Photoshop tutorial: Sailor Moon series!

Hello everyone!

As promised,  today I am sharing a walkthrough process of the Fight Like a Girl! series. This series primarily explores digital painting with a hint of graphic design and texture. So without further ado, let's dive right on into seeing how this series was made! :D

1) Sketch

I sketched this piece in my sketchbook then scanned it onto my computer.  While sketching directly on your computer is much more convenient, I still find benefits with sketching on paper. Doing so retains some of the texture from the paper, which adds a little bit of roughness to the finished piece, and helps me feel more involved while creating. It's not necessary, but I feel like the extra step pays off personally! :D

I set the sketch layer to multiply in Photoshop so that I can color underneath it while preserving the image. 

2) Background

I add a simple gradient as the background, making sure that the color complements the main color of each Sailor Scout. Since Sailor Moon is mostly yellow/orange,  the opposite of those colors are purple/blue. This color choice helps her stand out from the background as well as tie the two colors together. If you're unfamiliar with color theory, I suggest reading up on complementary, triadic, and analogous colors! I apply these rules often when choosing colors and they've been very helpful. ^^

3) Flats

Next, I flat in the colors. I'm not too neat during this stage, just blocking in the colors so I know what goes where. :D I also decided to brighten up the background by making it cyan instead of blue so that her collar doesn't blend into the background. I want there to be a clear distinction between the character and the background! 

4) The painting BEGINS!! 

And now WE MERGE THE LAYERS! Yes, at this point I merge the sketch and flats layers so I finally begin painting this piece. Keep in mind that the background is still on a separate layer. This way I can add effects to the character without affecting the background. I smooth out the lines and clean up parts of the sketch that clutter up the piece. I also begin to add in warmth and color to the skin to help bring the character to life! Muahahaha! /evil scientist laughter

5) Shadows 

I continue smoothing out the edges of the character and start adding in shadows using multiply layers. This gives Sailor Moon some dimension and brings detail and visual interest into the piece. I also add in some loose strands of hair to imply movement and life. 

6) More shadows!

I continue adding shadows to build more and more layers into the character all whilst following a general light source from the top right. Follow a light source in your artwork helps add consistency and realism to your art if that's your jazz! :D

7) You guessed it, more shadows! 

And some highlights. I use the lasso and polyagonal lasso tool to select areas to fill in with shadows and highlights. Yes, I'm still keeing that light source in mind!

8) Layer effects

At this point I pack on a trifecta of layer effects: multiply, overlay, and soft light. I use a multiply layer to add a gradient to both the top and bottom of the character. This creates depth and drama, which I really want in this series to elevate the characters to the wonderful space superpower babes that they are! On top of that I put an overlay layer of dark brown to bring all the colors together in a consistent manner. And on top of THAT (I know I know, just one more), I add a soft light layer of light yellow on the face only to make it look like she's glowing from within. 

9) Finishing touches!

All that's left is to add in some finishing touches aka the graphic design bits! I draw in some stars and sparkles in the background and add an outer glow effect on them so it looks like they're shining. Then I put in the pieces that make the series complete, the colorful border, the Fight Like a Girl text, and my signature. And voila! We are done! 

I used this same process across all of the pieces in this series. I hope this was interesting or useful and I'll see you soon with some new art hot off the presses! Thank you so much for your support and I hope you have a great day/night! :D<3

Love,

Vicki