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Digital Art
The ultimate guide to getting the most out of your digital art projects
Digital Art
The world of digital art is vast, with programs such as Photoshop and
Illustrator dominating the market, alongside 3D software such as Maya,
MODO and CINEMA 4D to name a few. Knowing where to start can be
challenging, but having an initial concept is half the battle. Whether your
area of interest lies in editing photos, painting digital masterpieces or
creating eye-catching typography, or perhaps you prefer building
characters, experimenting with mixed media or using 3D software, The
Digital Art Book explores each of these areas, demonstrating what you
can do to take your projects to the next level. With expert guides on
essential techniques, the book is packed full of step-by-step tutorials so
you can follow along or simply take inspiration for your own work. And
if that wasn’t enough, we have included a free disc full of tutorial files,
so you can use the same images we used, as well as video tuition and
resources such as brushes, textures and models. Enjoy the book.
 Digital Art
Imagine Publishing Ltd
Richmond House
33 Richmond Hill
Bournemouth
Dorset BH2 6EZ
 +44 (0) 1202 586200
Website: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk
Twitter: @Books_Imagine
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ImagineBookazines

Head of Publishing
Aaron Asadi

Head of Design
Ross Andrews

Production Editor
Sarah Harrison

Senior Art Editor

Greg Whitaker

Designer
Abbi Denney

Photographer
James Sheppard

Printed by
William Gibbons, 26 Planetary Road, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XT

Distributed in the UK & Eire by

Imagine Publishing Ltd, www.imagineshop.co.uk. Tel 01202 586200

Distributed in Australia by
Gordon & Gotch, Equinox Centre, 18 Rodborough Road, Frenchs Forest,
NSW 2086. Tel + 61 2 9972 8800

Distributed in the Rest of the World by

Marketforce, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London, SE1 0SU

Disclaimer
The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material lost or damaged in the
post. All text and layout is the copyright of Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this bookazine may
be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher. All copyrights are
recognised and used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review. Although the bookazine has
endeavoured to ensure all information is correct at time of print, prices and availability may change.
This bookazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.

Photoshop is either a registered trademark or trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated

in the United States and/or other countries and is used with express permission.

The Digital Art Book Volume 1 © 2014 Imagine Publishing Ltd

ISBN 978 1909 758 476

Part of the

bookazine series
CONTENTS
DISCOVER THE VERY
BEST TECHNIQUES FOR
CREATING DIGITAL ART
AND ENHANCING YOUR
PROJECTS THROUGH
STEPBYSTEP GUIDES
DIGITAL PAINTING
018 Turn photos into paintings
Photo-inspired artwork
028 Create expert brush effects
Professional paintings
032 Produce a fantasy painting
Dramatic lighting and vibrant colour
038 Paint a steampunk portrait
Light, shadow, colour and texture
042 Create watercolours
Brushes and blend modes
046 Use brushes for grunge art
Brushes, blend modes and textures

CHARACTER
052 Create character concepts
Perspective, lighting and contrast
8
The
056 Bring characters to life
Developing character concepts
ultimate
062 Create stylised characters
Focusing on every component
gui de
to digita
068 Improve your characters l art
Striking designs to convey mood
074 Fine-tune portraits
Convincing characters
082 Add texture and details
Finely sculpted details

62 18 TYPOGRAPHY
090 Design a graphic print poster
Experimenting with fonts
094 Use creative text effects
Producing text from a single image
098 Design 3D type

42
Combining software to produce text
102 Blend graphics and type
52 Making a typographic illustration

006 The Digital Art Book

 98
MIXED MEDIA
108 Combine sketches with
digital techniques
Merging different techniques
112 Combine artistic programs
Using Photoshop and Illustrator
116 Merge comparative styles
Vibrant styles from multiple artists
124 Create vivid portraits
90
Getting creative with mixed media
130 Merge photos with
illustrations
Compositing textures and styles
134 Create a vintage collage
Going back in time through art
138 Use blend modes and 108
brushes
Combining photos with brushes
112
82 3D ART
150
144 Make a realistic human
A 3D portrait that looks like a photo
134 150 Build a dramatic scene
Creating a fighter jet
156 Create realistic objects
Photoreal textures and materials
160 Create an epic landscape
A 3D natural landscape

PHOTO EDITING
166 Turn photos to sketches
144 Sketch effects and editing skills
170 Make art with layers
170
166
The power of layer masks
174 Compose textured portraits
Filters, blend modes and masks
178 Make stunning panoramas
Merging photos
182 Create matte artwork
Photography and painting
188 Use brushes for surreal
composites
Complex compositions

The Digital Art Book 007

Feature

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE

TO DIGITAL ART
GET INSPIRED BY THE MANY WAYS TO CRAFT VISUALS DIGITALLY

008 The Digital Art Book

 The ultimate guide to digital art

D
igital art is a fascinating movement in stunning animations, 3D visualisations, or mixed assets from other software packages. Numerous
bristling with many exciting visual forms. with 2D assets for intricate compositions. plug-ins augment Photoshop’s already formidable
Computer-aided painting, 3D worlds and Illustrator is the go-to program for crisp shapes toolset, such as ArtWork from AKVIS, which helps
dynamic effects all help define this digital and typographic expressions. You can create jumpstart your painting process by converting photos
Renaissance. Most historic and traditional styles can full-blown vector artwork that scales as large as you into real-media works.
be replicated digitally, while the ever-expanding want, or export your creations to other programs for Painter is a potent alternative to Photoshop’s paint
toolsets and capabilities of modern creative software additional work or integration into incredibly game, providing a whole range of brushes, paint
empower techno-savvy artists, animators and pixel-heavy concoctions. styles, and paper textures, along with a highly
graphic designers to formulate new breeds of art that Photoshop is the hub of many visual workflows realistic brush engine. You can even edit Photoshop
enthral viewers. and you can create artwork inside this powerful files directly in Painter!
3D programs such as Maya, CINEMA 4D and 3ds software using both 2D and basic 3D tools, and bring So, read on, get inspired, and create your own
Max enable the creation of models that can be used in various elements such as scanned-in textures or amazing digital artwork!

The Digital Art Book 009

Feature

Beginners can explore

photo painting with
filters, while pros can take
advantage of evolved brush
engines and access to millions
of colours

DIGITAL PAINTING
USE SOFTWARE TO TURN YOUR COMPUTER INTO
THE ULTIMATE CANVAS
So, are you ready to take your painting into the brush engines and instantaneous access to
digital realm? The numerous tools and features of millions of colours.
software such as Photoshop and Painter enable Layers and history states grant digital painters
artists of all skill levels to create art appropriate the full freedom to explore their creativity without
for their experience. Beginners can explore photo fear of failure, so if you make an artistic wrong
painting with filters and guide layers, while turn, you can delete or rearrange your layers, or
professionals can take advantage of evolved simply go back through your history.

FOUR WAYS TO PAINT DIGITALLY

JUST A FEW OF THE BEST WAYS YOU CAN GET CREATIVE WITH A COMPUTER

01 MERGE TOGETHER PAINT

AND TEXTURES
One of the big advantages of painting
02 53%Ĉ0,5'Ɏ).3
Plug-ins such as AKVIS’s
ArtWork turbocharge Photoshop’s
03 GO ABSTRACT
Without the need to purchase
a canvas for every artistic endeavor,
04 COMPOSITE AND PAINT
You can mix together
compositing, filters and painting for a
digitally is the ability to create your already rich artistic capabilities. This you’re free to let loose and complex masterpiece. Here, a lot of
work across multiple layers. This image was created using a variety of experiment! Go abstract and let your hand-painting was done throughout,
gives you the flexibility to move and ArtWork’s filters, which mimic feelings flow out from your stylus or but the more-intricate techno details
edit your composition’s elements at traditional media. Layer masks, mouse. Mix in random scraps for were first composited, processed
will. You can also intersperse various blend modes and Photoshop’s Mixer added mixed-media fun. with artistic filters, then painted over
textures and grit. brush were employed to meld for a final macabre glaze.
everything together.

010 The Digital Art Book

 The ultimate guide to digital art

CHARACTER
CREATING AN APPEALING
CHARACTER STARTS WITH
DEVELOPING A PERSONALITY
When it comes to creating characters, there are currently a multitude of
digital options available. Photoshop can offer simple paint and sketch
possibilities and also has a great community. Illustrator can also
provide a fantastic toolset, if vector artwork is your flavour. Let’s not
forget the 3D players such as 3ds Max and Maya. But before you turn to
your chosen application, don’t forget the important goal, which is to
create a character with appeal. You need to go deeper than just
technique and tools – you need to create a personality, a background
story, a purpose and, above all, an attitude.

Executing good
technique and using
the right tools is a great place
to start, but these will never
replace a great concept

INJECT SOME CHARACTER

SOME IMPORTANT TIPS TO REMEMBER FOR BRINGING OUT PERSONALITY IN YOUR CREATIONS

01 TEXTURE USING SOME

BLENDING MODES
Adding texture to your character can
02 EYES REVEAL THE SOUL
Don’t ever underestimate the
importance of eyes in your character
03 PRODUCE A STRONG
SILHOUETTE
Dynamic posing is a technique used
04 DON’T FORGET THE
ENVIRONMENT
A successful character illustration
bring a greater level of realism. designs. The eyes are a window to by character illustrators and comic has to relate information about the
Simply import a texture image into the soul and if executed correctly, can book masters alike. It simply means character and about a greater
Photoshop, then copy and paste it relate an incredible amount of silhouette character posing. The narrative. By focusing on the
onto a new layer over your character. information about your character’s viewer needs to immediately know character alone, this can be quite a
Change the blending mode until you motivation, attitude and personality. what is happening. Check your poses challenge. Many accomplished artists
have the required look. Remember: study your reference. by filling the character with black on a rely on using background elements
white background. to relate important information.

The Digital Art Book 011

Feature

Use a sprinkle of
typography, devise
a poster with variations of
a letter, or make words
with a commanding
presence in a layout

TYPOGRAPHY
Have you ever noticed the artistry behind a well-designed font? Yes? Well, why not
add words and letterforms to your artistic arsenal? You can use a light sprinkle of
typography, devise a poster with just variations of a single letter, or make words a
commanding presence in a layout.
LOOK AT TYPE IN A DIFFERENT WAY Different font families add different types of flavour. Calligraphic and script fonts
can lend looping, swirling elegance, while blocky Sans Serif fonts can add
AND WIELD IT TO UNLEASH THE no-nonsense rigidity to chaotic spreads. Illustrator is the perfect typographic
BEAUTY OF LETTERFORMS environment, enabling you to hone each detail. You can also combine primitive
shapes to form your own unique lettering.

BUILD UNIQUE TYPOGRAPHY

FOUR INSPIRING WAYS TO TURN ORDINARY TYPE INTO EXCITING ARTWORK

01 CREATE YOUR OWN

LETTERFORMS
Illustrator is the ultimate playground
02 WEATHER AND GRUNGE
Photoshop can aid you in
removing the sheen of perfection
03 KEEP IT SIMPLE
This stripped-down layout
was started with a few smoke shots
04 PLAY WITH 3D
With Photoshop CC, it’s
easier than ever to play with 3D.
for creating and combining shapes inherent in digital works with a nice merged together. FontFabric.com is Quickly add dimensional oomph to
that can scale freely. Start with a helping of grunge. Blend old paper a great place to go for elegant fonts, a your text and shapes with just one
simple array of geometric shapes, scans, cut and paste newspaper great deal of which are free. Here click, then use the intuitive 3D tools
combine them to create your own scraps, or desaturate and alter Code was used to complete the and on-canvas controls to arrange
letterforms, then bring it all into colours and tones using one of the typographic composition. them in 3D space.
Photoshop and apply texture and many adjustment layers.
various adjustments.

012 The Digital Art Book

 The ultimate guide to digital art

There really are no

mistakes when working
digitally; if you hit a snag,
you can undo
your steps or
rearrange your layers

MIXED MEDIA
Digital mixed media can be one of the most liberating artistic undertakings. Scan
images, textures and drawings, then blend them with digital assets for spectacular
unions. There really are no mistakes when working digitally; if you hit a snag,
simply back-track your steps or rearrange your layers. Sometimes the process of
BLUR THE LINES BETWEEN DIGITAL jumbling layers can lead to pleasantly unexpected variations.
Photoshop is the main program to use when constructing mixed media, but
AND TRADITIONAL FORMATS FOR since most creative software use a layer-based approach, you could try using
TRULY UNIQUE RESULTS Illustrator or even a page-layout program like InDesign to blend media. So, without
any further ado, let’s get mixing.

MIX UP YOUR ARTWORK

LET YOUR IMAGINATION TAKE CONTROL BY UTILISING MULTIPLE FORMATS

01 COPY AND PASTE

Create a collage without the
paper cuts! Gather your photos and
02 MIX WITH ILLUSTRATION
Illustration and mixed media
have always been good teammates.
03 COMBINE WITH 3D
By taking a sci-fi slant to the
canvas, you can jumble brush
04 GO STREET STYLE
Hit the streets (from the
safety of your studio). Harness the
paper scans, then use Photoshop’s Start with an illustration, or dust off explorations with digital shapes and chaotic energy of street art and create
Polygonal Lasso or Pen tool to make one that you began but could never 3D renders to create an exciting a masterpiece fit for the back alley.
imperfect selections. You can simply quite finish. Cut up and scan some fusion that will really stand out. See Use various spatter brushes, images
copy and paste these into your main random bits of paper, then arrange what other combinations of styles and street textures to produce
document to build up your them within your illustration. and genres you can come up with. beautifully chaotic creations.
composition until complete.

The Digital Art Book 013

Feature

3D digital art is one of

the easiest mediums to
learn and master. After all, we
do live in a 3D world

3D ART
CREATING A 3D MASTERPIECE HAS NEVER
BEEN MORE POSSIBLE THAN TODAY
Once upon a time the art world was a master and apprentice affair, where most people
could only aspire to become an artist. However, with the advent of digital hardware,
software and more importantly the internet, being artistically creative has never been so
easy. Not only is it more accessible than ever, the planet seems to be full of people
itching to share their creative knowledge. This is especially true in the world of 3D.
Whether you’re interested in 3D architectural visualisation, modelling, character
animation, abstract artwork or even cinematic matte painting, both the tools and a
vibrant community are just waiting to be explored.

ENTER THE WORLD OF CG

FOUR WAYS YOU CAN TAKE YOUR WORK TO THE NEXT DIMENSION

01 BRING A NEW SPIN

There are many traditional
art forms which, when brought into
02 TRY CONTRASTING LIGHT
AND SHADOW
A difficult challenge has always been
03 BRING LIFE TO YOUR
CHARACTER CREATIONS
Once a character has been modelled
04 EXPERIMENT WITH
FANTASTICAL WORLDS
By using good reference, lighting,
the 3D world, offer a whole new spin. balancing light areas with shadow. In in 3D, adding an animation rig will modelling, texturing and rendering,
For instance, graffiti, which has other mediums, the ability to create enable you to play with poses. This, you can explore worlds that are not
always been restricted to a 2D convincing and consistent lighting is coupled with varying the camera readily accessible. These can include
surface. Mix in a little 3D and the quite hard to master. However, in a angle, can add a certain attitude or the microscopic, outer space, the
possibilities are quite striking. true 3D environment, lighting and personality, without the need to deepest oceans, the past, the future
shadows are both accurate and easy redraw the character. or even hostile environments, just to
to manage. name a few.

014 The Digital Art Book

 The ultimate guide to digital art

Apply intense effects and

use eye-catching techniques
to promote your photos beyond
dusty albums and into cutting-edge
advertisements and murals

PHOTO EDITING
The rise of digital cameras has led to a photo-editing revolution. Anyone
who has ever taken a digital snapshot has seen the results on-screen and
wondered how it could be improved. Tone and colour can be corrected,
red-eye can be abolished and extraneous detail can be cropped away.
ELEVATE YOUR PHOTOS INTO Sure, that’s all helpful. A focused and tonally sound photo can be a
beautiful thing. How about we take it even further? Blend disparate photos,
BEAUTIFUL WORKS WITH CREATIVE apply intense and exotic effects and use eye-catching techniques to
PHOTO EDITING promote your photos beyond dusty albums and into cutting-edge
advertisements and exciting murals.

TAKE YOUR DIGITAL PHOTOS FURTHER

INCORPORATE YOUR OWN PICTURES INTO YOUR CANVAS

01 GET CREATIVE WITH

PHOTOSHOP MASKS
Photoshop’s clipping masks let you
02 SPLIT TONE IT
Experimenting with
juxtapositions of photos can produce
03 MAKE A STATEMENT
Is your photo lacking
something? Try giving it a hand by
04 USE BLEND MODES
Photoshop’s exquisite library
of blend modes is the secret weapon
create windows of visibility. For some impressive results. Case in creating a bold declaration manually, for photographers and graphic
example, you can use a word as a point, the wild diver here was or use a nice handwritten font (or designers who love to experiment
mask and clip a picture inside. Here jumbled with an almost random even combine both). You could end up and mix their photos together. This
multiple masks were used to create a roster of textures and flora, then with a print-worthy addition to your image was constructed using a
lively sprawl of windows using the split-toned to get a moody blend that portfolio with minimal sweat. picture of a woman, a bokeh shot and
same photo. borders on abstraction. various textures.

The Digital Art Book 015

DIGITAL PAINTING
TURN YOUR FAVOURITE
PHOTOGRAPHS INTO
PAINTINGS OR LEARN
42
TO PAINT ARTWORK
FROM SCRATCH
18 Turn photos into paintings
Photo-inspired artwork

28 Create expert brush effects

Professional paintings

32 Produce a fantasy painting

Dramatic lighting and vibrant colour

38 Paint a steampunk portrait

Light, shadow, colour and texture

42 Create stunning watercolours

Brushes and blend modes

46 Use brushes for grunge art

Brushes, blend modes and textures

28

32 38
016 The Digital Art Book
25

24
22

23

26
27

The Digital Art Book 017

Digital painting

Sketch it out
Use a small, hard brush, or pick the
Pencil tool to create a rough sketch.
Don’t worry about being too precise; a
few rough lines will help your image
look all the more realistic

SOURCE FILES  PHOTOSHOP

AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

TURN PHOTOS
INTO PAINTINGS
TRANSFORM PHOTOSHOP INTO A DIGITAL CANVAS USING
THESE FAILSAFE TECHNIQUES FOR REALISTIC MEDIA EFFECTS

D
igital art is a fantastic avenue for creatives to This means that whatever version of Photoshop you are
explore, with a host of techniques and tools to help using, you will be able to follow along. Yes, CS5 and above
you make something to be proud of. But there can have a bunch of shiny, real-media brushes all ready and raring
be an issue with digital artwork. Unless a concerted to go, however, if you have a different version, you will not be
effort is made, the results can lack the texture and tactile left behind. Everything is created with a mouse, and
nature of real media. Now we said that an effort needs to be photographs are used as the basis, so you do not even have to
made. The good news is that even a small amount of effort be able to draw.
can give a fantastic result. By getting clever with a In addition to a general look at the best painting tools, we
combination of techniques, you can make amazing art. have four projects that create digital versions of popular
Over the following pages, you will discover all of the tricks mediums; namely oil, charcoal, watercolour and pencil sketch.
needed for emulating traditional art media. In researching We will share our tricks for re-creating them in Photoshop,
these, we deliberately limited the equipment and tools used. helping ensure you get the best results every time.

018 The Digital Art Book

 Photos to paintings

Scatter the brush Mixed media with blend modes

If you increase the Scattering value from the To add the final flourish to your painting,
Brush palette, you can rough up the edges of scan in some real brush marks and use the
your brush and make it look more realistic. blend modes to make them merge with
Uniform strokes are the hallmark of digital your image. Adjust the colour with Hue/
– real media is more random Saturation to make things just so

Introduce texture
Once you have sorted the main image, be bold
with large, sweeping textured strokes. Use the
Texture setting from the Brush palette to make a
defined pattern and ensure the Opacity slider in
Transfer is low for maximum effect

Know your tools

You have different
ways of applying paint
in Photoshop, but all
will use brush tips to
give the final effect.
Here the Smudge tool
was used to smear and
blend splots of colour,
with an oil brush tip
for the buttery,
smooth finish

The Digital Art Book 019

Digital painting

GETTING STARTED QUICK TIP

A FEW PREPARATION TRICKS TO GET YOUR ARTWORK UNDERWAY FIX MESSY SCANS

Just as a traditional artist might make some preliminary sketches or colour studies If you have scanned in a sketch and find that the Levels
before creating a main image, there are a few tasks the digital artist can do to set command is picking up unwanted detail, use the Black and
themselves up for a more successful result. All of these can be followed whatever style White command instead. Sometimes your scanner will pick
you are working in, and will help ensure that you give your work the best start possible. up texture in the background, which the Levels adjustment
accentuates. A quick whack of Black and White, however,
and you can proceed with the Levels as normal.

SCAN IN ELEMENTS

01 CREATE YOUR ELEMENTS

We’re going to scan in some charcoal marks
to turn into brushes. The first task is obviously to
02 INPUT SCANNER SETTINGS
Although scanning software differs, there is
one thing you absolutely have to do. Look for the
03 EDIT FOR USE
Open your scan and use Image>
Adjustments>Levels in Photoshop or Enhance>
make the marks, in this case charcoal on white setting to dictate the resolution of the object you are Adjust Lighting>Levels in Elements to whiten the
paper. Use a pale background if possible. You can scanning – put this to 600. That way you have a bit background and darken the sketch. Drag the white
also use this technique to scan your sketches. more flexibility in terms of editing and use. slider to the left, and the black slider to the right.

CORRECT COLOUR
Part of the joy of painting with Photoshop is that you
can play with colour in a way that is out of reach to
traditional artists. Let’s say you have a daytime shot
but you want to paint a sunset scene. Open up the
Photo Filter command and apply a deep yellow or
red filter. Job done! Maybe you are going to paint a
portrait, but aren’t keen on the colour clothes the
subject is wearing. Make a selection of the area and
use Hue/Saturation to alter the colour. Once you
have finished the painting, you might find that it looks
a little drab. Use the Vibrance command to inject
some zing, or use Brightness/Contrast to strengthen CONSTRUCT
the highlights or shadows.
SCENES
Even if you are solely relying on a photo for
reference, you don’t have to put up with what
reality serves. Use the selection tools, copy and
paste, plus some transform magic to construct
the precise scene you want. In our example, the
starting photo was okay but it lacked foreground
interest. This was fixed by selecting trees and
flowers from another image, and copying and
pasting them. The Free Transform tool was used
to get these pasted objects to the right size.
Another sky was also added. It doesn’t matter if
the selections aren’t perfect or the objects a bit
pixellated, as this will all be hidden with a layer of
digital paint!

020 The Digital Art Book

 Photos to paintings

THE ESSENTIALS
BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO THE BEST TOOLS

Obviously there is a high amount of creative freedom when it comes to you actually making your
painting, but there are also a few set skills and elements that you will call upon whatever type of
image you are dabbling with. All of these will make an appearance in your work. You may only use
one or two at a time, but keep them in mind and you can rest assured your work will shine.

BRUSHES
The key to a realistic effect is picking the correct
brush. Photoshop and Elements ship with a raft of
brush tips’ some tailored to media effects such as
oil, watercolour and pastel. These, coupled with the
FRAMES
Create a mount by cutting out an area on a doc
tweaks that can be made should be all you need. If and applying a small bevel. For a simple
not, you can pick up free brushes online, or if you frame, use a big brush on a new layer over the
have a specific need, make your own. painting, click on a corner, hold Shift and click
in the opposite corner. Repeat for all edges.

FILTERS
Although Photoshop hasn’t got a filter that will
instantly create a great work of art (we have
looked!), they work well for prepping a photo.
The Artistic filters are a treasure trove for this,
with Cutout and Palette Knife being the best.

SPECIAL TOOLS
The Smudge tool and the Art History tool (the
Impressionist brush in Elements) can take
colour and shape information from a photo
and then translate the information into the

SET UP effect of whatever brush is chosen.

THE CANVAS
A lot of artists will roughly block in a canvas with
colour to avoid staring at a blank space, and you can
do the same when setting up your document. Pick a
colour that complements the overall tone of your
image (red for warm scenes, blue for cool) and
brush over at low opacity. Also use the Texturizer
filter or Texture layer style to add a texture.

LAYERS
An artist has to wait for paint to dry if
they want to add paint on top of paint,
but we get to do it instantly thanks to
the Layers palette. In addition to
isolating different areas on layers so
MAKING
they can be edited without affecting SELECTIONS
the rest of the image, layers also offer Selections are great for building a start photo,
blend modes to incorporate texture or isolating areas for specific brushwork,
and layer styles for special effects. colour tweaks or deletion (things don’t always
go right!). And you don’t have to be too precise,
because you can paint over any stray pixels.

The Digital Art Book 021

Digital painting

APPLY AND ADAPT BRUSHES

THE BRUSHES ARE ESSENTIAL TOOLS IN YOUR DIGITAL PAINTING QUEST, SO LEARN HOW TO BLEND THEM TO YOUR WILL

The brushes in Photoshop would be pretty smart on their own, but combined with the
customisation options in the Brush palette, you have all you need to get the precise look
you want. In addition to the obvious size and opacity options, you can play with texture,
wetness, angles and more. If you have a graphics tablet, ensure you enable pressure
sensitivity so you can adapt settings by pushing harder or lighter. For everyone else, get
used to using the [ and ] keys to change brush size and keep the Brush palette open to
make changes on the fly.

CONTROL BRUSHES IN ELEMENTS

Select the Brush tool in Elements and hit the Brush Settings button. Here you have sliders to
control Fade, Hue Jitter, Scattering, Hardness and Roundness. You also have an Angle setting for
adjusting the angle of a brush and enabling you to squish it. If you have a tablet, use the Tablet
Settings area to decide how it is controlled. In addition to these, you can also adjust size, opacity
and blend mode from Brush Tool Options.

Shape Dynamics Spacing Texture and

Scattering
transfer

Without texture

With texture

TEXTURE AND
TRANSFER
Use the Texture option to add texture to
brushstrokes. You can pick the type of
texture used as well as how visible it is.
This is controlled with the Opacity Jitter
slider in Transfer.

Without Scattering
Normal
Without spacing

Size Jitter
With Scattering
With spacing
Angle Jitter SCATTERING
SPACING SHAPE DYNAMICS This option is very important if you are
The Brush Tip Shape option holds the Spacing slider. emulating a charcoal, chalk or pastel
This compresses or separates the elements that Two sliders really stand out in this set – Size Jitter and effect, as by whacking the Scatter slider
make up a brush. If you want a light, random dab of Angle Jitter. The first alters the size of the brush as you up, you can give the effect of using the
a brush, whack this slider up. For a more intense use it. Angle Jitter alters the direction of the brush at the charcoal or pastel on its side. Artists do
brush stroke, bring it down. edges and is great for mimicking a splayed brush. this to quickly block in large areas.

022 The Digital Art Book

 Photos to paintings

LAYERS AND SPECIAL EFFECTS

USE LAYERS FOR THE ULTIMATE REAL MEDIA EFFECTS

Although the vast majority of your time will revolve around the brushes you pick and how you use them, layers and layer styles will help take your work
over the finishing line. Adding the look of texture and depth is the easiest way to trick the eye into thinking it is seeing a real, physical painting.

Blanket texture Blend modes

The Filter>Texture> Layer blend modes are invaluable for
Texturizer command is building up a background texture (or
always good for quickly any areas of texture, come to that). Get
adding texture over a your texture in place and then work
whole layer or a selection. through them to see which one suits
You can pick the type of your image. How they work will depend
texture to add and also on the colours in your image, but
control how obvious it is Multiply, Overlay and Soft Light are
good ones to start with

Thick marks
The Bevel and Emboss layer
style is also a darling for oil or
acrylic effects. Create a new
layer above your image and add
a Bevel and Emboss layer style,
set to Pillow Emboss. Choose
your brush and pick a colour
that blends with an area of
your image. Make a few brush
marks and it will look as
though it is raised

Make detail stand out

In order to make fine lines stand
out, a traditional artist would use
a thin brush and emphasise with a
highlight or shadow. Do this
quickly by putting detail on a
separate layer and then use the
Bevel and Emboss layer style set
to Inner Bevel
Keep elements safe
Isolate areas on layers so
they can be edited later.
You might like to separate
areas out into layers, or
have a final one for
freehand or detail work

QUICK TIP
BRUSH WITH BLEND MODES

In addition to applying blend modes to an

entire layer in one swathe, you can use Tidy with groups
If you have a long list of
them for every brush stroke. In this image, layers that relate to the
same thing, select them
we used the Smudge tool on a layer set to by Shift-clicking and go to
Layer>Make Group
Linear Burn. The colour is intense and
vibrant compared with the Normal mode.

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Digital painting

OIL LANDSCAPE
CREATE JUICY, OPAQUE, TEXTURED WORKS OF WONDER

Traditional oil painting is a lot of fun that offers artists a range of possibilities. Oil paints can be diluted
with turps to give a washy feel, but they are generally used opaquely. Oil paintings tend to be bumpy
terrains, with layers of paint forming to give a crusty feel. You can mimic this look in Photoshop, but for
a great project, print your digital oil onto inkjet canvas and embellish with real paint. Sticking digitally,
though, the Wet Media Brushes set houses good oil options. Angle Jitter in Shape Dynamics will
emulate the choppy brush movement artists favour. Use the Brush Tip Shape for the oval shape of a
filbert brush. Texture-wise, oils are known for being on canvas. Make sure you have bits of canvas Original
showing, but only in some areas. Oddly, the less texture, the more realistic it is.

Digitally painted

Visible texture
Create a new layer and
add texture with the
Texturizer filter. Use
blend modes to sink it
into the image

Dabbed application
Oil painters tend to dab at
the canvas. You can mimic
this by making an oval brush
and keeping your strokes
short and ‘stubby’

Buttery effect
It’s tricky to get the precise
look of really thick oil paint,
but one way is to make a new
layer, add a Pillow emboss
layer style and then using a
suitable colour, brush over
small areas of the image. Keep
this small as it can quickly
look fake

ALL HAIL CUTOUT FAKE REAL BRUSHES

The Cutout filter is perfect for simplifying photos to get them ready for over-painting Amazingly, the brushes used by oil artists can all be faked in Photoshop.
with oil effects. Because oils are so wet, an artist has to wait for them to dry slightly The Filbert brush (sometimes called a Cat’s Tongue brush) is great for
before progressing. A usual workflow is a building up texture with dabs and can also be used on its side for a thick
roughing in stage with very weak oil to block in and thin effect. Use the Light Oil Flat Tip brush from Wet Media, and
tonal values, and then overlaying this with a select the Brush Tip Shape Angle device to squeeze into an oval.
thicker layer for more detail. The final touch is An artist’s flat brush is used for blocking in large areas and can be
to bring in the detail. replicated in Photoshop with the Square Brush set. Pick any of them,
The Cutout filter is a good way to replicate increase the Scatter slider from
this process, as you can set up your photo for Scattering slightly, add Texture and turn
each stage. Then, by forcing yourself to paint in Wet Edges on.
separate layers in your document, you will find Use round brushes for detailed areas
that detail from lower layers show through and fine lines. Go for the Basic Brushes
where you have missed parts on the layer you set for this and pick a hard, round brush.
are currently working on (and you will miss In Shape Dynamics increase Size, Angle
bits!). This helps give a feeling of depth. and Roundness Jitter.

024 The Digital Art Book

 Photos to paintings

Digitally
CHARCOAL PORTRAIT
GET THE DARK AND DRAMATIC EFFECT OF CHARCOAL WITHOUT THE MUCKY HANDS
painted
Charcoal is a lovely medium but man-oh-man is it messy! It is therefore good to Charcoal side
The hair was created
know that a very realistic charcoal effect can be achieved in Photoshop. with a large Scatter
setting, to give the
Because charcoal is so soft, any photo you are working from needs to be heavily impression that the
area had been blocked
simplified. Then it is a case of setting up a strong texture for the canvas and getting in by a piece of
charcoal on its side
the brushes ready. The Natural Brush set offers a good range of tips; drop Spacing,
increase Scattering for blocking in areas, set Texture and play with Transfer for how
light or dark you want the effect to be. Artists hold charcoal on it side for big blocks
of colour, which can be handled by the Scatter option.
Charcoal images usually have areas of smudging, either deliberately or because
a hand has inadvertently smudged something. Simply scan in real charcoal marks
and incorporate using blend modes for the ultimate realistic touch.

Soness
Charcoal images usually have areas To emulate how an artist
smudges charcoal, either
with their finger or a
of smudging, either deliberately or smudge stick, select an
area with a high Feather and
apply Gaussian Blur
because a hand has inadvertently
smudged something
Detail marks
Reduce Scatter to bring in the
suggestion of detail. A
crosshatch effect is nice to
PREPARE YOUR PHOTO have in areas

Original

01 ISOLATE YOUR SUBJECT

Charcoal portraits are usually on a plain background, so
make a rough selection of the subject. A simple Lasso will suffice.
02 QUICK TIDY
If any areas were missed, pick the Eraser tool to get rid
of them. This can be quite rudimentary because any mistakes
Copy and paste onto a new layer and turn off the Background layer. can be sorted. Convert the image to black and white.

03 BUMP UP THE CONTRAST

Most filters work best with a decent amount of contrast.
Either use the Brightness/Contrast command or pick Vibrance. Keep
04 THE FILTER
Duplicate and go to Filter>Artistic>Palette Knife. This
softens the edges. As a general rule, go for a Stroke Size: 45%,
tones, but aim for deep shadows and bright highlights. Stroke Detail: 3 and Softness: 8. Transfer to the canvas.

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Digital painting

WATERCOLOUR EFFECTS
COMBINE REAL BRUSH MARKS WITH DIGITAL FOR A WATERCOLOUR MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN
CREATE BRUSHES
FOR WATERCOLOUR
Achieving a realistic watercolour effect in Photoshop is like chasing the Holy Grail, and while
we would love to say we cracked the code, it didn’t happen. To achieve the whole gamut of
watercolour effects, you have to use brushes created with a real brush and real watercolours.
Most watercolour paintings start with water being brushed over the paper and then colour
being added. This results in softer colours, with more intense colour in some places where
the paint has pooled. Watercolour can also be used with a drier brush, and because the paper
is usually rough, the paint skims the top, giving wonderful texture. Most watercolours are
simple in their shapes, so don’t get caught up with trying to capture minute detail.

Real and digital

Most of the colours here
were added with a digital
brush, but we also used
scanned in elements from
real watercolour
Erase for white
For highlights, artists will
either use acrylic or more
often, leave parts of the
paper unpainted. Use the
01 PICK YOUR BRUSH
A good hive of watercolour brushes is the
Natural Brush 2 set. Pick a watercolour one, open the
Eraser with one of your
brushes to erase back to Brush palette.
the canvas

02 BRUSH SHAPE
Click on Brush Tip Shape. Drag the Spacing
slider to 0, to avoid drag in the brush strokes.

So colours
Watercolour paints
dry pale. Achieve
the same effect by
using a brush with
low opacity

Digitally painted
No hard black
You rarely see deep, dark black in
watercolour paintings. Instead
artists mix blue, red and brown to
get a dark colour. You can just pick a
dark blue or red 03 SPREAD OUT
Watercolour paint spreads, so go to Shape
Dynamics and increase Size Jitter. Go to Scattering and
To achieve the whole gamut Original increase Scatter.

of watercolour effects, you

have to use brushes created with a
real brush and real watercolours
QUICK TIP
START WITH FILTERS

Don’t be tempted by the Watercolor filter. Your best bet is the Sumi-e filter
from Artistic. This softens a photo and adds subtle bleed. Now couple with
some enhanced Watercolor brushes for a killer real media combination. 04 LOVELY TEXTURE
Pick a texture in Texture, go to Transfer and
increase Opacity. Finally turn Wet Edges on.

