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In this tutorial, we’ll be painting an abstract vision of a dreaming person. I will describe my progress of face painting a male character. Also, we will create a special custom brush for blending colors. I’ll show you how to paint advanced constructions by combining basic shapes. The final image is a bold man’s portrait of a head flying in the sky. All painting will be done by mouse. All you need is pure Photoshop!
This tutorial was entered into the Psdtuts+ First Tutorial Writing Contest. See the results of the contest here. While this tutorial did not win the tutorial contest, it certainly caught our attention. Enjoy the Tut!
Final Image Preview
Before we get started, let’s take a look at the image we’ll be creating. As always, the layered Photoshop file and the custom brush created for this tutorial are available via our Psdtuts+ Plus membership. You can view the final image preview below or view a larger version here.
Before We Get Started
Here you can find my mini-tutorial that shows how to draw a head. I learned this technique a very long time ago in Cracow from some sympathetic graffiti artist. It’s very easy, and just follow the images below to see how to draw the character’s head.
Step 1
Make a new document, my dimension are 1024 pixels by 768 pixels. Fill the background with #8CC2FF color. The main thing is to choose a background that works well for the right amount of light and shadow. I decided to create morning scene. The sky will be very light. In the next few steps, I’ll be switching between light and dark color to see if my shadows are in good tone. Also, I will be flipping the face horizontally to see if I didn’t make some mistakes.
Step 2
Usually, I start a painting with a sketch. The sketch is very important, I can plan the main shapes and try different combinations. First, make very basic shapes. If it is what you’re looking for, add some settings to the brush and switch between brush sizes to get better effect. This is a easy step for those who have graphic tablet – mouse users have to work a little bit harder.
Step 3
Fill the sketch area with a light color (doesn’t really matter which). Then add shadows with our blending brush. To make it, just put some hard-edged circle brushes in a shape of a big circle. Then add the settings shown below. Select Lock Transparent Pixels if your mouse isn’t very precise. Next, paint shadows on the face.
Go to Image > Adjust > Hue/Saturation and try to choose settings for one of the basic colors. Then switch between our custom brushes and paint with very low Opacity, about 5-15% on the face. Don’t get into the details, just doodle around. Base colors are the type of colors that should be the overall color range of the face and blending colors are for make transitions between the base colors.
Step 4
Now we can add our background. I followed the fist few steps from my previous tutorial on the site Digitally Paint a Fantasy Tree Scene. If you want learn more about brushes, you should read this tutorial.
Step 5
Time to prepare our brushes for painting. Actually we needed them earlier, but it wasn’t necessary. You can make them by yourself or they are available to Plus members for download. The brushes were created from circle shapes, and the secret is to choose good settings.
Step 6
It’s time for the lips. I choose a very basic technique for that. It’s combining only three colors. First, paint a shape with the central color, then add shadows and lights as show below. Also, review the mini-tutorial written specially for Psdtuts+ called "How to Paint Lips," see below.
Step 7
Our face is too long so let’s correct that. Select the lower part of the face and move it higher. Don’t worry if it breaks the color’s transitions, we can easily fix it in this step with a blending brush. Flip the whole face horizontal to check if it’s painted well. Then choose our first blending brush and by the base colors (and darker ones for shadows), then smooth the face. Below you can find my mini-tutorial that will tell you how to draw and paint the nose.
Step 8
With a soft brush place light dots on the eyes and chin. Then with the Pen tool (very well described in this tutorial on creating a complete vexel image in Photoshop) draw under-the skin shape, fill it with a skin color, lock selected pixels, and then paint the shadows. Also, you should improve the edges of the upper layer with the Pen tool and a hard-edged small brush.
Step 9
Now we’ll give some life to our skin. Light is strong, so our skin should be more shiny. I will fix my skin with Levels and Curves. Now, select the face by Command-clicking the layer, then click the icon that is marked below. From the list choose Levels and set the Brightness/Contrast and Curves.
Step 10
Now we’ll make the eyes. Try to get an effect as in my previous image. Then paint on eyes with colors as n the images below, and give them the selected options. Remember to paint every color on different layers, otherwise you won’t get right effect. Below I also included my mini-tutorial on “How to Paint Eyes,” which shows another technique to paint eyes.
Step 11
Here you can see how to make shadows by combining two brushes – soft and hard-edged.
Step 12
Now it’s time for eyebrows. You can paint them as shown in the mini-tutorial above by painting brown lines and giving them shadows with soft a brush, or just simply by drawing hard-edged lines and then smoothing them with the Smudge tool.
