Couple on a Bench

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In this tutorial I will take you on a guide to illustrating a couple on a bench with Paint Shop Pro 8. I used this technique in a layout I made that can be viewed here. The illustration is made effective by creating shadows and bevels. If you need any help on executing this tutorial then contact me.

To begin, open up Paint Shop Pro and create a new image that matches the size you want your illustration to be. My image is sized 451 x 325. Your illustration doesn't have to take up all of this space - leave extra space for shadows and such - it can be easily cropped at the end.

The first thing we will illustrate is the bench. Doing this is very easy. Select the Preset Shape Tool (P) (, and match your second pallet to the colour #965A30, make your first pallet transparent, as that pallet is used only for borders. Select the rectange shape and draw on a small rectangle that will represent one of the pieces of wood.

In order to make it look more like a bench we will deform this shape. To do this first of all right click the vector layer and convert it to a raster layer. Next select the Deform Tool (D) and change it's mode to shear. while on this mode, select each top corner of the rectange and drag it so that it looks like a corner of a triangle.

Duplicate this layer (right click > duplicate) three times. Use the Deform Tool (D) again to move the rectangles below eachother, also whilst on the scale mode resize each of these. Try to make the rectanges larger as you go down the line - but do not change the size of the last one. See the image on the right if you don't understand.

Use the rectangle to draw another slightly longer rectangle furthur down from the first four - do not deform this rectangle. Once you have draw it, right click the vector layer and convert it to a raster layer. Then go to Layers > Merge > Merge Down. Continue to merge down until all of your rectangles are in one single layer.

Now, select the layer underneath the layer we've just combined - this way what we are about to draw will appear behind. Change the previous brown colour to a colour of #6B4A32 and draw four rectangles (Using the Preset Shape Tool (P)); two behind the four deformed rectangles and two that count as the legs (see image to the left). After drawing each individual rectangle remember to convert them into raster layers. Each rectangle should be a different layer.

We are now going to deform these rectangles; starting off with the top two. Select the Deform Tool (D) and convert the mode to 'shear', on each of the top rectangles, drag in their bottom corners so that the rectangle goes from large to skinny.

For the two bottom rectangles, we want to round of the corners. The simplest way to this is to join a circle to the bottom of each. Once you've done that convert the layer to a raster layer and starting from the top layer continue to merge down until the full bench is on one layer.

Before we move onto the couple, we will add some depth to this bench. To do this duplicate the layer holding the bench and go to Effects > 3D Effects > Inner Bevel. Match your settings to mine below:
Smoothness: 55
Depth: 10
Ambience: 48
Shininess: 35
Elevation: 40
Intensity: 30
Angle: 53
Bevel: 2
Set to layer to normal at 16% and merge it down to your original bench layer.

We want the couple to appear behind the bench layer so before we start drawing them make sure that you have highlighted your base layer. If you ever forget to do this you can always drag your layers around to organize them.

The first thing I sketch is the hair, I usually do this by first of all drawing a circle and framing it with hair. To draw the hair use the Pen Tool (V) (), in order to trace your shape with curve, click where you want the shape to begin, click at a different point and then drag the mouse (Example (from illustration guide tutorial).

Use the pen tool to create the different elements such as the clothes and the feet. I won't walk you through it as it can differ from illustration to illusrtration although you can use my image as a guide. Just remember when creating new elements (such as clothes), convert the vector layer into a raster layer before starting the new element - you can also name them to avoid confusion. Remember to drag your layers around to determine which goes behind the other.

Once you have sketched your image, go to the top layer and continue to merge down until the couple and the bench are all on one layer. The final thing we do to add depth it duplicate this image and apply an inner bevel effect using identical settings as we did above. Set the inner bevel layer to normal at 12% and merge it down

Apply a background and a shadow (learn how to here) to the image and you're done!

(I forgot to add a shadow to my image xD but you can check out this example here.)

A little editing can go a long way and paint a story for the image - See for yourself. (Made by Isi).