Drawing with Photoshop
In this article, we will look at how to create an illustration with Photoshop. I'll assume you're a beginner, so I will show you how to use the interface and tools. If you're also a beginner drawer, I recommend reading our article how to learn to draw, available on our blog! In this section of our website, you will also find 5 easy drawings to do, another article that might interest you, so don't hesitate any longer and check it out! ;) I'm not going to present the complete software, I'll just talk about the necessary tools for drawing and those you are likely to use.
Before starting the tutorial, here's a bit of information about the software...
Photoshop is a software created in 1990 by Thomas and John Knoll.
Thomas wanted to create software to display images, but his brother, John, who worked for a special effects company, advised him instead to create image editing software. That's how they both created the software Image Pro which would later be renamed to the name we know today: Photoshop.
Adobe liked the idea so much that it decided to partner with the brothers and buy the license to become the main distributor.
The software was immediately very successful, and despite competition, is still the benchmark for image editing software today.
Even though photo editing is the software's primary purpose, it has been sufficiently developed (and continues to be developed) to make it versatile.
Of course, it can be used for photo editing, but also for drawing, animation, special effects, and many other functions.
The function we are going to be interested in is drawing.
In this field, Photoshop has quite a few competitors, including GIMP and Paint Tool Sai, but it remains the market leader thanks to its regular updates.
We will explore the software and create an illustration together, step by step.
For this tutorial, I'm assuming you know how to draw, so I won't discuss how to create a character or a setting, I will really only focus on the software and its tools.
So I advise you to only follow this tutorial if you are somewhat comfortable with drawing. Because the more you know how to draw, the more you can exploit the software's possibilities! If you are also interested in software, I recommend our article on the best drawing software according to us! ;) And feel free to also check out our tutorial on Drawing Basics, to improve your skills!
USING PHOTOSHOP'S INTERFACE TO DRAW
Photoshop is presented as follows:
On the left, we have the tool palette with all the main tools.
At the top is the Settings Gallery with recording modes, filters, layer settings, and editing mode.
To the right, there are the tool settings. When you select a tool, these settings are displayed in this location.
And in the middle we have the workspace.
It's important to know that Photoshop's interface can be changed according to your desires and needs, so you might not have some of the things I have, including the Navigation window at the top right (above the colors).
If you want to display it, just go to the "window" tab and click on "Navigation."
You should also know that I am using Photoshop CC 2015, so I don't have the latest version, but there are no major differences in the interface between the different versions.
The basic tools remain the same as well.
Finally, note that every tool or action in Photoshop has a keyboard shortcut.
In this article, I'll show you how to access tools using the mouse, but I'll also give you the shortcut. I will make a list of these shortcuts at the end of this article for you. It will be useful and save you a ton of time!
During the tutorial, I will put the shortcuts like this: [__ + __], so when you see a box like this you know it’s the shortcut for the action I just described.
Generally, a shortcut involves 2 keyboard keys, but it can sometimes include more. For example, when I write [Ctrl + S] it means you need to press the Ctrl key and the "S" key at the same time.
You can also create your own shortcuts by going to "Edit" then "Keyboard Shortcuts." But the default shortcuts are generally well thought out and made to be convenient!
Alright, we will start by creating a new document.
You will click on the top left on the "File" tab then click on "New."
[Ctrl + N]
A window will open with several options.
1: The name of the document
2: Document size and resolution
3: The background color
Start by naming your document, then to choose the size click on "Document Type" and then on "International Paper Format." In the "Size" tab, Photoshop will offer you all paper formats: A4, A3, A2...
Choose the format that suits you.
For the resolution, choose between 72 dpi or 300 dpi. The higher the resolution, the more pixels you have and the greater the image precision. However, be aware that a high resolution results in a large file size.
So it depends on what you want to do. If it's a personal drawing, I advise you to set it to 72, however if you want to do an illustration intended for printing or publication, it's better to set it to 300.
For "Mode," Photoshop offers you several combinations. Again, it depends on what you want. We work in CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) for an illustration intended for printing, because these are the 4 colors used in printing.
If you want to publish on the internet, RGB (Red, Green, Blue) is recommended, as it is the color mode used by computer screens.
If your illustration is intended to be printed and published, favor CMYK, which will guarantee you a wider range of colors.
Finally, the "Background Content" is simply the base color of your workspace. It is white by default, but you can either change the color or make it transparent.
When you click on "Ok," Photoshop will display a blank sheet (if you have chosen white for the background content).
