D IGITAL C HARACTER P AINTING U SING P HOTOSHOP ® CS3 D ON S EEGMILLER C HARLES R IVER M EDIA Boston, Massachusetts Publisher and General Manager, Charles River Media: Stacy L. Hiquet Associate Director of Marketing: Sarah O’Donnell Manager of Editorial Services: Heather Talbot Marketing Manager: Jordan Casey Marketing Assistant: Adena Flitt Project Editor: Karen A. Gill Technical Reviewer: Howard Lyon CRM Editorial Services Coordinator: Jennifer Blaney Copy Editor: Ruth Saavedra Interior Layout Tech: Judy Littlefield Cover Designer: Tyler Creative Cover Images: Don Seegmiller CD-ROM Producer: Brandon Penticuff Indexer: Valerie Perry Proofreader: Melba Hopper Charles River Media, Inc. 25 Thomson Place Boston, MA 02210 617-757-7900 617-757-7969 (fax) info@charlesriver.com www.charlesriver.com This book is printed on acid-free paper. Don Seegmiller. Digital Character Painting Using Photoshop CS3 . 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This page intentionally left blank C ONTENTS P REFACE xvii I NTRODUCTION xxi P ART IC HARACTER D ESIGN 1 C HAPTER 1I NTRODUCTION TO C HARACTER D ESIGN 3 What Is Character Design? 6 Character Design Issues and Limitations 8 Conclusion 11 C HAPTER 2D EVELOPING A W ORKING M ETHOD 13 The Need for a Methodical and Successful Way of Working 14 Identifying and Understanding the Problem 14 Analyzing the Problem and Breaking It Down into Simpler Elements 16 Choosing the Best Idea 16 Drawing the Character 16 Evaluating the Results 16 Conclusion 17 C HAPTER 3E XPANDING ON Y OUR I DEAS W HEN C REATING THE C HARACTER 19 Basic Strategies to Help Generate Creative Ideas 20 Learning to Relax 20 Locating Useful Reference Materials 22 v Using Wordplay 22 Fantasizing About the Character 22 Using Symbolism with the Character 23 Building the Character Around a Myth 23 Snowballing 23 Visiting Special Places for Inspiration 23 Developing Your Basic Idea 24 Using Caricature 25 Using Humor 25 Using Blotter Pictures 26 Using Exaggeration 27 Using Satire 28 Using Parody 28 Doing Some Expression Exercises 28 Doing Some Five-Dot Action Exercises 29 Using Folded Paper 29 Using Idealization 29 Adding and Subtracting 29 Using Repetition 29 Using Combinations 30 Transferring Characteristics 30 Superimposing 30 Changing the Scale 30 Substituting 30 Distorting 30 Disguising the Character 31 Using Analogy 31 Creating a Hybrid 31 Evolving the Character 31 Changing the Character with Metamorphosis and Mutation 31 Using Metaphors 31 Using Visual Puns 32 Doodling and Scribbling 32 Making Things Look Strange, or Transforming the Ordinary into the Fantastic 32 Using Mimicry 32 Conclusion 32 vi Contents Contents vii C HAPTER 4M AKING THE C HARACTER R EAL BY C REATING A C HARACTER H ISTORY 33 Creating the Character’s History 34 The Character’s Past, Present, and Future 34 The Character’s Everyday Environment 35 The Character’s Personality 35 The Character’s Personality Traits 36 The Character’s Look 37 Conclusion 37 C HAPTER 5D ESIGNING THE P HYSICAL L OOK OF Y OUR C HARACTER 39 Describing the Character 40 The Character’s General Physical Characteristics 40 The Character’s Body Type 40 The Character’s Proportions 42 The Character’s Makeup 42 The Character’s Gender 42 The Character’s Surface 42 The Character’s Color 43 The Character’s Facial Structure 43 The Character’s Movement 43 Other Considerations 44 The Visual Issues of Character Design and How to Communicate Your Ideas 44 Conclusion 45 P ART II A RTISTIC P RINCIPLES FOR A D IGITAL A GE 47 C HAPTER 6B ASIC P RINCIPLES FOR I MPROVING THE D RAWING , S KETCHING , AND P AINTING OF Y OUR C HARACTER 49 Some Basic Ideas About Drawing 50 Some Basic Ideas About Painting Figures, Hair, and Flesh Tones 52 The Art Part: Sketching, Drawing, and Painting the Character 54 Conclusion 55 C HAPTER 7V ALUE AND I TS U SE IN P ICTURE M AKING 57 What Is Value? 59 How to Use Value Effectively in Your Art 64 Rules for Using Value in Your Images 69 Conclusion 71 C HAPTER 8C OLOR AND I TS U SE IN P ICTURE M AKING 73 The Four Primary Characteristics of Color 74 Hue 74 Value 75 Chroma 75 Temperature 75 Secondary Color Characteristics 76 Color Quality 76 Color Distance 76 Color Weight 77 How Color Acts and Reacts 78 Simultaneous Contrast 78 Color Contrast 79 Using Colors Effectively 79 Conclusion 80 C HAPTER 9U SING L IGHTING A RRANGEMENTS TO L IGHT A C HARACTER E FFECTIVELY 81 Using Lighting to Create Striking Art 82 The Main Types of Lighting 83 Positioning Your Lights 87 The Color of Your Lights 94 A Last Word About Shadows 94 Conclusion 96 C HAPTER 10 U SING E DGES W HEN P AINTING A P ICTURE 97 Types of Edges 98 How Edges Interact 101 Edges and Value 101 Edges and Color 102 Where You Will Find the Different Types of Edges 106 Conclusion 107 viii Contents Contents ix C HAPTER 11 B LENDING E DGES IN Y OUR D IGITAL P AINTINGS 109 A New Method for Blending the Edge Where Your Colors and Shapes Meet 110 Optional Blending Method 123 Conclusion 126 C HAPTER 12 C REATING T EXTURES AND P ATTERNS FOR U SE IN D IGITAL P AINTING 127 Creating Textures 128 Creating Textures from Photographic Reference Materials 128 Photoshop’s Pattern Maker 136 Creating Hand-Drawn Textures from Scratch 139 Conclusion 141 C HAPTER 13 P HOTOSHOP B RUSHES 143 Section 1: The Basics of Photoshop Brushes 144 Where Are the Photoshop Brushes? 