trace a photo

S

S10n

Guest
Hi guys,

I'm trying to find any guide that explain how to trace correctly a photo to make a realistic paint, how to draw the lines, where to use dot lines or shadows etc etc.

I'm currently using a Huion A3 light table sucessfully but when I transfer the image to the canvas in some parts
it is not very clear and I need to improvise of course affecting the overall appeareance, the objective is to make the photo as accurate as possible!
 
You can make it mono tone or greyscale and just bring the opacity way down and print.
If you still need to trace just don't bring the opacity as far down.

You can also apply filters to drop greyscale values under a certain point so all but strong shading is dropped.

In any case this will make strong lines more obvious.
 
Thanks!, you mean in Photoshop right? Because the method I'm using is convert the image to black and white, then use gaussian blur to show the outline and then I trace with the light table using a graphite HB2
 
Yeah or gimp or whatever.

I just do the greyscale and drop values bc it keeps it accurate but only shows heavy shadows.

If I do it that way at all. I usually just make a stencil that includes some of the curve shapes to use as a freeshield and trace on a few registration points and go to town.
 
if you want a trace that can be erased you will want 2 prints 1 black and white 1 colored version use the black and white one for you trace with graphite paper start with the easy to follow shapes like a nose or lips and progress with tracing the darkest shapes followed by the next shades you can find end with the details you see
keep the b/w print next to your colored print once you start painting and use it as a guide for the basic painting
 
Another way to do it is have 2 pictures printed the size of the painting your doing(most print shops will print them for a few dollars each) and use one as a stencil to get your reference marks right and the other as a reference for painting
 
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