How to
How to
BUILD COLOR & CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION Conveying Emotion and Depth with an Adjustable Color Palette by Guy Shield
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE
“While creating my artwork I am overcome with a cathartic sense of peacefulness. It’s a meditative process” - Guy Shield
© 2015 Wacom
02
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE
Guy Shield’s studio
© 2015 Wacom
03
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE
Table of Contents
© 2015 Wacom
01
PICKING A BASE COLOR
04
TONING
02
COLORING ELEMENTS USING COLOR FILL LAYERS
00
Tutorial INTRODUCTION
03
SHADING
05
About the ARTIST
04
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
CREATE MORE COLOR Color is integral to my work as an illustrator. It controls both the depth of the piece and the overall tone of it, which is an important way of conveying both emotion and engagement. Color is also integral to controlling the composition of the piece, and the way the eye is lead through it. By having an adjustable color palette, you can easily change and redirect the focus of the narrative. It’s also really fun, trust me! This tutorial is based on my previous tutorial and on having the layers of your artwork set up accordingly, from foreground to background. We’re going to rely heavily on the masked layer sets created in the first tutorial.
© 2015 Wacom
This eBook is your fun step-bystep guide to: picking and applying a base color; coloring up elements using color fill layers; and shading and toning your artwork
All digital work shown in this eBook was carried out with the Wacom pen tablet Intuos Pro, using Adobe© Photoshop. Visit the Wacom website to find out how to enhance your workflow and efficiency as an artist using modern digital technology: Our pens and tablets open up new possibilities for speed and precision and give you more freedom to experiment.
Guy Shield Illustrator guyshield.com
05
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
Picking a Base Color Establishing a base color for your piece is a great way to control the warmth of your artwork. I typically work in creams and off whites, ensuring that all the colors that I work in benefit with that extra little kick of yellow. This helps unite the palette and gives a pleasing result. 1. To start, press Shift+Click on all your layer sets in your layers palette and group them into another layer set. Name this set ‘Artwork’.
2. Below this layer set, create a solid fill color. 3. Pick a very light hue (as mentioned, I generally go with a creamy color).
© 2015 Wacom
06
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
4. Name this solid fill layer ‘Base Color’. 5. Now click on your ‘Artwork’ layer set in the layers palette.
Set the transparency mode (located in the top left hand corner of the layers palette) to Multiply.
6. You should notice that all your layer sets now benefit with the base color below.
© 2015 Wacom
07
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
Coloring Up the Elements Using Color Fill Layers 1. Start with the first layer set, your foreground.
Using color fill layers from the ‘Create New Fill or Adjustment’ menu at the bottom of the layers palette, we’re going to build up the colors for your artwork by individually coloring each element of the layer set accordingly. I should note here that all color fill layers should sit below the line art smart object that you’ve created for that layer set.
2. Imagine a Paint by Numbers kit for beginner artist, or a coloring book for kids. What we’re doing here is very much of the same intuition. For example, for all the elements/objects in the layer set that I want to be flesh colored, I create a new ‘Color Fill’ layer, and select a flesh color from the color picker.
© 2015 Wacom
08
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
3. Initially, it’s going to fill the entire layer set with that color, so you want to clear out your mask by clicking on the mask in the layers palette, and inverting it (Command/Ctrl+I), so it starts empty.
4. Start painting carefully in the area you want flesh colored. For this process I typically use the ‘Inker: Nib’ brush preset in my presets palette. 5. Once I’ve colored everything that I want in that color, I’ll repeat the process with new color fill layers, blocking out all the colors in that layer set of objects.
© 2015 Wacom
09
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
6. Don’t worry about toning/shading at this stage, as we’ll get to that shortly, the important thing at this point is to color block the entire piece, layer set by layer set, and get the colors sitting how you want them. The great thing about working in this method is being able to easily adjust each individual color so it sits harmoniously with the other colors.
What inspires Guy Shield?
© 2015 Wacom
10
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
Shading Now, with each layer set filled with a choice color palette of color fills, we’re going to start shading the piece. 1. With shading I like to create a new color fill layer, generally a light grey color. 2. Invert the mask so it’s empty.
