This is my all new tutorial.

It was high time. Mainly because computers have become

quick enough to keep up with me. I used to still sketch on
paper and scan the sketch to render it further. But nowadays
I just sketch on screen. Much quicker. Even though I often
liked the sketch as a separate drawing too. Especially if I
spent some more time on it, some became quite nice pencil
drawings.

For this tutorial I assume that you have some experience

with computers and painting with them already. The
program I use is still Adobe's Photoshop. In this case I've
used Photoshop CS4. If you have an earlier version, that's
not a problem. The basics in Photoshop haven't changed
much over the years and the tools are positioned pretty
much in the same spots.

Step 1:

Rough Sketch:
I'll just keep it simple for this Tutorial. I'll be painting a single
girl. No background whatsoever.
Every background has it's own difficulties and if you come
here to check out my work you may be mostly interested in
painting the human form.
There are many others that paint landscapes.

I start with a new document of A3/300 dpi image size (kinda

big but you can pick whatever size you would like, instead).
The new document comes with a white background if you
have the same settings as I have. If your document opens
transparent you wouldn't have to add a new layer.
I leave the background in my document alone. It's fixed
anyway. You can't make it transparent unless you click on it
to make it a layer.
So, instead I add the first new layer by clicking the new layer
icon at the bottom of the layers window.
Transparency is what I need in the first stages.
A new layer is always transparent. If you click on the eye
next to the background layer in the layers window thus
turning it invisible, you will see the transparency
represented by a checkered color.
By default it shows light grey and white squares. I've
changed that to blue and white.
But in this case I just use the white background. It's easier
on the eyes.

To make the rough sketch I pick the 19 pixel standard

rounded brush. You can see where it is in the brushes
window to the right of the sketch.
If you just have the default brushes loaded it's in practically
the same spot.
The brush to the left of this one is a smaller (4px) version of
the same, I created myself just in case that I need to work on
a smaller picture or want to go to detail.

At this point I have no idea if the picture will turn out okay.
But I guess it did, or I wouldn't have posted this in a tutorial.

As you can see, I start with a nude. And I do that most of the
time.
That is because clothing often disguises shapes too much
and I want it to be anatomically as correct as possible.

Step 2:

Cleaned up Sketch:
The rough sketch needs to be a little neater before I can
really start rendering. I need to get rid of the many obsolete
lines in Step 1. I could just erase them with the eraser, but
as the sketch is usually not quite right anyway, I make the
original sketch layer transparent with the opacity slider at
the top of the layers window and add a new layer.
On the new layer I'll paint over the rough sketch that you
can still see underneath the new layer. Using much less lines
than on the first version.
Because I know where I'm going now, I can just trace the
sketch lines I do need and forget about the excess lines.
While I do that I also change or adjust the details I would like
to change.

Step 3:
Finished Sketch:

By clicking the eye in the original sketch layer (located next

to the layer in the layers window) I can turn off the layer and
view only the layer I want.
It looks good enough already. However, things will change
probably while I render the image further.
Time to add some color.

Step 4:

Color below Sketch:

To add color I usually add a new layer first, and place it
below the layer of the final sketch by dragging it to where I
would like it to be.
A new layer always pops up over the layer you have selected
at the time. If you would add color it would hide the lines of
the sketch.
Placing it underneath the sketch layer (by dragging the new
layer under the other one in the layers window) preserves
the lines and makes it easier to add color more precise.
In this step I only add flat colors with a bigger brush (175 px
in this case, but it depends on the size of the document of
course.)

Step 5:

Basic Shading:
When the basic colors are in, I already start to add basic
shading.
Just to see where everything's supposed to be. At this time
I'm already trying to bring the image to life. The round bits
should be round and the anatomic details start to show.
For this stage I use a brush somewhere in between the
standard 19 px and the huge 175 px one I used to add the
flat colors.
With the Master diameter slider (in the bottom of the
Brushes window) you can pick whatever size you want of the
brush you are currently using.
With the [ and the ] keys you can go up and down specific
steps in brush size.
I use the sketch layer for the basic shading. As you can see,
the new color hides the lines pretty quick.
As I want this picture to look reasonably realistic I won't
need the lines.
If I would make a cartoon instead, I would make the lines
harder and crispier and would only color on a layer
underneath the line layer.

