~Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials~

Subject: *~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* Fri Jul 10, 2015 12:11 pm

First topic message reminder :

Hey guys!
I get asked frequently about how I make my art, and I thought making a tutorial would help some people out.
In this thread I will go through some of my tips, tricks and resources that I use.
I will also go through the steps I do to make some of my arts.
Enjoy and I hope you guys find this helpful

Some possible softwares to edit with:
Photoshop - the best of the best really. Out of all the ones I've used, Photoshop does produce the best quality images.
Trial: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=photoshop&loc=en_us
Photofiltre 7 - this is my secondary option to PS. Funny enough, it's the one I use the most. It can do the basics and is the programme I have started out with. It's got some really nice built in effects and I've achieved good results with it. It is fairly similar to Photoshop, but it's completely FREE.
Download: http://www.photofiltre-studio.com/pf7-en.htm
Gimp - Haven't used it personally, but know some people that have. Pretty similar to Photofiltre 7, it's free and it can open PDS files.
Download: http://www.gimp.org/

If you need any help using Photoshop or Photofiltre 7, then you can ask me and I'll try my best to explain. However there are plenty of tutorials for these programmes on YouTube so feel free to look around there~

Some possible online sites to edit with:
Picmonkey - http://www.picmonkey.com/
Really, really easy to use. It's got some cool effects and filters.
Pixlr-o-matic - http://pixlr.com/o-matic/
This one is good for filters only. Sometimes you may want to create your art in PS or something, and then give it a nice filter with this website.

Resources for textures & patterns:
Swimchick - http://swimchick.net/free-resources/textures (however, some have been deleted)
Alkaleez - http://blog.akaleez.co.uk/
I usually look around on DeviantArt for textures as well~ here are some people I find helpful:
Convicted resources - http://convicted-resources.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=0
xnienke - http://xnienke.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=/
so_ghislaine - http://so-ghislaine.deviantart.com/gallery/
Resources-fantasy - http://resources-fantasy.deviantart.com/gallery/
I'd also highly recommend looking around on Zedge, it's also an app you can get on most android or apple devices. Most of their wallpapers are of high quality and I just go around saving nice wallpapers that could work and that I could use later.

Websites to upload fanart:
DeviantArt - of course. http://www.deviantart.com/
Photobucket - I'd recommend this one. It keeps the high quality of your arts. www.photobucket.com
Flickr - Once again, keeps the quality of your arts. https://www.flickr.com/
Imgur - It's alright, but it sometimes depletes the quality I find. https://imgur.com/

-------- EDIT ---------
Websites for official Winx PNG's:
- http://galeriawcfm.blogspot.co.nz/Heaps of PNG's, not all are high quality though
- http://winxclubcollection.blogspot.ru/ some high quality PNG's
- http://magicwitch.pl/winxclub/pngs/
- http://fairiesofwinxclub.blogspot.it/ heaps of high quality, some rare, PNG's

Some tips & tricks:
Not sure where to start with this, but here are a few pointers that could help.
-Always save your pictures as PNG files, always. It seems to be the best file for better quality images
-Seems a bit obvious, but for your arts to look nice the PNG's and textures your using have to be of high quality to start with. VK is probably the best to get the newest PNG's from, but there are plenty of sites out there that have other PNG's
-Sharpening the image always seems to work.
-Learn where the best resources are. It seems a bit silly, but I'm forever hunting for backgrounds and textures that I can use.
-Just play around. With everything. Online or in a programme. Spend some time playing around with different effects and seeing what looks the best.
-Don't force yourself to do artwork. I don't know about anyone else, but I seem to produce the best fanarts when I'm really in the mood or have been seriously inspired by something
-Always find a source of inspiration

If any of you guys have got anything to add to this, then post it here and I'll add it to the appropriate list. Thank you for reading and good luck with your arts

Tutorial #1: Animated Slideshow Signature
LEVEL: HARD

I think most of you here know the basics of Photoshop, so I thought I'd jump straight into the medium/hard end Razz

Don't worry, I'll do some easier ones too.
But today I'll show you how I made this signature (Loxa's current siggy):

*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 Siggy1_zpsz6nvjkyf

So let's get into it!

