The Making of 'Seductive Intent'

Before proceeding with this tutorial, please note that this is by no means a complete guide on HOW to paint digitally. Everybody, understandably, has their own unique workflow and techniques. Rather, this tutorial will show you how I go about creating a digital painting from a photograph and/or sketch. Having said that, I hope that you find this tutorial useful. Keep in mind that my artwork is done in Photoshop CS, but should also apply to earlier versions of that program as well. Now let's get rolling with a few simple principles:

1. Keep things simple initially; If the composition isn't working in the early stages, it won't get any better, no matter how much detail you add.
2. Don't be afraid to erase and re-paint: If something is bothering you, change it; The earlier the better.
3. Flip your canvas every hour or so; Your eyes tend to get 'immune' to the mistakes; When you flip it, you get a fresh view and mistakes tend to pop out.

For this commission piece, I was asked to paint a woman with a whip and a bra, rendered in a realistic fashion. If you're going for a realistic look, a reference is always handy. In this case, I used a stock image from ConceptArt.Org. Before we begin to paint, we start with a sketch. Below is an example of the technique I use to nail the proportions:

The Guide System To get the proportions correct, I use something I like to call "The Guide System". What we do is open the reference picture, hit "Ctrl + R" for the rules to pop out, and drag the guides from there to the most 'important' spots; For example, I dragged a guide where her left eye starts, and another one to where it ends. Same thing for the hands, feet, etc - The more guides you have, the easier it will be to nail proportions. Now bear with me here... When we have that all sorted, we save it (in this case we'll save it as 'ref.psd'), and then save it again as 'cg.psd'. We can then delete the reference picture, as we'll concentrate only on the sketch thereafter. Now we re-open the original ref.psd file, align both windows equally, and start sketching with a pencil-like soft brush on a blank canvas; You'll still have the guides saved in the blank document, so now you can begin to sketch (it's always a good idea to sketch on a new layer). I usually start with the face, zoomed in at 200%. Always zoom in as much as possible for the tight places, in this case, that being the face and hands; It makes a real difference! TIP: Avoid tracing the image - You don't want to create a 'perfect' sketch and miss out adding your own twist to it. If you're not getting good results with the 'guide' system, you can always use the 'grid' system (which generally takes a bit longer, but you'll more likely get better results). These techniques are the digital equivalent of the polygon-shapes strategy taught to young cartoon art students to help them nail down body proportions.

Color Palette Now that our sketch is complete, we can begin to paint. It's a good idea to keep the sketch layer's opacity around 50% at this point. Create a new layer, preferably underneath the sketch, and pick a color palette. In this case, I chose fairly desaturated hues for the skin and background. Having a color palette is very convenient (especially for the skin), as you can color pick from those at your own leisure. Some tips: keep things simple at this point; 3 or 4 colors (2 mid tones, 1 highlight, 1 shadow) is enough. You don't need to have a color palette with each individual layer, but this is convenient regardless, especially if you're new to this style of working. Now look at the ref pic, and try to lay down the colors where you see fit; Don't worry about it being messy at this point - just make sure you have the colors placed fairly accurately. Implementing some hues from the background on the main figure is also a good idea, as this will help 'unite' the foreground elements with the backdrop. TIP: To get the values right, it might be easier to work in black and white. You can add color later (when painting, simply set the mode to color and use the proper color for the said elements).

Work In Layers In order to make things more convenient for you, I recommend working in as many layers as possible. The hair, table, background, and skin are all in separate layers. Begin laying down colors in other places that apply. Again, 3 or 4 is enough at this point. Creating too many layers can lead to things getting out of hand. If this happens, you can group all the layers in a folder. For example, all the layers in the figure grouped together, the desk in another group, and the background as well. Simply hit the 'group folder' button (check the image above) and drag the layers into that folder.

Blend Baby, Blend! Now that we have the colors laid down, it's time to start blending. I tend to use a brush at 50% hardness and 50% opacity to blend. To get smooth results, repeat the process over and over. Color pick the mid-tones, and keep on blending to smooth them out. This takes some time to master, but the more you practice, the easier it becomes. You should also begin considering the composition of the background as well at this point.

Details We now begin to add details, starting at the focal point first (in this case, it's her face). In general, you want to have the most details where you want the viewer to look first. Since in this case it's the face, we start with that and probably spend a considerable amount of time perfecting it. Smooth out your strokes further, and add more details (her clothing for, for example, done on a separate layer). TIP: Don't get too carried away with detailing at this point. It can be frustrating to have part of the piece perfected, and the rest muddy.

Color & Lighting At this point it's good to add some some color variation to make everything unite. A simple way to do this is color pick some of the background colors, and apply them to the skin (preferably with the color mode set to 'color', between 10-20% opacity). Don't be afraid to push your colors, otherwise your piece might be a bit flat looking. At this point I also rendered the desk; Notice that the light source is coming from the left in all the 3 'parts' - i.e. the desk, figure, and background. You have to be consistent in your light source to pull off a sense of realism; If you don't, it could break a potentially great piece. TIP: A great way to create realistic skin tones is to paint a turquoise color over the highlighted areas at a very low opacity (3-5%). Something as simple as this tend to make a huge difference.

Refinement Now that the image is nearing completion, study carefully what works and what doesn't. Don't be afraid to repaint anything that bothers you, even at this point. Better late than never! Don't forget to flip your canvas to get a fresh view. Show your work to friends/family, see what you can gather from their input if possible. When all is said and done, we will now...

Add Noise A fast way too make your image appear less computerized is too add noise, which provides a great 'imperfection touch'. Just follow these simple instructions: Create a new layer & fill it via the Paint Bucket Tool (RGB set to: 128). Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise & run with Amount set to 400% (monochromatic). Set the layer blend mode to overlay, anywhere from 3-10% (whatever works best). And now we're finished (feel free to do a hoola dance). Here's the final image, with some close-ups:

I hope you found this tutorial useful. Feel free to contact me should you have any questions.