Audition Global

<div align="center"><!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><!--fonto:Trebuchet Ms--><span style="font-family:Trebuchet Ms"><!--/fonto-->Basic Colouring in Photoshop Tutorial<!--fontc--></span><!--/fontc--><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--></div>

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I'll show you a very very basic step-by-step procedure I always follow when I draw pictures. Lately, I've been trying to do everything by tablet, as opposed to drawing by pencil and scanning it in, which I know a lot of people do. This method works either way, so if you're one of those people, you can just add "draw picture in pencil, outline in a nice black pen, and scan" before you start the tutorial. So, assuming that you have something like this:

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.. we can now get started.

<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Step 1: Setting up the Outline<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->

This step isn't necessary if you drew the outline out in Photoshop, but if you're a "draw and scan" person, you'll find that it's hard to colour within the lines well without ruining the black outline you made. The easiest way to deal with this is to select the layer where your outline is, and then change the option of the layer's behavior from "normal" to "multiply." This option means (from a strictly black and white point of view) that everything white becomes transparent.
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Now, you can colour in your picture like a colouring book. It helps to label your layers too, just so you remember what goes on each layer. You can look at my layer set up and see that I have my outline layer labeled as (duh) "outline."

<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Step 2: Filling in the Base Colour<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->

This part is really easy. All you have to do is create a new layer underneath your outline layer, take the paintbrush tool, and use a solid brush to fill in the colours you want in your picture. For this layer, try to pick the most average colour, since we'll be adding darks and lights later. Always make sure you're working on the right layer (the layer that is selected) so that you don't mix them up later on.

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You can use the paint bucket tool to speed things up if you want, but chances are, you'll still have to do some clean up around the lines. The paintbrush tool allows for more control and ensures everything is cleanly filled in.

<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Step 3: Shadows<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->

Now for adding in the details. Create a new layer on top of the base colour layer, but underneath the outline layer (it should be noted by now that the outline should always be the top-most layer, unless you want to try for another effect). On this layer goes all the colours that will make different areas of the picture darker. This gives you more control when you realize that you put too much shading on an area and allows you to erase the shadow without ruining the base colour underneath. There are two ways to add shadow: 1) you can choose a similar but darker colour from your base and colour on top, or 2) you can choose the burn tool. When you're done, and you feel that the shadows don't seem to be strong enough, you can experiment with different layer effects to see if something helps give it a little more edge. In my case, I found "linear burn" to help.
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<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Step 4: Highlights<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->

Now for the opposite: create a new layer to put all the colours that will make areas of the picture brighter. Again, you can either: 1) choose lighter colours to paint on top of the base colour, or 2) use the dodge tool. For the layer effect, I used "color dodge" to accent the highlights a little bit more.
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<!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Step 5: Patterns<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->

If you want to add more details, such as patterns or special effects, it's always a good idea to put those on another layer of their own just so that if you make a mistake, it won't ruin the whole picture. For this picture, I separated the details on the characters' shirts onto a new layer, not only so I can easily erase mistakes, but also so that I can create different layer effects if they need it.
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I won't cover the background, since there's millions of ways you can get a nice background made (and other tutorials have covered it), so in the end:

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You should have a nicely coloured picture~ ^_^

nice one jen! :3 <333 great explanation and step by step pictures tutorial! AWESOME! you should become a lecturer you know =D

lol, she's majoring in this kinda stuff, so she knows SOO muchhh when it comes to Photoshop!

TEACH US MOREE SENSAI JEN!!!

LoL ehh.. where to begin.. ^^;;.. tell me what you want to know, and I'll see if I can teach it XD..

And thanks Jesc~ <33 ^^

Nice tut, but I'm not really into drawing =x

I'll see if I can find some nice outlines XD

This seems REALLY easy to follow but my Photoshop is having problems so i cant try it out! D:

dang. I wish I could color like you -o-.

Lol you can, Dan... just practice practice practice xD..

whaw. cool. never thought photoshop could do that.. ^,...,^