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Shinerai — Tutorial: Adding Color With Gradient Maps
Published: 2013-02-08 22:34:11 +0000 UTC; Views: 101078; Favourites: 4400; Downloads: 1581
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DescriptionMy progress image for the Yoi painting seems to have been well received, and I've gotten questions in the past about how I add color to my monochrome images. I tried to find some good Gradient Map tutorials to show other deviants, but I had no luck. So I made one myself.I'm not that great at making tutorials, so I hope it isn't confusing. It's probably not the best for beginners at Photoshop. I hope you enjoy, regardless.
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Comments: 231
You're very welcome! 
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I've been trying to figure out how to do this forever, everything's so clear now! This was really helpful, and I'm definitely trying it out next time I need to color an image digitally. Thank you for making such a great tutorial!
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You're very welcome, beb cx
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Hey, I learned something new today! Rest assured, I'll be using this the next time I do a digital painting! Thank you so much!
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Fantastic! You're very welcome
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Brilliant! I can refer people to this in the future when I try to explain gradient maps, and I'm sure there's something for me to learn in here too. Thanks!
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You're welcome! I had the same issue; I was trying to explain gradient maps haha. and I'm like "forget it, I'll just make a tut for everyone". XD
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This is such a helpful tutorial! I know this might sound like a silly question and I apologies for the noobness of it 
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Thank you for the compliments! I'm glad you found the progress art too c: I typically dont use gradient maps, I usually fiddle with overlay, soft light, color, and multiply layers. But I've been working on a reference sheet for my friend of her character recently and since she's all gradients, I colored her markings in b/w and added the gradients using a map in case my friend wanted me to change the colors in her design. And then I figured I'd just apply that to a painting and voila.
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Heya Shinerai!! I wanted to share with you what I created using your technique/tutorial!
Ice Dragon At Dawn It was my first dragon ever and I'm really happy with how it turned out!!!
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I think it's a great way to color. I am definitely going to give this a go and see! I like the idea of applying this to commissions. Especially, for example, you get the color scheme wrong or off. You can just go back and edit the gradient map instead of having to go in and possibly redraw that section or form with that color you might've missed! So I can see how this is a huge advantage!
Thanks again for sharing this with us =Shinerai !
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Or I suppose I could direct myself to this beautiful walk through of yours [link] too
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Finally, I am so happy right now
Its such a big help and after so long I feel like experimenting again.
Thx so much, soo much much much for this tutorial , hun !!
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You're so welcome beb
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Very useful reference, thanks for sharing it, Shin! C:
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Guh this is PERFECT. If my PC could handle running Photoshop and didn't stagger my cursor around I'd be using it to color my work constantly (I use SAI and it doesn't seen to have a Gradient map to work with).
This is a fantastic tutorial. Tried it out and it was successful. It's simple and man does it save a lot of work. I've always wondered how on earth your images were so flawlessly colored! Great job!
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I'm glad you enjoyed it! I hope you get to try it out some time C:
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Man, if I could figure out why my Photoshop won't calibrate right with my Cintiq (but works just fine in SAI), I'd be doing this technique period. You should definitely do some more tutorials every few weeks or so. They're informative in detail and yet remain simple enough that anyone can tackle them immediately!
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Urg I wish I knew <3 I only have an intuos.
What other kinds of tutorials would you like to see?
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Let's see, you've got one for most of your digital work that I know of. Lineart, texture, color.
How about a few on the traditional side? What goes through your mind when you're producing a sketch for a digital piece and if it differs from those you put on paper? You mentioned when making this piece you had an initial sketch for the image but you focus much more on blocking things in. Is there a certain set of steps that go through your head when doing the piece or how you choose to compose a piece?
Probably less of tutorial material and more just a glimpse of what you focus on as an artist when producing your work.
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Oh hmm, that's very interesting. I have to say that I'm not sure how to make a tutorial on traditional sketching. I usually sketch something completely obscure and then pull the lineart totally out of my ass ;;
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There you go then. Make a tutorial called "How To Pull Lineart Out Of Your Ass". It'll be a hit!
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I've never thought of adding gradients for specific areas. Very cool!!
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I never knew one could do this! OAO
Thank you greatly.
Now I feel like running off to play in photoshop! ^o^
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Thanks for adding this. Gradients are something I always need tips on.
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