Digital Painting Color Maps - Game Character Creation with Blender and Unity - page 151

Maximizing Layers
Layers are another common element of digital
painting programs. Again, it is outside the scope
of this topic to list all the features available in each
program, but understanding some features com-
mon among the programs can make you a better
digital painter.
Layers treat parts of a composition as though
they were different images or objects. By putting
different parts of a digital painting on different lay-
ers, you can manage them much more easily than
you could if they were all on one layer. When paint-
ing the zombie, for example, you can put blood on
one layer and the rest of the features on another so
you can later change either layer.
Beyond this basic functionality, layers have
much more to offer. Each layer in a digital painting
program has a blending mode that dictates how it
interacts with layers below it. Many of these settings make the layer transparent and have
it affect the colors of layers below it. Experiment with these features and see what works
best in your compositions.
Another important element of layer management is the ability to move and copy lay-
ers. As stated earlier in the chapter, symmetrical details can be copied and pasted else-
where in your painting. When you create your color maps, this approach can save you a
lot of time and work.

Figure 6.21
A regular transpar-
ent brush vs. a soft
transparent brush

Creating Stencils with Lasso Tools
Finally, you can eliminate a lot of errors and create sharper lines in some objects by using
selection tools as stencils (Figure 6.22). Many programs with digital painting features also
have features for photo manipulation. A common part of photo manipulation programs
is their ability to select a part of the image with a marquee or lasso tool.
These tools range from geometrically shaped selectors to forms that can be sketched
freely around a selection. These tools can be useful to digital painters who wish to create
neat lines in their paintings. By blocking off your work area, you can even create straight
lines as though you were drafting. For example, ArtRage, a program that realistically
simulates real-world media, has a ruler that you can position, rotate, and trace on to cre-
ate precision lines (Figure 6.23).