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| Drawing Tips
Instead of shading around highlights, try working from the middle.
1. Fill the entire subject to a mid-value.
2. Darken the shadows.
3. Erase the highlights.
4. Add the more subtle value variations.
Use a value scale to help you see the true values of the subject.
Value scales are especially helpful for interpreting challenging color combinations into gray scale, such as red roses in front of a green background.
You can download a value scale and find out how to use them on my Free Drawing Tools Page.
Drawing is like any skill. You have to practice regularly to be good at it!
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Using Photoshop as a Cropping and Composition Tool
I use Photoshop to help make reference photos into better compositions before I draw from them. Here are a few ways that I use the Crop Tool, the Marquee Tools, and Layers to help compose my drawing ideas.
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Using the Crop Tool to Refine the Composition
The Crop Tool is the easiest to use Photoshop composition tool. (Keyboard shortcut key C.)
To use this tool, select it in the Tools Pallet (shown to the right) and drag it diagonally across your image with your curser until the crop area looks about right. Then you can adjust each side with your cursor (in or out, up or down) until the crop is prefect.
Hit the "OK" or the check mark in the top of the window (depending on which version of Photoshop you’re using) to crop the image to those dimensions.
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Using the Marquee Tools to Rearrange the Composition
If your subject is not in the exact spot you would like it to be, you can
move it with the help of the Marquee Tools.
Use the Rectangular or Elliptical Marquee Tool (keyboard shortcut key M) to surround your subject by dragging the cursor over it. (You can
move the Rectangular or Elliptical Tool without changing its size by holding down the space bar when you move the cursor.)
Once you have the subject surrounded, select Edit > Copy, then Edit > Paste. This will create a new “Layer” with just the part you selected on it.
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Using the
Move Tool to Reposition Elements of the Composition
Move the subject you just pasted into a new Layer to a different position with the
Move Tool (keyboard shortcut key V). Select the tool and use your curser to drag the subject to reposition it.
The original subject will still be in the same position on your first layer and this can be very distracting. If you want to cover it, you can select another area from you photo and use it to hide the old subject using the same method.
If you open several photos in Photoshop at the same time, you can use the "Marquee-Copy-Paste" method to make a combined composition from all of them.
Select a subject from one of the photos with the Marquee Tool and click Edit > Copy. Then click the photo you want to paste your selections into, to make it active, and then click Edit > Paste. Use the
Move tool to position the pasted piece where you want it.
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Understanding the Layers Window
Photoshop layers are stacked on top of each other as you create them, so you can slide one piece of your photo underneath the piece on top of it or over the one below it. If you want to rearrange the layers themselves, just click and drag them to new positions in the “Layers” window.
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