- 1). Open your art program on your computer. Make sure it is an art program that has the capability to create layers. Layers are overlapping screens on your artwork. When you draw on one, you do not affect any other layer on your artwork. Industry standard software such as Photoshop almost always has layers, but you can also find freeware software that has it (see Resources).
- 2). Go to the File menu and select the "Open" option. Find your reference photo on your hard drive and open it in your art program.
- 3). Create a new layer over your photo. Most programs have a Layers menu at the top of the screen that allow you to create new layers.
- 4). Select the "Brush" tool from the column of tools that comes standard with almost all art programs. The symbol for it usually looks like a paintbrush.
- 5). Sketch the basic outline of the photo's face on this new layer using your art tablet and the Brush tool. Draw only the basic shapes, such as an egg-shaped oval for the head, a line where the mouth is, a line for the nose and ovals for the eyes and ears. Use simple but sweeping lines to denote hair.
- 6). Change the opacity of that layer using the Layers menu, setting the opacity to 75 percent. Create a new layer.
- 7). Select the bottom most layer, that of the photo, and set its opacity to 25 percent.
- 8). Select the top most layer. Use the photo and the sketched outline as guides to draw your face. The sketch will give you a basic frame for your face, and the photo will help you with the details. What one lacks, the other will help with.
- 9). Delete the photo and sketch layer, leaving only the top layer. To do this, go to the layers you wish to delete and select the "Delete Layer" option from the Layers menu. Only your final drawing should now show.
- 10
Save your drawing to your hard drive by going to the File menu and selecting the "Save As" option.
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