026 The Digital Art Book

 Photos to paintings

SKETCH STUDIES
COMBINE AUTO COMMANDS AND FILTERS FOR GRAPHITE ART

We’ve all created a pencil sketch of some sorts at one stage in our lives, so this is an easy one to get to
grips with. You don’t have to worry about texture, and a lot of the effect can be handled by Photoshop; you
just have to control sliders. But for the best results, you need to roll up your sleeves and go freestyle. A
pencil sketch has clear characteristics. If a large area is to be covered, you need to mimic a pencil being
used on its side, or get that darker colour caused by marks overlapping. Move your mouse or stylus in
the same way as you’d use a pencil and you won’t go far wrong.

Good brushes
Brush selection is
simple for a sketch
effect. Either use
the Pencil tool (it
sits with the Brush
tool) or open the
Basic Brush set and
pick a small Hard
Mechanical brush

Original
Erase and replace
Instead of having lines go all the
way to the edge, use the Eraser to
cut into the image and then on a
Two tools is all you need blank layer, draw some lines back
For a really quick sketch effect, in. Do not be too accurate – you
go to Filter>Other and select just need to give the impression
High Pass and then Image> of a work in progress
Adjustments>Threshold. Move
the slider to see the detail

Go black and white

Most sketches are in
monochrome, so convert your
photo to black and white
initially. Choose a setting that
offers a lot of contrast

Make them marks

Incorporate traditional
marks in your image.
Crosshatch is a classic mark
made with the pencil
USE MASKS
FOR COLOUR
It’s nice to include colour in sketches, and it’s
easy with a photo. Have your photo layer on
the bottom, your sketch in the middle and
then a duplicate of the sketch on top. Turn
off the original sketch, click the top one and
click the Add Layer Mask icon. Pick a small
Hard Mechanical brush from the Basic
Brushes set. Click on the layer mask and
using the movements you’d make with a
Digitally painted pencil, scribble over areas to reveal colour.

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Digital painting

CREATE EXPERT SOURCE FILES 

AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

BRUSH EFFECTS
PRODUCE A DIGITAL PAINTING USING PHOTOSHOP
PHOTOSHOP

BRUSHES, BLEND MODES AND MORE

D
igital painting is one of the most convenient ways of producing This tutorial can actually be completed mainly using Photoshop’s
art, especially when done in Photoshop. It offers a wide default brushes, with a few tweaks to their properties and modes, but we
spectrum of colours, layers, adjustments, transform tools, the have supplied you with a set of custom brushes. The use of a tablet and
History window and more that will save you the trouble when stylus is highly recommended for this tutorial. This can be done with a
fixing things. Exercising your creative judgement and learning the art mouse, but it would take more time.
itself is still the biggest factor in creating a traditional or digital painting.
In this tutorial we’ll tackle different ways to make a digital painting.
We’ll use a different approach when making the background, which
Exercising your creative judgement
involves working on a black-and-white image and using layer Blend and learning the art itself is still the
Modes. For the character we will be blocking in colours immediately with
the Brush tool. We’ll also cover other tools we can use to create the
biggest factor in creating a traditional or
painting faster without sacrificing quality. digital painting

SET THE SCENE

MAKE SURE YOU GET IT RIGHT FROM THE START

01 GET STARTED
Starting up a painting can be quite
intimidating, so after opening your canvas apply a
02 MAKE AN INITIAL PASS
It’s advisable to work on the background
first to establish the light sources for your main
03 USE PERSPECTIVE LINES
The scene is going to have a city
background in order to add a solid foundation, so
gradation or fill of grey using the Gradient or Paint subject or character. Use a hard-edged brush with bringing in perspective lines is a must. To create a
Bucket tool. Create a new layer (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+N) pressure-sensitive opacity. You can also use the perspective line, simply use your Line tool (U) set to
and start slapping down paint using any kind of Smudge tool with a dotted brush tip to create Pixels with a weight of 2-5px. Hold Shift, click and
brush, just to get you started. Ensure you take your interesting texture. If you are using a mouse to apply, drag horizontally, then repeat, duplicate and merge
time to build the idea and composition by making try to lower the opacity of your brush to provide all of the lines. Make sure you use highly saturated
rough thumbs. greater control. colours for readability.

028 The Digital Art Book

Expert brush effects

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Digital painting

04 BUILD QUICK SHAPES

Now we’ll work on the structures of the
background. Use the Polygonal Lasso tool (L) or the
05 LAY OUT THE CITYSCAPE
Make a copy of your perspective lines and use the transform tools (Cmd/Ctrl+T) to position your lines
as a guide for the cityscape. While the Transformation box is active, Ctrl/right-click and the other options of
Pen tool (set to Path) to build shapes of the the Transform tool will appear. Use Distort and/or Perspective as you see fit. After setting up your perspective
structures in the background, then fill them with lines, drop that layer’s Opacity to around 30%. Go back to the structures you made on the previous step and
grey. You can bring in more details by using the Line use the transformation tools to lay out the cityscape.
and Brush tools. Remember to hold Shift before
clicking, so the outcome will be straight for the
Brush tool. At this point it’s not that important for the
piece to have much detail, a few sets of different
structures and shape variations will suffice.

06 ADD SOME COLOUR

To start applying colour, make a new layer,
set its mode to Color and use the Gradient tool and
QUICK TIP
CHECK READABILITY AS YOU GO
brushes. Another method is merging all the layers
Go to Window>Arrange>New Window For,
you want to colour, using Hue/Saturation (Cmd/
to open up a new window for your file.
Ctrl+U) then clicking Colorize, set your preferences
Keep this new window small and in full
then press OK. Pick the Brush tool, change its mode
view, as it automatically updates while
to Color (hold Shift+Ctrl/right-click) and paint directly
you work on the active window. Look at it
on the image layer. It’s recommended to use Color
from time to time so you can quickly view
blending mode as it doesn’t require that you merge
the readability of your painting.
any image layers below it.

07 REFINE THE RESULTS

To further polish the painting, create a new Normal layer. Since
the cityscape is slanted, use the Rotate View tool and position your view
to an upright position as it makes painting much easier. Using a
hard-edged brush with pressure-sensitive opacity, go to the settings
08 BLOCK IN THE CHARACTER
Create a new layer and, using the Paint Bucket tool, fill it with any low-saturated
colour, setting its Opacity to 90%. This is enough for you to see the background beneath as
and adjust accordingly. Set the brush tip to look flat in order to make a reference when you draw the character. Create another layer and use a hard brush to
detailing the structures faster. Adjust the spacing to quickly make those make an outline drawing. Using the Magic Wand tool, click on the area beyond the outline
windows and bars. You can lower the Hardness of the brush for the (make sure your outline has no holes), choose the fill layer and hit Delete. Now return the
atmospheric effects. fill layer’s Opacity back to 100%.

030 The Digital Art Book

 Expert brush effects

UNIFY THE IMAGE

POLISH THE PIECE USING BLEND MODES AND ADJUSTMENT LAYERS

09 PAINT THE CHARACTER

Set the outline layer to Multiply and use Hue/Saturation’s Colorize option. Adjust it so that the outline
will have colour, then click the Lock the Transparent Pixels icon of the fill layer. Block in the colours, preferably
10 CHOOSE COLOURS CAREFULLY
Choosing colours can be really tough. For
this tutorial, to keep it simple, just keep a mindset
using mid-tones, then add in the other colours and values. Once roughly painted, merge the outline with that that the lit areas are warm because of the heat from
layer and start blending. the sun. The planes that directly face this are a lot
brighter, so use the Color Dodge brush mode for the
effect, though be careful not to overdo it. For the
Neutral colours darker parts we can assume that they receive
It’s recommended to use
neutrals for colour reflected light from the sky on the opposite side of
blocking. This helps the
colours you apply easily the sun. Use a blue-violet tone as it serves as a good
pop out
contrast from the warm background.

QUICK TIP
CHANGE THE PERSPECTIVE
Flip your image to check the balance of the
Overlap colours composition. Paint the scene as a whole, never
Get colours from the Blend colours
background and overlap Blend the colours together by focus only on a single part and desaturate the
them with the character’s overlapping one stroke over another.
existing local colour. This Hold Opt/Alt and colour pick adjacent image to check your values. The nearer an object
adds far more interest colours as you go
and variety is to the viewer, the more detail, intensity and
colour it has. With that in mind, add adjustment
layers like Curves, Hue/Saturation and Color
Balance, then clip mask it to the layer.

11 CREATE CYBER WINGS

Use the Pen or Lasso tool to form the shape
and the Paint Bucket tool to fill it out with colour. You
12 PLACE FURTHER DETAILS
Pick the Ellipse tool to make the shape of
the orbs, then apply a hard brush and use a soft
13 FINAL EFFECTS
There are lots of ways to make effects with
Blend Modes, such as Screen for the glow. To make
only need to make half of the image and duplicate brush to blend, using small brushes to add detail. To the shiny lines and really vivid glows, you can create
the layer (Cmd/Ctrl+J). Transform>Flip Horizontal create the shiny numbers and text you need to use a new layer, fill it with black and set it to Color Dodge.
the duplicate half of the wing to complete it, then the Type tool, rasterise the text, Distort or Warp, then Make a selection and paint over it with a soft brush
merge the two layers (Cmd/Ctrl+E). Make duplicates set to Color Dodge or Overlay. To add a further glow using different colours to yield that ray-like effect.
of the wing layer then Transform>Distort it to to it you may consider applying a layer style. Add a Soft Light for subtle atmospheric effects. Feel
properly form it relative to the character. After Double-click on the layer and the Layer Style window free to experiment by scrolling down the Blend
positioning the wings, merge and set to Multiply. will appear, so choose Outer Glow then press OK. Modes, as the results can sometimes surprise you.

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Digital painting

It’s wise to make sure you have

everything defined clearly before
moving on. A little spontaneity will prove
handy, but not as handy as a solid base
032 The Digital Art Book
 Fantasy painting

PRODUCE A SOURCE FILES 

AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC
PHOTOSHOP

FANTASY PAINTING
LEARN ESSENTIAL BRUSH TECHNIQUES TO CREATE
DRAMATIC LIGHTING AND VIBRANT COLOUR

W
ith the right skill set and techniques, you can This is all made possible using Photoshop tools and
create fantasy concepts for multiple parties options. Custom brushes have been supplied so you can
within the entertainment industry. make the marks seen in this tutorial. You’ll also discover
You’ll begin here with the sketch phase, ways to layer these new brushes, using the power of
drawing out some rough ideas in Photoshop, then you’ll blending modes to produce exciting lighting effects.
discover essential ways to add colour, detail and cohesive Brushes are used to paint texture and detail; Lock Layer
lighting to your images. Special effects will breathe further and clipping mask controls let you shape your design. You’ll
life into these designs, mainly through the use of dramatic introduce tonality and colour temperature, too. By the end,
lighting effects that enhance atmosphere. you’ll be able to tackle your own distinctive fantasy paintings.

GETTING STARTED
SKETCH WITHIN PHOTOSHOP

01 START YOUR SKETCH

Begin sketching the figure very
loosely inside Photoshop on a new
layer. This is so that you can visualise
the proportions and composition you
need. A three-quarter view of an owl
moving towards the viewer has been
chosen here. This example is the best
design from a set of thumbnails, as it
made sure all of the needs of the piece
were met early on.

02 A CLEAR COURSE OF ACTION

Begin tightening up your line work and
organise the shadows and lights. Eliminate scribbled
brush strokes, as a good, solid direction early on will
dictate the difficulty of a piece. It’s also wise to make
sure you have everything defined clearly before
moving on. A little spontaneity will prove handy, but
not as handy as a solid base.

03 SEPARATE THE SKETCH

You’ll want to make sure that your bird is on a separate layer without any loose or extra strokes.
Check for such artefacts by creating a layer beneath the sketch layer and fill it with a pink colour. This reveals
any stray white and grey brush strokes in and around the sketch. If there are any in your image, you will need
to erase these.

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Digital painting

QUICK TIP
BUILD UP GRADUALLY

The secret to applying textured brushes

successfully is to build up gradual details using
consistent strokes. Keep your textures and
textured brushes from getting too messy, as
they may begin to lay down too much texture
and overpower the entire effect.

05 COPY AND PASTE

A useful trick when creating similar features
like the talons is to use a copy and paste. Since the

04 ADD TEXTURE
Early on in a painting, it’s good to add a little texture to certain areas. Later, these earlier signs of
texture may show through and help to pick out subtle shapes, giving the painting a bit more life. Upload the
shapes will be painted over later, you won’t run the
risk of each talon looking too similar. Select a talon
with the Marquee tool (L), then press and hold the
advanced photoshop.abr and select the brush labelled ‘20’. Paint texture near the light areas of the talon. Be Cmd/Ctrl key as you drag the selected area to
careful to not to paint too brightly this early on, however, as increasing the contrast too soon will make areas another location. Doing this creates a duplicate of the
seem overly bright or blown out later. selected item.

06 CREATE ATMOSPHERE
It was decided that the head would read
better if it were in front of the far wing, so you need
07 FORM SHADOW
Getting comfortable with the Selection tool?
Good, as you’re about to practise that same
08 PAINT FEATHERS
It’s time to start painting feathers. To do this,
select the brush labelled ‘700’, which closely
to add a little bit of atmosphere. Using the Marquee technique here by carefully selecting the legs of your resembles the hackle you can find in owls and other
tool once again, select an area outlining the owl’s owl. Now press Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+I to invert your birds. Take care to not add strokes too wildly. Instead,
face and a portion of the wing behind it. Select a selection. This effectively lets you paint behind the apply in a uniform manner, tracing the existing
rounded brush with soft edges and begin stroking in selected area. Use another soft brush in order to contour in your owl’s form. This means you’ll create
the lighting from the top down, as your light will paint in some shadow behind the legs. Again, take a more authentic appearance. Studying a real-world
likely be a top-down lighting. care not to paint your marks too dark. reference to get the right look isn’t cheating.

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 Fantasy painting

DETAILED BLUEPRINT
LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR FOCAL POINTS, TEXTURE AND FORM

09 ADD BLACKS
Up until this point, the image will be rather
grey. But this is fine, as it has allowed you to make
10 HIDE SELECTIONS
You’ll have made quite a few of these by
now and they can be distracting. With an area of your
11 BUILD FEATHER TEXTURES
Continue painting your bird and refining your
form and shapes. Uniformly paint the wings, slowly
sure that the focal point is yet to be decided. Usually, painting selected, in this case the eyes from the building colour until you create solid-looking results.
you’ll want your focal point to be your subject’s face. previous step, press Cmd/Ctrl+H to hide your Try to stay within the appropriate tonal range. Do this
So it’s here that you’ll apply your first solid black to selection. Sometimes doing so will help you see on a new layer (Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift+N). The
create the owl’s eyes. Use a Selection tool to draw what you’re doing more clearly. With your selections smoother you keep your forms now, the cleaner
out a good shape for these, then fill your selection hidden, you can begin detailing the eyes, which is your painting will be later. It’s not until the very end,
with a solid black. This makes the eyes the darkest done using a soft grey brush on the outer area and a when bringing all your painting marks together, that
point of your piece and therefore your point of focus. sharper white brush for the reflective highlights. you start to fashion feathers with your strokes.

12 RENDER FEATHERS
It’s a good idea to layer your painted feathers. Start with smaller feathers near the top of the wing
and paint three rows. Begin with the bottom row, painting in loose feathers. Add a layer on top and paint
Begin detailing the eyes,
which is done using a soft
values that create the shadow from the feathers that will be above that. Then paint those feathers in on a
new layer above your shadow layer. Working backwards in this way makes the feathers appear to be
grey brush on the outer area and
casting shadows. a sharper white brush for the
reflective highlights
13 PAINT LONG FEATHERS
Now that you’re done with the smaller
feathers, you need to paint a larger one. First, create
a new layer (Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+N), then use the
Marquee tool (L) to create a long, feather-like
rectangular shape. Use a soft round brush to paint
one side dark and another side a bright grey,
manually creating a gradual gradient. This gives the
illusion of a single feather, which is longer and
thicker than the rest you’ve just added.

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Digital painting

RENDER YOUR LOOK

CREATE DRAMATIC LIGHTING, CONTOUR AND DETAIL IN YOUR IMAGE

14 COPY AND PASTE FEATHERS

Using what you’ve learnt about the Marquee
tool and the duplicate technique, you now implement
15 BREAK UP REPETITION
Build upon the last steps by repeating their
processes, painting and placing feathers in the owl’s
16 UNIFORM LIGHTING
Now that you’ve created your feathers, you
will need to add larger shadows. First, merge down
a combination of the two. Remember the long opposite wing. Make sure you follow the right your owl layers, then make sure that this new layer
gradient feather you just painted in the last step? direction for an authentic look. To break up the is locked by clicking on the Lock icon located at the
Well, now you’re going to copy and paste this into a monotony of some of these feathers, erase parts of top of the layers tab. Now, apply a large, dark grey,
new layer and slightly enlarge it. Place it so it the edges in some of your layers. Also elongate soft round brush and lightly add some shadow to the
overlaps the original large feather layer. Continue to some of them slightly and skew the shape of others rounded parts of the top of the wing. This makes
copy, paste and place a few dozen times until you a bit. This allows you to create the beginnings of a sure your wings are being lit by the same light
have a long row of feathers. very interesting wing pattern for your owl. source as the rest of the image.

17 START THE BACKGROUND

Since your owl is on its own layer, you can
create a layer beneath and begin the background.
18 SECONDARY LIGHT
Since the plan is to have your main light
source closer to the viewer, a secondary light source
QUICK TIP
ADD SPARK EFFECTS
This image will eventually reveal a bright scene with can be established – in this case, the moon behind
You’ll see that spark effects were added to the
sparks and cinder flying from a fire. However, to the owl. On a separate layer, draw a circular selection
final image. You can recreate this effect by using
make these effects workable, you need a dark, with the Elliptical Marquee tool. Set this layer’s
several layers and a very easy technique. Create
muted background full of dark purples, dark browns blending mode to Color Dodge and paint in the moon
a new layer, set its blending mode to Color Dodge
and dark reds. While it seems dark now, adding your with a few large strokes, using a neutral grey colour.
and scatter in some simple sparks with an
effects later will help keep the focus on your owl, This gives the moon its glow effect. Also use the
orange-coloured brush. Now duplicate this layer.
rather than spreading the focus around haphazardly. same brush around the moon to give it a halo effect.
Duplicating a Color Dodge layer into itself will
make the sparks glow even brighter than before.
Now you must copy, paste and place your sparks
around the image by selecting the Move tool,
holding Opt/Alt and dragging them to other
locations. Create depth of field effects, making
some seem close up, others further away.

QUICK TIP
CREATE A NATURAL, EVEN GLOW

When painting to a Color Dodge blending mode

layer, using a grey colour will create a very
natural and even glow. Painting with a saturated
colour gives a glow similar to that colour.

036 The Digital Art Book

 Fantasy painting

QUICK TIP
ADD DETAILS AND KEEP CHECKING
Now that your major elements are completed, go
over everything you’ve done and detail your brush
strokes and lighting. Keep taking a step back to
check your progress. This will ultimately help
push the piece to final completion.

19 CLIP LAYERS
Back with your owl and it’s time to add a
little colour. At this stage, it’s best to keep everything
20 REFLECTIVE LIGHTING
Using the same method outlined in the last
step, create another layer, except this time set its
21 BRING IT BACK
Since the layer below this new light layer is
a dark brown colour, it’s possible to bring back
simple – and in this case dark. Create another layer blending mode to Color Dodge. Link the layer again. shadows – just erase areas from the Color Dodge
above the owl layer and link the two by hovering your Even though it appears to be linked to the last layer, light layer above. Create dramatic shadows in the
mouse between the layers while holding Cmd/Ctrl. they’re both actually linked to the owl layer. Use this feathers by using the Marquee tool to make
Click and it links the layers. This will ensure that layer to add both blue rims of light in the edges of the selections like in the example shown, then delete
anything painted on this layer will only affect the wings and yellow lighting that emulates reflection from these. This method is much better than
layer below it, which will be your owl layer and not from the fire. You can also erase lighting and reapply painting with more black because the darkest colour
the background. until you’re satisfied with the effects. has been established at this point.

24 FINAL DETAILS
In the same way as you’ve done in previous
steps, create another layer and lock it to the armour

22 BACK AND FORTH

At this point in your painting, it’s important
that you start to flesh out your colouring and
23 ADD ARMOUR
Now that the hard part is over, you can
begin to make some armour that fits with your
layer. Set the new layer’s blending mode to Color
Dodge and choose a saturated orange colour. Paint
this on the side of the armour that you feel should
continue to tweak your image lighting. You could image lighting. Use a solid colour that outlines the receive the most light, with the brightest parts
also add more subtle hints of colour, perhaps some entire shape of the armour on a new layer, then lock nearest the crease. This gives you a balanced
purple or pink hues. Always remember that if you it. This allows you to paint evenly over the entire exposure, and good shadow and light separation.
want to add more lighting, then you do this shape, rather than painting each piece individually. Repeat the same process for the trimming. Use the
specifically to your Color Dodge blending mode layer. Doing the latter has a higher chance of throwing off Hair brush (brush 125) to zoom in and add more
You can take this away by simply erasing it to show the balance of the armour. Do the same for the detail to the face, working your way outward from
the layer beneath. armour’s trimming. the focal point and detailing as you go.

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Digital painting

038 The Digital Art Book

 Steampunk portrait

PAINT A STEAMPUNK
INSPIRED PORTRAIT
USE LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR AND TEXTURE TO CREATE
A CAPTIVATING PORTRAIT

T
he following tutorial is for those who wish to Once you understand how light interacts with your
learn the basics of digital painting and subject matter, the possibilities are limitless.
discover tips and tricks to add texture, Learn how to pick compelling colours in order to PHOTOSHOP
luminescence and mystery to illustrations establish mood, to paint different materials such as
with simple Photoshop methods. cloth, metal, and skin, including how to apply textures
Learn to sketch non-existent objects using basic and patterns realistically using filters. Finally, discover
perspective and visualise lighting so that you can add the secret to creating glow effects and glares using
any element to your painting regardless of reference. various layer blending modes. From start to finish, you SOURCE FILES 
Discover the difference between form shadow and cast will learn how to employ Photoshop effectively to create AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC
shadow and how to effectively render both. a compelling painting.

BACK TO BASICS
DECIDE THE AIM OF THE PIECE AND CHOOSE YOUR REFERENCE

01 VISUALISE YOUR IMAGE

Before starting, visualise what you want to
accomplish. In this case, the goal is to paint a
02 GATHER REFERENCE
Paintings should be unrecognisable from
reference unless the material belongs to you, so take
03 START A NEW DOCUMENT
Begin by creating a new document (Cmd/
Ctrl+N). Set the image dimensions to 4800px by
Steampunk piece which integrates portraiture with liberties in deviating from online sources. The easiest 6400px at 300ppi. Decide between RGB or CMYK for
mechanical elements. It’s meant to be a dark, way to obtain reference is to take photos yourself, your colour mode (RGB can achieve richer colours
atmospheric image with lush colours to invoke but be sure that all of your images have the same while CMYK is useful for printing). Fill it with a warm
mystery and interest. Remember to download the light source or be prepared to paint them differently green tone in the middle-range of value (not too light
resources before you start. to how they appear. and not too dark).

Once you understand how light interacts with your

subject matter, the possibilities are limitless
The Digital Art Book 039
Digital painting

05 PICK COLOURS
Colour defines the mood of a piece. The key
to having lush colours is finding a balance between
rich and dull. Too bright and your image looks
contrived and over-the-top. Too dull and your image
looks washed out. Lighter colours should be less
saturated and darker colours more saturated. On a
new layer, pick a basic flesh colour, scribble and
repeat, increasing the saturation as you go darker. To
help the image pop, add subtle oranges and warm
pinks for the eyes and cheeks. Pale cyan works as a
highlight colour to contrast against warm shadows.

QUICK TIP
PAINT ON INDIVIDUAL LAYERS

04 SKETCH THE OUTLINE

Create a new layer named ‘Sketch’ (Layer>New>Layer). When sketching, think about the focal point
to keep the eye moving within the image. Use your reference as a rough guide as you freehand the sketch in a
Paint separate elements on their own layers so
you can lock the transparency and paint each
one without going over the edges. Choose the
dark burgundy colour. Keep in mind perspective as you draw objects without reference, like the dragon and
corresponding layer in the Layers palette and
goggles. It helps to sometimes draw boxes in perspective with the rest of the piece and then chisel away at
click the checkered square icon at the top.
the objects inside to create angular shapes before finally rounding off the details.

06 UNDERSTANDING LIGHT
Form shadow (or core shadow) creates the
illusion of form and gives objects depth. It occurs
07 VISUALISE WHERE LIGHT FALLS
When creating an object without reference,
it is vital to be able to picture in your mind where the
08 CREATE THE BACKGROUND
Create the illusion of a light source just off
canvas using a hard round brush in a pale yellow
when light fails to completely wrap around the form shadow would fall if you could see it. Sometimes it hue. Sweep the brush downward to emulate the
of something and is a gradual transition from light to helps to picture the subject matter as if it were made glowing effect of light on a wall. Picking a dark green,
shadow, with softer edges (like the cheekbone, up of several small geometric polygons. Look at sweep the same brush along the edges of the
which at first catches the light and then curves each surface plane and ask yourself if the angle canvas to push the corners into darkness. Blend the
downward into shadow). Cast shadow occurs when would catch the light or not, then translate that into colours with a soft round brush as necessary. Note
something (like the nose, for example), blocks the your painting. Don’t forget to add in cast shadows of that the light will be brighter and the change between
light, throwing areas below into darkness. It tends to made-up elements to ground the work and give it a values will be more drastic near the top where the
have sharper edges. cohesive feel. light is closest to the wall.

040 The Digital Art Book

 Steampunk portrait

DOWN TO DETAIL
APPLY PAINT, ADD TEXTURE AND CREATE ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS

09 START PAINTING
On a layer beneath the sketch, paint the skin
using a default round brush. Keep your Opacity and
10 SHINY VERSUS DULL
When painting matte surfaces like the
cotton vest, do not paint highlights. Only two values
11 PAINT SKIN AND HAIR
When painting skin, find a balance between
matte and shiny. The skin will have sharper and
Flow at 100%, and rely on the sensitivity of your are needed for these – mid-tone and shadow – with brighter highlights if the face is wet (like around the
tablet to blend the colours. Make a clear delineation gradual transitions between the two on occasion. eyes) or where oils of the skin reflect light (like on the
between light and shadow. As you continue to refine, When painting reflective surfaces like silk or brass, nose and inner tear duct). If you haven’t already, add
add the transitions between the two values using a however, exaggerate the drastic change in value by these specular highlights to create luminescence.
soft brush when needed. Use your highlights using sharp specular highlights in areas where the When painting hair, start by putting in the darkest
sparingly for the greatest effect. Merge your Sketch light would logically fall and by using contrasting values first, and then add the midtones using a
layer and your painting layer and gently paint out the strokes. Remember to incorporate surrounding chunky round brush. Gradually reduce the size of the
sketch until all the lines are gone. colours, as metal is highly reflective. brush until you are painting individual strands.

QUICK TIP
MORE ON PATTERN

Pattern should conform to the form beneath. To

create the effect of the pattern wrapping around
the silk shirt, paste the pattern on a new layer
above the painting. Create a quick mask over
your painting by clicking between the two layers
on the Layers palette and pressing Opt/Alt. Set
the layer Blend Mode to Overlay and reduce the
Opacity to 30%. Go to the Liquify filter (Filter>
Liquify), and with the painting layer visible
beneath your pattern, use the Forward Warp tool
(W) to push the pattern downward around the
edges of the arm. Do the same for the fabric
texture above the vest area.

12 ADD TEXTURE AND PATTERN

Texture and pattern add realism to your
work when done correctly. To create the illusion of
13 ADD ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS
The last step is to add subtle atmospheric
effects. Create a glare on the highlight of the goggles
wallpaper, paste a damask pattern on a new layer using a soft round brush in a pale yellow colour on
and set the layer Blend Mode to Overlay from the low opacity. For the blur on the dragon wings, copy
drop-down menu on the Layers palette. Reduce the the wings onto a new layer underneath and use the
opacity of the layer so that the pattern is not Motion Blur filter. Set the angle to 40 degrees and the
overbearing but still present. You don’t want your distance to 200px. Use a smoke brush for the dragon
image to be too busy or distract viewers from the steam. To make it glow, on a new layer use a soft
figure in the foreground. green brush set to Hard Light.

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Digital painting

Realistic paint effects

Use a variety of real media
paint splatter scans to produce
convincing digital watercolour
paint effects

Colour blending
Use brush blending
modes with layer
blending modes to mix
vibrant paint colours

Pen and ink Hidden brushes

Try your hand at producing Use Photoshop’s Splatter brush set
line art for the base drawing to create drops of far-flung paint
or feel free to borrow our and add a sense of energy and
artwork for your own use! excitement to your painting

042 The Digital Art Book

 Watercolours

CREATE PHOTOSHOP SOURCE FILES 

AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

STUNNING
WATERCOLOURS
USE A COMBINATION OF CUSTOM BRUSHES, CLEVER
TECHNIQUES AND BLEND MODES TO ACHIEVE A
REALISTIC DIGITAL WATERCOLOUR EFFECT

U
sing watercolour in real media can be a watercolour splash effects alien to the perfect lines
creative expression of shape and colour. and rules of digital artwork. Fortunately, Photoshop
The water-based properties of the paint provides the means to using real paint splashes and
allow it to soak into the canvas and then splatters as custom brushes to simulate the effect.
blend with other colours in a way that creates In this tutorial, we will show you how to harness the
beautiful and vibrant paintings. Splattering the power of those custom brushes to create a brilliant
paint can produce particularly enjoyable and and believable watercolour painting that is as vibrant
unexpected results. and engaging as any real media piece.
Creating the same effects digitally can be We’ve included the starter drawing and the
somewhat challenging. The math-ruled world of required brush sets with your resources for your
computer processors prefers order over chaos. This personal use. So grab those files, launch Photoshop Original
makes the production of the barely controlled and join us on a wonderful watercolour journey!

MASTER BRUSHES
MIMIC REAL MEDIA USING CUSTOM BRUSHES

02 LOAD CUSTOM BRUSHES

Go through the Window menu to open the Brush Presets panel. In the flyout menu
at the top-right of the panel, choose the Load Brushes command. On the supplied resources,
you will find four sets of brushes to be loaded.

01 STARTER LINE ART

In the supplied resources, we have included the original
photos of musical instruments to use to generate your own ink
drawing. If you’d rather shortcut this stage, we have also included our
own artwork for you to use: ‘MusicLineArt.png’.

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Digital painting

03 PREPARE A BRUSH
Create a new layer for the green wash effect
and set the blend mode to Multiply. Select one of the
04 APPLY THE WASH
Set the paint colour to a bright green. Don’t
drag the brush along the canvas, but use single
05 SET UP THE SPLATTER
Repeat Step 3, this time selecting one of the
CustomSplatter brushes and boosting the brush
watercolour brushes and open the Brush panel (F5). clicks to stamp the brush stroke shape. Use the Opacity up to 100%, but keep the brush Mode at
In the Options Bar, set the Mode to Colour Burn and Brush panel to adjust their size, angle and Color Burn. Use the brush outline to help determine
the Opacity to 60%. roundness so that they don’t all look the same. the best brush rotation setting.

06 ADD SPLATTERS
Use the CustomSplatter brushes in combination with the Splat
brushes to add an explosion of colour around the trombone horn. Using 07 BORDER TREATMENT
Cmd/Ctrl-click on the thumbnail for the splatter layer to create a selection around
the brush Mode at Colour Burn means each stamp reacts to the pixels the paint splashes. Then go to Select>Modify> Border. Use a pixel setting of 5. This creates
beneath it, even if these pixels are on the same layer. a 5px-wide selection border around the layer.

QUICK TIP
DIY PAINT SPLATTERS

Why not create your own custom

brushes to use in projects such
as this one? Begin with plain
white card with no visible texture,
then lightly splash it with some
watercolour paint or ink. After it
has dried, scan in the splatter and
then open the file in Photoshop.
Desaturate the image and use a
Curves adjustment in order to
enhance the contrast. Clean up 09 CREATE WET EDGES
Press Cmd/Ctrl+J to copy the border

08
any stray marks with a regular REFINE EDGE selection to a new layer. Keep the blend mode at
white brush. Then select the Grab any of the Marquee tools to gain access to the Refine Multiply but set Opacity to 100%. This will simulate
splatter area and go to Edge dialog box in the Options Bar. In the Adjust Edge area, set the wet edges of real paint. Reducing the opacity of
Edit>Define Brush Preset. Smooth to 50 and tweak Contrast to 40%. the splatter layer can enhance the effect.

044 The Digital Art Book

 Watercolours

10 BLUR IT UP
Cmd/Ctrl-click the splatter layer thumbnail again to create the
selection. Use the Add Layer Mask button to create a mask for the 11 HAVE A SPLASH ATTACK
Add another new layer for additional splash, splatter, and splat paint spots.
splatter layer. With the mask targeted, go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur Remember to set the layer blending mode to Multiply and the brush Mode to Color Burn.
and use a setting of 2.0px. Now use a variety of different brushes to build up the full painted effect.

12 GROUP THE LAYERS

Select all the green paint layers and press
Cmd/Ctrl+G to group them all together. Then add a
13 REPEAT ON THE DRUM
Go through the same painting process for
the drum set using a magenta paint colour. When
14 THE RIGHT LAYER STRUCTURE
Go through the process again with the blue
paint splashes on the guitar. Be mindful of how the
layer mask to the group and use a brush with black working the mask on the group, a soft brush with groups are layered. The blue paint group should be
paint on the mask to remove the green splatter from white paint and low opacity can fade the colour into on top and the green should be on the bottom. This
the trombone shape. the shaded regions. agrees with the position of the instruments.

15 OPEN BRUSH TOOL PRESETS

With the Brush tool selected, look at the far
16 ADD REALISM
These presets give even more options for
creating realistic paint splatters. The Spatter Drop 17 FINAL FLOURISH
Use a final paint layer to add in the final few
left of the Options panel for a drop-down of Tool brushes are particularly useful for painting small splashes of paint. Set this layer to Multiply and use
Presets. Open this and hit the Gear icon to get the drops of flying paint. Mix these in with the other darker colours on this one. Set the previous layer to
flyout menu, then select Splatter Brush Tool Presets. splatter stamp brush marks on a top layer. Pin Light for brighter colours.

The Digital Art Book 045

Digital painting

Original

SOURCE FILES 
AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

046 The Digital Art Book

 Grunge artwork

USE BRUSHES FOR

GRUNGE ARTWORK
GRAB A DANCER AND CHOREOGRAPH A GRUNGETASTIC COMPOSITION PHOTOSHOP

COMBINING TEXTURES, CUSTOM BRUSHES AND BLEND MODES

G
runge music is a gritty movement that gained prominence in composition with blend modes. We’ll lock down the look with
the Nineties. Polish took a back seat in this underground brand adjustment layers and filters.
of rock, with the premium being placed on stripped-down For Photoshop Elements users who don’t have access to the Pen tool,
power, unadulterated emotion. substitute with the various selection tools. If you’re lacking the Vibrance
Grunge within an artistic context adheres to a lot of the same tenets. adjustment, use Hue/Saturation.
Go for raw energy. Emphasize feeling over exactness. Get a little dirty! You will be able to try out these great effects on your own
You’ll learn easy ways to add grunge to an image. We’ll use some photographs, or simply use the one that we have used here. This is just
custom brushes to paint on some grit and artistic accents and we’ll one of the great images from online image library www.ingimage.com
borrow some rough and blurry photos and merge them into our – and you can download it free from your supplied resources!

