Painting Realistic 3D Skin Textures in Photoshop: Hands
Hand-painting realistic skin textures is a topic that many artists shy away from, so much so that the first things they reach for are photographs to project onto their model. While many times this is a viable solution, hand-painting these textures is really very simple if you know where to begin. This tutorial covers the process of painting realistic skin textures for a hand asset starting from the inside and working out. Software required: Photoshop CC v14.1.
What you'll learn
Hand painting realistic skin textures is a topic that many artists shy away from, so much so that the first things they reach for are photographs to project onto their model. While many times this is a viable solution, hand-painting these textures is really very simple if you know where to begin. This tutorial covers the process of painting realistic skin textures for a hand asset starting from the inside and working out. We will begin by focusing on the bump map for our hand, which will allow us to add additional surface details that may influence our diffuse textures. From here, we will get started painting subdermal and epidermal layers of tissue. After finishing off the diffuse color, we will create a specular map that will control how highlights react to the various surfaces of our skin. While painting all three maps, we will learn how to fully utilize Photoshop's 3D toolset as part of our texturing process. After completing this training, you will have learned a workflow that will allow you to paint realistic-looking skin texture on the hands of your models. Software required: Photoshop CC v14.1.
Table of contents
- Setting up Our Photoshop File 13m
- Beginning the Bump Map for Our Hand 11m
- Adding Tiny Cracks to the Surface of Our Hand 11m
- Adding Directional Wrinkles and Creases to the Bump Map 11m
- Adding Fingerprints to the Bump Map 10m
- Painting a Subdermal Base 14m
- Detailing the Subdermal Base 12m
- Beginning to Reveal the Subdermal Base 11m
- Revealing the Subdermal Base Around the Fingers 12m
- Detailing the Epidermal Layer of Skin 12m
- Painting the Diffuse for the Fingernails 13m
- Painting the Bump for the Fingernails 8m
- Setting up a Specular Map 12m
- Final Edits and Saving Maps 10m
About the author
Eddie began teaching creative professionals over ten years ago for Digital Tutors. In 2014 Digital Tutors was acquired by Pluralsight and he continued his focus on creating high quality training for artists in both the film and games industries. With a background in graphic design and illustration Eddie has always been focused on visual appeal. This can be seen through his courses in which he shares secrets for achieving production level quality for concept art, illustrations, textures, mater... more