3. Change the transparency settings at the top of the layers palette to set the color fill to ‘Multiply’. This will enable your shading layer to darken the color layer sets below.
© 2015 Wacom
11
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
4. Start painting in the shadows and details of the piece, keeping in mind where the light is coming from, and giving objects a bit more form.
5. I like to use multiple shading layers, each on top of one another, so I can have gradual ‘steps’ of shading.
© 2015 Wacom
12
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
Watch how to add shading
© 2015 Wacom
13
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
6. At this stage your piece might look a little murky because of the grey shading, so consider having different shading layers (each set to Multiply) for different color groups. For example, with flesh, I’ll have a more pink or reddish shading layer, or with green objects I’ll have a slightly greener shading layer. This will help maintain the integrity of the color in the piece and ensure a more vibrant result. However, with darker or murkier colors a simple set of grey shading layers will suffice.
© 2015 Wacom
14
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
7. Continue to work your way through each layer set, from foreground to background, shading in your color fill layers with additional shading layers set to Multiply. Your piece should start to look pretty good by now, and if you’re continually painting in your shades with your light source in mind, your composition will hopefully start getting stronger!
© 2015 Wacom
15
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
Toning Toning is a great way to harmoniously bring your colors to work a little better together, and depending on the lighting in your scene, will help convey a great sense of depth and light. Similar to your shading layers, toning layers are simply color fill layers, set to Multiply, that sit at the top of each of your layer sets, above your line art smart object. Unlike shading layers, we’re going to use most of the layer to ‘tone’ the piece. 1. Start by creating a solid fill layer, setting it to a color you want to ‘tone’ with (for example, maybe a very light blue if you want a more sombre tone, or a yellow if you want it to look a bit warmer).
© 2015 Wacom
16
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
2. Now, if you want to, you can paint out highlights from the tone layer to bring an extra level of form to your artwork. In this example, I’ve brushed out the edges of the forms and people to give it a slightly backlit feel. This is a great way to get some extra details into your work and a slightly more intense sense of realism, if that’s what you’re going for.
© 2015 Wacom
17
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
Watch how to add toning
© 2015 Wacom
18
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
3. Continue to provide tone layers to each layer set in your artwork set.
4. Play around with the different tones in each layer set, perhaps having a darker tone layer in the foreground, and a lighter tone layer in the background. The effects of each tone layer can really help lift the piece, and can also be helpful for darkening or negating areas that you don’t want to be so conspicuous. If things are in the shadows, consider a darker tone layer.
© 2015 Wacom
19
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
Towards the end of this, with any luck your piece is starting to really sing, and it’s time to get some final steps in to really bring it together!
© 2015 Wacom
20
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
ABOUT THE ARTIST Melbourne-based illustrator Guy Shield has a background in design and an obsession with drawing. Growing up in Australia, Guy taught himself how to draw by littering the pages of his schoolbooks with the depths of his imagination, hoping one day his talents would not only find him fame and fortune but also distract women from the fact that he was really bad at sports. Though neither truly prevailed, Guy did develop an undying love for image making and a successful career in publishing and illustration, creating cover illustrations for renowned magazines such as “Kill Your Darlings”, among others.
© 2015 Wacom
The artist works mostly in pen and ink before moving to his Wacom tools, carefully crafting scenes that provoke intrigue and familiarity through formal compositions and engaging color palettes.
