How to Draw Tattoos on Characters
Those Damned Tattoos Tutorial
1) Ok, you've rendered your artwork and skintones just fine, it's time for the character to get their ink. I'll be using my Tabris, Nives. she doesn't have a Vallaslin but pretty extensive face tattoos. If you're planning on adding more shadows and lighting levels, keep that for after you're done with the tattoos, so it will all look blended.
brace yourself and click 'read more' cuz this is going to be an image dense and long post! This tutorial is intended for Photoshop as it's what I use to draw, but you'll probably find the same tools in other programs as well, or something similar. Also this is probably nothing new, but I've been asked how I do it so here it is :)
2) now, open a new file. add a new layer and draw your tattoo. You can use a sketch layer of a frontal head underneath if you need it. In case of symmetrical tattoos like Vallaslins, draw one half then just copy, paste and flip it!
3) now select and copy one section of the tattoo, and paste it on your artwork. Going section by section will prove useful because we're going to use the Transform tools (Modify menu - Transform), so having each one on different levels is better. Use all the Transform tools you need to put each section into place: Rotate, Skew, Perspective, etc. Fluidify can be pretty handy too with round surfaces like the chin.
4) Put every section into place, then MERGE the tattoo layers and tweak with eraser and brush until you're satisfied! Whent he tattoo design features thin parallel lines I just paint them straight on the artwork, because placing them correctly with the tools is just …impossible. But for the rest, they'll save you a ton of time.
5) now the magic begins. LOCK the tattoo layer transparency (as seen in the pic) and go over it with the color it should be - brown in this case. Then, DUPLICATE THE LAYER, and remove the transparency lock from each layer.
6) disable the upper level and select the other one. Go in Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur (I think, I have ps in my language but it should be that one.) I forgot to write down what radius I used, no more than 6 anyway, in the end it should look something like this.
7) now we've got to play with layer settings. let the top tattoo level show again and set the blend mode on hard light. set the blend mode of the bottom tattoo layer on 'multiply'. Then tweak each layer's opacity and fill. These are the setting I used
Top Layer (hard light): opacity 56%, fill 100% , Bottom layer (multiply): opacity 77%, fill 80%.
you should tweak them until you're satisfied with the intensity. it should look defined enough,yet without looking just painted on the skin. You can also play around with blend modes and see what works best, it really depends on the artwork so just experiment!
8) now, grab the eraser and select a granular texture brush. something like this
set pen pressure and transparency and start texturing the top layer! You can also give the top layer a mask and work with the brush if you're afraid to mess up, I've done this tons of times so I just go with the eraser. See what the bottom layer is for? When you texture the top level it will show underneath making the tattoo look discolored rather than face paint that is chipping away. You can also use a big soft round brush to soften bigger areas of the tattoo, or other types of texture brushes. roll with what feels right :) just don't apply texture evenly to all the tattoo, use it more on some spots and way less or not at all in others
9) when you're satisfied with the tattoo, I advisemaking a new layer and, with a very soft and transparent round brush, select the skin color underneath and lightly go over the tattoo in some particularly light or shadowy spots. it adds to the blending and makes it look more realistic
10) you're basically done! add more shadow /lighting layers until you're pleased with your wonderful artwork and show everybody your tattoed character! close up of the tattoo after I'm done with shadows and all
there she goes, all inked and ready to kick ass
I hope this was helpful :)
of course this is how I do it and find more useful for my technique and style, but you can probably adapt it to your own style just fine :)
Source: https://noctuaalba.tumblr.com/post/124963924181/those-damned-tattoos-tutorial
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