Seeking advice on Cel-Shading

[SuSa]

Okay now, first off...

Hey everyone! I know a ton of people know me, so I'd just like to say hey, it's great to be back with one of the most awesome online communities ever. (The Smash Community)



Okay.. onto business....

I really want to get into digitally colouring art. Why you may ask? Me and my cousin (who's an amazing artist) want to open up an art shop on Etsy. He does the drawing, I do the coloring - because he hates to shade. We plan to do a variety of things and have some anime/ecchi and tshirts in our shop as well... so I sort-of-understand the basics of digitally coloring, but I'm not getting the results I want.

I am not knew to Photoshop - so don't worry about me not knowing what any quick-keys do or what a layer setting does, etc. I'm quite Photoshop literate. =P

Last night was my first experience actually digitally colouring anything. I was following a tutorial that was trying to show the dodge and burn tools actually have uses... and his result was all nice and dandy. I tried it, and ended up with this.

http://wtc117.deviantart.com/#/d2ztyp0

Yes, garbage - I know. Lot's of errors and mistakes, took 4 hours (yeah.. roadkill right?), and I hated it myself. I knew I could do better... so the same night I went back and recoloured it using a new method. Again, my CG looked nothing like I wanted it to - or the result I should have had from following the tutorial.

My result the second time was much improved, and this time I didn't use the dodge/burn tools but did it the more old fashioned way with 3 shades and blending. This one took me 3 hours (wow.. looks better and took less time...wow) - I finished it at nearly 2am

http://wtc117.deviantart.com/#/d2zu44d

No where near amazing, and still nothing how I wanted it to turn out. But I at least liked the result I got that time, even if it wasn't what I wanted.

Mind you - these were my first 2 things created in Photoshop in over a year. Ok? Got that much information? Good.

My problem:

I actually want my work to look more anime'ish... if you know what I mean. What I call the "3 tone" shading. Base color, shadow color, highlight. Kind of like this:

http://wagaa.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/anime-rosario-misore.jpg

Rather poor example - considering the lack of visible highlights in that... but I can't think of any other anime besides Rosario to do the type of shading I want to do. (And it's hard to find a picture of Rosario I can link to and not get in trouble for )

So, I really want to be able to do that smooth shading style... every time I try though, it just looks horrible and I end up trashing my work or turning it into the soft-shaded CG like the green dress one I linked above.

Is there anyone good with CG'ing who'd like to shed some light? Give me some tips and pointers? Please? =\

//feels this was long enough to justify it's own topic

Much love,
SuSa [WTC]

 

[Elder Sister]

SUSAAAA!! <3

alas... i suck at photoshoü but hope you'll find whatcha want :D

 

[SuSa]

SUSAAAA!! <3

alas... i suck at photoshoü but hope you'll find whatcha want :D

Okay that's it. I'm going to go find how many people welcomed me back with "SUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSAAAAAAAAAAAAA <3" or something similar.

Also I hope so to. =P

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

Ohhh you wanna learn cel-shadinggggg!

Basically, cel-shading is a lot of fun but can be tough because you HAVE to get the lighting correct.
I'll see if i can whip up a quick tutorial.

 

[TigerWoods]

I... hate shadows.

I could probably learn from it too xD.

 

[global-wolf]

Cel shading is basically just shading with no blending of colors, which is what most animes have. You could use a hard brush to draw the edges of the shadow, then fill in the area with the bucket tool. You need to know exactly where the shadows should be though, or else it'll look weird.

Those aren't bad for a first time :D

 

[SuSa]

Cel shading is basically just shading with no blending of colors, which is what most animes have. You could use a hard brush to draw the edges of the shadow, then fill in the area with the bucket tool. You need to know exactly where the shadows should be though, or else it'll look weird.

Those aren't bad for a first time :D

*nods* this is also what I get for hearing like 300 names for one type of shading... so had no idea what to call it...

I love the way cel shading looks, also it would look better on the types of things me and my cousin are planning to sell...

I browsed dA for at least 3-4 pages and I think the reason I never found the right tutorial is because I was looking up "CG Tutorial" and similar things. Looked through like... every tutorial and tried to follow the best I could.

Thanks, and I spent ages on them. I'm not used to spending over an hour or two on one thing in Photoshop. But it's fun enough that I don't even notice all the time that's gone by. :3

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

can i still make the tutorial? :'D
-is having fun tutorial making-

 

[SuSa]

Yessshhhhhh :o maybe you'll be able to guide me through it like nobody else.. especially since I was probably looking up the wrong type of shading, and their results were just countless times better. :3

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

http://pyromaniac-chaos.deviantart.com/art/Cel-Shading-tutorial-181276111
Done~

 

[SuSa]

Yaaay.... :B and how come that was so much simpler than every other tutorial I've tried reading.. <_<

It's exactly how I thought it was in the first place....... D=

Just onnnee question. :B Although I'm sure it comes down to preference or what looks natural.


