Syarul's guide to Coloring

syarul · 11-23-2005, 03:41 AM

Syarul's guide to Coloring

I decided to make this tutorial after a few ppl ask me how I do my shading. Though I'm not that good enough, sharing the same interest would benefit us each other. I try to make it simple and plain since it's a pain to read a long technical stuffs and we are not that bright to understand such thing. So straight to the point.

Note: this tutorial is not about drawing, if you want to draw find the tutorials somewhere else, NF boards have plenty of them.

Requirements:
Tablet
Photoshop (CS2 recomended)

First, terminology. You should know this when I define them.

Gradient - color falloff, from light value to dark value
Hue - Variations in color. Everything has hue a bit on them, we only need to know where to put it
Saturation - Saturated or less saturated, neon color is simple way to define a very saturated color.
Specular - highlight, a spot where a surface totally bounce the light source directly into our eyes.
Ambient - part of surface backing the light source, always in darker value but may differ from type of surface it is. (i.e Skin)
Reflect - surface may reflect light like water or mirror, Normal surface also reflect light though the value is little and it's called Radiosity.

Since we always doing this 3 types of shading when doing characters, i decided to devide them

1. Metal (especially for head protector and metal stuffs like kunai and shuriken)
2. Cloth (Flack Jacket, normal clothing)
3. Skin shading(including eyeballs)

Base Coloring and Setting Up Palette
I used the manga scanline as the base since this guide is about shading after all.^^ This image was nice since it has most aspect in the pic metals, eyes, skin, cloth and rocks. First do this in photoshop set the layer like this. Copy/cut the original image into a new layer and set as multiply. Then create an under layer and rename it "base color" layer.

Next we need to know what brushes to use. So this are 4 type of brushes I always used. The first three is default ps brushes of the hard round variant. The fourth type is a custom made by removing all dynamic feats on the brush. There is icon to the top right called "Toggle The Brushes Palette". Uncheack all value there and click on "create new brushes".

Next make a layer on top multiply and rename it to palette. This one is optional. So collect what color you prefer before shading the character. Then start base coloring. Leave head protector for now and black areas like cloak, nails and stones over Itachi. White lines on Itachi cloak also will be remove later so leave it.

nuff said, base coloring. Use type 4 brush.

This time make another layer on top base color and name it "shade". Now pick the skin base color and get a bit darker value of it and paint on shade layer area which you think is the ambient part of Itachi skin. Define your source of light since it would guide your shading/coloring better. I decided for me from top left of the image. Use brush type 1~3.Then, leave it as it is for now and we shall come back refining the skin layer again later.

syarul · 11-23-2005, 03:42 AM

Head Protector Shading

Next, make also another layer name it "shade head protector". Tone it with dark grey and blue on it.Start shading the head protector like this. Use type 1~3 brushes.

1. Shove your pen with the direction show in the diagram. Notice how the gradient value falloff that I did on the head protector panel.

2. This time use blue value and shove it in the same way only part where the arrows are shown in the diagram.

3. Next highlight the top edge and darken the bottom edge part. This define how the head protector(hp) surface was like.

4. Every surface would bounce light. Since skin would recieve and bounce light, The hp would also recieve the light and bounce back to the camera.

5. To define the surface of the emblem, we need to hightlight it with white on some part of the emblem.

syarul · 11-23-2005, 03:44 AM

6. This is created last and I make another layer for this part "highlight hp". define the shadow and put points of specular on the edges which will recieve light. If we need to fix or touch up this later better to leave it with another layer. Be sure to clean the last layer for any out boundaries shading.

Some more this also might prove usefull if you really don't understand what I'm trying to pull with the hp thing. If you still don't get it! i don't know what to say..^^ figure out yourself. The final part of the image use light blue color on a color dodge layer.

This one is a sample metal cube how it recieve lights. See how the green floor effected the bottom part of the cube which sometime not always in dark value. It's Radiosity

Cloak Shading
Next we do the cloak. First clean every white line first on a layer. I name it cloak. I use 3 red values for the inner part and notice how shading is done on spots where u think the cloak fold.I also left a bit red hue on skin tone to define radiosity. I finish the leather thing on his cloak also.

Next make another layer cloak shade but put it above the multiply layer. Grey value define outer part and shade area facing the source of light. I also put a bit hue on the hp. Yup, it's a so-called reflection, and don't miss it! Something small can make a trully big difference I say.

