Painting Pixie Hair
We're going to paint easy pixie-style hair. There are a lot of steps but the tutorial is fairly easy to do.
This tutorial assumes that you are fairly competent with Photoshop and Poser and have a graphics tablet and pen. Examples 1 and 2 show the basic setup. I've used the alpha channel in the rendered image (to preserve the alpha channel make sure that you save your render in tif, psd or png format) to separate the elf from the background. I've added a "hair-front" layer and a "hair-back" layer. I'm using default Photoshop 7 brushes. Make sure that there is ample room to paint above and on each side of the image.
Make use of your Undo Tool and History to correct any mistakes or over-brushing and save often.
First we'll paint hair on the "hair-front" layer. I've used the Hard Round 19 Pixels brush, 100% Opacity and 100% Flow. Under your Brushes menu you will find your Brush Presets/Brush Tip Shape menu. I have checked Shape Dynamics and left all the other settings at default. You can adjust the size of your brush to your needs. (i.e. If your image is larger, you'll need a bigger brush, smaller a smaller brush. My image was 580x684.) (Ex. 1 & 2)
I've just sampled her clothing with the eyedropper tool to get the hair color. If you need help you can do a web search for "hair color charts" and find some choices there or sample from this quick dot chart that I put together.
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Example 1
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Example 2
Painting
Brush Tool Settings:
Hard Round 19 Pixels Brush
100% Opacity
100% Flow
Brush Presets: Shape Dynamics/Size Jitter set to Pen Pressure Control
Paint the hair following the shape of her head. Don't worry about the hairline yet or trying to make it exactly like I have shown. You could use the Pen Tool or even the Selection Tool and floodfill with color if you are more comfortable using those tools.
Just a bit of hair is needed in the back. Make sure that the front layer is visible while doing this so you can see what looks best. I've turned off the visibility so you can see what I've done. (Ex. 3 & 4)
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Examples 3 & 4
Lowlights and Highlights
We are going to add darker and lighter strands and areas to the hair using the Burn and Dodge Tools.
Burn Tool Settings:
Spatter 14 Pixels Brush
Range: Midtones
Exposure: 37% (Ex. 5 - You
can alter settings as needed.)
Working first on the "hair-front" layer, start at the hairline and brush up, following the direction of the hair. Always use light pressure and one long continuous stroke. To add a bit more contrast, go over the hair again in a couple areas to produce a slightly darker streak. Don't overdo it. If you make a mistake just undo or if you need to back up a couple of brush steps, use your History (Window/History). Do the same thing on the "hair-back" layer, leaving the visibility on the "hair-front" layer so you can follow the direction of your brush strokes. The last step of burning is to darken the hairline just a bit. Remember a light touch is always best. You want subtle variations. (Ex. 5)
Dodge Tool Settings:
Spatter 14 Pixels Brush
Range: Midtones
Exposure: 37% (Ex. 6 - You
can alter settings as needed.)
To add a few highlights you are going to use the same light continuous stroking technique with the Dodge Tool. Example 5 shows both high and lowlights added to hair. Location of Dodge Tool and Settings shown in Examples 6 and 7.
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Example 5
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Example 6
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Example 7
Smudging
Now the fun begins! Using your Smudge Tool, start lightly smudging in your hairline.
Smudge Tool Settings:
Spatter 14 Pixels Brush
Mode: Normal
Strength: 70%
Use a light touch and Do Not Over Brush! You want to keep the different color strands and if you over brush you will wind up with your hair all one color. If you make a mistake and bring the hairline too far down into her face you can lightly brush back up. Undo as needed. (Ex. 8)
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Example 8
Working on first the "hair-front" layer, start brushing your hair out. This is really very easy, it just takes a bit of practice. Make sure that you use a continuous stroke and follow the direction of the hair. Vary the amount of pressure applied to the pen as needed, firmer at first to gather the hair color and lessening the pressure on the pen to create the soft wisps of hair at the end. Again, do not over brush as you want the subtle variations in hair color. Undo as needed. When satisfied, continue on to the "hair-back" layer. (Ex. 9 & 10)
Note: if you are working on an image with a dark background you will need to change your Smudge Tool Mode Setting to Darken to avoid a lighter halo of color showing when smudging the ends of your hair.
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Examples 9 & 10
When you are satisfied with your work, make copies of each hair layer and turn off the visibility of the original layer. We're doing this to preserve your almost finished hair. Working on a duplicate copy allows flexibility in the event you make a mistake and fill up the History too far to go back to the original. (Ex. 11)
Remember to save your work often.
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Example 11
Sparkle Highlights
Using the Dodge Tool we'll add a few sparkle highlights to the front and back layers of hair.
Dodge Tool Settings:
39 Dry Brush
Range: Midtones
Exposure: 30%
See Examples 13, 14 and 15 for Brush Presets/Brush Tip Shape settings. I used Star 33 Pixels for the Dual Brush.
Applying firm pressure with the pen, paint in a bit of sparkles on both visible layers of hair (hair-front copy and hair-back copy). (Ex. 12) Undo and redo as needed, until you are satisfied with how it looks. (Ex. 12)
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Example 12
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Examples 13, 14 & 15
Painting Dark and Light Stray Hairs
We're going to add dark and light stray hairs. Add new layer and name it "stray hairs-dark."
Brush Tool Settings:
Hard Round 1 Pixel Brush
100% Opacity
100% Flow
Brush Presets: Shape Dynamics/Size Jitter set to Pen Pressure Control
Paint a dozen or so stray hairs around her head. Again, make sure that you follow the growth pattern of the hair. Start each strand just a little above the hairline, so it blends in nicely, and end the strand so it stands a bit out from the rest of the hair. (Ex. 16)
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Example 16
Using the Eraser Tool, lightly erase the ends of the hair to thin them out.
Eraser Settings:
Airbrush Soft Round 45
Mode: Brush
100% Opacity
100% Flow
Brush Presets: Shape Dynamics/Size Jitter set to Pen Pressure Control
Since we're using a soft brush you'll need to place the cursor a bit away from the end of the actual hair strand. (Ex. 17) Gently erase the ends of each strand of hair. Adjust the layer opacity. I lowered mine to 55% but you use what looks best to you.
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Example 17
Add a new layer and name it "stray-hairs light." Change the Layer Mode to Screen. Paint a dozen or so streaks and then lower the opacity of the layer to about 12%. Add another layer, name it "stray-hairs lighter", change to Screen Mode and paint a few more stray hairs and lower the to 21%. We're just giving a subtle variation to the lighter strands. (Ex. 18 & 19)
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Example 18
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Example 19
Finishing Touches
Add the final layer. Name it "sparkles" and using the following brush settings add a few stars to her hair.
Brush Tool Settings:
Star 14 Pixels
100% Opacity
100% Flow
Brush Presets: Shape Dynamics/Size Jitter set to Pen Pressure Control
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Example 20
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Dani Foster Herring
PixelPaintedGraphics.com
1997-2005
