How I used photos to color-fill my inked artwork.

How I used photos to color-fill
my inked artwork. :)

The first thing you want to do when looking at a sketch/ouline that you wish to use photographs for your color fill is to figure out where your light source will be coming from.  If your light source is coming from the right, then every thing to the left of your objects will be darker in your image then on the right.

In this inked image, I chose to have my light source coming from the upper right side of the whole image.  You can actually place yours where ever you wish to have your light source come from.

To get started, copy your original outline.  Create a new layer and paste as a transparency.  Line it up with the original underneath. Mark the original so it isn't visible.

I start with my background. In this case the sky.  I wanted something that was unusual and I had in mind the perfect image to use!  This is a photo of the clouds above my fiances' parents house one summer.  The sky was just brilliant with these red streaks.

After figuring out where and how I wanted the sky to look, I used the 'square selection tool' to outline the area I wish to copy.

Now that I have my section selected I go back to the outlined image.  Create a new raster layer and call it 'sky'.  While making sure this layer is highlighted, make another selection on the layer where you wish your sky to be placed on your image.  *I use layers for each item to make sure that I can do any repairs/additions at a later time.*

I move my 'outline' layer above my sky layer.  This enables me to see if the image is going to work or not.  Mainly making sure I have enough of the sky image to cover the whole sky.

I'm going to work on the mountains next.  You may work on any section of your image as you wish. There really is no specific order since you are using layers.

I'm going to be using this other sky image for my mnts.  This one will be used a little differently as we want to make sure that the left side of the mountains are darker then the right side as the right side has the 'light source'.

Now to look at my outline of my piece and look at the sky image to figure out what section I wish to use for the darker side of the mountains.  Once I have that figured out I will use the box shaped selection tool to outline and copy the section I wish to use.  For the mountains we will need to do each one separately which means each one goes on their own layer as we will also want to turn the image slightly for our affect.

To figure out what section I wish to use I place the photo below the area I will be filling and look at both of them to see what exactly I wish the effect to be and then I am ready to proceed.

Once I have decided on my section of the photo to use I use copy and paste it to a new layer.  Which I will call "mnt1" since I have more then one mountain to fill in.

Next step I perform is to place it near the mnt so I can figure out how I want the piece to look on the mountain.  In its' current position the mountain will look upside down so I need to rotate it a bit to get the right angle I want for the mountain side.

I rotated the section of the photo and moved it around to get it in just the right position.  *This will be different for everyone as everyone may not see the same things as I do.  Remember there is no right way or wrong way of placing a photo into your image. Just what YOU see in YOUR mind for your piece.*

Now that I have my photo piece where I want it to be I need to erase all the outside area so that it is ONLY on the mountain sied.

Repeat these steps to finish the next two mountains.  For these images it will show them as a 'Promoted Selection' and this is fine.  Go to 'layers/merge/merge down' the promoted layer so that it will be merged with layer below it.  I also save as .psp after every addition just to be on the safe side.

Here is my piece with just the mountain areas showing their fill.  I also included the layer section so you can see the layers I have already.  Remember to save your piced that you are working on with layers as a ANIMATION SHOP .psp .

Now for the front side, lighter side, of the mountains.  I can use the same photo I used for the backside of the mountains or another photo.  I believe I used a different photo of clouds.  This is the image with all my mountains filled in from photos.

For my trees I wanted them to be the autumn yellow leaves.  I chose one of my photos that had a tree with yellow leaves.  I named this new layer 'trees1' since I will have another set of trees to fill in.

Here is the results of my tree leaves.  I followed the directions above that I used for filling in my mountains to fill in my trees.  This filling in did not have to be merged as we didn't need to rotate the selected image.

I wanted a darker foilage for the bushes. I chose one of the photos I had taken of a blooming honeysuckle bush.

I made my selection then followed the above directions again.  I also realized it was much easier to erase my extra photo area with all the other layers closed.  That way I was able to make sure I got ALL of the photo erased from areas I didn't want it to appear.

This step is going to be different.  I didn't use any photos to fill in the water fall area.  I used the PSP 'material patterns/pastel blue splatters' with 'angle' set to zero and the 'scale' set to 40.  Now that I have a 'fill' for my waterfall, I will use the lasso to outline where I wish the water fill to go into my piece.

I filled the waterfall and the stream making sure I got the stream under the trees.

Here is what I have so far completed.

