Tutorial 1: Hair
Tools: Adobe Photoshop, Wacom Intuos Tablet
I would like to preface this tutorial that my exact method for hair changes with the phases of the moon, what I feel like doing that day, etc. I may adjust settings or... just not use certain things lol. But for the most part this is how I do hair.
All images are clickable to see larger size.
Step 1: Before getting into the nitty gritty, these are the settings that I use for my brush. Shape dynamics is always on, this is what allows the taper for your brush. Size Jitter on 0, the control on Pen Pressure. The pen pressure means the harder you press the larger the brush, lighter the pressure smaller the brush.
The Transfer setting is something I use when it feels right. Not something I use all the time for hair. When this is enabled it is very similar to the pen pressure. The harder you press the higher the opacity, lighter the pressure the lower the opacity.
Step 2: Everything I do is a trust the process lol. There is some sketchy moments so buckle up.
Firstly we are just going to sketch out where we want the hair to go, on a new layer of its own. This does not need to be perfect, we are just drawing our map. I do not use a special brush at all for any of my hair. I only use a simple round hard brush. The exact size varies a bit, just depends on the size of the image I'm working on. I believe in this first step I used a 13px size brush.
And I feel now is a good time also mention I ONLY do hair in greyscale. Once completed I will then recolor it to the desired color. This also includes white.
Step 3: Once you have it mapped out where you want the hair to be go ahead and fill it in. I did some minor adjustments on the flow a tiny bit. Things will get a little more refined in future steps.
Step 4: Now here is where we are going to start the refining a bit. Get a smaller brush, pretty sure I used a 5px (maybe 3px...), and start adding some refind shape to the hair. Smoothing out the lumps and bumps, add some more fly aways, etc. (note the trust the process, we were looking mighty sketchy down by the base of the wing but she's starting to look mighty fine now lol)
Step 5: This is a step that I don't always do, just kind of depends on what we are doing. If a horse is just standing so the mane and tail are laying flat I may not. But since we have a lot of motion here my last step of finishing out the base is going in with a 1px brush, and just adding in some more dynamic fly aways. Don't go too heavy though.
Step 6: Once you are happy with the shape of the mane then we are going to start shading it. This is going to be heavy on the trust the process.
On the layer select the alpha lock. This locks in the transparency, so you don't have to worry about coloring outside the lines. It is the little square that looks like a checker board. On the layer you're working on you'll see a little transparent lock. It is similar to when to lock a layer, but a layer lock will prevent ANY changes to that layer. The alpha lock just maintains the transparency of the layer.
The second image will show a bold example of what this does, you can see the red lines stay within the confines of the hair layer.
This IS different than a clipping mask for those who are familiar with it. A clipping masked layer can be moved around, this cannot. It is just keeping the transparency not shaping a different layer to your desired shaped layer.
Step 7: Now we start doing some very light rough outlining of where we want shadows to go. Still just using a hard round brush. I think for this piece I used a 19px size brush. And I also lower the opacity down low, usually around 25-35%. The whole process of shading this is about building depth. You don't want to go hard and heavy from the start, it makes it harder in the long run. So take your time! In choosing a color I will just go down a ways from the base color grey. There is zero science for what colors I choose, just vibes. Don't go TOO dark, do Goldilocks, just right. You can always build the color in.
Step 8: This where we get a little scary again. If you question your outcome on this step then you're doing good. Now we are going to start blocking in the highlights. Big, chunky, moto moto likes it highlights. Rough shape, not an exact science. We are just starting to feel out what the hair wants to do.
Step 9: Now we are going to start refining now that we have laid our base. Kind of like when we were sketching the layout of the mane? Get a smaller brush of your choice, I believe I used 5px, and a darker color again. Still going to keep the opacity low. And we are going to go in and start adding in some darker, refined shadows. This is not the end of the road for the shadows, so don't get too heavy handed. We are just trying to add a little bit more depth to the darkest areas, add in some other shadows here and there.
Step 10: Now we are going to pick a lighter color and a smaller brush. And we are going to focus more on refining the highlights. Since we are getting lighter you will want make sure you focus on the "high"points of the mane, they would be the parts getting the most exposure to light. And here is where it actually starts coming together more and actually looking like hair.
Step 11: Same as above, just now with shadows. Focusing on the low points, parts between the strands. See a pattern yet?
Step 12: Here I might catch some flack. Why? I DON'T KNOW! Years ago it used to be taboo to use dodge/burn because you weren't pain stakingly painting everything yourself. Well I say work smarter, not harder. Adobe (or your flavor of program) has it there for a reason. I feel like using dodge/burn, with moderation, can really help blend the gradients of highlights/shadows without overworking the piece.
So this is the only steps I will use a soft round brush. And a big one. You want big brush, low, low opacity. BUILD your highlights. Don't go at it all willy nilly.
Step 13: Guess what we do here? Same as above with the burn tool for our shadows.
Step 14: Back to the paint brush. Size 3px, and going with an almost white color. REALLY refining the highlights here.
Step 15: Finally we are at the end. At this stage I do any kind of final tweaking I feel is needed. In this case I felt like some of the shadows weren't dark enough so I drew in some more as well as used the burn tool along the crest.
Here is the final look (not colored yet obviously), at 100% zoom.
Credits for the images used for hair tutorial: Jericho (9947) | Adobe: 428796259 (wings), 140106613 (horse) | DA: Venomxbaby (horse)
Windy with Flurries
