Challenge winner and Simple Color Work Tutorial for Paint Shop Pro

The challenge piece #261 that we had to use in this image was just a platform
with wheels.  It became the messenger's "scooter" in my cartoon.

 Simple Color Work Tutorial for Paint Shop Pro

Method for filling in color using selection and layers.

Open a new "canvas" for your image setting the background to "transparent".
Do a drawing using the pen tool set to freehand, #2 width, antialias.  If you do your drawing
on more than one layer, you will have to merge the layers before continuing for the purposes of this tut.  If you do your drawing with vectors, you will have to convert the final drawing to a single raster layer for this tut.  

Under your selection tools, choose the Magic Wand.
Set it to 0 feather and Anti-alias.  My tolerance was set to 24.  Click with the Magic Wand anywhere inside your drawing in a blank area.  You will see the "marching ants" come up inside the drawing.  Don't click on the drawing lines themselves.  What you are doing is selecting the empty area inside the drawing.  

Now look under "Selections". Pick
"modify" and then "Expand".  A window will open.  Set the number to "1" and click OK.  This expands the "marching ants" slightly into the area of your drawing lines.  

Next, create a new layer and move it underneath your current drawing layer. This second layer will be where you put the color.  So you want to be working on that new layer...make sure that you click on the layer in your layer palette so that the color you are now going to add will go onto that layer and not onto your first layer.  Your "marching ants"  will follow you down to your new layer.

Now with your flood Fill Tool or with your Paint Brush Tool, fill in the color inside the selected area.  

Using your Airbrush tool, paint brush, lighten and darken tools, continue adding whatever color you might want to your image.  Some drawings have very narrow areas which may have been missed.  To repair these areas, turn off your selection and use the paint brush or the push tool to fill in those areas.  [You can turn off the selection by clicking on Selections>"Select None".]  

I like to check my image by putting a dark and then a light background behind it to look for areas where the paint might be sticking out beyond the drawing and erase that.  When you are satisfied with everything, shut off any trial background you made and merge your outline drawing and fill-in color layers.

Hint:  I did my drawing using the wonderful site about the artist Andrew Loomis.  Unfortunately, that site is no longer on the internet.