Creating a superhero using the pen tool Topics covered: Pen Tool, Fill Layers, Color Range, Levels Adjustments, Magic Wand tool, and shadowing techniques Getting Started 1. Reset your work environment by resetting tools, palette locations and default colors. 2. Open your character file. Changing your image to blue First, you will change your sketch lines from gray or black to blue. This will be helpful later to avoid confusion between your sketch and the pen tool color. In the next 2 steps, you will increase the intensity of the blue channel of your image, to obtain the blue lines on your sketch. 1. To set your sketch lines to blue go to IMAGE - ADJUSTMENTS LEVELS. This will open the Levels option window. In this window, change the Channels to BLUE, and on the Input Levels boxes, type the following values on each box: 0, 1.00, 120. 2. Your image lines should change to blue. This happened because we increased the blue intensity level of the image. Click OK to close the Levels window. 1. Create a new layer (LAYER NEW LAYER). Name the layer SKETCH and click OK to close the window. 2. Fill the layer with white by going to the Paint Bucket Tool ( ), and change the foreground color to white. To change the foreground color to white, you can click
on the SWATCHES tab on your palettes, and click on the white square. Then click on the image. This will fill your canvas with white color. 3. Create another layer and name it INK. 4. Your layers palette should look like this: If you need to reorder your layers, just click and drag it to the position that you want on the list. 5. Turn OFF the visibility of the Sketch layer, by clicking on the eye icon next to it. Now you will be able to see your sketch. 6. Verify that your INK layer is selected as shown above. That s where we will draw with the pen tool. 7. Set the foreground color to black, or click on the reset icon for the foreground/background colors on your toolbox. Working with the pen tool 1. Select the Pen Tool on the toolbar. 2. In the options bar for the Pen Tool, select the Paths icon. This will create a path that will be filled with a line on later steps. 3. Click and hold the mouse down where you want to start your line. Note that if you drag the mouse away from the point where you clicked, two handles appear. These handles will help you create arcs instead of straight lines.
4. Click again where you want your line to end, and time hold the mouse down again. Drag the mouse to the side and see how your line becomes a curve. Edit the curve by moving the mouse around until you get the desired line or curve. NOTE: If you need to go back a few steps, go to EDIT STEP BACKWARD until you reach the point where you want to start again. 5. When you are done creating your paths, go to the PATHS tab on your palettes. You will see your path saved as Work Path. Click on the Work Path layer and right-click with your mouse. A menu will appear. Select STROKE PATH from the menu. 6. The Stroke Path option window will appear. If you click on the arrow next to Tool, you ll see different options that Photoshop could use to create a stroke. Select BRUSH and click OK. 7. A line that follows your path should appear now as shown above. 8. Undo your stroke by going to EDIT UNDO STROKE PATH, or Ctrl-Z on the keyboard. Then go to the Brush tool ( )and on the options bar above, select a hard edge brush of size 3. (Note: the Hard Edge Brushes are on the beginning of the list, and their edges are very defined, while the Soft Edge Brushes have a blurry edge.)
9. Select the Pen Tool again, and keep creating your paths as done in steps 1 to 4 on this section. Remember to hold the CTRL key down to edit or move your anchor points. NOTE: To add segments that do not connect, such as the eyes and the lips, press ENTER and click back on the Work Path layer to select it. If you don t select the Work Path Layer, your previous path will disappear. HINTS: To delete an unwanted anchor point: - Select the Delete Anchor Point tool. You can find by clicking on the Pen Tool icon and holding the mouse down. A menu will appear with different Pen Tool variations. Select the one that has the minus sign next to the Pen. - Then, click on the anchor point that you want to delete, and it will disappear. To move or edit anchor points: - Verify that you are on the Pen Tool and not on the Delete Anchor Point Tool. - Hold down the CTRL key and click on the anchor point that you want to edit or move. - To move the anchor point, simply drag it to the desired position. To edit the anchor point angle, click on the handles and move or resize them to change the angle. To add an anchor point to an existing path: - Select the Add Anchor Point tool ( )by holding the mouse down over the Pen Tool. - Click on the path to create a new anchor point. To create a sharp turn on your path instead of a curve: - Select the Convert Point Tool ( ) by holding the mouse down on the Pen Tool. - Click on the anchor point where you want to create a sharp angle. That will give you a sharp angle instead of a curve. To connect two paths: - If you want to connect two different paths together, click on the anchor points at the edges of each path, and then edit the curve. This will merge both paths into one and will give you a continuous line. 10. When you finish creating your path, you need to save them as one single path before proceeding to the Stroke path command. To save the path, go to the Path palette and select the arrow that is to the right of the Paths tab. Select SAVE PATH from the menu that appears, and name the path to Outline.
11. Then, apply the stroke by right clicking on the Outline layer, and selecting STROKE PATH. On the Stroke Path option window, verify that the tool selected is the BRUSH, and click OK. This will create the black outline on your character. 12. Once you finish your lines, you can delete the path, since you don t need it anymore and it will be on your way. To do this, click and drag the Work Path layer to the trash can on that tab. Editing your end lines To give a more professional look to your lines, and imitate the real action of drawing with a pen, you will now edit the ending points of the lines that don t connect with other lines. 1. Click on the Layers Tab to return to the Layers palette. Verify that you have the INK layer selected. 2. Turn OFF the Background layer by clicking on the eye icon next to it. Now turn ON the Sketch layer. This will allow you to see the ink sketch only, on the white background. 3. Now you will examine your image. Look at the corners and determine where a sharp end would give a more realistic pen look to the lines. Here are some examples:
The first line above shows a fixed edge on the left. This indicates that the stroke was started from right to left, and it faded as the pen was moved away from the page. The second line is rounded and doesn t look natural. Now, look at the example above. The pointy edge of the shape looks better on the first drawing, where it fades to a sharp edge. The second one doesn t look that way. 4. Now, using the Eraser tool, you will find places where you can create this effect in your picture. To do this, first select the Eraser tool on the Toolbox ( ). On the options above, change the Brush option to a sharp edge brush. 5. Edit your lines where you determine necessary. 6. Also, you can erase lines that you don t want in the picture. Coloring the image Now you will color your image using layers and fill tools. 1. Duplicate the INK layer. To do this, right-click on the INK layer, and select DUPLICATE. On the Duplicate Layer option box, name the layer to COLOR and press OK.
