In this tutorial we will learn some quick Photoshop tricks to add texture to a basic paint job. I will take you, starting from the painted texture, each step of the way to the final texture, previewing each step on the model as we go.

This is the untextured model, made by Adam deGrandis, that we plan to use these texturing tricks on. In the above shot, the model is lit so we can get an idea of the form. As we work on the texture, we will make sure the model is unlit, so that we can work more precisely.






I've done a quick rough paint job on him. You can see I worked a little more on the face, but the overall model is just blocked out for color/brightness contrast. Let's have a look:

Alright, now in the .psd file, I have several layers separating the contrasting colors and so forth. I want to collapse this and refine the paint a little bit before we start our fun tricks.

I am going to make a new layer, and select Image/Apply Image. This will rasterize our file to that layer without actually collapsing the original layers. I will not cover texture painting techniques in this tutorial, as it is already covered in the Diffuse Texture Painting Tutorial. (when it is up) So I've worked in the paint a bit, like so:







Now we want to quickly iterate in some details. We won't be painting them directly, because we want to be able to tweak and experiment without wasting much time. So the first thing we are going to try is a dark gradient on the limbs to build more contrast and visual interest. We're also going to apply this to the neck to try to pop the face forward a little more. So we'll make a new layer filled with black. Make a selection on the arms and legs and apply black to white gradients so that the feet and hands are black, and the legs/arms fade from black at the hands/feet joint. We're going to use a Darken layer, so the lighter the value the less opaque it will be. This is what our layer should look like before we set the blend mode to Darken:
We're also going to use this on the neck and lower back. We'll mask off the the other areas like this:

Finally, let's set the blend mode to "Darken" and lower the layer opacity. This is what we end up with:


We can push this more if we want since it is a different layer, but we've barely scratched the surface, so let's get to the next step.




At this point, we want to play with our skin tones to deaden this zombie up a bit. Instead of simply lowering the saturation, let's use a little more control and make a Curves layer. We want to push the red a little more in the lighter areas. I've displayed my settings for each Channel, have a look:



We're going to mask off areas that we don't want the Curves layer to affect. In this case, we don't want the Curves layer to affect our darker purple around the spine, feet, hands, mouth and eyes.
Let's check it out:




Next we're going to add a levels layer to increase the values range. We don't want to go too far, or our lightest value will be white. As you can see, I've left the white marker with a bit of room above the highest point on the histogram.
Nothing huge, but a little brighter, a little more contrast:


OK, now we're going to paint some scale like patterns on a new layer. It might look something like this:
Now create a Stroke layer style, we're going to set the size to one pixel on the outside position. There's a lot of leeway on what settings to use, depending on what we intend to accomplish. In this case we'll use Soft Light for the blend mode at 100% Opacity, choosing an orange/red color.

Now we'll lower the fill and opacity until it sinks into the painted texture, like this:

Changing the Fill will only affect the rasterized portion (the painted blue areas), not the layer styles. Opacity will affect both the rasterized portion of the layer and the layer styles. Knowing this, we can now have a lot of fun. Let's have a look at the model:



Now we're going to paint in some bumps and variations in his skin. This could be done the same as our previous layer, but I am going to show you another way to accomplish this. Paint your desired areas in white and set the blend mode to darken, the white rasterized areas will not show, only your layer styles. I have changed the blend mode back to normal so you can see what I mean:

Now we'll set the blend mode to darken, and add a Bevel and Emboss layer style. Bevel and Emboss can be a pretty nasty looking effect, so we want to be careful to set it up right. Firstly, we want to change the colors to something that matches our current scheme. Make sure the light direction is correct, this may take multiple layers if the UVWs are mirrored or rotated. Once we have our colors and light info correct, we're going to cull this layer back with low opacity. We're adding variation to the texture, but we really don't want to see the "classic bevel and emboss" now do we? (just incase you didn't know... no, we don't.)





Alright! Now let's get some rot on this zombie! We're going to paint on a new layer with a soft brush and use the erase tool to get some interesting patterns.

We'll set up this layer with a Stroke layer style, like so:

We'll set the blend mode to darken and lower the opacity until the effect is worked into the texture. Let's have a look:





Great, now let's add some spots. It'll be good for him, whether he likes it or not, it will add character.

So we've painted the spots in with blue, now let's repeat what we've learned with the layer style by adding a darker blue outline with either a stroke or outer glow effect. Play with the Blend Mode, Fill, and Opacity, until we've worked it into the texture and end up with something we're happy with.


Now we'll just paint some veins in on a new layer and lower the opacity until it's been worked in to our satisfaction.




Now we'll repeat the stroke trick that we've learned with a blue/teal pattern on the head:

Let's play with the opacity until we've worked it in:




OK, now we're going to paint in some colors intended for lighting to pump the values:

For a lighting layer, you want to select colors above or below middle gray, depending on what you intend to accomplish. Here we've chosen below middle gray purple to darken and colorize our crevices, folds, or seams. An above middle gray yellow is our choice for brightening and colorizing areas we want to push. We can set the blend mode to Soft Light, and play with the opacity until we're happy.


Now on a new layer, we're going to paint in some fleshy under lighting. Before we do any tweaking it might look like this:

Now we'll set the blend mode to color dodge, and add a reddish hue/saturation layer that affects only this layer. In order to do that: Create a Hue/Saturation layer, alt+click on the line between the Hue/Saturation layer and our Underlight layer. The Hue/Saturation layer will let us know that it only affects that layer by being indented on the layer stack and an arrow icon pointing down. This is an easy way to change colors without repainting, and since it is a sublayer, it can be changed or removed at any time without damaging our original layer.

Now let's have a look at our textured model in Showtool:

We can now call this texture done. Without wasting much time at all, we added a great deal of detail, character, and visual interest. I would encourage you to take the time to play around with your own texture effects using layer styles. An afternoon of tinkering could improve your speed and process dramatically. It's well worth the effort!

Matched with a proper approach to lighting, our texture can be effective in bringing this character to life.
Continue on to the Basic Game Lighting Tutorial.