It is also important that your line drawing be on a layer of its own. That way when you color later on, you won't have to worry about messing up the lines. Put the outline layer on top for now and set the COMPOSITE METHOD to MULTIPLY as shown in the diagram. This will make it so the dark colors on the layer are "multiplied" on top of the layers below it. This is similar to using colored pens; they don't replace the color, only darken it.

As you can see, I went ahead and created a new layer for "color". I'm going to actually use this layer for her skin. Naming it skin might have been more appropriate ^_^. To create a new layer, just hit the button labeled NEW on the bottom right of the layer controls.

I'm going to try a new technique I learned for this pic. First put down the base color of the skin (or whatever you happen to be coloring). You don't have to worry about staying in the lines sinse you can trim it later with the ERASER tool. Good tools for puting down the base color are PAINTBRUSHES and PENS. Avoid felt pens, pencils, and watercolors for this.

Next, I took the paintbrush and scribbled on some quick shading. In this stage, only worry about getting the shadows and highlights int he places you want them. Be as messy as you want with the scribbling ^_^

Finally, take the WATER tool and set it to JUST ADD WATER. This now acts as a blending tool and will blend all of those messy lines together. Go ahead and smooth out the shading. Don't just scribble the water all over, though. Do this as if you were smudging with your finger or blending with a brush.

Once you finish this layer, simply create a new layer for another color and repeat these steps. Remember to trim off the excess coloring.

After trying out some of the tools, you may run into something strange. You might try using the paintbrush on a layer over some other color and instead of being transparent when you press lightly, it is white! This is what's happening: In the BRUSH CONTROLS, under WELL, is a slider called RESAT. This determines how much of the color in the paint is what you chose and how much is being "pulled" from the canvas. A low percentage means it is pulling a lot of paint from the canvas, making a good blending tool. A high percentage, on the other hand, means it is just applying paint and covering up what is already there.

So why the white? Well, Painter seems to the think that the transparent areas on a layer are white. This poses a small, but some times anoying problem. What I do to fix this is set the Resat to full and just cover my painting area with a base color then go back and color over it again. If you are coloring hair, I'd suggest you colored in the lines this time. After the base is applied, go to the layer window and check the PRESERVE TRANSPARENCY box. This will allow you to paint over the paint already on the layer, but not on the transparent area. Now you can add the colors and shades you want to the paint you have applied.

Eventually, you should finish coloring your image :) These are just some basic tips that should allow you to do some art on your own. Experiment with the tools to find more helpful techniques. To see how this pic turned out, click on the thumbnail :) Hope this helps you out.

Good luck!

-Chan