Watercolor Paper Doll: Creating Templates in Photoshop

Last week, I shared my edited watercolor paper doll. This week, I have some quick tips about creating templates and drawing outfits for my doll.

As with so many projects, there's more than one way to do this. Some artists will cut their doll out and trace it, then draw more outfits. That also leaves the doll read to go onto a layout in the pre-digital age. It's a great idea, very accessible, and low tech. But it's not for me. I'm kind of garbage at cutting things out! So instead, I'll use the tools I have which includes Photoshop, a printer, and a tracing table.

To begin, I open the watercolor file. That file is set to 600 dpi which means that image is twice the size of my original. If you want an exact-sized scan, make sure to scan it at 300 dpi. I copy my 600 dpi image and paste it into a new file that's set to 300 dpi.

Sounds like a lot of unnecessary files... It is, but I'm a big fan of redundancy and non-destructive processes so each doll has at least two files.

Here's the doll, at 300 dpi, on a transparent layer. At this point, I could just lower the opacity, drag out two copies so that there are three across the page, and print this. Really, though, I only need the outline. You should be able to do this in just about any digital design software (except Procreate and I'll explain why).

In Photoshop, I went to the fx button at the bottom of my layers panel and gave my image a white color overlay. Then, I gave it a 2pt black stroke on the outside of the image, create an outlined silhouette.

But here's where I forgot a step!

How can I draw leggings, pants, etc, without the doll's LEGS?! I forgot to take out the base. I went back in and made a duplicate layer, erased the base around the legs, and added the color layer and stroke. Combined, those two layers give me a template that has both the legs (duh) and the base. I also noticed after the fact that the neckline of the base suit and the shape of the shoes would be helpful. I might further edit the template. Maybe trying to make this easier made it more difficult! 

A note about Procreate: It doesn't have a good option for creating an outline like this. If I wanted to do this in Procreate, I'd probably lock the alpha and paint over it with a light grey, print that out and use it to trace. It's not ideal. I strongly recommend getting something other than just Procreate - it's GREAT for digital drawing and coloring and I LOVE it, but it's not designed for editing. Affinity has an older app available for iPad and PC/Mac that would work. Clip Studio Paint is pretty robust, too, so that might be an option. My workflow is usually paper to scanner to Photoshop on my PC, then iPad for Procreate, then back to Photoshop on my PC for edited, tabs, and layout. Not everyone has two devices. Let me know if I should look into iPad exclusive apps! 

Here's the edited template including legs.

I rotated my image, copied it twice, and now I have three templates. Next, I'll print these out and use a light table to trace them onto drawing paper. Again, I like to make things in drafts or iterations. I'll scribble my outfits on sketchbook paper then trace them onto watercolor paper. You could also lower the opacity and print a lighter version then draw directly on the copy paper. OR you could make your stroke a color, like cyan, print that and draw directly on the paper. There are lots and lots of ways to do this. If you have a different way, I'd love to see that, too! 

One more note about printing: make sure you print at 100%! Any scaling and it won't fit the original doll OR the Photoshop file! 

Now that I have a template an a doll, it's time to draw!  

Watercolor Paper Doll: Photoshop Edits

Last week, I shared a watercolor paper doll, or, as I like to think about it, an exercise in patience and perseverance! It was frustrating!! But I liked the final watercolor enough to scan it in and edit it, with the intention of painting a little wardrobe.

First things first, I trimmed my paper. I have two small scanners and my 9x12 paper just didn't fit. So I trimmed the doll off, kept the remainder of the paper, and scanned the doll. That's the beauty of digitally editing! I can create any layout I want and it doesn't have to be perfect on the paper! 

I tried scanning it at 300 dpi on my all-in-one printer. It was ok but not a great scan. I have a small Epson scanner that scans a bit better so I tried that. And it was still a little weird. Then I remembered a tip I got from Jenny ages ago: sometimes placing a blue/cyan paper on the scanner helps. And it did!  

Here's the "before" scan. The colors are very ho-hum, a bit yellow, and a bit too light. The only edited I did here was a bit of cropping.

And the same image but this time it was scanned with a bright blue paper behind it. This image is also cropped.

Why does this work? I don't know. Maybe there are some color theory experts out there who understand more than I do and can explain it. For me, it's magic and I'll keep doing it! 

My image is scanned, with blue paper, at 600 dpi. I know from my years of paper doll editing experience that EVERY doll needs some editing. I try to do all of that editing at 600 dpi, then adjust it to 330 dpi for printing. That way, any manipulation that looks lower-resolution or blurry or whatever becomes crisp again when it's shrunk down. Hopefully that makes sense! Basically, shrinking art makes it sharp.

 Feel free to click on this image to see it larger! 

Here's the doll in Photoshop. You can see the bright blue paper and a few layers. I try to keep the original scan on the bottom layer (Layer 0 in this image) and work with a copy above it (Layer 0 copy). I added a guideline just to straighten out the scan. 

There are several ways to extract art from the background. You can use selection tools like the magic wand, or trace around it with the pen tool and create a selection. My preferred method can be a bit tedious but it's what works best for me: a layer mask.

First, I add what I call a high contrast layer under the layer that has a mask. I like a magenta color. Then, I add the mask to the layer (Layer 0 copy in this image) and use the brush tool to draw around the image. I have a pen display and draw directly on that.

The doll and my magenta background. Not pictured is the actual mask because I forgot to take a picture of it! Anyway, I draw on the mask layer with a black brush over the white areas that I want to delete. Once I'm happy with my mask, I apply it to the layer and it deletes the areas where I painted black. I like using the mask because it's non-destructive. If I accidentally draw over something in black that I want to keep, just switch to white and paint over the mask again, restoring it. 

I can write up more about masks and how I use them if anyone is interested in that. I think it's a great tool and I use it ALL the time! 

After the art is extracted, I noticed a few things. First, the hair is weird. Second, the coloring is still a bit off. And third, I don't like some of the hard edges of the watercolor painting. The image on my screen is much larger than the painting - that was about 7 inches high which, for me, feels teeny tiny! 

I used the spot healing brush to smooth out some of the color transitions and clean up some of the dust, etc, that got onto the painting. Then, I went into the levels panel and tweaked the color just a bit. I wanted it to be just a little lighter. I made a note of what I did on the layer so that I can adjust the clothing scans later on. And finally, I copied the left side of the hair (which I like), flipped it horizontally, and placed it on the right side where I blended it in until I was happy.
 

Before is on the right and after is on the left because I clearly did not think this through when I took the screenshot....

And that's it. Probably the only other thing I might do at this point is edit the base. I'm not overly concerned about it at this stage.  

Now that I'm happy with the doll, it's time to start on a wardrobe!