Sketching

[Guest]

A few folks have been posting a lot of sketches which got me interested in it again. I did some sketches this past summer thanks to hints on how to do it from nice folks here, but now I am trying to find new methods besides those which have been discussed here.

So...I tried overlaying a pattern, since there are dozens of art paper patterns included with PS7. I chose a rather rough paper, but it's meant to be a different effect from the smooth pencil drawings we've been seeing. Given the subject (little girl from the retouchpro archives) it's not the most appropriate choice. It might be better for a macho male subject, but what the heck. Just testing a technique here so I won't worry about that now.

After applying the pattern to a dupe layer set to overlay, I outlined the edges on the middle layer and gave it an all over blotchy look with "find edges-->invert-->overlay soft" blended over the original, which had already been sharpened with highpass method. (If I recall the order correctly--probably doesn't matter--but those are the filter and blend combinations.)

I have read recently of another way to produce a "sketch" outline using a technique I haven't seen here. Guess I'll try that next and let you know how (and if) it works.

Phyllis

[Trimoon]

Phyllis I love your sketch. I think your subject is a good one.
There’s something about digital sketching I find relaxing and I like your technique.

Steve

[jerry]

Phyllis,

That is really nice..I am trying your technique right now.

Can you tell me where the paper patterns are in photoshop 7.0. I see a couple but not dozens like you said.

Is "overlay soft" a setting in photoshop. I don't recognize it.

I ended up with 3 layers

top: picture with texture set to overlay.
middle: find edges,, invert,, overlay (soft????)
bottom: original pic..

I used canvas texture (help with paper textures please).
I think I am close but need some help..See attached (don't laugh)

Thanks for the help
Jerry

[Guest]

New "original" picture

Originally posted by jerry

Can you tell me where the paper patterns are in photoshop 7.0. I see a couple but not dozens like you said.

Is "overlay soft" a setting in photoshop. I don't recognize it.

I ended up with 3 layers

top: picture with texture set to overlay.
middle: find edges,, invert,, overlay (soft????)
bottom: original pic..
[/B]

I guess I should have mentioned that I started with a retouched black and white version of the archives picture...I almost forgot that I'd done that since it was months ago. So I will upload the retouched one that I started with if you want to play around with it.

The "art surface" patterns show up under "load patterns" when you click on that little triangle to the right of the current pattern square. There are about a dozen I guess. I choose "append" to add them to the bottom of the pattern list.

The "soft" overlay blend mode is called "soft light"...sorry for the confusion. (According to my new PS book, soft light and hard light etc. are variations of overlay, which is why they are all grouped together.)

If you still have too much gray in your pic increase the contrast and then brighten if it gets too much black in it. I should have mentioned that I did that along the way, since my original picture was soft contrast.

I remembered the main steps, but there's always some tweaking here and there in the process. So adjust to taste.

Have fun experimenting!

Phyllis

[DannyRaphael]

Great technique, Phyllis. Appreciate you sharing it and the original picture on which to practice.

You're a jewel. Thanks - Danny

[jerry]

Phyllis

Thanks so much for the help.. Your clarifications really helped..
Attached is my new try at it..I added a white layer in the middle of the stack it helped with the highlights..I also did some dodging on the arms and face to show more shape..This is the first I had a use for patterns..good tut..

Thanks
Jerry

[Guest]

Jerry, that turned out great! I like your idea of adding the white layer...it helped to soften it. Nice thing about having a white layer is that you can erase parts of it and/or change blending modes and experiment with possible changes in tone without having to mess with your main layers. I think I will do that from now on.

Looks like we were thinking alike, since I too had done some dodging on the arms and cheeks. I call that "tweaking" so I didn't put it in the main steps list. Some pictures will need things that others don't. Which is one reason I don't put too much faith in actions. I'd rather have a list of steps and do them manually on each different picture.

Phyllis