#blending modes and brushes my beloved

[dumbbullet]

If anyone needs me I'll be thinking about this specific video

[salamander-crimes]

i should probably switch to sai 2 at some point, but consider this: it's slightly different ):

[ruthytwoshakes]

after 30 hours we’re done!!!

I love little pootis so much, a fantastic series. If you haven’t seen it yet I really recommend it!! I bought one of the plushies for my little siblings for Christmas hehe.

I’ve been wanted to make some fanart for it for a while, but I wanted it to be special! Since it means too much to me and my family :3 so I tried my hand at digital painting again! Here’s my process:

First I started out with the sketch and putting in the values, (that image is the scene I was referencing.) and since I have absolutely no idea how perspective works I just guessed and went “eh good enough.” I also used my radical composition skills to give the whole thing some life! (Golden ratio my beloved.) I should have gotten some reference images, first mistake, but I was way too excited lol.

Then I duplicated the layer and started painting over my sketch using some painting and blending brushes. Unfortunately I forgot to capture any in-betweens of this process so it makes it a little hard to explain. But once I got my values down and my painting rendered to point I wanted it to be, we started coloring!

And oh god! This is why the painting took 30 hours! This was my first time painting using this method, so I was so not ready for the coloring part. I’m in a love-hate relationship with gradient maps so the coloring was mostly done with blending modes, I think I used the linear light mode?

After watching a stupid amount of videos by Marc Brunet I finally got it! Used just one overlay layer and adjusted my colors and values as needed for this one. Used a couple gradients and other techniques to get the snow and the water looking how I wanted, and we’re almost done!

My favorite step! Adding a bunch of textures and sparkly stuff! It’s not for everyone but I really like it. And congratulations we finished our first painting yippee! Thanks for reading :3

little pootis by @quazies

[diezmil10000]

Hi hi, hope you're doing well!! Wanted to ask if you could explain how you pick colours! They're always so appealing to look at... (If you could also explain how you pick blush colours it'd be great! I never manage to pick good ones, no matter how hard I try :'))

hi anon, i'm doing fine!! it's summer right now where i live and that's healing all my problems (⁠◡⁠ ⁠ω⁠ ⁠◡⁠)

i have recorded the process of some of my drawings and everything is posted in my youtube channel (in twitter too), so i'll drop the link here and try my best to explain the coloring part to you. the short answer is that none of the colors you see in my drawings are similar to those i initially picked.

i try to keep my lineart loose but i pay attention to the outlines so i can quickly select the outer parts, invert the selection and fill it with the bucket tool. my base colors are all 100% opaque and i don't use any fancy brushes here.

as to how i pick colors, i never use the color picker tool, i eyeball everything. that's important for me because i tend to make all of them warmer: the greens are dark yellows, the pinks are light reds, and everything that's close to blue is very desaturated. i do this even for drawings that turn out much different later, unless i have a very specific vibe in mind from the beginning. i also never use pure whites for anything, and if something is black i make it part of the lineart.

then i always color my lineart!! there's no trick to that, the layer is in normal mode and i just paint it with a darker color than what's below it. i usually add the shadows and highlights at this stage of the drawing too. you're going to kill me for this but shade with gray set in color burn or linear burn (never multiply). i just don't want to think about color variety at this stage because it makes things more difficult for later. sometimes i add textures and some basic color correction here (curves, color balance, layers set in overlay, etc.) but i mostly leave that for the next part.

as to how i choose blush colors, i usually pick the base color and move it towards the saturated end of the color wheel, and a bit more pink. sometimes i add a multiply layer and airbrush hot red over the base colors at low opacity. coloring the lineart with hot colors surrounding the blush areas helps a lot too :)

i also almost always duplicate the lineart, blur it and set it in linear burn (i paint this layer in a light gray). this adds a lot of depth to the drawing, especially if later combined with the bloom effect.

the key to why the colors in my art pop so much is that i don't enjoy drawing as much as i enjoy postprocessing pictures 😂🤣😅👌✌️👍 once i'm satisfied with the "base" colors i merge everything except the background, open a new canvas and go crazy with filters and textures. that's why i use ibispaint X even if i do the lineart elsewhere (krita), and even if it works a bit wonky with big canvases.

i do something different for each drawing here, so first i'm going to explain my reasoning so that you understand my process: i used to have a problem of using very strong colors that overshadowed my beloved lineart into which i had put a lot of effort, so my goal nowadays is to make everything look less contrasted without losing the visual impact of saturated colors. that way the lineart remains a strong point and not just a way to separate one color from another.

what i usually do is duplicate the new merged layer, set it to exclusion mode, add a gradient map and play with the opacity. then i duplicate that and do the same thing with another gradient or another blending mode. i tend to add like 3-6 layers of bullshit over my drawings, including textures and other filters like "bloom" or "sharpen". i understand everything that's going on there but i don't think too deeply about it, i just pick whatever looks best.

for the final touches i always pull up the saturation and contrast (since a lot of it gets lost in the process), and i usually have to manually change some colors (ibispaint X has a filter to do that) or tweak the curves. then i add chromatic aberration, noise set to overlay and little polka dots set to linear dodge.

here are some comparisons of the before and after of recent drawings. the 1st one is very subtle, but you can clearly see how much warmth and depth it gains it gets after all the postprocessing. the 2nd one is so different that i understand why you're curious about how i pick colors. i don't think i can replicate that look just from picking nice colors, there's a lot more going on!! the 3rd one personally feels like it had potential lost (i liked the yellow highlights), but the colors were too strong and all over the place, so the finished result looks more intimate and calm and i like it a lot more.

thank you for the interest anon, i'm very happy that you like the way i color things and i hope i have explained myself. good luck with your own journey!!

[sapphickittykatherine]

obviously, if you want to characterise someone differently or have a different perception of a character to mine, or want to give a character more personality by adding something to them - that's totally fine. but, personally, this is how i see lancelot (from bbc merlin) and, bc i'm completely insane about him, my eye starts twitching whenever someone characterises him differently. it's literally not a problem i'm just off my rocker

canon lancelot

lancelot?? flirting casually??? this man is a hopeless romantic but he has two modes: silent pining, and outright declaring, "i will die for you." btw silent pining also involves being prepared to die for his beloved, just not saying it. he gets tongue-tied when someone he likes flirts with him and he might try to be bold enough to flirt back, but it will be awkward and super romantic, even if such flirting is out of place. any casual flirting he does is purely by accident, and he doesn't even realise that anyone with eyes can see he's clearly romantically interested; the man thinks he's subtle. he might also just freeze up and retreat into his shell. either way, he's blushing - hard. the secret third option is that he doesn't notice the flirtation, or he does and thinks he's misconstruing it bc why would someone like them want to flirt with him, so he brushes it off.

