[Robert]

Hi, I'm currently working on my first Photoshop painting, a portrait and I was wondering how to paint a realistic skin (like on Dhabihs Eclipse picture)? You use the Airbrush tool or the (hated) dodge/burn tool.. anyway how to paint it realistic?
Thank you.

[Danny]

hmm.. this question is almost as popular as any Wacom thread. Keeps coming back..

Doing realistic skin isn't just about picking a certain tool. More important is the understanding that skin is a living entity. This becomes clear just by looking at it. It consists of all kinds of diffirent tissues. Muscle, skin, blood, hair. Temperature plays a role too, as does skin thickness. Etc. etc.. Combining this with your lightsetup and you're beyond the need of just a tool. You have to look closely at the real thing. Study, observe, paint, understand, remember.
Paint with rough estimates of colour, but make sure you get the values correct first. Only then you can start fine-tuning the diffirent shades of colour. Remember, skin is very translucent. As the skin gets thinner in certain places bloodvessels start showing through. This can be very defined (as shown on the breast of the woman), or more unbounded/diffuse (shown in the arms).
Skin is not merely a smooth gradient of colours, it has a grainy structure. Paint this in at the VERY last minute or you'll have to start all over when you decide to change something substantial. Burn/Dodge are very helpfull here. Another way to do this very quickly is to run a monochrome noise filter (BE SUBTLE) over the skin and then run a despeckle filter. Be carefull with this as it's not the ultimate solution. It's 2D noise on 3D forms and it can be a dead giveaway.
Right.. here's a visual example.. It's just a start really and can be taken a lot further.. Sorry 'bout the sloppyness. It's a bit rough around the edges and undefined.. It's a work in progress or something.





Nudity yes. If anyone is offended by this simply click away. :/
That's all for now.. Hope this helps


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Trust in Trance

[DuKEZ]

Wow thats very nice skin tones there danny, i can see the veins in the breasts and all too.. very nice details.. although if your looking for early crits, her hand seems a bit small.. to be a fist. shrug

ah i know why its bugging me now, well i looked in the mirror and tried to mock that fist pose, and however i tried, a grip like that would either have the twinke finger showing bent into the hand, or if you turn your wrist a couple degrees to hide that under the hand, then the thumb is visible.. does that make sense at all? heh :P

here letme show you with my drawings :P



i guess yours look more like the 2nd hand, but im saying it should show the thumb is all


[This message has been edited by DuKEZ (edited October 29, 2000).]

[Tinusch]

WOW

[Skeezer]

Danny that's beautiful. You have inspired me to get my butt in gear.

About skin tones. I'm kind of new on the subject but I've noticed that in Photoshop, once you pick your color, if you click on edit color it helps to use colors that lay diagonally from one another. The color tone therefore stays about the same between highlights and shadows.

What Danny said about the translucentcy of the skin is very true. The best thing to do is use references, if you're doing a realistic rendering.

[shardik]

yeah, i guess his skin toning is alright *shrugs*

quickly runs away before turning green with envy

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Never, ever trust a banana.

[Void]

If only the jpeg compression were at 10

[Robert]

Wow, Danny I really love this paitning. Can u explain me which tool you mainly use?

[IO_Error]

Danny, Your work just keeps getting better (I thought it impossible). Such a beautiful figure.. I can't see how anyone would be offended by it.. its art, not pornography.

I'm sure you (among many others) get asked this, but would you mind posting some in-progress pics of your work? and where might I find more of your work online?



[This message has been edited by IO_Error (edited October 29, 2000).]

[Skeezer]

I agree with IO_Error about the art thing, that is incredible, I would also like to know where we can see more of your work.

Astounding,

Thanks.

[amnesia]

Haha, Danny spends all his time explaining that the tool you use has little to do with the finished image when compared to knowledge and skill. Then some guy says "Wow, Danny I really love this paitning. Can u explain me which tool you mainly use?". Wonder if he even read the post?

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,.-="`AmnesiA`"=-.,

[Skeezer]

Maybe he forgot...

[[CSM]]

TBL Danny?

[assa]

Dan :

Back at drawing nudes again? hehe
Too bad the jpeg artifacts f*ck things up
a bit, it's hard to see the details in full
glory. But it's a nice working in progress
picture for sure (gives me that old danny vs.
playboy nostalgic feeling).

Keep up the good work my friend!

assa
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pro artist.designer

[Danny]

Dukez, you're absolutely correct about the hand. The rest of the little pinky should be there. I probably should have mentioned this, but ther reason it's not is that she's supposed to be holding a knife in her hand. Haven't designed/sketched it out yet. So I figured I just ignore the the rest of the finger. Bad practise probably, so kids.. don't try this at home..

Robert, for laying down the initial values, I always use the paintbrush at 60-80% opac. I feel it's faster and more controlled. Allows for fast blending when using the Alt-colourpicker. If I want to accentuate certain colours within an already blended area I use a soft airbrush on low pressure set to Color.
I use the burn tool to darken form edges (like her arm). With a good mask in place this is really efficient.
The small stuff like veins and hairs are done with the airbrush..

IO_Error, thanks for the kind words! I've loads of work in progress stuff lying around. I'll see if I can dig some shots of this image out for posting.

[CSM], loooong time ago..

Assa, no... not back to that point.. Doing entirely diff. stuff at the moment. You've seen a blink of it in my portfolio.
And why's everybody talking about jpeg artifacts??! Where? If it's the grainpattern in the skin you guys are refering too, it's supposed to be in there! I threw it in after blending...

all for now.


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[assa]

Yep.. offcourse i have seen your portofolio,
so i'll simply ignore this NUDE GIRL picture
haha.. (draw some frogs from your new books)

I see the patterns on her hands/elbow, but
they looked like small artifacts.. my mistake



assa
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pro artist.designer