Step 13
Here we’ll improve the nostril area and ear area. For the nosil overpaint all the area with skin tone, then make shadows for the holes by combining hard and soft brushes. My shadows were too light so I fix them with curves.
Step 14
We can add some details like wrinkles, they are very easy to make and give nice effects. Just paint two lines (one lighter and one darker than face color) on one layer and modify it with Filter > Liquify.
Step 15
For a smoother face use the Smudge tool on some parts of the face (very carefully). Also with the Filter > Liquify you can make our face smile.
Step 16
Now we’ll add some dynamic effect with shiny lines. First, prepare the brush for the stars, as shown below.
Step 17
Time for the lines. Use the Pen tool (look at my options on top of the first image) and draw a line. Choose the Brush tool (don’t paint anything) and choose some hard-edged brush. Set the foreground color – here it’s pink. Then go to the Paths window and by right-click on the stroke and choose Stroke Path. In the Stroke Path Menu choose Brush from list and select Simulate Pressure. Next, select the line layer (Command-click on the layer), move the selection a little to right, and give it a little shadow with the Burn tool. At last choose the Dodge tool, and shine-up our line. You can also give a shadow to it under the skin.
Final image
Here we are, it’s finished! I hope you enjoy the tutorial. You can view the final image below or view a larger version here.
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By Maciej Kwas
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supper tut.thanks
Honestly its more of an art class. I don’t like it really.
Nice Painting!!! :)
first ;)
Pretty nice
Wow! Sweet tutorial.
How coincidental that I was about to do something similar for a project of my own. Now I’ve got a very good grip to start with. Thanks alot! (As always)
awesome… very helpful to learn some drawings techniques … pozdrowionka !
i never did anything like this before.. gonna give a try.. thanks :)
Damn it! Nice Tutorial.
I don’t even think it looks good. Sorry.
Disappointed with this one… I don’t think its up to the normal standard.
There’s some useful techniques here, but I think the writer needs to work a bit on facial proportions or clarify if he is intentionally using very stylised (and somewhat skewed…) proportions. I know most of the people reading this site aren’t necessarily artists, but this tutorial shows why people need to learn to draw things by studying from life, not from tutorials that are far from correct.
i think the technique is good.
but the result has no expression! :/
blimey – first thoughts were ‘that looks weird’, but quite a lot has gone into it – good effort! :)
The outcome isn’t my thing, but the techniques are awesome! Great sharing!
Hmmm good effort in the research bit, but not really good illustration. sorry ___
Looks very unprofessional.
This is horrible. Please, to give a tutorial like this, give us a more inspiring drawing. The technic used might be ok but the basis for this tut, the drawing, is horrible.
Sorry
Nah, the tutorial itself is good, very good in fact, it’s way more detailed than most of the brushing tuts out there.
The shame is that he (or she, sorry, but Maciej sounds more like a polish dude) can’t draw a decent face, and this either with a tablet of a pen.
The outcome doesn’t look so good and people don’t like it.
Anyway, he difinitely put some effort into his work, so leave him be.
If you think you’re talented, follow this tut step by step and you should do something great.
–
“Anyone who wants to can be Anonymous and work toward a set of goals. . . . We have this agenda that we all agree on and we all coordinate and act, but all act independently toward it, without any want for recognition. We just want to get something that we feel is important done…”
Maybe this picture is not the nicest you have seen – maybe this author is not as good an artist as you but the creativity is there. They put time and effort in to show us all something. Remember it is not always the end result that is important but how you get there. (Where did I hear that before? Um.. Bert Monroy – the purported ” King of all digital art”). If we learn something useful from this then it was worth posting. Go forth and multiply!
I really dislike the end-result, and the tutorial on face drawing definitely lacks attention to proportion and placement. Sorry!
Cheers for the effort put into this though.
cool tutorial, is should try this if have time
Ronald
Great !
yep,,,, of course somone using this tut can create nicer illustration if he is more talented. sure. but most important here is technique and possibilities .. and Maciej is a polish dude … :)
I think a lot better could have been done.
OMG! THere’s no way I’m doing that, it’ll take me a lifetime.
Despite what the others have said, I think this was a very good tutorial. There have not been any extensive “digital painting” tutorials, and I think that is something that we need here! It was helpful to learn a few things about drawing and digital painting. I hope to see more stylistically variant tutorials!
Its got a reaction, I’ll give it that.
As for the final version though – don’t take drugs.