Approximately how much darker/brighter should your shadows/highlights be? :o

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

I don't like making stuff complicated XD Plus, i dont do the whole 'USE THE EDIT LAYER STYLES TO THIS...' because honestly, you can make effects without having to use the tools photoshop gives ya
I guess it can kind of be a personal preference...
Shadows should look kind of bold against the base, i guess xD And highlights should be a few shades brighter than the base...sometimes even more depending on how intense you want the highlights to be.
Long story short, try out a few colors, go with what looks best for that picture

 

[SuSa]

I never do the edit layers style. :B

One laaaast thing.... because I fear the worst. T_T

For the lineart, there are two ways to leave the lines. Colour it to match the shades, or leave it black. Obviously leaving it black is the easier choice but won't always look good. My only fear is that if I'm using a lineart with a white background (As I will be 99% of the time...) that I actually have to go through with the pen tool and trace the art if I want to shade the lines.

[PS: I know the easiest way to shade the lines is just to make a clipping mask and brush over the lines in a shade darker than any that appear in the area...]

The only problem is, after 2 years there is only one method I can think of to do that. =\ Which would be on a transparent background and lock the transparency so that you only color on the lines...

Is there a way to do this that I'm not thinking of? :s

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

If you add a layer mask, you can color directly onto your lines without having to worry about using a clipping mask or tracing.
Just make sure the lines dont have a grayscale property, or you can only color the lines grays xP

 

[SuSa]

Wait a second here.... *goes to test*

[I'll edit this post in a second]

EDIT:

Hmm... Layer mask sorta works.. :o can blend in lines by using different shades of gray and such... guess the result is very much the same. One of these days I'll trace and see if I can achieve a better result...

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

I think if you want to make the lines colored, you have to change the line layer off grayscale.
Sadly, i don't know how to do that since photoshop is not my primary tool (Paint Tool SAI is...Layer mask is a lot simpler on SAI)

 

[SuSa]

I'll mess with it at a different date. Currently it's like being able to manually control the opacity. Which worked for the picture I posted except the black gloves and such (which I guess I could fix by actually CG'ing those themselves instead of letting them stay inked.. :B but I liked how they looked inked more)

I'm sure theres a way to do it in Photoshop, Ill just have to find it.

(To be honest, it's probably the same thing... or close to it)

 

[Neon Ness]

Lokii, your tutorial is very nice, really good advice.

SuSa, I would also just like to add about lighting/shadows to really experiment with colors. Like if someone is wearing a red shirt for instance, you don't have to just make its shadow a darker tone of the same red or make the highlight a lighter version of the same red. You can make the shadow a dark magenta-ish, and make the highlight yellow-orange-ish for an analogous effect which can be really cool if done right. If you know/study a little color theory it can go a long way in the celshading/anime style. G'luck man, and welcome back.

 

[SuSa]

I've studied color theory a bit. :3 Also theres this neat site I have bookmarked which goes over a LOT of color theory.

I've also seen people color in the way you mentioned, and it looks awesome as well.

Also, you are my god and I love your use of the pen tool and colors. I know for a fact I haven't told you this yet. I've seen some of your work in the sig shoppe. Good ****.

 

[satowolf]

Lokii's tutorial really helps xD
I've been goofing off with photoshop for like...2 years now and I've always wanted to try Cel-shading.
I used to color in manga's and stuff in my spare time. Kinda like this http://haruxsuneku.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2f19oo
I'm horrible with lighting -__-

 

[global-wolf]

http://doubleleaf.deviantart.com/ Doubleleaf is an artist that uses primarily cel shading. She has excellent knowledge of form and lighting, I'd say it's almost perfect and her works are great for use as reference for where you should shade and stuff.

Many of her pictures feature gay men though Don't say I didn't warn you...

 

[SuSa]

http://doubleleaf.deviantart.com/ Doubleleaf is an artist that uses primarily cel shading. She has excellent knowledge of form and lighting, I'd say it's almost perfect and her works are great for use as reference for where you should shade and stuff.

Many of her pictures feature gay men though Don't say I didn't warn you...

I'm a dA regular. I've become accustomed to putting up with pictures of *****es, furry/yiff, and yaoi.

 

[ZIO]

Lol, I totally thought you meant something about computer graphics. Something like what Joedark does. When I read the title.