This sheet represents your workspace. It's like a sheet of paper in real life.
Now that you have your document, Photoshop thinks you are ready to work and unlocks quite a few options. We can now take a closer look at the interface.
We will start with the tabs at the top of the screen.
In the "File" tab:
1: You have everything you need to create a new document [Ctrl + N] or open an existing one [Ctrl + O].
2: Everything needed to record a document.
If you choose "Save" once, it will save your document. If you do it multiple times, it will save the changes over the base file. [Ctrl + S]
If you want to keep multiple copies of your file, you use "Save As."
[Shift + Ctrl + S]
It will ask you to save your file under a different name to avoid overwriting the previous backup.
3: There is an option to export your file. Exporting is used to save your file in a specific format. It's a save-as, but with more options and formats.
[Alt + Shift + Ctrl + W]
The "Import and Embed (or Link)" is for importing a file into your document. It is generally useful when doing photo editing. In drawing, there is rarely an opportunity to use it.
4: "Information" simply serves to have the info of your file.
[Alt + Shift + Ctrl + I]
And finally, there is the classic "Print," if you wish to print your document directly from the software.
[Ctrl + P]
Then, in the "Editing" tab...
1: Here you can find the famous functions "Cancel" and "Copy/Paste."
So first, you have "Undo" [Ctrl + Z] which allows you to undo an action once.
Then "Go Back," which allows to undo an action multiple times. [Ctrl + Alt + Z] (the shortcut is different in the image, because I have customized it.)
Copy [Ctrl + C], Cut [Ctrl + X], and Paste [Ctrl + V].
2: "Manual Transformation" and "Transformation" serve the same purpose.
The first allows you to transform a layer (flip, distort, enlarge, reverse, etc.) manually [Ctrl + T] and the second is used to do the same thing, but precisely with values.
3: Finally, you have the tabs to modify the interface, keyboard shortcuts, and tools. Here you'll find everything to tailor the software to your desires and expectations. But I'll let you see that for yourself! ;)
In the "Image" tab...
We will start with the "Fashion" category, which is simply the same thing as there was when the document was created.
If you forgot to switch modes, or if you made a mistake, you can change it at any time. However, be careful, switching from RGB to CMYK or vice versa while drawing can change the colors and quality, so make sure to check before you start drawing!
1: Next, you have the "Settings" category that contains everything you need to make various adjustments to your layer. You can adjust the brightness and contrast, the colors, but also add some effects.
2: You can also change the size of your sheet as much as you want.
With "Image Size" you will change everything, including your drawing. [Alt + Ctrl + I]
By choosing "Work Area Size," only the blank sheet will change, but not the size of your drawing. [Alt + Ctrl + C]
It's very handy if you start a drawing and then decide to make it smaller or larger, you can change the size of your paper without damaging the size of the drawing.
We will now look at the tool we are most interested in: the Brush tool.
Click on the tool on the left side of your screen then display these settings.
If you don't see the icon of the pot with brushes, you can display it by going to "Window" and click on "Shape."
In the "Shape" window, several things are going to interest us...
1 : Here you have the different brushes displayed. Choosing between the different brushes simply changes the shape of your brush. By default, you have some in Photoshop, but you can find an incredible amount online for free, which you can download in order to have many different shapes and effects.
You can have paint-style brushes, leaf-shaped ones, with grooves to simulate rocks, cloud-shaped, pencil- or pen-styles, with textile effects, etc. In short, there are as many brushes as there are objects and textures!
You can find free brushes on Deviantart or on Google by simply typing "Photoshop brush."
After choosing the shape, you choose the size and hardness. The harder the brush, the sharper it will be, and conversely, the softer the brush, the more blurred it will be.
2: Once you have chosen your brush, you can customize everything using the panel.
There are only two tabs that I use, but all of them are there for you to discover.
The tab I check first is "Shape Dynamics." It simply allows my brush to vary its size depending on the pressure of my stylus.
The harder I press on my tablet, the thicker my line will be. This simulates the pressure you would have with a pen and varies the thickness of the line to give a less rigid effect.
The second tab that I use a lot is "Transfer," but we'll come to that later.
We'll soon be ready to draw, you just need a few more details...
Here are the different tools...
1: The brush (which you already know since I have introduced it to you above). [B]
2: The eraser, which is very useful for erasing mistakes. [E]
3: The navigation window, which allows us to preview our drawing. I often use it to see if the entirety of my drawing is harmonious.