2. Turn OFF all the layers except the COLOR layer. To do this, click on the eye icon next to each layer. 3. Now we will get rid of any transparent edges around the lines previously created with the Stroke Path command. Go to EDIT FILL. 4. On the Fill option box, change the Mode to Multiply, Opacity to 100%, Preserve Transparency unchecked, and Fill color to White. Click OK. 5. To accent the dark colors and get rid of any gray colors on the picture, go to IMAGE ADJUSTMENT LEVELS. If there are any peaks like the one on the right side of the graph below, move the slider underneath of the peak to the center of the graph, so that the peaks are either to the left or to the right of your sliders. Click OK when done. 6. Next, we will make a selection of the lines only. Go to SELECT COLOR RANGE. Set FUZZINESS to 0 and check INVERT to ON. Click OK. You should have now a selection that includes the white area only. 7. Hit DELETE on the keyboard to erase the selection. Now the white is deleted, and you have only the black lines. 8. Go to SELECT DESELECT to get rid of the selection.
9. If your image should have now the black lines only, with no shades variations of transparency on it. 10. IMPORTANT: If some of your lines disappeared, go back (click) on your history palette on the layer right above the LEVELS step. This will take you back to step number 4. Repeat then steps 5 to 8 above but don t move the sliders to close to the center as you did before. If the problem doesn t get fixed, select the Pencil Tool and draw your line again. 11. We will need to do this later again, so duplicate the layer and name it TEMPLATE. This way you don t have to do this process again. 12. Click back on the COLOR layer. 13. Now, we will fill the basic colors with the Paint Bucket tool. Select the Paint Bucket tool on the toolbox. On the options bar, select Anti-Aliased to OFF. 14. Select the color that you want to use (on the swatch palette), and click on the areas to fill them with the colors. When you finish, you will have your basic colors on your drawing. Creating color highlights Now we will create some highlights on our drawing to give a little bit of volume. 1. Let s start by duplicating the TEMPLATE layer. Name this new layer to SOFT COLOR. Move the layer to the top of the layers list (Click and drag it up). 2. Now click on the Eye Dropper Tool ( ). This tool will set your foreground color to the color of the pixel that you click on the screen. 3. Click on the area that you want to highlight. Note how your foreground color changes to the color of the area where you clicked. 4. Double click on the Foreground color swatch. This will open the Color Picker window. Click above or to the left of the circle that appears on the Color Picker, to lighten the color that you selected. Click OK to close the Color Picker window. 5. Select the Magic Wand tool ( ). This tool allows you to select a section with the same color. Set the Anti-Aliased option to OFF on the option bar.
6. Click on the section of your picture where you want to change the color. This will create a selection. 7. Select the Brush tool on the Toolbox. Now paint the highlight areas on your image. See that the selection that you did with the Magic Wand Tool prevents your brush to paint other areas. 8. Continue highlighting the areas that you want to highlight, until you have nice tones on your image. Creating color shades Now we will create some shades on our drawing to enhance the coloring process. 1. Let s start by duplicating the TEMPLATE layer again. This time, name this new layer to SHADING. Move the layer to the top of the layers list (Click and drag it up). 2. Now click on the Eye Dropper Tool ( ). This tool will set your foreground color to the color of the pixel that you click on the screen. 3. Click on the area that you want to highlight. Note how your foreground color changes to the color of the area where you clicked. 4. Double click on the Foreground color swatch. This will open the Color Picker window. Click below or to the right of the circle that appears on the Color Picker, to darken the color that you selected. Click OK to close the Color Picker window. 5. Select the Magic Wand tool ( ). This tool allows you to select a section with the same color. Set the Anti-Aliased option to OFF on the option bar. 6. Click on the section of your picture where you want to change the color. This will create a selection. 7. Select the Brush tool on the Toolbox. Now paint the shadow areas on your image. 8. Continue shading the areas that you want to darken, until you have nice shades on your image. Creating more highlights and textures 1. You can create more highlights and textures by duplicating the TEMPLATE layer again, and placing it on top of all the layers. 2. Set the blending mode of the layer to SCREEN by going to LAYER LAYER STYLE BLENDING OPTIONS. In BLEND MODE, select SCREEN. Click OK to close the window. 3. Select a brush that produces some kind of pattern, such as the Leaves or Stars. 4. Paint on the canvas to see the effect of the brush. A highlight with the pattern of your brush should appear. Create a background and add a shade
For the background you can use a layer with a solid color and add a shadow to simulate the floor shadow. 1. Create a new layer and call it BACK_IMAGE. 2. Move the BACK_IMAGE layer right below the INK layer. 3. Select the Paint Bucket tool, and fill the layer with a blue color. 4. To create a shadow on the floor, select the Brush Tool, and double click on the Foreground Color swatch. The Color Picker window will appear. 5. Select a darker tone of blue and click OK. 6. Paint a shadow where you consider necessary. 7. Save your file. HINT: You can also import a background image and use it as background instead. If you do this, make sure that you put the image on a separate layer and that it s behind the character. If you need to resize your image, use the FREE TRANSFORM menu option. Then, create a new layer for the shadow, set its blending mode to SCREEN as shown before, and place it between the image and the character.