Special effect help

[HandMadeGod]

Hi all, could some one help me with painting blood veins on a body? (like in a horror scene) I uploaded a picture for trying. I tried to drawing lines and bevel/emboss but its not satisfying.

[Swampy]

You may find a tutorial out on the web for creating liquid or water drop effects. I have no idea how to create that effect.

[HandMadeGod]

thanks for the advice but water drops didn't help me much :/
here's an example of what im trying to get.

Originally Posted by Swampy

You may find a tutorial out on the web for creating liquid or water drop effects. I have no idea how to create that effect.

[Racc Iria]

That effect is largely just a matter of shading. Just create a new layer and apply a Bevel layer style with the settings shown and set the layer's fill amount to 0%. Then just paint in your veins. It helps to get the "veiny" effect if you have a tablet with a stylus.

Then if you want to add some color to them, just make a selection of the veins you painted by CTRL-clicking the layer thumbnail, create a new layer below the vein layer and paint in a bit of color of your choice and adjust it to get the amount or effect you want.

[KR1156]

came up with the same thing as racc, after you paint in your veins or whatever, play around with all the different settings in the bevel & emboss box, you can come up with a look that fits exactly what you're looking for.

then maybe SLIGHTLY, like 1 or 2 points, shift the color of the embossed skin to give it that extra pop.

*also, after you painted in your lines, try distorting them a bit so they don't look so clean and painted on.

[MadChapelier]

Veins can be difficult to create since they are so squiggly, yet if you do too much they just look like a mess and not like veins at all. The problem that I had with the previous techniques suggested was that they don't create that realistic bulgy vein but instead look more like scar tissue.

I tried my hand at it and could not achieve that bulgy vein look realistically but I did manage to create a pretty nasty regular veined picture if that helps any. Perhaps not true realism but it's the best I could muster in a 30 minute period.

[lurch]

Couldn't help but notice that none of these attempts really look natural, as MadChapelier (LOVE that handle) observed. Might know one reason why. Y'all should take a look at the backs of your hands - especially if you're as old as I am - or the inside of your wrist. The bulgy veins are shaded and decidedly blue.

[Cassidy]

rofl lurch, having decent veins to say the least, have roadmap hands, lol