Adding Modiﬁcations with the Pen Tool

Tutorial

Sep 12, 2018

Changing the arc of a curved line is just as hard in Photoshop as it is on paper - assuming the artist is drawing freehand. The artist has to pay attention to keeping the smoothness, the thickness, and the sun-shadow transitions of the original line while carefully adding and removing extra brush strokes. It is a painstaking procedure and often doesn’t provide the desired result in terms of quality of line.

We’ve already learned how to use the Pen tool as a “digital French curve” for drawing smooth strokes and transitions. As one would expect, we can use the same tool for modifying them:

Adding Modiﬁcations with the Pen Tool

(1) Add a Path to the area to be changed by using the Pen tool. Make sure to extend it in both directions so your new line will blend in.

(2) Adjust the Path by adding Anchor Points. Make sure your path curves smoothly into the part that doesn’t have to be changed.

(3) Delete the section that should be changed on the original drawing. Always double-check that you’re working on the right layer.

(4) Stroke the path with the appropriate brush thickness set up. For transitions use the sun-weight instead of the shadow-weight.

(5) Move your path slightly to get the desired sun-shadow effect. Check both endpoints of the path to be sure that they blend in with the rest of the lines.