I'm working on a project right now that I thought would make a great little tutorial for working with spot images. What used to take me forever working traditionally is now a snap - and if you're using photoshop this might give you a few more ways to think about your edges and feathering those highlights. As I make new discoveries or figure out new ways to use photoshop I'll add a video tutorial. And as always - if you feel that this video doesn't give you all the answers I still have my full tutorials available at
folioacademy.com. You can also subscribe to my youtube channel to check out my
library of videos here.
Grab your favorite beverage and watch as I fumble for the controls but finally set her down nice and easy.
Thanks for that - really useful tutorial. You have a great style of delivery - even leaving the mistakes in is good, it's reassuring! I've learnt something that I will definitely try out. Love all your illustrations btw.
ReplyDeleteThank you Angela! Yes, the mistakes are inevitable...sigh :)
DeleteWill, that Contract command is new to me. Wow. It changes everything. I've been hand selecting everything with the Lasso for years. I rarely use the Magic Wand--this video has changed all that. You have just saved me so much time. WOW!
ReplyDeleteI found it the other day...I tried and tried to find a way to reduce the selection size with no luck...so I googled it :) ...some kid taught me from half way around the world on youtube...how did we ever live without the internet?
DeleteThanks again Will. I agree leaving mistakes in makes the tutorial better. Glad to see someone else paints on the wrong layer! :-) Thanks again my brother!
ReplyDeleteYeah, if I could figure out a way to get paid every time I'm on the wrong layer... I liked leaving that stuff in because I know many of us get stuck in PS trying to work through our mistake - I think it's valuable for others to see. you're welcome!
DeleteGreat tutorial! Another suggestion: when you paint an area (like at 9:22), instead of having to hand delete/erase the outside areas (since you already have the shark's shape), go to the shape, select it, inverse it and go back to your painted layer and delete/backspace (faster than hand erasing everything). Then go in and hand erase smaller details.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy your posts!
You're absolutely right April - I had a brain cramp and realized it during the video. I have a hard time painting and talking at the same time. I wish I would have done that :(
DeleteAnother win Will! This inspired me to get back to work and make something today ^_^
ReplyDeleteAwesome Janix! feed your soul!
DeleteGreat video thanks for the tips. My favorite trick is to block out the main color like you did with the black at first, then duplicate that layer and lock transparency on the copied layer. Then you can shade the shape with out having to select it and it will only paint in the area that you blocked out. When you're done you just merge it with the original layer and you don't have to do any erasing.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to try that robot! I'm a noob :)
DeleteI'm stuck on the eraser. This is how I work, even in painter. It's a back and forth dance. When I'm working, I forget to use all the speed tricks and sometimes I just can't get the edges to do what I want unless I am erasing them.
ReplyDeleteThanks again will for sharing! I don't use ps5 but use ps elements, not sure if they have fast key boarding tricks as it is a program made for editing photos. I enjoyed watching you create dimention to this little shark!
ReplyDeleteThank you Sabrina - I used to have a copy of elements - as I recall it was way more powerful than I ever thought it would have been. I don't know how much of this you can do...I need to get a copy again and try to work with it.
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DeleteP.S. my fav bevarge was wine and I think it calls me to sleep darn 'cause I just opened my drawing fill again to figure out rays of sunshine!
ReplyDeleteI mean open my drawing file...
ReplyDeleteAnother great tutorial Will, I love all your work. And I agree, you have to keep the mistakes in, they made me laugh every time, because I make those same mistakes a lot. Just touching on what April said, another way is to select drawing layer, then with the magic wand select says the inside of the mouth, add a new layer above, then when you paint it will only paint in that selected area, if you wanted to do more than one area at once like the teeth, select a tooth with the magic wand then hold down shift & select the other teeth, that way you can do them all & not affect the rest of the drawing.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see this finished project now.
Thanks Neil - I usually do this - I was really off my game...my big excuse is that when you're making a tutorial you have a ton of extra things going through your head. Keep it quick so the tutorial doesn't get boring - don't sound stupid - am I explaining things in enough detail? too much detail? etc. I'm more efficient on my own. :)
ReplyDeleteLol, I totally understand Will, well I think your video tutorials are great, people will learn a lot from them, I know I have, Keep up the great work :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the photoshop tips here. Keep up the good work. All the best.
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