Tale #43 - The Tale Of Geek Tip I

Hi, all!

Anyways, today I'm going to do a short tutorial on Flash Painting. So here I go!

HOW TO PAINT IN FLASH 8 (or higher)



Okay. Here's what you need to make the magic happen:

* Your computer/laptop
* Some input perfieral of some kind (Either a tablit, mouse or whatever. If you want, you can even use GlovePIE and your Wiimote together too. Although, I'm not going to tell you how to set that up because that's a whole other can of worms there.)
* Your hands and the creative powers of your MIND!
* A copy of Flash 8 or higher. (If you don't have a copy of Flash, you can download a 30-day free trial on Adobe/Macromedia's website.)



NOTE #1: Please don't ask me how to hook up your wiimote to your computer. I'm not trying to be mean or anything. It's just that this isn't the place to do it. It's an ART tutorial and NOT a wiimote tutorial. Okay? Thanks.

NOTE #2: To those of you who don't have a tablit - RELAX! You really DON'T need one so don't fret if you don't have one. I mean, I hear people almost complaining to me saying that the only reason why anyone could be any good at drawing on a computer directly is because they're tablit users. I'm living proof that that's not true. You can get away with using a mouse. You just need to practise with it. Actually, before I got my first Wacom, all I was using was a mouse. The reason behind it is well... several, actually. The first reason was because I live in a small enough city where getting anything like that in town in the early to mid 90s was pretty much unheard of. The only thing we really did have that came close was this tablit you'd plug in to your TV. Other than that, we had nothing. So if you wanted to draw something on screen, all you'd have is a mouse. The second reason was that I saw this book in the mid 90s that was talking about graphic design (I'm pretty sure the book came out in at least 1993 or 1994) and some of the best artwork in there was done by just a mouse. The logic behind it was that graphic designers and artists need to be able to adapt and be flexible so then that way, they can work with anything they encounter. I've always kept that philosophy in the back of my mind whenever I'm training myself on something new. A good artist/storyteller adapts to their tools and don't let the technology itself be the one that dictates how good something is. You could still use MS Paint and come up with the Mona Lisa. You see, in the end, the technology doesn't matter. I mean it's always changing, you just have to put up with it and adapt while keeping in the back of your mind is that it's NOT the technology that makes you good. It's you who makes you good. It's as they say "A poor craftsman blames their tools."




So how do you actually paint in Flash? Well here's how you do it!

STEP #1



Sketch up your lineart on screen. Just quickly come up with something in Flash. This is the lineart I sketched for this tutorial.

STEP #2



Layout your base colours.



Just make sure that on the timeline that you keep your base colours SEPARATE from each other. It makes life easier when you do that. Also, KEEP YOUR LINE ART ON A SEPARATE LAYER FROM THE COLOURS!


STEP #3




Then create a new layer over top of your base colours (but UNDER your line art layer).




Using the Brush tool (Hotkey: B), paint your first layer of rough details. Make sure that you adjust the alphas to make your shading colours semi-transparent. I usually like to keep my alphas low so I can better build up the detail.

STEP #4



To add your next set of details, create a new layer and paint over top of your rough details where ever you want shading to take place.



Just make sure you adjust your colours and your alphas slightly whenever you add more details.

To do highlights, it's the same process only you're making your colours lighter. To put shading and highlights on the eyes, go and create a layer ABOVE the lineart layer and make sure to keep your base alphas/shade at 50% otherwise It'll never show up on the black. After you get your base in, keep your alphas low and follow the same instructions like you would in regular shading.

Here's what everything looks like in a step-by-step process to achive the end result:


















And here's some close ups of some of the details:




AND




Anyways, there you have it! That's how you too can paint in Flash!

So until next time, I'll see you all later! (And this was seriously one long blog entry. I think it's my longest one to date! XD )