4: These two boxes allow you to swap the colors.
5: The zoom [Z] allows you to zoom in or out on our sheet.
1: The color window to manage, as its name indicates, colors!
2: The Layers Window. I have been talking about layers for a while, and you must be quite confused. What is a layer? It is something you will constantly use and that will save your life many times!
A layer is like a transparent sheet.
And it is advisable to draw each element on a different layer.
Let me explain: Suppose you draw a face.
You will start by making a draft, then adding the skin color, then the shadows, then the eyes, the mouth, and finally the hair.
So, you're going to make the draft on one layer, the skin color on another layer, the shadows on another layer, the eyes on another layer... You get the idea.
A layer can be modified as many times as desired, and placing an element of a drawing on a different layer allows for the modification of a specific element without affecting the rest of the drawing.
It's as if you drew each element on a different transparent sheet and at the end you overlay all of them and that gives you your entire drawing.
If you make a mistake on a transparent sheet, it won't have any consequences on the rest of the drawing.
Let's look at the layer window in more detail...
1: This icon is used to create a new layer. When you click on it, a new layer is created and automatically named "Layer 1," then "Layer 2," and so on.
2: This trash bin icon is used to delete a layer. You select your layer by clicking on it and then on the trash bin.
3: It's for creating a layer group. Otherwise, you can simply select your layers and press [Ctrl + G]. This allows you to organize your layers into different categories and find your way around, because you will quickly accumulate many layers!
4: These are options to convert a layer into adjustment layers or special effects layers. I rarely use them for drawing; usually, I use them more for image editing.
5: In this drop-down tab you will find the blend effects. These are effects that will give your layers a different look either by merging certain colors, lightening or darkening, etc. The best thing about this menu is that you test all the options yourself.
6 : Here your layers are displayed. By default, when you create a document, the Background layer is displayed. Then, all new layers are displayed one on top of the other.
The eye next to the layers is simply a button to hide them.
When the eye is visible, the layer is visible and if you click on it, the eye disappears it means that your layer is hidden and no longer appears in your workspace.
7: Opacity is used to adjust the transparency of a layer. If it is at 100%, the layer is opaque; if it is at 0%, it is transparent.
If you've made it this far, congratulations! You've held on through the longest and most laborious part of the article!
We have only skimmed the possibilities of the software, there are a huge number of options and tools that we haven't seen, but I am part of the "You must use it to master it" team. Indeed, I think that if you really want to learn how to use software, tutorials are not enough, you also need to dive in and go on an adventure. Explore the software, test everything, click anywhere and see what happens.
Even today I'm still discovering new things about the software I use, things that I haven't seen in tutorials. Dare to explore!
Now that you have the basic foundation of how to use the software, we can finally start our drawing...
CREATING AN ILLUSTRATION STEP BY STEP ON PHOTOSHOP
For this article, you can draw whatever you like as the steps remain the same and so do the tools.
I've chosen to go with an illustration of Snow White sitting on a well with a dove in her hand.
I will start by creating a layer and calling it "Draft" (I double-click on the name to change it.).
I will draw my sketch on this layer.
Once I'm happy with my sketch, I will... wait for it... create a new layer! Yes, as I said before, you'll need one layer for each element.
On this layer, I will add my beige color fill for the skin. So I'm going to call this layer "Skin."
Remember that a layer at the top of the list will be in the foreground, while a layer at the bottom will be in the background.
Then, I lower the opacity of my "Draft" layer to about 30% to see through the lines, I select my "Skin" layer and draw the skin of my character.
For now, I'm just doing flat colors.
I will do the same thing for my entire character, adding a new layer for each element.
Once I've made all the layers for my character, I can see that I'm starting to have a lot of layers. So I will organize them into a group that I'll call "Snow White."
To do this, I select all the layers I want to organize (for my drawing, these are the color layers) and then I press [Ctrl + G] to group them together.
It will put them in a folder called "Group 1." If I click on the small arrow next to the name, it unfolds all my layers, and if I click it again, it closes the group and saves me space. To rename the group, I double click on its name.
I do this for all of my drawing.
I ended up with 3 groups: "Snow White," "Scenery," and "Dove" (not yet created on the image).
Remember to have each color on a different layer.
Now we will move on to processing the drawing, namely the shadows and lights.
To do this, here's a little tip that will make your life easier...
I want to do the shadows on the skin. I will create a new layer, "Layer 1."
