Coloring Tips

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Bunny wrote on 2012-07-10 17:50

[FONT="Arial"][SIZE="2"]Hello!
I've just recently started working with Paint Tool SAI, and I have zero idea on how to color!
I also can't draw very.. well.
Any tips on coloring would be very nice.

Here's a little sketchie.
[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Image: http://puu.sh/Hpc9]
Yupoki wrote on 2012-07-10 18:55

[FONT="Garamond"] :o! It's sooo cute!
...But yeah, I have no idea how to color either. :/ When I do (And it ends up as a failure) I usually use the blur tool.. or smudging. x__X;
:D Can't wait to see it colored though![/FONT]
Bunny wrote on 2012-07-10 19:14

Quote from Yupoki;905586:
[FONT="Garamond"] :o! It's sooo cute!
...But yeah, I have no idea how to color either. :/ When I do (And it ends up as a failure) I usually use the blur tool.. or smudging. x__X;
:D Can't wait to see it colored though![/FONT]

[FONT="Arial"][SIZE="2"]
I blur and smudge too.. which I think is really bad! ;o;
I want to color it "cleanly".[/SIZE][/FONT]
CharAznable wrote on 2012-07-11 00:46

Quote from Bunny;905595:
[FONT="Arial"][SIZE="2"]
I blur and smudge too.. which I think is really bad! ;o;
I want to color it "cleanly".[/SIZE][/FONT]

What do you mean cleanly? With only 1 color? You can color a specific area that's enclosed with the paint bucket tool.
Bunny wrote on 2012-07-11 02:08

Quote from CharAznable;905812:
What do you mean cleanly? With only 1 color? You can color a specific area that's enclosed with the paint bucket tool.

[FONT="Arial"][SIZE="2"]
Without smudging and doing weird stuff to the colors, I guess.
In other words, I need a method of coloring. :c[/SIZE][/FONT]
CharAznable wrote on 2012-07-11 03:23

Well, I just color it all in with whatever color I want everything to be, and then I add some shading to places where they should be. Then I use the airbrush to blend in the shaded part with whatever color I started with.

Example:
[SPOILER="Spoiler"]
[Image: http://i.imgur.com/2AQ50.jpg]
[/SPOILER]
Kouki wrote on 2012-07-11 07:24

I usually make sure to draw the line art on a separate transparent layer, and then make another layer underneath it to color under the lines... but I don't know how it works for Sai, because I use Photoshop... The only other program I have experience with is MS Paint, which I only used for pixel art that only requires to fill in colors.

Well, if the line art is not transparent, another way is to color over it on another layer in transparent color, or if Sai has any "Color dodge" option, then that would let you color over it while keeping the lines dark...

PS: It is a very cute drawing.
BizarreJuju wrote on 2012-07-12 01:54

Have the color in a different layer. Im sure the white is transparent and not part of the line work and layer (unless you used a white bucket and drew lines over it). so then under the line work layer, create a color layer (I suggest making multi color layer if using more than one color (easier editing separate colors).

[Image: http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/7075/workshot6.jpg]

Another suggestion is when you do line works, use an alternate color besides black. When working with multiple line work layer its easier to tell which goes where.

[Image: http://www.deviantart.com/download/279313153/forum_event_sketch_by_bizarrejuju-d4manep.jpg]

[Image: http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8418/workshot4.jpg]

The way I do I have layers for
(in order)

(1) Line Work
- (a) Backup Line work [Hidden]
(2) Color (optionally have preserve opacity and/or clipping Group Checked off, for color editing)
- (a) Red
- (b) Green
- (c) Blue
Aryiane wrote on 2012-07-12 02:16

Well, what I do for coloring is I set up different layers saying things like "skin" "eyesdark" "eyescolor" "hair" etc. just so I can make things easier.

Once I input a layer I use the "select" tool and I select all of the parts that are skin, eyes, hair etc for each given layer. That way when I color I can just use the pen tool and color it whichever color I want. It's kind of hard to explain so here's a video of a speed paint demonstration specifically for coloring.

[video=youtube;DpICWpbDDOk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpICWpbDDOk[/video]

The blue highlights over certain sections is because of the select tool. On the left side of the screen you'll see the layers I spoke of before. But be sure to color from the base up--meaning you should start with the skin/eyes first and from there the clothes and lastly the hair. I found that doing it in that order makes it easy to not have any overlapping colors or messes. I used this video as a reference and it helped me so, I hope it will help you too. ^^
Bunny wrote on 2012-07-12 03:20

[FONT="Arial"][SIZE="2"]Thank you so much for the tips, guys! Berry helpful!
I'm going to start practicing now. ^o^[/SIZE][/FONT]