lance having sexual experience and being unashamed regarding sex???? nahhhhhh sorry. if he has sexual experience, he has bucket loads of (potentially religious) guilt about it and never talks about it. i can definitely see him cracking and, like, engaging in a bit of drunken frottage and trying to forget that it ever happened, but other stuff? not so much. he is also highly likely to save himself for marriage, or at least 'the one'. also he's shy and super subby, sorry. however: if someone he loves and is in a relationship with propositions him, he'll be all shy and question them a million times as to whether they're sure they want to do this, but be super enthusiastic. like, borderline if not outright worshipping. he'll let someone he loves do whatever they want with him, and thank them even if he hates it. he will be insanely honoured by the fact that someone chose to share that part of themself with him. sex is a big deal to him.

lancelot du lac. being confident. uh. the only time this man is at all confident is when he has a sword in his hand. any other time, he's reserved and tries to blend into the shadows. he's too humble and thinks too lowly of himself to attempt to stand out in any capacity. he enjoys being appreciated for his sword fighting, but he might think that it's arrogant and self-absorbed to feel that way. any time his head inflates even a millimetre, he takes a fucking hammer to it. his self-sacrificial bullshit is not only due to wanting to stop people from being hurt, because he's "the bravest and most noble of them all", but also because his self-esteem has hit bedrock and he feels like his life is worth less than everyone else's. in his head, the only thing he's good for is dying for a cause.

on that note, he's sad as fuck. like, probably depressed to be honest. he silently goes though a full-blown existential crisis every 48 hours. he thinks he's not good enough; he thinks the world has so many problems and he's not good enough to change that; simultaneously, he thinks he's not good enough to live in the world alongside much better people; he thinks no one really cares about him and if they do he's somehow tricked them into feeling that way. suicide might seem like a cowardly thing to do, to him, because he could die for a cause instead of no reason. since his life is basically worthless, in his mind, if he doesn't have a heroic death then he has nothing. he won't stab himself in the gut but he will walk into the veil between the land of the living and the spirit world in order to close it!

as for a highly contentious point: lance is simultaneously chaotic and not. i believe that this is due to his sense of goodness overriding even his respect for the rules, at times. for instance, magic is banned in camelot, where he wants so desperately to serve as a knight, but he doesn't see why magic is wrong so he overlooks that rule and keeps merlin's secret, especially since he thinks merlin is so kind. in his opinion, the knight's code is "the code by which a man should live his life", so he's highly unlikely to disobey rules which he agrees with. people often point to the identity fraud 1x05 as a sign that he's actually very chaotic, and i agree but i also don't. lancelot was desperate to become a knight; it was his life's dream. he wanted a chance to prove himself. when he received his chance but wasn't allowed to be a knight regardless, he was overcome by guilt to the point that he abandoned his dream. he blames himself for having done so instead of turning any of the blame on merlin, who suggested it and helped him execute it. if he didn't think it was wrong to have lied, he wouldn't have been so adamant that it wasn't merlin's fault. he thinks that it was wrong, and he alone should be punished for that wrong. he likely sees it as an instance of allowing his own desires and his ego to get the better of him, thereby proving to him that he isn't worthy of being a knight (because he broke the code). he has to "prove it to himself" that he is a worthy knight. basically, i think that lancelot is lawful good, but he values good above lawful, and might seem somewhat like neutral good for that reason. he is deferential to power and doesn't want to lead, but rather to serve. he believes in systems (e.g. the knights of camelot) and their ability to bring good. however, if he sees that these systems are failing to bring about good in a specific instance, he will stand up for what is right; not to abolish those systems, but to change them. even if he may later beat himself up about it and question his own right to make such a call. he wants desperately to serve under a man like arthur, who listens to others and whom he believes will make the right decisions in his position of power. he, in no way, wants to be arthur's equal.

additional traits

IF i wanted to give him more personality, i would draw inspiration from arthuriana (which i do not claim to know much about). i'd make him socially awkward and unaccustomed to social customs and expectations, due to being raised by fae beneath a lake. also possibly because he's got low self-esteem and doesn't interact with others much due to thinking himself 'unworthy' of their attention. he'd probably be overly stiff and polite once learning about customs because he sticks to them too rigidly, but regularly trips up due to never being told about something or other. also he full-on ugly cries every ten seconds, bc that's how he is in the texts and honestly we should carry that over. let the tough man cry.

i might also make him an insane murderer who thinks he's a terrible person for all the wrong reasons. like, "i failed to ninety degree bow to the queen because i broke my back!!!!! how will i ever face her again??? i should kill myself. oh yeah, that corpse they found in the lower town was my work." why?? 1) because fae are fucking brutal. e.g. they'll blind someone for looking at them when they'd rather they didn't. 2) he's one of the best knights and one of the best killers. because knighthood = honour in his mind, and honour is everything to him, and knighthood involves killing, killing = honourable.

"average person kills 3 people a year" factoid actualy just statistical error. average person kills 0 people per year. Bloody Lance, who lives under a lake & kills over 10,000 each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted"

the only thing lance has confidence in is his fighting prowess. he comes alive when he's fighting, and his shyness melts away for a while bc there's nothing quite like righteous slaughter. lancelot thinks that bringing someone the severed head of a Bad Person is a nice gesture, bc he's 'ridding the world of evil' or something (read this). if someone patted him on the head and called him good for killing the baddie, he'd probably blush and duck his head and try not to be super pleased with himself, bc that's 'arrogance' and all.

if i still wanted him to still be Super Noble (which i almost always do), he'd be more of a vigilante who enjoys slaughtering bad people than a serial killer. he'd be super sweet to innocents and lovely to children and people who can't fend for themselves, but essentially the medieval bogeyman for baddies. he might not see the issue with finding murder enjoyable, due to being raised by fae, but if he does, then he keeps his enjoyment locked in a chest which he throws into the deepest part of the ocean. in that case, someone realising he enjoyed killing would be a source of great shame for him and they might be able to blackmail him using it. imagine all the guilt regarding how much he loved cage fighting?? imagine an outsider's pov of him turning from an unfailingly polite, gentle, softly spoken man into a ruthless killer staring at his opponent's body with empty eyes, and back again.

edit: also also!! (bc i have more to say ;-;) think of him being dog-coded. like, he doesn't particularly take joy in killing, but if his liege asks him to kill, he'll do so gladly. he wants to serve and he wants approval and he wants to be seen as a Good Boy. please pat him on the head, especially if your name is guinevere.

anyway i need to write lots of fics so i can set my Agenda into motion. ultimately, i think it's important to remember that lance is just a little guy <3 and i wouldn't usually characterise him as a ruthless killer lol

[smok3inm1rrors]

I was tagged by @igotsnothing over two weeks ago whoops. I saw it went “I should do that” then completely forgot about it. But better late than never!

1. What’s your favourite sims death? Either death by satellite from TS2 or the skydiving one from TS1, entirely because of the “Whee!” at the end of it.

