I just wrote a little Tutorial, and I hope you get my point. I’m sorry you know, English is my second language. So let´s start. Today we’re gonna be coloring this picture.

The final result looks like this

I always start with the skin. First I use a color balance layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance). The settings may vary depending on the picture and are not always the same.

In this picture I use the following settings

Midtones

The picture looks like this.

Reduced to 86% of original (700 x 934)

For the eyes I put a new new fill layer (layer -> New Fill Layer > Solid Color) on my graphic with the color #ffffff. I set the blending modes to color. I turn the layer mask to invert.

with a hard brush (since the eyes have hard edges) and the foreground color white

I paint my eyes white.

I do that with my teeth. Yes the picture has teeth I enlarge the graphics very much and do it with a brush with 2px size

I know this is small-scale because you probably did not notice it in the overall graphics but just such little things make a different.

With a brush that has an opacity of 30%, I also go over the fingernails so that get a slight light shine.

Reduced to 86% of original (700 x 934)

The eyes are a little too dark and do not really shiny. Therefore I go to my picture level and mark the pupils.

Then I click with right in the marker and select Layer by Copy

It creates a new level only with the pupils. I can lighten these now by lightening over (Image -> Adjustments > Curves) a curve. I pull in the lower left quarter of the line slightly upwards until I like the brightness.

Now she gets an eye color from me. For this I put a new fill layer (Layer -> New Fill Layer > Solid Color) on my graphic with the color #88a2a4. I set the blending mode to color. I turn the layer mask to Invert.

Again I take a hard brush and paint the pupils with it. I set the opacity of the layer to 54%

Reduced to 86% of original (700 x 934)

I would like to give the eyes a little more life, so I put now two new fill layer (Layer -> New Fill Layer > Solid Color) on my graphic once with the color #ffffff and once with the color # 000000. I set the blending mode to Soft Light . I turn the layer mask over. The opacity of the two levels I set to 20%.

For those who find it easier, first leave the blending mode on “normal” setting to see what it is doing. I take a small soft brush and make points of light in the eye. Once on the black layer, once on the white.

This is what it looks like in “normal” mode

On soft light, it works like that. That does not look like much, but it gives the eyes more shine and depth.

Reduced to 86% of original (700 x 934)

Now comes the make up. To do this, I first put a new fill layer (Layer -> New Fill Layer > Solid Color) on my graphic with the color #798795. Important here is that the layer lies underneath the one for the eye. I set the blending mode to Color . I turn the layer mask to invert.

I go over the eyelid with a soft brush. Here I look at the picture of where the makeup could be. I set the opacity of the layer to 47%

There is a new fill layer (Layer -> New Fill Layer > Solid Color) on my graphic with the color #6d9568. I set the blending mode to Color . I turn the layer mask to invert.

With this layer, I put the paint on the makeup on the outer edge of the eye. I set the opacity of the layer to 37%

As the last makeup color, I put a new fill layer (Layer -> New Fill Layer > Solid Color) on my graphic with the color #d6d26d. I set the blending mode to Color . I turn the layer mask to invert.

I take a very small brush and just go over the top of the eyelid. I set the opacity of the layer to 12%

In the end it looks like this.

Reduced to 86% of original (700 x 934)

Now come the lips. Again, I put a new fill layer (Layer -> New Fill Layer > Solid Color) on my graphic with the color #a223b5. I set the blending mode to Soft Light . I set the opacity of the layer to 24%. I turn the layer mask to invert.

With a soft brush I give the lips their color.

This layer should also be at the bottom, so you can see the whiteness of your teeth.

Reduced to 86% of original (700 x 934)

Since the face is finished, I take care of the hair. Also for the hair I put a new fill layer (Layer -> New Fill Layer > Solid Color) on my graphic with the color #786c2a. I set the blending mode to Soft Light . I set the opacity of the layer to 40%. I turn the layer mask to invert.

I go with a soft brush over the hair and with an opacity of about 15-20% also on the eyebrows.

Since her hair falls in the forehead, I take a small soft brush and go there over the strands. In a normal mode, it would look like this.

With soft light it looks like this.

I duplicate this layer once, change the color of the duplicate to #ffffff, set the blending mode to color and set the opacity to 47%. By duplicating, I make sure that the same places are painted on this layer as well.

Reduced to 86% of original (700 x 934)

Almost there!! Promised!

As last but not unimportant I color the background. Unfortunately, this is often forgotten in recolorings and so it seems very unfinished.

For this I mark the background on my picture plane. While the marker is in place, I go to Layer -> New Fill Layer > Solid Color. The marker automatically gets this layer a layer mask with this marker.

I’m just picking the color that suits me, in this case #b3d2d2, and set the Layer setting to Color . I still look if there are overhanging edges which I have to correct, e.g. on the ears, hand and shoulders

After that, the picture looks like this.

Reduced to 86% of original (700 x 934)

If you want you can still run Topaz or a sharpening filter or something over it. And that’s it.

If the skin is too yellow or too pink in your picture, you can go back to the color balance layer and view the settings via Window -> Properties and change it so that it fits.

Pay attention to the sorting of your layers, as some colors are not visible if they are below other layers or if they can hide colors. My layers look like this.

By the way, I use the technique with the fill layers so that I can easily change the color without having to start all over again.

I hope you could understand me , it helped you a lot and you had fun trying it for yourself.

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