GETTING STARTED
BEGIN BY MAKING INITIAL TWEAKS TO YOUR DANCER

QUICK TIP
A LIGHTER GRUNGE STYLE

Grunge is applicable in a wide range of art and

design. You can certainly use a full-blast
approach on rock-music packaging, extreme
sports advertisements and hip apparel.
However, turn back the grunge dial for more

01 OUTLINE THE DANCER

Open ‘Dancer.jpg’. Outline the subject with
understated flavouring. A good way to reduce
the digital sheen of pictures is by moving a
the Pen tool. Refine path with the Direct Selection
tool. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+Return/Enter to make a
selection. Open ‘Start.psd’. From ‘Dancer.jpg’, with
02 POSITION YOUR FIGURE
Ctrl/Right-click the transplanted layer, Convert
to Smart Object. Cmd/Ctrl+T, Shift-drag a corner
gritty texture above it, applying a blend mode
like Overlay, then reducing the Opacity of the
texture layer. Equally effective is a light dusting
the Move tool click and drag from within the outward to scale up. Cmd/Ctrl+J to duplicate. Select the
with a grunge brush on a layer above.
selection into ‘Start.psd’. lower dancer. Go to Filter>Blur>Radial Blur.

03 THE RADIAL
BLUR
Set Amount to 50, Blur
04 USE ACCENTED
EDGES
Select the upper dancer, hit
Method to Spin, Quality Cmd/Ctrl+J to duplicate. Go
to Good. Click OK. Offset to Filter> Brush
with the Move tool. Add a Strokes>Accented Edges.
layer mask with the icon Set Width to 1, Edge
in the Layers palette. Use Brightness to 9,
a soft, round brush at Smoothness to 3. Add a
50% Opacity to paint layer mask, fill with black.
black into the mask to Paint white with 90%
fade out areas. Opacity to add to the effect.

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Digital painting

05 PAINT IN SOME SHADOWS

Create a layer below the radial blur. Set
foreground to black. Then use a soft, round brush at
06 BRING ON THE GRUNGE
Select the Brush tool. Load ‘Grunge.abr’
from the supplied resources into your Brush palette 07 CREATE SCRIBBLY STREAKS
Switch to Brush 2 and then change the
80% Opacity to paint in some shadows around the menu (Brush Presets in CS5+). Choose Brush 1, set foreground colour to #9FE840. Create a new layer
dancer. Next, create a new layer above the radial blur, brush Opacity to 100%, foreground colour to and then paint several scribbly streaks. These will
drop the brush’s Opacity to 40% and paint in some #6B1218. On a new layer below the dancer, paint a serve as dynamic accents, suggestive of the zing of
more shadows. spurting of colour. urban dancing.

08 GET DOWN AND DIRTY

Change the foreground to #FFFFFF, drop the
09 MUCK IT UP
The brushwork for Steps 9-11 will be placed
above the dancer. Create a new layer. Set brush
10 ADD ILLUSTRATIVE ACCENTS
Switch to Brush 2, drop Size to 10px, and
create a new layer. Using #FF1E57 and #FFFFFF,
brush Opacity to 40%, and create a new layer. Using Opacity to 100% and choose Brush 1. Using a variety create illustrative accents to add fresh, vibrant
the two grunge brushes (Grunge 1 and Grunge 2), of colours (#6B1218, #B4FFFF, # 79C170, # 745CB3, energy that’ll stand out against the dark atmosphere.
click some texture instead of clicking and dragging. #A1803D), build up more texture. For variety, lower the Opacity on some strokes.

11 DRAW CRUMBLY LINES

Switch to Brush 3. Keep the colour at
13 BALANCE COLOURS
#FFFFFF, set to 100% brush Opacity. On a brand new
layer, paint on the dancer’s body and make a few
trailing lines emanating from her. We are now
12 BUILD UP URBAN BRICKS
Go to File>Place and add ‘Bricks.jpg’. Set the
blend mode to Color Burn. Add a layer mask and
Click the Create new adjustment layer
button in the Layers palette, choose Color Balance.
Set Midtones (from top to bottom): -100, +26, +100.
done with the brushes. Let’s now add some texture use a soft, round brush at 80% Opacity to remove Paint black in all areas apart from the bottom-right
and adjustments. and lessen the darkening effect. and upper-left areas around the dancer.

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 Grunge artwork

14 TIME TO BURN, COLOUR, BURN

Click on the Create new fill layer button in the
Layers palette, then choose Solid Color. Pick
15 LIGHTEN THINGS UP
Click the Create new adjustment layer
button in the Layers palette, and then choose Levels. 16 LIMIT THE COLOUR
Go to File>Place and add ‘Blur.jpg’. Set the
#FFE096. Set the blend mode to Color Burn and then Set the Shadow input level to 5, Midtone level to 1.5, blend mode to Color. This allows us to borrow the
Opacity to 80%. Paint black in the left side and then and Highlight level to 245. With black, paint out the restrained palette. Add a layer mask. With black,
select areas. periphery in the mask to tone it down. paint to bring back some of the original colour.

17 MERGE THOSE LAYERS

We’ll now merge all layers so we can apply
an effect to the whole image. Press Cmd/
18 ADD A LITTLE WATER PAPER
Go to Filter>Sketch>Water Paper. Set Fiber
Length to 25, Brightness 80, Contrast 70. Click OK.
19 COLOUR SOME HIGHLIGHTS
Click the Create new adjustment layer
button in the Layers palette, choose Hue/Saturation.
Ctrl+Option/Alt+Shift+E. Ctrl/right-click, choose This helps smudge the detail. Apply a layer mask, fill Pump up the Saturation to +75. Fill the mask with
Convert to Smart Object. This will make the effect in it with black. Paint white with varying brush black, then paint white at 80% brush Opacity to the
the next step become an editable Smart Filter. Opacities (40-70%) to add the effect to key areas. areas that you want to highlight.

20 DROP THE VIBRANCE

Click on the Create new adjustment layer
21 RESTORE YOUR DANCER
Some of the dancer may be texturally
buried. Select the unaltered layer and Opt/
22 ENHANCE GRITTY DETAILS
Sharpening helps to bring out the gritty
details. Merge the layers again as in Step 17. Go to
button in the Layers palette, choose Vibrance. Drop Alt-Click+drag above the top layer. Apply a layer Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask. Set Amount to 95%
Vibrance to -90 to tone down colours overall. With mask and fill with black. Paint white in some areas and Radius to 1.5px. Click OK. Then, with black, paint
black, paint out areas you don’t want to dull. to restore the original dancer. out the areas that you don’t want sharpened.

The Digital Art Book 049

CHARACTER
LEARN HOW TO CREATE
CHARACTER CONCEPTS
AND THEN HOW TO
76
DEVELOP THEM IN TERMS
OF STYLE AND ATTITUDE
52 Create character concepts
Perspective, lighting and contrast

56 Bring character concepts to life

Developing character concepts

62 Create stylised characters

Focusing on every component

68 Improve your characters

Striking designs to convey mood

74 Fine-tune portraits
Convincing characters

82 Add texture and details

Finely sculpted details

56

74

050 The Digital Art Book

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52
62
68

The Digital Art Book 051

Character

CREATE PHOTOSHOP

CHARACTER
CONCEPTS
WORK WITH PERSPECTIVE, LIGHTING AND
CONTRAST USING PAINTING TECHNIQUES

T
he process of creating a digital painting in Photoshop can be very
complex, so in this tutorial you will learn how to control your
workflow. We’ll guide you from your initial thought process to any
techniques you will have to bear in mind before diving deeper into
the different aspects of creating a strong, readable digital painting. This
includes, perspective, lighting and contrast.
The majority of your time here will be spent understanding the different
steps, from the initial thumbnails to the final rendered painting. The tutorial
is meant to be performed in Photoshop, for the sake of getting an efficient
workflow by using some of its essential tools such as adjustments layers,
blend modes and masks.
The inspiration and idea for this specific painting comes from a
long-lasting fascination for dinosaurs, and is a comical new take on the
discussed evolution theory about T-rex’s way of hunting!

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Character concepts

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Character

DEVELOPING YOUR CHARACTER CONCEPT

DON’T BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT FROM THE START

01 THUMBNAILS
The first step is to do some character
exploration sketches, to get a better sense of the
02 SHAPE LANGUAGE
When we have finished sketching in some
interesting thumbnail silhouettes that feel suitable
03 THE GOOD IDEA!
Once you have fully explored the first two
steps, you will hopefully find that you have some
style and theme. In this case we want something for the style and theme, we can start exploring the good ideas for what is to come next. Start by creating
stylised and cartoon-based with a comedy twist. As shapes a bit further. Make the resolution higher on a new document and then set it to Width: 5000 pixels,
you do this, look up some references or write down your chosen thumbnail design by going to Image> Height: 2800 pixels and Resolution: 300 pixels/inch.
some keywords to help you explore the direction to Image Size>Resolution and then begin exploring the The technical approach from here can vary a lot, but
take. It is important to keep this step as simple as personality, features and background of your in this tutorial we want to go straight in with colour.
possible, so do yourself a favour and work at a small character. Your thought process is the key at this Pick a colour palette that you like and start by
scale; create a new document and set the size to A4, point, so keep it loose and try to go with the flow of creating a two-coloured gradient layer reflecting sky
then zoom out to 12.5%. Use a hard-edged brush. your character concepts. and ground.

05 LIGHT
An important decision to make that
will affect the rest of your painting is the light. In
this case we work with three light sources: a
direct light coming from the sun located to the
right; an indirect light coming from the
illuminating blue sky; and finally, the bounce light
that is caused by both the direct and indirect light.
The choice of light directions will affect your
composition and the overall readability of your
painting, so try to think about which elements are
the most important to highlight.

04 SKETCH IT ALL OUT

When you start your painting you once
again want to work on a small scale. Have a clear
Local colour

Highlight
idea of what you want to achieve, and make sure Transition
that you paint with a large brush in the beginning so
that you force yourself to work with the overall
shapes first. Set your chosen brush to 100% Opacity
and Flow, and colour pick from your palette and your Separation
gradient layer until you can see all the elements of
importance in your painting. Don’t be afraid of doing
this roughly, as long as it follows your idea.

QUICK TIP
SAVE TIME WHEN ADJUSTING
Shadow
To save time when you are adjusting your steps,
use Hue/Saturation or Color Balance for any
colour adjustments, and Levels or Curves for the
contrast adjustments. Layering with different
blend modes can also be useful, and using layer
06 SHADOWS AND VOLUME
In order to define the individual shapes, it is crucial to understand the basic functions of light and
shadow and the volume within. In this example we use shadows to create an interesting layer effect on the
masks for controlling the affected area is very three dinosaurs in the foreground. The main function of this is to help us separate the characters from each
handy indeed. other and also to clarify the volumes.

054 The Digital Art Book

 Character concepts

07 VALUE
Now it’s time to work into the contrast
values a bit further. To make the painting more
08 COLOURS IN LEVELS
To keep this painting colourful and playful,
we want to have some more refined local colours.
09 SHAPES IN SPACE
Making the shapes clearly readable in a
detailed painting like this is a challenge in itself. In
readable, we turn it into black and white only for the (‘Local colour’ means the colour of an element, such this case we don’t really have a clear dominant
sake of checking the values. Open the Adjustments as a green leaf, that is not being affected by colour.) shape – it’s more a matter of achieving a symmetry
palette. Click the Hue/Saturation icon and, in the This is also a good way of clarifying the levels in the in the painting that makes the intruder, the T-rex, mix
dialog that appears, pull the Saturation bar back to painting’s foreground, midground and background. A in with the two plant-eating dinosaurs on either side.
-100. Now you can always check your values by basic rule of thumb when it comes to environmental This means that we end up having a round repetitive
switching the adjustment layer on and off. We want colours is to have the warmest colours closest and shape that creates the line of action that we want.
to have the highest contrast value in the foreground, the coldest colours furthest back. So in this painting We also want the surrounding space and the
and the further we travel into the image then the we want to apply the warmest colours to the environment to support the characters’ shape
lower this contrast gets. characters in the foreground. language in the best way possible.

10 SHORTCUT FOR ADJUSTING COLOURS

For a more efficient adjustment of your 11 SHORTCUT FOR ADJUSTING VALUES
For the same reason as when adjusting
12 LAYERED MASKS
To control areas of affection for a certain
layer, you can use layer masks. In this case we want
colour work there are some helpful tools you can the colours, we want to have an easy way of to work with the previously added Levels layer, in
use in Photoshop to achieve what you are looking adjusting the values of our painting. Go to the order to decrease the amount of black furthest back
for. Head to the Adjustments and select Hue/ Adjustments window and select Levels. This will in the painting. Select the Levels adjustment layer,
Saturation. This will bring up the options to adjust the bring up the options of adjusting the image’s levels. then click on the layer’s white icon. Now you can
Hue, Saturation and Lightness. In this case we want In this case we want to reduce the amount of whites. start masking out the blacks by painting with a soft-
to increase the amount of red. Choose the drop- Choose the middle icon, then pull the midtones to edged brush set to black. The advantage of a layered
down menu named Master and select your Red the right to add more black. Again, wait until the mask is that you can always change where it should
channel for adjustment. This is personal preference picture is updated before saving and hit Cmd/Ctrl+Z affect and how much it should affect by painting in
at this stage so feel free to play until it is right. to undo any changes if they do not look right. black for hiding and in white for revealing.

13 BLEND MODES
Try out different colour variations in your 15 EVALUATION
When you have finished your painting,
painting by using the blend modes. Be careful when
using blend modes, as the result can become quite
random if you don’t know what you’re looking for. In
14 LIQUIFY
Sometimes, you just don’t like a specific
shape or area, or there’s curvature that feels wrong.
thoroughly evaluate what you have created. Rest
your eyes, go back to it with fresh, critical eyes, and
try to ask yourself the questions: ‘How does it feel?
this case we want to use the blend mode called A helpful tool to warp these into place is Liquify. Go Does it read as intended? Do the adjustment layers
Overlay, in order to increase the saturation in to Filter>Liquify and select the Forward Warp tool. As make the painting better?’ and so forth. Making
different places. Create a new layer in your Layer for all of the mentioned tools, use them carefully. artwork is a matter of trying things out and exploring
stack, then click Overlay in the menu at the top. Now What you don’t want to end up having is stretched all the time. There is no recipe to a perfect painting
you can start colour picking from your painting and areas in your painting, so at this stage you should – it’s mostly hard work and a lot of small victories
paint saturated colours into the different areas. keep this to a minimum. until you eventually master the piece. Good luck!

The Digital Art Book 055

Character

BRING CHARACTER
CONCEPTS TO LIFE
DEVELOP A CHARACTER CONCEPT AND BRING IT TO LIFE USING
PHOTOSHOP’S DIGITAL PAINT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

T
his tutorial will teach you how to create an story-driven art that’s geared towards a younger
illustration suitable for a children’s audience, which can be great fun to work on. Being SOURCE FILES 
storybook. You will be guided through the able to paint cute, expressive and appealing WWW.SHADDYCONCEPTART.COM
entire process, from the very first tiny illustrations that really reach out to the viewer can be
thumbnail sketches, all the way to the final image. very rewarding.
Learn how to handle composition, colour schemes, If you have a Wacom tablet, it is worth using it PHOTOSHOP
overall readability, effective shortcuts, and other tips from start to finish for more control. The image was
and tricks. The main focus will lie in creating an also partly painted using some basic brushes, but a
illustration that tells a tale. few custom brushes were used from a free brush
The painting was made for a spread based on a set created by the talented artist Shaddy Safadi. You
short story. It was commissioned by a Swedish can download and use his brushes at www.
youth magazine. This painting is a good example of shaddyconceptart.com/download.

056 The Digital Art Book

Bring character concepts to life

The Digital Art Book 057

Character

BREATHE LIFE INTO YOUR CHARACTERS

FROM SKETCHING TO PAINTING, DEVELOP YOUR CONCEPTS AND MAKE THEM REAL

01 CREATE A NEW CANVAS

First, you’ll need a brand new canvas. Start
by creating a document by going to File>New and
02 THE VERY FIRST THUMBNAILS
Start by quickly putting down a bunch of
thumbnails. Keep them small and pick a medium-
create a canvas that is 210mm x 148mm, and at sized brush that you feel comfortable with. This is
300dpi. It’s better to keep the canvas rather small
at this stage so that you can pay attention to the
the ‘sandbox’ phase, and any idea is allowed at this
stage. Focus on experimenting with pose, 03 CREATE A ROUGH SKETCH
Pick the thumbnails that are closest to your
idea and start arranging them on your canvas. Lower
whole of the image. Fill the background layer with composition and proportions. The position of the
a light-grey tone. It’s often better to work on a little thumbnails is not that important, just make the opacity of that layer and create a new one on top
darker canvas, since it’s more comfortable for your sure that you get every single idea out of your of it. Keep sketching until the entire image works,
eyes. Then create a new empty layer on top – that’s system. Stay very loose and feel free to play around and keep experimenting. It’s great to constantly ask
the layer you’re going to sketch on next. a lot before settling entirely with your idea. yourself questions such as: What’s the purpose with
the image? How does the story go? Which moment
It’s often better to work on a darker canvas, since it’s more works best for this illustration? What style should it
have? Who’s the audience? Does the composition
comfortable for your eyes direct the viewer properly?

04 REFINE THE CHARACTERS

Now you will need to create another document to implement your final design. Feel free to make it even larger this time and fill the background with a
light-grey tone. Select the character sketch with the Lasso tool from the rough sketch, copy the selection and paste it into your new document. After that, scale the
characters so that they fill out the whole canvas and lower the opacity of the layer, then create another empty one and start refining the sketch further. To do this, use a
brush with hard edges, and with the opacity settings activated.

058 The Digital Art Book

 Bring character concepts to life

05 LOWER THE OPACITY

When the characters are more refined and
you feel happy with them, copy the layer and add it
06 TRY IT OUT IN GREYSCALE
It’s time to play around a bit with the values.
Block everything in with flat tones just to find some
07 COLOUR TEST
Before getting too serious with the
illustration, it’s a good idea to quickly flatten the
to the previous sketch document. Remove the rough suitable values that will work well with the greyscale sketch and create and save a new version
version of the characters and merge the sketch composition and mood. Paint on a new empty layer that will serve as a colour palette later on. On the
layers together. The sketch should only work as a that’s created underneath the sketch layer. A nice new document, create a new empty layer and set the
vague guideline for the painting itself, so lower the rule to go by is that if things work well in greyscale, layer blending mode to Color. Now you can start
Opacity to about 30% and lock that layer. Most of the then it will definitely work out in colour as well later painting some colours in without affecting the tones.
other layers (except some adjustment layers that on. In general, it’s also nice to have several This one will work well with lots of greens as the
affect the entire image) created for this painting will possibilities to choose from before you start to dominating hue, with a slight touch of brown, yellow
stay underneath the line drawing. colour a new piece. and red.

QUICK TIP
FLIP IT TO VIEW WITH FRESH EYES

This shortcut that can be created through Actions is very handy when painting digitally in Photoshop. Simply
create an Action that flips your canvas horizontally when pressing a specific key, perhaps F2. Flipping your
canvas often makes you look at the painting with fresh eyes, and you can immediately see and fix any
proportions or compositions that may be a bit off.

09 CREATE CLIPPING MASKS

This stage really is a true time-saver, and it’s
one of my favourite Photoshop shortcuts. Start by
creating new layers on top of each ‘blocked’ layer,
then press Opt/Alt and hover the cursor in-between

08 BLOCK IN THE BASE COLOURS

After settling on a nice colour scheme, it’s time to block everything in. This will make things so much
easier when starting to paint the illustration. The base layers can be created using the Pen tool. Start by
the two layers. The lower layer will become the
parent of the upper one, and it will then stay within
that shape, no matter how messy you paint. It also
drawing the main shape to create a new path, then make that path a selection and fill it with a basic colour. means that you only need to block in the main parts
Proceed by creating basic shapes for the different background elements, the wolf and the girl. Lock the once. You can then focus on the fun part – the
transparency of each layer when done. painting itself!

The Digital Art Book 059

059
Character

12 FLIP YOUR CANVAS REGULARLY

Go to Image>Image Rotation>Flip Horizontally on a regular basis to check the proportions, balance
and composition. When you flip the canvas, you’ll see immediately if the nose looks off, or if the position of the
eyes is awkward. It’s a lot easier to spot mistakes. The great news is that you get to make the changes in
time. If the image is working in both angles, then it’s probably balanced.

Rough it up Balance Character details Rendering

If you increase the Now that the image has Take a step back and think Start with slightly
Scattering value from the been flipped, you can about which parts of the rendering the form of the
Brush palette, you can check that the characters need some characters and tree trunk,
rough up the edges of composition is still extra work, like the fur keeping the direction of
your brush and make it well balanced and eyes the light in mind
look more realistic.
Uniform strokes are the
hallmark of digital – real

10 $/5",%Ɏ#(%#+Ĉ).Ĉ'2%93#!,%
When all the base colours are added to the
painting and you’re all set, it’s helpful to create a
media is more random

Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. Keep it on top of

the entire painting and adjust it so that the painting
gets completely desaturated. You can then turn this
layer on and off to keep checking the values when
painting. Is the painting readable in greyscale at this
stage? Good! Then it’s ready to get painted for real.

QUICK TIP
KEEP LIGHT SOURCES SEPARATE

11 TIME TO PAINT!
Keep blocking in base colours with a large
brush. The basic brushes will work perfectly at this
It’s always a good idea to keep your light sources on a separate layer to your base image. This way, you can
turn those layers off when you need to, and you can then focus entirely on rendering form and putting down
stage. Use big, bold strokes in the beginning and those basic values in your painting.
switch between hard-edge and soft-edge brushes,
keeping the Opacity at 20-50%. Stay loose and
always work on the entire painting. To get a better
overview, open the document in two separate
windows using Window>Arrange>New window.

13 SECOND PAINTING PASS

Keep fleshing out the illustration, working on
the entire painting and correcting smaller mistakes
14 ADD SOME LIGHT
It’s a bit dark here, isn’t it? To solve this,
create new layers for the background and the
15 THIRD PAINTING PASS
The image is now ready for some slight
detailing and early polishing. Play around with
that you encountered when mirroring the image. characters, then connect them to the layers different textured brushes to get that traditional,
Keep comparing the image in the smaller window underneath as clipping masks. Set the layer mode to painterly feel. Safadi’s custom brushes will suit
as you proceed and make sure that it looks good and Color Dodge and pick an orange midtone to paint perfectly for this phase. Vary the opacity of the
readable when it’s smaller as well. Although it’s with. Use a hard brush without any opacity settings brushes to gain full control while you paint. Create
tempting, don’t dive into the smaller details just yet; and paint in highlights, ensuring they are in keeping new empty layers on top of the parenting layers if
just keep painting with a slightly lower opacity and with the direction of the light source. Let those layers you feel unsure and want to redo, or remove
render the forms. stay rough for now, as long as it looks good overall. unnecessary changes as you paint.

060 The Digital Art Book

 Bring character concepts to life

16 $/5",%Ɏ#(%#+Ĉ).Ĉ'2%93#!,%Ĉ!'!).
Turn on the Hue/Saturation adjustment
layer that you placed at the very top and check the
17 REFINE THE FUR
You can see that the wolf’s fur needs some
more details. Keep painting with a medium-sized
18 FURTHER DETAILING
Keep adding in smaller details where they
are needed. Paint them all in while keeping a careful
values. Is the illustration still readable? This part is brush and render the forms a little bit more. After eye on the entire illustration. Remember: less is
really crucial, and as mentioned earlier – if it’s that, pick a brush that feels more like a traditional more. Another good thing to keep in mind is to
working in greyscale, then it will most likely work in brush that slightly imitates hair or fur. Having photo spend some extra time on characters’ eyes and
colour as well. So it’s a very good habit to just references is always a huge benefit; so don’t be faces in general. These features are one of the first
double-check your illustration on a regular basis afraid to search for some nice photos that clearly things that the viewer looks at, so it’s important that
while working with colours. We can’t encourage this show what a wolf’s fur really looks like. References the eyes and expressions read well and show clear
part enough. Is it still working? If it still reads well, will always be important, even if you paint in a rather emotions. Getting this part right definitely helps to
then it’s fine. cartoon-like style. tell a story.

References will always be important, even if you paint in a

rather cartoon-like style

20 PREPARE FOR DELIVERY

Since this was made for a magazine, it’s
especially important to make sure that all of the
settings and modes are correct. To start with, check
that the image is scaled or cropped properly. Most

19 FINAL TOUCHES
Finally, you can add the smallest and finest details to the painting. These include the whiskers, hair
and sparkles in the eyes. Evaluate the entire painting by flipping the canvas horizontally as in Step 12, turning
publishers handle their images in CMYK, so make
sure that it is converted. You can also sharpen the
image a little bit. Go to Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp
the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer on to check values once again, and last but not least, make sure that it Mask. Play around with the settings and make sure
reveals your story. You can also flatten the entire painting at this stage, so you don’t have to handle all the that the image looks nice and crisp, and then you
different layers anymore. are done!

The Digital Art Book 061

 Character

little girl is
Concept: The a bee decided to
so ha ppy that
op. The bee
taste her lollip happy.
doesn’t look asill be
This sketch w ugh
our guide thro
the tutorial

PHOTOSHOP

Easy-to-follow guides
take
3DS you
MAX from concept
to the final render
Artist info

VRAY

ZBRUSH
José Alves da Silva

Username: zeoyn

Personal portfolio site

www.artofjose.com
Country Portugal
Software used ZBrush,
3ds Max, V-Ray, Photoshop
Expertise José specialises in
character creation, ranging
from 2D concepts to finishing
textured 3D models suitable for
animation and more

062 The Digital Art Book

 Stylised characters

CREATE STYLISED
CHARACTERS
CREATE A 3D ILLUSTRATION WITH SHORTCUTS
SOURCE FILES 
AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

B
oth illustration and film use 3D but, even though the preparing a 3D illustration following a concept to optimise the
techniques are similar, the approach for each can be quite production process. ZBrush and 3ds Max will be used together for
different. An illustration gives the artist a lot more freedom modelling and posing. We will also be making extensive use of the new
and skips a few technical steps that would be essential when V-Ray 2.2 for the rendering and materials, especially its new Hair
preparing for animation. Material that enables hair to cast reflections, receive Global Illumination
Creating a 3D illustration can be a lot faster if you plan ahead, so you and V-Ray lights. We will learn all the necessary tricks to achieve a
know what to skip and where to invest the details. Here we will be good result with this most recent feature.

Creating a 3D illustration can be faster if you plan ahead, so you know what to skip
and where to invest the details. Here we will be preparing a 3D illustration following
a concept to optimise the production process

BEGIN WITH BASIC SHAPES

WORK FROM THE CONCEPT SKETCH TO BEGIN THE MODEL

01 BEGIN COMPOSITION
IN 3DS MAX
In 3ds Max, set units to Meters.
The correct scale is very
important for accurate light and
hair rendering. Set the render
size to 767 x 1,000px and
enable Safe Frames (Shift+F)
on the viewport to match the
concept’s proportions. Set the
concept image (free with this
issue) to be the viewport
background (Opt/Alt+B and
Load Image).
Build a ground plane and a
rough version of the girl 1.5m
high using primitives. Make
sure that the centre of the girl’s
body is at the co-ordinates 0,0,0.
02 ZSPHERES BASE
Select all objects and pick the GoZBrush from the
GoZ menu, ZBrush will then open. Drag the document and hit
Create a camera with a 33mm
T to edit the model. This rough model will be used as a
lens and place it so that the
reference for proportions.
perspective matches the
Press Append (Subtool menu) and pick ZSphere. Enable
concept on the background. For
Transparency (Trans button) and scale the ZSphere to be the
the lollipop make a 0.25m
girl’s belly size. Activate Symmetry (X) and create a new
radius Cylinder with 18 sides
ZSphere to make the trunk. Extend the head, arms and legs.
and six different Cap segments.
Add ZSpheres at the wrists and knees, then extend the feet.
From the hand extend the fingers and press Make Adaptive
Skin. ZBrush creates a new Skin_ZSphere tool. Press Append
and select to add it to your tool.

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Character

MODELS AND MAPS

PREPARE TOPOLOGY AND UVS FOR THE NEXT STAGE

03 3#5,04Ĉ4(%Ĉ"/$9
Subdivide the body three times, slide the DynaMesh Resolution to 8 and press DynaMesh
(choose No when prompted for Freeze Subdivision). When working in this mode every time you hit
Cmd/Ctrl and drag on the background, the model will be remeshed and generate new geometry as you
need it. Enable Symmetry and, using the Clay Buildup brush, start marking the main facial features.
Detail the features just enough to use them as a guide as they will be retopologised. On the body refine
the hands’ volume and mark the main body masses. Remesh every time the surface starts to become
stretched and you need more detail.

By creating new topology on top of the

04 2%4/0/,/'9ĈɓĈ"/$9Ĉ
We will retopologise the
DynaMesh you can build all the dress parts

DynaMesh to create a lighter model

and enable cleaner UVs. Append a
new ZSphere and under Topology
05 2%4/0/,/'9ĈɓĈ$2%33Ĉ
Append a new ZSphere and start topology for the
dress. Create a bathing suit shape with openings for arms,
choose Edit Topology. As you click legs and head. Under Topology set Skin Thickness to 0.25,
the surface you create vertexes that click Make Adaptive Skin and Append. Create new topology
close as polygons, creating new with a loop of polygons around the waist and shoulders.
geometry. Enable Symmetry and, Add a thinner loop that will represent the elastic that holds
following the facial features, create the cloth. Activate Transparency and Ghost mode to move
polygons looping around the mouth vertexes freely, creating the edge of skirt and sleeves.
and eyes. Create a nose and ears Include several new edge loops. Under Topology set Skin
connecting the surfaces. Extend the Thickness to 0.25 and lower the Density to 1. Click Make
surface to cover the back of the head Adaptive Skin and Append. Set Crease Tolerance to 25 and
and neck. Create polygons looping press Crease to prevent the edge that defines the elastic
around the fingers, extending along from smoothing. Finally, subdivide the parts.
the hands and arms until they
connect with the neck. Create
polygons along the legs and close QUICK TIP
feet. Under Adaptive Skin set Density A WORD ON TOPOLOGY
to 5 and click Make Adaptive Skin.
Append the new model to your tool. Topology is very important. Creating geometric edges
that follow the surface landmarks results in models
that are lighter, easier to apply UVs to, more suited for
animation or posing and better for sculpting. However
trying to create the perfect topology for a model whose
form we are still busy defining is difficult. Try dividing
the model creation into two stages: one that is 100 per
cent artistic and another that is 100 per cent technical.
The first phase must be flexible and careless
regarding polygon count and edge flow. Use DynaMesh
and its capacity to generate new geometry as you
extend your model to visualise and test your ideas.

06 2)""/.3Ĉ!.$Ĉ0)'4!),3Ĉ
In 3ds Max, create a 0.06m cube with 4 x 3 x 3 edges. Apply Edit Poly and Symmetry modifiers.
In Edit Poly, move the edges and extrude the central side faces. Add two horizontal loops and three
Don’t detail too much at this stage.
The second phase is retopology. Having established
your idea, create geometry on top of your 3D sketch
loops along the extrusion. Move vertexes to shape the ribbon to a butterfly shape. Add two extra loops with the best edge flow. You can detail it comfortably as
and extrude the central top faces on the bow inwards. Press GoZBrush in the GoZ menu. the direction of surface geometry matches the direction
In ZBrush, append the ribbon to the girl tool. Position the ribbon on the head and shape it with the of the details. This strategy gives you the best of both
Move brush. Append the ZSphere and create a chain with a pigtail shape. Click Make Adaptive Skin and worlds: unrestricted creativity and accurate topology.
shape it with the Move brush. Using the Subtool Master (ZPlugin menu) mirror the ribbons and pigtails.

064 The Digital Art Book

 Stylised characters

COMBINE ASSETS QUICK TIP

UNWRAP YOUR UVS AND MAKE A POSE BEE SMART

An illustration consists of a
very specific point of view of a
certain moment in time. As a
result there are many
occluded parts. You should
take advantage of that to
make your work quicker and
more enjoyable. Here are a
few shortcuts.

08 CHARACTER UVS
Select each subtool and press GoZ to export to
3ds Max. Apply the UnwrapUVW modifier, select edges
The back of the girl hasn’t
been detailed as it can’t be
seen. The legs have only been
where UVs will be cut and set Convert Edge Selection to
modelled roughly as their only

07 MAKE FINE DETAILS

Using the Standard brush, stroke from the inside to the
outside to create folds. Subdivide and sculpt detail on the folds. With
the seams. Choose Open UV Editor, click the Peel mode
button and disable it. Choose Tools>Pack UVs to separate
the UVs and enable Peel mode again. To shape the UVs
purpose is to create shadow.
The UV seams have been
placed on the back of the girl
the Dam Standard brush create a rim at the edge of the sleeves and select vertexes that you want to be fixed and choose Pin
and the belly of the bee to hide
skirt. Subdivide the dress, mark the edge around the openings then Selected. Move other vertexes to reshape the UVs and
texture-continuity problems.
sculpt folds at the waist and chest. Subdivide the body. Using the get a good layout. Click GoZ>GoZBrush to update the
Posing was made with
Clay Buildup brush, detail the face. Mark the mouth and eyeline with ZBrush subtool with these UVs. On the body, keep seams
Transpose Master instead of
the Dam Standard brush. Unmask one fingernail at a time and behind the head and follow the hair line. Create seams to
rigging the character as we
rotate from a side view to create the nails. Use the brush to mark separate the ears and arms, leaving easily identifiable UV
won’t be using it for animation
the wrinkles and sculpt hair ribbons with the Clay Buildup brush. islands that will make the texture painting task easier.
or different poses. The lollipop

09 ADD CLOTHING FEATURES was only detailed on the

On the dress, make seams at the openings and a vertical visible side.
one at the back. In Peel mode, select the vertical edge loops on the In the next chapter this logic
sides and align their vertexes using Align Vertical (under Quick persists, keeping the scenario
Transform) this will enable an undistorted layout, easing the task of only as big as the field of view
pattern creation later on. For the skirt, shape the UVs into a of the camera, ensuring the
rectangle and align the vertical and horizontal edges to allow for a objects that are out of focus
pattern. On the ribbons, use seams to separate the central knot are very simple. Minimum
from the bows. Regarding the lollipop, create a seam at the back effort and maximum impact is
edge of the cylinder. the idea here.

11 SHAPE THE BODY

Duplicate the lollipop subtool; move it to the centre for ref.
Using ZSpheres create the body, head and nose of the bee against
the lollipop. Click Make Adaptive Skin, append a primitive sphere

10 POSE THE CHARACTER

Delete the subtools, except the final parts and lollipop. Under ZPlugin>Transpose
Master choose TposeMesh. Unmask the trunk and rotate it to the character’s right. Unmask
and place as an eye. Using the Transpose Master, mirror it and
mark an iris on the eye for ref. Subdivide the body and sculpt it with
the Clay Buildup brush, marking the eyebrows and mouth. Sculpt
the right arm and rotate it up to reach for the lollipop stick. Adjust rotation of the right hand. the body sections of the bee. Create new topology, starting with
Unmask and rotate the left arm down and rotate the left hand up. Under ZPlugin>Transpose edge loops around the eyes. Extend to the nose and create a loop
Master pick Tpose>SubT. The pose will transfer to the original subtools. Using the Move brush, around the mouth. Extend polygons along the body sections, give a
correct any deformations caused from posing. Select the body subtool and by unmasking each different polygroup to each body section, isolate them and press
of the fingers and using Rotate mode, pose each finger to make the hand grip the lollipop. Crease to keep a hard edge between sections while subdividing.

