WARNING: If you're still new to this, you might can't help but colour or perform commands on the wrong layer. Always make sure that the right layer is highlighted before performing actions. If you have accidently painted on the wrong layer, press Ctrl+"Z" to undo your work, highlight the correct layer and proceed.

1. Highlight the Skin Layer. Before we begin colouring, find the colour you want for the skin.

Click on the Foreground Colour box and you'll open the window below. Manually select the colour or type the code for it.

2. Another method is to 'pick' the colour from another image file. Click "I" on the keyboard to open the Eyedropper Tool. This tool will allow you to copy a colour from any image you obtained (eg. from the net or scanned) into your Foreground Colour box.

-"I got a diferrent tool called 'Colour Sampler'."

Just like the Eraser Tool troubleshooting from one of the previous tutorials, press Shift+"I" to get the Eyedropper Tool.

 

3. Select the Magic Wand by pressing "W" on the keyboard and click on the area you'd like to fill with the skin colour.

Troubleshooting

-"The wand is selecting most of the/the whole picture"

On the Options pallete of the Wand (Press Enter), make sure that the Contiguous and the Use All Layers options are selected.

-"The selection is too small/big"

Go to the Wand's Option and configure the Tolerance from 40 to 50.

-"The selection is 'leaking'."

You can't leave everything to the computer... figure out where the 'leak' started and try using the Brush or Line Tool to patch it up. In the worst case, I had to rescan the image, but I've stopped relying on the Magic Wand and used the Pen Tool instead these days.

 

4. Make sure that each section of the skin is selected. Hold the Shift button with the Wand to make additional selections. When you're done selecting all the desired area for the Skin Layer, press Select, > Modify, > Expand to enlarge the selection and cover more area (press Alt+"S", "M", "E" as shortcut). This is optional.

Select 1 or 2 pixels expansion (or more) depending on your drawing.

Make sure you have highlighted the Skin Layer. Begin filling the area by selecting Edit, > Fill, > OK. You'll be doing a lot of filling, so I recommend learning the shortcut as well: Alt+"E", "L", Enter.

The layer has been filled.

4. I purposely started with the skin so I can show you what to do with the eyes. You can slowly try to erase the skin colour off or you can play safe by using the lasso instead. The best way has to be the pen where you can manually carve out the shape. See? The magic of the Pen Tool exceeds the Magic of the Magic Wand!

Eraser, Lasso or Pen?

 

5. Also, please note that the Magic Wand sometimes is not able to cover really narrow spaces. Believe me when I tell you that these missed areas stick out like a sore thumb. Save your sanity by patching them up with the Lasso (Polygonal-typed recommended) or Pen Tool.

Fill the missed areas using the Lassoes or Pen Tools. You can add this to the selection before you even begin the filling.

5. Wash, rinse and repeat with the rest of the layers. Be extra careful if you have sharing layers.

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