Acoustic Guitar - Textures and Vector Play

1. Open a New Canvas: Size=750 X 1700; Resolution=72; Background=Transparent for this tutorial or any size you want of about 1:2.5 width to height ratio.

2. In the Color Palette (or Material Palette), set Foreground/Stroke color to #1A2811 and the Background/Fill color to #CDC08C.

3. Using the Pen Tool, draw the guitar body as shown on the left figure below. While still in Vector, copy and paste as a New Layer two times

4. Using the Object Selector Tool, select the Top Vector Layer (you can do this without changing the Active Layer). Now, in the object properties, follow the settings on the right figure below for the Fill, and leave the Stroke setting as is. Note that the Texture is active and the Woodgrain is selected.

NOTE: When working on 2 or more vector objects on different layers, try to spread them over the canvas to avoid selecting the wrong object when using the Object Selector Tool. Once you finish working, you can re-align them back by clicking on the appropriate option on the "Position on Canvas" or "Object Alignment" part of the Selector Tool Option.

GT2

GT3

5. Still, with the Object Selector Tool and working on the same object, shrink down the four sides of the Vector Handle by about 2 to 3 pixels to get the Double Lined edge look of the guitar body. When Finished, adjust the layer opacity to make the wood grain more or less visible. Now, on to the next step...

6. Using the Object Selector, select the Bottom Vector Layer. In the Object Properties, change the Stroke and Fill Color to #A79C6F. Now position it so that it's slightly above the top 2 layers (see figure on the right). This is going to be the side of the guitar body.

7. Once it's in the position you like, make this layer active (in, the layer palette, make sure it's highlighted like on the figure on the right). Convert this layer to Raster Layer.

8. Now let's put some shades and highlights. Imagine the light source coming from the top left side of the image. This means the left side of the guitar will catch the light and should be highlighted and the right side, which is hidden from the light should be shaded.

For Highlights, use Dodge Brush Size=75, Hardness=10 and Opacity=10. Make about 2 to 3 clicks or strokes over the area you want highlighted.

For Shades, use Burn Brush Size=50, Hardness=10 and Opacity=8. Give about 4 to 5 clicks or strokes over the area you want shaded.

At this point, it should at least look like a guitar body. Now let's put some detailing...

GT4

9. In Color/Material Palette, set your Foreground/Stroke to Transparent and set your Background/Fill to Pattern. Select the type of Wood tile pattern you want (or Wood Finish in PSP7). Wood tile 01 is used in this tutorial.

10. Use the Circle or Elipse Preset Shape and draw a circle in the proportion and area shown on the right figure below. Convert this to Raster Layer, and for the purpose of this Tutorial, let's name it "Circle" Layer. Go to Layer > Duplicate. The duplicate layer will be used for the Cutout shadow.

11. Now, go to Effects > 3D effects > Cutout and copy the setting on the left figure below.

12. For the tag inside the guitar, create your own design on a separate canvas of 200 X 150 pixels. "CUBOIDARTS Custom Guitars" is used in this tutorial. Copy and Paste this as a New Layer in between the Cutout and Circle Layers.

13. For the wood skeleton inside the guitar, just "Copy Merged" a portion of the guitar body and Paste it as a New Layer in between the Circle and Cutout Layers. In the sample on the right below, a selection parallel to the wood grain was taken and rotated 90 degrees.

Cutout Setting	Adding the Details

14. Once the Tag and the Wood are in place, cut the portion sticking out of the circle by Reverse Selection: (a) Make the Circle Layer active and press CTRL+A to select the circle drawing, (b) Go to Selection > Invert, (c) while the selection is active, make the Tag layer active then go to Edit > Cut ( or press CTRL+X) to cut the portion of the Tag sticking out. Do the same for the Wood Layer.

15. Add your own decorative ring aroung the hole to give your guitar that custom look. Click here to see how the decorative ring for this guitar was done.

Now, take a look at the guitar body as a whole... see if you're happy with it. Do the necessary adjustment you want then Merge Visible all the Layers.

On to the next step...