Commando
06-12-2007, 02:34 AM
This is my latest tutorial. Super easy skulls. Painting skulls is ten times easier than it looks. It's mostly just freehand masking.
http://www.airbrushtricks.com/images/new%20tutorials/Skulls/skulls%20020.jpg
I started out with a blank panel and then painted some flames for a background. You can check out how to paint flames in my Realistic Flames Tutorial (http://airbrushtricks.com/new/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=28&topic=4.0).
http://www.airbrushtricks.com/images/new%20tutorials/Skulls/skull%20001.jpg
Then I sketched out the basic shape of the skull I wanted.
http://www.airbrushtricks.com/images/new%20tutorials/Skulls/skull%20003.jpg
I cut out the outside outline of the skull and placed it on my background. Then I sprayed the base color of the skull which is obviously white.
http://www.airbrushtricks.com/images/new%20tutorials/Skulls/skull%20005.jpg
After spraying the base color I start to use the cut out parts as freehand masks to create the shadows and lines on the skull. Remember it's these crisp lines that play tricks on the eyes and give the design an illusion of depth.
http://www.airbrushtricks.com/images/new%20tutorials/Skulls/skulls%20001.jpg
After laying down the basic shadows I unmask the skull and do the rest of the detail pretty much freehand.
http://www.airbrushtricks.com/images/new%20tutorials/Skulls/skulls%20002.jpg
http://www.airbrushtricks.com/images/new%20tutorials/Skulls/skulls%20012.jpg
This was a real mellow project for me. I wasn't going for great detail. I just wanted to get the feel of the sequence for the masking and shapes of the skull layout before I started doing any pro level skull work.
Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
http://www.airbrushtricks.com/images/new%20tutorials/Skulls/skulls%20020.jpg
I started out with a blank panel and then painted some flames for a background. You can check out how to paint flames in my Realistic Flames Tutorial (http://airbrushtricks.com/new/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=28&topic=4.0).
http://www.airbrushtricks.com/images/new%20tutorials/Skulls/skull%20001.jpg
Then I sketched out the basic shape of the skull I wanted.
http://www.airbrushtricks.com/images/new%20tutorials/Skulls/skull%20003.jpg
I cut out the outside outline of the skull and placed it on my background. Then I sprayed the base color of the skull which is obviously white.
http://www.airbrushtricks.com/images/new%20tutorials/Skulls/skull%20005.jpg
After spraying the base color I start to use the cut out parts as freehand masks to create the shadows and lines on the skull. Remember it's these crisp lines that play tricks on the eyes and give the design an illusion of depth.
http://www.airbrushtricks.com/images/new%20tutorials/Skulls/skulls%20001.jpg
After laying down the basic shadows I unmask the skull and do the rest of the detail pretty much freehand.
http://www.airbrushtricks.com/images/new%20tutorials/Skulls/skulls%20002.jpg
http://www.airbrushtricks.com/images/new%20tutorials/Skulls/skulls%20012.jpg
This was a real mellow project for me. I wasn't going for great detail. I just wanted to get the feel of the sequence for the masking and shapes of the skull layout before I started doing any pro level skull work.
Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.