Face Your Life: Digital Anime Painting with Photoshop

STEP 1: Preparing picture for Coloring

Duplicate your outline and choose Multiply for it layer blend mode. Hide the original outlines and create between new layer names it background, and then fill it with any fresh color.

STEP 2: Base Colors

Now we will just use Polygonal Lasso Tool and Paint Bucket Tool. Put in mind that any color should have a layer.

So start selecting using Polygonal Lasso Tool the area that you need, then create new layer and fill the selected area with the color that you want, until you finish the entire picture.

You will use the zoom-in function a lot while selecting areas. Never ever use Magic Wand Tool for making selections!

Now you might understand why we use fresh color in the back of the original colors; it's just to make us sure that we have filled all picture area with color.

STEP 3: Light and Shadow Sketch

Now we will create layer for shadow and layer for light. It's fine to save your document right now.

Create new layer and name it SLsketch (shadow and light sketch), we will draw very fast sketch for the light source and how the shadow will be; I mean start shading your character.

STEP 4: Drawing Light and Shadow

We will use SLSketch layer as a reference for drawing shadow and light.

I have made Shadow Layer opacity 40% and Light Layer 70%

Let's go by Polygonal Lasso Tool by selecting the shadow area, then fill it with black color, and use reference for that… Than do the same with picture light, and fill with white color.

STEP 5: Light Effect (You can remove this step)

Duplicate the light layer and blur it about 4.5, then set light layer to opacity to 20% and change it blend to soft light.

STEP 6: Special Effect

Merge all your layers, and then duplicate it two times. The above make it blend mode soft light. And the between blur it to 4.1.

Now you can play a bit with your blurred layer opacity, and make it as you like.

This picture coloring took from me about 15 minutes! WHAT 15 minutes!!? Ya, I should do that, because if you are working in Anime Company, you should be very fast.