Hair Shading
Next, this time we do the hair. Make a new layer on top cloak shade name it to hair shade. Notice how i do the stroke and all the lit and red hue value on it. Leave it as it is now and move to the next step.

syarul · 11-23-2005, 03:45 AM

Skin Shading
Now we finalizing the skin tone. Make a new layer on top shade name it to overlay and set the layer property as overlay. First I refine the shade layer skintone first. By giving more depth and value. I also add a shadow effect under the hair. I use different color variant this time which is more orangish(circle in red). The left hand value also. If you think the color is messed up you always can use filter>blur>surface blur to simplify it. If the color doesn't look quite ok try adjusting with any of these feats:-
1.Hue and Saturation
2.Contrast
3.Color adjustment

Moving to the overlay layer. This time use these two value of colors to define the surface of the skin.

We are almost there. Next the eyeballs, ring and nails. For eyeballs follow this one. You need a layer on top multiply and name it as touch up to color certain part like specular of the eyes and nails.

Finalizing and Touch Up
Next create another layer on top multiply a color dodge layer and name it highlight. Use a white color this time and highlight Itachi hair. u may also highlight anywhere you think need more specular like the head protector. Finally color the background and clean up all palettes. Vuallah! now I've finished so start yours right away^^.

I'm including PSD files as refrences. Though these links only last for certain of periods if no one is downloading it, so ask/PM me again if you want it if these links are broken.

mirror 1 (rapidshare.de)
mirror 2 (yousendedit)

If YOU can shade although not reaching to this tutorial expectation and want to give us hand at Zarosaki please tell us. Sharing toughts, opinions and works is a best way to advance ^^. Don't hesitate much just drop us a msg and a sample work of yours. Visit the Shannaro forum page or post it here at NF.

StoneWalker · 11-23-2005, 05:10 AM

beautiful T____T <3 I think this is one of the most well-constructed tutorials for NF.

thankyou for making it + posting

I have to move this to the Tutorials section tho

Kucheeky Badkuya · 11-23-2005, 08:03 AM

Nice job, now when I get CS, I can try oout coloring using your tutorial! Danke!

Rinali · 11-23-2005, 08:19 AM

that is a very cool tut =)

Leen · 11-23-2005, 09:10 AM

Thanks Syarul. U save my life. But is it possible for u to zip it in Winzip since I dont have winrar so I cant view the file.

syarul · 11-23-2005, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eileenting88

Thanks Syarul. U save my life. But is it possible for u to zip it in Winzip since I dont have winrar so I cant view the file.

I already save your live once eileenting88, do I need to save you twice

? Actually you can get a free trial Winrar archiever from the net. Just figure out yourself, if lucky u might get it in different ways. Rar is new genre for compression files just like everyone use Firefox over Iexplorer. We all used "original" software after all, right guys?

Anyway I notice that I forgot to color Itachi headband in the tutorial which was blue in color. I may comeback fixing it later.

Tsuuga · 12-06-2005, 11:53 PM

This is extremely helpful, and I love how you put the palette/colors on the side.

Sakura4Ever · 12-07-2005, 10:59 AM

awesome and really helpful tutorial syarul =) great work with it

Zhongda · 12-08-2005, 05:43 PM

iam gonna try this tut when iam hoplessly bored.

Lingz · 12-08-2005, 06:48 PM

Great tut!

Miso · 02-19-2006, 08:11 AM

Wonderful tutorial - well structured and covers like everything!

BlaZeR · 06-18-2006, 10:56 AM

Could you please reupload the psd?

DarkFire · 07-21-2006, 05:23 PM

wow great tut

pjoto · 07-24-2006, 11:48 AM

A GREAT Tutorial, really perfect :D However, the download-links wont work

Evhull rapidshare and yousendit, I'm just getting errors..

I would really like to be able to download the tut, and see the .psd files and such

Could you please repost it or send it to me so I can post it or something?

Itachi Lord OF the Moon · 02-04-2008, 10:13 AM

damn is nowhere a tutorial in german? im tired of searching....i understand this but i have photoshop cs3 extended....and i'm stupid with colouring....

