“I wanted to end up with

a warm painting, as well

as a painting that looks
and feels like a piece
of art, rather than a
manipulated or distorted
photograph.”

We are pleased to present an exclusive article on the making of

Jason Seiler’s Aretha Franklin caricature. Jason takes us step-by-step
through his painting process in Photoshop, from sketch to final piece,
and we will also be welcoming him back to 2DArtst later this year for
an interview – that’ll be a treat for sure, as his portfolio contains some
of the most stunningly painted caricatures you could hope to find!
Aretha Franklin Making Of

Created In:
Photoshop

Introduction
These are the steps I took while painting my
recent caricature, ‘Aretha Franklin’. The sketch
was drawn in Photoshop (Fig.00), using a small
round brush. For the painting I used Photoshop
CS and a Wacom Cintiq; the size of the final
painting is 13 inches wide by 14.5 inches high,
at 300 dpi resolution.

Step 1
After I finished my sketch, I chose Select All,
copied that layer and pasted another copy of the
sketch above the background layer, one above
the other. I then switched to my background
layer, hit Select All again and deleted the sketch
from the background layer. I then selected Layer
2, which had the sketch on it, and set that layer
to Multiply.

“I rarely start with the same The brush I started with was a size 13 round below the Flow Jitter was turned off. These

colours twice” brush (Fig.01a – 01b). I made sure that Other settings gave me the control that I prefer. I
Dynamics was turned on and that the Opacity usually paint with my Opacity set to 85-90% and
I painted in a flesh tone directly under the Jitter was at 0%; Control was set to Pen my Flow set to 100%, although this sometimes
sketch layer so as not to lose my sketch lines. Pressure, Flow Jitter set to 0%, and the Control differs depending on effect.

I made sure that Shape Dynamics was turned

off. The flesh colour I chose to use in RGB
Mode was R: 190, G: 124, B: 104. I don’t always
start with this colour. In fact, I rarely start with
the same colours twice because each subject I
paint presents a new mood or feeling that I want
to capture.

My photo reference had unnatural lighting and

felt too pink. I knew from looking at my reference
that I wanted to go in a different direction; I
wanted to end up with a warm painting, as well
as a painting that looks and feels like a piece
of art, rather than a manipulated or distorted
photograph. So I chose a violet red colour (R:

www.2dartistmag.com page 107 Issue 043 July 2009

 Making Of Aretha Franklin
98, G: 17, B: 25) that I essentially filled the
background with. I didn’t want any whites in my
painting just yet. Because I tend to paint from
dark to light, the background here was used as
a foundation to build from.

I created a palette layer at this point (Fig.01c).

It’s important to create a colour palette that
has harmony. My main priority was getting the
values right and I knew that if I could succeed
in that, I could do just about anything with
the colour. When I paint, I usually create a
variation of red, yellow, and blue. With these
three colours most colours can be created.
You’ll notice that in this painting my colours are
very warm: reds, oranges, browns, violets, and
greens.

To create my palette, I made a new layer that

would remain on top of all the layers from this
point on. This layer was used as my ‘palette
layer’. I selected my Eyedropper tool and picked
a red-brown colour from my background. I then
clicked my colour picker and chose a few more
reds based off the red-brown that I chose, and
then I created a small grouping of flesh-like reds

and browns. I did this by squinting my eyes while looking at my photo

reference, and then choosing colour according to the values I saw while
squinting my eyes. When I looked at my photo reference through squinted
eyes, I saw reds, greens, violets, and blues, but I knew that I wanted a
warmer painting for my final. So I create those colours and mixed my
red-brown colour into all of them, creating harmony. This technique was
similar to the ‘pigment soup’ technique that I sometimes use when painting
with oils.