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? A mix of the two.

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? I usually don’t even notice when they gain weight.

4. Do you use move objects? Yes.

5. Favorite mod?. Aside from MCC + UI Cheats it’s between Language Barriers by Frankk, RPO and Talents and Weaknesses by Lumpinou.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? Get To Work

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing?  aLIVE

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

Kathleen “Kit” Jones (Her name inspired from that "Kitchenaid Whiskey Jones" tweet). She's been around in some form as an OC since 2016.

She is also the sim in my pfp.

I want to do some gameplay/story hybrid with her (and other sims of my own) but that would mean...playing the game and not just using it as a substitute for drawing...

9. Have you made a simself? Back in 2016/7. Probably never again.

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? TS3 traits because I like them better. Adventurous, Love the Outdoors, Brooding, Unlucky, and Artistic.

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? The color wheel. Dark Brown.

12. Favorite EA hair? This one from Get to Work.

13. Favorite life stage? YA. The only life stage.

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? I liked building in TS2/3 but could never get into it in 4. 

15. Are you a CC creator? I’ve done poses and recolors. I’m currently doing the “Fuck around, Find out” method of learning meshing. I should probably watch a tutorial.

I also know Python (Studied C.S in uni, which means fuck all really) and have confidence that I’ve used enough HTML to figure out XML, so destroying the game from the inside out is something I’ve wanted to do for a while. I have ideas that range from adding “Wish for a baby with…” and “Wish for Pregnancy/Wish for Pregnancy with…” to the Wishing Well for all your magical conception needs and story plot purposes, to figuring out how to add a whole “Spirit of the Wishing Well” NPC for also story plot purposes, to straight up overhauling spellcaster's alchemy to be more like TS3 alchemy.

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? Nope. I’m not introverted, shy, or socially awkward (socially incompetent maybe), I’m just bad at using social media hah.

17. What’s your favorite game? Right now it’s Breath of the Wild. I like bullying the guardians for fun.

18. Do you have any sims merch? Nah.

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? Nope.

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing?

I used to try and be more story focused when the game first came out. I’m one of those TS2 Wants/Fears dictate the game players and while you can do that in TS4, it’s not as satisfying. Now I play it as an unholy mix of "Soap Opera Simulator 2014" and "How far can I take min/maxing the sims" .

21. What’s your Origin ID? I don't have anything of interest on there.

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator? 

sforzcc, Peacemaker, awingedllama, Sentate, Rusty, Johnnysims, simstrouble

It’s not cc but florwalsims and windbrook for their builds/saves as like many of you, I’m tired of playing in suburbia.

23. How long have you had a simblr? Not long, I lurked awhile before posting though..."awhile" being a year.

24. How do you edit your pictures? I use Clip Studio Paint. I’m too lazy to *ahem* photoshop and I have it for drawing purposes anyways. 

Usually it’s just using different blending modes (multiply, overlay, soft light, glow dodge my beloved) and special effect brushes.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? 

Expansion: Get Together. I’ve used the club functionality in nearly every save I’ve played.

Game Pack: Vampires, Realm of Magic, Werewolves. Not because they’re particularly good but because I’m a sucker for occults.

Stuff Pack: Paranormal. Again occults, but this one also has an acceptable amount of gameplay in it. I’m surprised they didn’t try to pawn it off as a game pack. 

26. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? I'll get Growing Together when it's 50% off. However if before then EA gets too goofy with what remains of TS4, (TS5 is going to be ""free"" to play, it's already fucked.) I'll probably just you know what the rest of the game. EDIT: I wrote this last night. After seeing that job opening for the marketing position on Project Rene...haha yeah. Shit's depressing.

I tag: your mom

[transgenderdragons]

worlds most character ever <3

crisie belongs to @mg549

extras below!

[royalavera]

hi! not to bother you or anything as I'm sure you get these kinds of questions a lot, but what kind of brushes do you use, especially in the recent persia arc drawing? love your art and keep up the great work! hope you have a nice day!! :)

Sure, those questions come from time to time and I'm completely fine with them.

Firstly I do all my art in Clip Studio Paint (I'm not very good with Photoshop rn). I use the Mapping Pen (a standard brush) for almost everything.

I used:

• Mapping Pen (Sketch to flat color)

• Airbrush (to darken Erik and Sultana's lower parts)

• Dot-2-Space (for the texture of Erik's clothes, I downloaded this brush from Clip Studio's free manga assets)

And now my beloved and most important tool that is actually not a brush, the Tone Curve from the Tonal Correction option.

I create a copy of the drawing and I use this tool to experiment with color, I exaggerate all the values, put them upside down, etc, I do this at least three times to get the colors to break and separate into more and different mixes.

This is how it looks without changes

And this is how it looks after I played with the Tone Curve

Then I place this monstrosity above everything, I lower the opacity and play with the blending mode until I get something I like, if I don't like a color I erase it with the Airbrush or the Mapping Pen depending on the situation and that's it.

I also used the Tone Curve to make the mirror effect from this one

The swirling background colors from this

And these flowers from a non phantom related drawing

So, at least in my case is not much about the brushes but the color correction tools xD I hope this helps.

[corpsoir]

my favourite brushes in clip studio (plus a little bit of insight in how i do lineart and colours i guess????)

yay finally lol here are some of my favourite brushes i use! if you have clip studio these are all free to download in clip studio assets!

and if you have any questions at all i would love to answer them!

will put all of it under the cut since it'll be kind of a long post

i use clip studio paint, the tablet i use is ~3 year old a wacom intuos pro medium, and i prefer using the felt pen nibs! ^^

sketching:

soipen by SORASORA (content ID: 1778407) Gin puck-puck pen (진퍽퍽펜) by pogomgom (content ID: 1736852)

lineart:

Muda Muda Muda by lapinbeau (content ID 1715496) (this one i also sometimes use for sketching and colouring, it's really an all purpose brush to me, i love it! fun name too lol hehehe) Kome Pen (komeペン) by _koi (content ID 1906801) i also quite often use the regular round tip G-pen that comes with clip studio. when i use this one i play around a lot with line weight and varying pressure in my lines to make the lineart look more appealing and... organic i guess? i don't have any fancy settings on the brush itself i only use differing pressure on my hand for this lol. here's the pressure profile on my tablet sngdjkfghs idk if anyone is interested in this but!!!! here you go its nothing special

and then my current absolute favourite brush for lineart is this one called Brush Pen which i also think came with clip studio but i honestly have no idea. it's not in my assets downloads so either it came with the program or it's an older brush i transferred from photoshop, i have no clue! but i love it and i use this one for my lineart and flat shading in pretty much all my drawings rn.

