Tutorial 2: Adding Flat Colors
Step 10:
Click the button on the Layer Palette that looks like two sheets of paper, making sure Background is still highlighted (whichever layer is highlighted while the Create layer button is clicked will have a new layer made directly above it).
Step 11:
A Layer properties box will open and ask for a name for the new Layer. My first layer will be for the fur. You can make as many layers as you want, and it's best to have a new layer for each color and piece of the drawing (like skin, shirt, shoes, hair, etc...). You don't need to change any of the other settings.
Step 12:
This is what it'll look like.
Step 13:
Click on the Magic Wand. The Magic wand is a selection tool that selects a range of different things with different tolerances set by you. For this we'll use what it's default is (it should be RGB Value).
Step 14:
Select the Copy of Background layer.
Step 15:
You can change the Tolerance of the Magic Wand. A lower tolerance makes it more particular about the range of color it will select, and a high tolerance will make it select more of an area. Around 30-40 is good for line-arts with clear, bold lines. You need to fiddle with it to get it just right, though.
Step 16:
Click with the Magic Wand in the areas you want to color first. Hold down the Shift button while clicking to select more than one area.
Step 17:
Most likely the selection will not go al the way to the lines because the inking appears a little fuzzy. To fix that, go to Expand Selections.
Step 18:
Usually expanding by 1 pixel is enough, but if you have thicker lines 2 or (rarely) 3 would be better.
Step 19:
That will make the selection 1 pixel wider. Doesn't this look nicer?
Step 20:
Select the layer you first made (mine's "fur") to color on it. ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE LAYER YOU WANT COLOR ON IS SELECTED, and NOT Copy of Background because that will screw up your lineart.
Step 21:
Click the color box on the right side of the screen and choose a color you want to use.
Step 22:
Select the Paint Bucket.
Step 23:
Click all the selected areas to make them the color you chose.
Step 24:
Deselect to start on another color and/or area. Repeat Steps 10-24 to do the rest of the flat colors. Use as many layers as you want!
Step 25:
There will be some spots that will look bad and unfilled.
Step 26:
To fix those, click the Paint Brush Symbol. Make sure the Hardness is set to 100 and the Opacity is 100 as well. You can then fill in all the spots like that, but be careful to stay in the lines if it's next to an outer or white area from the background. If the layer you're fixing is UNDER another one that is right next to it, you can go out of the lines and it won't show up because it will be under the colors from higher layers.
Step 27:
This is how it should look when you're all done with the flat colors.
Step 28:
There may be some better parts that look better blended, or softened, like the blue colors on her face and tail. To do that, click the symbol that looks like a hand pointing down. Click the tab with the gears on it and select Soften.
Step 29:
Use the Soften brush along the edges of the two colors and it'll soften them out and make it looks a lot less crisp, more soft. The Soften tool can be used for a number of things. You can figure some out on your own.
Tutorial 3A: Shading Realistically
Tutorial 3B: Coming Soon- Shading Cell-Style