Coloring Skin (For Webtoons)
Coloring Skin for Webtoons
When it comes to rendering skin, many of the tips and tutorials Ive found are for illustrations and other works that allow for a large amount of time devoted to rendering individual items like skin, hair, clothes, etc. But for time sensitive projects like comics or webtoons, deadlines prevent me from spending hours upon hours on details.
There was a time where I accommodated this by coloring very simplistically, using mostly just base colors and a gradient layer overtop. But as time has gone on, I’ve managed to find a way to balance that quick application of colors with a satisfactory quality level. I’m here to share this with you.
When it come to shading in general, one of the first things you learn is to shade a sphere. There are other shapes, like cubes and cones, but when it comes to organic objects (like skin) the basics of understanding remains with the sphere.
This is a sphere with skin shading. If I was drawing a detailed, or phot realistic illustration, this would be a good reference for me when rendering the skin. But for a webtoon, or similar comic works, it’s impossible to devote the time to apply this level of shading to every character every panel.
There is another form of coloring, cell shading. This is used more often in comics and animation. The colors and shadows are harder and less blended. The same sphere from earlier would look more like this.
Despite their clear differences, they both contain the same core elements and elements of color.
In order to shade skin, I use those hard colors and mix in gradients in with the shading to create depth outside of the regular shadows.
When it comes to picking your starting shade, there are many color palettes for skin available online, and even in the asset store. These are some of my favorites.
This is the one I’m using for now.
I will be making a change to how I’m using the colors though. The shadow color has now become the “depth” color. Despite its name, I’ll be using it in the base color layer.
Base Color
This is the image I’ll be starting out with. The line art is done by me as well.
The base color I’ve chosen is a lighter brown. But instead of filling that color in to start, I go in with that second, much darker shade.
Then I come in with a soft brush, in my case I used the default airbrush tool, and softly lighten the main parts of the skin. I start in the middle area, and am softer on the edges. I’m careful not to completely cover the darker color. Having the dark brown still slightly visible on the edges can give the impression of more complex shadows.
This give me an effect similar to the first sphere with more detailed shading. It gives the illusion of depth and form, versus just doing a basic fill of the skin.
Here’s the difference between just filling with the base color, and shading on top of the darker color.
Shadows
For the shadow I sometimes use a basic round brush, but currently I’m using this brush here.
It adds an edge to the color you choose. I’m using the third shad as the main shadow, with the darker base color from earlier as the edge color.
I do very basic shadows here, not paying as much mind to the environment, just placing them where they’d fall in more natural lighting.
Here, I’m adding in some blush/ a warmer shade. I go back to the airbrush for this one. Combing the hard edges of the shadows, with the softness of the gradient base and the blush color can help it look more dynamic.
Highlights
I use the same pen from the shadows for the highlights. Using thinner more preside lines as well. I keep where I place the shadows in mind. For the highlights, less is more.
I use colors from the palette for them, but if you know your environment will have some harsh or colored lighting, incorporate that into it. Adding a color on an overlay layer works great in those cases, such as here on a previous panel. The highlights on her hair are a green color to match the lights she’s near.
And finally, I add a basic shadow to the entire figure. This is based on the environment and external light source. I apply the shadow to the entire figure at once instead of to each individual element (skin, hair, clothes). I also do the whites of the eyes and pupils on top to help them stand out against the shadows.
I use this auto action on top of the shadow I made to give it the blurred edge look it has.
And now that the skin is done, I finish out the drawing! (Timelapse is linked below if you want to see the process)
A video version of the tips is posted below, with the Timelapse at the videos end.
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