Workshops

Marta Dahlig
COUNTRY: Poland

Born in 1985,
Marta Dahlig
is a young and
talented artist
who has been
working with
Photoshop and Painter
for years. She’s currently
a freelance illustrator.
www.marta-dahlig.com

DVD Assets
The files you need

PART ONE OF THREE

are on your DVD.
FILES:

THE CUSTOM
Characterbrushes.abr
SOFTWARE: Photoshop
CS2, Painter X (demos)

BRUSH GUIDE
SKIN & HAIR
In the first of
a new series,
Marta Dahlig
shows how to
make best use
of custom
brushes,
focusing here
on characters
hanks to painting

T software, artists are

not limited to
traditional brushes
any more, but are encouraged
to create their own. In this
three-part workshop I will be
describing how to use custom
brushes to create characters,
costumes and the
environment. While
this workshop is
mainly designed for
Photoshop users, I
will also share tips
for Painter users to
achieve similar effects.

92 July 2007
 Artist insight Custom brush guide
PHOTOSHOP PAINTER This is the first brush I use for any
painting. An altered Hard Round All
are subrushes
Opacity: 100% TINTING
Flow: 100% Basic Round brush with ragged edges is perfect for
p
on thplied
Spacing: 10% Opacity: 5-15%
Other Dynamics: Grain: 0%
the first stages of colour blocking,
Opacity and Flow, 0%
Smoothing checked
Resat: 20%
Bleed:100%
because aside from applying colours,
its edges will prevent the transitions
DVDe
Jitter: 0%
from being too rough. The pressure
Ragged Hard sensitive opacity will enable you to
Round brush create a bigger variety of skin tones.

PHOTOSHOP PAINTER A Spackled brush is the best thing to

Opacity: 20-100% TINTING choose when you want to blend facial
Flow: 100% Blender skin tones. Thanks to its shape and
Spacing: 6 Opacity: 15%
Other Dynamics: Grain: 0%
pressure-related opacity, it can blend
Opacity and Flow, 0% Resat: 0% really well and hint at skin pore
Scattering: Both Bleed:100% texture. Smooth the transitions with
Axes, 109% Jitter: 0%
this brush, while picking the colours
BLENDERS
Blending with an Eye Dropper tool. Painter
Just Add Water
Spackled Opacity: 15% users can use the Blender brush; while
brush Grain: 0% it doesn’t render a natural skin texture,
Bleed: 50% it creates satisfying effects.
Jitter: 0

PHOTOSHOP PAINTER The Airbrush is an extremely flexible

Opacity: 80-100% AIRBRUSH tool. It’s perfect for adding in anything
Flow: 100% Soft Airbrush to your work, from painting strands of
Other Dynamics: Opacity: 5-15%
Opacity and Flow, 0% Resat: 100%
hair to adding little details, such as
Shape dynamics (just Bleed:100% blushes, moles and so on. An
switched on) Jitter: 0% Airbrush is also a good way to soften
the edges of painted objects and
those rougher transitions between
Airbrush certain shades, creating an illusion of
fleshy softness.

PHOTOSHOP PAINTER This brush is perfect for enriching the colour palette of an already
Opacity: 50% AIRBRUSH painted body part, and I always use it for this task. Thanks to its
Flow: 100% Detail Airbrush
distinctive shape and angle variations, applying new shades
Other Dynamics: Opacity: 2-20%
Opacity and Flow, 0% Resat: 20-70% naturally is extremely easy: just choose a colour and run with it
Scattering: 100% Bleed:100% over the painted skin. If you apply the colours carefully on a low
Shape dynamics (just Jitter: 2-3 opacity, you won’t really require any extra smoothing. This brush
switched on)
also works great as a skin tone blender.
Rotating
brush

PHOTOSHOP PAINTER The small Spackled brush is great to

Opacity: 100% AIRBRUSH render skin pores with. Use it on a low
Flow: 100% Tiny Spattery opacity setting on a separate layer, so
Spacing: 75% Airbrush
Other Dynamics: Spread: 50%
you can play with layer modes later
Opacity and Flow, 0% Flow: 1 (Soft Light usually gives the most
Smoothing checked Feature: 20 natural effects). To enrich the
Opacity: 70%
‘automatic’ pore effect, create another
layer on top of the existing one and,
Spattery brush with an Airbrush, randomly place
some small lighter dots on top of the
previous ones.

July 2007 93
 Workshops
PHOTOSHOP PAINTER After having the hair basis marked with an Airbrush, it’s good to
Opacity: 100% ACRYLICS start adding some texture. This simple Spackled brush is perfect
Flow: 100% Wet Soft Acrylic for this job. Start applying the hair strands, gradually moving
Other Dynamics: Opacity: 100%
Opacity and Flow, 0% Resat: 30%
from bigger and darker to smaller and lighter.
Smoothing checked Bleed:100% In Painter, I highly recommend the Acrylic brushes – aside
Jitter: 0 from a ‘strandy’ feel, they will automatically create a very
Triple Dot interesting texture.
brush

PHOTOSHOP PAINTER This simple brush, thanks to its

Opacity: 100% PENS pressure adjusted size and opacity,
Flow: 100% Fine Point is a natural choice for painting
Other Dynamics: Opacity: 10-30%
Opacity and Flow, 0% Resat: 100%
eyelashes. Use it on a low opacity to
Shape dynamics (just Bleed: 0% mark the shades under the eyelashes
switched on) (1). Afterwards, size it down a bit and
Smoothing checked
increase the opacity, marking the
Slimmed actual eyelashes (2). This brush is also
brush a wonderful tool for hair detailing.

PHOTOSHOP PAINTER This Spackled brush is a great special

Opacity: 100% AIRBRUSH effects tool. When painting characters,
Flow: 100% Variable Splatter you can use it to texture mouths:
Other Dynamics: Spread: 90°
Opacity and Flow, 0% Flow: 5
choose a light colour and run with the
Smoothing checked Feature: 9 brush over the highlighted part of the
Scattering: Both Opacity: 60-80% lips. To achieve natural effects, switch
Axes; 85%
the sizes and opacity constantly. You
Fairy Dust can also use this brush to enhance a
brush magic spell rendition, by creating a
fairy dust effect. Furthermore, you
can also paint stars with it!

PHOTOSHOP PAINTER This custom brush was made from a leaf photograph I took. It’s
Opacity: 30-40% Unavailable perfect for creating scratched surfaces, but most of all for scars.
Flow: 100% Choose a neutral brown colour and use the brush over the skin
(by clicking, not dragging). Then experiment with the layer
modes (I recommend Overlay). Later, you might want to shrink
the brush and add some lighter textures to some parts of the scar
to make it look more natural.
Scratch
Maker

PHOTOSHOP PAINTER This ragged brush is fabulous for

Opacity: 10-50% Unavailable adding dirt effects to the skin and
Flow: 100% clothing. Simply pick a darker colour
Other Dynamics:
Opacity and Flow, 0%
and click around the surface,
Smoothing checked remembering to switch the sizes and
Scattering: 33% opacity constantly. Afterwards,
change the Layer mode to Multiply
and add some Gaussian Blur to make
Dirt your brushstrokes look natural.
brush
Next Month: Fabric – Issue 20 on sale 3 July

94 July 2007