 

[global-wolf]

I'm a dA regular. I've become accustomed to putting up with pictures of *****es, furry/yiff, and yaoi.

Cool xP Some people freak out, even though they've been on deviantart for a while.

 

[SuSa]

Updating the title to more accurately potray what I mean.

(2nd) attempt, but first at doing it "properly" I think... my first time was just... bad. <_< Don't go looking for it.

http://wtc117.deviantart.com/#/d305wy9

Besides me totally not being able to figure out where I should place highlights (if any) I think I did decent. :s

 

[Neon Ness]

Yeah, that's really good. :>

As far as a light source, I just normally make it something simple like upper right. So if you wanted to do that, all your shadows just need to be on the left side of every surface, and every surface should cast a shadow on whatever is to its lower left position-wise. Most parts already do that, like how the mask casts a shadow to its left on top of her head, so I think you do have an upper-right oriented light source. The left side of her clothes (our left) could be darker if you want right lighting though. Drawing a little fake sun might help you remember to keep lighting consistent, yeah. The shadow that little curl of hair casts is pretty cool, lol.

For highlights, I just try to work on adding them to the really reflective surfaces first. So like the tip of her knuckles, the right side of the bottom lip, that pin in her hair, the fingernails, probably a lot of the mask too since it'd be directly facing the light source, depending on what it's made out of. Soft materials like fabric don't normally have bold highlights, so you could probably just add a few subtle lighter colors on the right side of each surface of her clothes. Eyes are really difficult for me personally. If I had to guess though, if the light source is on the right, then the circular glares in her eyes should be on the right as well? I dunno. You could probably work from reference material and it'd help a good deal. Keep it up!

 

[SuSa]

Thank youuuuu <333 have some idea to make my light source be a bit more noticeable. (Darken the right side of her dress [our left.. I always talk from the drawings perspective], and pretty much what you said to do with the highlights. <333 you helped a lot with ideas on where to place them.

Once I get back rom school I'll work on it.

[ps: The way I've been doing eyes is rather fixed... :x Just can't finish off the eyes on this one >.< can't figure out how to get them to look more natural... haha]

 

[global-wolf]

You could try giving them pupils.

 

[SuSa]

Believe it or not, I tried that for a good 3 hours before giving up. XD

 

[Evil-Guy]

use the selection tool and fill it with color

/thread

 

[ZIO]

Aren't you cool?

Actually be useful, or don't post.

 

[Evil-Guy]

Aren't you cool?

Actually be useful, or don't post.

You mean one of the most effective ways to cell shade in photoshop is useless?

 

[Neon Ness]

Lol calm down ZIO. It was actually a good suggestion even if the /thread was kind of unnecessary.

As far as pupils, that actually does help with getting them more natural but it runs into some problems when combined with the traditional anime style he used. Pupils are normally round but that girl's eyes are elliptical so it might turn out looking strangely at first. That, and her eyes are bright lavender, whereas natural eyecolors are more muted and closer to a blue/green/brown hue.

SuSa, I would just try to add pupils that are a really dark, muted version of that same lavender hue. Then I would overlay a vertical Gradient over the iris if possible; one that transitions from a color slightly lighter than the pupil to the color of the iris. Eyes sometimes have a value shift from top to bottom that makes them look the way they do.

See how the blue is darker nearer the top of the iris than at the bottom half? It could just be the way the eyelid casts a shadow on it. But some sort of shift in color/value will give it a more natural look since no one's eyes are a solid hue.

 

[MacNCheese.]

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

Eyes can be reallly obnoxious since theyre small, but require a crapton of details.

My advice is listen to Neon Ness. He knows his stuff xD
-has a hard time explaining in words-

 

[MacNCheese.]

WOW. THAT was a quick reply

Another good example:

Posted by my little siblings -__-
This BS you just witnessed is my siblings posting stuff i didn't create(except for a few)

 

[SuSa]

I have been.

Also age does not matter at all. EVER. IMO. In fact, saying that old age often yields better ideas is horrible for the growth of humanity. It's funny really

 

[MacNCheese.]

Take my advice into consideration :\
I'll give you a private lesson if you want
I know it's not a problem but I would feel weird if i was an adult listening to a teenager

EDIT: ABUSE THE LIGHTING TOOL, it makes you look pro.

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

Well, don't abuse the lighting tool xD
Age doesn't really matter in the AE.
We work together to improve ourselves here. And to crack stupid jokes/get distracted by BlazBlue <3

 

[MacNCheese.]

Cool, i didn't know what to say 'cuz i've never been taught :\