PART ONE:
Step one:
Open Photoshop and go up to File>New and make the canvas 560 wide and 340 high (560x340)

Step two:
Paste in this gradient

*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 Step%20two_zpszcftslxc

This will be the base.

Step three:
Add some pretty texture. I used this one below, but you could just about use anything that has a lot of detail.

*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 Step%20three_zpszq5vz496

You'll notice that this doesn't take up the whole space. Try to centre it so that there is a little border with the gradient on either sides.

Step four:
Make the layer you just added to have an opacity of 90%. You can do this by going into the 'Blending Options'

Step five:
Add this texture. Go to the 'Blending options' and set the blend mode to 'Lighten'.

*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 Step%20four_zps7ldnxuyw

Full image:

Step six:
Add whatever Winx girl you like. As you've seen, I chose Musa in her Butterflix. I'd make whoever you chose a similar size to what I've made Musa. Now once you've done that, go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation. Bring the saturation down to about -25. Then go to Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast. Bring the contrast level up to about 80 (or whatever settings suits your chosen character).

Step seven:
Add this little polaroid.

*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 Polaroid_zpsrdc2ekx3

Then duplicate the layer, flip it horizontally and put it behind the bigger polaroid.

Step eight:
Add this section of an image and put it over the polaroid part.

*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 Section_zpslz0hl7ak

(It has been blurred a bit)
Go to the 'Blending Options' and select 'Lighten'. Change the opacity to 60%.

Step nine:
Duplicate the layer with this texture and bring it in front of everything you've got so far.

This layer:

Go to the 'Blending Options' and put the blending mode on 'Screen'. Change the opacity to 70%.

Step ten (optional):
Add some text. On my text, I went to the 'Blending Options' and used 'Stroke' and 'Gradient Overlay'. I made my own gradient. Play around a bit with colours and effects and see what suits your art!
Also, add text on the polariod bit with the name of your chosen fairy if you want.

But don't save it just yet!

PART TWO:
This second part can be bit tricky and tedious. This is the way I have done it; there may be an faster way out there but I haven't found one yet Razz

Step one:
Find a few screenshots of the character you have chosen. You can just google them. Find at least three you like and save them. (I used four screenshots)

Step two:
Open your first screenshot. Copy it into your project you have been creating. Go to Edit>Transform>Scale and make your screenshot so it'll fit what you want into the polaroid. (Tip: to do this, temporarily set the opacity as about 10-20% then change it back to 100% once you're happy)

Step three:
Once you've got it into the right position, select the layer with the polaroid in it. Press and hold down the 'Quick Selection' tool and select the 'Magic Wand' tool.

To clarify:

Step four:
Still on the polaroid layer, select the black area of the polaroid with the 'Magic Wand' tool

Step five:
Select the layer with the screenshot and copy this (you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C) whilst it is selected.

Step six:
Paste the area you copied. (Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + V)

Step seven:
You should now have two layers: one with the full screenshot and one with the selected part of the screenshot. Delete the layer with the full screenshot. You should now have the screenshot within the polaroid. Put this layer so it is behind the galaxy layer but in front of the polaroid layer.

Step eight:
Now we are going to create the frames for our animation.
Make a folder where you can save your frames if you wish.
Flatten/Merge the layers of your image (Layer>Flatten Image).
Save your image using 'Save As' and name it something like '1'. Save it as a PNG for maximum quality.

Step nine:
Undo what you have just done to get the layers back (Edit>Step Backward).
Select the layer with the screenshot and use the Motion Blur effect (Filter>Blur>Motion Blur). My settings were Angle=38 and Distance=75 pixels, but 35 pixels should be ideal. You can chose whichever settings you like though.

Step ten:
Flatten/Merge your image and then go to 'Save As' and save it as '2' in your folder.