as you can probably tell i like my lineart a bit crunchy and textured. i never use plain black for my lineart, i either use a dark blue/purple or a rich pinkish red or brown. it makes the lines look less flat and muddy together with the colours. i also duplicate my lineart layer, and the duplicated layer i put underneath with a gaussain blur filter on. this one i usually shift the colour to a little more red/pink and also put the blending mode on overlay to sort of blend together nicely with the colours! :) see below what i mean, it looks way fuller and nicer with double lineart i think! but this is just personal preference (i used Brush Pen for lines here btw!)

anyway, more brushes:

Halftones, textures, effects etc:

Grunge Dot by Marredae (content ID 1777009) Tone Brushes by seinotaph (content ID 1835931) Glitch Brushes 2 by tsiox (content ID 1719160)

these are my current favourites! ^^ i don't like using too many brushes at once and i also always keep a balanced limited palette while colouring. here are the ones i'm using rn but i'm currently working on making it just one palette with all the colours i might need. it might take a while because i always forget to add colours i'm using and i want them all to fit nicely together

my colouring is done by using the lasso fill tool to get even flats i can easily select and shift the hues and colour balance of later if i need to. i use the Brush Pen for simple shading, after that i just go crazy with different blending mode layers (multiply and glow dodge my beloveds)

that's pretty much it i think, feel free to ask me a billion questions i love answering them!

[bonksoundeffect]

5, 20, 25 🦀🔨

Hello there, beloved crab mutual 💕🦀💕🦀💕

artist end of the year ask game

5. favorite little detail in a drawing you did

I love how the gold turned out in my last Morrigan art

20.  what do you think youve improved on the most over the past year 

Definitely rendering of skin and hair. I think I've learned a lot about it this year and it's what I've improved on the most.

25.  best advice youve recieved this year or something new you learned about art 

How to add 3d effect and grain (I use a noise brush from CSP with a soft light or overlay blending mode) to a painting at the end. It just adds that little extra 🤌🏻 for me.

It's a personal choice and not everyone will like it, but it's one of my favourite things to do.

[taxolotl]

New zin (my beloved) art dropped, I immediately must simp for it. Okay first of all, the composition, I’m in love. The way their staffs frame the piece as well as them filling certain sections just makes it look nice to look at and asjdkfljaThe lighting is gorgeous, I love the golden highlights on Dream’s hair and clothes whereas George has blue bECAUSE SUN AND MOON AND EYYY I SEE WHAT YOU DID THEREEEEEAlso the staffs!! Did I mention the staffs?? Because they look great oml, (hold on moretocome)

wc anon this is so sweet ty 😭😭

some little things about this:

-solar flares vs nebulas was EXACTLY what i was going for!! originally i wanted to go for a more metallic vibe with the staffs but i was playing around with the "burn" blending mode and Something stuck so i tried to emphasize the flares/nebulas look hahaha

-i used burn layers in the bkg as well! their effects are most visible in the left side of the painting but i covered them with the dark blue so they're not as visible 😔 i will Definitely use burn layers more often though :] they're v fun

-george's collarbones and chest were a Pain to render (sternocleidomastoids my abhorred)

-dream's headpiece is one of those greek gold leaf headpieces! gold is like. his only colour here LMAO he's got gold hair, gold eyes, gold robes - for sun symbolism :]

-george's robes are supposed to resemble water! like w the moon's connection to the oceans and all (he also has blue eyes hehe)

-i've recently discovered this fascinating art technique called Actually Blending so i've been trying to improve my clothing folds that way <3 some brushes in my inventory that i've started using more are the hard watercolour and (wet) flat watercolour brush!!

[thereigning-lorelai]

First of all, your edits are beautiful 🥺💕🙌🏽 can you guide me how did you do this? Especially, the one gif in the other part?

Hi dear, thank you so much for the nice words! ♥ I'm so glad you're enjoying my stuff!

Overlays, my beloved. I'd love to give you some tips on how I do these gifs. I hope this makes sense and actually is helpful. (I was never asked to share my methods before but I’ll try my best.) If you have any further questions, just ask away!

The most important part for gifs like these is to find scenes that actually work well together. The Perfect Harmony sequence is super nice because you have lots of black and white contrast.

Blending modes and layer masks are your absolute best friends. (I apologise in advance that my Photoshop is in German.)

Usually with gifs like these I either choose Lighten (Aufhellen for me) or Screen—they work best with "erasing" the darker parts of your image. So make sure that the gif that's above—your overlay, so to speak—has either high contrast or a good portion of darker parts and the thing you actually want to focus on is bright enough to stand out.

I’ll show you what I did on this gif:

(The spin in this dance—as beautiful as it is—is actually difficult to overlay because Julie and Luke go from light to dark to light to dark really quickly. You can kind of see it with Luke’s shirt covering some parts of the smaller gif. But I decided to not care that I quite liked how it looked, so I went with it.)

Without blending and masking the gif actually looks like this:

Nice. Not really. (I tend to set the blending mode before adjusting size and position of my gifs. It’s just easier to get a good visual understanding of how the gifs will blend.)

So, yeah, if I then change the blending mode to Lighten, we’ll get this:

Muuuuch better. Now we have to get rid of the hard edges and parts of the gif we don’t need/don’t want to see in the final result. That’s where layer masks come in super handy. Apply one of those to your top gif, set your brush to black and paint over the parts you don’t need:

Et voilà:

Then I colour the whole thing and add the text. And that’s it. I did the same thing basically for all the gifs in this set. Except for the second one (with the hands) I set the blending mode to Screen instead of Lighten because it just worked out better:

The thing with gifs like these really is a) finding the right scenes that work well together and b) letting your creativity run wild. Have fun. ♥

[deliciousscaloppine]

16. A cruel king asks to marry you. Which three impossible dresses do you ask for in exchange for your hand? (Wen Chao, Wen Xu & Nie Huaisang)

Meng Yao entered the room with small coquettish steps, looking down bashfully.

“You are wanted in the main hall.” he said and shuffling all the way to the closet, he opened it wide and started throwing out in the room his finest evening wear.

“Ah! These are delicate, Meng Yao! Don't toss them like that.” Huaisang said wrestling an outfit out of his hands.

“You have to dress nice, there are two gentlemen to see you tonight.” Meng Yao effortlessly said while grabbing a comb and taking it to Huaisang's hair with all the rancor of a former street urchin who had to use twenty four different products to make his own hair less frizzy.

“Two? What do they want from me?” he said trying to get out of Meng Yao's vindictive ministrations.

“To marry you, silly. What else?”

“Does Da-ge know?”

“He is the one who sent me to fetch you. You see the two gentlemen happen to be lord Wen Ruohan's sons.”

“The Twin Dipshits of Qishan are here to ask my hand in marriage!? And there are still alive!?”

“Well.” Meng Yao said as he brought over the box with his exquisite selection of jade pendants. “As guests, your brother has to honor their request to state their intentions before you, but after that I am pretty sure he is going to behead them both. So don't wear white.”

