10-17-2013, 02:59 AM
Put these brushes to work with an ear study. I have progress shots, so you guys can check out how I'm trying to go about doing this.
Started with the underdrawing as my base layer. I use a custom HB pencil, close to the ones I have shown above in the test examples. Very responsive, and since it's a smart brush it's angle sensitive allowing me to turn my brush to get thicker strokes for shading as well as have it 90 degress to the canvas for sharper lines. Above that I have a canvas texture that I've created set to multiply. I can easily just leave it off and slap it on at the end of the painting, but I like leaving it on just to subconsciously feel as though I'm actually working on canvas. It's weird, I know, but it does something for me.
Next I move on to the underpainting on a layer above the drawing, just as you would with acrylics to block out shadow and light shapes as well as simple planes/forms. I use a custom mixer brush for this with a thick, round shape that, like the pencil brush, is angle-sensitive and allows for tons of stroke variety. I constantly adjust mix/flow settings as I paint, depending on how much of my selected color I want to be putting down to mix with the canvas. I think this is the first time I've used PS for a painting that actually FEELS like painting. Blending is a breeze, since the strokes blend as I'm putting them down with the pre-existing colors, so I no longer need to put down a stroke with low opacity, use alt to pick an "in-between" and then try and blend those, all the while ruining my brush strokes! I much prefer to be in control of my strokes and this allows for that.
After the underpainting comes the oil layer, which I use to model forms. Same process as the underpainting, using the same brush. You can see some of the color mixing on the side as well. Again, this feels very intuitive and exactly as I would mix real paints.
For the final part I create a layer above my canvas texture and start to sharpen up edges, create more contrast and punch up darkest/lightest areas. What's kinda cool is that since the layers underneath aren't as sharp because they're underneath the canvas texture layer, it really creates a nice play on soft/hard edges as well as darker and lighter areas. I didn't expect that to happen when I was painting, but I'm glad I found out how useful that could be.
I've also tried to come up with a good conte pencil for figure drawings.
Let me know what you guys think!
Started with the underdrawing as my base layer. I use a custom HB pencil, close to the ones I have shown above in the test examples. Very responsive, and since it's a smart brush it's angle sensitive allowing me to turn my brush to get thicker strokes for shading as well as have it 90 degress to the canvas for sharper lines. Above that I have a canvas texture that I've created set to multiply. I can easily just leave it off and slap it on at the end of the painting, but I like leaving it on just to subconsciously feel as though I'm actually working on canvas. It's weird, I know, but it does something for me.
Next I move on to the underpainting on a layer above the drawing, just as you would with acrylics to block out shadow and light shapes as well as simple planes/forms. I use a custom mixer brush for this with a thick, round shape that, like the pencil brush, is angle-sensitive and allows for tons of stroke variety. I constantly adjust mix/flow settings as I paint, depending on how much of my selected color I want to be putting down to mix with the canvas. I think this is the first time I've used PS for a painting that actually FEELS like painting. Blending is a breeze, since the strokes blend as I'm putting them down with the pre-existing colors, so I no longer need to put down a stroke with low opacity, use alt to pick an "in-between" and then try and blend those, all the while ruining my brush strokes! I much prefer to be in control of my strokes and this allows for that.
After the underpainting comes the oil layer, which I use to model forms. Same process as the underpainting, using the same brush. You can see some of the color mixing on the side as well. Again, this feels very intuitive and exactly as I would mix real paints.
For the final part I create a layer above my canvas texture and start to sharpen up edges, create more contrast and punch up darkest/lightest areas. What's kinda cool is that since the layers underneath aren't as sharp because they're underneath the canvas texture layer, it really creates a nice play on soft/hard edges as well as darker and lighter areas. I didn't expect that to happen when I was painting, but I'm glad I found out how useful that could be.
I've also tried to come up with a good conte pencil for figure drawings.
Let me know what you guys think!