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Character

MODELS AND MAPS

TIME TO CONSTRUCT THE BEE CHARACTER

12 BUILD BEE SECTIONS

Create a new topology on top of
the bee’s mid-section with the shape of a
Mask the lollipop
and place the
wing. Under Topology set Skin Thickness
to 0.03. Click Make Adaptive Skin and
bee on it. The bee’s
position the wing on the bee’s back. tongue will be glued
Delete the lower subdivision level and
using GoZ export the body and wing to
to the lollipop, so pose
3ds Max. Apply the UnwrapUVW the body as if the bee
modifier and mark seams as in the
image using Peel mode. Adjust UVs and
is trying to release
use GoZ to update them on ZBrush. itself by pulling its
Using ZSpheres, create one arm, a leg
and an antenna. Sudivide and detail with
head up
the Clay Buildup brush then duplicate the
extra arm from the existing one and
position it. Mirror all these parts using
Subtool Master.

13 POSE THE CHARACTER

You can delete the lollipop
duplicate. Select all the bee parts and the
original lollipop. Under Transpose Master
choose TposeMesh. Mask the lollipop and
place the bee on it. The bee’s tongue will
be glued to the lollipop, so pose the body
as if the bee is trying to release itself by
pulling its head up. Unmask the upper
body and rotate up, then the head and
rotate it right. Unmask the mouth and
rotate it left as if it’s being pulled.
Rotate the arms and legs to counter
balance the pulling action. Under
Transpose Master choose Tpose>SubT to
transfer the changes to the final model.

QUICK TIP
GOZ BACK AND FORTH

GoZ creates a bridge between ZBrush and 3ds

Max. Polygon selection tools are superior in 3ds
Max, use them to assign Material IDs that will be
interpreted as polygroups in ZBrush.
On the other hand, ZBrush is better at reshaping
organic forms. Export geometry, reshape and
send it back to 3ds Max. Take advantage of the
best in each software.

14 FOCUS ON THE BEE’S FEATURES

Create a ZSphere at the mouth and extend to create the tongue base. Click Make Adaptive Skin,
subdivide and shape with the Move brush. Sculpt the tongue with the Clay Buildup brush. To create UVs, start
by deleting lower-level subdivision and press GoZ. In 3ds Max, apply UnwrapUVW, select edges indicated on
the image as seams and use Peel mode to unfold UVs. Press GoZ to update ZBrush model UVs. Create a
surface texture using the Standard brush in Drag Rect mode using the LeatherySkin15 Alpha (in Lightbox)
and dragging onto the surface. Use the Dam Standard brush for wrinkles on the tongue and face (around
eyes and lips). Mark nostrils and connection with antenna with the Clay Buildup brush.

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FINAL DETAILS
FINALISE AND EXPORT FOR THE NEXT PHASE

15 ADJUST THE LOLLIPOP

Select the lollipop cylinder, set Ctolerance (Crease Tolerance)
to 41 and press Crease. This will prevent the cylinder’s edges from
smoothing. Subdivide twice then Press Shift and Uncrease All.
Subdivide three more times and, using the Clay Buildup brush,
mark the lollipop spirals by stroking lightly to produce an irregular
surface. With the Dam Standard brush mark the frontier between
the two spiral colours.
With the Clay Buildup brush, sculpt around the tongue as if the
surface had been licked. Also add volume around all body parts that
touch the lollipop surface.

16 EXPORT TO 3DS MAX

The model has ten million polygons. To export a lighter
model to 3ds Max, choose the adequate subdivision level for each
subtool as indicated in the image. Set this subdivision level and
press DelLower to delete lower subdivisions. We have to do this
because ZBrush will always export to 3ds Max with the lowest
subdivision level through GoZ.
Most subtools will be exported at subdivision level 3. However,
here we are exporting the lollipop at its maximum level to keep all
the contact details with the bee. Near GoZ button press All to export
17 EXPORT THE MAPS
We will export normal maps for all subtools that have UVs to use later in materials.
Also export cavity, occlusion and displacement maps in order to help in the creation of textures
all subtools to 3ds Max. The exported model has about 475 in the next chapter.
thousand polygons. To export normal map, go to lowest subdivision. Under NormalMap disable SmoothUV,
press Create NormalMap. Press CloneNM and under the Texture menu choose map and press
Export to save it. To export displacement map at the lowest subdivision, under Displacement
Map press Create DispMap. Press CloneDisp, go to the Alpha menu, select Map and Export.
For cavity and occlusion, set the highest subdivision and under Masking press Mask Ambient
Occlusion or Mask by Cavity. For cavity set Focal Shift to 0 and Intensity to 1. For occlusion, set
AO ScanDist to 1. Under Texture Map, choose New from Masking. Clone Txtr and export it
(Texture menu). Everything is set to start next phase.

QUICK TIP
EXTRA MAPS FOR MORE QUALITY

Occlusion, cavity and displacement maps can be easily extracted in ZBrush. These maps
work very well as a base to create other maps (like specular, glossiness or bump) and are
also useful for adding extra information to colour maps. Use the occlusion map on top of
your colour map using a Multiply or Linear Burn blending mode for a dirt effect. Cavity and
displacement maps also work really well using the Overlay blending mode to provide extra
visual detail and reinforce the normal map’s effect.

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Character

IMPROVE YOUR SOURCE FILES 

AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

CHARACTERS
ACHIEVE SIMPLE, STRIKING AND STYLISED CHARACTER
MODO PHOTOSHOP

DESIGNS USING MODO AND PHOTOSHOP Concept imag

e

I
n this tutorial we’re going to cover the steps Approaching this project from a design point of view
towards achieving a stylised portrait that can be simplifies the whole approach to the image-creation
used to present, for example, a character concept. process. It also means that a few changes could well
The main consideration for an image like this is be needed as the project matures and the final result
first and foremost design. The piece needs to convey takes shape.
the personality and appeal of the character, so anything Only the areas of the model that are absolutely
else should be secondary. This means that lighting, essential to the design need to be created. In terms of
environment and staging should all serve the purpose topology it really is vital that the face is modelled to a
of conveying and enhancing the character. As such high enough standard to show off the expression,
these aspects should all be kept simple so as to avoid however, in other areas, it is okay for the modelling to
distracting the viewer from the subject itself. be far less rigorous.

START WITH THE HEAD

SCULPT AND ADD TOPOLOGY

01 DEFINE THE FORM OF THE HEAD

Working with your initial sketch as a reference, add a sphere and set it
to Multiresolution mode with six subdivisions to create a very high-resolution
mesh. We’ll use the Sculpt tools to shape the head, but at this stage things can
be kept very loose, so just think of this as a 3D sketch that’s more convenient to
work from than a 2D image. Once the rough form is finished, we can sculpt the
nose and lips.

02 BEGIN RETOPOLOGISING
With the main form of the head fleshed out,
it can now be retopologised. Because this element
QUICK TIP
RETOPOLOGY
will need to show a facial expression, it’s important
to get the topology around the mouth and the eyes Many artists are uncomfortable with the
right. The main loops that surround the eyes and the idea of retopologising a model, fearing that
mouth are tackled first and then the rest of the this means doing a job twice. However, this
topology is built around them. The mouth is very is a short-sighted view, especially when
important because it requires a wide range of modelling your own designs.
movement, so it needs some wide loops around it Retopologising over a sculpt ends up
to enable smooth deformations. saving a huge amount of time. This is
because this workflow enables you to break
down the process into two logical steps: the
sculpting stage is solely for creating form
03 TWEAK THE MESH
With the topology rebuilt around the main form of the head, the
finer details can be added. This approach is a mixture of retopology and
and the topology stage can be used for
edge flow. Trying to do both together is far
modelling, where the main forms are retopologised over a sculpt, but all more difficult. The other big benefit is that it
the tweaking is done with traditional modelling methods. At this point the frees you from requiring any 2D reference
eyes are modelled and shaped and we have the final form of the mesh. It’s in the viewport. Also, retopologising in 3D is
best to work on one half of the model, then add in a mirrored instance via much faster than working from viewport-
the Topo tab c. based 2D references.

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Character

FINALISE THE BASIC FIGURE

ADD DETAILS AND INSERT MORE ELEMENTS INTO THE SCENE

04 SHAPE THE EXPRESSION

Once the model is complete, the
instanced side can be deleted and the final
geometry mirrored over. Apply a new Morph
map from the Vertex Map List to be used to
shape the character’s facial expression. The
lopsided smile is made with the Soft Select Move
tool and moving vertices with the Transform tool
creates the wink. You can speed up the
modelling process by having Select Through
active, which will let you quickly move one vertex
and then another without dropping your tools.

05 ADD THE UV MAPS

Prior to any texture painting, the UVs need to be created. In modo this process is relatively straightforward:
simply select the edges that will define the borders of the UV map and run the Unwrap tool in the UV viewport. It’s
usually worth experimenting with the different settings in the Unwrap tool to get the best possible projection.
Unwrapping heads is generally best done with Spherical mode, but in some cases Cylindrical might work better.
Testing each axis is worthwhile in order to get the best possible projection. Running the Relax tool after
unwrapping is usually a good idea.

With a female face concentrate details in certain areas such as

the lips, eyes and nose, leaving the rest of the face smooth

07 TEXTURE PAINT
THE FACE
With the details sculpted,
texture maps can then be
painted with modo’s Paint
tools. In this case we’ll use the
Airbrush to paint some colour

06 SCULPT WITH MULTIRESOLUTION

In order to add details with
Multiresolution sculpting, the mesh must be in
onto the nose and cheeks and
a harder brush to paint the
lips. Also paint a black-and-
Catmull-Clark Subdivision mode (hit Shift+Tab to white mask to define the
do this). For the head, set the highest subdivision glossy parts of the lips, then
level to 6, which creates a total of just under apply this as a group mask in
seven-million polygons. This amount enables the Shader Tree to add a
very fine details to be sculpted onto the model. glossy material to the lips.
With a female face it’s best to concentrate details Finally some translucency
only in certain areas such as the lips, eyes and was added to the materials,
nose, leaving the rest of the face smooth. using the colour maps painted
for the skin and lips.

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QUICK TIP
CHARACTER DESIGN
08 START TO BUILD
THE JACKET
By roughly extruding and
shaping a cube we can
Producing interesting characters
shape the basic form of the
requires some individuality on the part
jacket, then retopologise it
of the artist. In order to make
for better edge flow. The
something original, you need to work
folds can be added using
on developing a personal style, so that
Multiresolution sculpting
your characters become distinct and
and the jacket is UV-ed and
therefore have a chance of standing
textured with Image maps.
out from the crowd.
To evoke the feel of fabric, a
Your sketchbook, whether physical
Bump map along with
or digital, is the best way of getting
Anisotropic Reflections can
noticed. If you regularly try out new
be applied. Controlling these
ideas in your sketchbooks and try to
is dependent on a good UV
push your designs, you will soon find
map, so the care we took
plenty of original material for later
over the topology will pay
development. The crazier you can be in
off at this stage.
your sketchbook the better – even if
you need to tone some of the ideas
down later.

09 MODEL THE EYES

When shaping the head
mesh, some placeholder
spheres are positioned to guide
the contouring of the eyelids. To
create convincing eyes you will
need to model a cornea and an
iris as well as the eyeball. You
can start with a standard
sphere, then rotate it by 90
degrees and delete the
triangles at the pole. Inside the
hole, use a disc for the iris and
model a hemisphere around
that for the cornea. Inserting
these details will enable the
proper reflections and
refractions to occur, resulting in
very lifelike and appealing eyes.

10 TEXTURE THE IRIS

The best way to create the iris texture is to paint one in Photoshop. You can start by filling in a dark brown and
then paint streaks of a lighter shade in a radial pattern coming from the middle. Break these streaks up and vary the
patterns you paint. Add some lines in a more saturated shade at the halfway point to simulate the patterns commonly
found on the iris. Also use this map in the Subsurface slot for translucency .

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Character

APPLY HAIR AND BACKGROUND ELEMENTS

COMPLEMENT YOUR FIGURE WITH EXTRA FEATURES

11 CONSTRUCT THE HAIR

A simple hairstyle, such as the one used here, can be
created relatively easily. Keeping elements such as the hair as
simple as possible helps to speed the whole process up. Copy
and paste the polygons that the hair should grow from into a
12 SHAPE THE PARASOL
You can shape the character’s parasol with a hemisphere and then arrange the ribs around
a radial array. The Work Plane in modo can be activated in order for you to comfortably work at the
new layer, then apply a black material to them. Add a fur layer angle that the umbrella will be occupying in the 3D space. Paint some folds on a Square map with
and adjust a few settings; for instance increase the number of a radial pattern in Photoshop and apply these as a Bump map to add to the fabric material. To
segments to 20 to ensure there is enough curvature. The finish, add various maps to define the diffuse and translucent tones.
Density and Length should also be increased, but reduce all the
Jitter settings to ensure more even growth. To finish this
element, increase the Flex and Root Bend settings to give the
hair some weight, then set Specularity to 100% to create a
bright highlight.

QUICK TIP
HAIR ADVICE FOR MODO

If you have created hair guides or custom curves to act as guides, there are
a couple of very important settings that are needed to ensure the hair
follows the guides correctly. In the Fur Material tab make sure the guides
are set to Range and that the Guide Range Distance is set to a high value,
otherwise the guides will have no effect. Finally, be sure to create enough
segments for your hair to follow the guides accurately. To soften the look
of the rendered hair you might need to render multiple frame passes.

13 MODEL THE TREES

The tree elements are a breeze to create in modo: simply start with a flat
polygon at ground level and use the Sketch Extrude tool to create an organic
trunk. Branches can be pulled out from polygon selections using the same tool.
With Select Through activated, you are able to pull new branches out without
dropping the tool. The entire process can be completed in just a couple of
minutes. Use the Scale and Spin settings on the Sketch Extrude tool to add
variety to the branches.

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MAKE THE FINAL TOUCHES

WITH THE CHARACTER COMPLETE IT’S TIME TO BRING EVERYTHING TOGETHER

14 BUILD THE LEAVES

The easiest way to create a canopy of leaves is to use particle
clouds distributed among the branches of the trees. Once these are
placed, you can model a few leaves and make a group out of the leaf
meshes. Next, add some Replicator items that will use the leaf
groups to duplicate the leaves into the particle clouds. You can add
some colour variation very easily by using a gradient set to Particle ID
to give each leaf a slightly different colour from the others.

15 APPLY THE BLOSSOM

The blossom can be created in a similar way to the
leaves, with the main difference being that the shape of the
flowers can be driven by Stencil maps. In Photoshop the
blossom shape is painted on a transparent background,
which can be used as a Diffuse map. The transparency can
also be used to drive a Stencil map, which will define the
shape of the petals. The flower can be spread with particle
clouds and Replicator items.

16 LIGHTING AND RENDERING

With all of the modelling and texturing complete, the scene is ready for final lighting and
rendering. The main light is a simple Directional Light with a faint yellow tone to simulate sunlight.
An Area Light is placed to the right to create some reflections in the clothing and eyes. The parasol is
backlit with a Spot Light to enhance the translucency. In terms of rendering, the scene is
straightforward since it’s set outdoors and lit mainly with direct light. The global illumination will
render cleanly on default setting.

QUICK TIP
USING THE SHADER TREE

In modo’s Shader Tree there are several ways to apply

materials to a mesh, either with Polygon Tags, Item
Masks or even Selection Sets. If you want a simplified
workflow you should exclusively use Polygon Tags to
17 RETOUCH IN PHOTOSHOP
With the high-resolution render
complete, some final touches can be added in
apply materials. This feature has the benefit that materials Photoshop. With the default brush tool, apply
can be reapplied throughout the scene and objects can be some retouching around important areas, such
duplicated without losing their materials. Item Masks and as the eyes and lips, to enhance the rendered
Selection Sets can then be used without any materials for details. You can retouch the skin using an
things such as item level Alpha channels, and without airbrush to even out any CG harshness. Add
affecting the predefined materials. some glowing layers (use a solid black layer and
set its blending mode to Linear Dodge) and paint
subtle airbrush highlights in them over the hair
and clothes. Finally, use some basic Color
Balance adjustment layers to warm the image
and control the contrast.

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Character

This character has His gaze is unflinching,

seen his fair share and his expression a
of death and war. mixture of disdain for
His stance and his captors and
expression suggest determination to
that he probably escape from prison
doesn’t know fear

His features are grimy and

weather-beaten, a
testament to his hard life.
There is barely a square-inch
of skin unblemished, while a
dent on his nose is
significant of a past injury From the thickness of his
neck and the slope of his
shoulders, we can see he
is powerfully built. The
metal collar barely fits
around his neck

He sports a single
gold tooth in the
centre of his
bottom row

FINETUNE PAINTER

PORTRAITS ZBRUSH

FOLLOW THIS ZBRUSH WORKFLOW TO CREATE A 3D SOURCE FILES 

INTERPRETATION OF A STYLISED CHARACTER CONCEPT AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

074 The Digital Art Book

 Fine-tune portraits

A deep scar runs from his forehead down to his

left cheek. The injury has left him blind in one eye
and this contrasts strongly with his undamaged
right eye, which is a striking blue. The scar isn’t
recent and has clearly occurred in battle

As an extra feature, his

His jaw is powerful and his prisoner number has been cut
jutting chin emphasises into his shaven head. Once
the strength of his will safely in his cell he is not
expected to leave, though he
may have other ideas

A rusting metal collar is

secured around his neck
with a thick chain. The
simplicity of the collar
signifies that he is being
kept in Spartan conditions

T
he goal here was to produce concept art The final result shown on these pages is a
for a 3D artist to replicate into a rugged male character portrait – a strong and
convincing character bust. When creating charismatic fellow that has been through the wars.
concept work for 3D artists you need to To get to the final design, thumbnails were very
ensure there is enough information captured in the helpful to explore different ideas. Reference
design to help them interpret materials, textures, images from the likes of Dreamstime.com also
expression and so on. helped to achieve realism in the expression and
To present a challenging project for the 3D skin imperfections.
artist, we have included some scarring, facial hair, The concept sheet supplied to the 3D artist
shaved details in the hairline and lots of aging. provided him with a front-on, side and three-
The expression is of paramount importance quarter view to give him as much 3D information
here, because it makes the character engaging for as possible to tackle the project. You can see the
the audience. results and follow along on the next pages.

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Character

076 The Digital Art Book

 Fine-tune portraits

ESTABLISH INITIAL FORM

BLOCK IN THE BASIC SHAPES OF THE CHARACTER

Taking the concept of this menacing convict, we’ll go through the workflow for creating a character bust, from sculpting the main forms to refining the
model with pore and wrinkle details. We’ll be using DynaMesh to create the clothing and the chain, FiberMesh to add facial hair and we’ll also go over some
Polypainting techniques to bring the character to life.
ZBrush is the tool of choice for this process because it gives us the freedom to create without the need to jump between multiple software packages or
worry about technical limitations. Once our character has been sculpted and Polypainted, we’ll pose him and render multiple passes to be composited in
Photoshop.

01 BUILD THE BASE MESH

With the DynaMesh tools in ZBrush it doesn’t really matter if
you’re starting with a sphere or a pre-existing base mesh. The main thing is
02 WORK OUT THE
MAJOR FORMS
Try to exclusively use the
to keep the subdivision low at this point. Try to keep the brush size large Move brush early on to
and avoid zooming in on the character early on. This way you’re only manipulate the major
concentrating on the overall silhouette of the character. To start, we’ll shapes into place. Looking
concentrate on getting the main shapes and proportions of the head, neck at the concept we’ll try to
and shoulders. Hitting Y will toggle between the default white and black of establish where the eyes,
the SubTool, enabling you to check the silhouette easier. nose and mouth sit in
relation to one another. At
this point we can begin to
subdivide and, using the
ClayTubes brush, block in
the major forms and
structure. Using the
DamStandard brush we can
also cut in some guidelines
for skin folds and concave
shapes, such as the
nasolabial fold, philtrum,
eyelids, brow and lips.

QUICK TIP
CONTROL SUBDIVISION

When starting a sculpt it’s important to keep the subdivision level low,
especially when blocking in proportions and main shapes. You can then
slowly subdivide (Cmd/Ctrl+D) to add polygon density as needed. Doing
this helps prevent your sculpts from looking bloated and gives you
more control over your mesh. If you are working on a higher
subdivision level and need to make large changes to the mesh, drop
down to a lower subdivision level (Shift+D) to enable smoother
transitions and easier control.

03 ADD EYES AND TEETH

For the eyes, click on Append in the SubTool palette and choose
Sphere3D. Using Deformation>Size, scale down the eye to fit the character’s
head. Then, using Transpose Move, we can position the eye in place. To
create the other eye, simply use ZPlugin>SubTool Master>Mirror and
choose Merge Into One SubTool. Once the eyes are in place, make
adjustments to the eyelids to fit the curve of the eye. For the teeth we can
append a Cube3D and resize it using the Transpose tools. Under
Geometry>DynaMesh, set the Resolution to a low amount (such as 128)
and create a U shape for the gums and teeth. Turn off DynaMesh, increase
the subdivision, then block in the teeth and gums using the Clay brush.
Slowly refine the teeth with the DamStandard and Standard brush while
increasing the subdivision level.

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Character

ESTABLISH INITIAL FORM

BLOCK IN THE BASIC SHAPES OF THE CHARACTER

04 SCULPT THE SCARS

In the concept this guy has some pretty gruesome scars. The
one over his left eye and upper lip are indented, so we’ll start by using
the DamStandard brush to create the initial line and flow of the scar.
Next we’ll go back over the line and include some irregularities, then by
using small strokes and the ClayTubes brush we can build up the scar
tissue around the edges. The ClayTubes brush is great for these kinds of
details and we’ll use it again for the small raised scars on his head, by
blocking in the rough flow and shape of the scar. To add some more
irregularities we’ll set the Intensity a little lower. Using short strokes that
alternate between Zadd and Zsub (holding Opt/Alt) we can build up the
grisly scar texture.

05 IT’S ALL IN THE EYES

Apply some Polypaint to the
eyes before you finish the sculpting
phase, to bring some life into the
character as you’re working on it.
The MatCap to use is the zbro_
EyeReflection and can be
downloaded from http://luckilytip.
blogspot.com.au. Select a base
off-white tone and, with MRGB
turned on, go to Color>Fill Object.
Next, choose the Standard brush,
turn off Zadd and only have RGB
turned on. We’ll select a brush size
that fits the size of the iris and paint
06 CREATE THE SHIRT
To clothe our character we’ll
begin by appending a sphere and
the darkest outer-edge of the eye. resizing it to roughly fit. With the
Next we’ll choose a lighter saturated DynaMesh resolution low, we can
tone and paint in the iris, giving a use the Move brush to block in the
slight taper to the lower half. This basic shape of the shirt. We can then
enhances a concave effect around begin to subdivide the mesh and build
the iris. Add some lighter flecks to up details. For the collar area of the
the iris, then include a black pupil as shirt, we can mask the areas where
well as some subtle veins and colour we want to create the appearance of
variation to the sclera. To finish this an overlap and use the Move brush to
element, we’ll paint in some fake pull these areas up and over. Use the
occlusion to give the eyes some DamStandard and Standard brushes
grounding in their sockets. to refine the details.

07 BUILD THE CHAIN COLLAR

To shape the chain collar we’re going to use DynaMesh to subtract and merge different meshes. Subtract one cylinder from another to
create the neck opening, then merge a cube and subtract another cube to produce the area where the chain links in. To subtract one mesh from
another in ZBrush, go to the SubTool palette, move to DynaMesh (A) above the SubTool (B) you are going to use to subtract. The lower SubTool (B)
needs to have the Difference SubTool icon selected, which is the second icon. Select the top SubTool (A) and go to SubTool>Merge>MergeDown to
combine both SubTools. To create the subtraction, hold down Cmd/Ctrl, then click and drag on the canvas to re-DynaMesh.

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08 ADD THE CHAIN LINKS

For the chains we’ll need to append a Ring3D. Go to
Deformation>Inflat to add some thickness. By masking half of the ring
we can use the Transpose Move tool to drag half of the ring upwards to
extend the middle area. Next we’ll use DynaMesh to reconstruct the
topology. With the first link created we can now duplicate and position a
few more links using the Transpose tools. This enables us to add a
sense of movement to the character.

QUICK TIP
MORPH TARGETS AND LAYERS

The use of Morph Targets and layers can be extremely beneficial to

non-destructively add detail. For example, you can store a Morph
Target then start to sculpt scars and if you aren’t happy with a
particular area, use the Morph brush to paint back to the stored
version of the sculpt. Layers can be helpful for controlling tiny
details like pores. By placing the pore details on their own layer, you
can increase or decrease the amount that they’re visible, giving you
greater control over them.

09 DETAIL THE ACCESSORIES

We can now do a cleanup pass over our accessories and apply
some more detail. For instance, we’ll want to add some wear and tear
to the chain links. To do this we can use the Mallet Fast brush which can
be found in Lightbox>Brush>Mallet>MalletFast.ZBP. Just use small
strokes to add some dents and scratches to the collar and chains. We
can add some seams to the shirt using masking with the Move and
DamStandard brushes, then also add some more folds to the shirt
using the Standard brush.

10 FOCUS ON THE FACE

With the sculpting phase almost complete, it’s now time to add
some finer features. DamStandard should be the main brush used for
applying wrinkles and the smaller details. For the pores and stubble
texture, use the Standard brush with a pore Alpha and the Stroke set
to Spray with a low Intensity. Try to keep in mind places like the nose,
which tend to have larger and more visible pores. You can also use a
mask for areas like the lips, where you don’t want any pore detail.

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Character

FIBERMESH AND POLYPAINTING

APPLY THE TEXTURE AND BUILD THE HAIR

11 APPLY AND ADJUST THE HAIR

FiberMesh works by applying hair strands to
any masked area of a SubTool. To create the head
stubble, we’ll first need to create a 054 black-and-
white image in Photoshop to be used as a mask. We QUICK TIP
can then mask the area of the head we want to add MASKING TIPS
hair to and subtract the 054 shape using the created
Alpha. Click the Preview button under the FiberMesh There are some masking tools in
palette. Under Modifiers, change Length to 10 and ZBrush that can be used to help
Coverage to roughly 70. Change the Width Profile to speed up the workflow and create
create thinner strands and the Base and Tip colours some interesting effects.
should be a dark brown. Use the BPR Render Masking>Mask PeaksAndValleys
(Shift+R) to test what this looks like. Once you’re can be used to quickly create
happy with the results, go to FiberMesh>Accept. versatile patterns for texturing. In
this case it was used for
Polypainting the chain. Masking>
Mask By Smoothness is also very
useful for quickly painting edges
and dents, especially when working
on hard surfaces. Play around with
the sliders to see what you can
come up with.

12 SHAPE SIDEBURNS AND EYEBROWS

Mask the sideburns area and select Lightbox>Fibers under the FiberMesh menu.
This will provide some presets to choose from and edit. For the sideburns we can use the
Fibers196 preset. Set Length to 14, Coverage to 10 and adjust the Width Profile. Turn the
texture off and set the Base and Tip Color to brown again. Click Accept and then mask the
area for the eyebrows. This time we’ll use the Fiber160 preset and change Length to 110,
Coverage to 2.25 and Gravity to -0.5. We’ll also need to adjust the Width Profile, and change
the Twist and Revolve to approximately 135. Select dark brown for the colours and render
to test the hair. When happy with the results click Accept. Now we can use the Groom
brushes to style the eyebrows a bit more and really get them looking rugged.

13 BEGIN POLYPAINTING
For the skin, use the zbro_Viewport_Skin2 MatCap, which
can be downloaded from http://luckilytip.blogspot.com.au. To begin
painting the skin, fill the SubTool with a neutral skin tone as the base
colour. Using a Standard brush, with just RGB on and a blue selected,
block in the beard area and around the eyes. Add some red around
the nose, lips and cheeks, then a yellow tone on the forehead and
slightly on the cheeks. Using these more saturated colours will give
us some nice variation and a good foundation to work from. We can
then begin to build up on the darker and lighter skin tones and use a
pore Alpha with the Stroke set to Spray in order to add some more
texture to the skin. Now we can slowly build up and refine the
textures and values.

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FINALISE THE SCULPT

ADD THE LAST TOUCHES TO BRING OUT REAL PERSONALITY

14 FINAL POSING
To finish we will need to add asymmetry and pose the
character. This can be done with ZPlugin>Transpose Master>
TPoseMesh. Then, using masking and the Transpose tools, we can
position the character into an interesting position. In this case we
are trying to achieve a pose that would fit the concept artist’s
description of this character. When this is done, go to Transpose
Master>TPose-SubT to transfer the pose back to the SubTools. We
can now tweak the mean expression.

15 SET UP THE RENDER

When the sculpt is finished and ready to be rendered, we’ll
need to find a nice camera angle and store its position in
Document>ZAppLink Properties>Cust1. For the lighting setup, use
one main light from the front and two rim lights from behind. We’ll
QUICK TIP
EXPERIMENT WITH MATCAPS
render these out separately to be composited together in
Photoshop. To create a rim light, simply click on the dot in the Light Don’t be afraid to experiment with layering different MatCaps in your render passes. You
Placement Preview window in the Light palette. This will send the can also edit existing MatCaps to suit the material you’re trying to render. Trying out
light source behind the character. When rendering the rim lights, different MatCaps and blend modes can lead to some interesting effects and an overall
turn off Polypaint for each SubTool and use the Basic material. Also more engaging render.
set the colour to black.

17 UNIFY THE BUST

Once we’ve rendered out our passes it’s time to put
everything together. Experiment with the different layer blending
modes in Photoshop to see which effects you can find. In this case,
16 MAKE RENDER PASSES
Once the lighting is set up, you are then able to begin to render out the different
passes. The starting render passes to use are the main BPR Render, Shadow, the Rim
Ambient Occlusion, Cavity and Shadow passes are all set to Multiply
with the layer opacity lowered. For the Rim Lighting, Reflection and
Specular passes we will use a combination of Color Dodge and
Lighting passes, Ambient Occlusion and Depth. The next passes to render are the Cavity,
Screen. Once you are totally happy with how the image is looking,
using the SketchShade2 MatCap; a Specular pass, using the Basic material and the Color set
you can make a final Levels and colour correction to really make
to black; then finally a Reflection pass for the chains, using a combination of the Reflected
the image pop.
Map and Chrome materials.

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Character

MARMOSET
TOOLBAG

MUDBOX

NDO2

LIGHTWAVE

PHOTOSHOP

082 The Digital Art Book

 Texture and details

ADD TEXTURE SOURCE FILES 

AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

AND DETAILS
ACHIEVE A CHARACTER READY FOR A CLOSEUP, COMPLETE WITH
FINELY SCULPTED DETAILS AND TEXTURES

T
his tutorial will guide you through the entire process of details. You’ll see how you can use Mudbox to easily pose your
modelling, sculpting, texturing and rendering a model for different shots. Next up, check out the process of
chameleon character with a high level of detail. First unwrapping UV layouts and extracting Normal, Displacement and
you’ll work out what the building blocks for the base Occlusion maps from your model. Learn how to convert a Normal
mesh of the model will be. Second, you’ll be guided through the map into a Cavity map with the help of the nDo2 plug-in for
creation of custom organic stencils, which will enable you to sculpt Photoshop. Finally, you’ll get to know Marmoset Toolbag’s
rich and varied details for the skin. You will learn which tools can real-time rendering engine and learn how to set up a basic scene
easily be used to refine your sculpt and blend in the different and define useful material and lighting properties.

START WITH THE BASICS

DEFINE YOUR MODEL IN LIGHTWAVE

02 BORN FROM A BOX

Darwin’s On the Origin of Species will tell you that a
chameleon should come from an egg. Well, Trippy, our chameleon
friend, comes from a box in LightWave. Evolving from this basic object
enables us to quickly form the rough volumes that comprise the
character. We’ll employ basic and well-known tools such as Extrude,
Extend, Spinquad and Mirror, while not being too concerned with exact
proportions at this stage. However, do prepare a few appropriate loops
for the limb articulations, the eyes and the mouth limits, which should
be refined in a later step. After a few fixes regarding topology, you
should have a base mesh that serves its purpose and keeps the
potential to be aesthetically pleasing when refined.

01 DO YOUR HOMEWORK
As with all artwork, research
plays an important role in defining
QUICK TIP
MODEL WHAT WILL BE SEEN
your goals and identifying your
As soon as you lay your eyes on
challenges. Given the specificities of
Trippy, the thought of a really long,
the subject, you should carefully pick
slimy tongue probably crosses your
your references in order to get a
mind and you may wonder what the
good feeling of form, weight,
inside of his mouth looks like. Here’s
common qualities and intricate
a hint: nothing! Whenever you’re
features. For a start, any search
assigned a project where your
engine will provide you with plentiful
characters will be presented in a
photo references of chameleons.
You’ll want to roam free with your
creativity, but picking a particular
3D-illustration format, or in a very
limited animated piece, settle your 03 FROM BASE MESH TO SCULP
After settling for a base mesh, import it into Mudbox and start
sculpting the general forms that perfect the rough model. You may feel drawn
scope of work beforehand and agree
gender and subspecies will provide to sculpting the chin’s skin intricacies early on, so to achieve these features only
on which parts will never be seen or
your creation with consistency for use the Wax brush with the bw_strip stamp. You can experiment with the
used in animation. This will keep your
those who know this creature well. default brush without the stamp to realise the difference in results. To better
model as light as possible and will
However, the balance you strike control the affected areas, try locking all the objects or sections that you don’t
enable you to allocate your attention
between realism and artistic license want to accidentally sculpt. Go to the Object list and click on the lock near each
to what really matters.
is of course completely up to you. of the objects you wish to protect.

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Character

BUILD UP THE DETAILS IN MUDBOX

CREATE CUSTOM ORGANIC STENCILS AND APPLY INTRICATE FEATURES

04 LEARN YOUR SCULPTING TOOLS

The Knife tool and Wax brush are used
frequently throughout the sculpting phase. The
sharpness of the Knife tool satisfies tasks such as
the tooth-like patterns surrounding the mouth.
Features such as the eyebrow patterns and the
details near the eyes are the result of alternating
between the Wax brush and the Knife tool.

05 CUSTOMISE ORGANIC STENCILS

The most eye-catching skin details are achieved through custom-made stencils, which can be
prepared manually in Photoshop (the ones used here are supplied with this tutorial). To create your own, find
a few photo close-ups of chameleon scales to work from. For each reference, create a new file with a
transparent background, a layer for the reference and a top layer to paint over. Paint the emphasised forms in
white and save as a PNG without the reference layer, as shown. While in Mudbox, find the Stencil tray, click
the right arrow on top, choose Add Stencil and load your stencil images.

06 GO WITH THE FLOW AND BLEND IN

You should scale and rotate your stencil according to the natural flow of the skin intricacies. An
automatic repetition (pattern) will not produce realistic results and so will appear much less organic. Pay close
attention to the types of scales that are adequate for each area. To achieve a nice blend between different
styles, you can choose to leave some blank areas between them and fill them in with custom-sculpted details.
You will achieve different results according to the tool you have selected in the Sculpt Tools tray, but Sculpt
was used for Trippy (the first icon on the tray). After applying the stencil, use the Wax tool to make a few
sporadic spots stand out. As you can probably tell, this stage will very much depend on the result you’re trying
to achieve, so it’s best to find your own preference when applying these details.