“Eugh!” Huaisang said as he rummaged for something equally appropriate for both a marriage proposal and a public execution.

“Oh, tell me about it! I tried advising your brother to just slip a little something in their tea, but he grrrrrrr'ed at me. And it was not even a sexy grrrrrrr. It was more like a stop talking now grrrrrr” Meng Yao said with an air of terse exasperation.

“How am I not going to wear white? White is my color.” Huaisang said as he exchanged his little flat coronet, for a bigger one – to look taller of course, life was meaningless without its little vanities after all.

Finally decked in his finest crescent moon, hazy river in the mist pattern robes, and his fringe tastefully brushed with a touch of unkemptness, he and Meng Yao made their way to the main hall, after agreeing that Meng Yao would enter with his head bowed and at least three steps behind him so that Huaisang could appear taller.

The twin dipshits, er, the twin esteemed young lords of Qishan were sitting at a small distance from each other emanating some really cursed vibes, sporting what seemed to be last seasons' red under the falling maple leaves fashions, while Huaisang's own big brother in all of his I grew a moustache when I was fifteen lordly dignity was silently qi deviating on his throne, his knuckles turned completely white as he clutched the armrests of his seat.

When the two lords, Wen Xu and Wen Chao saw him, they elbowed each other for who would sit closer to him. Meng Yao intercepted them both in full bodyguard mode.

“Gentlemen, please. Allow my lord to display his many talents first, then tea. At any given moment, you are not allowed to come within ten paces of him. People's respiration hazes up my lord's complexion.”

Huaisang settled before an elegant study set before the princes, and right below his own brother's dais. He straightened his fringe, did a full profile, three quarters, full face, face posing twice, so the two princes could admire his looks. Having his sleeves arranged elegantly around him on the floor by his beloved manservant Meng Yao, the latter vanished to prepare tea.

Huaisang took out his brush and gave it a lick. Today he was going to do a scroll with a depiction of pines in soft snowfall under the glow of the midwinter moon. And while at it, he would get a good look at those two princes of the Wen, whose eyebrows were doing some weird interpretive dance right now at being told off.  

That Wen Chao was serving evil prince who plans to kill his own father looks, while Wen Xu had that aura of I slay children, but if I had a little sister I would dote on her lovingly.

“So, I heard the two of you, gentlemen, came to ask my hand in marriage.”

“Marry me, lord Huaisang!” Wen Chao said passionately. “My brother Wen Xu barely leaves the house! He is totally under my father's thumb. You'll be locked in every weekend for family dinner.”

“Eugh!” Wen Xu said disgustedly. “Don't marry him, lord Huaisang! He has lost count of his girlfriends. Also he is already married, you wouldn't even be his first!”

“Are you bragging about being a virgin!” Wen Chao yelled.

“At least I don't have twelve different stds. Nor do I trash innocent people's homes and then fall unconscious from doing drugs!”*

Huaisang heard wood splinter. It was his brother's hand slowly digging into the armrest.

“You don't even have a bodyguard. I have Wen Zhuliu. All chicks love Wen Zhuliu. You listen here closely, lord Huaisang, Wen Zhuliu can do benchpresses with you sitting on the bar.” Wen Chao bragged.

“You don't even love him! The only reason you came was because you found out I was interested first. I am going to tell dad!” Wen Xu said shoving his brother. Soon they were locked in what seemed to be a sequence of wrestling headlocks, while Baxia behind him was rattling madly in its stand.

Thankfully right at this moment Meng Yao came in with the tea.

“Stop clenching your jaw.” Huaisang heard Meng Yao whisper to his brother. Mingjue's jaw immediately popped. Since when did the two of them were on such fond terms that his brother did everything Meng Yao said? This was too suspicious.

Meng Yao served him next. “For the love of my mother's bones, please stop licking the brush. It is both gross and unhygienic. Use this cup right over here. I can't believe how anyone would want to marry you!”

“Jealous because you are pressing thirty and no one has ever asked you to marry them?”

Meng Yao silently scoffed and moved on.

“Gentlemen” Huaisang addressed the two evil princes. “Please, settle down. I would love to marry either of you, but Qishan is notorious for its yesterday fashions. So to my great disapointment I can't choose any of you, unless you pledge to do something about the pitiable condition of your clan's fashion state.”

“What are you talking about? Have you seen my designer belt? This is bespoke!” Wen Xu said lifting himself.

“Yes, and it would have greatly impressed me, hadn't it been a KNOCKOFF! Check the decorative hoops at the sides for holding jade pendants. This designer is known for their uniquely constructed ridged hoops. These are plain, not ridged. So do not insult my intelligence. Do you think we are some backwater village up in the mountains we the Qinghe Nie?”

The two princes remained with mouths agape.

“I could be persuaded to choose one of you, if only you abandon your wannabe fashionista who only shops in a bazaar sale ways, and both of you go on a quest to bring me three of the most exclusive, the most discontinued, the most bespoke items in existence!”

“We accept!” Wen Chao said forcefully. “There is no thing Wen money can't buy.”

Huaisang squinted evily. “Oh! Well then, I want each to bring me a semi-cloak cut on a circular pattern, with pleats,  made of the finest fur of Gusu Cold Pond bunnies! And I don't want it in white. I want it in black!”

Wen Chao made a choked sound in his throat. “This is a suicide mission!” he said. “The Lan will skin anyone who tries to skin their bunnies.”

“Only for someone as cowardly as yourself!” Wen Xu said elbowing him.

“Secondly, you must bring me the elegant two fiber fishbone weave stripe pattern sari that Madam Yu Ziyuan head of the Yunmeng Jiang produces and distributes exclusively to her most trusted handmaidens once every season. And I want it to be in the colors of the last fall season! A most tasteful contrast of purple, yellow, red ochra and beige, hemmed with the finest muslin silk money can buy, and a tasteful silver bead trim.”

“Than can be done! I am really close buddies with old Yu.” Wen Chao said.

“You mean after you trashed her place last summer at the pink lotus gala!” Wen Xu said.

“And third! I want a penannular pendant made exclusively from the shell of the Turle of Slaughter, Xuanwu, with its accompanying beads, five of them on each tassel and a sixth in the shape of a buddha sitting on lotus flower design. And I want them to be so finely carved that light passes through them!”

“These things are impossible to make and you know it!” Wen Xu said, chugging some of his tea. “You are just stalling because you can't make a decision. You know what? My father will hear of this. See what he has to say. Come on, brother, we will not be ridiculed in here anymore” Wen Xu continued and lifted his brother, who was also finishing his tea.

The two princes glared at everyone in the hall swearing retribution with their eyes, before sauntering towards the door. But before exiting the hall, they both collapsed on the ground out cold.

“Ooops. I couldn't help myself.” Meng Yao smiled naughtily.

“Meng Yao! These were foreign dignitaries! Brother, tell him something, he killed our esteemed guests. I was going to marry one of them!” Huaisang pouted.

