ElverQuisst.se

Grasstutorial

Here are some simple steps to how I drew grass like in my picture Dandelion Seeds. For this tutorial, you will need a program like Photoshop7.0, with smudge tool, dodge and burn.

1. This is probably the most critical (and hardest) step in my tutorial. The reason for that is that a good texture is hard to draw as a beginning artist. Help can be found in the brush-settings in photoshop. Where "scattering" is a good one to get rid of continuing lines.

I've drawn the following texture with the help of scattering (with different colors) and burn. A quite large difference in value (dark and light) is needed:

2. Now, get out your smudge tool and set the pressure to 100 percent. Start dragging the colors upwards in grassy, bent straws. Start at the top of the picture and move down, so you will cover the beginning of your previous straws with other straws :).

3. Now it's getting someplace, but still don't look like grass. Take out your dodge-tool and set it on "midtone" range with an exposure you think is good. I use 66 %, but then I have a pressure sensitive tablet, so it won't be that much pressure when I draw.

Make a dodge on a bending in the straws of your choice, and carefully lighten the immediate surrounding of that particular straw.

I've cut the canvas so I won't have to draw such a big picture for just a tutorial.

4. Hey! It looks like grass! Now we're just going to make it a bit more chaotic, so take your burn and dodge tools and draw some straws with just those. To get a little color into the picture, use the dodge tool with "highlights" as range. Return to step 3 to make some additional lights on these new straws. As a last thing on this step, slightly blur some parts of the grass, so it doesn't get that sharp feeling. Don't over-do this!

And this is how the grass in Dandelion seeds look like zoomed in. Chaos, and not so goodlooking. Zoomed out, however, it's a whole different view. You can see the final result of that picture here.