Tefax · 02-11-2008, 11:44 PM

great tut, thanks you very much

Chevaux · 02-14-2008, 01:01 AM

this is an excellent tutorial

11-23-2005, 03:41 AM	#1
syarul hidden love village Rookie Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Malaysia Posts: 71	Syarul's guide to Coloring Syarul's guide to Coloring I decided to make this tutorial after a few ppl ask me how I do my shading. Though I'm not that good enough, sharing the same interest would benefit us each other. I try to make it simple and plain since it's a pain to read a long technical stuffs and we are not that bright to understand such thing. So straight to the point. Note: this tutorial is not about drawing, if you want to draw find the tutorials somewhere else, NF boards have plenty of them. Requirements: Tablet Photoshop (CS2 recomended) First, terminology. You should know this when I define them. Gradient - color falloff, from light value to dark value Hue - Variations in color. Everything has hue a bit on them, we only need to know where to put it Saturation - Saturated or less saturated, neon color is simple way to define a very saturated color. Specular - highlight, a spot where a surface totally bounce the light source directly into our eyes. Ambient - part of surface backing the light source, always in darker value but may differ from type of surface it is. (i.e Skin) Reflect - surface may reflect light like water or mirror, Normal surface also reflect light though the value is little and it's called Radiosity. Since we always doing this 3 types of shading when doing characters, i decided to devide them 1. Metal (especially for head protector and metal stuffs like kunai and shuriken) 2. Cloth (Flack Jacket, normal clothing) 3. Skin shading(including eyeballs) Base Coloring and Setting Up Palette I used the manga scanline as the base since this guide is about shading after all.^^ This image was nice since it has most aspect in the pic metals, eyes, skin, cloth and rocks. First do this in photoshop set the layer like this. Copy/cut the original image into a new layer and set as multiply. Then create an under layer and rename it "base color" layer. Next we need to know what brushes to use. So this are 4 type of brushes I always used. The first three is default ps brushes of the hard round variant. The fourth type is a custom made by removing all dynamic feats on the brush. There is icon to the top right called "Toggle The Brushes Palette". Uncheack all value there and click on "create new brushes". Next make a layer on top multiply and rename it to palette. This one is optional. So collect what color you prefer before shading the character. Then start base coloring. Leave head protector for now and black areas like cloak, nails and stones over Itachi. White lines on Itachi cloak also will be remove later so leave it. nuff said, base coloring. Use type 4 brush. This time make another layer on top base color and name it "shade". Now pick the skin base color and get a bit darker value of it and paint on shade layer area which you think is the ambient part of Itachi skin. Define your source of light since it would guide your shading/coloring better. I decided for me from top left of the image. Use brush type 1~3.Then, leave it as it is for now and we shall come back refining the skin layer again later. Last edited by syarul; 11-23-2005 at 08:05 AM.

11-23-2005, 03:42 AM	#2
syarul hidden love village Rookie Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Malaysia Posts: 71	Head Protector Shading Next, make also another layer name it "shade head protector". Tone it with dark grey and blue on it.Start shading the head protector like this. Use type 1~3 brushes. 1. Shove your pen with the direction show in the diagram. Notice how the gradient value falloff that I did on the head protector panel. 2. This time use blue value and shove it in the same way only part where the arrows are shown in the diagram. 3. Next highlight the top edge and darken the bottom edge part. This define how the head protector(hp) surface was like. 4. Every surface would bounce light. Since skin would recieve and bounce light, The hp would also recieve the light and bounce back to the camera. 5. To define the surface of the emblem, we need to hightlight it with white on some part of the emblem. Last edited by syarul; 11-23-2005 at 08:06 AM.

11-23-2005, 03:44 AM	#3
syarul hidden love village Rookie Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Malaysia Posts: 71	6. This is created last and I make another layer for this part "highlight hp". define the shadow and put points of specular on the edges which will recieve light. If we need to fix or touch up this later better to leave it with another layer. Be sure to clean the last layer for any out boundaries shading. Some more this also might prove usefull if you really don't understand what I'm trying to pull with the hp thing. If you still don't get it! i don't know what to say..^^ figure out yourself. The final part of the image use light blue color on a color dodge layer. This one is a sample metal cube how it recieve lights. See how the green floor effected the bottom part of the cube which sometime not always in dark value. It's Radiosity Cloak Shading Next we do the cloak. First clean every white line first on a layer. I name it cloak. I use 3 red values for the inner part and notice how shading is done on spots where u think the cloak fold.I also left a bit red hue on skin tone to define radiosity. I finish the leather thing on his cloak also. Next make another layer cloak shade but put it above the multiply layer. Grey value define outer part and shade area facing the source of light. I also put a bit hue on the hp. Yup, it's a so-called reflection, and don't miss it! Something small can make a trully big difference I say. Hair Shading Next, this time we do the hair. Make a new layer on top cloak shade name it to hair shade. Notice how i do the stroke and all the lit and red hue value on it. Leave it as it is now and move to the next step. Last edited by syarul; 11-23-2005 at 08:07 AM.

