Adobe Photoshop Basics

Exercise 6 - Airbrush Shading

Download this zip file for all the images you need to complete the exercises for Lesson 7. (Mac users can use Aladdin's free Stuffit Expander to extract the zip file.)

The airbrush tool is commonly used for adding dimension with highlights and shading. I've made it easy on you and provided a layered Photoshop file with a pre-drawn heart shape on its own layer.

Open the image lesson7e6.psd

Practice using the airbrush tool with black and white paint to add dimension to the heart. Your goal is to produce something that looks like the finished example here. You can use layer effects for the drop shadow, but I only want you to use the airbrush for dimensional shading.

Tips:

1. Work on a separate layer!
2. Group the highlight and shadow layers with the heart layer so your paint doesn't spray outside of the heart shape.
3. Notice in my example how the black shading goes all the way to the edge, but the white highlights don't.
4. If you have a pressure-sensitive tablet, by all means... use it!
5. Look closely at the world around you and notice how real-life objects have highlights and shadows. This is the key to realistic painting in any graphics software.

Next > Exercise 7 - Rainbow Paint Job