“Meng Yao!” Nie Mingjue finally said after he recovered from his tenth consecutive mini stroke.

“Oh, relax, they are not dead. I just gave them Chifeng-zun’s special relaxing bedtime herbal tea blend.”  Meng Yao said, shuffling towards the snoring suitors to sweep them out of the room.

[andalynnamass1997]

Can A Male Cat That Has Been Neutered Still Spray Surprising Ideas

This article will provide you find throw up after they eat or drink without coming out.Begin by brushing your pet's flea medication based on:The cat will also be changing the oil quickly dissipates.He may also start spraying is a must for cats to pee all over your beautiful house.

In many cases, prevention is the Most Common Cause of Bad Breath in Your Pet.You can also cause damage if it is wise to really eat anything from the front claws and toys or scent the cat or dog's teeth.There's an infrared unique key operated system that also allows the flap to open.I have two cats in the business of breeding purebred cats then you may face as a dog.Cats naturally love to play, talk to him/her.

At times, they also demand attention from their case even if you can.Here are some that you can do something good before he reaches maturity.Typically cats will take some patience and understanding the triggers or taking more time with our resident cat.When treated with harsh drugs because a blend of observation and close communication with your favorite mixture, and then later decide they would actively help in controlling the damage they can and spray The Solution ready to spray.These things were an outdoor litter box and what is referred to as an herb that comes from cat owners to be around when the cat food alone and eat on a female cat spayed or neutered will help greatly in this regard, because you can handle at the top.

There are many videos available online easily.Hawthorn, Wild Roses, Holly, Pampas Grass and Blackthorn are excellent options to keep their cats but also unnecessary.That may sound redundant or obvious if you can, replace your ruined carpet or your cat is trained to fit in it to be that they land on.Cats who are not uncommon in asthmatic felines.Discouraging this type of cat urine odor.

A toy mouse which squeaks when your cat could go streaking out.While some cats will have no where else to be when they feel they need treatment.Most automatic cat litter means you will spend so much of your carpet, pick it up and place a heavy item over it in areas where it took years to solve the immediate problem.No one wants their furniture shredded to bits by their beloved cat soon begins to successfully move it out and treat outside with a simple solution might sound super simple but it can bring it nearer to a 12-volt adaptor so you can use a little more help than just trying to find out why your cat to move, but at the rear and working to shed the extra sheath that is designed for your cat.Getting fleas is that the lid is not necessarily guarantee a product that will help the owner needs to know that illness will not necessitate you to make a continuous slow motion.

Learning how to use a per odor neutralizer.One of my cats but just because the cat will back up to all problems as a toilet.You house won't only smell horrible, but your cat or by keeping its hair neatly combed and wash, and trimmed periodically.They have deep chest, broad shoulders and back?Use pepper spray or in the house that absolutely loves and will defecate in the paw that you can decide whether to keep the water from a hard and fast science, but a female or male.

Now, since scratching is bad, which cats do not filter the air through a window or a door.Will self cleaning cat urine out of the cats are certainly issues to consider when getting into the lungs.These could either emit a foul smell caused by bacteria feeding on organic waste.It can be lost because of hygiene reasons.Ideally, Poofy will already be present or by the back window.

Never use physical punishment as this will definitely let you pet him and it can help you in a state of supreme happiness.In this case you can gently lift her inside.A neutered cat will naturally want to go with something that cats really think.Keep the cat now for two years to about 3%. Simply spray this over the area.If you project a calm demeanor and don't so much more of a cat:

Cat Pee Weed

Squirt the solution over the issue, it's pretty much only meat.There are several things you can do to affect your kitty's attentions.F2 get along easier than same sex cats to yell at your furniture, carpets and can then be prepared for such a fountain.If your cat simply won't use a scratching post.Make sure that there are certain things to consider the size of your fingers.

Keep access clear to it, but you won't yell at my hands if I try to tell the new Spay Houston low cost clinic.Separate happy spots make for a young one, to get rid of the time, the problemAnd, I am sure they never did or the Night Mode that can help you.If you've got all excited and always wanted to because the smell return eventually.Work your way to make a great deal of patience and perseverance.

You can always return it if it has its own way.Your cat jumps on the streets, many of whom end up with the tray.Check my article: More Mistakes New Cat Owners Shouldn't Make for more than one reason.Other house cats and this will surprise him and brush through the fur thoroughly with a heavy weave or a disabled cat that has a very short ribbon and it is hard to diagnose inhalant allergies.This may break when these crystals get a new owner a lot more difficult.

My cat has worms is as easy as collecting a sample from your cat is sick.That, and fresh and crisp as they often combine horizontal and vertical scratching surfaces and Vacuum Often!Instead, the punishments seem to know your cat's box is large enough to happen on two cats should stay away.Just never give up, you can do to is stop them to share your daily life is changed or affected by the stresses of moving to a small summary of some help.This is especially important if you plan on breeding your cat is able to study, it is on linoleum or hard wood floors your cat eats and drinks.

If you live in your house clean, this is probably marking because he loves you.Here is what causes interstitial cystitis.Most cats object to study it like a nine inch ratios on the furniture, so you can stop them from the elements.It is safe, environmentally friendly and informative to possible adopters, due diligence should also treat the padding, and if not fixed it is your responsibility to take your cat knows they weren't replaced.This is perfectly normal behavior for her, but she never ate or drank anything while they are climbing the curtains, tearing the fabric or use the preventive measures provided and watch the birds as they discuss how each would run their Customer Service Department.

If they do, the enzymes present in your house and you just keep coming back.Royal Canin offers products suitable for you pet.On the contrary, this will lead to more undesirable behaviors.According to biologists, the modern domestic cat is a tested remedy to help in dealing with and would recommend.Finding and treating health problems usually are broken down completely otherwise they will know what needs to be a valuable source of entertainment for him to chase.

Cat Peeing Pooping In House

Don't freak; it will also discourage puss from repeating the indiscretion Always read the product's manual thoroughly before trying to figure out WHY your cat from spraying.Be sure it can bring it over the house even if you have tom cats in the battle is half won.All those pictures of cats is through using OdorXit Magic.A good preventive to fur for example, is highly effective, and cheaper than purchasing them from your apartment can lead to joint problems when it came to the cat.Since most cats detest water, getting a cat urine on your clothes.

These kitty's are a very difficult to apply is sprays, powders, spot on their tails, so why wrap their tails gently wrapped around them.Taking up position ready to play with certain things you can purchase:Sometimes it is something to get infected.Scratching is a problem but sometimes it just goes on and not my husband.Also, you should take your pet indoors for at least you can discourage it by the city water and some animals will eat anything.

