour a picture Helena drew, just playing around and trying to get it to work better. Note that I'm not using photoshop elements, but a program called SketchBookExpress, which does not have layers in its free version (which I'm using).

Ok, here's the latest version, where I'm trying to make the colours more solid and trying to give it some shadows and highlights. And I gave her a nose, if you came tell from the random dab of colour in the middle of her face. Please ignore the see through wall. It's definitely still not done, and the colours are probably all wrong. TT_TT Please don't kill me for ruining your beautiful picture!


This is the above in an earlier stage of being coloured. Everything is very transparent. I think I like low opacity brushes because it allows more lee way for mistakes. I'm afraid of making a mistake with solid brushes.

An entirely different version (the earliest attempt) which I didn't like and then promptly abandoned.
 This is the program I'm using, SketchBookExpress.

If it looks like the picture's been shifted to the left, that's because it had been. I'm not very familiar with the controls yet, as this is the first serious attempt I've had to fiddling with the program.

Any advice on how to improve would be much approciated!

5 comments:

  1. Do you have a graphics tablet? just curious.

    not bad but if you use low opacity, try not to let the blue mingle into the hair/ground because it makes it dark rather than bright. but otherwise, great job :D better than my computer colouring in that looks more paint completed than anything.

    btw, I see you have a mac :D good for digital arts, movies and music~

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  2. OOOOH, i see what you did. :0 And I know why it looks a little sketchy still. You havent done a lineart layer from the image to lift it out. So basically, you're just colouring on top of dodgy lineart. And the way you colour on this program, using low opacity brushes, gives it a softshade effect, so it's very different to my cellshading style, which has a much more distinct separation of colours.

    The shading on the face is spot on, except the nose seems a little off. :L:L

    Do you have a layer supportive program? Like GIMP. Heck, the best program for this is Paint Tool Sai, I used it during the trial period of 30 days, WORKED LIKE A DREAM. Until it expired. Then I cried. I could still use Sai after the exipiry period, BUT, i can't save my images. So might as well go to Photoshop.

    If you dont have a layer supportive program, keep to this program and try using pastelly colours on a normal brush instead of a low opacity brush. And use a darker version of that pastelly colour for shading where I've done some crosshatching in pencil. :D

    Umm, other than that, I don't really know what else I can advise you on, since you did a brilliant job, using this program and using this format. :\ You did my picture justice, on a non-layer supportive program, and without a graphics tablet. I'M VERY PROUD :D

    I ALSO LOVE THE COLOUR CHOICES. When i colour my pictures, i stick to the same palette and it looks too plain! D:

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  3. i feel like digital painting again. even after my 20 hour eye burn incident with Helena's collab :D but i might do simpler stuff...

    thanks for the unintentional motivation Xiao! ^ ^

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  4. LOLOLOLOLOLOL.

    ...i'm sorry? ;u; for the eye burn?

    I feel like digitally colouring this picture too now. THANKS FOR THE UNINTENTIONAL MOTIVATION XIAO!! ^^

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  5. I might check out GIMP, I used it for a bit in year 9/10. I don't have a tablet, and a mouse isn't good for doing smooth lines. I don't even have a scanner, so I can't use my own line art (if I did draw any)

    The brush choices are also fairly limited, but I haven't explored a lot yet, so there might be things I've missed.

    @H Thank you for your kind words! And your advice, I'll see what I can do with the software/hardware I have on hand.

    @C Ok, that's probably something to watch for. Thank you for your encouragement! I really like my Mac!

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