Snap-hiss Dolls

Tights

I'm a toolshader, and I use a complex graphics program. You won't be able to follow this tutorial if you're using MSPaint or something similar. Sorry, it's just how I doll. I'm going to assume you know your way around whatever program you're using, because I use the GIMP and I don't know Photoshop/PSP shortcuts and menus etc. I'm also going to hope you can find what I'm talking about if it's under a different name in your program. And finally I'm going to assume you already know how to use your program pretty well; this tutorial won't teach you how to do things like select or use the airbrush or change tool settings.
So here's the doll I'm going to be starting with. Base by Doll on the Hill Factory. I'm going to show you how to make four kinds of tights (that's pantyhose or stockings for the Americans): opaque, the regular translucent kind, fishnets and patterned tights. Four tutorials in one!

Opaque tights are really easy, you need no special tricks at all. Just fill the legs of your doll with a colour and shade them like any other item of clothing. Simple!

Translucent tights are a little trickier (but still pretty simple if you know how). First, here's what you really shouldn't do. Don't just fill the legs with a colour, then lower the transparency of the tights layer. It makes the doll's legs look really flat, like this.
To start, make a new layer and fill the legs with the tights' colour. Next, you need to do some erasing. Pick a brush about 5 pixels wide, on a very low opacity, no more than about 5%. Start erasing down the centre of the leg, as if you were shading it. The good thing with tights is that because they're skin-tight, you can follow the base shading almost exactly if you're not sure where the light would go. This might take a little while, but just keep going with the eraser and you'll build up some good 'shading'. Why aren't we using a higher opacity if it takes a long time? Because otherwise you'll get nasty lines where your brushstrokes overlap, and that won't look good at all. The middle picture is a half-way through snapshot, one leg is done and I've just started on the other. Zoom out every now and then to make sure both legs are even (i.e. make sure you haven't made one leg really dark and the other really light).

When you've finished erasing, just lower the opacity of the tights layer until they look their best.

Fishnet tights. First, find a good fishnetty pattern, or make your own if you want (you can use this one if you'd like, no need to credit me).
On a new layer, paste the pattern all over the legs. If your base's legs touch or cross, you should offset the pattern a little on one of the legs (just move the pattern down or across by a pixel or so on one leg), so it doesn't look like both of the tights' legs are attatched. Then delete everything outside the legs and colour the pattern how you want. I don't know why, but using pure black doesn't look good. If you want black tights, use a very dark grey instead. Okay, duplicate your tights layer. Hide the top layer so you can see what you're doing. On the bottom layer, get a blur brush, about 5 pixels wide, and blur the edge of the legs as if you were shading to add some shadow. Some of the blur will have gone outside the leg, so delete everything that's not where it should be. Bring back the top layer and merge the two layers together. Using a one-pixel pencil at 50% opacity, add an outline - you can just trace the base's outline. This next step is just like in the translucent tights method. Get your eraser (but this time, the opacity can be higher, about 20%) and 'shade' down the centre of the leg.

And finally, lower the opacity of the tights layer a little and you're done!

Patterned tights are the hardest kind, but they can still be done easily. First of all, and this is really important, you need to pick/make a good pattern. Don't pick a pattern with lots of straight lines, like the one to the right. Because legs don't go in straight lines like that, it won't look good. I'm going to use a pattern from Xandorra's Place.
So, once you have your pattern, paste it on the legs on a new layer and fill it with the right colour. Remember about offsetting the pattern if the legs touch or cross. The next few steps go exactly like the fishnets method, but I'll recap it quickly. So, duplicate your tights layer and hide the top one. Blur the bottom layer at the edges. Delete everything outside the legs, merge the two layers back together and add an outline with the pencil at 50% opacity. With an eraser brush at about 20% opacity, erase down the centre of the legs. That's the patterned part of the tights done, but you're not finished yet. At the moment, the pattern looks a little painted on, and you might be wondering what's holding all the bits of fabric together.

Hide the pattern layer, and create a new layer underneath it. The tights need a little texture. You need a really simple pattern, like the one below (which you can use if you want, no need to credit me). Like before, paste the pattern on the new layer, delete everything outside the legs and turn it the right colour. This step is also just like before, when you 'shaded' the pattern layer but with one difference - you don't need to add an outline this time. So! Duplicate, blur the bottom layer, delete outside the legs, merge and erase along the centre. You should now have two layers - the top layer with the main pattern and the bottom layer with the texture. Make both layers visible.

Finally, just play around with the layer transparencies. The texture layer should have a lower opacity than the main pattern layer. I'd suggest about 45% for the texture and 80% for the main pattern, but it's up to you. And that's it!

I've decided on plain translucent tights for my final doll. Here're some examples of dolls I've made with this method.