“Think of it as if you are sculpting,

chipping away small pieces”
Step 2
What I typically do at this stage is use my Eyedropper tool to select the
colour I’ve created for the background, and then use that colour to begin
my block-in (Fig.02a – 02b). At this stage of the painting, I was mostly
concerned about painting the correct values. It was also important, at this
stage, to not zoom in too close. I chose to paint from a distance and used
large brushes. This way I could focus on capturing shape and values, and
merely suggest detail.

www.2dartistmag.com page 108 Issue 043 July 2009

Aretha Franklin Making Of

Next, I created a new layer on top of the other and values in your portrait, so it’s important to there. This stage is simply for me to create a
layers and began to slowly paint over my work back and forth between the portrait and balanced foundation for my block-in. Steps one
sketch lines. By this point I’d created enough background while blocking in. Think of it as if and two take five to ten minutes – at most – to
form and structure that I no longer needed my you are sculpting, chipping away small pieces complete.
sketch lines. I also began to block in a bit of until the form appears.
the background as well. The background was Step 3
important to establish early on in the painting; it I usually save my bright highlights and whites I created another layer that would go directly
had to complement the portrait. The colours and for later on in the painting and start first by under my “palette layer” but would remain on
values of the background will affect the colours establishing my darks and working lighter from top of all the other layers. I began to paint on top

www.2dartistmag.com page 109 Issue 043 July 2009

 Making Of Aretha Franklin
of my block-in; everything up until this point was
used as a guide for me to follow as I built up
layers of colour.

Next, I needed to establish my darkest darks

and block those in. There was no need to zoom
in; I worked at a distance and continued to use a
large round brush. My technique when painting
digitally is very similar to how I would paint
traditionally with oils: start with bigger brushes,
blocking in the largest shapes of darkest colour
and value; as the painting progresses, I use
smaller and smaller brushes. Also, I never
stay in one area for too long. Painting from a
distance with larger brushes helps you cover
more ground in less time.

I established my darkest darks and at this point

began to paint lighter values on her face and
chest (Fig.03). I also started adding lighter,
almost pure white value on her clothing. Notice

that I have not yet added any such values to her

face, as I saved those highlights and reflective
lights for later on. It’s easy to become impatient
and want to paint in highlights right way, but it’s
better to not get distracted by them and wait.

The reason I painted the almost white values on

her clothing was so that I could later compare
the lighter values in her face to the values on
her clothing. I knew that there should not be any
area on her face that shared values as white as
those which exist on her clothing.

Step 4
As I continued to block in the painting, I found
myself unsettled with the composition. This is
one of the great things about painting digitally.
With the Crop tool, I selected the entire canvas
and then added a bit more to the bottom, giving
Aretha additional girth (Fig.04).

Step 5
As the painting developed I continued with the
same approach, squinting my eyes and mixing

www.2dartistmag.com page 110 Issue 043 July 2009

Aretha Franklin Making Of
colour to match the value and temperature that I
desired for the piece. Still using a round brush, I
began to zoom in to paint details. I then started
to refine the mouth, eyes, nose, ears, and hair.
You can start to see a softer transition on edges
between values (Fig.05).

Step 6
I removed the palette at this stage because I
had enough colours in my painting to work with.
If I needed to change the value or saturation
of a colour that I already had, I simply clicked
on the colour picker and mixed or adjusted my
colour there. Not much here has changed since
Step 5 (Fig.06). was the brush I used to finish the painting, with and right cheek, and I noticed that I could
the exception of a soft round that I used for hair. exaggerate her mouth a bit more, so I painted
I began to use my favourite Photoshop brush, away the mouth and re-painted a new mouth
#24 (follow the brush settings mentioned in Step Step 7 lower on her face. This added more space
1). Brush #24’s marks and strokes feel more like I began to focus my attention on Aretha’s face between her nose and mouth, which is what I
a natural paint brush and I use it as such. This (Fig.07). Adjustments were made to her nose wanted. I also extended her mouth and bottom
lip out a bit further, which enhanced both the
likeness as well as humour. I continued to soften
edges, adjust values and introduce additional
lighter values to her face and clothing. I also
began to soften her chest and hair.

“Squint your eyes for value, and

open your eyes to see the colour”

Step 8
At this stage I freely zoomed in and out –
zooming in for details, zooming out to have a
look from a distance. It was important to often
step back from the painting. With this painting
it was not my intention to copy the colour I saw
in my references. Instead, I wanted to focus on
values and colour temperature. Squint your eyes
for value, and open your eyes to see the colour.

I basically finished the face at this stage, and

started to detail her chest and clothing (Fig.08).

