After you’ve finished drawing your line art, it’s time to add color to your image. However, what is the best way one goes about doing this. Today on The Brain Wrack, I will instruct you on the different methods of filling your line art in Photoshop.

First thing’s first, you’ve got to have your line art finished with a transparent background. In my case, I’ve drawn an image of a brain. For the first technique I’m going to show you, create a layer underneath the line art. Next Using the magic want tool, on the original line art layer, select the area outside of your image. Then, click the select tab and click Inverse (Shift +Ctrl +I). Afterwards, Click the select tab and select “refine Edge.”

The reason for using the “Refine Edge” tool, is to make sure no outlining occurs like in the picture below.

Now, on the empty layer you opened up under the line art layer, you can use the paint bucket or other brushes to fill the layer in. In may case, I used the gradiant tool. This is the fastest and easiest Tanique for filling line art. However, this method does not take into account line art that includes many sections with different colors.

The other method is to create a fill layer. To do this, click on the black and white circle icon on the bottom of the layer palette. Then click “solid color.” After you’ve selected your desired color, click ok. The image then turns the color you’ve just chosen, but don’t panic. Working on this new layer, take your Paint Bucket Tool (Photoshop Bucket Tool) and fill the layer black. The color vanishes (this is because the color will appear where the color white is on the layer). Next, change the active color to white on your brush, and start painting where you wish your color to appear. You can also use the magic wand tool and refine edge settings to select each area you want from the original line art if your picture is less complicated. If the image is more complicated, I recommend the other selection tools in order to select the proper areas. This Technique is very useful if you wish to change any of the colors of the image quickly without editing the other colors.

This makes it very useful for more complicated images due to its ease of editing. However the major downside of this method is the amount of time it takes to create a solid color layer for each color.

I personally will use the first method of the image is simple, but if the image is complicated; I will switch to the second method. In some cases, use your best judgment in determining which method you plan on using. Do you think the amount of time it takes to implement the second method is worth it? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Thanks for reading!