144 How to Change Brush Properties 148 Section 2: The Photoshop Brushes Palette 152 Brush Presets 154 Brush Tip Shape 154 Shape Dynamics 159 Scattering 162 Texture 163 Dual Brush 165 Color Dynamics 165 Other Dynamics 169 Section 3: Creating Your Own Photoshop Brushes 172 Creating and Saving Brushes in Photoshop 172 Creating a Custom Brush in Photoshop Using a Photographic Texture 175 Creating Brush Libraries of Your Custom Brushes 180 Conclusion 182 [...]... success if you use some sort of stylus when painting Painting with a mouse is possible but feels a lot like painting with a bar of soap As for software, I’m using Photoshop CS3 It’s assumed that you have a fundamental understanding of this software If you do not have Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS2, Photoshop CS, or Photoshop 7 will suffice Earlier versions of Photoshop are not recommended, as the brush... the practical issues of the character s design The most visually appealing design in the world is worthless if it is not useful 8 Digital Character Painting Using Photoshop CS3 Character Design Issues and Limitations So let’s talk about some of the practical issues and limitations that are associated with a character s design You must be aware of many issues as you work on a character design Often, you... and what is not 6 Digital Character Painting Using Photoshop CS3 Have no doubt: character design is an art The fleshing-out of a character is successful to a large degree when you apply traditional artistic principles to a creative idea Most of us who desire to work in the entertainment industry (whether in film, games, or something else) are just expected to know how to flesh out a character when we... some of this information as you create Your character designs will be better for it 1 This page intentionally left blank CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO CHARACTER DESIGN 3 4 Digital Character Painting Using Photoshop CS3 F or as long as people have been telling stories (and, eventually, writing books), they have verbally and with the written word created different characters to populate their fictional worlds... 19.2 Painting the Green Character Conclusion C H A P T E R 20 PAINTING THE FABRIC OF A CHARACTER S COSTUME What You Need to Know About Photoshop for This Chapter TUTORIAL 20.1 Painting Fabric Conclusion C H A P T E R 21 P A I N T I N G T H E D R A G O N ’ S L AIR What You Need to Know About Photoshop for This Chapter TUTORIAL 21.1 Painting the Image Conclusion C H A P T E R 22 PAINTING A MONSTER FROM... with different media vary widely A character in print will require much more detail than a character on the movie screen A character for a movie will need more detail than a character on a video or television monitor A TV or video character will need much more detail than a character in a handheld game How Close or Distant to the Camera Will the Character Be? If the character will never be closer to... model The person that will be modeling the character will need a clear picture of what is expected and needed 10 Digital Character Painting Using Photoshop CS3 How Much Detail Will You Need in the Hands, Feet, Hoofs, Talons, Paws, Etc.? There was a time in the not-too-distant past when hands were represented by blocks of geometry with painted texture maps Characters that held items in their hands were... if the character will be in close-up, make sure that you add convincing detail How Big or Small Is the Character Relative to Other Characters? When designing for video games, the polygon count for a character is still an important issue Larger characters may need more polygons They may need much more Chapter 1 Introduction to Character Design 9 detailed texture maps, too A model of an insect character. .. that, if used, will improve your abilities as a character designer Most of the ideas are not original in and of themselves The uniqueness of this section lies in the fact that the ideas have rarely been combined into one section on character design WHAT IS CHARACTER DESIGN? What is good character design? For that matter, what is character design? The art of character design is no more and no less than... E R 22 PAINTING A MONSTER FROM SCRATCH What You Need to Know About Photoshop for This Chapter TUTORIAL 22.1 Painting the Image Conclusion C H A P T E R 23 PAINTING THE PROFESSOR IMAGE What You Need to Know About Photoshop for This Chapter Tutorial 23.1 Painting the Professor Image Conclusion APPENDIX A A B O U T T H E CD-ROM What Is Photoshop? System Requirements Windows Macintosh INDEX xi 282 286 287 . This book is printed on acid-free paper. Don Seegmiller. Digital Character Painting Using Photoshop CS3 . ISBN-10: 1-58450-533-8 ISBN-13: 978-1-58450-533-4. Developing Your Basic Idea 24 Using Caricature 25 Using Humor 25 Using Blotter Pictures 26 Using Exaggeration 27 Using Satire 28 Using Parody 28 Doing Some