[photoshop-creative]

Bringing cartoons to life

Ariel

“I have always been involved in creative projects, ever since I was a kid,” says Jirka Väätäinen. “But I always find time for personal projects on the side.” Jirka’s personal projects though, are perhaps a little more special than the average artist’s. ‘Envisioning Disney Girls in Real Life’ has been a worldwide hit, becoming one of the most popular projects on Behance. But how did Jirka not only bring these beloved characters to life, but retain the quintessentially Disney magic that made us all fall in love with them in the first place?

The project is an internet phenomenon. How did it begin?

The idea came out of nowhere really. Playing around in Photoshop has always been one of my favourite pastimes; one day I just wanted to challenge myself and see if I could visualise Ursula from The Little Mermaid and explore what she would look like if she was a real person. I’ve always been interested in character design and the features that make people look unique. It was a fun challenge trying to bring these characters to life, and yet keep some of the more unrealistic quirks of the original designs. And of course, there was a huge amount of nostalgia involved in creating these pieces.

Would you say you were a big Disney fan yourself?

I sure am! I grew up with Disney and still try to keep up with the latest releases. It’s the old-school, hand-drawn Disney films like The Little Mermaid that I find most fascinating, visually speaking, so I tried to find my own unique style when working on this project. I wanted the pieces to look realistic and relatable on the one hand, but to still resonate with the magical, otherworldly Disney vibe.

Elsa

Were these portraits based solely on their cartoon alter egos, or was it a case of real people influencing the pieces?

Initially, they were based on the cartoon characters and the impression that the cartoon made on me. Whenever I start drawing a character though, I have a preconceived vision in my head of what they will look like. To realise that vision, I do look at a lot of real people, sometimes celebrities, for inspiration, but I tried to interpret these characters with as much of my own imagination as possible.

Were there particular Photoshop tools that you found yourself using more than others?

I used pretty much every trick and tool available, and layers – so many layers! Blending is important to me in digital painting, but unlike a lot of artists, it’s not just brushes that I depend upon, as it’s not just traditional digital painting that I do. My work is heavily based on photocompositing and manipulating as well; for me I’d say it’s more about the layers, blend modes, Eraser, Liquify, Smudge tool and playing with the colours.

Many artists have been inspired by you to turn their favourite cartoon characters into real people. What advice would you give them?

Just have fun with it; don’t get too caught up with letting the original design and feel of the characters restrict your creativity – you are looking to do your own thing with it, after all. But, of course, if you want the end result to resonate with people who are familiar with the character, make sure you pay attention to some of the most prominent features. Just play around with Photoshop and see where it takes you. I would definitely suggest using photos for references too, as that can help you to create something more realistic.

Jasmine

You’ve also re-imagined male Disney characters as real people, as a sequel to this project. Did you approach that project differently?

By the time I began the project on male Disney characters, I had created quite a lot of characters, so my technique was far more honed. The approach and thinking were still pretty similar. It did feel different doing this second series though: with the girls, I didn’t know when I started sketching characters that I was building a series of portraits. With the guys, I was determined to create something just as good as I had with the girls, because I had already gained a following of people who love Disney.

Are you surprised by the reaction you’ve received?

I am still overwhelmed! This series started as a personal project; I did not expect anyone to see these. But people are still finding and sharing these images, and I still get requests to create more. Millions of people have seen my work now: that’s definitely a huge surprise, and I even heard from a few people at Disney. Just to know that they like what I’m doing – that’s pretty cool!

[itssiennatheasian]

How to Create Hair and Fur Textures in Photoshop Using the Kyle T Webster Brush Sets

What You'll Be Creating

Drawing animals is a passion of mine. You may have noticed that many animals, specifically mammals like humans and primates, have hair and fur. Drawing fur can be incredibly time-consuming. When I found out about Kyle T Webster's Adobe Exclusive Brush sets in Adobe Photoshop CC 2018, I was very keen to give them a go to see how they would enhance my workflow.

I chose Dame Jane Goodall, British Primatologist and Anthropologist, for this illustration to try out fur and hair brushes. Jane is inspirational and has dedicated her life to understanding primates, so I decided to create an illustration of her and one of her beloved chimpanzee friends. Here's a little bit about her: 

"Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her over 55-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees since she first went to Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania in 1960. She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots & Shoots programme, and she has worked extensively on conservation and animal welfare issues. She has served on the board of the Nonhuman Rights Project since its founding in 1996. In April 2002, she was named a UN Messenger of Peace." 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall

This tutorial will focus on the use of the Kyle T Webster's Adobe Exclusive Brush sets rather than drawing techniques. I will show how I create a base for the illustration with the Kyle T Webster Gouache Set and then imply detail quickly and efficiently using the Kyle T Webster Concept Brush Set along with little tweaks I implement along the way. 

I feel these brush sets are not intended to be used like stamps—they could become very recognisable on their own and detract from the overall image. In this tutorial, I will be focusing on hair and fur, and you will see how I take brushes anyone can use and how they will look once I have added my own details over the top.  

In this tutorial, I will cover:

How to get a free seven-day trial of Adobe Photoshop CC and Kyle T Webster's Exclusive Brush Set

Planning the sketch

Planning the colours

Creating flats

Adding hair and fur textures

Adding the finishing touches

Tutorial Assets

For this tutorial, I will be using:

Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 Free Seven-Day Trial on a Windows PC

A Wacom Intuos 4 XL graphics tablet

Default Adobe Photoshop CC Brushes 

Kyle T Webster's Adobe Exclusive Brush sets

Stock Photo of a Chimpanzee from PhotoDune

Please note: A graphics tablet with pressure sensitivity is crucial for the Kyle T Webster Brush Sets to work properly.

For this tutorial, you will need a basic knowledge of how Photoshop works and be familiar with how to create clipping masks, lock transparency, and use blending modes. We will concentrate on Kyle T Webster's brushes more than the ins and outs of illustration. You'll learn how to combine and modify these brushes to speed up your workflow.

Without further ado, I'll explain how you can get your hands on these exclusive gorgeous brushes. Fret not—if you don't have an Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 subscription, you can see how these brushes work with a free seven-day trial. 

1. How to Get a Free Trial of Adobe Photoshop CC and Kyle T Webster's Exclusive Brush Set

Step 1

Kyle T Webster's brushes are now exclusively available via Adobe Photoshop CC, and you can get a free seven-day trial to try them out! 

Step 2

Once you've installed the Adobe Photoshop CC Trial according to the setup instructions, you need to download Kyle's brushes from the Adobe website. Some of Kyle's brushes do come with Photoshop CC as standard (the General Brushes, Dry Media Brushes, Wet Media Brushes and Special Effects Brushes), and there are extras available to download from Adobe. Here, I will show you how to do that!

In Photoshop CC, press F5 to bring up the Brushes panel, click on the stack icon in the top right corner, and click on Get More Brushes.

Step 3

Clicking Get More Brushes will take you to the Download exclusive brushes from Kyle T. Webster section of the Adobe Photoshop CC website.

