Hello, sorry if I come across as rude or if this had been answered before. But how do you color your art? Do you just use flat color and continue with shadow, then light, then ??? — or do you color in grayscale and tweak it?
Your art is real pretty!
I finally had some (little) time on my hands so I decided to finally,,, make a simple tutorial on coloring (and i get a lot of asks for these) feel free to check it out! ^.^
Note: This is just how I color and render things myself, this is not objective so you don't have to treat it like a handbook heheheh feel free to be creative about it
COLORING TUTORIAL
Start out with the flat colors.
2. Do some soft airbrush coloring on it. (Usually a blush thingy and a soft skin air coloring on the edges of the hair)
3. Do a simple shadow layer. (be mindful of where the light hits tho so it's more comprehensive:)))
4. (These are all in this one multiply layer) Grab the AIRBRUSH, ERASER, a SOFT PAINT, and the BLURRING PEN. Put some airbrush on the shadows (don't do too much tho), just lil dab there and there.
5. Using the blurring pen, smooth SOME of the edges, DON'T blur them all. Basically make some edges soft but also leave some edges hard.
6. Use the ERASER and delete some of the shadows for where the light bounces back (it's okay if it sometimes doesn't make sense) but again,,, don't overdo it, just erase what feels right for you :333
7. Grab a hard pen,,, as for my case, I used a lasso pen for the little details and again,,, don't overdo it. Grab a lighter color for the light part and use a darker color for the shadow part. You can just make lil strokes there and there, just enough to show depth and details.
8. (THIS IS A REALLY LONG PROCESS TO DO)vBalright now grab the soft painting brush, and all the brushes that I mentioned before. Use the soft painting brush for mixing the colors and use the dark/light colors accordingly. Along with that step, do the coloring method that was mentioned before too (the erasing, airbrush, lasso, etc.) u pretty much mix all the techniques,,, this is what we pretty much call the rendering phase or sumthn like that :>>
9. For tweaking some colors, use the alpha lock (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT as it only goes to where you did the coloring to) and grab the airbrush again. Pick a saturated color closest to the shadow and dab it a lil on the edges (don't do it to everything, it's gonna ruin your render tehee)
as u can see from the image, the color lightened up a bit and also became a lil saturated.
10. Still with the alpha lock, we're going to use a bluish color (this is optional because i used a different color triad, so it's different for everyone) i went with that color bc it's a common one. Same with the step 9, you do the same thing but ONLY do it on the edges (and to wherever you feel like placing it heh)
11. Now, go to the line art layer and enable the alpha lock again. Choose a saturated color closer to the color over it. Use the airbrush, and dab it a little, more specifically on the lighter side. Treat it like another rendering phase, put it accordingly to where it's light and where it's dark.
12. Now do the same thing on other aspects (eyes, lips, clothes, etc.) Go crazy go stupid with it heh
people have commented on stream here and there that they find the way I color eyes a bit odd since I tend to put down a mauve kind of base color for the sclera before building it up with an eggshell white-esque color that leaves the edges a bit sheer? translucent? More skin and flesh-like? Idk, it just makes them feel livelier to me basically!
... and as kind of a palate cleanser between comic sketching I just spontaneously felt like doing a bit of a layout documenting all the steps I sometimes put into the eyes haha
tbh tho unless it's a close-up, I don't normally render the irises with all this much detail, I just couldn't help myself with this example oops
I recently got an ask [x] on colouring for this set I did for solo levelling [x] and it got so long because I wanted to say so many things and I ended up going into colour theory so I gave up fighting with photoshop and did it on keynote instead 💀
NO DRAWING TABLETS or PROGRAMS needed! You can use yours if you have them, but you can follow with you PC/tablet with mouse and keyboard and with the FREE website Photopea.com
1 hour of your time
psd files you’ll receive a couple of days before the workshop
The lesson will be RECORDED! So as long as you are registered, you can watch it later during the week in case you miss it :)
my hyperfix on twst is quickly coming back, so i'm trying to relearn how to draw idia's hair. i made this short coloring tutorial for myself, feel free to use it too if it helps!
〘 ✶ 〙The Lords Notes ⋯ this was my very first "psd" / ibispaint coloring that I did back in January after I made Meiki the Sua layout and really liked the coloring I did for it, so I made this. anyways I've been proud of this one for a good while 🦭
i've been wanting to share a gif-making tutorial for a long time, and since i recently hit 5000 followers i'm finally posting it!! i've collected a lot of resources and learned a lot of tricks over the years, and i'm very happy to finally share them with you all. i've included an overview of my full gifmaking process, as well as downloadable PS actions, PSDs, sharpening, and more, so hopefully this is helpful to both beginners and experienced gifmakers alike!! ✨
here is a folder of all the resources from this tutorial. all of them will also be linked individually below, along with any other websites and software that i recommend!
Video Downloaders/Resources
The first step of gif-making is to get your hands on a video file for the content you want to gif. The reality is that the most reliable way to access high quality versions of movies & tv shows is through t*rrenting, and in order to t*rrent, you need a paid VPN. I will recommend free alternatives for everything where at all possible, but a couple of investments will save you a lot of effort and give you access to waaaaay more stuff.
VPN (paid) - I use Surfshark, any paid VPN should work, find whichever has the best deal
T*rrent client - i use qBitt*rrent
Magnet link sites: Eztv, ThePirateBay, uIndex, 1337x, LimeT*rrents, T*rrentLeech
Video Guidelines: I usually use files that are 1080p quality. I used to use 2160p quality files almost exclusively, but it takes way longer, and with a good quality 1080p file, the result is basically just as good. In order to find a good file, check the file size before you download it. For a 1 hour tv show episode, you want a file around 3 or 4 GB. Anything under 1 GB won't give you a good result.
