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It's been more than six months since I posted my last skin guide, and my style and techniques have definitely changed, since then. I thought it best to post a new tutorial for anyone interested in furthering their talent or learning how to skin. I am by no means the best skinner in the world, but I might have some tips or tricks that help!

Here's a link to another tutorial on how to use MCSkin3D by Goldifish.

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Q : What program do you use?

A : MCSkin3D! I've linked a tutorial Goldifish made for the program above. It's unable to be used by mac users, so for that, I apologize. When I worked on a mac, I'd use a combination of programs - PMCSkin3D, the skindex, minersneedcoolshoes, and gimp. All of these have their useful qualities, but MCSkin3D is by far better and includes much of why I liked all of these programs. 

Q : How long does it take you to make a skin?

A : Around 1-2 hours. I've managed to streamline the process, and really only spend a lot of time on a skin if I'm stuck with the design. Practicing a LOT has helped me cut down on how long it takes me to make a skin, so don't be discouraged if it takes you much longer.

Q :  Do you take commissions? How much do you charge for skins?

A : Yes and no. I'm pretty fickle when it comes to work for people I don't know, so actual 'commissions' open to everyone are sparse. I host auctions with custom slots here and there, whenever I'm in need of money or bored.

I do, however, take commissions for friends and often gift them to people I roleplay with frequently. As for prices, they vary - the auctions usually go for 25$ a piece, but my normal prices are anywhere from 12-20$, depending on what you believe it's worth, and how much you're comfortable with spending. I've also hidden a coupon code somewhere on this post, for anyone to use if they're able to commission a skin from me. The first person to use it will get half off of their commission!

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Each skin I do follows a set of steps. You don't have to follow them yourself, or you can rearrange them, but this is what makes sense for me. I'll go through each step more in depth below.

Step 1 - Acquire references.

Step 2 - Plot base shapes.

Step 3 - Add hat layer.

Step 4 - Adjust the base and hat layers until you're happy.

Step 5 - Ensure your colours are correct.

Step 6 - Make a palette for each colour.

Step 7 - Begin shading each part.

Step 8 - Adjust shading, base and hat layers until you're happy.

Step 9 - Colour correct if you aren't satisfied.

Step 10 - Give it a final glance over, then you're finished!

While this may seem like a lot of steps, or seem like some of them are redundant, it helps me to ensure I'm not missing a piece of the skin. A lot of the time I'll backtrack between the steps if I'm not happy with an area.

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References are a MUST for any of my skins. It's difficult for me to visualize parts, or the theme as a whole without something to look at. This doesn't always have to be in the form of medieval clothing, though - sometimes I'll sketch out a rough idea, find shapes or pieces of clothing I like on Pinterest, or even reference other skins I know I liked in the past. This last part helps me to ensure I maintain a signature 'style' to skinning, and keep my pieces recognizable. 

The best place to find references, in my personal opinion, is Pinterest. It's easy to keep a board and accumulate clothing and art whenever you see something on your home page for later use. Some other skinners on the server keep public reference boards, so poke around and ask some questions if you're struggling to find something. 

A good reference can also be tricky. Ideally, you'd like something that translates well to a minecraft skin, and isn't too simple or too complicated. Some aspects of a reference just won't be able to be conveyed on a minecraft skin, and that's alright! Simply adapt it to keep the same theme or vibe, and it'll look better than if you tried to stick religiously to the reference. Creative freedom is very important in any work of art.

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Base shapes are arguably the most important part of the skinning process. Plotting these down to ensure your design is cohesive and makes sense is a must. They don't have to be the final product, but it's like a sketch for a drawing - your rough draft, something you're able to build off of. 

You don't have to use the correct colours on base shapes. If you're maybe unsure about what colours you're going to want, or you're going to make different versions, it's important to just get the shapes down first. 

Here are some WIP skins I found sitting in my folders. The shapes and direction of the skin is pretty clear, even if it's just the base layer.

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Hat layer is honestly a godsend. When Mojang introduced it, I was over the moon. It adds depth and shape to a minecraft skin that you just couldn't get before. 

COUPON CODE : HALESTORM

The hat layer process follows the same as the base, really - just on the overlay instead of the actual skin itself. When I do the hat layer, I think about what shape I'm trying to convey. For softer, rounder shoulders, I won't put a pixel on the top edge of the arm. For hips, or thiddies, I'll add some pixels to convey protrusion or shape. 

When doing the hat layer, select your base colour, and make it a good degree lighter. If you're using MCSkin3D, use this screen.

The HSVA relates to the hue, saturation, value, and opacity. When changing a base colour to the right shade for a hat layer, I add five, six, seven depending on the shade to the 'V' slider. Then I'll go down five, six, seven depending on the shade to the 'S' slider. It'll be lighter, and less bright than the base colour. Then you're good to go. 

In the second skin, the hat layer has transparent pixels to mimic a sheer fabric. I did this by lowering the 'A' value until I was happy with it, then made a base shape on the hat layer. I then moved the 'A' value down a bit more, and went over it in a criss cross pattern to add texture.