Step eleven:
Undo what you've again, and repeat steps eight to ten with your other screenshots.
(i.e. open and paste in your next screenshot, use the Magic Wand tool to select the area of the polaroid and copy the part of the screenshot you want, save it, undo it, Motion Blur the screenshot, save it again, undo it...and repeat)

(I got this technique from this tutorial: http://callmebrandon.tumblr.com/post/4607475739/disclaimer-this-tutorial-will-only-be)

PART THREE:
Almost there! By now you should have all your frames made.

Step one:
Open a new project on Photoshop (File>New). Go to Window and make sure that 'Animation' is selected.

A bar like this will appear:

Step two:
Go to File>Scripts>Load Files into Stack

A box like this will appear:

Step three:
Click Browse and select all your frames you've made. Press OK.

Step four:
Your frames will now start to load into the animation bar. Once it's done, click the button labelled 'I' in this image
*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 Vd_animation_frame

*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 Vd_animation_frame

Click 'Make Frames from Layers'
(NOTE: sometimes you have to reverse the frames. Go to the button labelled 'I' again, click 'Select All Frames', then 'Reverse Frames')

Step five:
Change the duration for all the normal screenshots to 0.5 seconds and all the blurred screenshots to 0 seconds. This is the setting I usually use but you can chose otherwise.

Step six:
Go to File>Save For Web & Devices. Make sure the file is a GIF file and you can preview it in IE or Chrome if you want. Press Save.

And that is all!

Wow, I didn't think through how many steps were needed. I always tend to make very multi-layered arts, so unfortunately they're all going to be quite long. I'm kinda thinking I jumped in the deep with this one, but I was just really exited to show you guys how I make some of my animations

PLEASE IF YOU'VE GOT ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS TUTORIAL, FEEL FREE TO ASK ME HERE OR PREFERABLY IN PM.

Feel free to post your results in here

Subject: Re: *~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* Mon Jul 20, 2015 2:16 pm

So I made the first two tutorials and this is what I made.

*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 TmICX9p

*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 DzMlrqv

I'll try the third in one in a couple of days Very Happy

Subject: Re: *~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* Tue Jul 21, 2015 9:50 am

Fearless Diva wrote:: So I made the first two tutorials and this is what I made.

I'll try the third in one in a couple of days

Omigosh, they're amazing! ~~It's possibly better than mine...xD~~
I'm glad my instructions aren't too confusing and are working out well Angel

Subject: Re: *~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* Tue Jul 21, 2015 2:09 pm

Heynessa when ur abe to do tutorial can u show us ur previous siggy cuz i loved it

Subject: Re: *~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* Sat Jul 25, 2015 12:15 am

winxclubmagi wrote:: Heynessa when ur abe to do tutorial can u show us ur previous siggy cuz i loved it

Yup, sure

I can't remember what my last siggy was though...was it this one?

Spoiler:

I was planning on doing that one sometime anyways Razz

Guest

Nessa thank you for the tutorial! <3 Honestly, I couldn't have done this without your help! Here's my finishing product! I changed my style to be more vintage-style rather than lighting with pink, I guess I can't do girly Laughing

I'll try though.

*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 UsOoI1q

Subject: Re: *~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* Mon Aug 24, 2015 10:41 am

JohnnyQuartzUniverse wrote:: Nessa thank you for the tutorial! <3 Honestly, I couldn't have done this without your help! Here's my finishing product! I changed my style to be more vintage-style rather than lighting with pink, I guess I can't do girly I'll try though.

You're welcome <3
It looks amazing! You pull off the vintage look really well; I've tried before and I'm not that great it so you o it better than me xD

Hopefully I'll have another tutorial up at the end of this week!

Subject: Re: *~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* Wed Sep 02, 2015 12:52 am

Thank you so much for this amazing tutorial. I sure hope that you post more art tutorials if you can. These are amazing and it teaches me so much. I do not have to make it right now cause of school but this weekend I will and I will post a picture of it to show you what I made if you'd like. I just have a question. I went on photoshop and I did not see a file. Do i have to be a member of photoshop? Or, can I just do the same steps to make the same thing on a different website? Once again great tutorial. I love it!!!!!