Step 9
The painting was all but finished in this final
step, with the exception of the hair and minor
details of clothing and composition. For the
hair, I created a new layer. This way, if I needed

www.2dartistmag.com page 111 Issue 043 July 2009

 Making Of Aretha Franklin
to erase a section of hair that didn’t feel right,
it didn’t ruin the rest of the painting. I painted
the large mass of value and shape that I saw
while squinting my eyes. I then blocked in the
basic form or design of the hair a little bit darker
than it needed to be. This way, when I painted
smaller hairs on top, in a lighter value, it gave
the illusion of depth. To add to this illusion, I
also changed the size of my brush to differ the
widths of the hairs. I used a Soft Round brush
with a tapered point to paint smaller hairs. Keep
it simple: study what hair does and then make it
more interesting.

My goal with this painting was that it would feel

more like a traditionally painted piece, rather
than a digitally painted image. To get a more
traditional look for the piece, I selected some
texture from one of my oil paintings and dragged
it on top of my painting. In my layers window,
I selected Hard Light and set it to 47%. This
effect changed my colours slightly from the
previous step. Truthfully, this was something
I’ve never done before; I enjoyed the look I was
getting and decided to keep it. Don’t be afraid
to experiment with some of the tools to see
what they can do, but be careful to not abuse
the computer. I feel that digital paintings look best when they’re not so
obviously digitally created. That’s my preference anyway.

The painting was almost finished here and I felt once more that the
composition could be better. So I selected my Crop tool and cropped a bit
off the right side of the painting. For the final finishing touch, I wanted to
add some noise and additional texture to the painting, so I selected a mid-
tone grey, created a new layer and filled that layer with grey, making sure
this layer was on the very top. I then selected Noise in the Filter menu and
chose Add Noise. When using this tool you’ll need to adjust the settings
until they look good to you. I then selected Blur More in the Blur settings.
I did this to soften the texture of the noise a bit. And finally, I changed my
layer to Soft Light and brought the Opacity down to about 17% (Fig.09).

Final Thoughts
Well, that’s it. Remember to have fun. Sketch, draw and paint from life as
much as you can. Keep it simple. If you look at the design of my portrait
you can see that my shapes and forms are basic and simple. When I
combine strong values and colour to my basic design, the final appears
more complicated than it really is.

www.2dartistmag.com page 112 Issue 043 July 2009

Jason Seiler
For more from this artist visit:
http://www.jasonseiler.com
Or contact them at:
[email protected]
 Interviews
Jason Seiler

Articles
Sketchbook of Julia Udalova
Concept Art, Digital & Matte Painting Magazine
Massive Black: Interview
Issue 046 October 2009 with Jason Manley
Interview
Jason Seiler
Tutorials
Articles
Massive Black: Interview with Jason Manley
Using 3D as a Base for 2D
Sketchbook of Julia (Falinor) Udalova Painting:
The Gallery Part 4 by Carlos Cabrera
Hyung Jun Kim & Alex Broeckel,
plus more! Custom Brushes
Part 3 - Fur and Skin Effects
by Kirsi Salonen
Dynamic Characters
Part 4: Dynamic &
Exaggerated Poses
by Mark McDonnell
Beginner’s Guide to Digital
• FREE brushes Painting
• FREE base image Part 4 by Nykolai Aleksander

Dynamic and Exaggerated Poses

Mark McDonnell teaches us a thing or two about dynamic and exaggerated poses
for our character concepts in part four of our Dynamic Characters tutorial series
Galleries
another 10 of the best Images
Fur and Skin Effects Custom Brushes
Kirsi Salonen shows us how to make customized fur and hair brushes, as well as from around the world.
taking us through the process of making some interesting skin brushes

Beginner’s Guide to Digital Painting

Nykolai Aleksander takes us through coloring from grayscale, blending methods,
and incorporating photos into our paintings, in chapter four of the series
Making Of’s
Imp Vs Angel-Warrior
Sci-Fi City Environment
Carlos Cabrera infuses his Google SketchUp scene with some 80’s sci-fi movie by Oleg Matsokin
nostalgia in the latest tutorial of our Using 3D as a Base for 2D Painting series

3DTotal presents the new issue of 2dartist

magazine: a downloadable monthly magazine for
concept art, digital & matte painting for only (approx $3.78 - €2.93) £2.75
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