DIGITAL ART TUTORIAL - How to paint an ear -- 9 steps --

DIGITAL ART TUTORIAL - How to paint an ear in 9 easy steps

In this digital art tutorial I'll be showing you how to paint an ear with digital painting software and (preferably) a drawing tablet. This is the end result we're aiming for in this tutorial.

STEP 1 - Draw the basic shape of the ear

Start out by sketching the basic shape of the ear. Use reference photos or a mirror to understand the shape of the ear. Don't worry if your lines are messy, you can fix that later

STEP 2 - Define the shapes

Define the shapes by adding shadows and highlights. You can keep the contrast low at this point.

STEP 3 - Increase contrast

Increase the contrast en define the shapes even more by adding deeper shadows.

STEP 4 - Add color variation

Use an Overlay layer to add color variation to the ear. I used oranges, reds and some purple.

STEP 5 - Blend the colors

Blend the colors to get more smooth gradients. I use a soft round brush with the opacity set to about 50% (and set to pen pressure) and pick up colors using the eyedropper tool, this way I can glaze the colors on top of eachother getting a nice blend.

STEP 6 - Define the deepest shadows

Make the ear more detailed by adding the deepest shadows. Also clean up the sketchy edges.

STEP 7 - Add highlights

Add the brightest highlights. I use a very light blueish tone and paint with a low opacity.

STEP 8 - Blend and refine

Blend the colors where it's needed and refine the edges. I also added another Overlay layer to add some more orange/red tones.

STEP 9 - Final details

Time for the final details! You can spend as much time on this as you want :) Adding some real tiny hairs gives a nice realistic touch.

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If you have any questions about the techniques I use, be sure to let me know!

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