Workshops

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June 2006

2/5/06 4:05:41 pm

In depth Combining digital and traditional

Photoshop

COMBINING DIGITAL
AND TRADITIONAL
Adi Granov
COUNTRY: US
CLIENTS: Marvel,
Humanoids Group,
Nintendo Software Tech,
Wizards of the Coast
Best known
for his comic
book work on
the acclaimed
Iron Man:
Extremis series, Adi used
to be a concept artist
for Nintendo.
www.adigranov.net

DVD Assets
The files you need
are on the DVD
FILES: clouds.jpg,
IFXilloFinal.psd,
IFXilloLayers.psd,
IFXillosketch.jpg
FOLDERS:
Full screenshots
SOFTWARE:
Photoshop CS2 (Demo)

Learn how to combine traditional pencil

and ink on paper techniques with the vast
abilities of digital tools. By Adi Granov
odern computer programs
such as Photoshop and
Painter, and accessories like
Wacom tablets, have made
the world of digital art near boundless.
However, there are certain limits even to
these powerful tools. Although most
techniques and textures can be
effectively replicated digitally, the
process of creating them is sometimes
artificial, forced, and often unnecessarily
time consuming when we consider that
they are inherent and natural traits of
the traditional materials. It is these
natural traits that I strive to preserve in
my own art while combining them with
the limitless choices of digital colours.
The digital tools also offer the luxury of
experimenting without the fear of
ruining precious artwork.
In this tutorial I will explain the
technique which has, over many years

The concept

With most illustration work, there

are certain requirements ranging from
thematic to technical, from the very idea
to the physical size of the artwork. Its
essential to take all of these requirements
into consideration from the very start and
build your concept around them. As an
illustration assignment this piece is a
simple one. The brief is to create an

of trial and error, evolved into a very

effective method for creating painted
illustrations through the digital
colouring of traditional artwork. This
technique preserves all the textures and
analogue feel of the original artwork.
I like to keep my technique simple and
straightforward and rely on my skills and
artistic choices, rather than tools, to
dictate the outcome. As you will see from
the tutorial, I tend to stay away from
most of the advanced options of
Photoshop and stick with the more basic
features. This not only keeps the process
streamlined, but it also sets certain
limitations on the tools that preserve the
purity and spontaneity which can often
be lost in overworking.
While the technique is advanced and
requires strong understanding of light,
shadow and colour, it only requires
moderate knowledge of Photoshop.

original character in the vein of my comic

book work in a heroic flying pose. When
designing a new character I usually do
many variations from different angles
and with different layouts. But since this
is a one-off character on a simple
background and were examining the
technique, I focused on designing a
character using an array of textures.
I draw my sketches in Photoshop
because it enables me to edit, rework, and
experiment with the designs and shapes
without having to redraw everything if I
change my mind. I create the canvas in
scale based on the assignment
requirements but keep it small so I can
focus more on the overall shapes rather
than any minute details. Once I have a
satisfactory sketch I resize it to the
physical print size needed, in this case
14 inches tall, and print it out.

Switching
and
foreground lours
co
background
Mac)
[X] (PC and
between
Easily switch
very useful
two colours
.
when painting

The lightbox

Traditional tools

I use a lightbox to lightly trace the

design from the printout on to my work
surface. The lightbox is just a box with a
light inside it and a glass cover, which is
used predominantly in animation to
trace images from one paper to another. A
window could be used for the same effect.

I use high quality 100 per cent

cotton watercolour paper because its very
sturdy, and HB pencils because they are
soft, without smudging, and light.
Occasionally, I also use H pencils, usually
only for shading skin which requires
delicacy. I use regular India ink for pure
black inking as well as ink washes. For the
washes I dilute the ink with water and
create a few different shades, from a very
light to a couple of darker ones.

June 2006

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Workshops

Refining the design

The ink stage

Once I have the sketch transferred

on to the paper, I start refining the design
and the style. I always start with overall
shapes and tighten as I go, focusing on
larger areas first and leaving the details
for last. Putting too much focus on the
details early on usually results in a
disjointed-looking drawing.

When Im absolutely satisfied with

the drawing in its pencil form, I start
filling the darkest areas with black ink.
I try to balance these areas with the
lighting of the scene. Since our hero is
flying through fairly well-lit clouds, there
is a lot of reflective light around him so
the very dark areas would be limited.
These dark areas give me a great point of
reference on which to base my range of
shading, the paper itself being my lightest
and the ink my darkest shade with the
whole spectrum in between them.

Rendering the
greyscale

Having established my light and

shadow extremes, I then slowly start
to model the shapes with shades of
inkwash and pencil. I cover larger areas
with the diluted inks and refine them
with pencils. At this stage I pay particular
attention to the textures and reflective
qualities of desired materials. More
reflective materials have sharper
highlights, while the less reflective
ones are softer.
I use pure ink last to ink the linework,
which helps bring out the shapes and
give the image a more graphic look.

Turning digital

Flatting the colours

When I have taken the greyscale

rendering as far as it should go, I scan it
into Photoshop. Depending on the
requirement of an assignment I scan at
least at the required resolution, in this
case 300 DPI. Since I work on paper much
larger than the required print size, I
then resize the image down to the right
measurements. No need to struggle with
needlessly giant files.
Using the Curves tool (Image>
Adjustments>Curves) I adjust the image
to match my original artwork by holding
it up and comparing the two pictures. It
might also be necessary to adjust the
saturation as well since some scanners
saturate the images.
Next, I set my greyscale art as the
background layer.