To find out more about his work, visit: guyshield.com facebook.com/thatguydraws @guyshield
21
LEARN MORE ©2015 Wacom Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Wacom and the respective logo are registered trademarks of Wacom Co., Ltd. All other company names and product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Please be aware that we have put a lot of work and effort into designing and developing this e-Book. Please note that Wacom retains all copyrights relating to this e-book and its content. While you are free to use all that you have learnt from this e-book, you are prohibited from redistributing or selling the e-book or its content, posting it on a website for download or sharing it on social networks. © Adobe, the Adobe logo, Creative Cloud and the Creative Cloud logo are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
You can find more information at www.wacom.com
BUILD COLOR & CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION Conveying Emotion and Depth with an Adjustable Color Palette by Guy Shield
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE
“While creating my artwork I am overcome with a cathartic sense of peacefulness. It’s a meditative process” - Guy Shield
© 2015 Wacom
02
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE
Guy Shield’s studio
© 2015 Wacom
03
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE
Table of Contents
© 2015 Wacom
01
PICKING A BASE COLOR
04
TONING
02
COLORING ELEMENTS USING COLOR FILL LAYERS
00
Tutorial INTRODUCTION
03
SHADING
05
About the ARTIST
04
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
CREATE MORE COLOR Color is integral to my work as an illustrator. It controls both the depth of the piece and the overall tone of it, which is an important way of conveying both emotion and engagement. Color is also integral to controlling the composition of the piece, and the way the eye is lead through it. By having an adjustable color palette, you can easily change and redirect the focus of the narrative. It’s also really fun, trust me! This tutorial is based on my previous tutorial and on having the layers of your artwork set up accordingly, from foreground to background. We’re going to rely heavily on the masked layer sets created in the first tutorial.
© 2015 Wacom
This eBook is your fun step-bystep guide to: picking and applying a base color; coloring up elements using color fill layers; and shading and toning your artwork
All digital work shown in this eBook was carried out with the Wacom pen tablet Intuos Pro, using Adobe© Photoshop. Visit the Wacom website to find out how to enhance your workflow and efficiency as an artist using modern digital technology: Our pens and tablets open up new possibilities for speed and precision and give you more freedom to experiment.
Guy Shield Illustrator guyshield.com
05
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
Picking a Base Color Establishing a base color for your piece is a great way to control the warmth of your artwork. I typically work in creams and off whites, ensuring that all the colors that I work in benefit with that extra little kick of yellow. This helps unite the palette and gives a pleasing result. 1. To start, press Shift+Click on all your layer sets in your layers palette and group them into another layer set. Name this set ‘Artwork’.
2. Below this layer set, create a solid fill color. 3. Pick a very light hue (as mentioned, I generally go with a creamy color).
© 2015 Wacom
06
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
4. Name this solid fill layer ‘Base Color’. 5. Now click on your ‘Artwork’ layer set in the layers palette.
Set the transparency mode (located in the top left hand corner of the layers palette) to Multiply.
6. You should notice that all your layer sets now benefit with the base color below.
© 2015 Wacom
07
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
Coloring Up the Elements Using Color Fill Layers 1. Start with the first layer set, your foreground.
Using color fill layers from the ‘Create New Fill or Adjustment’ menu at the bottom of the layers palette, we’re going to build up the colors for your artwork by individually coloring each element of the layer set accordingly. I should note here that all color fill layers should sit below the line art smart object that you’ve created for that layer set.
2. Imagine a Paint by Numbers kit for beginner artist, or a coloring book for kids. What we’re doing here is very much of the same intuition. For example, for all the elements/objects in the layer set that I want to be flesh colored, I create a new ‘Color Fill’ layer, and select a flesh color from the color picker.
© 2015 Wacom
08
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
3. Initially, it’s going to fill the entire layer set with that color, so you want to clear out your mask by clicking on the mask in the layers palette, and inverting it (Command/Ctrl+I), so it starts empty.
4. Start painting carefully in the area you want flesh colored. For this process I typically use the ‘Inker: Nib’ brush preset in my presets palette. 5. Once I’ve colored everything that I want in that color, I’ll repeat the process with new color fill layers, blocking out all the colors in that layer set of objects.
© 2015 Wacom
09
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
6. Don’t worry about toning/shading at this stage, as we’ll get to that shortly, the important thing at this point is to color block the entire piece, layer set by layer set, and get the colors sitting how you want them. The great thing about working in this method is being able to easily adjust each individual color so it sits harmoniously with the other colors.
What inspires Guy Shield?
© 2015 Wacom
10
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
Shading Now, with each layer set filled with a choice color palette of color fills, we’re going to start shading the piece. 1. With shading I like to create a new color fill layer, generally a light grey color. 2. Invert the mask so it’s empty.
