How to colour an Anime styled head

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1. Scanning and cleaning

Scan the image you drew and clean it using the tool Brightness/Contrast (Go to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast). Set "10" for brightness and "20" for contrast. If you think the scan still looks dirty, play around with that tool until you are satisfied with the cleaning result. After the cleaning, the scan should look as clean as this:

Tutorials » How to colour an Anime styled head @ Kisuki.net

2. Editing the lineart

Now you need to extract the lineart and remove the white parts of the scan in order to colour "below the lineart". There is a very simple trick for doing this step:

Before using channels you should make sure the layer of your image is not a "background" layer. If the layer says "background" and you can see a small lock on the right, double click on the layer and then hit "OK".

Now go to Windows > Channels. Select all the layers you see and click on the small circle on the left (Illustration 2). Then go to Edit > Clear to remove the current selection. As you can see in illustration 3, the lineart has been successfully extracted and all white parts were removed.


Illustration 2	Illustration 3

Create a new white coloured layer which should always stay at the bottom of all layers. Fix the transparency of both layers.

3. Colouring the hair: 1st step

Create a new hair layer below the lineart layer. Choose a colour you want to use for the hair and add it to your drawing (Illustration 4). Then choose the direction of light and a darker colour for the shadows. The shadows are always on the opposite direction. Now add the shadows as shown in illustration 5.


Illustration 4	Illustration 5

4. Colouring the hair: 2nd step

Select the lineart layer again and colour the lineart of the hair (Illustration 6). Since you fixed the transparency of the lineart layer, the colour won't go over the lineart. To make something look more alive it's important to add darker shadows on the already existing shadows. Therefore try to add a darker colour on the cortex as shown in illustration 7.


Illustration 6	Illustration 7

5. Colouring the hair: Last step

For the shining effect, use the Dodge tool and a default air brush (The brush size depends on the size of your drawing). Set the options to: Area > Highlights, Exposure > 61%, Airbrush activated

Tutorials » How to colour an Anime styled head @ Kisuki.net

6. Colouring the face: 1st step

Do not change the direction of light! Create a new skin layer below the hair layer and add the skin colour (Illustration 9) which you think suits your character best. Then choose a darker skin colour for the shadows (Illustration 10).


Illustration 9	Illustration 10

7. Colouring the face: Last step

Now add darker shadows on the already existing shadows.

Tutorials » How to colour an Anime styled head @ Kisuki.net

8. Colouring the eyes: 1st step

Create a new eye layer above the skin layer. Fill the eyes with white (Illustration 12), then add the eye colour which you think suits the hair colour best (Illustration 13). Now you can draw whatever you want into the eyes (Illustration 14)!