11-23-2005, 03:45 AM	#4
syarul hidden love village Rookie Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Malaysia Posts: 71	Skin Shading Now we finalizing the skin tone. Make a new layer on top shade name it to overlay and set the layer property as overlay. First I refine the shade layer skintone first. By giving more depth and value. I also add a shadow effect under the hair. I use different color variant this time which is more orangish(circle in red). The left hand value also. If you think the color is messed up you always can use filter>blur>surface blur to simplify it. If the color doesn't look quite ok try adjusting with any of these feats:- 1.Hue and Saturation 2.Contrast 3.Color adjustment Moving to the overlay layer. This time use these two value of colors to define the surface of the skin. We are almost there. Next the eyeballs, ring and nails. For eyeballs follow this one. You need a layer on top multiply and name it as touch up to color certain part like specular of the eyes and nails. Finalizing and Touch Up Next create another layer on top multiply a color dodge layer and name it highlight. Use a white color this time and highlight Itachi hair. u may also highlight anywhere you think need more specular like the head protector. Finally color the background and clean up all palettes. Vuallah! now I've finished so start yours right away^^. I'm including PSD files as refrences. Though these links only last for certain of periods if no one is downloading it, so ask/PM me again if you want it if these links are broken. mirror 1 (rapidshare.de) mirror 2 (yousendedit) If YOU can shade although not reaching to this tutorial expectation and want to give us hand at Zarosaki please tell us. Sharing toughts, opinions and works is a best way to advance ^^. Don't hesitate much just drop us a msg and a sample work of yours. Visit the Shannaro forum page or post it here at NF. __________________ "courage is the standing army of the soul which keeps it from conquest, pillage, and slavery" -Henry van Dyke +http://kloverfx.blogdrive.com/ +http://syarul.deviantart.com/ Last edited by syarul; 11-23-2005 at 08:11 AM.

11-23-2005, 08:19 AM	#7
Rinali your retarded little brother ANBU Squad Leader Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: teh loserland Posts: 1,491	that is a very cool tut =) __________________ DUN click here!!

11-23-2005, 08:03 AM	#6
Kucheeky Badkuya ->- Elite Jounin Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2,895	Nice job, now when I get CS, I can try oout coloring using your tutorial! Danke!

11-23-2005, 09:10 AM	#8
Leen Peacemaker Missing-nin Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 2,365	Thanks Syarul. U save my life. But is it possible for u to zip it in Winzip since I dont have winrar so I cant view the file. __________________ -->DeviantArt<-- Support World Vision Today

12-06-2005, 11:53 PM	#10
Tsuuga Haunghted. S-Class Missing-nin Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 3,166	This is extremely helpful, and I love how you put the palette/colors on the side. __________________ Forumon!: Thanks, Mog!

12-07-2005, 10:59 AM	#11
Sakura4Ever Sakura Lover <3 Rookie Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Sweden Posts: 84	awesome and really helpful tutorial syarul =) great work with it __________________ My FC's:

12-08-2005, 05:43 PM	#12
Zhongda Hedonist Legendary Ninja Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Kuwait Posts: 4,837 Blog Entries: 3	iam gonna try this tut when iam hoplessly bored. __________________ Add me on facebook 少不讀水滸, 老不讀三國

12-08-2005, 06:48 PM	#13
Lingz Simplicity Elite Jounin Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 2,488	Great tut!

02-19-2006, 08:11 AM	#14
Miso aka AzzzRAEL Torture Specialist Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 1,230	Wonderful tutorial - well structured and covers like everything! __________________ Nidaime FC\|Kakashi FC\|Rock Lee FC\|Kakashi's Mask FC avatar thanks to Murasaki by pek by me Want a cool sig? Check my Sig Giveaways!

06-18-2006, 10:56 AM	#15
BlaZeR Oh yeah? Special Jounin Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 671 Blog Entries: 1	Could you please reupload the psd?

07-21-2006, 05:23 PM	#16
DarkFire immune to modfuck Elite Jounin Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Taking down noobs, one at a time Posts: 2,743 Blog Entries: 3	wow great tut __________________

07-24-2006, 11:48 AM	#17
pjoto Newbie Academy Student Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 1	A GREAT Tutorial, really perfect :D However, the download-links wont work Evhull rapidshare and yousendit, I'm just getting errors.. I would really like to be able to download the tut, and see the .psd files and such Could you please repost it or send it to me so I can post it or something?

02-04-2008, 10:13 AM	#18
Itachi Lord OF the Moon Pretty Dead Genin Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Chemnitz, Germany Posts: 111	damn is nowhere a tutorial in german? im tired of searching....i understand this but i have photoshop cs3 extended....and i'm stupid with colouring....

02-11-2008, 11:44 PM	#19
Tefax not here S-Class Missing-nin Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 3,104	great tut, thanks you very much

02-14-2008, 01:01 AM	#20
Chevaux damnit Torture Specialist Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: prismacolor understanding Posts: 1,148	this is an excellent tutorial __________________