Couple of quick things:
-I've never made a tutorial before. I'm probably going to be too vague. Questions are welcome in helping me edit and fix it up.
-I'm self taught in Photoshop. If you old pros out there have any sage advice, it's more than welcome.

I'm going to use the below thread title graphic as my example. Here we go.



The Basics:



This is the general startup. I go ahead and make 3 layers: color (foreground), the background, and the sketch layer. If you start with all your layers out like this, be careful that you are working on the right layer. It is easy to forget.

Step 1: The Sketch

This layer will eventually be discarded and is really just used for setting up composition and details. I personally like to have it be white and sketch with blue, although color doesn't matter. I use the hard round brush tool, size 1.


First make a very rough sketch. This is just to get a feel for where things will go. Don't forget to plan where you want text, else you end up having to squish it somewhere or plaster it over something important. I don't have a background sketched in, but if you want a castle or something, you would want to sketch it at this point.

Now start adding details. I like to zoom in to around 200% so I can get good control of the mouse while also paying attention to the sketch at large (for example, if I zoom in too much on just a hand, I'll draw a really nice hand, but it is really out of proportion to the figure). Since it all starts looking a bit messy, I like to use different colors to keep track of things like clothing.


I realize that this step is not terribly helpful and is quite a big jump. But this really isn't a drawing tutorial. =/ So we end up with the finished sketch:



Step 2: Background

First of all, make sure your background layer is set to multiply. This way you can see the sketch through it. One important rule of backgrounds is to remember that the farther away something is, the fuzzier it's should look. I'm going to demo a standard sky and grass background.

Start off with the sky, since it is the most distant thing. I just picked out a nice shade of blue and laid it down, then went in with the Dodge Tool using a soft round brush set on midtones and around 30% exposure. Make some cloud like shapes, then go over them again on the parts you want highlighted and more white. Use the dodge tool with a light touch to make sure your clouds are fluffy and don't look hard around the edges.



For some distant trees, take a soft round brush at medium opacity and smear some green on there. Don't worry about drawing actual trees, it is an implied forest. Go over your smear a few times to add variety and let the different opacities show through.


Make a darker more solid line to act as a horizon line. If you're making grass at a close view, use the grass brush, which is pretty much the greatest thing ever invented. I stuck a few in as an example.


Step 3: Coloring

First make sure you move to the color layer and are not working on the background anymore. Zoom in to around 300% so you can get good control of your mouse. This part is done in sections by areas of color. I'm going to start with the dog.

Take the polygonal lasso tool and, using your sketch as your guide, click click click click to outline your shape and connect into a whole. Set the lasso to "Add to selection" so you can make multiple areas. When making the areas, find a good method for making curved lines. You don't want to make a million tiny lines, but you also don't want to make it look really blocky.



When your sections are done, take your desired color and fill in the sections with a big brush. Deselect the sections. Repeat this with color blocks of color: skin, hair, clothes, etc. I like to skin first because the hair and clothes sections will overlay it.


Now, you should start to see a problem: How do I see my sketch while I work? There are two methods. You can either make your background invisible (eye icon beside the layer) and set the color layer to multiply, or you can constantly turn the opacity on the color layer up and down to see the sketch. It's really up to you, although the 1st one is easier. I tend to use the 2nd method because I'm paranoid and like to keep an eye on my background.

As you progress, you'll want to start using the fill tool to avoid coloring over some areas. For her shirt, for example, after getting the section selected, I turned off the visibility of both the background and the sketch. I used the fill tool, which leaves her neck the way I want. I then went in the brush tool and colored in the shirt over her arm. Her hair was done by first filling the back parts, then making a new selection for her bangs section that was filled by brush. Using brushes and the fill bucket in combination will allow you pick what areas stay and what needs to be covered.

I use the lasso tool to "draw" everything: eyes, mouth, etc. After all your base colors are done it will be something like this (I'm letting all the layers show).


Now use your lasso tool to create the sections that will be all the shadowed areas. Don't worry about staying within the colored sectioned, since your background is on a different layer and won't be affected.


Grab the Burn Tool. Set it at very low opacity such as 15% and use large (size 600ish) soft round brush. Go over the entire selection in one smooth stroke. Deselect and examine. Not dark enough? Use the undo to bring back the selection and then go over with the Burn Tool again. Some lighter areas will not darken as much as other. For these, reduce the brush size and take on the individual areas. For example, I had to extra burn her skin tones and the dog to make them the dark level I wanted.


Now add some lighting. This can either be done in the same manner as the shading (with the lasso tool) or you can just wing it. I've been doing the latter more and more. Either way, use your Dodge Tool at low opacity (remember, you can always add more) and place your highlights. Metals, jewels, and such will have a stronger reflection than skin or clothes.


Step 4: Readying

You're almost done! Resize the image so that it fits the forum signature specifications. Delete your sketch layer, you are finished with it. Add the text of your choice. Merge your color, background, and text layers. Save, and voila!


The time really depends on the content and details. I've been told I work veeery slow, and most of my sigs take around an hour or two.

Congratulations, you've completed Zelly's sig tutorial! You gain 2 Quest Points.