07 KEEP REFINING AND BUILDING DETAIL

The Knife tool provides a means of
sharpening the stencil’s results. A few well-
08 FINISH THE DETAILS
These methods are sufficient to
achieve the sculpted details for the body and
positioned strokes can deepen the skin wrinkles and limbs. Keep a natural flow for the skin while
define prominent details. The head and casque are minding articulations, creases and volume
also sculpted with the Wax and Knife tools to achieve oscillations. Use the brick-wall-like stencil to
a well-defined silhouette for the model. Start with a sculpt the tail with a gradual blend towards
higher intensity and soften the application towards the body’s scales. The corn-like stencil is
the top. A stencil can also be applied. used to sculpt the feet soles.

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09 MAINTAIN THE BALANCE

We’ll now model and sculpt a simple branch for the
chameleon to stand on. This is built using the bw_skin02 stencil and
some custom details. Feel free to be more creative regarding small
protruding leaves or even add little critters to enrich your piece.

10 STRIKE A POSE
You can use Mudbox’s Pose tools for a minimalist approach to posing. Let’s be clear
on the fact that this is not the equivalent of rigging, but it will provide you with the basic means
QUICK TIP to deform the model and achieve a simple pose variation, which suits our goals for this
OPTIMISE YOUR SCENE particular work. The skeleton of the pose will be automatically placed on a homonymous layer
as soon as you create your first joint. Before actually creating any joints, make sure you
If you get carried away with sculpting and texturing in Mudbox, deselect the One Joint at a Time property so that each new joint connects to the previous one.
you might quickly run out of memory and experience Upon selecting a joint, the Weights tool enables you to customise the way pose
slowdowns. In order to avoid this, hide the areas that you are transformations affect the object. Our chameleon has one joint on the neck with weights
not currently painting. You might also select specific tiles/ extended all the way to the head. To make sure these weights affect the eyes and spikes,
layouts and unload their textures from VRAM by pressing the select them immediately after creating the joint. Select the Weights tool, apply 100% Strength
up and down arrow keys. Freeing VRAM will usually reflect in a in the Properties tray and click the Flood button on the bottom. You should be able to move the
performance boost. This is very important and can’t really be whole head without leaving the eyes or the spikes behind. You may choose to create their
stressed enough. joints with the Mirror property set to X. The tail holds many joints to achieve its curvature. Once
you’re happy with a pose, you can save it for reference (Windows>Poses).

UNWRAP AND EXTRACT

UNPACK YOUR UVS AND REMOVE MAPS WITH YOUR SCULPTED DETAILS

11 APPLY LIGHTWAVE UV LAYOUTS

PLG_Make_UV_Edit is a free plug-in (www.
cglounge.com/plugins/plg-make-uv-edit) that
13 PHOTOSHOP AND NDO2
Cavity maps nDo2 is a Photoshop
plug-in created by Quixel (http://quixel.se),
enables you to easily unwrap your UVs in LightWave which enables you to enhance Normal maps.
Modeler. Select a surface to unwrap and press the Q Use it to convert a Normal map into a Cavity
key to trigger the Change Surface window. Specify map. Open the plug-in’s interface and then
each surface properly, then open the plug-in’s your Normal map files in Photoshop. Click the
interface. Click Make Atlas From Surface, which will small Convert… link in nDo2, define Normal
as your Origin, Cavity as your Target, then
show you the edges of each surface, then click Make
UV. Use the Move and Rotate tools to compose a
neatly organised map. The spikes that compose the
12 MUDBOX MAPS
Choose File>Import UV, making sure your object is
set to the base subdivision level (Level 0, by pressing the
click Active Doc. The plug-in does a great job
of picking up on slight sculpting nuances,
crests are unwrapped differently. Use the plug-in to Page Down key). If you haven’t edited the object in a way which are a perfect base for Specular and
select each spike’s centre edge and then click on that might have changed the number of vertices, select the Diffuse maps. After a few tweaks to the
Advance Edge. After doing this for all spikes, just Match by: Vertex ID import option. After doing this for each exposure, the Cavity map is ready. Get better
select all of the edges and Make UV to attain their object (each UV layout), extract your maps for each object acquainted with nDo2’s potential with the free
shells. This piece comprises a total of five UV layouts. with its own UV layout. Use the Select/Move tools to make trial supplied, or visit http://quixel.se/ndo m.
sure your desired object is fully selected (marked in
yellow). Select Maps>Extract Texture maps>Normal map.
For the Extraction Options, click the Add Selected button
near the Target Model and Source Model boxes. Refer to
the supplied screenshot named ‘maps_extraction_config.
jpg’ for the remaining extraction configurations. Follow the
same procedure to extract the Displacement and Occlusion
maps (Mudbox recalls previous configurations). The
Occlusion map requires a specific Advanced>Filter
property configuration: set it to 0.001000 l.

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Character

CREATE DETAILED TEXT

USE PAINT TOOLS AND YOUR EXTRACTED MAPS TO ACHIEVE THE FINAL TEXTURES

14 PAINT LAYERS AND CHANNEL TIPS

Mudbox enables us to work with separate paint layers. Always
keep your colour scheme flexible by painting each colour onto a distinct
layer. This means you can adjust each colour area’s hue, saturation and
brightness at any stage without affecting the remaining areas. Here
we’ve adorned Trippy with turquoise, purple and orange tones as the
main colour scheme. The painting process itself is straightforward: use
the Paintbrush tool for colouring and the Paint Erase brush for
corrections. To achieve the glossy irises, paint one layer with jet black,
then duplicate it (Ctrl/right-click then pick Duplicate Selected). On the
Layers panel, create a New Layer with Channel as Specular. Repeat the
process for the Gloss channel and drag your duplicated layer to the top
of the newly shown Specular channel. Ctrl/right-click this layer, then
choose Adjust Color>Select a Preset>Inverse. This results in an intense
and unique shine. Now duplicate this specular layer and drag the result
to the top of the Gloss channel.

15 APPLY MAPS TO TEXTURES

The Paint Tools tray enables you to import a layer from an image. Import the
Cavity map as a layer for the Diffuse channel and place it on top of all other paint layers.
This is the main channel for all the coloured paint layers. Ctrl/right-click the Cavity map
layer and choose Adjust Color>Select a Preset>Inverse. Now that your cavities are white,
apply the Overlay Blend Mode with 35% Opacity and you’ll achieve a reptilian look for the
skin’s intricacies. Import your Occlusion map into another layer and set it to Multiply Blend
Mode to achieve soft volumetric shadows, including the contact shadows between the feet
and the branch. Any layers that you create within the Specular channel will affect the
shininess of the underlying objects. Bright paint will result in a shiny area, whereas black
will result in a matte area. Here we duplicate various layers from the Diffuse channel: drag
the duplicates to the Specular channel, convert them to greyscale and then slightly adjust
their contrast values. As a finishing touch, create a noise-like stencil and paint it onto the
Specular channel.

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 Texture and details

RENDER IN MARMOSET
CAPTURE ASTONISHING DETAIL WITH AN AFFORDABLE GAME ENGINE

16 2%.$%2Ĉ).Ĉ2%!,Ɏ4)-%Ĉ7)4(Ĉ-!2-/3%4
Marmoset Toolbag is a software developed
and maintained by Marmoset that empowers artists
17 0/34Ɏ02/$5#4)/.Ĉ).Ĉ0(/4/3(/0
Marmoset Toolbag enables us to save screenshots with High Dynamic Range, giving us further
control over the colours in Photoshop. You will also be able to export an Alpha channel in order to separate
to render low-poly models in real-time with very the model from the background. When you open your file in Photoshop you’ll realise it’s a 32-bit image, which
high quality (www.marmoset.co). Real-time artists provides you with the means to make colour corrections without losing any of the model’s gradients. In this
who wish to portray their work on a showcase will case, Marmoset’s output was very satisfying, so there was very little post-processing to be done. If you’d like
benefit from this tool’s qualities. A recent software to indulge in colour-correction adjustments, you can add goal-specific adjustment layers (Layer>New
update enables the use of Displacement maps with Adjustment Layer) and tweak their values without affecting your image irreversibly. Afterwards, flatten the
DirectX11 tessellation. The first step is to export your image to 8-bit and add a Translucent Noise layer (Filter>Noise>Add Noise) q.
model from Mudbox at subdivision Level 2 in OBJ
format. A final round-trip to LightWave Modeler is
required to name the final exported object layers:
eyes, body, branch, chin crest and body crest. Import
your OBJ to Marmoset and notice the Chunks and
Material trays. Import your Displacement map
(extracted in Step 12) into the Material tab, under
Displacement Input. Notice that you have many
properties to experiment with, such as Translucency.
To soften the edges of your rendered model, scroll to
the bottom of the tab and adjust the Tessellation
value to 1,000 (this will require a graphics card that
supports DirectX11). Incredibly easy to work with,
Marmoset comes packed with various lighting
presets that are swappable in one click. Select the
Light tab and pick your favourite Sky Lighting preset.
Given this character’s natural habitat, we’ll choose
Pine Forest. You can adjust the Focus and Depth of
Field amounts in the Render tab and tweak the
Chromatic Aberration to simulate lens-like effects p.

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TYPOGRAPHY
ACHIEVE CREATIVE, EYE
CATCHING TYPOGRAPHY
USING FONTS, GRAPHICS
AND IMAGES THAT WILL
GRAB ATTENTION
90 Design a graphic print poster
Experimenting with fonts

94 Use creative text effects

Producing text from a single image

98 Design 3D type
Combining software to produce text

102 Blend graphics and type

Making a typographic illustration

94

98
088 The Digital Art Book
 90

102

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Typography

090 The Digital Art Book

 Graphic print poster

DESIGN A GRAPHIC PHOTOSHOP

PRINT POSTER
LEARN TO PLAY WITH FONTS TO MAKE YOUR OWN
SOURCE FILES 
AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

INSPIRATIONAL POSTER FROM YOUR FAVOURITE QUOTE

OR SAYING

G
raphic print posters are great to adorn your influence – Modernism. This movement really kick-
walls at home or at work – and if you’re started the big, bold, brash design aesthetic, with
making your own, you can get the exact quote propaganda posters and advertisers using graphic
or saying that you want. The great thing about designs based around one simple concept or message.
them is that you don’t even need to be able to create Straight lines, limited colour palettes and bold type helped
labour-intensive detailed artwork to make them look make the messages stand out for both political and
good. Some simple typography and icons work just fine. commercial agendas. In particular, it’s hard to see a
It’s impossible to talk about bold, printed, type- screen-printed black-and-red poster and not think about
orientated posters without acknowledging the primary the posters from the Soviet Union.

PERFECT POSTERS
BRING QUOTES TO LIFE BY ILLUSTRATING THEM IN PHOTOSHOP

02 ESTABLISH MARGINS
Make margins around the page, so you have
something to snap to. Draw one margin with the
03 USE RAW TYPE
Now make a text box using the margins
and put in your type with the line breaks in the right
Marquee tool (M), fill with white, then copy and paste place according to your mock-up. Place a black
it, transforming for the top and bottom. rectangle to get a feel for the layout.

The great thing about graphic print posters is that you don’t
01 SKETCH AN IDEA
Pick an idea that you really like and come up even need to be able to create labour-intensive detailed
with a rough idea of the way you want to make the artwork to make them look good. Some simple typography and
poster. It’s ideal to use a sketched-out rough idea so
that you’ll have something to refer to. icons work just fine
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Typography

04 EDIT YOUR TYPE

Using the Character window, you can
change the Font, Leading, Tracking, Width and 05 REALIGN YOUR MARGINS
After working on the fonts to get everything
06 BRING IN COLOUR AND TEXTURE
Remember, this is a screen-print imitation!
Bold, primary colours and a papery texture layer
Height to get the desired look. You can use pre- to fit together, you may want to alter the margins. (set them to Multiply) are essential. Try out different
installed fonts or free ones from www.dafont.com. Make sure your image box lines up with your text to combinations to find the right blend of tones that
Spend some time on this step to get things right. keep everything clean and bold. perfectly suits your piece.

07 CUSTOMISE THE FONTS

You can make your fonts different with some
customisation. Here, on the word Terrifying, we have
08 DRAW THE IMAGE
The image used here is also quite bold and
simple. You can add this element with the Marquee
09 LAYER ON MORE DETAILS
Use the Elliptical Marquee tool (M) to make
the planet’s rings (and the spaceship’s trail) by
selected the pixels of the text (Ctrl/right-click and and Lasso (L) tools, filling in a layer with white. Get contracting the selection (Select>Modify>Contract) by
choose Select Pixels) and contracted the selection, creative with the Transform tool (Cmd/Ctrl+T) to 10px each time and alternating between filling and
filling it in white in a new layer. make shapes relevant to your theme. deleting the white.

10 FOCUS ON THE EFFECTS

Use the Pencil tool (B) to add some details to
the spaceship (in a new layer for red). Use a 11 SEPARATE THE COLOURS
Once you’re happy, Rasterize the text 12 MESS THINGS UP A LITTLE
Finally, add some Noise (Filter>Noise> Add
Non-Contiguous selection from a papery texture to (duplicate first if you want to change it). Use the Noise) to make the colour look like ink on paper.
delete part of the white layer. Head to http://blog. Magic Wand to select one colour at a time, filling in a You can also add another paper texture on a layer
photoshopcreative.co.uk/tutorial-files to download layer for each colour. Now set all these to Multiply set to the Multiply blend mode to make it look like
the one we used now. and offset them. an old poster.

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 Graphic print poster

ALTERNATIVE POSTER DESIGNS

EXPERIMENT WITH DIFFERENT FONTS FOR AN ARRAY OF DIFFERENT STYLES

Depending on what you want to go on the poster, you need to change the colour palette and the design the poster to fit it. There’s so much room to play
around with simple bold ideas, it’s no wonder that there are hundreds of re-imagined film posters out there. It’s best to take inspiration directly from the
idea, rather than trying to imitate the exact look of another poster that you like. This way, you’ll come up with something new, using a style and method
that’s very much in vogue.

LIGHT A LEMONS
CANDLE This is an old quote
This fairly basic stock that has a strong
photo makes a central image. The
visually strong poster, large graphic shape of
as there is a central a lemon with text
object to work around. running through is
We drew the candle by visually striking. Using
hand, with a black Pen the right colours and
(P), and used the bold visual imagery
shape created to means that even with
make selections to a glance at this poster
work with in a block of you know what the
colour on the poster. text says without fully
Again, we offset the reading it. This is the
colours to give it that main aim of a bold
print look, and used graphics poster,
textures to get the because it’s the
image a vintage original intent for
poster feel. the design.

UNION RUN
FLAGS Simple, bold, large
Here, a half-tone and to the point. This
screen shades parts is probably the most
of the artwork. Create to-the-point
a grey or gradient fill inspirational poster.
in the shape that you We modified the type
want the half-tone to using a pen-like
be in. Copy it into a shape drawn for the
new file and make tails of the letters. You
this file into a Bitmap can do this by copying
image (Resolution of and pasting the shape
300 and a Frequency on the back-ends of
of around 20). Now the letters.
copy this into your We used the
original file and use a shapes to make
selection of the black print-style colour
to create a Multiply blocks, using the
layer of any colour methods from the rest
you see fit. of this tutorial.

It’s best to take inspiration directly from the idea, rather than trying to imitate the exact
look of another poster that you like. This way, you’ll come up with something new, using
a style and method that’s very much in vogue

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Typography

USE CREATIVE SOURCE FILES 

AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

TEXT EFFECTS PHOTOSHOP

GET GREEN FINGERS AND LEARN TO GROW YOUR OWN TEXT

USING A SINGLE IMAGE AND SOME CAREFUL TRIMMING!

T
here’s nothing more eye-catching than a funky text attention to detail: being able to single out and define individual
effect. As fancy as it appears, the steps are pretty strands of grass to create a realistic feel – think organic! Letters
simple. Beginning by using your own base layer, or the will lose their perfectly straight edges and gain a new rugged
grass stock in the supplied resources, you’ll quickly quality with a cool natural look. The background is made up of a
produce an impressive piece of photo-manipulation that is also few different textures to help add to the rustic theme, blended
functional. Use this effect to create any word you want which with custom colours and gradients to give it a vibrant feel. For
you can then use in flyers, posters, invitations or anything else those not so confident with the Pen tool, the Brush tool or even
that you can think of. The essence of this manipulation is the Polygonal Lasso tool can be used instead.

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 Creative text effects

FROM GRADIENTS TO TEXTURES QUICK TIP

FIND A STYLE THAT SUITS YOUR MESSAGE THE SPEEDY PEN TOOL

When cutting out images, the

Pen tool is a good way of
getting smooth straight or
curved edges accurately. It
works using Bézier curves,
controlled by a start point, end
point and two adjustment
points for each. When you’ve
drawn a point, hold Cmd/Ctrl
as you drag it to move it, and
Opt/Alt+drag to move the
adjustment points. If you want
to symmetrically adjust the

01 CREATE A NEW DOCUMENT

Open Photoshop and create a new document.
Enter the size you’d like the overall canvas – your text
02 ADD A GRADIENT
Select the Gradient tool (G). Set your foreground colour to a
yellow-green and your background colour to a darker green. In the
curve, Ctrl+drag on the
adjustment points! Try it out
for yourself!
can take up as much or as little space as you’d like. 300 gradient tool bar, select Radial Gradient and draw a line across from
Pixels/Inch will give you a high resolution. the top left of your canvas to near the centre.

03 ADD SOME TEXTURE

Add ‘Paper.jpg’ to your image. Set the blend mode to Multiply at 50% Opacity.
Next, add ‘Chalkboard.jpg’, blend mode set to Overlay at 70% Opacity. Finally, add
04 INCREASE VIBRANCY
The background is looking pretty grungy and vintage now. To make
it a bit more vibrant, create a new layer with Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+N and Fill (G)
‘Concrete.jpg’, blend mode set to Overlay at 50% Opacity. with a yellow-green. Set the blend mode to Soft Light at 70% Opacity.

05 ADD YOUR TEXT

Insert the text you want using the Text tool
(T) in a different colour to the background in your 06 INSERT THE GRASS
Add ‘grasstexture.jpg’ to your image. Cmd/
07 OUTLINE BLADES OF GRASS
With the line still there, click on the grass
layer (not the layer mask). Go to Select>Refine Edge
desired font/size etc. Here we have used the font Ctrl+Click on your text layer to create an outline of (Alt+Cmd/Ctrl+R). Set the Radius to 20px and
Impact with some adjustments to make the text your word. Select the grass layer and add a layer Contrast to 50%. This will detect changes in colour
slightly thinner and slightly more spaced out. mask using Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection. and contrast and outline blades of grass.

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Typography

08 REFINE EDGES
Select the grass layer. Have your
background White, then hit Cmd/Ctrl+ Backspace in 09 NEATEN IT UP
This may have caused some letters to
10 CUT THE GRASS
Using whichever method you prefer,
continue to neaten up the letters by drawing around
order to add detail. Press Cmd/Ctrl+ Shift+I to invert. merge. Using the Pen tool (or a black Brush), draw in the edges of blades of grass as well some straight
Set background to Black. Tap Cmd/Ctrl+Back to your own gaps, right-click Make Selection, Feather lines of the letters. Use the text layer and grass layer
hide surrounds. at 0px. Select the layer mask and fill in black. as a guide.

QUICK TIP
GET THE BEST FROM BLEND MODES

To create a grungy background you don’t

necessarily need a load of grungy images to get a
good effect. By utilising blend modes you can use
the same photo to create an entirely new image.
Here the concrete photo from the tutorial, has
been duplicated eight times, each time selecting
a different blend mode and a different opacity. You
can also use Transform (Cmd/Ctrl+T) to give it
more interest, or add a fill or gradient layer with
different blending modes to create a new Hue.
Experiment and play around – there’s no wrong
11 DO IT IN SECTIONS
If using the Pen tool it’s rather nice to do it in
sections. Right-click>Make Selection>Feather 0px. 12 KEEP GOING!
Continue to cut out all the letters. This will
way to create a background. On the layer mask, Fill your selection in with White. take a while and will be the longest part of the
Invert with Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+I and then use the Brush tutorial! Use a creative eye, switching between using
tool in order to paint in black the edges outside of Black and White to show and hide new areas of both
your selection. stuck out blades and straight edges.

14 MORE LAYER STYLES

Add a Bevel & Emboss style, Depth 100%,

13 ADD LAYER STYLES

Now you’ve cut out all the letters, hide the
text layer. Next, double-click on the layer and select
Size 21 px, Soften 0px. Highlights set to Overlay, 7%
Opacity and Shadows set to Multiply, 33% Opacity.
Add a green Inner Glow, 65% Opacity and size 20px.
Drop Shadow, set to Multiply, 81%, Distance 27px Add a dark green Satin, at an Overlay of around
and Size 35px to give an immediate 3D effect. 19% Opacity.

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15 REALISTIC SHADOWS
For a better shadow, duplicate the layer, right
click on the mask and select Apply Layer Mask.
16 DARKER SHADOWS
Set the blend mode to Multiply. Cmd/
Ctrl+Click on the original grass text layer mask. Go to
17 ADD A 3D EFFECT
Go back to your original grass layer and
duplicate (Cmd/Ctrl+J). Select the bottom copy and
Double-click and remove all layer styles except Drop Layer>Layer Mask>Hide Selection. Paint in black on move it down and right so that it is offset. Double
Shadow. Go to Filters>Blur>Motion Blur and set it to the mask on the left of the letters, as if the sun is on click and remove the Inner Glow layer style. You can
-34 degrees at 200 px. Hit Ok. the left. Duplicate for a darker shadow. edit the layer mask slightly using a black brush.

18 MAKE THE LAYER DARKER

To keep the image as realistic as possible, the sides of the text
should be darker. So, add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer above the
offset layer. Set the Hue to -28 to give it a redder tinge, Saturation -19 and
Lightness -44. Right-click on the adjustment layer and select Create
Clipping Mask.

To create a grungy background you don’t need a

load of grungy images to get a good effect. By
utilising blend modes you can use the same photo to
create an entirely new image. Experiment – there’s no
19 CREATE A NEW LAYER
Create a new layer underneath the text, but above the
background. Call it ‘Shine’. Set your foreground colour to white, select the
wrong way to create a background Gradient tool (G) and set the Gradient settings to Foreground to
Transparent. Hit OK.

20 ADD SOME
SUNSHINE
Drag the Gradient across
from top left down to
near the middle to create
a bright spot. Set the
blend mode to Soft Light
to help it blend into the
background, and then
you are done.

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ILLUSTRATOR

PHOTOSHOP

CINEMA 4D

SOURCE FILES 
AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

DESIGN 3D TYPE
COMBINE CINEMA 4D, PHOTOSHOP AND ILLUSTRATOR TO
CREATE 3D GOLD TYPOGRAPHY

I
n Greek mythology there’s a king called Midas who, as the story goes, had To complete the tutorial you will need to use the V-Ray plug-in and the
the power to turn anything that he touched into pure gold. Inspired by that GreyScaleGorilla HDRI Light Kit in CINEMA 4D, which can be found at http://
tale, we will turn a simple vector line into a 3D, minimalistic gold typography tinyurl.com/GorillaPlug. These are not strictly necessary, but are recommended
using Illustrator, CINEMA 4D (C4D) and Photoshop. You’ll learn how different for getting the best results. Once we have rendered the objects in C4D, we will
tools and software can come together to produce a richly designed artwork with move to Photoshop for post work. You will learn how to adjust lights and
killer execution. The project will take, at most, four or five hours to create, shadows by applying different adjustment layers and filters. After completing
including render time. You will be spending that time perfecting the curves in this tutorial you will then have all of the skills for creating 3D typography using
Illustrator, as well as getting the perfect lighting and shaders in CINEMA 4D. your own handwriting.

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BEGIN WITH ILLUSTRATOR

PREPARE VECTORS BEFORE TURNING THEM INTO GOLD

01 SET UP YOUR DOCUMENT

Create a new document in Illustrator at the
size of 7 x 7 inches. Select the Pencil tool (N) and
02 ADD YOUR WRITING
Don’t fill up the canvas, just keep writing in
order to actually see how the letters flow to form into
03 SMOOTH LINES
After writing ‘gold’ many times in cursive,
pick the smoothest one and delete the rest. Now
make sure that the Stroke Size is 1pt. It’s very cursive. It’s also important to remember to keep the switch to the Smooth tool (Opt/Alt) and stroke
important to write in cursive, because when we have lines connected as one stroke, because if there is around the writing to make it perfectly clean. Smooth
to transfer the vector into C4D, we will use the more than one path, the stroke won’t be connected performs similarly to Smudge or the Liquify tool, but
overlapping of the strokes to create more depth. and it won’t be smooth in C4D. in Illustrator it’s used to change the curves of a path.

04 FINISH IN ILLUSTRATOR
It’s almost impossible to get the smoothest
curve with one stroke of the Smooth tool, so keep
05 STEP INTO CINEMA 4D
Open your Gold.ai file in C4D and see if the
lines need smoothing. If so, you can modify them in
06 WORK IN POINT MODE
Remember that when you’re in C4D you’re
working in three dimensions, which means that
brushing along the path to get the best you can. Once C4D using Point Mode. Select the point that needs there’s an extra variable to consider. You will see in
you’re satisfied with the writing, you’ll have to export fixing and use it like the Anchor tool in Illustrator and the following screenshots that the stroke isn’t flat,
the path to C4D. Exporting the file in Illustrator is Photoshop. Fix the curve by moving the two sides of but more like a piece of string, because it has depth.
quite an important step because if you save the the point and ensure that your path doesn’t include This can be achieved by using Point Mode to move
Illustrator file in the wrong format, you won’t be able any small dots. If you see any dots lying around the the points on the Z-axis in order to create another
to import the strokes into C4D. Name the file ‘Gold.ai’ path, delete them. After cleaning up the path, you dimension for the word. We’ll explain this further in
and save it in the Illustrator 3 format. can move to turning the path into 3D. the later steps.

07 2D WRITING INTO 3D
As we have discussed
before, we have to move the
08 INSERT NURBS AND
A CIRCLE
Before moving to the next stage,
path along the Z-axis too. Think take a look at your writing and
of your handwriting as a check to make sure that you
pipeline. It has a start point, now have the smoothest path
where water flows from, then possible. If you’re happy, create
curves and loops a bit like a a new Sweep NURBS and drop
rollercoaster and then, finally, the path onto that NURBS. You
there is an end point where the won’t notice any change
pipeline thins out. So, if you take because at this point the NURBS
a look at your own handwriting doesn’t have an object that it can
from the Perspective view, it rely on to make it into a pipe. In
should have smooth loops and this case it’s a circle, so get the
curves just like an everyday circle and drop it onto the
rollercoaster has. NURBS again.

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DEVELOP YOUR 3D
APPLY MATERIALS TO TAKE YOUR CREATION TO THE NEXT DIMENSION

09 GET THE SMOOTHEST GOLD

Working in 3D is just like using your hands to sculpt. You have to consider the material, the lighting on
the model and most importantly the additional Z-axis. You’ll also have to look at the writing as a pipe that has
10 VɎRAY SHADER
We’ll now enter different values to produce
the material, so create a new Advanced V-Ray
a defined beginning and end. Material. Make sure you check the boxes for
Luminosity and Specular Layer 1 and 2. We’ll be
using these three layers in the shader to get the gold
material. The eponymous Luminosity layer is used
to add the brightness of the material. Set the Color to
white with an Amount of 5%. For the Transparency,
Select the circle and set Radius to set the Color to white and the Amount to 100%.
5cm. Get the smoothest pipe
without overlapping other parts

Select NURBS. Set

End Scale to 62%. If there are sharp corners or
Use Fillet Cap for the distortion to be fixed, hide the
start, set Radius to NURBS and circle then edit the
5cm and use Cap for path in Point Mode
the end

Working in 3D is just like

using your hands to sculpt.
You have to consider the
material, the lighting on the
model and most importantly the
additional Z-axis

11 SET UP SPECULAR LAYERS

The next layers to edit are the Specular
layers 1&2. Select Specular Layer 1 and set its Color
12 ADJUST THE LIGHTING
Here we’ll be using GreyScaleGorilla HDRI
Light Kit. Use the overhead soft box, but instead of
13 BEGIN RENDERING
Ensure you drop the material shader onto
the Sweep NURBS. We’re going to render using
to a light yellow at: R:255, G:228 and B:172. Set the just placing the light over the word, place one light on VRayBridge with Global Illumination. No settings are
Brightness to 100% and the Texture Mode to Fresnel, top and two on the sides. Set the top and left soft changed in GI, but the result should be your writing in
with the Gradient Shader of R:214, G:219 and B:179 boxes to have higher brightness settings. This will 3D with the gold material and a little noise texture.
to R:216, G:179, B:136. Set Reflection Glossiness to make the light source enter from the left when You can add more objects to make the piece more
0.5, Anisotropy to -0.5, Glossiness Subdivision to 18 rendered. You can also add a floor with a generic interesting, but remember to drop the shader on top
and Trace Depth to 10. For Specular 2 guidance light-grey material. Select the NURBS and move the of the objects to keep the artwork uniform. When
please see the screenshot above. text just above the floor to produce shadow. happy, render at 2,560 x 1,600px in TIFF format.

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POSTPRODUCTION
POLISH UP YOUR RESULTS AND PERFECT YOUR RENDER

14 MOVE TO PHOTOSHOP
Now it’s time to boot up Photoshop. Create a
new document at a size of 3,500 x 2,800px, fill the
15 ADJUST THE EXPOSURE
Currently the lighting on the word is dull, so
you can improve this by painting in light using blend
16 TWEAK THE SHADOWS
This method is different from using just one
adjustment layer to edit and we’ll specifically select
Background with a light grey and File>Place your modes. Grab a soft brush set to a light grey and paint dark areas of the word and enhance them. Use the
rendered image into your canvas. Create a Quick over the word, using Overlay as the blend mode. Also Eyedropper to select the darkest area in the 3D type,
Mask, then cut out the letter and its shadow. Make a reduce the Opacity of the brush to 50% and create a go to Select>Color Range, then select all the
new layer underneath the text and paint with a large clipping mask over the word’s layer. This is a quick shadows of the type. Ensure you have selected the
white soft brush in at the side of the light source in way to brighten certain areas of an artwork without 3D type layer and then hit Cmd/Ctrl+J to create a
order to create gradient behind the text. using any adjustment layers. The word has now new layer from the selection. Use Levels to lower the
been brightened up, but we’ll also need to make the brightness and tweak the opacity to get the best
shadows darker. transition between the midtones and shadows.

17 ADJUSTMENT LAYERS
We’ll now use adjustment layers to enhance the colour and contrast of the image as a whole. Add a
new Vibrance adjustment layer, then set the Vibrance value to 97 and Saturation to -6. There are many
18 FINAL EDITS
Create a new layer at the top, select Image>
Apply Image, then select OK to flatten the image into
different shades of gold, but we’ll lean more towards a white than a regular gold. Feel free to increase the one layer. Another way to do this is to create a new
saturation to get a more yellow finish and add a Levels layer to modify the light and shadows. layer and hit Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift+E. Select the
merged layer and apply Filter>Sharpen>Smart-
sharpen, setting the value to 190%. If you want a
more pronounced effect, create another merged
layer and apply the Oil Paint filter with Shine at 0%
and Smart Sharpen on. Add some text and symbols
for the finishing touch and you’ve turned a vector line
into golden 3D handwriting!

QUICK TIP
SHADOWS AND HIGHLIGHTS

When retouching a photo or an object, pay more attention to the

shadows and highlights. By simply adjusting the light and
shadows of an object, you can make it more dynamic. Also use
adjustment layers to quickly edit the artwork’s brightness,
saturation and colours.

The Digital Art Book 101

Typography

SOURCE FILES 
AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

102 The Digital Art Book

 Graphics and type

BLEND GRAPHICS
AND TYPE
LEARN HOW TO MAKE A TYPOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION
PHOTOSHOP

WITH IMPACT USING THE POWER OF PHOTOSHOP

T
hey say a picture says a thousand words, different techniques in Photoshop to balance image. You’ll see the composition and balance of
so imagine the possibilities in conveying a elements and vary their proportions and shadows, illustration is not only about knowing which
message if you were to combine the two? and learn how to give volume to the shapes you elements to include, but also knowing when to
In this tutorial, you will learn how to blend draw with the Pen tool. remove them. Finally, you’ll learn that colours play
elements and shapes to create an energetic and Using a digital tablet can be useful, as the a vital role in obtaining a composition with a
dynamic typographic illustration. During the opportunity to play with the pressure of the pen consistent atmosphere. This tutorial requires a
implementation process, you will use many works wonders when building quality into your final sense of subtlety, but you’re free to create anything.

SETTING THE TONE

CHOOSE A FONT AND COLOUR PALETTE THAT WILL HELP CONVEY YOUR MESSAGE

01 PICK A COLOUR PALETTE

Launch Photoshop and create a new 03 ADD A GRADIENT
Duplicate your text and go to
document, then select the colour palette that you will
use. Be creative with a limited number. The colour
palette helps you to visualise your project as a
02 CHOOSE THE FONT AND TEXT
Add a new text layer (T) and choose a font
in a large size. ‘Impact’ was chosen in this case, but
Layer>Pixelate>Text. Double-click it and choose
Overlay gradient. Add a Radial gradient from colour
#c16205 to colour #d89543. You are free to choose
whole, so choosing it beforehand saves you time you are free choose your own. Type ‘Be Creative’ and other colours – the purpose of the exercise is to be
later on. The colours used in this example are align your text in the centre of the image. This is the creative, so if you prefer the look of others, go ahead
#0b58a8, #001451, #de9e22 and #f0d2a0. main element and the focal point of your illustration. and indulge yourself!

04 CREATE A PETAL
Import the ‘Petal’ file into the document.
Using the eyedropper tool (I), select colour #0157ac,
05 MAKE A FLORAL SHAPE
Using the petal you made in the previous
step, you can now create a floral shape. Duplicate the
06 ADD A FLOWER
Open the ‘Flower’ file provided on the
source disc and copy and paste the image into your
hit Cmd/Ctrl+U, click Reset and push the Saturation layer five times and position them so that it forms a scene. Apply an Invert adjustment (Cmd/Ctrl+I) to
to 45. Add a new layer, change it to Multiply mode, rosette. Create a circle with the Elliptical Marquee create a negative version of it. Put it to the side, as
and with a soft edged brush and Opacity set to 35%, tool, fill it with a grey Radial gradient and place it at you will use it later in the process. For a more
paint the shadows of your form. Repeat the process the centre of your petals. The use of horizontal and personal look, this flower was created from a
on another layer set to Overlay mode and paint the vertical symmetry will help to balance your image. photograph, with shadows and light painted on with
highlights to give volume to the petal. Go to Edit>Transform>Vertical Symmetry Axis. a digital tablet. Feel free to do the same.

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Typography

07 DRAW A CIRCLE AND DETAILS

With the Pen tool (P), create a circle.
Double-click on your layer and add an Inner Shadow
to give volume to it. Now draw a pattern. Be creative
and take inspiration from tribal art or other designs.
Ctrl/right-click on the background of the plot and add
a focused shadow (Layer>Layer Style>Drop
08 CREATE AN ABSTRACT FORM
You will now create the last main form of your illustration. Add a new layer (Layer>New>Layer) and
name it ‘Abstract form’. Take the Pen tool and draw a shape similar to the one you see in the example above.
Shadow). Set the Opacity to 40%, Distance to 0px, Repeat the process that was outlined Step 4 to give volume to the shape. A Wacom tablet is often useful for
Weight to 10px and Height to 80px. doing this.

