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I painted this image once using Paper53, which has a Fill tool that is similar to the Vector tool in SketchClub, so that you can easily make shapes that are filled with color. But I was unhappy with the result. One thing that was frustrating me was that Paper53 doesn't have layers, which meant that I could not easily go back and edit individual image elements without having to be extremely careful not to change other parts of the image. This can be particularly problematic if, for example, you want to change the color or anything else about individual lines that you've drawn. So I decided to recreate my painting, this time using SketchClub. I was much happier with the result. As you will see from this tutorial, I used quite a few layers, putting each image element on its own layer. This made it very easy when I went back and edited individual image elements, because editing an element on its own layer doesn't change any of the other image elements: masking is not needed! I find this to be a real time saver. Once I completed my work in SketchClub, I used iColorama to make some fine tuning and to add some effects.
I started with this photo that I snapped on a recent trip to Maine.
I opened the photo in SketchClub. I reduced the opacity of the photo layer so I could still see it as I painted, but it would not be so dark that I couldn’t see what I was I was painting. I kept this layer as the top layer throughout the rest of the painting process, turning visibility on and off to check my work as I went along. In the end, we will turn off visibility for this photo layer, so that nothing of the photo remains in the final image. On new layers below the photo layer, I started by painting these shapes using the Vector tool. I grouped the shapes by color onto separate layers. This way, if I decide, for example, that the skin shadows are not the right color, I can edit only that layer and alter the color of the skin tones.
On new layers below the other layers, I used the Vector tool to create shapes for the dock she is standing on, for the water, and for the sky. Each of these three elements is on its own layer. Then I created another layer above the dock layer, and I used a black pen to draw lines to represent planks in the dock.
Where the different elements of the image did not meet, allowing a bit of the background to show through, I edited the relevant layers using the Vector tool to add area to the shapes so that the gaps were filled.
On new layers above the other layers but below the photo layer, used the Vector tool to create the mouth and teeth and the dark interior of the mouth. Each of these elements was on its own layer. On new layers above these, I used the Vector tool to create the glasses, the irises, the whites of the eyes, and the catchlights in the eyes. On new layers above these, I used a pen or a hard round brush to create the eyebrows and the strands of the hair. Each these elements is on its own layer.
On a new layer above the other layers but below the photo layer, I used a round brush or a pen to draw defining lines on the clothing and the phone. On another new layer above that, I used a round brush or a pen to draw the patters of her shirt.
On another new layer above the other layers, but below the photo layer, I used the Vector tool to paint highlights on the shadow area of her pants. On another layer above that, I used the Vector tool at medium to low opacity to paint shadow areas on the front of her blouse. Then I went back to the skin tone layers and edited the shapes with the Vector tool, to smooth out the shadow line on her arm and neck. On a new layer above the skin tones layers, I used a the Pen tool to draw outlines for her fingernails. On another new layer above that, I used a pen to draw wrinkle lines on her face and neck, and lines defining the rims of her eyes.
On a new layer below all the figure layers but above all the background layers, I used the Vector tool to draw the railing. On a layer above that, I used a brush to paint highlights in the horizontal rails. On a layer above that, I used an airbrush at low to medium opacity to paint a soft glow along the rails. On a layer above that, I used the Vector tool at medium opacity to pint a rail shadow along the dock. On a layer above that, I used a pen or brush to paint a light line along the horizon, with a color between the color of the sky and that of the water. Then I used a blur brush to blur that line, to give more of a feeling of distance.
On a layer above the ones I just painted, I created another layer and used an airbrush to paint shadows under her feet. I saved the image to my camera roll.
I opened the image in iColorama. I used Effect/Raise and Effect/Sharpen at low size to add a small amount of definition to the lines. I used Effect/Glow at low opacity to add a bit of glowing light to the lighter areas. Then, using an inverted brush mask, I used Adjust/Exposure to lighten the shadow areas of her face, neck and arm.
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