inalikealoha
May 25th, 2008, 03:01 PM
Hi everyone. :) I'm a new member, a friend of mine referred me here. Looks like a really awesome place!
So, one thing out of a million things I am really wanting to hone my skills on is fur texture. I do a lot of fantasy, anthro, and science fiction illustrations, and many times (especially with anthro), I need to paint fur! However, I'm having such a hard time with it.
I would really appreciate any studies, tips, tricks, whatever on how to create fur. I do everything digitally with Photoshop CS3. I've tried painting each strand stroke by stroke (and ended up nearly throwing my computer out the window ;)), using a fur brush, creating a noise layer and "pulling" the noise into a fur texture. I've read every tutorial I could find, but they are just redundant. Does anyone have any good tips or techniques I may try? Here are some examples.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/spiritcreations/thelonius.jpg
Now, obviously, the fur is weird, minus the crappy lighting and shadows which I'm now realizing I suck at and need to learn. :D I have this *horrible* habit of drawing in the poofy fur line art like I'm drawing a toon, since I am mostly a cartoonist, and then painting fur. In the end, it's these really weird poofy fur things sticking out all over the character. I have since stopped doing this. Other than the stuff I know is wrong, the fur still looks flat.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/spiritcreations/jayspryntersmall.jpg
Again, odd shadows and lighting, shoulda done more rendering on the background details, such as the railing. I do actually like how the fur texture came out (minus his right elbow), but I forgot how I did it. Personally, I think it looks like you could reach out and feel the coarseness of the panther fur. Gah, but I can't remember how I did it! Still, it might need a bit more work, but it is closer to what I am desiring.
Alrighty, thank you to everyone. This site really seems fantastic. :)
So, one thing out of a million things I am really wanting to hone my skills on is fur texture. I do a lot of fantasy, anthro, and science fiction illustrations, and many times (especially with anthro), I need to paint fur! However, I'm having such a hard time with it.
I would really appreciate any studies, tips, tricks, whatever on how to create fur. I do everything digitally with Photoshop CS3. I've tried painting each strand stroke by stroke (and ended up nearly throwing my computer out the window ;)), using a fur brush, creating a noise layer and "pulling" the noise into a fur texture. I've read every tutorial I could find, but they are just redundant. Does anyone have any good tips or techniques I may try? Here are some examples.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/spiritcreations/thelonius.jpg
Now, obviously, the fur is weird, minus the crappy lighting and shadows which I'm now realizing I suck at and need to learn. :D I have this *horrible* habit of drawing in the poofy fur line art like I'm drawing a toon, since I am mostly a cartoonist, and then painting fur. In the end, it's these really weird poofy fur things sticking out all over the character. I have since stopped doing this. Other than the stuff I know is wrong, the fur still looks flat.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/spiritcreations/jayspryntersmall.jpg
Again, odd shadows and lighting, shoulda done more rendering on the background details, such as the railing. I do actually like how the fur texture came out (minus his right elbow), but I forgot how I did it. Personally, I think it looks like you could reach out and feel the coarseness of the panther fur. Gah, but I can't remember how I did it! Still, it might need a bit more work, but it is closer to what I am desiring.
Alrighty, thank you to everyone. This site really seems fantastic. :)