Pastello Charcoal Tutorial - Fill and Detail Layers Explained

Detailed instructions below explains everything happening in this video.

Intro  |  Step 1  |  Step 2  |  Step 3  |  Step 4  |  Step 5  |  Keyboard Shortcuts

This Tutorial will teach you the difference between the Fill and Detail options while creating a Charcoal creation.
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You can download the tutorial image here

Getting Started

Load in an image to get started

Original Button

You can use the Original Button to view the original image for a quick comparison

To get started we will remove the Pastel Layer and add a Charcoal layer. Click the minus symbol to delete a layer and the plus symbol to add a layer

Style: Fill

Choose Fill for Style to fill the entire image or choose Details to only fill the details and outlines. For this layer we will choose Fill

Stroke Size

Use Stroke Size to adjust the thickness of the outlines, move left for small strokes or right for large and loose strokes

Color Enhance

Increase the saturation of the image bringing out more detail in the layer.

Pressure and Background Fill

Use Pressure to deepen the chalk color and Background Fill to add more of the original image to the layer

More Charcoal Layer Controls

Layer Opacity - Adjust to blend layers
Stroke Size - Move left for small detailed strokes and right for large thick strokes.
Stroke Volume - Adjust the overall thickness of the strokes
Stroke Variation - Move this slider to give the strokes an overall different look
Outline Size - Adjust the thickness of the outline (Only available when Detail is chosen for the Style)
Color Enhance - Increase the saturation of the image making the image more bright and colorful. Use the link icon to link all layers to this setting
Stroke Color Shift - Controls how much the strokes will vary their overall hue
Pressure - Increase to deepen the chalk color allowing less of the layers below to show through
Background Fill - Add the colors from the original image to uncovered areas in the layer
Artistic Finish - Adds mottled light and color to the image. Use the link icon to link all layers to this setting

Next we will go to the Paper Layer to change the Paper Color

Paper Color

To choose a color for the paper, use the color box to change the color using the picker.

More Paper Layer Controls

Paper Style - Choose to use the Canvas, Sketch, Charcoal, Chalk or Smooth Canvas texture for the background
Texture Strength - Change the opacity of the paper texture
Texture Scale - Change the scale of the paper texture
Paper Background - Choose the first icon to use a solid color for the background or choose the second option to use a background paper
Papers - Select a background paper (Only available when paper background is set to option 2)
Paper Tint - Change the color of the paper, use the slider to change the colors opacity
Artistic Edges - Add an Artistc Edge
Edge Stroke Size - Move left for small detailed strokes in the edge or right for large thick strokes.
Stroke Direction - Control the overall direction of the strokes in the edge

Now we will add another Charcoal Layer which you can do by either adding a new Charcoal Layer or by duplicating the current Charcoal Layer. We will duplicate the current Charcoal Layer to keep the same settings

Style: Detail

For this layer we will choose Detail to only fill the details and outlines.

Stroke Size

Move the Stroke Size slider left for small strokes

Hide Layers and Outline Size

Hide the first Charcoal Layer to get a better view of the second Charcoal Layer. Use Outline Size to adjust the size of the outline

Background Fill

Use Background Fill to add more of the original image to the layer

Layer Name

Click the layers name to change it

More Charcoal Layer Controls

Layer Opacity - Adjust to blend layers
Stroke Volume - Adjust the overall thickness of the strokes
Stroke Variation - Move this slider to give the strokes an overall different look
Color Enhance - Increase the saturation of the image making the image more bright and colorful. Use the link icon to link all layers to this setting
Stroke Color Shift - Controls how much the strokes will vary their overall hue
Pressure - Increase to deepen the chalk color allowing less of the layers below to show through
Artistic Finish - Adds mottled light and color to the image. Use the link icon to link all layers to this setting

Erase Tool

Use the Erase Tool to erase unwanted detail from the layer. Select the Erase Tool and click and drag around your image to erase

Brush Tool

Use the Brush Tool to add back parts of the charcoal detail removed with the Erase Tool.

Smudge Tool

Use the Smudge Tool to blend media for a softer appearance. (The Smudge Tool is not available when using a Pastel layer or the Paper layer)

More About Tools

• Brush Size can be used to adjust the size of the brush (You can press [ on your keyboard to decrease the brush size or ] to increase the brush size)
• Use the Opacity slider to adjust the strength of the chosen tool
• Mask can be used to quickly fill, clear or invert the layer: Fill resets the image adding back any parts of the layer that were erased. Clear erases the whole layer allowing you to paint back parts of the layer. Invert reverses sections of the layer that were erased with sections of the layer that were not erased

For the last step we will go back to the Paper Layer to add an edge.

Artistic Edge

Click the Artistic Edge icon to choose between 24 Artistic Edges, we chose edge 12.

Resize Edge

The edge can be resized and moved by clicking and dragging the white border located around the image

I hope you enjoyed our tutorial and have a better understanding of Pastello.

Feedback

What do you guys think? Have any tutorials you would like to see in later posts? Feel free to tell us and show us your creations on Facebook or our other social accounts.

In this tutorial we use a lot of keyboard shortcuts, here is a list of the keyboard shortcuts included in Pastello:

• [ - Decrease the brush size
• ] - Increase the brush size
• SPACEBAR - Hold down to move the image
• TAB - Hide the sidebar and presets
• ⌘= (Mac) / Ctrl = (Windows) - Zoom in on areas of the image
• ⌘- (Mac)/ Ctrl - (Windows) - Zoom out to view a larger portions of the image
• ⌘0 (Mac)/ Ctrl 0 (Windows) - Fill the window with the image
• ⌘1 (Mac)/ Ctrl 1 (Windows) - Change the image's size to its original size