Duplication Colours
Feel free to duplicate each Your colour palette is one
form as much as you want and of the most important
play with their size and factors when creating an
rotation in order to make your illustration, so make sure
artwork dynamic you plan this in advance

10 ADD CURVED SHAPES

Give a little bit of dynamic movement to the
artwork. To do this, add some elements that I
particularly like: curves. Draw them with the Pen
tool. If you want to be really accurate then this is the
time to use a digital tablet, as it will allow you to play
with the pen pressure. Fill them with a grey colour.
Build flowing shapes that appear to be suspended in
air and give them volume for realism – see Step 4
for an example. Arrange the shapes so that they
intertwine with the text.

Balancing the scene

Balance your scene up.
Simplicity is your best friend
11 INSERT PATTERNS
Add a new layer and with the Pen tool create
a rectangle. Double-click the layer or click fx in the
most of the time. Take a step
back to assess the usefulness Layers panel and select Pattern Overlay. Select an
of a form
existing pattern or one from your library. While
adding organic geometric elements to an illustration

09 BUILD THE COMPOSITION

The next step is to import the file named ‘Sphere grid’ into your document. Now that the main
elements are at your disposal, you can begin the most exciting part of the tutorial: the composition. Take the
can be good in terms of balance, keep in mind your
main objective, which is to make the text the focal
point of your composition. Place large elements in
time to find the right balance. the background and smaller ones in the foreground.

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12 PAINT IN SHADOWS
Now that you have your shape elements, it’s
time to add a little more realism. When you overlay
13 PASTE IN THE BIRDS
Bring some life into your composition by
adding an extra element. Download a bird image
forms, the credibility of these is achieved through from morguefile.com/archive/display/843318 and QUICK TIP
shadows. Use them to create a 3D effect of depth. import it into your document. Duplicate the image LAYER SETS
Paint them using a soft brush set to 40% Opacity once or twice, and place your birds in dynamic ways
To save time, try to get into the habit of using
with your layers in Product mode. Obviously there by varying their size (Edition>Free transform or
layer sets. Not only do they allow you to
are other means to add shadows, like using drop Cmd/Ctrl+T). Playing with the variation in size allows
assemble the elements together, you can move
shadows, but I prefer not to use this method. you to provide a depth of field, to create the illusion of
more easily and it gives rhythm to your work.
Painting your own offers a more personal touch. a foreground, midground and background.

FINAL ADJUSTMENTS
USE LAYER MASKS, ADJUSTMENT LAYERS AND FILTERS TO COMPLETE YOUR ILLUSTRATION

14 CREATE DECORATIVE CHIPS

To bring even more energy and vitality to your
illustration, add a few chips with features brushes. To
15 ADD A LAYER MASK
There are always points that can be improved
during the creation, like masking imperfections or
16 MORE DEPTH
Duplicate the flower in Step 6 and choose a
neutral colour like grey to increase depth between
do this, draw random shapes and turn them into removing elements you don’t want to see, as you the foreground, second plane and background. Using
brushes (Edit>Define Custom Shape). Hit F5 to open think they are useless. Layer masks are ideal for this a bright colour will draw attention to the element,
the Form panel and play with the settings of the as they allow changes to be non-permanent. Add which you don’t want. Go to Layer>Smart Objects>
dynamic forms, and those of Diffuse. Don’t go too far, one and remove unwanted areas. Layer masks have Convert to Smart Object. Increase size (Cmd/Ctrl+T)
even if this effect is fun. It can give a rough look to an important role in the integration and credibility of and set the layer to Overlay mode. Duplicate this
your composition if you add too much. Be subtle. an illustration, so spend time applying them. layer, arrange it differently and play with the opacity.

17 APPLY ADJUSTMENT LAYERS

Now you need to give the composition a
balanced chromatic scale. Add a layer of brightness
and contrast adjustment to bring out some elements
(Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Brightness/
Contrast) and a Curves adjustment layer (Layer>New
Adjustment Layer>Curves ). This is almost essential
for me, as it offers so much more flexibility in colour
correction and also contrast. Experiment with the
settings until you are happy with them.

18 STRENGTHEN THE COMPOSITION

To finish, select all your layers, duplicate them and then merge them . Apply a High Pass filter
(Filter>Other>High Pass) with a radius of 1.2px. Set the layer mode to Overlay. Attenuate the effect of the
background using a layer mask. Perform these final touches, zooming to 100%. Your picture is now complete,
but of course you are free to go even further and add more forms and elements if you feel it is necessary.

The Digital Art Book 105

MIXED MEDIA
COMBINE TRADITIONAL
ARTISTIC METHODS WITH
DIGITAL TECHNIQUES AND
PRODUCE MIXEDMEDIA
MASTERPIECES
108 Combine sketches with
digital techniques
Merging different techniques

112 Combine artistic programs

Using Photoshop and Illustrator

116 Merge comparative styles

Vibrant styles from multiple artists

124 Create vivid portraits

Getting creative with mixed media

130 Merge photos with

illustrations
Compositing textures and styles

134 Create a vintage collage

Going back in time through art

138 Use blend modes

and brushes
Combining photos with brushes
112
134

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116 130

138

108 124
The Digital Art Book 107
Mixed media

COMBINE SKETCHES
WITH DIGITAL
TECHNIQUES
MIXING MEDIA CAN PRODUCE SOME WONDERFULLY CREATIVE RESULTS
PHOTOSHOP

T
he long-boarding scene is getting quite big have something good-looking that stands out from Here we’ll combine traditional hand-drawn
these days, so to stay competitive the rest, rather than having an ugly board under their sketches with the possibilities of Photoshop. Starting
companies always need to remain feet. Graphics help to create images for a brand, with a simple pencil sketch, we’ll create a rough
innovative with their boards. They also which is why customers like designs that have some mockup, which will lead us to a symmetrical layout
need to stick out in a more obvious way; graphics. Of personality within them – so they prefer artists who made with fine-liners and markers. After scanning,
course, there’s absolutely no necessity for a great have their own style. A lot of these designs are now a we will use some cutting and colouring techniques
long-boarding deck to have any graphic at all – it mixture of traditional and digital art. Our example to create a graphic that combines the aesthetics of
would still work. But people will always prefer to here is the design for the Landyachtz Chinook 2012. street art with an almost Indian style.

FROM PAPER TO COMPUTER

BE CREATIVE MORE THAN REALISTIC

01 PRODUCE AN INITIAL SKETCH

Start with a simple pencil sketch as a rough
layout. Always use reference photos, but for a piece
02 LAY OUT ONE HALF OF THE PIECE
Now scan in the sketch and open it in
Photoshop. Since the design is based on symmetry,
03 DIVIDE THE SKETCH
Print your (half) layout at an A4 size and
trace it on a new piece of paper using a pencil. This
like this you can also work freehand. We’re not we’ll only need to create one half of the detailed next part all comes down to style. You can split the
planning to create something realistic here, so try drawing. The challenge is to correctly set it up. Erase piece in a way that looks pleasing, there are no real
whatever you want and just create a broad one half, copy the other one, mirror it and put them rules here. Keep in mind that some parts are more
impression of a lion. Always attempt to keep your together. Correct every part that doesn’t look good, important than others – like eyes and mouth – these
work symmetrical at this stage. then erase one half again until the result works. should be accentuated.

04 REFINE THE FINAL LAYOUT

Using the sketch, you can now start
to prepare the detailed sections. Retrace all QUICK TIP
the single pencil lines with a black fine-liner EXPERIMENT
(0.3mm), while trying to stay as clean as
Check out various kinds of markers and
possible. Don’t rush this, as sometimes
pens, as each brand can work in unique
fine-liners tend to take a few moments to dry.
ways. Some are better to work clean, others
Every mistake made will have to be corrected
can turn out looking traditional. Also try
later in Photoshop, so it’s advisable to be
different kinds of paper, depending on how
patient at this point. After you’ve traced your
much you want line bleeds.
sketch, erase the overlapping pencil lines.

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Mixed media

05 FILL THE FRAGMENTS

Working with fine-liners sized at 0.03 – 06 FINALISE OUTLINES
To finish, you need to emphasise the
07 TURN YOUR DRAWING DIGITAL
After finishing your drawing, scan it at
800dpi. Always keep in mind that it may be
1mm, you can start to fill all the single fragments. outlines of every single fragment, as well as the lion necessary to resize the image later, so it’s best to
Again, this is a matter of taste. Here we’re using itself. This should help accentuate the skull against work with larger files now rather than needing a
different kinds of hatching everywhere, but the same the mane. You can also correct little mistakes made better resolution afterwards. Since no colour
thing would work using dots, circles, waves or while hatching by covering them up in black. While a information is needed here, greyscales are enough.
whatever you prefer. What’s vital is that you create fat outline may help to keep the whole drawing Now open your file in Photoshop and adjust its
different shades of grey, because that’s what gives together, it often also adds a street art look. Changing contrast by applying a Curves adjustment (Cmd/
depth to the drawing. Try not to use the same pattern the thickness of the outlines in some places will also Ctrl+M). This way you should get the paper almost
on two parts that are next to each other. make the drawing more dynamic. plain white, while the drawing should be black.

QUICK TIP
FINDING YOUR OWN STYLE

People often wonder how they can create

their own style. The artist here has always
used crosshatching in drawings and, after a
while, began exaggerating it a bit. Try
analysing the work of other artists you like
and adopt some of the ideas and
techniques found there to incorporate them
into your own work. It’s all a never-ending
process and there’s never something like a
final style. It’s truly important to get

08 PREPARE TO MIRROR
Now you can remove any dirt that appears on the scanned images. Here it’s useful to invert the
drawing (Cmd/Ctrl+I), as this will help you spot stains (white on black is easier to see than black on white, at
inspired; look for other artists and what
they do, but don’t just copy! If you mix your
own ideas with inspiring things from the
least on screens). You can now use the simple Brush tool to remove some flaws. After this, use the Burn/
outside, there’s a good chance something
Dodge tool (O) in case there are some shades of grey. Finally, change the canvas size so that there’s enough
new will emerge.
space for the whole graphic.

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 Sketches and digital techniques

FINAL ADJUSTMENTS
ADD COLOUR AND CUT THE IMAGE FROM THE BACKGROUND

09 FINALISE THE DRAWING

Now remove the overlapping parts at your central line. Copy your layer, mirror it and change the
blending mode to Multiply. You may need to redo this a few times if the original drawing is not at a perfect
180-degree angle. When done, put both layers together exactly pixel to pixel and reduce them to one layer.

10 CUT OUT THE DRAWING

This is a process used a lot in these projects.
Select everything by hitting Cmd/Ctrl+A, copy this,
add a mask to your layer and click on it while holding
Centred axis
The final layout is Opt/Alt. This way you’ll remain inside your mask,
strongly based on a
centred axis. No line is where you’ll paste your drawing. Invert the whole
crossing another one in
the middle! thing and you should see a white drawing on a black
background. Leave the mask and return to your
layer. Fill the canvas with black, hit Cmd/Ctrl+G, then
Cmd/Ctrl+E and your drawing should be cut out.
Cut out
Now we have to cut out
the final drawing from
the white background in
order to move on with
our graphic

11 ADD THE MAIN COLOUR

While the final graphic should have strong
colours, here we’ll keep it down to just two main
tones; turquoise/green and yellow. Use different
grades of green to fill the lion’s head by selecting the
Black and white space surrounding the drawing. Invert this selection
There should be almost no (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+I) and go to Select>Modify>Contract.
shades of grey left, so what
we see is nearly completely Depending of the size of your drawing about 5 pixels
black and white
should be enough. Create a new layer below the
drawing and fill the selection with a selected tone.

12 USE DIFFERENT GRADES

Now lock the opacity of your layer in the
Layers palette. This way it’s easier to work without
13 ACCENT THE DETAILS
Now the second colour comes in. Here
we’ve used a very warm, almost orange, yellow. It’s
14 LAYER ON THE SHADING
To give the design a little bit more depth, it’s
a good idea to add some shadows. Create another
watching for the exact outlines of the graphic all the complementary to the green tone, which helps the layer on top of the colours, but beneath the drawing.
time. Now fill all the fragments using different tones eyes stick out a lot. This should be used very subtly, Now apply the Brush tool again, setting its Opacity to
of green, maybe almost some shades of grey to the without overdoing the effect. Of course, it’s still best 30%. You can either use just plain black, or different
different parts of your drawing. Think about where to use different grades and even add a bit of red shades of dark green. As ever, this is just a matter of
you could include darker colours and where injecting surrounding the eyes. This is something you have to taste, so there are no limitations at this stage. In this
some lights might help achieve depth. You can use practise a bit to really get a feeling for what works piece, we worked especially around the skull to
the simple Brush tool with a graphics tablet for this. and looks good in the end. accent it further against the mane.

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Original

112 The Digital Art Book

 Combine artistic programs

COMBINE ARTISTIC PHOTOSHOP

PROGRAMS
CREATE THIS COLOURFUL AND DYNAMIC PORTRAIT BY SOURCE FILES 
ILLUSTRATOR

TEAMING UP PHOTOSHOP WITH ILLUSTRATOR AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

W
orking cross-platform can create portrait image, working from a photo to create a progress, you will see that the eyes are often the
interesting and unique results. sketch in Illustrator, then moving onto Photoshop to trickiest part to get right, yet they are also the most
Combining programs means you can add splashes of colour. important aspect of a portrait. Study plenty of photo
get the best from each of them, Before you start, have fun sketching lots of stock to ensure that you master their shape and
mixing and matching tools and techniques to create different portraits on paper. It’s important to shading, for a more engaging and convincing
some really unusual mixed-media styles. We will understand shading and colour, and which details design. Don’t be put out if this takes you some time,
show you how to create a bright and colourful have the biggest impact on your portrait. As you though, as you’ll learn from each mistake.

ILLUSTRATE THE PORTRAIT

SKETCH THE PORTRAIT SHADE BY SHADE

01 CREATE A NEW DOCUMENT

Start up Illustrator and create a new A3
document with Color Mode set to CMYK. If you prefer
02 FIND YOUR PHOTOGRAPH
Use a photo as a base for your illustration. To
spot a good picture from the rest, you need to check
03 LAYER ORGANISATION
If there is something that will always help
you in the future working as a designer, it’s a nice
using different settings or sizes, feel free to do so. a few important details. First, you must make sure and clean layer organisation habit. Start your
Here you will need a portrait orientation. Make sure that the size is okay; the bigger, the better. It’s also document by naming your layers. In this tutorial you
that you do not change the raster effects and keep it important that there is enough contrast, as this helps will only need a few, depending on how many
at 300dpi. a lot when you are sketching the image. colours you wish to use.

04 START WITH BLACK

To create this portrait, always start with the
darkest colour to draw the most important elements
05 DRAW WITH WAVES
After you have finished the most important
details in black, continue drawing with a dark grey.
06 CONTINUE THE PROCESS
When you are shading your portrait, you will
see how important it is to start with the darkest
of your portrait (these are the eyes, nose, hair etc). Select ‘Only web colors’ in your Fill(x) menu to work colours first and then the lighter colours in the layers
It’s important to use your fresh energy in the with the six shades of grey. Now you can draw in the below. Make sure you look at the whole image, to
beginning to make sure that these features are just darker areas and build your portrait. To create paths, keep your focus and not get lost in one single detail.
perfect! Use your Wacom or mouse with the Pencil draw with a ‘wave’ technique, and try to draw in After a few hours of drawing portraits, you will pick
tool if you have some experience of drawing in waves and curves. This way you can create some up your own ways to recognise and handle different
Illustrator, or use the Pen tool and create your paths experimental colour paths – perfect for lips and shapes on a face; for example, how you like to draw
point-by-point if you are a beginner. shadow from the hair and chin. a mouth or an eyebrow.

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08 ADD SOME LINEWORK

Before you are completely finished in
Illustrator, create a new layer group called ‘Linework’

07 MAKE IT DIRTY
You should now be almost finished with your black and white illustration. The next step is to add a
dirty paint effect to your portrait. Create a new layer on top and call it ‘Dirt’. Then imagine you have a dirty,
and take the Paintbrush tool (B) with Stroke on. Set
the Stroke up with a Size of 0.25pt (depending on
your image size), a Brush Definition of 3pt Oval and a
rough brush in your hands and wipe black and white paint over the portrait, in particular coming from the Uniform variable brush width profile with Opacity of
highlights. Take the Pencil tool and draw your dirty paint strokes and place them around so they still fit and 100%. Now draw lines to emphasise the curves of
add value to your portrait. your portrait and add flow to your model’s face. It’s
also a perfect tool to add details and outlines.

Details
Draw all the important
details in black and make
sure it’s perfect so that
people easily recognise
your model Outlines
Thanks to the useful Brush
tool, you can add more
details to your portrait
with simple curly lines

DIRTY PAINT EFFECT

Create dirty brush strokes
on the face in black or
white to add a gritty and
realistic paint effect

10 ADD HAZE
For the next step, you need to search for
high-resolution images of dark clouds with lots of
details in them. Once you have found some, paste
them into your Photoshop document, desaturate
your layer (Cmd/Ctrl+U) and adjust the brightness
using Curves (Image>Adjustments>Curves or Cmd/

09 OPEN PHOTOSHOP
Time to start working in Photoshop. Copy all the paths from your Illustrator document by pressing
Cmd/Ctrl+C. Open a new A3-sized document in Photoshop and place your illustration. Photoshop will then
Ctrl+M) until you have a high-contrast black and
white image. Now change the layer’s blend mode to
Multiply and place it over the shoulders and hair to
ask you how you want to paste it. Pick Smart Object to allow easy updates to your drawing later. add a foggy feeling to your portrait.

114 The Digital Art Book

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11 CREATE YOUR OWN GRADIENT BRUSH

You will now create different coloured
gradient brushes. Use a soft round brush with
12 WARP YOUR BRUSHES
You can warp the gradient brushes around
specific parts of your portrait; for example, around
13 CONTINUE TO ADD ENERGY
By placing the correct warped brushes, you
will experience a special effect where it feels as
Opacity of 70% and Flow of 100% and start by the shape of your model’s hairline or neckline. Play though your portrait has gained some energy. This
brushing one circle of 2500px in a pinky-red colour. around and see what looks best. Make sure you try result can come from the movement your brushes
Then create another at 2000px with dark orange, and adjust the colours as well with the Hue/ suggest and the colour. In this tutorial, you should try
1500px with orange and 1000px with yellow. Then Saturation option (Image>Adjustments>Hue/ and stick with warm colours and pull your round soft
transform your brushes with the Warp tool (Edit> Saturation) after you have brushed your own brushes to one specific side with the Warp tool. This
Transform>Warp tool and pull around) and set the gradients. This way you can come up with unique will give the impression that your model has stopped
blending mode to Screen to place it over the portrait. colourways you would never have imagined before. in time, but her surroundings are still moving.

FINAL ADJUSTMENTS
USE LAYER MASKS, ADJUSTMENT LAYERS AND FILTERS TO COMPLETE YOUR ILLUSTRATION

14 IT’S IN THE DETAILS

Your image is almost complete, but before
you finish, search for images that will create textures
15 CHANGE THE OVERALL COLOUR
Create a new layer on top of your whole
document and fill the layer with color #2a59ef, for
16 ADD A GRAIN
You may have noticed that recently a lot of
digital art has a cool grainy effect in the colour
to add to your portrait. For example, in this tutorial example, then change the blending mode to shading. Ever wondered how this is done? Well, it’s
we have used a waving American flag with the red Difference and the Opacity to 10-15%. You will find easy. Search for ‘grain texture’ in Google with the
stripes and white stars to add details that matter to that you discover a fantastic colouring effect with this search option on large images and you will find a
the model, in order to create a story behind the single step. You can also duplicate this layer and high-resolution grain texture image (grey and white
artwork. Then blend the texture with the illustration change the colour for another effect. When you do dots like on an old TV). Paste this image on top of
by changing the contrast (Image>Adjustments> this, place white lines on top of this layer to your work and change the blending mode to Overlay
Curves) and change the blending mode to Screen emphasise specific details in your portrait – for and the Opacity to 30-50%. This works just fine with
again to place it in the darker areas. example, below the eyes. the dirt brushes you created earlier.

18 FINISHING AND SAVING

Since you are working on a high DPI with the
purpose to print this artwork, it’s important to
change some things before you share your work on
the internet. First you have to change the image size

17 MOVING IN TIME
Earlier in this tutorial we looked at how to add energy and movement to the portrait, to give the
impression that the model is in a dynamic environment. To add a very obvious feeling of movement, you can
(Image>Image Size). Change the Resolution from
300dpi to 72di and resample the image to Bicubic
Smoother (best for reduction). Normal quality will be
add an extra group of layers with white lines on top of all your layers in a specific direction to create this really just fine since you worked on a high-resolution
awesome movement effect. It’s an easy step that has a very big impact on your portrait. image. Now you can sit back and enjoy your portrait.

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MERGE COMPARATIVE
STYLES
FIND OUT HOW TO TAKE YOUR TRADITIONAL IMAGE INTO
SOURCE FILES 
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PHOTOSHOP
DIGITAL SOFTWARE TO CREATE THIS VIBRANT STYLE

C
ollaboration is defined as a process where two or then picks up the baton, running with it headfirst into
more people work together to realise shared goals Photoshop. Phase 2 of this tutorial explores ways to digitise
– in this case, a super-vibrant piece of artwork. Two your image using photo stock, textures and more. These are
of the globe’s most talented mixed-media artists, combined with Prades’ impressive scanned illustration to
from totally different ends of the creative spectrum, have produce this vibrant masterpiece.
merged their comparative styles into one super style. Mixed Photoshop makes this all possible, of course, and you
media has never felt so energised. will quickly discover how you can apply layer masks; crop,
Traditional artist Simón Prades (www.simonprades.com) cut and paste texture and image stock in new ways; and
puts pencil to paper in a productive way, showing you how to boost colour by using adjustment layers combined with
master physical application for an authentic result. Brush blending modes. By the end, you will have mastered this
marks, paper types and post-production tools are all fresh mixed-media style, which is applicable to any of your
discussed in Phase 1. Andy Potts (www.andy-potts.com) future projects.

PHASE 1: TRADITIONAL MEDIA

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01 PENCIL ON PAPER 03 FIND YOUR WAY

Also make sure you don’t spend too much
Using the model in ‘DSC_5534.psd’ as a
guide, sketch a face in pencil. Try to identify the
significant parts, for example the nose, eyes and
02 SIMPLE SHADING
Try not to go into too much into detail while
shading with your pencil marks, as you’ll want to
time obsessing over one area of the face – move
around as much as possible. This way, you won’t
lose the view of the whole image. You can learn a lot
mouth. As all pencil lines will be erased later in the save most of your efforts for when you’re detailing in by educating yourself on the hatching techniques of
creative process, you don’t have to be overly careful; ink. All you need to do is present the areas of the the masters like Rembrandt and Ingres, but you’ll
just go with the flow instead. This lets you add face that create shadow and contour, like the brow find your own way the more you work with pencil
interesting lines to work with when inking later on. and the nose. and paper.

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05 DARK TO LIGHT
Remember: there is no going back when
working with this medium. Every line you draw is
permanent and you will have to live with it. A simple
way to tackle mark-making with ink is to approach
your drawing as you did with your pencil. Start
working in the darker areas of the image, then move
onto the lighter ones. Draw without fear and you’ll
make your inking look interesting in the end.

QUICK TIP
BEGIN IN ANALOGUE

A lot of people may ask themselves what the

point of drawing on paper with ink is, when
Photoshop, Illustrator and drawing tablets are

04 WORK WITH INK

Once you feel as though there is enough information in the pencil marks, move onto working with
ink; in this case made by Rohrer & Klingner. You only need to use a normal nib and brushes. There are lots of
available. The main reason is that your way of
creating is always more unique when working in
analog. This shows much more about you and
different materials available for you to try and buy, but in the end what you feel comfortable using depends on your rhythm than if you were to start directly in
your practice. This is more important than spending too much time looking for material in art shops. digital media.
Sometimes it’s a case of the simpler the better.

06 FIND YOUR RHYTHM

Try to switch between pen and brush often,
so you achieve rhythm in your drawings. Rhythm is
07 EMBRACE THE MEDIUM
Little side effects of your ink drawing
always add personality. These include strokes or
08 TIME TO STOP
One of the biggest problems when drawing
freehand is knowing when to stop and say ‘enough is
actually something that is very important, as the points and circles you’ll leave on the paper, and are enough’ before moving on into the digital canvas. It’s
more you keep your hands moving, the more things you can’t experience when working digitally natural to spend too much time on something rather
interesting marks you’ll make. In parts like the hair, it with a tablet. It’s good just to let these happen, as than quitting too early, but sometimes you overdraw
doesn’t make sense to show each and every strand. you can still erase parts later. Also, keep sheets of the picture and regret doing it, by which time it’s too
So again, look out for lighter and darker areas and paper at hand for cleaning the brushes or noting late. A good drawing lives from the contrast between
use the brush, especially when there is not a lot of ideas. This is always a good source for textures you the light, sketchy parts and the areas where you
ink left on it, to create good textures. might want to use later when colouring digitally. really went into detail.

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09 SCAN YOUR IMAGE

After the work is dry, move onto digital
application by simply scanning the picture in. This is
10 SEPARATE THE BLACKS
The good thing about working with ink is
that you don’t have to worry too much about the
11 COLOUR YOUR BLACK MARKS
Your black marks may now seem too harsh
when offset against your coloured background. You
better than taking a photo. If you’re working with an tonal correction once you’ve scanned to Photoshop. can add a new colouring to your black marks by
A4-size scanner, you’ll often have to merge parts in You would if you had scanned your pencil drawing. again selecting Color Range to target your black
Photoshop. Always aim to scan in around 200 per Just try to filter out all good black marks and lose the marks (Select>Color Range>Select: Shadows), then
cent larger than the intended final size, as this gives paper colour, using Select>Color Range. Choose fill the selection with a new colour. You might have to
you the possibility to crop the picture or rearrange Select: Shadows, then duplicate to a new layer. Erase try a few times to get the right one, but to help why
the composition and still have a high resolution at the original backdrop, create a new layer beneath not try starting with a dark blue hue (#17293f) like
the end. your ink layer and add a new colour (#b0c6c2). the one used in the example, so contrast isn’t lost?

12 INTERESTING AREFACTS
As mentioned before, there are little side effects that might appear in your image. Embrace the
strokes and splodges caused by drawing in ink, as they add personality and individuality to an image, even if
13 ADD MORE BRUSH MARKS
When you have areas that feel a bit too
empty or perhaps just a little boring, you can always
not every art director will let you get away with keeping them in. If you want to highlight certain elements in a work with some of the brush strokes you created
graphical way, just paint beneath your line work on a new layer using a bright colour. Working with a drawing while drawing but didn’t use. Recycle these by
tablet helps a lot here, letting you paint precisely and keep inside the lines. scanning them in, colouring them using the
techniques in Step 11 and overlaying them on top of
your background, beneath your line work. Edit these
marks by lowering the layer opacity and working to
layer masks. These always look more authentic than
digital brushes. However, there are some very nice
expert brushes on the web, such as those by Kyle
Webster (www.kyletwebster.tumblr.com).

Embrace the strokes and

splodges caused by drawing
in ink, as they add personality
and individuality to an image
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Mixed media

Colour
Choose Select>Color
Range and separate your
marks from the original
background by duplicating
them into a new layer. This
Keep it real lets you re-colour these
Switch between pen and using a simple selection
brush often, so you and the Fill command.
achieve rhythm in your Apply a colour that
drawings. This is very achieves contrast with a
important, as the more new background
you keep your hands
moving, the more
interesting marks you’ll
makemore realistic.
Uniform strokes are the
hallmark of digital – real
media is more random

New layer
With your ink marks on a
separate layer and the old
background deleted, you
can now add a new one.
Simply create a new layer
Mixed-media effect at the bottom of your layer
Recycle your leftover stack and fill this with a
brush marks by scanning, colour that again
copying and pasting these contrasts with your newly
into your artwork. Position coloured ink marks
them between your line
and background layers,
then re-colour and edit
with layer opacity and
layer masks to create a
mixed-media effect

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PHASE 2: GOING DIGITAL

ANDY POTTS NOW USES PHOTOSHOP TO DIGITISE THE IMAGE

15 CUT OUT THE MODEL

Next, you’ll add flesh tones to the illustration
using the original photo. Open the ‘DSC_5534.psd’
file supplied, then choose Select>Color Range. Use
the Color Picker to choose the white space around

14 INCREASE CANVAS SIZE

To add a little breathing space around the traditional illustration, extend the canvas at the top and
sides. This provides more space at the top in particular. The decision to boost colours was made,
the model and set Fuzziness to 160, picking out
fiddly hair edges. Inverse the new image selection
choosing Select>Inverse. With the selection, activate
implemented by adding a new blue base colour (#02498b) on a new layer. Add a vector mask to this. Apply a the Lasso tool, hold Shift and quickly draw around
black to white Radial Gradient tool to the mask to make this colour layer faint around the edges and set the the face and hands area to complete a whole model
layer blending mode to Overlay. Duplicate this layer and remove the mask to strengthen the overall blue, but selection. Press Cmd/Ctrl+J to copy and paste your
retain a more intense central area. selection to a new layer.

16 PLACE THE FACE

Drag and paste the model cutout into your
working PSD. Set the Opacity of the illustrated model
17 BLUE IN THE FACE
Hide the photo layer and reduce the opacity
of the brush marks. Select the cutout layer, press
18 STYLE THE HAIR
Use Gradient Map to apply colour to the hair
in the model photo layer beneath your face layer
layer to 50% to help position the photograph with the Cmd/Ctrl+U and set Saturation to -100. Hold Cmd/ group. Choose a bright magenta foreground and a
drawing accurately. Use Transform (T) to adjust the Ctrl+L and set Levels to create a higher contrast. royal blue background in the palette, then apply a
photographic face to fit the lines. Create a new path Duplicate this and place the new layer beneath the Gradient Map to the model photo, as shown in this
layer and use the Pen tool to trace around the original version. Set the foreground to dark blue and example. This will pick out magenta hair texture in
model’s face only. Select the Path (Cmd/ the background to light blue, then apply a Gradient the drawing. Use a mask and gradient to fade out the
Ctrl+Return). Press Cmd/Ctrl+J to copy and paste to Map. Set the blending mode to Soft Light at 50% body, leaving only the left side of the face affected.
a new layer and place this above the blue colour tints Opacity. Apply a layer mask to both layers and add Use the Lasso tool to create two simple selections at
created in Step 15. gradients as shown to blend elements. the front of the hair, painting in a magenta tint.

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20 DETAIL FEATURES
Now that the colour, flesh tones and hair have been worked out, it’s time to add a few simple
finishing touches to the face to bring it to life. This is before working on the rest of the illustration. We’ll do this
by detailing certain key facial elements, like the eyes, lips and hair.

Textures and masks

You’ll now continue to add even more
elements to enhance the mixed-media
feel of this collaborative image. You’ll
be working with textures and masks

Realism
A sense of realism is
important, introduced
with the photo texture
skin tones and the
colouring of the
model’s eyes

19 EYES AND LIPS

Use your Lasso tool to create simple eye
shape selection on a new layer under the drawing
layer. Fill these with an off-white colour. Select the
black-and-white face layer and create a selection
Colour/light
around the lips using the Lasso tool. Copy and paste A photographic layer
has been placed
to a new layer, place above the illustrated model above the model’s
lips, set to Hard Light
layer and set blending mode to Hard Light and blending mode to add
more realism. An
Opacity at 50%. With the lip selection still active, applied magenta
colour keeps the
create and fill a new layer above this one with a vibrant theme going
magenta colour. Set its blending mode to Color.

Adding digital textures to the illustration will help to blend the

photographic elements

22 ZEBRA TEXTURE
At this stage, you’ll want to add more visual 23 EDIT SHAPES WITH MASKS
Open ‘magenta_splat.psd’ and copy it. Back

21 ADD HINTS OF YELLOW

Now the face is in place, start to develop
the illustration and composition around it. Open
interest to the image. This will be in the form of
zebra marking in the brush marks in your backdrop.
Open ‘zebra_mask.psd’ supplied on the disc and
in your image, activate the illustrated model layer
and select Edit>Paste Special>Paste Into. Position
the magenta shape in the lower-left area of the hair.
‘yellow_dots.psd’ and drag it into your image, placing drag the layer into your image. Add a layer mask to Cmd/Ctrl-click the thumbnail yellow shape layer,
it beneath the illustrated model and eye shape layers the brush mark layers applied in Step 13. Select the create a new layer and fill your selection with
created earlier. Apply a Hard Light layer blend mode zebra shape by hovering the cursor over the layer magenta. Open and drag the circular ‘mask.psd’ into
to this new layer and do the same with ‘yellow_ thumbnail and click while pressing Cmd/Ctrl. your image. Select it, activate the previous magenta
shape.psd’. The yellow adds another colour dynamic Activate the brush mark layer mask and fill the zebra shape layer and click Add Vector Mask. Move your
to the illustration and highlights the model’s eyes selection with black to create the new mask shape in mask over the magenta shape to create the desired
and hair in unusual yet interesting ways. that texture. effect. Place behind the model’s hair.

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24 ADD STRUCTURE TO YOUR DESIGN

Open ‘bridge.psd’ and paste it into the
top-right of your image, under the blue tint layer.
25 TEXTURE IMAGE AREAS
Open ‘texture_1.psd’ and place it in the
bottom-left below the blue tint layer. Add a layer
26 TEXTURE THE WHOLE IMAGE
Adding texture to the illustration will help to
blend the photographic elements. Open ‘texture_2.
Open ‘building.psd’ and repeat, positioning it to the mask and use a gradient to fade the right side. To get psd’ and place it beneath the blue tint layers, filling
left of the model. Set both layers’ blending modes to a smooth fade on the top edge, simply Cmd/Ctrl+J the whole canvas. Add a Soft Light blending mode
Overlay and Opacity to 70%. Add a layer mask and the texture, delete the existing mask, add a new one and set Opacity to 30%. Paste the same texture into
gradient to fade away the bottom edges. Cut out the and edit again. Add another gradient mask to fade the black-and-white face layer, using the Edit>Paste
lamppost from ‘building.psd’ using the Marquee tool. the remaining top edge and apply an Overlay Special>Paste Into technique in Step 24 and setting
Apply Levels, add a Multiply blending mode, then blending mode. Add the ‘texture_1.psd’ again, place the same Soft Light blending mode and 30% Opacity.
place it at the bottom. Place the final ‘building_2.psd’ this above the bridge layer and set Saturation to -100. This lets you move it to an optimum position and
under the bridge, set to Overlay and at 70% Opacity. Mask out edges with the Gradient tool. work with the facial features through the mask.

QUICK TIP
COLOUR RANGING
27 MORE GRADIENT MAPS
Open ‘palm_tree.psd’ and paste it into the
bottom-left, above all the layers. Open ‘texture_2.psd’
28 ADD LEVELS
The image tones are quite subtle and could
do with being a lot more vibrant. You can resolve this
and apply a magenta to blue Gradient Map. This issue by merging your image, then selecting
creates colourful texturing. Edit>Paste Special>Paste Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Levels. Set Shadows
Into a selection of the palm tree layer, then scale and to 15, Midtones to 0.90 and Highlights to 245 to boost
position accordingly. Place the final ‘yellow_shape_2. the contrast. This will result in an exciting, digitally
psd’ over the main palm tree and set this layer’s fleshed-out ink drawing of a beautiful woman in a
blending mode to Hard Light for a little final flourish. tropical urban environment.

Being able to edit a photograph and cleanly take

the texture you need is important when working
in digital mixed media. Use Hue/Saturation to
create a black-and-white image, then apply
Color Range to cleanly select either black or
white areas, adjusting Fuzziness to accurately
decide selection amounts. To ensure you get the
most from your selection, choose the opposite
colour you need, then inverse your selection
before cutting out. This picks up more pixels in
tricky edges. You can then lift your texture and
use this to mask detail from the original photo,
or even fill it with colour for a pop art effect.