This is an actual photo of a rock.  I'm using this to fill in the outline of my rock in the image.

Looking at the sketch of my rock and the image of the rock I decided I wanted to align the photo of the rock to have the lighted side to the right of the rock and the blemishes coincide with the markings in the rock.  I turned the image 90 degrees clockwise.  I then copied it and pasted it on a new layer.

Here is my filled in rock with the photograph.

I'm not going to worry about the coloring of the dragon and the girls' clothes as they were colored with PSP tools. For this part you can color them what ever way you wish.

For the tree trunks I will make it simple by using the same rock photograph except this time I will 'flip' the image so that the dark area will be under the leaves and the light part near the ground where it gets more light.

Repeat for the other tree trunks.

Now for something really interesting.  I was having so much trouble getting the dino, girl and rock to not blend into the background I had to figure out a way to make them stand out in the picture.  It took me quite awhile to figure out how to make this work.

I used a photo of a grassy yard (actually this was taken at my fiance's parents farm).  I don't want all of the photo for my grass in my piece.  Just the grassy area.  I used the lasso tool to outline the grassy area.  I copied then pasted this onto a new layer.  Erasing the areas I don't need.

Make your new layer and use the 'square' selection tool to give yourself a large enough area to cover the ground.  Use the 'paste into' feature to fill in your marked off area with your grass.

I wanted the grass to be a bit darker so I adjusted the brightness/contrast on the grass layer to make it a little darker.  In this screen shot you can see the settings I used to darken the grass area.  You can change the settings to your liking.

Now, here is the next best part of this tutorial!  Making the main characters stand out from the rest of the image.  I created another layer, used the magic wand to select the whole layer and filled it with a solid white filling. Make sure this layer is on top of ALL layers, except for the outline layer.  Click on 'select none' to remove your marching ants.

Next to your layer name you will find an Opacity slider bar.  Move this bar till the solid white becomes less solid allowing for the rest of the image to show through.

You should now have a rather light image.

To make the main characters stand out,while still on this layer, go to your eraser and erase the rock, dino and girl.   Also erase some of the area around the main characters to make it look like shadowing.

You can use anything you wish to make the sun source in the upper right corner. Use your imagination. :)  Put a frame if you wish on another layer. :)  Don't forget to add a layer with your watermark.  REMEMBER: save your original as a Animation Shop .psp!

Here is all my layers for this project.

Here is the final piece.  I saved this as a .jpg.  I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial.  At this time I have no ideas for new tutorials.

	To get started, copy your original outline. Create a new layer and paste as a transparency. Line it up with the original underneath. Mark the original so it isn't visible. I start with my background. In this case the sky. I wanted something that was unusual and I had in mind the perfect image to use! This is a photo of the clouds above my fiances' parents house one summer. The sky was just brilliant with these red streaks.
	After figuring out where and how I wanted the sky to look, I used the 'square selection tool' to outline the area I wish to copy.
	Now that I have my section selected I go back to the outlined image. Create a new raster layer and call it 'sky'. While making sure this layer is highlighted, make another selection on the layer where you wish your sky to be placed on your image. I use layers for each item to make sure that I can do any repairs/additions at a later time.
	I move my 'outline' layer above my sky layer. This enables me to see if the image is going to work or not. Mainly making sure I have enough of the sky image to cover the whole sky.
	I'm going to work on the mountains next. You may work on any section of your image as you wish. There really is no specific order since you are using layers. I'm going to be using this other sky image for my mnts. This one will be used a little differently as we want to make sure that the left side of the mountains are darker then the right side as the right side has the 'light source'.
	Now to look at my outline of my piece and look at the sky image to figure out what section I wish to use for the darker side of the mountains. Once I have that figured out I will use the box shaped selection tool to outline and copy the section I wish to use. For the mountains we will need to do each one separately which means each one goes on their own layer as we will also want to turn the image slightly for our affect. To figure out what section I wish to use I place the photo below the area I will be filling and look at both of them to see what exactly I wish the effect to be and then I am ready to proceed.
	Once I have decided on my section of the photo to use I use copy and paste it to a new layer. Which I will call "mnt1" since I have more then one mountain to fill in.
	Next step I perform is to place it near the mnt so I can figure out how I want the piece to look on the mountain. In its' current position the mountain will look upside down so I need to rotate it a bit to get the right angle I want for the mountain side. I rotated the section of the photo and moved it around to get it in just the right position. This will be different for everyone as everyone may not see the same things as I do. Remember there is no right way or wrong way of placing a photo into your image. Just what YOU see in YOUR mind for your piece.