Please, people. Get a clue. The tutorial is not about creating an “abstract face” that everyone will like. The abstraction is the art of this piece. It’s the way the artist interprets his environment or subject and is not meant to exactly portray reality. Take Van Gogh or Picasso… their art is a means of expressing the natural world around them. For example, here is Picasso’s self portrait. Whether or not you agree with the stylings of this image is not important. It is an insight into the mind of the artist. http://www.artquotes.net/masters/picasso/picasso_selfport1907.jpg
Another example of an image made for an artist’s expressive needs can be found here: http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/munch/munch12.jpg. Perhaps you’ve seen this before. If not, you’re probably not qualified to tell others what is crap and what is not.
As far as the tutorial goes, it was well constructed, gave excellent tips on natural lighting theory, and was explained quite thoroughly. I can’t believe he went through so much effort and time to make this for the small fee he was paid. Also, given that the entire illustration was done using a mouse, he should be commended, not criticized.
Congratulations, Maciej.
Really nice tutorial on painting with photoshop :D
Really appreciate it, and for sure a graphic tablet is a must for this one
Keep up the good work
Kudos for writing this and putting the time in- but wowzers.
The proportion really, really needs work. I know you could justify it by sayin it’s abstracted- but then why construct a head using the forms in the first place?
Shape to plane is vitally important. Heads should be thought of as a series of simple planes. It’s one thing to follow some construction lines- but actually understanding why the basic perspective and the turning of masses is the whole point of doing it!
Don’t use formula to develop art like this. – The approaches to using the tools was a nice touch, but get the fundamentals down pat.
haha
I don’t like it but thanks for making it
Very in-depth tutorial and it’s a great place to people who want to start drawing faces. There are lots of things to be added and built upon but this is a great start.
very in depth but not executed well, the quality of tuts seems to be declining
Bummed too see the finished result. Not very interesting or attractive!
esta muy bien explicado …pero es malisimo…la cara es horrible….creo q mucha preparacion para un resultado tan feo…al menos eso me parecio…..
saludos gente…..
PD:I wrote this in spanish because is much easy for me :P
I think it is a shame this tutorial has been posted because it brings down the standard of this website – the execution is very amateur and the lack of facial anatomy knowledge is terrible. he seemed to be learning himself as he was going along. u have to be of a certain standard yourself before you can even start to think about teaching other people.
I always say this, You can’t really teach how to draw using these type of tutorial tutorials
Anybody here have a degree in Art? Been to an Art gallery? Realism is not always the goal or should it be. Every designer should possess or develop “basic” draftsmanship (sketching) skills. However, many great illustrators have been criticized for drawing virtual photographs of their subjects. It’s a shame that art, music and Phys. Ed. are the first things to be cut, at least in in US schools, because at least the foundation of artistic criticism can be introduced. Remember folks, this is “free”. If you want lessons from a Master it will cost ya!
I would like to see more digital painting tutorials on this site. Just because the end result of this one does not look as professional as some may want, doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be any digital painting tutorials. For those of you who think you can do better, submit your own tutorial. I think drawing basics are better covered elsewhere, but techniques for coloring and bringing a drawing to life in Photoshop (and make it look like it’s not digital) would be great!
Great tutorial… definitely a bit out of left field, but there’s plenty of tricks in here that can be applied to other projects… as far as the whole ‘artsy shmartsy realism’ debate – i say meh. Pieces like this can and should deviate from the norm – I think with a little more polish (the clouds, sparkly stuff, foreshortening, etc.) could have brought it to another level, but all in all I think it’s a worthwhile experiment.
I think most readers are missing the point here, the tutorial is called “How to Digitally Paint an Abstract Face Portrait” Emphasis on “Abstract”
Abstract Art: Uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which exists independently of visual references to the world.
IMO this is a pretty detailed and long tutorial, but a lot can be learnt from the process that takes you from beginning to the end product.
hey! why someone muted me in nettuts commnet? did i did something wrong?
Nice tutorial, with a lot of detailed explanations for the drawing process. However, the eyes/nose/mouth seemed a lot better in the explanations, rather than in the final result where the face didn’t seem all that realistic.
Very nice techniques… But i don’t like the results… (sry)
This is probably the weakest tutorial I’ve seen on this site yet. It is well written and constructed, but the subject and final piece is very low quality.
I would suggest finding a more skilled artist to make a similar tutorial about digital painting for a tutorial like this.
eh….
Great tutorial. You really went into great detail, not only about the coloring aspect of the project, but as to how to create the shape as well. Usually, tuts are a quick run through of a particular design, but you were able to turn it into a lesson. This is the first where I have seen a tut have a classroom approach to it. The web is wonderful thing.
Keep up the good work.
The worst tutorial I `ve seen here
Why the long face?