colouring in photoshop

[TheDirtSyndicate]

i need help colouring in ps.
im really not that good. i've tried lots of tutorials, and looked at other artists process pages, but i just cant seem to get a grasp of light and shadow for shit. when i do it, it looks faked.

i was wondering, should i do the shading in pencil first? then colour it? i haven't tried that yet.
anyway,

this is the first step of the technique i've been useing:
http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/32410/p/575556_3721915170115360018_vl.jpg

after i fill in all the basic colours, i've been going in and adding lights and darks. but it never looks right.

any tips or links to some tutorials that are easy to understand would truly be appreciated.

[donschi]

look at www.polykarbon.com there you can find some easy tutorials for coloring.
The drawing is really good.

donschi

[madster]

http://www.noir.org/tutorials/Roberto%20Campus/Painting%20a%20digital%20illustration%20Tutorial/

This tut's helping me past some hard spots with shadows and highlights, maybe you'll find it useful, too!

[TheDirtSyndicate]

thanks guys, i truly appreciate it.
anything will help.
the only problem im having now is that i dont
have a wacom tablet. i have one at work here
and i love it. but i dont have one at home.


does anyone know where i can get a nice one
for not too much money?

[soul8o8]

..could you post a shaded pic? just to show what you think is wrong with your shading?

[danielh68]

Hi complete2,

Those are some great links posted.

Myself, I do shading first and color last. I generally paint in grayscale mode using 3 shades of gray: light, middle, dark. Once I have the 3 values established, I paint in each of the 3 parent values with a child variant. For example, I will eyedrop the middle value and increase the lightness just a tad, yet still keep it darker than the Light parent value.

Once the values are established you can convert RGB and begin coloring.

This is just one of countless methods.

Hope it helps.