	Now that I have my photo piece where I want it to be I need to erase all the outside area so that it is ONLY on the mountain sied. Repeat these steps to finish the next two mountains. For these images it will show them as a 'Promoted Selection' and this is fine. Go to 'layers/merge/merge down' the promoted layer so that it will be merged with layer below it. I also save as .psp after every addition just to be on the safe side.
	Here is my piece with just the mountain areas showing their fill. I also included the layer section so you can see the layers I have already. Remember to save your piced that you are working on with layers as a ANIMATION SHOP .psp .
	Now for the front side, lighter side, of the mountains. I can use the same photo I used for the backside of the mountains or another photo. I believe I used a different photo of clouds. This is the image with all my mountains filled in from photos.
	For my trees I wanted them to be the autumn yellow leaves. I chose one of my photos that had a tree with yellow leaves. I named this new layer 'trees1' since I will have another set of trees to fill in.
	Here is the results of my tree leaves. I followed the directions above that I used for filling in my mountains to fill in my trees. This filling in did not have to be merged as we didn't need to rotate the selected image.
	I wanted a darker foilage for the bushes. I chose one of the photos I had taken of a blooming honeysuckle bush.
	I made my selection then followed the above directions again. I also realized it was much easier to erase my extra photo area with all the other layers closed. That way I was able to make sure I got ALL of the photo erased from areas I didn't want it to appear.
	This step is going to be different. I didn't use any photos to fill in the water fall area. I used the PSP 'material patterns/pastel blue splatters' with 'angle' set to zero and the 'scale' set to 40. Now that I have a 'fill' for my waterfall, I will use the lasso to outline where I wish the water fill to go into my piece.
	I filled the waterfall and the stream making sure I got the stream under the trees.
	Here is what I have so far completed.
	This is an actual photo of a rock. I'm using this to fill in the outline of my rock in the image.
	Looking at the sketch of my rock and the image of the rock I decided I wanted to align the photo of the rock to have the lighted side to the right of the rock and the blemishes coincide with the markings in the rock. I turned the image 90 degrees clockwise. I then copied it and pasted it on a new layer.
	Here is my filled in rock with the photograph.
	I'm not going to worry about the coloring of the dragon and the girls' clothes as they were colored with PSP tools. For this part you can color them what ever way you wish. For the tree trunks I will make it simple by using the same rock photograph except this time I will 'flip' the image so that the dark area will be under the leaves and the light part near the ground where it gets more light. Repeat for the other tree trunks.
	Now for something really interesting. I was having so much trouble getting the dino, girl and rock to not blend into the background I had to figure out a way to make them stand out in the picture. It took me quite awhile to figure out how to make this work.
	I used a photo of a grassy yard (actually this was taken at my fiance's parents farm). I don't want all of the photo for my grass in my piece. Just the grassy area. I used the lasso tool to outline the grassy area. I copied then pasted this onto a new layer. Erasing the areas I don't need.
	Make your new layer and use the 'square' selection tool to give yourself a large enough area to cover the ground. Use the 'paste into' feature to fill in your marked off area with your grass.
	I wanted the grass to be a bit darker so I adjusted the brightness/contrast on the grass layer to make it a little darker. In this screen shot you can see the settings I used to darken the grass area. You can change the settings to your liking.
	Now, here is the next best part of this tutorial! Making the main characters stand out from the rest of the image. I created another layer, used the magic wand to select the whole layer and filled it with a solid white filling. Make sure this layer is on top of ALL layers, except for the outline layer. Click on 'select none' to remove your marching ants.
	Next to your layer name you will find an Opacity slider bar. Move this bar till the solid white becomes less solid allowing for the rest of the image to show through.
	You should now have a rather light image.
	To make the main characters stand out,while still on this layer, go to your eraser and erase the rock, dino and girl. Also erase some of the area around the main characters to make it look like shadowing.
	You can use anything you wish to make the sun source in the upper right corner. Use your imagination. :) Put a frame if you wish on another layer. :) Don't forget to add a layer with your watermark. REMEMBER: save your original as a Animation Shop .psp!
	Here is all my layers for this project.
	Here is the final piece. I saved this as a .jpg. I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial. At this time I have no ideas for new tutorials.