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Click here to see the hidden message (It might contain spoilers)
This is where it starts to get tricky, as this is where you start with the nitty gritty detail. I've found it's best to start off with the eyes. Erasing the fine black lines you've just drawn at the bridge of the nose, and above the eyes, and replacing them, by using the Brush brush (I may just call that Bb from now on) and a shade of brown of your choice for the eyebrows. Next, you colour in around the eyes. To do this, select the colour picker (the tool found under the paint filler, which looks like a solution drop) and hover it over the flesh colour you've chosen. Go to the edit colour section and use the slider to get a slightly darker shade. You don't have to move it too much, only a few point down should suffice. Paint over the black and then paint in the eyeball with with. Next, paint in the iris. Some members here may remember me asking in the chat box about the colour of Anakin's eyes - this was why! If you choose to do this, and other pictures, you may have difficulty, sometimes, in finding out the proper eye colour. Using the Bb, gently draw little circles (oval shape doesn't help you this time) until you're happy, and then change to black and press and hold the Bb in the spot you want the pupil to be. He's looking slightly off to the side, so put it the iris and pupil slightly to the right.
Then change your brush to the oil brush, use that same darker flesh shade to colour in the left side of his face. You'll notice that, in the beginning, the paint comes down thinly and then more thickly - this is only a good thing, as it's a great help of providing creases and shadows - as seen under his eye and on his cheek on the other side. Seperate his scar with the brush to conform to his canonical appearance and follow the brush down across his jawline, dipping upwards for his butt-chin.
Next is the nose and switch back to Bb - as you can't really have an oily nose. Use the slider to provide a darker still shade to provide the outline of one side and the bottom curves. Then, lighten it by a large degree to provide the actual nose. Switch to black to provide the nostrils, and earhole to the left. Here comes the mouth. This is quite tricky, as you have to get not one shade right, but three. Rub out the black mouth. Use the Curve shape (in black) - found next to the Line shape - to provide the gaping, gormless look that he affects so well in this picture. Draw a straight line, and then do nothing. This is because you can curve the line to provide a slight smile, but if you press too soon it ends up far too wonky. To do this, click and hold on where you want the lowest part of the curve to be, then drag it downwards. Once you're happy with the result (it should only be a slight curve anyway) let go. This is the delicate bit, as you need to click on the right place (just where your curser is resting, just below the line) or it can become wider. Then you'll see the movement box around it, and if you want you can move it around to the right place. You may find that the line is a tad too wide, so before you click out of it, you can change the width in the size panel. then go to the brush tab and, in black, select each of the calligraphy brushes in turn. These are slanted lines that you can put to either side of the grin, to provide those slight creases you see in the original photo. Be see to only click them lightly, as to hold it down would give it a full black line, and with a brief click, it merely gives the hint of a line. You want the hint.
Then there's the lips. This is where the three shades come in. Stick with a basic light pink, then progress darker the further left you get. With the pink, using Bb, provide the full lower lip. Progress to the slightly darker red to provide that darker left corner, and then the darker still red for the very corner. For the top, I chose a darker shade of flesh, though I changed that later, I believe. It would be perhaps best to use the middle red.
For the navel, select a different shade of flesh (yes, another one!) to provide the right 'hill' as well as that darker shadow on his right cheek. And then use yet another flesh shade for his other ear. You may want to not make the mistake I made and place it higher.
Lastly (I hope), Anakin is frowning, so using that same shade, use Bb to provide to upside down triangles. Use the smallest oil brush to soften the effect for good measure.
Hopefully, your Anakin should be starting to look slightly human. Once you've broached that subject, you should be feeling a bit more comfortable and confident.
Next is the hair:
Click here to see the hidden message (It might contain spoilers)
Pick the background colour and then paint away using Bb the fluff, to make it look a lot more leaner. Then, using a variety of shades of the two browns you've selected, use the oil brush to separate the hair into particular strands. Be sure to start with size 1, and start the stroke at the 'end' of his hair, as this gives a better overall appearance. At the top, at the divider of the two shades, use the darker to creep into the lighter area, and pull the brush back into the darker area. Then choose a slightly lighter shade to affect the hair parting. It's best, on the darker side, to leave it with one colour, though do the same affect with the oil brush and have little flyaway strands to make it appear less blocky.
Do be sure to save your work at regular intervals, and even make multiple copies, if you wish to do something bold, and want to compare earlier and later work. I should perhaps have written that earlier. Oops...
The good news is, once you've done the face and hair, for this particular photo at least, the hardest bit is over! For Clothes are a lot easer, and amount to simple defining the edges of objects, and then providing proper shading.
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I am a Star Wars fan. That doesn't mean that I hate or love Jar Jar. That doesn't mean I hate or love Lucas, or agree or disagree 100% with him. That doesn't mean I prefer the PT over the OT, or vice versa. That doesn't mean I hate the EU, or even love all of it. These are not prerequisites. Being a man is not a prerequisite. Being a geek is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite is that I love something about Star Wars. I am a Star Wars fan.
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. I've resorted to opening normal photos in paint, erasing the previous picture so that it's a white page, and then doing my own drawing - which is fine, just very annoying because I can't remember how to do it properly!
) and Bb, fill in the bulk of the arm until you're happy with the outcome, and then use the colour edit slider to find a darker shade for the shadow. As I've said, this is where the oil brush really comes in handy, as several of those dark areas were done in a single stroke. I can really give no more advice, as this is a point of personal preference - of where you want to put the shadows. Though I do point out that arm crooks and hems as well as biceps are the main offenders for creating shadows.
Thanks, Reep!
. However, congratulations! And I look forward to seeing it!