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124 The Digital Art Book

 Vivid portraits

CREATE VIVID
PORTRAITS PHOTOSHOP

EXPERIMENT WITH DIGITAL AND TRADITIONAL MEDIUMS

TO CREATE VIVID PORTRAIT ILLUSTRATIONS

B
eing able to create art digitally has sped up our workflows When creating a portrait, there are many ways of approaching the
and allowed us to apply effects that would previously have concept and executing it. The processes shown here are carried out
been impossible. However, digital art can be quite generic and using basic Photoshop brushes and tools that are applied in more
artists often miss the unique yet random styles that can only unusual ways. Following the tutorial step by step will lead to an
be achieved with traditional media. However, with Photoshop, digital understanding of the process, but by experimenting and using your own
artists can integrate traditional art into modern methods, allowing them techniques you will be able to create fascinating new forms that will be
to push boundaries and create new art forms. This tutorial will show you unique and special. Experiment with colours or even monochrome,
how to do just that with this eye-catching mixed media portrait. because this can really change the mood and density of the artwork.

LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS

#2%!4%ď!ď0!).4˶%&&%#4ď"!#+'2/5.$ď!.$ď3+%4#(ď4(%ď0/242!)4

01 THE BACKGROUND
Use traditional media to create a paint-effect
background. One way to do this is to take three 02 IMPORT THE BACKGROUND
Once the paint image has been scanned or 03 SKETCH THE OUTLINE
Invert the layer to change the blue tones to
different coloured paints and mix them in a bit of imported into the computer, create a new document red. The next step is to sketch the portrait. With a
water, swirl them around and take a picture with a (Cmd/Ctrl+N) and a new layer. Drag the painted base small fine brush tip, draw the silhouette and features
high-definition camera. Another method is to create into the new layer and use a soft brush to create a of the face, making sure the composition is central
an abstract mix of colours on a canvas or piece of soft circular surface over the paint-effect and just above the soft brush area you created in
paper and then scan it into the computer, which is background. This is important, as the portrait will be Step 2. Select the default pencil brush in Photoshop
what has been done in this example. painted over this area. and activate Smoothing and Shape Dynamics.

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05 ADD HIGHLIGHTS AND SHADOWS

Shadows and highlights are what give depth
to an otherwise flat-looking portrait. It’s a good idea
to create these in the initial stages of the design to
make it easier when applying the colours. First,
create a new layer and call it ‘Tones’, then using a
soft round brush at 70% Opacity and a white colour,
create highlight strokes as shown in the image. After
that, select a dark shade such as black or dark grey
and apply darker strokes in areas like the back and
sides of the face and below the lips and neck.
Creating shadows and lights can often be tricky.
Look at different photographs of faces to study the
light and shadow in them.

QUICK TIP
USE THE LASSO TOOLS
04 PAINT THE EYES
You can now start painting your portrait, beginning with the eyes. The aim is to paint using colours
that contrast with the red tones but that also give a mysterious and dramatic effect to the image. Using
Apart from using just the brush engine in
Photoshop, a nice idea is to play around with
shades of aqua blue and light lime green, take a soft round brush and paint the eyeballs and eyebrows very
Lasso tools. It is such a flexible yet simple tool to
softly in a circular motion. The eyelashes are created using fine strokes drawn from the eyelid outwards. You
create interesting new effects and shapes.
can refer to the screenshot above to see exactly how the eyes were painted in this example.

06 PAINT SKIN WITH COLOUR

Next, create a new layer below the Tones
layer and name it ‘Coloured paints’. Select two colour
07 CREATE ABSTRACT SHAPES
You can use Photoshop’s Lasso tool (L) to
create some really unusual effects and shapes that
08 PAINT COLOURFUL STROKES
Open a new document (1000 x 1000px) and
create a new layer. Remove the background layer.
tones of blue and lime green. While painting, keep will add interest to your portrait. To apply them, you Select any hard-edged brush and draw strokes while
switching between different shades of each, for will first need to create a new layer called ‘Lasso holding down Shift. Try and make each stroke a
example, different shades of blue, green and yellow. shapes’. Select the Lasso tool and create a different colour so you get a beautiful range of colour
Take a distorted brush and use it to create strokes in branch-like, slightly abstract geometric shape like tones. The colour palette used here consists of reds,
random directions with each colour for an unusual the one in the screenshot. Use any Brush tool with oranges, lime green and yellows. The idea is to
colour palette. After the blue and yellow-green slight texture and a darker mix of colour tones to create strokes in one straight direction so that they
colour range, do the same with orange, red and randomly paint inside the lasso selection to create blend in nicely. Try and do this several times so that
magenta tones. interesting effects. there is a nice range of colours and depth.

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 Vivid portraits

ADDING IN DETAILS
MIMIC TRADITIONAL EFFECTS TO ADD EXTRA INTEREST

09 FUSE THE STROKES INTO THE PORTRAIT

Copy the layer of shapes you created in Step 8 into your main artwork file. Place the shapes below the
lips, jawbone and over the eyebrows, as seen in the screenshot. You need to tweak the shapes so that they fit
in nicely with the composition, and you can play around with the colours as well.

Colour saturation
Play with the colour
saturation of the
shapes. Make them
black and white, or even
adjust the hues to
achieve a completely
different tone

Strokes
Experiment with the
strokes by using the Make it fit
Edit>Transform>Warp In order to make the
tool to give it slight form
at random areas
shapes fit into the
composition, use the
Lasso tool or the Eraser
to clean off edges of the
shapes and to give them
10 MORE BRUSH STROKES
You can add extra depth by creating even
more interesting, colourful strokes. Use a hard brush
a dynamic form
and zoom into the portrait. Reduce the brush Opacity
to about 55% and play with the opacity of different
strokes. Apply brush strokes on areas that you could
highlight, as shown in the image. You could even use
a hard Eraser with a very small size setting to create
uneven edges.

12 FILL THE SHAPES

Take two tones of grey and use the Gradient
tool (G) to fill the selection you have created with a
gradient. Take a soft round brush and brush the
edges of the shape while the selection is still on. This
will add depth to the shape. It will also help when you

11 CREATE PATTERNS
One way to add an additional element to the portrait is to create fan-like patterns from multiple
duplicated shapes. To do this, use the Pen tool (P). Create a new layer and label it ‘Shape repeat 1’, then draw
repeat the shapes to create a shadow. After that, use
the Lasso tool (L) or the Pen tool (P) to create an
almond-like outline in the centre of the shape. Make
out an organic point shape as shown in the screenshot. Make sure that the starting point of the Pen tool a selection and fill it with a dark grey colour. You are
meets the end point so that it forms a closed shape. Ctrl/right-click and choose Make Selection. now ready to form the pattern.

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13 FORM THE PATTERN

Now you can create a fan from the shapes. Press Opt/Alt on your keyboard and drag the Shape
repeat 1 layer to duplicate it, or Ctrl/right-click on the layer to do so. Rotate the new duplicate shape by 30
14 LINE ART DETAILING
You can create extra interest by adding a
line art drawing into the visual. Select the white
degrees and place it over the pattern layer. Repeat the steps again until a chain of shapes is created. Each colour and use a thin pencil tool to draw some
shape needs to be rotated and aligned over the previous one to create a beautiful, seamless pattern. flowing organic shapes near the eyelids and the back
of the portrait. Experiment and play with other areas
too. This effect needs to be very minimal and should
be added as a touch of detailing.

QUICK TIP
KEEP BRIGHTNESS THE SAME
15 FINAL IMAGE ADJUSTMENTS
For the final step, create a new Color Balance adjustment layer. Select Midtones from the Tone tab
and drag the Cyan-Red slider to +7, the Magenta-Green to + 3 and the Yellow-Blue to -7. Set the layer’s
Keeping ‘Preserve Luminosity’ checked prevents
the image from changing brightness as you
blending mode to Color. This is a nice way to give a lovely tone to the artwork, especially when working with
adjust the colour balance.
many colours at once.

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PAINTING AND PREPARING THE BACKGROUND

CREATE A BASE WITH TRADITIONAL MEDIA
One of the most fascinating aspects of digital art is the ability to fuse different mediums. It really pushes experimentation to another level. Initially, when
conceptualising the artwork, it was going to be completely digital, but the idea to create the background paint texture manually using acrylic paints
sounded fun. The aim when creating the background is to just go wild with the paint and have fun, and then later on fuse it with the digital painting in
Photoshop. The results can be quite interesting, as every brush stroke is random and very spontaneous, and can lead to something new and vivid.

01 MONOCHROME BASE
First, take a white
A3-sized sheet of paper or card.
02 ADD COLOUR
Next, you will need to
add some colour to your base
Prepare a medium-grey shade design. Mix different shades of
by mixing black and white green, yellow, blue and white until
together. Then take a large sized you get a slight aqua tone to the
brush and create paint strokes in mix, then paint this all over the
an elliptical direction around the grey background. Have fun and
edges of the paper. Try and leave experiment with creating
the middle portion white for interesting strokes on the sheet.
now. Apply some water to What you are wanting to achieve
ensure a nice consistency and is something relatively solid but
add layers to the stroke. completely abstract.

03 PERFECT THE BACKGROUND

Play with water to blur out certain areas, or even mix some dark tones again. You want to create a beautiful fusion of both grey and blue tones, which you can
import into Photoshop to start creating the artwork from.

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130 The Digital Art Book

 Merge photos with illustrations

MERGE PHOTOSHOP SOURCE FILES 

AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

PHOTOS WITH
ILLUSTRATIONS
LEARN HOW TO COMPOSITE A MIXTURE OF TEXTURES Original
AND STYLES TO CREATE EYECATCHING PIECES OF
DIGITAL ARTWORK

T
his illustration is a fun mix of media. We’ll original piece of artwork. This kind of style is very
be working with hand-drawn illustrations, easy on the eye and is really great to use for your own
photography and block colours in posters, greetings cards, wall prints and much more!
Photoshop. Be prepared to spend a bit of Here we’ve used a selection of photographs – you
time tracing and selecting elements, all great skills can download them from the supplied resources. Or
worth mastering! why not put your own spin on things and incorporate
We will go through experimenting with different loved ones into the composition? Scan in your family
layer styles and building colours to create a bold and photos and get editing!

We will be working with hand-drawn illustrations, photography

and block colours in Photoshop
PIECE IT ALL TOGETHER
STITCH UP A COMPOSITE USING PHOTOS, BLOCK COLOUR AND DRAWINGS

02 ADD SKY
Open your sky background, select all (Cmd/Ctrl+A), copy (Cmd/Ctrl+C) and paste
(Cmd/Ctrl+V) your sky photo on top of your paper layer. Position this in the top third of the
composition, then click on your layer and set layer style to Hard Light.

01 PREPARE YOUR FILES

Kick off by cutting out the elements that you need from your
photographs then start compositing them together. Let’s start from
the back and work forwards, so we’ll begin with a lovely paper-
texture background.

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QUICK TIP
CUT OUT NEATLY

For artwork that is comprised of

numerous similar elements (such as
the mountains in this one), you may be
tempted to duplicate layers rather than
spending lots of time creating different
ones. If you are doing this, try to
change each layer as much as possible
in order to create an illusion of variety.
You could go to Edit>Transform>Flip

04
Horizontal, or hit Cmd/Ctrl+T in order BASE COLOURS
to change the size of the layer. Also, Cmd/Ctrl-click on a mountain’s layer icon,

03
don’t forget to name all of your layers ADD MOUNTAIN PHOTOGRAPHY highlighting its area. Add a new layer underneath it
so that you can keep them organised Cut out the mountain photographs and also add a scan and Edit>Fill (or Shift+F5) with your chosen base
– this will save you plenty of time while of some ripped-up sandpaper just to mix things up a little. Now colour. Click back on the mountain layer, change to
you’re working. you can have a play here – move the photographs about until Multiply blend mode and lower Opacity to 60%.
you’re happy with the layout. Repeat for the other elements.

05 BLOCK OUT THE COLOUR

As well as these slightly textured mountains, 06 COMPLETE YOUR ENTIRE
MOUNTAIN RANGE
07 WALL PHOTO AND ILLUSTRATION
Open ‘Wall original.jpg’ and use the Magnetic
Lasso (L) to cut around the fence and wall (hold Alt
you can also add in a few mountains that are simply Duplicate the Mountains folder and hide the original. to get rid of the fence post gaps). Paste the selection
block colour. Draw a mountain shape using the Click once on the new folder and hit Cmd/Ctrl+E to onto your main project. Now place ‘Illustration 2
Lasso tool (L) and then fill in the whole area with flatten it into one layer. Change this element’s blend original.jpg’ on a new layer set to Multiply. Rotate
your selected colour. mode to Linear Burn. clockwise using Edit>Transform.

08 CREATE A BASE TONE FOR THE WALL

Hold Cmd/Ctrl and click the Wall layer icon.
Create a new layer underneath and Edit>Fill
09 MAIN FIGURES
Now for the main figures. Use the same
technique you used for the wall with the supplied
10 DELETE THE OBJECTS
Scan and clean the illustration and add it on
top of the photographed figures. Delete the objects
(Shift+F5) with your desired colour (for instance figures. Trace over them using a black Pen tool (P). that the figures are holding in the photo using the
#bb998b). Now go back to your Wall layer and Draw some extra lines to join the characters Lasso tool. Then merge the photograph and
change its style to Overlay at 50% Opacity. together and give them something to sit on. illustration (highlight both layers and hit Cmd/Ctrl+E).

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 Merge photos with illustrations

11 PAPER TEXTURE FOR OBJECTS

Duplicate the Paper texture layer and place it
underneath the figures. Highlight the area around
12 BREAK UP THE UMBRELLA
Duplicate the Paper texture layer under the
umbrella. On the Figure layer, highlight every other
13 APPLY A WARM HUE
Highlight the area of the figures by holding
down the Cmd/Ctrl keys and then clicking on the
the figures with the Magic Wand tool (W) and then triangle with Magic Wand. Choose Select>Modify> layer icon. Create a new layer underneath and then
go to Select> Modify>Expand and enter 1px so that Expand and enter 1px. Hit Delete on the second paper go to Edit>Fill (or Shift+F5) with your desired colour
the selection is underneath the illustration line. Hit layer. Hit Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation; (example: #ffbab1). Now set the Figures layer to
Delete on the Paper texture layer. Lightness down, Saturation up. Multiply blend mode.

14 USE EXTRA
ELEMENTS
The extra guitar is
QUICK TIP
LASSO TOOL TIPS
simply a scanned
If you’re using the Lasso tool to cut around a
illustration that has
figure’s hair or grass on a mountain top, then you
been coloured the
can add a feather to your Lasso selection before
same way as the
you delete the background. You could also
guitar and umbrella.
duplicate your neatly cut photograph and add a
Duplicate the paper
Gaussian Blur to the layer underneath. Once
texture, highlight the
you’ve cut out your selected area from your
area around the
photo, go to Layer>Matting>Defringe by 1px. This
guitar, expand it by
is a really helpful little tool and makes all of the
1px and then finally
tiny bits of excess colour that you might have
hit Delete on the
missed around the edges disappear like magic!
paper texture.

15 INCLUDE SEAGULLS
Cut the seagulls out from the original
photograph and paste them onto the artwork. Hide
this layer and then highlight the seagulls by holding
Cmd/Ctrl and clicking on the layer icon. Now create
16 TIDY UP AND FINISH!
You can then make the mountains little a bit
more red by selecting the Mountains Final layer and
a new layer and Edit>Fill (or Shift+F5) with your then heading to Image>Adjustments>Hue/
Original
desired tone. Saturation and taking the Hue down to –10.

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Originals

134 The Digital Art Book

 Vintage collage

CREATE A SOURCE FILES 

AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

VINTAGE COLLAGE PHOTOSHOP

LEARN THE TECHNIQUES BEHIND CREATING YOUR OWN VINTAGE

DESIGN, TAKING YOU BACK IN TIME ON A NOSTALGIC JOURNEY

T
here is a lot of enjoyment in creating a mash-up collage. If look – the aim is to be abstract and creative. This tutorial will show you
you want to provide a flashback to another era while how to adjust your images for a collage, with some handy filters to
exercising creativity, a collage made up of vintage elements give your image a vintage appeal using handwritten texts, illustrations,
is a versatile way to do just that. textures, patterns and more. You will learn how to adjust colour and
A good collage should have a well thought-out composition with a contrast as well as working with blend modes for best results.
sense of experimentation. It is a trendy way to construct whimsical As a finishing touch we will call upon filters to mimic old-fashioned
and quirky juxtapositions of objects such as posters, album covers, film grain. These techniques can be applied to images that you can
stamps and portraits. Unlike photographic compositions, the variety easily source yourself, such as old postcards, making this
and contrast of imagery in a vintage collage gives a unique, cutout look as though it’s from of the Fifties.

MAKE PATTERNS AND USE PHOTOS

CREATE PATTERNS FROM SCRATCH AND INCORPORATE EXISTING IMAGES

01 PATTERN MAKING
Open ‘background.
jpg’. Create a new layer and
02 COMPILE THE
COMPOSITE
Open up the model, car,
draw a rectangle with the stamps, hibiscus,
Rectangular Marquee tool. palms, flowers, bird,
Hit Opt/Alt+Backspace and letter, halftone, and
then fill with a colour of your pin-up girl images.
choice. Double-click on the Paste them into the file
layer in order to open Layer on separate layers. To
Styles and select Pattern keep things organised,
Overlay. Load the pattern be sure to name the
file ‘stripe pattern’. layers as you go.

03 BLEND YOUR IMAGES

Add a layer mask to the Grass layer. With a soft black brush,
cover the edges to make it spotty and soft. Repeat this process for the
04 ADD SUBTLE SHADOWS
Create a layer above the Grass layer. With a black soft round brush, paint a shadow
under the car. Reduce the opacity of the shadow to 55% and pin it to the Grass layer.
girl in the foreground to hide the edges of her hair. Repeat to create shadows for the pin-up girl, hibiscus flower, letter, and stamps.

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QUICK TIP
ALTERNATIVE GRAIN EFFECT

There are several ways to achieve a grain effect.

An alternative to the Noise filter is to add the film
grain texture. Go to Filter>Artistic>Film Grain.
Here you can choose grain size, sensitivity and
intensity. Size ranges from 0-20, but anything
over 5 tends to become too pixelated. This filter
works best with Intensity kept at a low value, and
the highlight value can vary depending on the
tonal range of the image.

05 ORGANISE
Select the Halftone layer. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+U and
move Lightness to 100. To stay organised, put the
06 GROUPING
Repeat step five to make a group using
stamps, the model and the hibiscus. Call this group
letter, palms, halftone, and striped bar in a group. Foreground. Take a moment to rearrange the layers
Name the group Background Elements. Put the as shown for better organisation. Change the name
Grass layer, Car, Pin-up girl, and their shadow layers of layers or groups by right-clicking in the Layers
in a group named Car. palette and selecting Layer Properties.

08 LETTER ADJUSTMENTS
The letter in the background looks too
09 0).Ɏ50Ĉ!$*534-%.43

07 ADD MORE ELEMENTS

Open the pattern palm images, and paste as
shown. Repeat for ‘line art flower.jpg’. Turn the blend
washed-out and faded. Select the Letter layer and
go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Levels, and
clip it to the Letter layer. Move the black slider to
Repeat step eight for the pin-up girl. Drag
the black slider to 48, and the white slider to 227.
Essentially, this brightens the lighter tones and
mode of each line art flower to Multiply, so the 90 to deepen the darker colors and make the darkens the darker tones, increasing the overall
texture of the background shows through. image more noticeable. contrast of the image.

10 COLOUR VARIATION 12 SHARPEN

Make a merged copy by hitting Cmd/Ctrl+A,
Create a new layer on top of the stack. With a
large soft brush, cover the layer with red, orange,
yellow, and a little blue and green. Turn the blend
11 ADD ADJUSTMENT LAYERS
Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/
Saturation. Do not clip it to the layer below. Move the
go to Edit>Copy Merged, and then Cmd/Ctrl+V to
paste. Go to Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask. For
Amount, enter 130% and enter 8px for Radius and
mode to Color and reduce Opacity to 50%. Hue slider to -10, and the Saturation slider to -40. for Threshold enter 20.

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 Vintage collage

13 APPLY IMAGE
With the merged layer still selected go to
14 #2%!4%Ĉ6).4!'%Ɏ349,%Ĉ'2!).Ĉ
Create a new layer. Go to
Filter>Render>Clouds. Then go to Filter>Noise>Add
15 ADD A GRUNGE BORDER
Make a new layer. Select white as your
Foreground colour. Select the Brush tool and from
Image>Apply Image. Set the blend mode to Multiply Noise. Leave the settings at default, but check the the Options bar at the top of the screen load the
and check the Mask option box. Set Opacity to 60%. Monochromatic option box and hit OK. Turn the ‘Torn_Paper_Edges’ brushes. At 100% Opacity,
You can check and uncheck the Preview box to see Noise layer blend mode to Soft Light and reduce the create a border. Stretch and resize the brush strokes
the effect this will have on your image. Opacity to 50%. to fit the length and width of the image.

QUICK TIP
SMALL ALTERATIONS RESULTING IN BIG CHANGES

Desaturate
Adjustment layers sometimes
produce an overly saturated
image. Combat this with a Hue/
Saturation adjustment level

Sharpening
Sharpening increases
the contrast between
neighbouring pixels,
giving the effect of a
more detailed and
crisp image

Vintage film grain Apply Image Adjustment Levels

One of the most beautiful aspects of Apply Image (Image>Apply Image) is Adding Levels adjustments, in
vintage photography is the grain, typically used to blend images, but can also addition to other adjustment layers,
giving the image a dark, gritty, highly be used to highlight and deepen shadows brings the images on layers below
texturised effect without adding saturation it together, resulting in a
cohesive composition

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Mixed media

Original

138 The Digital Art Book

 Blend modes and brushes

USE BLEND MODES

AND BRUSHES
TURN YOUR PHOTOS INTO MIXEDMEDIA MASTERPIECES BY BLENDING DIFFERENT
PHOTOSHOP

PHOTOS AND TEXTURES WITH BLEND MODES AND BRUSH WORK

C
ompelling images are easy to achieve with effective use of blend You will learn how to achieve a unique painted effect with some dripping, splatter
modes, light effects, custom brushes, and a little bit of imagination. In brushes; alter colour and contrast with a variety of blend modes; and then
Photoshop, the possibilities for altering an image know no bounds. enhance your image with a few artistic filters.
When it comes to achieving the ‘wow’ factor in photomanipulations, The beauty of this technique is in its chaotic nature. The idea here is to
chances are that blend modes play a key role. Blend modes give us different experiment and be messy (digitally, that is!) Select your brush colours at random
ways for a layer to interact with the layers underneath. When used in conjunction and when painting, don’t worry about what blend mode you should be using. The
with layer masks, they quickly produce amazing effects that are pleasantly solution is to just try them all.
simple and fun. As usual, we’ve supplied an array of splatter brushes and photos (including
Starting off with a quality photograph, we will first do some essential repairs this parrot!) with your resource pack so you can dive straight into the steps here
and make some additions to the image in order to create a basic composition. and create your own beautiful bird.

TURN YOUR IMAGES INTO SOMETHING SPECIAL

USING A RANGE OF TECHNIQUES AND MEDIA YOU CAN TRANSFORM YOUR SHOTS INTO PIECES OF ART

01 PLACE YOUR IMAGES 03 ADD FEATHERS

Select the Lasso tool and make a selection
Open ‘bgtexture.jpg’ and paste the parrot on
top. Hide the branch by clicking the Add Layer Mask
icon at the bottom of the Layers palette and painting
02 ADD BACKGROUND COLOUR
Make a layer above the Background layer.
Fill it with a soft orange to green gradient. Go to
of the upper wing. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+J, and position the
feathers over the tail. Then go to Edit>Transform>
Warp to elongate them so that they look like tail
on it with a black brush. Paste ‘perch.png’ into the Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and set the Radius to feathers. Hit Enter to commit the transformation to
document under the parrot layer. 250px. Change the layer’s blend mode to Color. the image.

04 REPAIR THE TAIL

Go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. Paint
away any rough edges with a black brush. Add the
05 SMUDGE TO BLEND
Click on the parrot layer and select all pixels
by holding Cmd/Ctrl and clicking the thumbnail.
06 BOOST LIGHT AND SHADOW
Set a new layer’s blend mode to Overlay and
place it above the parrot. Use a white brush at 40%
Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and clip it to the Zoom in on the beak and select the Smudge tool. Set Opacity. Visualize the direction of your light source,
new tail layer (Layer> Create Clipping Mask). Move the tool’s Strength to 30%, Hardness to 0 and Size to and accentuate the bird’s highlights and shadows.
the Hue to -20 and the Saturation to +10. 60px. Carefully smudge out the cracks. Repeat this for the perch layer.

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07 FEATHER EDGES
Create a new layer on top. With the Pen tool, 08 GLOWING FEATHERS
Repeat the previous step for all feathers and
09 ENHANCE THE EYE
Select the parrot layer and choose
Filter>Liquify. Zoom in on the eye and select the
trace the outline of a feather. Select a 2px white choose Layer>Layer Style>Outer Glow. Set the blend Bloat tool. Click the pupil to enlarge. Hit OK. Use the
brush with 100% Opacity. In the Paths palette, Ctrl/ mode to Normal; Opacity at 100% and Size at 6px. Smudge tool to reduce noise, the Sponge tool to
right-click the work path and select Stroke Path. Add a rainbow-coloured Gradient Overlay with reduce redness and with a small white brush,
Choose Brush and tick Simulate Pressure. Normal mode. Adjust until satisfied. accentuate the highlights.

10 BEGIN PAINTING
Load up all the splatter brushes on your
11 MAKE A SPLASH
resource disc. Use the Eyedropper tool to select
colours around the edges of the bird. Paint on a
layer underneath the bird. Vary brushes and size,
On a new layer above the parrot, add large
splashes to key areas. We need to make sure the
new splashes blend into the image more. To do this
12 PAINT WITH RECKLESS ABANDON
Continue using splatters around the edges of
the bird on new layers at the top of the stack. Vary
colours and opacity settings. Apply some of the add a new layer mask (see step 4) and use a large, the layers’ blend modes to Normal, Overlay and
custom paint brushes (by snakstock.deviant.com) normal brush tip with 100% Hardness to brush away Multiply. Experiment with brush sizes, orientation,
around the edges. out of place splash marks. colours and opacities. Save layers as you go.

13 PAINT THE TREE

Follow the same process for the perch. The
14 USE ADJUSTMENT LEVELS
Take a moment. Are you happy with the
colours? Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/
15 CREATE GLOWING EDGES
Hit Cmd/Ctrl+A, and go to Edit>Copy Merged.
This makes a copy of everything. Go to Edit>Paste so
more you switch up colours, brushes, opacities, and Saturation. Move the Hue slider to +30 and that the merged layer is on top. Go to Filter>Stylize>
modes, the better the results. Have your swatches Saturation to +10. Mask out areas of the adjustment Glowing Edges>OK and then turn the blend mode to
palette out, and choose your hues randomly. layer where the original colours can shine through. Screen and set the Opacity to 50%.

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 Blend modes and brushes

16 ADD A SOFT BLUR

Paste another merged layer on top of the
17 SWITCH UP YOUR COLOURS
Create a new layer. With a large, fuzzy, round
brush at 100% Opacity, paint the layer with random 18 DARKEN EDGES
Use the Copy Merged and Paste commands
stack. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Enter a value colours. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+F to give the colour blobs a for the merged layer on top. Go to Filter>Stylize>
of 40px for the blur and hit OK. Then turn the blend Gaussian Blur and blend them together. Turn the Glowing Edges and hit OK. Turn the layer’s mode to
mode to Soft Light and reduce Opacity to 50%. blend mode to Soft Light. Subtract and reduce Opacity to 60%.

19 ADD LIGHT AND SHADOW

Create a new layer. Turn blend mode to 20 ZOOM IN ON THE DETAILS
Take some time to look over the
Overlay and set 70% Opacity. With a large round
fuzzy brush, darken edges and corners of the image
composition. Use the Clone Stamp tool to get rid of
splashes that seem too dark, or that have blended 21 MAKE A MERGED LAYER
Repeat the command Copy Merged and
paste this on to a new layer. Make a final Hue/
with black. Darken shadows where needed. With poorly. If needed, add another Hue/Saturation
white, add highlights to areas of the branch, eye, adjustment layer, or change the colour in a certain Saturation adjustment layer and move the Saturation
feathers, and the bird’s shoulder. area with a different paint. slider to -30 to reduce the impact of colour.

QUICK TIP
ADD PERSONALISED TEXT IN TO MAKE THE ART MORE… PERSONAL!

01 SELECT TYPE TOOL

Keep the mouse button pressed to see
options from the pop-up menu. Choose Horizontal
02 CREATE TEXT BOX
Click where you want to add text. Drag to
create a text box and drag the squares around the
Type tool, which lets you type from left to right. edge to adjust box size. Add a title and subtitle.

22 SHARPEN IMAGE
Go to Filter>Sharpen>Sharpen More.
Duplicate the layer and then go to Filter>Other>High
03 CHOOSE FONT AND ALIGN
A new layer is automatically created for 04 GO A STEP FURTHER
Click outside the text box to see how text
your text. Type into the text box. Choose a script appears. Click the lower right of the screen with
Pass. Set Radius at 30px and turn the layer’s blend
font, centre alignment and add a title. the Type tool to add a description of the image.
mode to Soft Light, setting its Opacity to 50%.

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3D ART
CREATE PHOTOREALISTIC
PIECES OF ART AND
EXPLORE THE WORLD OF
3D WITH THESE CREATIVE
150
TECHNIQUES
144 Make a realistic human
A 3D portrait that looks like a photo

150 Build a dramatic scene

Creating a fighter jet

156 Create realistic objects

Photoreal textures and materials

160 Create an epic landscape

A 3D natural landscape

156

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 160

144
The Digital Art Book 143
3D art

MAYA

PHOTOSHOP

MUDBOX

KNALD

144 The Digital Art Book

 Realistic 3D human

MAKE A REALISTIC
3D HUMAN
USE A VARIETY OF 3D SOFTWARE TO MAKE A REALISTIC PIECE OF
SOURCE FILES 
AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

ARTWORK THAT COULD BE MISTAKEN FOR A PHOTOGRAPH

O
ver the next few pages you’ll be able to follow the steps and using it in the final image. We’ll cover creating and styling hair
and techniques used to create this image. First, we’ll using Shave and a Haircut and the workflow for converting to Maya
gather some reference and define the project to ensure a Hair. You’ll also learn precisely how to create the eyes here, and the
quicker and more organised workflow. We’ll cover texture used. When we have everything modelled and textured we’ll
modelling in Maya, as well as sculpting and texturing within Mudbox then create realistic V-Ray shaders for the skin, hair and eyes, and
using stencils and projections. Discover a free piece of scanning you’ll get to know the lighting setup and render settings used for the
software that can be used on a smartphone for capturing 3D data final piece.

DEFINE YOUR CONCEPT

THE LEVEL OF PLANNING YOU DO CAN MAKE OR BREAK YOUR PROJECT

01 DECIDE ON AN IDEA
When working on their own projects, some 3D artists have
a tendency to create a concept on the fly, rather than spending
quality time deciding or defining exactly what the final image will
look like. Without a clear goal, it’s impossible to know what assets
need to be created and when. At times this can lead to incomplete
projects and/or an unrefined final image due to lack of planning.
With this in mind, a decision was made here to create a realistic
red-headed female wrapped in a red blanket and looking into the
camera. Due to this process it was clear which assets were needed,
such as a face, hair, eyelashes and blanket. With the idea defined,
let’s gather some reference to better guide us through the process.

02 GATHER REFERENCE
A lot of online references were gathered for hair colours,
facial expressions and specific poses of the face that looked
appealing. There was no intention for the model to fully match the
references found, but rather they were used as inspiration and a
general guideline to follow. Another big reference and help can be
to use someone you know. Here, we took a few photos of the lady
looking into the camera as a reference of the general look and
angle we wanted to achieve. It was also very helpful to see how the
blanket would look in the picture and how to make it.

QUICK TIP
"2%!+ď)4ď$/7.ď4/ď")4%˶3):%ď0)%#%3
03 BLOCK OUT MESHES AND UVS
With your reference gathered, start blocking out the base meshes in Maya prior to
sculpting. The basic head mesh here had already been created, and is being reused. Spend time
It can take quite a bit of time to build a head you’re happy with
and with nice UVs. Don’t feel pressured to rush into creating a
ensuring that the head reacts well to sculpting and also deforms properly when adding facial large, complete project right away. At times, 3D artists take on
expressions. Now lay out the UVs to ensure no overlapping and proper distribution of UV space far too much as a first project, and end up sacrificing quality in
among the polygons. You can test how the UVs respond by applying a basic checker texture in order to complete a piece. Begin small and work on easier
Maya. We can worry about creating the blanket later on, as we’ll be creating it using a 3D projects while concentrating on fundamentals. Practise
scanning approach. With your head mesh ready with UVs, let’s export that and the blocked-out anatomy and hone in on your skills in between bigger projects.
blanket geo as an OBJ to bring into Mudbox.

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SCULPT THE HEAD IN MUDBOX

START FORMING AND TEXTURING THE HEAD

04 ADD EXPRESSION AND POSE

With our base head exported, open it up in Mudbox.
Spend quite a bit of time ensuring all the proportions of the face
06 SCAN AND RETOPOLOGISE
THE BLANKET
For the blanket, try using the free 123D Catch
are correct and look at as many references as possible. As we are software by Autodesk on your smartphone.
creating this character from the imagination, it will be important Perhaps ask your model to wrap the blanket
to ensure it looks natural and that all proportions are accurate. around her in the proper pose, and then use
Get the face in a proper neutral state where the expression is the software to capture 360-degree images of
blank but natural when looking ahead. Place a bone in Mudbox on her before using the program to create a very
a sculpt layer, rotate the head to the angle that matches the basic 3D mesh. This method worked extremely
reference and continue refining the shape. Add the expression well in this case. From here, retopologise the
that you want to convey in the face, largely using the Grab and model, scale it and further sculpt and
Sculpt brushes. At this stage we are ready to add all the pores
and wrinkles. 05 CREATE PORES AND WRINKLES
When creating the pores and fine
wrinkles, we will need to subdivide the model
manipulate the geometry to fit with the head
mesh in Mudbox.

to a high enough division to accept the

sculpting information, for example, five in this
case. Next, create a layer called Pores and
select the Pores stencil that comes with the
Stencil brush in Mudbox. From here you can
use the Sculpt brush and start applying it to
the entire head. With the pores complete,
create a new layer called Wrinkles and, using
the Knife brush, start defining the lips, the
areas under the eyes and other areas that may
have visible wrinkles. For the final touch,
make a Bumps layer and use more of the
provided stencils in Mudbox, applying each to
the model to get the look we’re aiming for.