More options for downloading other kinds of videos:
Video DownloadHelper (paid) - download directly from video platforms! you get a couple downloads for free, but the paid version is worth it for me. Pros: works instantly so you dont have to wait for the t*rrent file to be posted, works on lots of sites, pay once/no subscription. Cons: no embedded subtitles.
Dropout-dl (free) - Command line downloader for Dropout.tv. Pros: free, works instantly, embedded subtitles, and always creates a separate searchable subtitle file. Cons: very technical setup. For this one, you will also need Docker.
VideoProc Converter (free version) - good for downloading YouTube, and extracting embedded subtitles from video files (5 minute limit on the subtitle thing)
Screencaps
The next step is to convert your video to screencap images.
mpv
sample mpv.conf file
I use mpv to make my screencaps because it's the most efficient, in my opinion. In order to set it up, you have to edit the settings in the "mpv.conf" file. Mine is located here: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\mpv. I've linked a sample of the settings I use above. I recommend changing the screenshot-directory to a different folder for your screencaps. I organize my screencaps in numbered folders to keep track of them.
Image Software
I use Photoshop CS6 version, from this link:
birdyresources photoshop
more (free) photoshop links
The other software you can use is Photopea. There's lots of tutorials for that on photopeablr!
Importing Screencaps to Photoshop
In Photoshop, go to File -> Scripts -> Load Multiple DICOM Files. Then, paste the file path of one of your screencap folders into the pop-up.
Creating Gif Smart Object
First off: if your screencaps have a black border anywhere, crop it out, making sure that "Delete Cropped Pixels" is selected.
Next, there are a bunch of steps to be able to work with your screencaps in Photoshop. I have all of those steps saved as Actions.
download all my photoshop actions
how to use my actions
For a full description of how my actions work, how to use them, and a description of every action, I created a separate post just for that! It was a little too long to include here lol. It's not necessary to read the whole thing; feel free to just start using the first action and figure it out with trial and error if you want!
Coloring Layers
It's kind of hard to describe the coloring process, so I've provided several PSDs of gif colorings that you are free to use!
coloring PSD folder
Here's a list of the adjustment layers I usually use, in the order I add them: Exposure, Levels, Curves, Brightness, Vibrance, (then i make a new folder for just the coloring layers) Channel Mixer, Color Balance, Hue/Saturation x many, Selective Color x many
If you take a look at the Louis file in the PSD folder, than you can see all the layers I used to go achieve this coloring:
Add captions
Next, add captions and anything else you want on your gif. This is the font I use for captions:
Arial Rounded MT Bold
Here are the text settings I use. In order to add Layer Styles, right-click on your text layer and click 'Blending Options'.
Export and fix gif speed
Now that the gif is ready with all of the right layers, export it by going to File -> Save for Web. (This takes a while to load as photoshop is putting everything together.) These are the export settings I use:
When the window pops-up, make sure to change the looping option to forever, and then you can save your gif. I also highlighted the area where it shows the final file size of the gif. This needs to be under 10MB, or else tumblr won't allow you to upload it.
This result is good, but when you first export it, the speed of the frames is wrong.
In order to fix the speed: open the .gif file in Photoshop, select all the frames, and change the speed to 0.05 seconds. Repeat the Save for Web step, and overwrite your previous .gif file when you save it. (You can also double check that the gif loops 'Forever' at the very bottom.)
And here's our final gif!
Repeat these steps as needed for the rest of the gifs in the scene. Remember to check out my action pack to save a lot of time on repeated steps!
Here's some additional tips and tricks for giffing to make your life easier:
Tips for skin tone
I often spend a lot of time ensuring that the skin tones of the people in my gifs look natural. It's very important to represent people's skin tones accurately, and it's not acceptable to whitewash or colorwash people of color's skin tones.
Here are some tutorials I've found very helpful:
fix orange-washed characters
channel mixer tutorial
A lot of shows these days have really pale and muted palettes, so Vibrance really helps to add saturation and dimension. If the subject looks too pale/whitewashed, increase the saturation and deepness of the Yellow and Red colors using Selective Color layers.
this is the before/after impact of two layers, Vibrance and Red Selective Color:
If the subject looks too yellow or orange, neutralize these tones using Selective Color and Hue/Saturation layers:
before/after:
Tips for recoloring
I recently posted a small tutorial that goes over my recoloring process, such as in the example below of changing the background from neutral yellow to blue. It also goes over some more complicated gif effects.
coloring + moving film strip tutorial
Other tips and tutorials
For Curves layers, I don't use the eyedropper method. I just click on the line to adjust it myself, making the darks darker and lights lighter. This gives the gif a lot more dimension and contrast.
Selective Color tutorial - change the color of shadows
Text effects tutorial
Usergif tutorial directory - tutorials for basically anything you want to learn!
Every gif is different - sometimes, even two shots of the same person in the same scene can have drastically different lighting and color-grading from each other. I recommend playing around with the values in the adjustment layers a lot to fit your gifs as needed. You can also reduce the opacity of layers to lessen their effect, or duplicate layers to increase their effect. (I often reuse coloring layers and make these changes, so it's a real method!)
THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading my gif tutorial, I hope it was helpful to you!! My goal is to spread the love and resources for gifmaking far and wide, so everyone can make gifs as beautifully and easily as possible. I hope you have a nice day and don't hesitate to send me any questions you might have about any of my tutorials or resources! 🥰