Subject: Re: *~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* Sat Sep 05, 2015 9:39 am

Florawinx wrote:: Thank you so much for this amazing tutorial. I sure hope that you post more art tutorials if you can. These are amazing and it teaches me so much. I do not have to make it right now cause of school but this weekend I will and I will post a picture of it to show you what I made if you'd like. I just have a question. I went on photoshop and I did not see a file. Do i have to be a member of photoshop? Or, can I just do the same steps to make the same thing on a different website? Once again great tutorial. I love it!!!!!

I'm assuming you mean creating a new file? To do that, you just go File>New and set the dimensions needed. Otherwise I'm not entirely sure what you mean...
If you were going to work online, I'd recommend picmonkey.com, mostly because it is the most professional-like online site.
Another thing you could try if you have an Android or Apple device is Picsart, which is almost a replica of Photoshop, but for your device. (I think you may be able to download it if you have Windows 8 too??)
But I'm glad you're finding them helpful Angel

Subject: Re: *~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* Sat Sep 05, 2015 3:05 pm

Thank you but I just found out that to make things on Photoshop you have to pay for it. I was also kinda wondering if there was another website you could do this on where you do not have to pay for it or download it and starting worrying about viruses. Thank you for the info though and I PM you asking the question by the way. hahaha but I was wondering if there was a way to do this for free.

Subject: Re: *~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* Sun Sep 06, 2015 10:09 am

Tutorial #4: Signature
LEVEL: EASY/MEDIUM

Final Product:

*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 StellaBloomixSig1_zps66n6h3tg

Hello again~. I've returned with a fourth tutorial. Sorry it's taken so long to get another one up. Anyway, let's get on with it!

Step One:
Create a new file in Photoshop with the dimensions of 600x320 (WxH)

Step Two:
Paste in this image. This will be the background.

*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 Bg_zpsumhfcp93

Step Three:
Paste in this texture to make the background more interesting.

*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 1_zpsxfmgwkon

Go to the Blending Options and change the Blending Mode to 'Screen' with an opacity of 100%.

Step Four:
Add in a Winx fairy of your choice. As you see, I chose Stella. Put her in either the left or right of the image as I have done.

Step Five:
Add in your Winx fairy again as a new layer. Make her slightly larger than your previous one. Go the Blending Options and change the blending mode to 'Lighten' with an opacity of 80%. Go to Edit>Transform>Flip Horizontal and move her to the opposite side of where you put the original. Sharpen once if need be.
Now, put this layer behind the previous two layers (i.e. behind your Winx girl and the galaxy layer).
NOTE: if you are using different textures that I am using then you'll probably have to play around with the Blending Options to make this layer show up. Just play around with the different blending modes and opacities until it looks right!

Step Six:
Duplicate this layer you have just made and go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur. Make the angle 180 and the distance about 40.
Make sure this is in front of your larger Winx girl but behind the other galaxy layer.
NOTE: this step is also unique to these textures; by doing this it made the layer not show up so much. You may completely omit this step depending on the textures you use.

Step Seven:
Add text of your choice. You can do it like mine, where it is quite large and in two lines. White, simple text seems to work well.

Step Eight:
Duplicate the text layer. Go to Filters>Blur>Motion Blur and set the distance to 15 and angle to 180.

Step Nine:
Add this texture.

*~*Nessa's Winx Art Tutorials*~* - Page 3 2_zpsplzmooi5

Go to the 'Blending Options' and change the blending mode to 'Screen'.

Hope you guys find that helpful! Once again, if you have any questions feel free to ask either here or in PM (I won't bite!) and I'll try to answer them as soon as possible.

@Florawinx: I didn't get your PM sorry! Haha. There are plenty of other programmes that are free to download out there, I've listed a couple of them in my original post in this thread. Photofiltre 7 will do more or less the same as Photoshop, except the controls and tools are very different from Photoshop. This is definitely a safe, free programme though as I've used it for years. You can try that as well, and I can help you figure out how to use it. Otherwise, trying some online sites would be a good start Smile

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