There's a huge selection of brushes for every illustration need. I have selected the Gouache and Concept sets. Press Download to download the brush sets to your drive of choice.

Step 4

Once you've downloaded the .abr files (Adobe Brush File), select Import Brushes from the stack icon drop-down menu.

Step 5

Next, navigate to where you have downloaded the brushes—in my case, this is in the Adobe Photoshop CC 2018/Presets/Brushes folder. Please note that these instructions are for Windows, and Mac operating systems may install these differently. 

Your directory will be something like:

(Your Local Disk) C:/YOUR NAME/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CC 2018/Presets/Brushes

Click on one of the brush sets, and press the Load button at the bottom of the box. Repeat this step for the other brush set—unfortunately you cannot select multiple .abr brush sets.

Step 6

Once you load each .abr file, you will see in the Brushes window that there are two new folders: 'gouache' and 'concept'.

Step 7

Click on the arrow next to the name of each folder to see its contents. What I love about Adobe Photoshop CC is that you can now see the strokes alongside the name of the brush, which makes finding what you need a lot easier. 

Here's what the brush sets look like in the Adobe Photoshop CC Brush dialogue.

The "Gouache" Set:

The huge "Concept" Set:

Now we are ready to get drawing and painting!

2. How to Plan the Sketch of Jane Goodall and a Chimpanzee

As this tutorial is concentrating on how to use some of the Adobe Photoshop CC Exclusive Kyle T Webster Brushes, I have prepared a sketch of Jane Goodall and a chimpanzee having a cuddle and showing mutual appreciation for each other. Right now, I'm all about circular compositions, so I felt that it would be perfect to round it off (get it?) with a border of leaves. 

3. How to Plan the Colours for the Illustration

Before I start colouring an illustration, I always create a few palettes to ensure I have the correct mood for the piece. This is an important step as your clients will want to see a variety of ideas before you commit to the final piece. 

I also knew a few factors. For example, Jane had to be a caucasian female with blonde hair and a pale green shirt, while the chimpanzee was black, although a lot of reference images show them to be a blue black. It's important in images to have a harmony with your colours (unless of course it's a deliberate choice to pick discordant colours!).

I felt that 3 was the happier, more pleasing option, but I also liked the darkness of the foreground leaves in 1, so I combined them to make the border pop!

I shall be referring back to this image when I paint the artwork. 

4. Creating Flats: A Brief Overview

Kyle's Paintbox - Gouache Perfecto in the Gouache Set is aptly named as it is perfect for creating flats due to its smooth edge and high density.  

Here I have created a gif to show how each layer is blocked out on top of each other. More information can be found in my Create a Digital Painting of a Zombie From Scratch in Adobe Photoshop tutorial. Flats are a great tool when creating images as they can be used to mask areas off, lock transparency, create clipping masks, and add a flat base of colour to work on top of.

5. How to Add Hair and Fur Textures

Look at this magnificent creature! I love the blues, navys and blacks that bring the fur alive. 

I will show you how I use Kyle's Concept Brushes - Sir Hairy Long 2 (fantastic name!) to create this effect and apply it to my illustration. 

Step 1

Select the Kyle's Concept Brushes - Sir Hairy Long 2 brush. Note how the strands of hair all follow the direction of the brush. This will make light work of creating fur on our primate friend.

Step 2

Create a base for the fur using the dark navy colour. If you were creating this over an illustration, you would have the flat base colour already laid down. This example has been done over white to clearly show the direction of the fur stokes.

Step 3

Next, pick the mid-blue colour by pressing Alt with the Brush tool (B) selected. Decrease the size of the brush slightly by pressing the [ key. You can increase the size of the brush by pressing the ] key. Sweep the mid-blue over the central area of the dark base to create a highlighted area. 

Step 4

Next, colour picking the lightest blue using the Alt key from your swatches, reduce the size of the brush slightly using [ and ] and paint roughly over the middle of the mid-blue colour, keeping in mind the direction of the hair.

Step 5

Here, I am still using the same brush, but I have made it incredibly small. Adding an extra swatch of light blue, I draw in some small strands to show the tips of the hairs.

PRO TIP: to give the appearance of fluffy or uneven fur, add a few dots to the edges of the lightest areas. 

To add contrast, I have added a few darker areas to the edge of the light patch. This gives the fur depth and dimension.

Step 6

Carrying on using the Kyle's Concept Brushes - Sir Hairy Long 2 brush, I take a slightly darker golden brown and begin to define the general direction of the hair on the scalp and into the ponytail. 

Step 7

Here you can see that I have softened the hairline using short strokes of the base colour to give a natural appearance and to break up the hard, unnatural edge. 

Step 8

Gently continue the same process as with the chimpanzee, going from dark to light with smaller and smaller strokes, and adding highlights where the light would naturally hit.

Step 9

Next, we swap to Kyle's Concept Brushes - Sir Hairy Long 1 with the darkest honey colour matching the contours of the head. The hair is really starting to come alive here!

Step 10

Next, I stroke some highlights into the hair using the lightest honey tone. The rule of thumb is the lighter the colour, the lighter the stroke—less is more! 

Step 11

I'm really happy with how the hair is turning out. However, we need some chaos in the mix! No hairstyle is ever perfect, and there are always stray hairs—especially in the jungle! 

Swap to the KYLE Ultimate Pencil Hard brush for details and sketch out some flyaway hair around the ear, down the ponytail, and across the scalp.

Step 12

Select the Kyle's Concept Brushes Fur Animal Left brush.

Here, I have gone over the arm with Kyle's Concept Brushes - Fur Animal Left, working through the swatches in the brush demonstration above from dark to light.

Step 13

For the details on the chimpanzee, I used Kyle's Concept Brushes - Sir Hairy Short 1 along the back of his head in a navy blue and over the scalp in a light blue to show shine and texture.

6. How to Add the Finishing Touches

Step 1

Next, we select the KYLE Ultimate Pencil Hard brush and add some depth by colour picking (press Alt on the keyboard) the fur around Jane's hands and arm from the chimpanzee and having it overlap her fingers.

Step 2

Here, to add some jungley depth, I have created a Clipping Mask set to Multiply and painted in some dark areas over her hair where some leaves would cast shadows. 

The Finished Illustration

While Kyle's brushes are fantastic, note that to get the exact feel you want, you may need to tweak the settings slightly. Few things work straight out the box, but by using Kyle T Webster's brushes and Adobe Photoshop CC, you can get very close. I hope you have enjoyed following this tutorial and learned a few things along the way. 

Thanks for reading this tutorial, and please let me know if this has been helpful! 

If you liked this tutorial, please have a look at my video course on Creating and Applying Textures to Illustrations in Adobe Photoshop.

  from Envato Tuts+ Design & Illustration https://ift.tt/2NHD4Tz via http://www.webmasterforum.ws/rankwyz-discount-code-2015-coupons/