Step 6:

Basic Shading 2:

All during the creation of any picture I zoom in and out

constantly. Even the biggest screen is smaller than a 300 dpi
image and it's easy to lose overview.
By zooming in and out all the time you can check if
something you do is okay or maybe out of proportion.
You can zoom in by using the zoom tool (last tool looking like
a magnifying glass in the toolbar to the left) or by clicking
cmd + or - (for Mac) or Ctrl + or - (for PC).

To keep overview of a whole different nature, it's also wise

to just mirror the image (Flipping it horizontally) now and
again.
You can do that by selecting Image -> Image Rotation -> Flip
Canvas Horizontally. Old masters looked at their work in
progress through a mirror regularly but Photoshop has that
covered in a different way.
By flipping the image like that you can look at the image
fresh. As if someone else has made it.
Because of a, completely natural, eye-brain quirk you could
be painting strangely distorted images while they look very
normal to you.
The flip will help noticing if there's anything wrong with the
image.

Have you ever looked at a painting of someone else and

thought that an eye was weirdly drooping or everything
looked tilted?
That may not have been the creation of some abstract
painter but just of someone that didn't check his or her
painting in a mirror.

Step 7:

More Shading:
After the shading of the body, I'll add more structure and
shading to the rest. The shirt is highlighted and the wrinkles
are placed better.
Still working with that soft rounded brush I started with. I like
that type of brush because it doesn't immediately hide
everything I did before and you can add subtle structure to
any surface that way.
Actually, from here on in the picture will not change as
drastic as in the first couple of steps.
I'll increasingly go into detail now.

Step 8:

More Detail:
As I think that a beautiful body with a blank face above it is
not so beautiful, first thing I always do when I go into the
details is work on the face.
I'll add more depth to eyes and mouth to get more
character. So, no...I don't really think breasts or loins are
that important.
I do like the look of things, of course, but rather as part of a
complete picture.

Step 9:

The First Highlight:

Her face is starting to get a softer more natural look but
without a highlight it's still too flat. What is most important
with highlights is that it should be placed right. But as light
changes all the time around us, there's no way to pinpoint
the spot where it's supposed to be. It's just a matter of trial
and error and trying a lot to get the spot where to place any
highlight right.
When, like in this picture so far, it's not clear where the light
is coming from, the highlight on her cheek bone should be
where I put it. With her face in this position the cheek bone
is probably the point in her face closest to us and, if the light
comes from the direction of the viewer, will reflect the light
something like this.

Step 10:
More Highlights:
Her nose will catch light from the same source. Everything
else will be less lit.
Now you can also see how much difference a pupil makes.
The eyes were weird when only the iris was colored. They
look sexy already when the pupil is added as a flat black
dot..

Step 11:

More breast:
Yes, time to do something about the rest. With only a little
effort the breasts start to look more alive already.
They're getting too big, really, but I will correct it later.
Maybe...

Step 12:
More Details:
I'm adding even more structure in neck, shirt collar, face,
mouth and nose. It's obvious that some details are still very
rough around the edges. The underside of the nose is only a
color. Not really a shape yet.
But the collar of the shirt is now actually wrapping around
the back of the neck. There's better and more detailed
shadow in the left part (from subjects point of view) of the
collar.
And her mouth is highlighted as if she's using lipgloss or has
moist lips all by herself.

Step 13:

Nipples:
And not only nipples. I've added a highlight in her pupil.
Which makes her glance much more natural and vivid.
Actually that highlight behaves in a similar way as the
highlights on her face because they are caused by the same
source of (imaginary) light.

