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Pixeling tutorial - Soft shading on multi detailed pants

You'll need:
* Item idea
* The base
* Adobe photoshop, tablet / any tool you use
* Patience and creativity

Step 1
Open up your base image.
Make sure it is on a separate layer from the background! Then bring in your grey scale palette.


Step 2
Now, if you have a reference image, paste it in there, preferably below the base layer. In this tutorial, I'll be remaking a pants design of mine. You dont have to stick to the reference image 100%, be creative and alter some parts if you feel like it.


Step 3
This step is optional.
Sketch the main shape of the pants on a new layer which you named "sketch" or "scribble" or any other witty thing you came up with. Use a color that will show on the base. Use a 1 px brush for this.


Step 4
To begin blocking in the pants, take the pencil tool, 1 px. Make a new layer and name it to your liking. Then start tracing the edges of the sketch, dont hesitate to rethink some parts. Once you've traced the outlines, fill the area with the paint bucket tool.


Step 5
Bring the sketch layer above the layer you just made. Then make an other new layer and name it "details" etc. With the pencil tool, draw the smallest details. Use a different color from the one you used earlier. Again, be creative, dont worry about making it look different from the sketch or the reference image.


Step 6
Next up are the belts.
Make a new layer below the details layer. press down 'ctrl' and click on the "Full" layers thumbnail. It should select the area on which it is without selecting that layer.

Step 7
Now. On the new layer, fill in the areas where the second biggest details, aka the belts are. Use a third color for this.


Step 8
Unselect, hide the sketch layer and fix any mistakes you can find. (OH HAI~ Dan came on~ XD )


Step 9
STEP OF GREAT IMPORTANCE!
Lock all the layers you made to make the item. If you cant lock them, then use a new layer for shading, I'll explain how to clean it all up later.


Step 10
Selecting the brush.
From the drop down menu, select the 45 px "airbrush Soft Round 50% flow" and resize it to a 1 px brush.


Step 11
A trick for exact shading, set the layer mode of the layer you're working on on 'multiply' to mark down the crotch and the gap between the feet.


Step 12
With the second darkest color, trace the crotch line and separate the two feet at the bottom.


Step 13
Now, set the layer style back to 'Normal'.


Step 14
With the same color, trace the outlines of the pants, even at the belts.


Step 15
Select a shade of grey that lies somewhere between the main and the second darkest color.


Step 16
Use the previously selected color to do the first shading. Be careful by placing the shades. Keep the overall light source in mind. Add folds to some parts of the pants if they are needed.


Step 17
Now, with the second darkest color again, add more shadows to the points furthest away from the light source.


Step 18
I only use the darkest color very little. Just to make it all more life-like. Make the crotch stand out more as well as the gap between the two feet.


Step 19
Start highlighting on a new layer.This will allow you to select it's opacity if you happen to make it too bright. Use the second lightest color. Fill in the highlights smoothly.


Step 20
With the same color, add more detailed highlights. (If you want to that is... )


Step 21
Cleaning up what went over the item outlines:
Hold down 'ctrl' again and click on the "Full" layers' thumbnail once again, then inverse the selection and with either 'cut' or 'delete', get rid of the mess that went over the lines. It's as simple as that.


Step 22
Shade the smallest details.


Step 23
Going for the belts now.
Fill the belts/straps layer with the main color, replacing the dark color it had before.


Step 24
Shading continues just like we shaded the main part of the pants.


Step 25
It all looks rather like... nothing really... So, add colors!
From the drop down menu, select 'Gradient Map...' and select the gradient you wish. I'm taking black. For further instructions on gradient map coloring look at the other tutorial. (Tutorial1: Gradient map - Recolouring a grey scale image By: Tea)


Step 26
As you can see, the Gradient Map went all over the place. We need to clean up.


Step 27
With the same movements as you did at step 21, limit the area the gradient map applies to. The black area you can see on it's thumbnail is the area where it can not get on to.


Step 28
There is an other way to limit the Gradient map.
Make a new gradient map for the straps. Place it over the straps layer and then group the two layers by pressing 'ctrl'+'G'.


Step 29
And now, you can see what's what clearly.
You can change the colors of each layer as you wish. You can even make them rainbow colored with the right technique.