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This is fairly self explanatory, and I can't really show you how to adjust your own skin. Change it until it feels right - maybe that's shaving off a pixel on the hat layer, changing the layout of the base layer  - all depends on you.

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Again, I can't really show you this step. Maybe whilst doing the base you decided on a different colour, or you want a warmer or cooler shade. Go ahead and fix the base colour, then make sure to repeat the hat layer step to get a lighter version of it.

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I used to absolutely HATE this step. Figuring out the different shades of my colours was the worst thing I could imagine, but recently I've come to like it. It helps a great deal to establish a palette on the actual skin itself - just not where it's visible. There's plenty of free space when you go into the 2D view on MCSkin3D that won't show up when you're wearing the skin in game.

As for figuring out palettes, you'll need to head over to the same area I showed you before. 

To make a palette, take your base colour and plot it down on the transparent part of the skin. Make it a 6 or 7 long line, so you have something like this.

I'm doing both a darker colour and a lighter colour so you can see both.

Next, go down four - seven shades on the 'V' value, and go up two - seven on the 'S' value. For brighter colours, like whites, you don't want to add too much of the 'S' value, and have it show up as a bright pink or blue. Essentially, you're wanting to make the actual shade darker, but also brighter. When you have that colour, plot it on the second pixel.

Then continue this process until you've completed the whole line.

Depending on how harsh you want the transition between each shade, you can adjust the 'V' and 'S' of each one. When you've completed a line for each colour, you have your palette! 

If you're wanting to go the extra mile, and make a colour that slowly transitions into another colour, change the 'H' value in either direction. This is a great way to have a blue go towards purple as it gets darker, or whatever other combination you want.

This is the same colour, just moved both ways on the 'H' scale. One towards green, the other towards purple.

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It's also difficult to show you this one the way it'll be most helpful - on your own skin. Each person has their own way of shading, and that's something you need to practice and discover for yourself. 

When I shade, I start with the darkest colour on my palette. I plot out where I want the darkest values / shadows to be, and go from there, up the palette. The second darkest colour around that, then the next, and the next. What I encourage you to avoid, however, is doing this for the whole piece of skin. A 'ripple' effect isn't desirable, in my own personal opinion, and I view it as a 'cop out' or a 'cheap' way of shading. 

Here are two skins I've already finished. I rendered them back to their 'unshaded' state, and then compared them to shading I've done. It is always alright to reference shading other people have done, provided you don't copy everything pixel for pixel - you're free to use any of my skins as references for how to shade, how to select colours, that sort of thing.

Shading is very much a trial and error process, and I encourage you to keep re-doing it and practicing until you're satisfied. I still get unhappy with how I've shaded some pieces, so I simply go back in, change it to the base shade, and try again.

This is what I mean when I reference 'ripple' shading. You start with a colour, and just go around it like this. While, yes, it has the basics of shading - going from one value to the next - it doesn't offer anything to the skin. It doesn't take in where a light source may be, where the shadows may be, that sort of thing. I view it as a 'cheap' way to skin a skin, as though the skinner didn't put much effort into the piece or shading itself. If this is what you like to see, that's great for you - I just personally hate seeing it on otherwise good skins. 

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Again, not something I'm able to show you. Go through your skin and see if you're happy with how you've shaped the skin through the actual base, and then the shading. Maybe increase the light in one area, shadows in another, that sort of thing. 

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Now that you have a complete product, you can see whether the colours you've chosen make sense. If not, you can either re-do the entire section, or take it into a second program. Using GIMP or Photoshop, you can select a certain colour and all the shades around it, then shift the HSVA values as a whole - recolouring it without losing any of the shading. Please do this only on your own skins, and skins you have permission to edit. Taking someone else's work and recolouring it isn't acceptable.

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If you've made it this far and are happy with the finished product, give yourself a pat on the back, and a thumbs up. Maybe even post that skin in a few art channels, show off your hard work. Because that's exactly what it is - hard work. Skinning, even though it's often not perceived as such, is making art. You deserve to feel proud of what you've created.

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And there you have it! A skinning guide by Bunemma. I did purposefully be vague in regards to the shading for two reasons - I don't want you to just copy everything I'm doing without actually realizing the method behind it, and I want you to do it for yourself. There's no point to making an art piece if it's just a copy of something already existing.

That said, I'd love to see your finished works, or skins you've made using any of these techniques. My DMs are always open if you're wanting any advice, critique, or appreciation. Alongside that, here's a link to a skinning discord run by Jouster where you're able to post works in progress, completed skins, ask for commissions, and get feedback on your work.

Below this will be a couple more tutorials for niche things, like folds in fabric and how I do my heads. Both of these are heavily inspired by Scribbe, whose braincell I often steal. Just as a reminder, there's a hidden coupon code somewhere on this post - if you manage to find it and you're the first person to use it, you'll get half off whenever you commission me in the future. 

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