Adding Detail and Color to a Drawing

The author of this tutorial is K. J. Hartmann.

Often after making an outline or sketch in a hurry, you later want to add color. This can be done on a computer, if you have scanned the image or made it with a graphics editor.

Of course, color can be added with an image editor, but the task can be time-consuming.

As you will see, with AKVIS Coloriage AI (we used the Classic mode) color can be added to an image quite easily.

Black and White Outline Color Drawing

First I drew an outline of a flower...

Pencil Sketch
Figure 1

...and filled it with different shades of grey, giving it volume.

Image of Flower
Figure 2

Then I clicked the Magic Wand outside of the flower (fig. 3), to highlight the white area.

Selection
Figure 3

I used the Gradient Fill tool to fill the area with varying shades of grey in a direction leading outward from the center (fig. 4).

Filling the Background
Figure 4

Then I called AKVIS Coloriage AI from the menu: Effects -> AKVIS -> Coloriage AI and painted the drawing in the Classic mode. Choose a color with the pipette from the Color Palette and draw lines along the contours of the object. I also drew a boundary where one color should be separated from another (fig. 5). During processing the program will change the colors of the image, taking into account the brightness of the original image.

Color Strokes
Figure 5

Now the image can be processed by pressing the button with a triangle . The result is shown in figure 6.

Drawing, Painted with AKVIS Coloriage AI
Figure 6

Here is another demonstration of AKVIS Coloriage AI.

I returned to the black and white image of the flower and once again called the AKVIS Coloriage AI plugin. After pressing the to load saved strokes, the image appears as in figure 5.

Next I went to the color palette to change some colors, and applied the changes with the Magic Tube tool . The repainted strokes are shown in figure 7.

Repainted
Figure 7

In figure 8 you can see the new result:

Color Drawing
Figure 8

 

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