How To Paint Expressive Eyes In Digital Portraits Using Photoshop – Last November/December I immersed myself in digital art, the only thing that gave me a sense of stability. While the protests outside my room were going on—constantly, it seemed—and the finger-wagging idiots and exams were going on, art was an escape.
So I drew. Many mainly use Wacom tablets on computers – the library had them. They have the Cintiq, a large screen you can point at, and the Wacom bamboo mini tablets. I spend hours every day drawing in Photoshop, learning from artists on YouTube, and looking for inspiration on DeviantArt.
How To Paint Expressive Eyes In Digital Portraits Using Photoshop
Here is a screenshot from an animation I made in February. I didn’t realize, until I tried animation, that I took it for granted – how tedious the process really was, having to draw 1/20 or 1/80 of every second.
Woman Eyes Painting
And only then you can connect the smooth movement. (Although there are now migration programs that help speed up the process)
. I used it to practice digital shading. Creating depth/value in Photoshop is a faster process than oil and acrylic paints. With paint, you have to mix and thin until you get the right shade and consistency; In Photoshop, it renders the entire color spectrum with all its variations. At first I was disappointed with this piece until I used highlights on the nose, lips and cheeks – which added depth to the piece and later realism.
When it comes to shading, I usually start with a base color, add shadows, then a temporary highlight. I’ll continue to darken the shadows, blend a bit, and then add a final layer of bright light (sometimes completely white). These are small white spots on her upper lip and the bridge of her nose.
A few days later, I decided to open my eyes, practice drawing faces and portraits (my favorite! As you can tell), so I sketched her, which I never called her – my first digital one. picture From hidden thoughts to deep emotions, eyes can tell us a lot about someone. If we want to draw a realistic portrait, it is necessary to learn how to draw realistic eyes.
Portrait Of A Person With Warm Medium-brown Skin Tone And Expressive Almond-shaped Eyes On Craiyon
Using a relatively large brush, start marking the contour of the eye. If you’re not 100% familiar with your eyes, I recommend using reference photos..it’s the best way to learn!
You can use any brush you want, but remember not to go too detailed. You’re just creating a basic “road map” for your painting.
Tip: When sketching, going into too much detail will slow you down and make it difficult to execute. Avoid temptation by choosing a slightly larger brush.
Sketching on a tablet is actually quite difficult. Don’t be disappointed! The beauty of digital painting is that you can erase and redraw your lines as many times as you like.
Sad Eyes Paintings
Remember: this is not a fine line! This is simply a road map for your drawing. I’ll show you how to draw realistic eyes over time, keep it sketchy and smooth for now.
Before we begin to deal with the details, it is important to understand one of the most common techniques in digital painting. I like it called the brush and cut method.
The first step is to blend your sketch with your background. I personally like to use Ctrl/Command+Alt+Shift+E to attach everything to a new layer on top. That way, you still have your sketch as a separate layer, in case you need to come back to it in the future.
On a new layer, start adding some shadows around the outside of the eyeball. Do this by just drawing outside the eyeliner.
Expressive Composite Painting
As you can see, the brush and cut method allows us to easily create value areas with soft edges and gradients on one side, and hard edges on the other.
This allows us to draw a basic shadow around the outside of the eye, giving it a 3D look.
Note: The beauty of this approach is that each new element you create is on a new layer. You can keep playing with it, brushing and cutting shapes without fear of erasing whatever you’ve drawn.
And if things look too light or too dark, you can adjust the layer’s opacity in the Layers panel.
How To Enhance Eyes Using Photoshop
You don’t need to brush and cut with soft brushes and harsh cleaners. You can similarly brush over valuable areas with a stiff brush, then smooth out the edges with a soft brush.
You don’t have to color everything by hand. You’ll often get better results using other tools at your disposal, such as the Elliptical Marquee Tool (shortcut: M).
I first removed the iris from my sketch. Then I made a selection on a new layer with the Elliptical Marquee Tool and filled it with a light gray color. Since it’s on a new layer, I can use the Free Transfer Tool (Ctrl/Command+T) to replace it.
A very useful tool for blending is the Smudge tool. I’ve created a tool for you that contains my favorite Smudge settings. You can find it in the downloadable brush files.
Realistic Colored Pencil Portrait Drawing Guide
Keep checking for minimum values. Be sure to start with large areas of high and low values, before zooming in and painting in small details with a small brush.
Here’s a guide that can come in handy if you find yourself getting bogged down in the details too soon.
Aside from some of the techniques mentioned above, there is no exact “science” of processing. This is mainly a matter of taking the time to research your reference photos. Make sure to keep processing even when you feel frustrated. And of course, practice, practice, practice!
Tip: To see my complete rendering process and learn about many other tips and techniques (like using Liquify to adjust scale or adjustment layers to increase contrast), be sure to watch the entire video.
A Color Blind Digital Portrait, With Some Color Picking, Everything Is Possible 😉 Me, Digital Painting.
You don’t need to add intricate details to every square inch (or pixel) of the image. In reality, sometimes less is more.
Details in important areas (eg highlights and shadows) will be easier to see. Focus on that and you’ll create the illusion that the entire piece has many intricate details.
Still using the texture brush, so I’ll add some shadow detail. I draw everything on a new layer, so I can go back and erase it, using the brush and cut method to blend it into the image.
Use a small, light brush to create lines around the iris. Then, blend them with the massage tool to make sure the lines are not too sharp.
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On a new layer, start with a large brush to find the basic shape that the eyelashes will have. Next, reduce the opacity and paint each lash in this shape with a fine brush.
Once you’ve drawn the eyelashes on the new layer, you can now Ctrl/Command+click that layer’s thumbnail on the layer icon to select the eyelashes.
Hide the selection (Cmd/Ctrl+H) and choose a soft, light brush. Brush on the designated area to lighten your lashes.
Next, go to Edit > Transform > Skew and tilt it slightly to one side. This will create the illusion of some bold lashes that stand out from the rest.
Professional Photoshop Artwork
The trick to coloring your hair is to think of it as a geometric shape rather than a collection of thousands of individual hairs. First, draw the general shape, then add each hair to the main parts (highlights + shadows).
Well, technically this is more detailed work than post-production work. But it makes such a big difference that I wanted to save it for last.
Depending on the light source, you may want to draw some reflections in the eye. This will give the eyes a shiny, glossy look and really make them stand out.
Add a brightness/contrast adjustment layer to your image by clicking the Adjustment Layer icon in the Layers panel.
Digital Painting In Procreate: Using Layers To Create A Realistic Portrait
Make some small adjustments to increase the contrast and make your image a little more ‘dramatic’. However, be careful not to overdo it!
This step is optional, but I find that especially when painting skin, adding some noise can really help bring out the details.
To do this, attach your artboard to a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+Shift+E), then go to Filter > Add Noise.
Depending on the size of your canvas, you will need to experiment with options. Make sure to add a touch, don’t overdo it. Often less is more!
Painting Expressive Eyes With Watercolour
Using the brush and kit method, focus on the upper part of the eye and clean up any spillage on the upper lid.
This sharpening tool is perfect for adding highly detailed small dots to any large area of your painting. Use it sparingly and don’t overdo it (stop if you’ve heard this before!).
I recommend using the Sharpen tool on a new layer, selecting “Sample All Layers” in the top toolbar. The same goes for all changes