In this video we'll apply the concepts from Pt.1 in an actual illustration. The idea here is exactly the same as in our black and white film colorizing, but the raw material is your own painting. One of the best aspects of working digitally is the ability to be flexible and fluidly manipulating colors. If you know the underlying properties of skin, the gradient map command can save you tons of time. In case you missed them, here is a link to Part 1, and an older video about the Gradient Map command. Enjoy!
Skin is a tricky thing to paint. A great first step is research and observation, and this video presents a fun exercise to help you practice. It's common for us to think of skin as a color, but it's strongly affected by the current lighting and never ends up looking like those "skin color" crayons made for children. To make things even more difficult, skin has a way of changing its hue as it passes from light into shadow. All of this tends to trip up beginners, and it's common to have your skin tones look lifeless and cold.
I encourage you to try the exercise I mention in the video, and Cinema Squid is a great place to find high resolution screenshots. Have fun!
Even though it's counter-intuitive, sometimes you add a little salt to make a recipe taste sweeter. The same logic can be used to make your colors more vibrant! The principle at work in this short video is called "simultaneous contrast", or "color contrast" - and it is a sure-fire way to liven up your colors.
Making colors appear vibrant can be a challenge. In this video I'll discuss a trick to grab the viewer's attention with smart use of strong, saturated colors. And if you think the answer is "use a lot of saturation", you might be surprised to by the approach. After all, color is all about relativity.
One of the most exciting subjects to paint is landscape - but many artists don't know where to begin. This video shows one approach. Just like in the previous video where we did a "Tiny Study", these are small thumbnail sketches. Creating a small drawing like this allows you to quickly explore compositions without investing too deeply in a single image. Most importantly, working small like this is a way to lower your expectations - it's a lot less stressful working on a tiny painting that can't fit any details. And if you like this video, please remember to click the “Like” button at the bottom of the post! The only advertising for Ctrl+Paint is word of mouth, so I’m counting on you guys to spread the word. Thanks!
Assignment: Create Landscape Thumbnails
Things to consider: Use the photo as color and material reference, not for shape.
Recommended videos:The "Tiny Study",
We've talked about starting small and working bigger - but this time we're going to start tiny. Color is challenging to work with, and much of the instruction on Ctrl+Paint is done in grayscale. If you want to start working directly in color I recommend the 'tiny study' exercise. When you're looking at a photo filled with rich details it's tempting to re-create each pebble and tree. This exercise forces you to simplify what you're seeing, skip the details, and only paint the colors. Even though the end result won't impress your friends, it helps hone your eye for color and builds a foundation for landscape painting.