3. Change the transparency settings at the top of the layers palette to set the color fill to ‘Multiply’. This will enable your shading layer to darken the color layer sets below.
© 2015 Wacom
11
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
4. Start painting in the shadows and details of the piece, keeping in mind where the light is coming from, and giving objects a bit more form.
5. I like to use multiple shading layers, each on top of one another, so I can have gradual ‘steps’ of shading.
© 2015 Wacom
12
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
Watch how to add shading
© 2015 Wacom
13
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
6. At this stage your piece might look a little murky because of the grey shading, so consider having different shading layers (each set to Multiply) for different color groups. For example, with flesh, I’ll have a more pink or reddish shading layer, or with green objects I’ll have a slightly greener shading layer. This will help maintain the integrity of the color in the piece and ensure a more vibrant result. However, with darker or murkier colors a simple set of grey shading layers will suffice.
© 2015 Wacom
14
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
7. Continue to work your way through each layer set, from foreground to background, shading in your color fill layers with additional shading layers set to Multiply. Your piece should start to look pretty good by now, and if you’re continually painting in your shades with your light source in mind, your composition will hopefully start getting stronger!
© 2015 Wacom
15
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
Toning Toning is a great way to harmoniously bring your colors to work a little better together, and depending on the lighting in your scene, will help convey a great sense of depth and light. Similar to your shading layers, toning layers are simply color fill layers, set to Multiply, that sit at the top of each of your layer sets, above your line art smart object. Unlike shading layers, we’re going to use most of the layer to ‘tone’ the piece. 1. Start by creating a solid fill layer, setting it to a color you want to ‘tone’ with (for example, maybe a very light blue if you want a more sombre tone, or a yellow if you want it to look a bit warmer).
© 2015 Wacom
16
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
2. Now, if you want to, you can paint out highlights from the tone layer to bring an extra level of form to your artwork. In this example, I’ve brushed out the edges of the forms and people to give it a slightly backlit feel. This is a great way to get some extra details into your work and a slightly more intense sense of realism, if that’s what you’re going for.
© 2015 Wacom
17
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
Watch how to add toning
© 2015 Wacom
18
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
3. Continue to provide tone layers to each layer set in your artwork set.
4. Play around with the different tones in each layer set, perhaps having a darker tone layer in the foreground, and a lighter tone layer in the background. The effects of each tone layer can really help lift the piece, and can also be helpful for darkening or negating areas that you don’t want to be so conspicuous. If things are in the shadows, consider a darker tone layer.
© 2015 Wacom
19
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
Towards the end of this, with any luck your piece is starting to really sing, and it’s time to get some final steps in to really bring it together!
© 2015 Wacom
20
BUILD COLOR AND CONTROL YOUR COMPOSITION CONVEYING EMOTION AND DEPTH WITH AN ADJUSTABLE COLOR PALETTE Contents
ABOUT THE ARTIST Melbourne-based illustrator Guy Shield has a background in design and an obsession with drawing. Growing up in Australia, Guy taught himself how to draw by littering the pages of his schoolbooks with the depths of his imagination, hoping one day his talents would not only find him fame and fortune but also distract women from the fact that he was really bad at sports. Though neither truly prevailed, Guy did develop an undying love for image making and a successful career in publishing and illustration, creating cover illustrations for renowned magazines such as “Kill Your Darlings”, among others.
© 2015 Wacom
The artist works mostly in pen and ink before moving to his Wacom tools, carefully crafting scenes that provoke intrigue and familiarity through formal compositions and engaging color palettes.
To find out more about his work, visit: guyshield.com facebook.com/thatguydraws @guyshield
21
LEARN MORE ©2015 Wacom Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Wacom and the respective logo are registered trademarks of Wacom Co., Ltd. All other company names and product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Please be aware that we have put a lot of work and effort into designing and developing this e-Book. Please note that Wacom retains all copyrights relating to this e-book and its content. While you are free to use all that you have learnt from this e-book, you are prohibited from redistributing or selling the e-book or its content, posting it on a website for download or sharing it on social networks. © Adobe, the Adobe logo, Creative Cloud and the Creative Cloud logo are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
You can find more information at www.wacom.com
