Tutorial Painting Transparent Wing

Tutorial Index

For drawing in PI, most of the time I use the paint brush with the following setting on the right.

When I refer to painting in mode this is the indent button on the left image. Once my brush setting is done I click on the mode button. This means that my paint will not be merge onto the canvas. While in mode you could use the eraser next to it to erase some unwanted area you have just paint.

When I refer to edit mode, this is the indent button on the left image. While in edit mode you could click undo to erase previous step.

To choose your texture, you click on texture, the one I did use for the wings in this tutorial is Paper10 from Ulead. You could try different texture too, they will give you different wing texture and effect.

To help you draw the wings if you are not use to it, you may trace over the image the contour and the inside shape of a butterfly wing. You could also trace some dingbat (font) butterfly or some path shape.

First lets open a white RGB canvas, mine was at 427x584 to have a better view when painting. The image on the left have been reduce to 50%.

I set up my paint brush for drawing, The one I did show you at the beginning, and since I use this one a lot once the setting was done I did save it in my easy palette. The only thing I have to do when I want to use it, I just double click on it and change the color or the size I need and that's it, I'm ready to draw.

OK, now that your paint brush is set up. Click on Mode and start drawing your wings. Once this is done click out of mode by clicking on the mode button again.

Check that button from time to time to make sure it is the way you wanted to be, sometime by clicking to many undo's it does get out or in mode.

Save your work as .ufo

Now, click on mode again, once in mode click on texture and click on select texture. I did choose Paper 10 from Ulead, but you could very well choose an other one, and if you do, try to choose one with something similar to the one I choose to get some white area while your painting in texture mode.

Ok, now that your texture is chosen, and you are in mode start painting the inside of one shape, don't paint two shape just one. Once that is done, click out of mode and send that layer back. So this way you will have your drawing on top.

Next, click on mode again, and paint a second shape, click out of mode and send that layer to back.

Repeat this step until all the shape inside of the wing have been paint separately.

Save as .ufo

We now have 17 layers in our layer manager. We are going to select the wing drawing.

Now in the retouch tool, click on the Dodge tool. Now, you may have to varied the size of your brush accordingly to the size of the area you want to highlight and the level, I always start with a low level and prefer to go a few times over to get the highlight I want. Once time stroke if not to much and more times over to get it lighter.

Once your Dodge tool is set up, make sure your wing drawing is select, click on the edit mode button. I did highlight where all the joint where the lines meets. Then highlight where I had a curve, to give an illusion of depth. Once that is done click out of edit mode

Save your work as .ufo.

Notice that when you did click on edit mode, all other layers object did fade, so this way you have a better view and you only see the layer you are working on.

Do the same thing for the other layers, select one layer, click on the dodge tool, click on edit mode and highlight the middle of the shape, click out of edit mode. Save as .ufo Repeat this step until all the shape layers have been highlight.

Now, that all our shape have been highlight and satisfied. At this point you may want to select all your painted object and save your multiply object in your easy palette for further use.

Deselect your painted object, I did fill the background with black to have a better view of the transparency.

You may want to keep it this way. Or to go in a bit further.

Let go a bit further.

Click on one shape inside the drawing, and then on the transparency set up at about 8, I did choose a different transparency for each part of the wings, it is just a matter of taste and to get different transparency effect for each part.

Once that is done for each part of the wings, except for the drawing part. We select all and group.

You may save this one in your easy palette as a multiple object in your easy palette for further use.

Now that your object is group and select. Duplicate it. At this point you may want to expend your canvas. Now rotate and arrange the wings the way you wanted.

Super isn't it, you could see the wings under the top one.

Here is an example of the same wings, the only change I did to the wings are the color, I did use Hue and Saturation to change the color to match my little poser figure in one of my painting.

This technique could be apply to any project that need transparency, you make some fancy lace etc.