I create a new layer in Multiply

mode (lets call it layer A) and with a
Hard-edged brush I proceed to fill all of
the separate elements of the image with
respective colours. This process is referred
to as flatting. I try to choose approximate
colours I intend to use right away but they
can also be easily manipulated once the
whole image is filled by selecting
individual areas. This layer is the most
important step in the colouring process
and will be my main working layer.

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June 2006

2/5/06 4:06:16 pm

In depth Combining digital and traditional

Layer hierarchy

Having established the basic flat

colours, I make two copies of that same
layer, B and C. I move layer B to the very
top and set to Normal mode. This is my
selection layer where I can, by using the
Wand tool, select individual colours
throughout the rest of my process. A lot
of artists use channels for their selections,
but I find that having it in a layer is much
more visually intuitive.
I then set the remaining layer C to
Overlay mode and place under the A and
on top of my original art. This colours the
greyscale and adjusts its value depending
on the colours used. Lighter colours
lighten and darker colours darken. I then
individually adjust the hue, saturation
and lightness of each colour by selecting
them and using the Hue/Saturation tool
(Image>Adjustments...) based on what
I am after. The image should end up
having a rather appealing watercolourlike look at this stage. In many
applications this could be considered
sufficiently coloured, but not here. We
are after a lot more.

10

Background

In most cases, backgrounds have

more elements such as buildings, cars,
spaceships, etc, which are drawn and
rendered traditionally, along with the

main elements. But in this case the

background is an empty sky, which
doesnt contain any solid shapes so it
lends itself more to being created
digitally. In order to save time, as a
starting point I use a Photoshop plug-in,
Xenofex (www.alienskin.com) to create
a basic cloud texture and then paint and
adjust it to suit the image. A photograph
of the sky could work as well, but it
would require a lot more work to match
the desired effect and style of the art.

11

Additional texture

I have a vast library of found and

created textures, which I alter and use to
add depth to the colours in order to give
them a more organic look to match the
scanned art. These textures could be
anything from scanned watercolour on
paper, to photographs of rough walls, etc.
I create a new layer with the texture
covering the entire art and set its mode to
Overlay and place it on the top of my
colour layers. This gives the entire image
a unified, organic feel.

the colours
12 Rendering
Its time to start adding more depth
to the colours by defining the shapes
with stronger shadows and highlights, as
well as ambient light and reflections. For
this I use the Brush tool on my original

Brush d
iamete
[ or ] (P
r
Ca

nd Mac
Use to
)
quickly
resize th
current
brush w
e
it
h
out hav
to look
ing
away fr
om you
work. A
r
great
time-sa
ver.

Multiply layer A. By selecting the

individual areas of colour by using the
Wand tool in my selection layer, which is
otherwise kept invisible, I can focus on
individual areas without damaging
others. I pick the colours directly from
the canvas with the Eyedropper tool and
slowly build up shades and hues with the
Brush, starting with the larger areas and
working towards smaller details. By
doing this work in the Multiply layer
there is no danger of covering up any of
the qualities of the original art.

reflections
13 Realistic
The level and sharpness of
reflections define the surfaces of various
materials and are essential to creating
believable objects. As mentioned, I have
prepared the greyscale painting to reflect
what I want the parts of the character to
be made of. For instance, the white parts
of the suit are a smooth, ceramic, highly
reflective material, while the skin on the
face is soft and matte and reflects the
light in a soft and diffused manner.
In creating the reflections and
highlights, I use lighter colours in the
Multiply layer A and allow the white
from my background to shine through. I
switch between light colours picked from
the environment, defining reflections
and softening them to add volume.

June 2006

UNI05.superhero 77

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2/5/06 4:06:22 pm

Workshops

additional
14 Adding
details
I decide that the helmet needs some
additional detail in the form of some
abstract markings. In a new Multiply
layer just above my layer A, I paint the
symbol and then merge it down. I then
select the area in my Selection layer and
treat it in the same way as described in
steps 12 and 13.

the
115 Enhancing
atmosphere
The image is nearly complete and there
are only various effects and details left
to do. I create a new layer in Normal
mode on top of the Multiply layer A.
By choosing the colours from the
environment, I add depth to the image
by painting over areas further away
in perspective, which adds to the
atmospheric depth of the image. I also
soften some areas where the texture
might be too harsh, and add various
small hot-spot highlights to give those
parts a bit more kick.

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UNI05.superhero 78

effects
116 Special
The only thing left to paint is

PRO
SECRETS
Avoid the
easy route
Try not to rely on
software to make the
choices for you. If
something is easy to
achieve by clicking a few
filters, that means that
its just as easy for
anyone else and you
run the risk of ending
up with generic and
unremarkable artwork.
Use your tools
judiciously and creatively
to let your own vision
come through and you
will soon be creating
unique and interesting
art, no matter what the
software might be.

the fire behind the character coming

from his jetpack and reflecting in the
surrounding clouds. By using a large
custom brush, I paint the fire in layer
A starting with the darkest orange and
slowly shifting towards the hottest white
closest to the source of heat.

adjustments
17
7 Final
Having finished with all of the
painting I flatten the image. By using the
Curves tool, I play with the sliders to add
a bit more contrast and visual impact to
the image.

dull sections
18 Adjusting
After much work, the illustration is
done and ready for sending off. As for me
I can kick back, relax, and erm, start on
the next one.

June 2006

2/5/06 4:06:32 pm