Step 14:

Body Rendering:
To add more depth and plasticity I've picked a much brighter
skin tone than the original one. And with that and a big soft
rounded brush I only paint on the parts that are closest to
the viewer. Which means that the round forms are getting
rounder just by accentuating the roundest part. If you look at
her left upper thigh the only thing that actually happened
there is a broad bright spot added. Softened by a softer
brush with low opacity.
That same thing happened on her ribcage just below her
breasts, the side of her face and her knees.
I don't like her hair yet. As I don't have a real plan when I
start out with pin-ups like this, things like that happen more
often.

Step 15:
Haircut:
That's why I remove the hair from her face first and see if I
can do better. And while I'm at it I change other things too.
Hopefully improving the image as a whole.
Step 16:

Better:
Yes, changing the hairline did improve things. And some
small changes in the face work too. Her nose is cute and her
mouth is too. She's actually starting to look hot now.
And she seems to know that...:D

Step 17:

Compare Girls:
If you compare these two images you can see that small
changes can make a world of difference.
The first is from step 14. Really very little happened, at first
glance, but it did make a lot of difference.

Step 18:

Private Parts:
Here I cleaned up some more. Started working on her shoes
and on the brush she's holding in her right hand. I even
added the vagina.
Actually totally unnecessary because I'll be adding a dress
later on. But still. It doesn't take long and I see my creation
become more realistic even by an insignificant detail like
that.

Step 19:

Nipples:
Same thing with the nipples. They won't be visible later
actually. But I think they should be there nevertheless.

Step 20:

Feet:
As you as a fellow artist may know, feet and hands are the
most difficult parts on the body of all. The fingers and toes
are quite ingeniously constructed and that makes them
really hard to paint.
But fun. At least that's my opinion. The way each finger is
held and each toe is placed in an open shoe is terribly
difficult to paint realistically.
I'm still not completely happy with how I do it, but I don't like
to use photographs as documentation for pin-ups like these.
They sprout completely from my imagination. And that
doesn't make things easier.
However, when you're still learning to master these body
parts (or any other body part for that matter) there's
absolutely no shame in using photographs to get you on the
way.
If you'll keep using them, you'll probably never be able to
paint them from scratch but some artists don't mind that at
all.
I do for myself. So I keep on trying to make them as realistic
as I can without documentation.

Here I also added some strings of hair to her face to make it

less styled.
For that I use the hard brushes in the first row of the default
brush set.

Step 21:

Even more Details:

Made the brush she's holding to look like a brush, improved
the arch of her foot a bit and added a hairband to keep that
hair under control/
Added paint to the palette finally and even some on the
brush. Couple of highlights from light coming from behind on
her legs make it slightly more 3 dimensional.
To make the whole body look softer I use the airbrushes that
are located behind the rounded soft brush I've been working
with for the most part.
With those airbrushes that actually behave as if I were
actually using an airbrush, I can soften up all the harsh color
contrasts that were caused by the slightly harder rounded
brush.

Step 22:

Put some clothes on:

Yes, although it does hide some interesting zones, I thought
nudity was not functional for this particular finished picture.
So, I added a 'not too much' top and shirt.
It was very functional to start out with a nude though.
Because of the natural curves and smoothness of the body
you can see more easily if everything is anatomically correct
or not.
If the line of belly or hips does not add up, you will see that
sooner with a nude.
I love to work that way.
I personally think there's nothing more beautiful than the
naked female, but even if that weren't so, I would still start
out with a nude.
I actually do it exactly like this when I paint men.

I may make a tutorial with a male subject in future. Depends

on the reactions to this.
And by now I think its time to sign my work:

And to post the finished painting bigger and sharper.

I hope that you enjoyed this little insight in the way I work
and, what's more, got inspired by it to start painting again
(which ever way you prefer; conventional or digital) or found
a tip that will make your own work easier.
If you had fun, please, leave a message in the Guestbook to
inspire me to make more tutorials!
Thank you!
Best wishes
Frans Mensink