D
IGITAL
C
HARACTER
P
AINTING
U
SING
P
HOTOSHOP
®
CS3
D
ON
S
EEGMILLER
C
HARLES
R
IVER
M
EDIA
Boston, Massachusetts
Publisher and General Manager, Charles River Media: Stacy L. Hiquet
Associate Director of Marketing: Sarah O’Donnell
Manager of Editorial Services: Heather Talbot
Marketing Manager: Jordan Casey
Marketing Assistant: Adena Flitt
Project Editor: Karen A. Gill
Technical Reviewer: Howard Lyon

telephone number, date of purchase, and purchase price. Please state the nature of the problem, and send the infor-
mation to Charles River Media, Inc., 25 Thomson Place, Boston, MA 02210. CRM’s sole obligation to the purchaser
is to replace the disc, based on defective materials or faulty workmanship, but not on the operation or functionality
of the product.
Copyright 2008 Career & Professional Group, a division of Thomson Learning Inc. Published by Charles River Media,
an Imprint of Thomson Learning Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way, stored in a retrieval system of any type, or transmitted
by any means or media, electronic or mechanical, including, but not limited to, photocopy, recording, or scanning,
without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
eISBN-10: 1-58450-602-4
This book is dedicated to my family;
in particular, Marti, my dear wife,
who has always helped keep my vision clear
and my perspective correct.
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C
ONTENTS
P
REFACE
xvii
I
NTRODUCTION
xxi
P
ART
IC
HARACTER
D
ESIGN
1

3E
XPANDING ON
Y
OUR
I
DEAS
W
HEN
C
REATING THE
C
HARACTER
19
Basic Strategies to Help Generate Creative Ideas 20
Learning to Relax 20
Locating Useful Reference Materials 22
v
Using Wordplay 22
Fantasizing About the Character 22
Using Symbolism with the Character 23
Building the Character Around a Myth 23
Snowballing 23
Visiting Special Places for Inspiration 23
Developing Your Basic Idea 24
Using Caricature 25
Using Humor 25
Using Blotter Pictures 26
Using Exaggeration 27
Using Satire 28
Using Parody 28

AKING THE
C
HARACTER
R
EAL BY
C
REATING A
C
HARACTER
H
ISTORY
33
Creating the Character’s History 34
The Character’s Past, Present, and Future 34
The Character’s Everyday Environment 35
The Character’s Personality 35
The Character’s Personality Traits 36
The Character’s Look 37
Conclusion 37
C
HAPTER
5D
ESIGNING THE
P
HYSICAL
L
OOK OF
Y
OUR
C

P
RINCIPLES FOR
I
MPROVING THE
D
RAWING
,
S
KETCHING
,
AND
P
AINTING OF
Y
OUR
C
HARACTER
49
Some Basic Ideas About Drawing 50
Some Basic Ideas About Painting Figures, Hair, and Flesh Tones 52
The Art Part: Sketching, Drawing, and Painting the Character 54
Conclusion 55
C
HAPTER
7V
ALUE AND
I
TS
U
SE IN

Color Weight 77
How Color Acts and Reacts 78
Simultaneous Contrast 78
Color Contrast 79
Using Colors Effectively 79
Conclusion 80
C
HAPTER
9U
SING
L
IGHTING
A
RRANGEMENTS TO
L
IGHT A
C
HARACTER
E
FFECTIVELY
81
Using Lighting to Create Striking Art 82
The Main Types of Lighting 83
Positioning Your Lights 87
The Color of Your Lights 94
A Last Word About Shadows 94
Conclusion 96
C
HAPTER
10 U

P
AINTINGS
109
A New Method for Blending the Edge Where Your Colors and Shapes Meet 110
Optional Blending Method 123
Conclusion 126
C
HAPTER
12 C
REATING
T
EXTURES AND
P
ATTERNS FOR
U
SE IN
D
IGITAL
P
AINTING
127
Creating Textures 128
Creating Textures from Photographic Reference Materials 128
Photoshop’s Pattern Maker 136
Creating Hand-Drawn Textures from Scratch 139
Conclusion 141
C
HAPTER
13 P
HOTOSHOP

A
LL
T
OGETHER
IN
P
HOTOSHOP
CS3 183
C
HAPTER
14 P
AINTING AN
E
YE
189
What You Need to Know About Photoshop for This Chapter 190
T
UTORIAL
14.1 Painting the Window into a Character’s Soul, the Eye 190
Conclusion 195
C
HAPTER
15 P
AINTING A
F
ACE
197
T
UTORIAL
15.1 General Working Methods You May Want to Use When Painting a Face 198

AINTING A
S
TRANGE
-L
OOKING
C
HARACTER
253
What You Need to Know About Photoshop for This Chapter 254
T
UTORIAL
18.1 Getting Started 255
T
UTORIAL
18.2 Painting a Face Using a Cool Color Scheme 259
T
UTORIAL
18.3 Painting a Face Using a Warm Color Scheme 272
Conclusion 280
C
HAPTER
19 P
AINTING A
F
RIENDLY
D
RAGON
281
What You Need to Know About Photoshop for This Chapter 282
T

C
HAPTER
21 P
AINTING THE
D
RAGON
’
S
L
AIR
327
What You Need to Know About Photoshop for This Chapter 328
T
UTORIAL
21.1 Painting the Image 328
Conclusion 351
C
HAPTER
22 P
AINTING A
M
ONSTER FROM
S
CRATCH
353
What You Need to Know About Photoshop for This Chapter 354
T
UTORIAL
22.1 Painting the Image 354
Conclusion 371

First, my wife Marti, who is so patient with me and took the chance that
marrying an artist would not mean living in a shack while I pondered
my next masterpiece. My children Jennifer, Nicole, and Andrew, who
learned early on that tasting paint was not a good thing. My parents, for
their support. My students, who teach me as much as I teach them.
Howard, for being a good friend and not tearing the book apart too much
as he reviewed it. Karen, for her gentle patience while heading this pro-
ject. And all those at Thomson, who helped make sense of my rambling
and created a gorgeous book. Thank you again, everyone.
xiii
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
D
on Seegmiller has been an artist as long as he can remember.
Some of his earliest memories are of getting into trouble in
school because he was drawing pictures in the margins on his
math pages instead of doing the addition and subtraction.
In 1973, he was accepted into the art department at Brigham Young
University on scholarship. As with most artists, academics were of sec-
ondary importance to the drawn image, yet, in the spring of 1979, he did
graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design, with a
specialization in illustration. He was promptly employed by one of the
departments at the school as a graphic designer/illustrator. While em-
ployed at Brigham Young University, he decided that commercial dead-
lines were not what he wanted to be dealing with, so he became a fine
artist. He began to paint egg tempera paintings in the evenings, and, after
trying various subject matter, decided that his heart and talent were most
at home with the human figure. In the fall of 1980, with three paintings
under his arm, he traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico, seeking representa-
tion in one of the many art galleries in town. His work has been shown in