Colors, Shading and Lighting
Okay this isnt so much a tutorial on shading a rose, or even where to shade etc.. Its more about selecting colors, since that is what I was specifically asked to explain.. So here goes :
Pick a shade of dark red to fill the outline of your rose line art with. We want to choose a good contrasting lighter shade of red to fill with.
This is what my color picker in Adobe Photoshop CS looks like. see the radio button next to the H ? It's filled because we are looking at the colors based on their hue... We want to click on the radio button next to the L ( for LIGHTNESS ) since we are wanting a lighter shade of the same color.
You will want to raise the lightness by about 30.
Below are examples of various options we couldve taken...
This is not contrasting enough... You can barely see the outline, so its hard to tell one petal from another.
This is too contrasting! It contrasts so much we aren't even in the same color anymore, we've got a red outline and a pink fill!
This is a decent contrast.
Add a new layer, and choose a shade of purple from the preceding color on the spectrum like below.
This is how the shading looks with the purplish color I chose. Its interesting to say the least lol.. The thing with shadows is that the colors need to blend to look even remotely realistic. Therfore the color of the shadow has to blend in with the color of the fill.
The first method I use for blending these colors with computer graphics is good old layer properties. Multiply and lower the opacity until it looks right to you.
Another method would be to just make the purple you chose darker with brightness/contrast and then lowering that layers opacity.
Depending on which technique looks best, you will repeat this on another layer for the darker shadows.
Multiply >> lower opacity technique
Less Brightness >> lower opacity technique
Now onto the lights :)
choose the next warm color in the spectrum to draw in some shading, i use orange or yellow for reds and pinks usually.
lowered the opacity to make it blend
For the second layer, i used an even lighter warm, a yellower color then played with the layer properties
Color dodge and lower opacity to 62%
Then with a shade just a little darker than the fill color, add some shadow in broader masses, so the fill color is actually more like a subdued light.
Then I went in and darkened the outline a bit
I think thats very pretty as it is but lets play some more..
I went in and lower the opacity even more for the highlight layers
Then I decided I wouldnt to add just a tad more dramatic shadow to the rose, so I took a dark medium saturation purple and drew some more shadow in here and there..
then lowered the opacity
Which one do you like the best?
you can add even more color to give the rose even more vibrancy, I am going to stop here though :)
I hope this tutorial has helped you in your decisions when making colors. Again, experiment, make mistakes and learn from them, play.. Never forget that art is expression, a hobby, meant to be enjoyed not stressed over. Were I a wealthy woman ( or even just a financially secure woman ) I wouldn't even consider making money from my favorite hobby. It makes your hobby work at times, rather than fun. So enjoy this hobby, just have fun with it ^_^