Step 1 check your settings….
Hopefully the brushes tab will be open in your “Layers, etc.” box, if not you can open the brushes in their own box by using ctrl+shift+B
Step 2 Open your xcf file saved at the end of the Basic Shirt Tutorial and add a new layer and rename it “wrinkles” (double click on the name next to the image in the “Layers, etc.” box.) At this stage I would “Save As…” and give it a new name, I changed mine from UFUT_bbl_yellow_tutorial.xcf to UFUT_bbl_yellow_tut_wrink.xcf
Once saved select the Paths tool.
Step 3 Reduce the opacity on your shirt layers to around 10-15% and select the new layer (hide and unhide it to make sure you have the right one, nothing should happen).
{Waffle alert}Take a moment to note how the lines of the mesh line up. Imagine folding the mesh in 1/2 across the shoulders, if you count up where the white lines intersect the green, you can line up across the front and by counting the same number on the back area you can line up back to front. I have placed orange dots on to give an idea; you should see more through this tut. Remember the female mesh includes short sleeves in the torso area, after 6 lines up from the waist you are moving onto the sleeve area. You will get more idea of this through this tutorial. {End of waffle alert}
Step 4 Zoom in to 200% as we are going to work in fine detail (You might note that I have reduced the opacity on my alignment spots). Where you start is up to you and practise and experience will determine this, for this tutorial I am starting at the 2nd intersection up on the left.
Carefully place the 1st point of the path as centrally on this as you can, then add a point outside of the shirt outline (these should connect automatically). Click on the point on the intersection to activate it again, then make a new point just inside the mesh, about 15 pixels in (Step 5 will clarify the reason for this). Decide how long you want this wrinkle to be across the front and make your final point.
Step 5 Now you want to give the wrinkle a lil shape, this is done by dragging the paths between the points. The only path you want to shape is the between points 3 and 4. As you pull the path out you will see a box appear from each point that is attached to it by a dotted line. You can click on these boxes and drag them to form your shape. You want the path to feed into point 3 as smoothly as possible, to best get this, drag the box from it so it is on a horizontal line between points 3 and 4. The box from point 4 you can drag to suit.
WARNING – if you click on any other functions before you have finished setting your paths, they will disappear and you will have to start again (yes, I lost them a few times preparing screenshots
).
Step 6 Here is where things become a lil tricky. Move up the mesh outline about 10-15 pixels (you can measure this by reading the y axis counter in the bottom left, but note how many you do move it by!). Then repeat the process. Before placing your 1st point in the 2nd (and other paths) note the cursor, it should have a double edged square next to it. If it has a plus it will add to the last point. After curving a path the next point is usually a new path, to force it, just press and hold shift.
I did 3 paths, then repeated on the right and on the back (top of the mesh).
Step 8 Stroke to path. With the paths tool selected, in the Toolbox you will have the option to “Select from path” or “Stroke to path”. Choose the bottom one, Stroke and you will get a dialog box.
Check “Stroke with Paint Tool” and from the dropdown list, choose Paintbrush. Also check the “Emulate brush dynamics” box.
At this point you want to check the dynamics…DO NOT click on the paintbrush or any other tool or you will lose all your paths. In the “Layers etc” box select the brushes tab (if not active) then select circle 3 (5x5), the 2nd smallest. Also make your foreground colour black.
Finally click “Stroke”
Thin black lines should appear under your paths.
Step 9 if you aren’t zoomed in, zoom back in to 200%. Carefully go to the point 4 on each path (the one nearest the middle) and move the point up (towards the neck) a little bit and tweak so that the black lines you have just stroked are not covered. One thing I do is take the box from point 3 and move it up so it is on the black line I have just stroked, but play with it and find what works best for you.
Now change the foreground to white and “Stroke to path” again.
If you find too much of the black is covered, remember ctrl+z, tweak a lil more and try again.
Step 10 Bring your shirt layer up to 100% opacity again. Then apply a Gaussian blur of 5 to the wrinkles layer.
Step 11 The wrinkles I have done are one the sides but for loose tops the will be elsewhere. Study how people’s clothes hang and apply the same principles to different areas of the top.
Depending on what colour your shirt is, reduce the opacity of the wrinkle layer, again this is practice and personal preference.
Step 11 Housekeeping, go to your shirt layer and use “Alpha to selection”, press ctrl+I (this reverses the selection). Go to your wrinkle layer and press delete. All this does is satisfy my OCD and makes sure that no wrinkle lines overlap the edge of the shirt, so you can well miss this step.
Step 12 Upload and test. I did a teal version before writing this tut, as you can see it was more effective on the darker colour. I’ll leave you to enjoy and play around.
