Effective Airbrushing
Written on June 18, 2007 by admin
Overview:
Airbrushing in photoshop can be difficult. But, I am going to show you a few tricks to help you
get started on the right path.
In this tutorial we will discuss:
[1] lighting and shading techniques
[2] creating custom brushes
[3] loading pre-packaged brushes
[4] airbrush options & settings
After this tutorial you should be well on your way to using the photoshop airbrushes effectively
and to their full potential.
Lighting & Shading Techniques
When it comes to lighting and shading techniques in photoshop there are
A couple of choices. you can use the lighting effects filter or you can use
The airbrush. Here, I am going to discuss the airbrushing method that I use.
Here we are going to start shading a rectangular shape. This is pretty simple
as that we are dealing with straight sections to highlight & shade. For this
section I’m going to pretend that my light-source is coming from a north-west
direction, so here goes.
1) Create a new canvas (I used 200×200px) and select the rectangular
marquee tool (press ‘M’). and make a selection on your canvas. Fill your
selection with any color. For mine I used a dark green. (see figure 1-1a)
2) Now we make white our forecolor (press ‘D’ and then ‘X’) and then select
the airbrush from the toolbar. Now we select a brush. For mine I used a
45 (see Figure 1-2A). in the tools options window set your airbrush
pressure to about 20%. Create a new layer and then click and hold
almost directly under the left side or your selection (Figure 1-2B).
3) Now while you have your mouse-button held down click and hold ctrl
(this enables use to make a straight line) and move your mouse up
towards the top of your selection (see Figure 1-3A).
4) here we are going to do the same thing that we just did in steps 2 & 3
but we are going to do it on the top side of our selection.
(See figure 1- 4A)
5) now set your forecolor to black (press ‘D’) and repeat steps 3 & 4 on
their opposite sides (right & bottom).
Finished your image should look like figure 1-5A.
Creating Custom Brushes
Custom brushes are simple to create and are great for achieving difficult
effects While using the airbrush tool. For my brush I am going to create a
‘dot’ pattern.
So follow along and start airbrushing effectively with ease.
1) Start off with a new canvas 25×25 pixels and create a new layer. Now on
layer 1 Create a custom shape or whatever you want your brush to be.
For mine I used a series of dots. Now draw your shape or design for
brush on layer 1. Now Hold ctrl and click on layer1 to select your shape
or design. Now click on the arrow in the top right corner of the brushes
menu (Figure 2-1A) And goto ‘define brush’. Now your brush should be
added to the bottom row of brushes in your list (See Figure 2-1B).
Select it and try it out.
Loading Pre-Packaged Brushes
Many people know this but if you don’t, adobe supplies many different
Pre-packaged brushes with their versions of photoshop. These brushes are in
the ..\goodies\brushes\ directory of which you have photoshop installed.
Example: c:\program files\adobe\photoshop 5.5\goodies\brushes
To load pre-packaged brushes into photoshop click on the arrow in the top
right Corner of the brushes dialog (Figure 2-1A ABOVE IN SECTION 2) and
then goto load brushes or replace brushes.
• load brushes will append new brushes to the bottom of your brush palette.
• replace brushes will replace the whole palette with the new brushes.
Figure 3A shows my brush folder.
Airbrush Options & Settings
In this section we will be discussing the airbrush options and settings in the
airbrush options dialog. The blue numbers 1-5 in Figure 4A represent the
step in which they are discussed.
Note: the information that follows can be obtained within photoshop’s
documentation and/or help files.
1) Blending Mode
The blending mode specified in the Options palette controls how pixels in
the image are affected by a painting or editing tool (in this case the
airbrush). It’s helpful to think in terms of the following colors when
visualizing a blending mode’s effect:
• The base color is the original color in the image.
• The blend color is the color being applied with the painting or editing
tool.
• The result color is the color resulting from the blend.
2) Pressure Setting
the pressure setting can range from 1% to 100%. See Figure 4-2A for an
example.
• For a transparent paint or a weak effect, specify a low percentage
value
• For a more opaque paint or a strong effect, specify a high value.
3) Fade Setting
You can specify the rate at which the airbrush fades out from your
Beginning stroke, simulating an actual brush stroke.
See Figure 4-3A for an example.
4) Fade To Setting
With this setting you can specify how your airbrush stroke fades (step 3)
See Figure 4-4A for an example of each of the following.
• Transparent to fade the stroke from the foreground color to
transparency.
• Background to fade the stroke from the foreground color to the background color.
5) Stylus Setting
Adobe Photoshop is compatible with most pressure-sensitive digitizing
Tablets such as the Wacom tablets. With Control Panel software for your
tablet installed, you can specify the type of effect that results when you
vary stylus pressure.
To set the effect of different stylus pressures:
Double-click the airbrush tool to display its Options palette, and select one
Of the following options:
• Pressure to have increased pressure make the paint more opaque or
more intense.
• Color if you want light pressure to paint with the background color,
making a transition to the foreground color as the pressure increases.
Note: If the highest pressure of your stylus does not reach 100%, contact
Your tablet vendor. This problem is caused by the driver software, not
Photoshop.
simple but really helpful tutorials.