I select "Layer 1," place my mouse below the name and press [Alt]. Then, an icon appears, a square with an arrow next to it. I click and "Layer 1" shows an arrow. I have just parented "Layer 1" to "Skin."
To put it simply, "Layer 1" is now part of the "Skin" layer. If I draw on "Layer 1," it will only draw where the "Skin" layer appears. This will allow me to do the shadows and lights without worrying about going outside the skin!
And you can do that with as many layers as you want!
(/!\ From this step onward I stopped renaming my layers. As I am used to it and always work in the same way, I know what each layer corresponds to, but if you're a beginner, it's better to rename all of them even if you end up with "Shadow 1," "Shadow 2," "Shadow 3," etc.
This will help you to navigate your drawing more easily. If you make a good illustration, you can end up easily with almost a hundred layers... In those moments, it's better to know what each layer corresponds to!
So, don't copy me, remember to rename all your layers!)
Before we start drawing shadows and lights, we are going back to the "Shape" window. I told you that at some point, we would use the "Transfer" tab. Well, the time has come...
This tab is used to adjust the transparency of your brush.
First, you will uncheck the "Shape Dynamics" tab and check the "Transfer" tab. Then, click on it to display the settings.
"Opacity Variation" should be set to the minimum and "Pen Pressure" should be displayed.
In essence, the less you press with your stylus, the more transparent your pencil stroke will be. This is very very useful for managing the transparency of shadows and lights.
Before diving into your drawing, do a few tests on a new document to get a good handle on the tool.
I will select my "Layer 1" and draw the shadows on it. I will start by using a color slightly darker than the basic skin color.
I am creating another layer.
I don't know if you've noticed, but skin isn't just a solid color and a dark brown shadow. Skin is made up of many different colors.
Yellow will be on the light areas, dark blue on the shadow areas, and finally red/pink on the transition areas.
On your new layer, you will therefore apply these three colors over the entire body.
Yes, it's very flashy, but that's normal, don't worry.
Once you have placed them everywhere, go to "Filter" then "Blur" and click on "Gaussian Blur."
Gaussian Blur is a blur that is uniform across the entire layer.
For the blur value, I set it to 8, but it all depends on your brush strokes. The blur needs to mix the colors together enough.
Once it's done, lower the opacity of your layer to blend the colors. I had to set mine to 14%, but again it depends. In the end, we should only see reflections, only subtle shades.
Next, on a new layer, I will add red to the cheeks, joints, and fingertips.
If you look at your own body, these areas are redder because this is where your blood pools. Especially when it's cold, it turns bright red if you don't protect yourself!
I will also apply a Gaussian blur to this layer and reduce the opacity if necessary.
On a new layer, I draw the eyes...
...And I will accentuate certain shadows to define the facial features.
The shadows must be precise enough so that we can understand the facial features or the folds of the clothing without the sketch.
I will continue by adding the last elements of the face...
...And do the same for the entire character.
Each shadow and each highlight are on a different layer.
Now, I'm going to move on to the decor. I'll start with the tree leaves. To avoid having to draw them one by one, I'll use a brush.
To change the brush, I go to the settings at the top of the screen and I just have to choose the one that suits me. Don't forget that you can add as many as you want and find them for free on the internet!
I will use different brushes to make the leaves and also to create the stone texture of the well.
Thanks to the brush, I got lots of leaves and cracks very quickly. Be careful though not to overdo it, it can quickly become tacky and look fake!
I will continue by adding the shadows, lights, and grooves of the tree trunk.
I will finish with the dove using the same process as from the beginning, adding a layer for each element.
I will delete my "Draft" layer and finish by signing it... On a different layer ;)
Once you have finished your drawing, go to "File" then "Save As."
Photoshop will open a window with the different possible formats.
I will save it once in PSD format, which is the Photoshop format. That way, if one day I want to modify my drawing, I can open the PSD file and edit it again.
Then I save it a second time in a standard image format: JPG.
Now you've got the basics down!
Photoshop might seem quite difficult to use at first, but with practice, it quickly becomes very simple and very useful.
Knowing keyboard shortcuts is a great advantage and allows you to work faster. You can also find a list of some shortcuts at the end of this article.
Don't forget that you can customize them to make them easier to remember.
And, as I haven't stressed it enough throughout this article, use and abuse layers!
I will conclude by telling you to thoroughly explore the software by yourself and remember to save regularly, a bug can happen so quickly... ;)
List of keyboard shortcuts:
See you soon :)
Illustrator and writer: Coralie