07 TEXTURE THE FACE FOR TEXTURING

It is useful to rely on photo references for projections.
Begin using the Paint brush and blocking out very basic colours
08 USE KNALD FOR REFLECTION
For the Reflection and Gloss maps, a newer piece
of software was used called Knald (www.knaldtech.com).
to show where you want blush, lip colour and eye shadow Among other features, Knald enables you to take maps
present. From there, create new layers and use photographs of and generate them into others. To start, save out a hi-res
Oldriska from 3D.sk as texture reference for projecting her skin version of your head from Mudbox and then a lower
and freckles. Do not be too concerned with the top of the head, subdivision (2 or 3 should be fine) without the pores and
ears or back of the head, as none of these will show in the final wrinkles present. Next, use XNormal or Mudbox to extract
render. Ensure that the freckles pop as well, so use the Burn a normal map at 4,096 x 4,096. With the map baked, let’s
brush afterwards in order to really punch them out when it open Knald and play with the settings so there is enough
comes to rendering. Project a faint colour for the eyebrows to detail present in the maps. We can then save out both an
use later as a template with Shave and a Haircut. When done, AO map and a Concavity map at 16-bit TIF format.
save the finished texture as Colour, bring it into Photoshop and
then create a slightly desaturated blue with less contrast. Save
this out as Subsurface. 09 COMPLETE THE REFLECTION MAPS
Open Photoshop and start to build the Reflection and
Gloss maps. First, take your colour texture, desaturate it and
bring it in as a new layer. Now import the AO and Concavity
maps you exported in the last step and set them both as
multipliers on top. Don’t add too much contrast in these maps
as it will not enable the reflection to react to the skin as
intended. Next paint on some additional layers for areas such
as lips and eyelids to punch the amount of reflection with a
higher value and save out the map as the Reflection map.
Next, open up a duplicate of the map, blur it and paint dark
areas where you’d like to have broader reflection and brighter
areas for hotter reflection. Save this out as a Gloss map.
Examples of both are provided with your resources.

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ADD REALISM TO THE HAIR AND EYES

CREATE THE HAIR WITH SHAVE AND A HAIRCUT AND THE EYES WITH REALISTIC TEXTURES

QUICK TIP
STYLING THE HAIR
When styling the hair it’s important to take
your time. Occasionally do quick test renders
to see how the hairs are clumping together
in order to get an idea of how it may look
10 STYLE THE HAIR
To create the hair, import the lowest subdivision of
your head mesh into Maya and extract a cap for the area you
later on. Two separate passes of hair were
want to spawn hairs from. Duplicate the head mesh then
created for this project – one for the majority
select the faces that will act as our hair cap and use the
of the hair and the other for individual
Extract tool in Maya. Select the newly extracted mesh and
strands that fall in front of her face. By
using Shave and a Haircut select Create New Hair. With our
creating additional hair selections you can
new hair created, let’s update the collision mesh by selecting
control them later on with Maya Hair. Turn
the hair and shift-selecting our original head using
off the Shave and a Haircut Hair Visibility tab
Shave>Edit Current>Update Collision Mesh. The Shave Brush
and just focus on the strands, as that’s what
tool was used here by hand to style the hair to achieve the
you will ultimately be using. For the
desired look. Once happy with the results, use Convert>
eyelashes, use the same approach as that of
Guides to Curves and then save them out for later to be used
the eyebrows.
with Maya Hair.

11 SHAPE THE EYEBROWS

For the eyebrows, import your low-res head mesh into a new scene and apply your
Colour texture to it to act as a guide for styling the eyebrows. We’ll want to create curves to
act as our eyebrows later that sit on top of the head mesh. To do this, let’s make our head live
by selecting it and then the magnet icon in Maya. With our head live, use the EP Curve tool
and draw the specific eyebrows you want. Take your time with this and ensure that parts are
elevated above the mesh by moving the curves after you’ve created them. With the
adjustments made we can save these out as an eyebrow group for later.

12 MODEL AND TEXTURE

THE EYES
When modelling the eyes, it’s beneficial
to use a simple but effective approach.
Try breaking down the eyes into three
separate parts: the lens, sclera and
pupil. For the lens, create a sphere and
ensure there is a bulge outwards such
as in a real eyeball. For the sclera, it is
a concave sphere with the centre hole
cut out for the pupil. The pupil itself is
just a standard plane that sits directly
behind the sclera and is completely
black. The sclera is the only piece that
you should texture with a colour map
that you can find provided with your
resources. Next you will discover the
specific materials to use.

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SHADERS AND LIGHTING

SHADER CREATION FOR THE SKIN, HAIR, EYES AND LIGHTING

13 LIGHTING SETUP
Bring in the highest-res OBJs of the head and
blanket. Ensure Visible In Reflections and Visible in
Refractions is selected for both meshes under your Render
Stats Attribute. For lighting create a V-Ray Dome light and
select an HDR image to be placed into the Dome Tex slot
at maximum res. For the HDR image, use Newport Loft,
available for free from hdrlabs.com. Set your Subdivs to
around 24 for better sampling, and play with Intensity to
find what works best for you. Create three basic poly
planes and apply a basic lambert of a colour you want to
illuminate your mesh. Create an off-white colour. Place
them in areas where you would like to see some
illumination on the character.

14 RENDER SETUP
Some of the major takeaways for
the render settings are the Adaptive DMC
settings, each of which was cranked to 6
here. This makes a huge difference in the
quality of the hair rendering. For the
Reflection Texture, use the HDR image from
the dome light and set the GI Texture to a
warm colour rather than texture. For the
global illumination ensure it’s turned on to
take advantage of the planes you created.
15 LAYERED SKIN SHADER WITH REFLECTION
For the skin shader, start by creating the
layered V-Ray shader VRay Blend Mtl. Create the skin
For Primary Bounce use Brute Force, and
for Secondary Bounce use Light Cache. Have
material by selecting a V-Ray Fast SSS2 shader and a go at using a multipliers setting of .7 but
plugging it in to Base Material. Plug your Colour you can experiment.
texture in to the Overall Color slot and your Subsurface
texture into the Sub-Surface Color slot. A dark red was
used here for the scatter colour, and the Scatter radius
was changed to .650 (depending on the size of your
head mesh). Next let’s create the reflection shader by
creating a VRayMtl and slotting it into Coat Material 0.
Input your Reflection map into your Amount under
16 CREATE THE EYE SHADER
For the eye shader, a VRayMtl was created for the lens mesh and a VRayFastSSS2 for the sclera.
We want the lens to have only reflection and refraction, and the sclera to have a bit of subsurface scattering.
reflection, and your Gloss map into your Highlight The Reflection Color was turned on on the lens to just above black and the amount set at .740. Adjust both
Glossiness slot. You can see the specific settings that depending on the amount of reflection you want in your final image. Refraction Color was turned to white
were used for the shader in the screenshots supplied and set to 1.0. Refraction IOR was best set to 1.60. There was also a slight fractal bump map on the lens but
with your resources. it was barely noticeable. For the sclera, put the eye texture into the Overall Color.

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RENDER AND COMPOSITE

ADD THE FINAL ELEMENTS AND BRING THE IMAGE TOGETHER

17 THE HAIR SHADER

When rendering the hair, it’s best to take the curves we created earlier and apply them to a
Maya Hair system. First let’s create our hair system by creating a basic polygon cube and selecting
18 RENDER ELEMENTS
With everything ready to go, start rendering with
V-Ray. Turn on Multiple Render Elements under Render
Hair>Create Hair. Next, select your curves group and go to Hair>Assign Hair System> Settings. Here you are able to choose what layers you
hairSystemShape1. This will apply your hair system to your hair curves. Play with the specific settings prefer to render separately and therefore have the ability to
for how you want the hair to look. To select a V-Ray Hair shader, select your hair system, go to the top adjust in composition later on. You can see the multiple
and select Attributes>V-Ray>Hair Shader. Now select VRayMtlHair3. You can see the settings used in layers that were rendered separately in the screenshot
the screenshots supplied with the resources. supplied with the resources.

QUICK TIP
DON’T FORGET THE EYELASHES AND EYEBROWS
For the eyebrows, use the same method for creating the hair. Start with the curves, create a new
hair system and then apply it. For the shader, you can rely on a duplicate of the hair shader with
darker values. For the eyebrows, create a new hair system but use the default material that comes
with Maya Hair at almost a black value with slight transparency. Hair takes time to render correctly
so don’t get discouraged if it’s not perfect right away.

19 QUICK PHOTOSHOP COMP

All the hard work you’ve put in has finally paid off
and now it’s time to play around with some colours and
values. At this stage, you can do some minor touch-ups
and colour adjustments. Play with some overlays using
your render elements. There is no right and wrong way of
touching up your photos. Ideally you will have done most of
your hard work before rendering, so you won’t have to
worry about adding too much at this stage. For this project,
you could try darkening the lashes and playing around with
the levels to find the exact look you’re after.

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BUILD A SOURCE FILES 

AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC BLENDER

DRAMATIC SCENE
LEARN HOW TO BUILD A DRAMATIC SCENE FEATURING A
GIMP

PHOTOSHOP
REALISTIC FIGHTER JET BEING HOTLY PURSUED BY THE ENEMY

H
ere you’ll learn how to model a fighter jet from scratch, Next we’ll move to making materials for the fighter jet, with a
then construct a dramatic scene featuring a dogfight high view to rendering a final image with Blender’s Cycles renderer. We’ll
above the clouds. Throughout we’ll be using Blender for focus on mixing procedural techniques with hand-painted maps
modelling and rendering the 3D elements, GIMP for while using Blender’s node materials.
painting textures and Photoshop for the final composite. We’ll cover After finishing up the jet itself we’ll move on to creating the final
blocking out the model from references, before creating the details image, adding two pursuing jets into the background along with
with a mix of retopology and modelling methods. other exciting features such as explosions, contrails and clouds.

BEGIN MODELLING
BLOCK OUT THE FIGHTER JET WITH SIMPLE PLACEHOLDER GEOMETRY

01 START SIMPLE
Begin with basic primitives, such as cylinders, spheres
and cubes, to input modifications (extruding and scaling to capture
02 BUILD THE
FUSELAGE
With the model blocked
the overall shape of each major component of the model). This out, you are then able to
gives an early idea of where the challenges will lie when building start from the front and
the model and also acts as a starting point for creating more- begin shaping the
complex meshes. fuselage (the main body
of the jet). Use the
blocked-in model as a
guide alongside your
reference. Keep the poly
count relatively low at
this stage, as we’ll be
applying a Subdivision
Surface modifier later. It’s
best to use a Mirror
modifier to model QUICK TIP
symmetrically. After SNAPPING SURFACES

03 SHAPE THE WINGS

You’ll need to find some reference for the cross-section of
a fighter jet’s wing to get the aerofoil shape right. Model these with
finishing the fuselage,
move on to the air
intakes. These are
Throughout the modelling process, make use of Blender’s
surface-snapping tools to create new topology over the surface
of existing objects. For example, when modelling the wing as
curves, convert them to meshes, then space them out and loft relatively box-like in
shown in Step 3, you can turn on Snap with the magnet icon in
them together with the Bridge Two Edge Loops operator in Edit shape, so start out with a
the header of the 3D viewport, then set the Snap Target to Face
mode. This provides us with a wing shape that we can then use as cube, then gradually
and turn on Snap Projection. These options make it much easier
a guide to construct the wings. Apply the same process to produce manipulate it into shape.
to model surfaces with holes and other details in them. You can
the horizontal stabilisers (the rear wings) and the rudders. Now insert edge loops
also keep the overall surface smoother by using a simpler shape
and extrusions to
for the guide.
produce geometry that
will maintain its sharp
edges when subdivided.

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DETAIL AND TEXTURE

NOW THE MAIN FORMS ARE ESTABLISHED, WE CAN START TO LAYER ON DETAILS

04 MODEL THE MISSILES

Adding details to the jet will mostly consist of
examining reference material and modelling elements,
such as individual panels on the body of the jet, the
interior of the cockpit and the exterior areas of the jet
engine at the rear. Of course, no fighter jet is complete
without an arsenal of explosive weaponry strapped to
it’s belly, so try building three different kinds of missile
based on real-world references, using the same
techniques as those to build the fighter jet itself. These
are mainly cylinders with some simple geometry added
on for the fins, with a few extra details here and there.

05 UV UNWRAPPING
It’s now time to UV
unwrap your jet’s elements.
Thankfully, Blender has a great
set of tools for UV unwrapping,
so start by adding seams
around the main sections of
the fuselage. These include the
nose, as well as the upper and
lower surfaces of the wings.
You also need to unwrap the
different parts of the underside
of the jet. You can use
Blender’s default Unwrap
operator to unwrap these
pieces and pack them into a
single UV grid. You will find that
this grid will be very helpful
later on when you begin to
bake your textures.

06 MULTIPLE UV MAPS
Because we’ll want to add decals to the model later, at this stage it’s helpful to create a couple of extra UV sets. In addition to a standard unwrap, which gives
each piece of the model it’s own unique bit of UV space, we can create two other UV co-ordinate sets. Project large chunks of the model from key angles for the first
(mainly from the top or the side). This provides a very simple UV set that we can use to paint broad textures, such as the large camouflage pattern on the wings and
the shark’s mouth design on the nose cone. Try projecting specific sections of the model from the most relevant Orthographic perspective – the top for the upper
surface of the wings, the bottom for the belly of the jet and the left or right for the sides of the rudders. This provides a UV map that we can use for painting decals and
other details, such as panelling on the model, without worrying too much about them becoming distorted.

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07 BAKE TEXTURES
Once we have the fighter jet unwrapped, we can add an Ambient Occlusion map
for the whole model using the baking tools in Blender’s Render tab (note: you have to set
the renderer to Blender Internal for this, as Cycles doesn’t currently support texture-
baking). Now bake your AO map to the first UV set you created.

08 PAINT A CAMOUFLAGE PATTERN

Here we’ve gathered various textures for the fighter jet as
separate images, which can be combined in Blender when making

09 ATTACH DECALS
TO THE JET
Now paint the decals for
materials. Begin by defining an overall base colour for each part of the
jet with a camouflage pattern and, for extra character, also paint in the
shark’s mouth design for the nose cone of the jet on this texture. To act
the jet on a separate as a guide, export the UV layout created as an image, use the
texture with an Alpha UVs>Export UV Layout operator in Blender’s UV Image Editor and open
channel, then build a couple this up as a layer in GIMP.
of military-style designs as
well as some random
pieces of text and numbers.
QUICK TIP
DRAWING TEXTURES IN BLENDER
Place these appropriately
on the wings, rudders and To create the impression of complex panels and rivets over the
the fuselage of the jet. surface of the jet, partly use a Displacement map. Rather than
laboriously painting this in GIMP, model the outlines of the panels

10 MAKE GRUNGE AND SCRATCH TEXTURES

Now build up a few different seamless textures for dirt and scratches to be used in
various materials covering the jet. To make a texture seamless, first offset it in GIMP and
with curves in Blender. Use the exported UV co-ordinates created
earlier as a guide and lay out the scene from a top-down perspective.
Use an Orthographic camera to render a texture that perfectly
place the boundaries of the image in the middle of the canvas. Select the seams and use matches up with the jet’s UV co-ordinates. This could later be
the Resynthesise filter to fill them with a continuous texture. This should produce a combined with other textures.
smooth result.

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REALISTIC SURFACES
APPLY BLENDER’S NODE MATERIALS READY FOR RENDERING

11 CONSTRUCT A DIFFUSE SHADER

Initially make a Diffuse shader for the
body of the fighter jet, then take the Diffuse
QUICK TIP
THE CYCLES RENDER PREVIEW
BSDF shader and begin incorporating your
The new Cycles render engine has
textures. Combine these with Color Mix nodes
a fantastic live preview for getting
before plugging them in to the Diffuse Shader
instant feedback on your materials
node. Join the camouflage texture with the
and lighting. You can enable this in
decals texture, and then add in some further
the 3D viewport if you have the
details using the seamless grunge textures.
renderer set to Cycles and it will
Because the different textures use various UV
constantly update with a rendered
co-ordinate sets, you can include some Attribute
preview. It’s beneficial to use this
nodes (into which you can enter the name of the
when creating materials in order
UV set you wish to use). Plug the Vector Output
to get an idea of how they look
of these into the Vector Input of the image
under some simple lighting, then
textures to let them know the correct UV
again later when making the final
co-ordinates to use. For the seamless textures,
scene to tweak lights, World
use the Image Texture node’s blended
settings and render options. It’s
box-mapping feature to apply the textures
best to split off a smaller 3D
without the need for UV co-ordinates.
viewport in your window layout
and use this as your preview
render while you work in another
12 APPLY GLOSSY REFLECTIONS
Now you can combine the
Diffuse shader with a couple of Glossy
3D viewport. This will give you a
rendered preview that updates
quickly, all while keeping it simple
BSDF shader nodes using Mix Shader
to select and edit an object in your
nodes. You can also reuse some of your
main 3D viewport.
textures to affect the Color and
Roughness inputs for the Glossy
shaders, to provide a bit of variation in
the glossy reflections. Apply two Glossy You can also
shaders: one for broad soft highlights reuse some of
over the shape of the jet and the other to
give some sharp reflections on top. This your textures to affect
isn’t physically correct, but it gives extra the Color and
control over the look of your material.
Use a couple of Layer Weight nodes to Roughness inputs for
control the mixing of the shaders. the Glossy shaders, in
order to provide a bit
of variation in the
glossy reflections

13 DISPLACE ELEMENTS
The Cycles renderer supports
a couple of methods for defining
surface texture for your materials.
Here we opted to plug the panels
texture into the Displacement Input of
the Material Output node. This
provides some fake displacement for
the material and highlights the panels
that were drawn in. We also used a
Multiply Math node to tone down the
intensity of this displacement.

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DEVELOP THE SCENE

BUILD A DRAMATIC ENVIRONMENT

14 LINK THE JET INTO A NEW BLEND FILE

To create the final image, start a new BLEND file to work on lighting
and to render the jet in. To link the jet into this new file, assign all of the
objects making up the jet into a single group, then link this group into the
new BLEND file. This enables us to go back and modify the jet in it’s original
15 BUILD UP SMOKE TRAILS
To add some extra intensity to the image, you can include some smoke trails
created with Blender’s smoke-simulator tools. These have to be rendered with
file and have the final scene update automatically when we reload it. It also Blender’s older render engine – Blender Internal – which supports volumetric
enables us to create a couple of duplicates of the jet to act as the other materials. Render these effects in separate scenes, then link in objects like the jet to
fighters in the scene. act as masks (using the Mask Layers options when rendering).

POSTPRODUCTION
REFINE THE LIGHTING AND RENDER SETTINGS

17 RENDERING AND
FINAL
COMPOSITION
This final composite was
completed in Photoshop.
GIMP is preferred for
painting textures, but
Photoshop has flexible
layer-management for
making multilayered
images. We rendered out
each of the elements for
the image as separate
passes, while completing a

16 POSITION THE LIGHTS small amount of

The lighting in this scene is pretty simple. We used compositing in Blender. We
an HDR sky map to provide some global illumination then opened all the passes
lighting and a sun lamp for the main directional lighting. as layers in Photoshop. At
We also added a large flat cube below the jet (out of shot this point you can add
on final image) and assigned a light-blue Emission aerial perspective (fading
material to it. This provides some lighting from below to distant objects), as well as
mimic reflected light from the clouds. You can also try some extra motion blur.
adding a bright-orange point light on the damaged wing, You can also tweak the
just where the smoke is supposed to be pouring out, to colours of the various
create an orange glow on that side of the jet. cloud and smoke layers.

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156 The Digital Art Book

 Realistic objects

CREATE REALISTIC ZBRUSH

OBJECTS
ACHIEVE REALISTIC TEXTURES, MATERIALS AND
SOURCE FILES 
AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC
MAYA

LIGHTING FOR A TASTY DIGITAL DISH MENTAL RAY

T
his tutorial will be divided into several sections; the first will particularly in dreamy bright scenes where you have lots of light
look at gathering references and briefly discuss the pouring in or light can be distinguished from other properties.
modelling stages. Since the main drive of this guide is In terms of software, Maya was used for scene setup, ZBrush for
texturing and rendering, we will look at these in a little bit sculpting, mental ray for rendering and Photoshop for texturing and PHOTOSHOP
more detail before moving to the compositing stage. postproduction. However, the ideas and workflow covered in this
One of the main challenges of this project was to ensure the right tutorial can also be applied to other packages.
mood was captured for the scene. If you look at food photography, you Follow along and feel free to use the resources provided or your
will find that the camera focus plays a big role in close-up shots – own in order to create photorealistic food.

BUILD A CONCEPT
FIND EXAMPLES TO INFORM YOUR WORK’S REALISM

01 GATHER REFERENCES
The first thing you always need to do is gather
references for your work. Without them you are relying on
02 SEARCH FOR DETAIL
Since we are trying to make the piece look as
convincing as possible, it’s useful to find a lot of fruit-related
your imagination. When it comes to creating something references. Try to observe any surface qualities you can find
that is photorealistic, you need to have those references to of strawberries, seed orientations, peaches, scatterings of
ensure you capture everything correctly. The risk is always light and so on. From there, roughly plan the pipeline.
getting something wrong and because you are dealing
with an object that people are used to seeing, the errors
jump out immediately. Photorealism isn’t a forgiving form!

03 START TO MODEL
The modelling stage is a pretty
straightforward process. Hard surface objects
are created in Maya whereas natural ones are
sculpted in ZBrush. For the strawberry, you could create a few seed brushes in ZBrush,
which are included on the disc. You can use these brushes to stamp seeds onto the surface
of the strawberry on a different layer and they can save a lot of time.

LET THE LIGHTS IN

GET THE RIGHT TONALITY AND A SUITABLE MOOD

04 SET UP THE SCENE

Because this image was meant to be
a stillframe, you don’t need to make the most
05 EDIT LIGHTING
Before you actually begin texturing
models, create a temporary lighting setup to get
of the Decimation Master plug-in thanks to the overall mood for the scene, because it
the help of a normal map. Nonetheless some renders faster and more efficiently. The first thing
objects, for example the cake sponge, only to manage is setting up the scene, meaning
have both normal and displacement maps. In applying all the normal or displacement maps if
some conditions you may experience applicable. All objects are given mia_material_X_
viewport slowdown after importing some passes as no other shader can beat them in
high-res geometries. To overcome such accurate behaviour. Try to keep the lighting setup
issues you can always export high-res on a separate render layer which has a grey
geometries as a MI (render assembly) file material (mia_material) override in order to
format and treat it as a render proxy. adjust lighting later more easily.

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3D art

06 USE THE LINEAR WORKFLOW

After setting up the scene, don’t overlook LWF (linear workflow). In recent versions of Maya there
are LWF features but it’s challenging to get them working the way they should. Assign a lens shader to
the camera and a gammaCorrect node to any textures or colour swatches (RGB channels). Regarding
shaders and lights, even blackbody or cie_d nodes produce RGB values rather than Kelvin Color
Temperatures so they need to be gamma corrected if they’re connected to the colour input of any node.

ADD TEXTURES
COMPLETE YOUR LIGHTING, MOVE TO MATERIALS AND SHADING

08 EDIT ENVIRONMENT EFFECTS

Portal lights are connected to Area Lights to focus FG rays. Don’t check Custom

07 TURN ON THE LIGHTS

The scene has an IBL node with a suitable HDRI image for
the environment and a blurred version of it for final gather. Base the
Environment, so the program will sample the environment colour that the camera sees by
default unless it’s given a different environment look-up. These lights also emit photons, as it’s
a close-up interior shot, to provide even more decent light bounces.
camera angle upon the IBL node orientation in the scene. Create
two key Area Lights in places where they can be regarded as light
sources in the HDRI image. Match them with the light sources in the
image, as with close-up positions where you have so much white
reflection the viewer expects to see some diffuse contributions.

10 CAKE SPONGE AND PEACHES

Many cake pieces had an SSS shader plugged in to make them more convincing. The
cake sponge has epidermal and subdermal maps, dictating it to get more saturated and
reddish the more light leaks inside. Each of the four types of peach slices around the centre has
its own textures to add variations to the rendered image. Each peach slice has shell and flesh.
Use mix8.Layer to separate the two. Both flesh and shell have their own SSS shader setup.

09 BEGIN TEXTURING AND SHADING

Most models were textured in Photoshop; the rest ZBrush.
Maps prepared were mainly colour, gloss, reflection, bump and
QUICK TIP
CREATE ADDITIONAL LAYER
normal. For the strawberry, create a mask separating its seeds and
To create the other layer of geometry around the peaches, combine all medium resolution
later use it to separate the seed shader from the rest of it using the
peaches together and sculpt the layer in a way that it could represent a water shell around
mix8.Layer shader (www.creativecrash.com/maya/downloads/
them. To handle objects that need some sort of surrounding, repeating pattern, use Radial
shaders/c/mix8-layer-for-mentalray). So it consists of one shader
Symmetry. Later when satisfied with the look add another layer and deform the object to
for the flesh; one for seeds. The mia_material shader for the flesh
suit the piece. This method usually saves a lot of headaches, not to mention time.
had an SSS shader plugged into its additional colour.

158 The Digital Art Book

 Realistic objects

RENDER SETUP
FINALISE THE LOOK DEVELOPMENT AND RENDER

11 Add jam shading

Now to explore the jam shading. Jam is a refractive/
translucent type of material, so it lets light through but only to a
12 Render pass options
To have maximum control
over the look of the final image
certain extent. Activate Use Max Distance under Advanced render it in passes in a single EXR
Refractions and gave a darker red colour to gradually fall into the file. Separate the SSS pass to front, Diffuse Indirect Composited SSS
material. Also use translucency to make it seem more believable. middle and back to have maximum
In addition to jam shading, to obtain some variations in its dryness control over it. When you are
or wetness create a glossiness map and add it to the shader. trying to get a realistic 3D image,
check the 32-bit Full Float output
otherwise you will not be able to
Incandescence Refraction Reflection
get nice burnt highlights in
postproduction owing to the fact
that hot spots in 8-bit or even
16-bit images can’t be tweaked to
bleed into another colour without
crushing down the shadows. Specular AO ID

13 Avoid shortcuts
You can achieve burnt highlights
by either not following the LWF, with
the help of lens shader (that doesn’t
grant you the freedom you have in
post) or tweaking light and material
attributes too much. As a result it’s best
to render out 32-bit images. We see
those highlights in so many situations
during our day, it’s best to have them in
our work as well. Simply play with the
image levels and experiment.

QUICK TIP
OBSERVATIONS
14 Begin post work
Having the passes, go to NUKE
to do a simple composite because
Photoshop is poor at handling 32-bit
It’s necessary to observe objects in reality as EXR files. After that send it to
much as you can and work from their Photoshop to complete the final
surface properties for inspiration. Notice touches. You can bring the image to life
how dirt in different climates changes and in postproduction. Try to capture the
desired mood as much as possible. This
where scratches occur on varying surfaces.
doesn’t have a specific formula, just try
This way you are able to extend your anything that works for you, come back
knowledge to create new stuff yet have it to it after a day, flip it and fix the flaws
look convincing and real because it draws you find. The composited image is
from genuine sources. brought into Photoshop as an 8/16-bit
image to be retouched further.

15 Go to postproduction
The main jobs are sharpening, colour correcting, adding DOF with the help of a zDepth pass, placing some chromatic abberations, including grains, refining a
few shapes, painting out a few flaws and so on. To intensify the light brightness that’s coming from left, screen a gradient to the whole image.

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160 The Digital Art Book

 Epic landscape

CREATE AN VUE

EPIC LANDSCAPE
USE VUE TO PRODUCE AN EPIC LANDSCAPE OF AN OLD RUIN
PHOTOSHOP

IN A NATURAL, PICTURESQUE ENVIRONMENT, AND THEN SOURCE FILES 

!6!),!",%ď/.ď4(%ď&2%%ď$)3#
MAKE YOUR FINISHING TOUCHES IN PHOTOSHOP

T
he theme of this tutorial is based on a lush, rocky Throughout the tutorial you’ll notice that we’ll be using
environment from a bird’s-eye view, as you can see. commercial products to build the environment. Don’t worry; the
The image depicts the discovery of forgotten places. tutorial focuses on methods that can be applied to any kind of
This tutorial will illustrate the key steps to building content you have in your library. For example, grass from
an epic landscape. From planning to rendering and post- AsileFX is a personal choice here, but Vue ships with several
production, you will learn all of the techniques used to create kinds of grasses you can use without having to purchase extra
this piece. We’ll describe how terrain is generated as well as items. We’ll focus on EcoSystem manipulation, atmosphere and
how to set up multi-layer material distribution, achieve realistic lighting settings, render setups, optimisation, material tweaking
lighting, optimise materials for greater believability and shorter and so on. All of this is important when it comes to building
render times. scenes in Vue, regardless of what content is used.

INITIAL STEPS, TERRAIN AND MATERIALS

3%4ď4(%ď&/5.$!4)/.3ď/&ď4()3ď,!2'%˶3#!,%ď%.6)2/.-%.4ď

02 CONTROL MATERIAL
DISTRIBUTION
The terrain has three layers of material:
the riverbed is a wet, sandy area; the cliff
walls are sandstone; the flat surfaces
have a green, mossy material. Before
loading, set the material distribution, and
highlight the materials with different
colours, so you can see and control the
distribution. Set the terrain’s material to
Mixed Material: material 1 becomes the
riverbed; material 2 becomes the rest of
the terrain. Set Distribution dependent on
Altitude (100%) only and set the Mixing
Proportions to 72%.

03 ASSIGN YOUR PROPORTIONS

Select the second material and
change it into a Mixed Material; its

01 CHOOSE YOUR TERRAIN

The Eroded Canyon terrain was chosen from the (D&D Creations) Canyon
Terrains for Vue pack, as it perfectly fits the scene (available online at http://tinyurl.
second material becomes the moss
layer. This time the material distribution
is dependent on Slope (100%) only. The
com/canyonvue). This detailed terrain has a curvy riverbed and steep, highly eroded Mixing proportions are set to 31%. After
cliffs. The shape is based on a procedural terrain created in Vue using the terrain setting up the distribution, load materials:
fractal with Canyon and Strata filters. The erosion was added using the World a darker sand from the RealSand pack,
Machine 2 terrain generator (www.world-machine.com). You can find the terrain our own sandstone material (supplied)
supplied with the disc. With the terrain loaded, find a spot with a cliff wall that looks and Grass ‘n’ Rocks from Mark Lawson’s
iconic enough to be in focus with the ruins. You can then add the ruin components (a Cliffhangers product. Find his products on
model purchased from Renderosity.com) next to the wall and adjust the camera Cornucopia3D: www.cornucopia3d.com/
angle to suit. purchase.php?item_id=11447.

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3D art

ADD SOME VEGETATION

THE NEXT FEW STEPS WILL FOCUS ON ECOSYSTEMS MANIPULATION

04 ADD A MURKY RIVER

Let’s quickly discuss some tricks
for handling water in Vue. After loading
water into the scene, tweak the material
to make it look more like a river you’d find
in a canyon. Check out some reference
photos for examples of this, as there
really is a distinction to be made. Try
using a physical water model with a
darker-brown Absorption colour and a
light-brownish Scattering colour in order
to help it fit the environment. The Depth
where the light can reach in the water is
05 OVERGROWN CLIFF
Set up the EcoSystem of the cliff in the middle. On the cliff
wall (sandstone) use three layers of ground-covered EcoSystem: a
set to 6.2 metres. Increase the Highlight layer of long grass from AsileFX Grasses (www.asilefx.net), a layer
Intensity to 84% and Highlight Size to of hanging roots from AsileFX, plus a layer of small field-grass
80%. To finish, change Highlighting to plants. Due to the scale of the terrain, even Dynamic Population isn’t
81% Anisotropic. an option, so apply the EcoSystem Painter on the cliffs to distribute
the foliage manually. Set the Direction to 100% Perpendicular and
due to the steepness of the cliff enable 360-degree Population.

06 POPULATE THE RUINS

The goal of the grassy groundcover EcoSystem is to help the cliff and ruins blend
together. This is an effective way to unify the whole scene and draw the viewer’s eye around all
07 INSERT BUSHES
Add the bushes layer to mossy material. In this EcoSystem
use three shrubs from Xfrog (http://xfrog.com). To achieve realistic
of the details. On the ruins, make sure you use a similar EcoSystem: a layer of the same long distribution, tick Variable Density and load the grainy fractal. To save
grass plus a layer of hanging roots. The grass layer’s direction from the surface is set to resources, use Dynamic EcoSystem Population. On the leaves, set
Perpendicular, while the roots are set to Vertical. The Density of the grass is set to 100%, Highlight colour to white, increase Highlight Intensity and make it
while for the ruins it is set to 93%. Before populating, make sure that you set the Slope duller. In Effects, set Backlight to 100%. To speed up rendering reset
Influence to 100%. the Bump map and disable Caustics.

LIGHTING AND ATMOSPHERE

TAKE A FEW STEPS TO SHED REALISTIC LIGHTING AND ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS

08 GLOBAL RADIOSITY
Now it’s time to add some
atmosphere using the Light tab.
09 ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS
In the Sky, Fog and Haze tab of
the Atmosphere Editor, enable the
The first step is to enable Global Volumetric Sunlight option to achieve
Radiosity, with Indirect Skylighting realistic lighting. With higher Haze
and Optimize for Outdoor (30%) and Fog (50%) levels generate
Rendering ticked. Set a low Gain subtle rays where the terrain blocks
value of 0.4 and a very dark- the sunlight. Set a dark Haze tone, as
greenish Bias colour (RGB 21, 25, particles in our atmosphere are dark.
23). To get effective contrasts, set The Glow Intensity is set to 56%,
Light Balance towards Sunlight Scattering Anisotropy to 0.4 and Aerial
(90%). The ambient light comes Perspective value to 5.77 to give more
entirely from the sky, providing a depth to the scene. Finally, Quality
realistic and rich ambience. Boost is set to +8 to avoid noise.

162 The Digital Art Book

 Epic landscape

11 PREPARE RENDER
After tweaking the
atmosphere to a point
where it can be considered
ready, take steps to speed
up the rendering process
without any virtual quality
loss. In the Atmosphere
Editor reduce the Lighting
Quality to -0.5, then open
the cloud’s Material Editor
and in the Lighting & Effects
10 ADD SOME LOW FOG
Add a stratus cloud from AsileFX’s Spectral v2 Clouds – Low Altitude pack.
Set the Altitude to 27m and the Height to 75m. Increase the Detail amount and
tab disable all four options.
In the Light Editor reduce
Altitude variations, and set Density to 29%. In the cloud’s Material Editor set the Shadows Softness
Volumetric colour to white. Quality to -1.

RENDERING AND POSTPRODUCTION

WE CAN NOW TAKE OUR FINAL STEPS TO FINISH UP THE WORK

12 RENDER SETTINGS
After going through
the usual optimisation steps
13 !.4)Ɏ!,)!3).'Ĉ!.$Ĉ2%.$%2).'
Since the scene needs to be rendered for print in a
large resolution, use a soft Anti-Aliasing method, with Min 3
– ensuring the lighting is and Max 9 Subrays per pixel. With these settings we save a
how we want it and so on lot of detail and, due to the low Subray count, the rendering
– the scene is ready to be process is quicker. With these settings applied we don’t need
rendered. In the Render Texture Filtering, so disable it. The scene was rendered in a
Options select User Settings little less than 19 hours at a resolution of 3,000 x 3,800
and disable Depth of Field, pixels. A single machine was used with an i7-2600k CPU
as this isn’t something we and 16GB DDR3 RAM.
need for this project. Set the
Advanced Effects Quality to
40%. You may think this is
low, but with the right
atmospheric settings it’s
enough. Try your own way, m
too, and see what works.

14 0/34Ɏ02/$5#4)/.Ĉ
When a render is done, always
load the image into Photoshop for a little
post work. With this project we adjust the
contrast, make the highlights more
powerful with Levels adjustment layers
and further enhance the image with
Curves. To help the vegetation look more
realistic, slightly saturate the green and
yellow tones on the leaves.

15 FILTER
Forge tweaks If you want to give a really nice boost to your renders,
Filter Forge (www.filterforge.com) is a perfect choice. The Dreamy filter is a
great one, because it provides more control over the highlights, contrast and
colours. We don’t want the highlights too strong in this project, because that
way we’ll lose details in the background. However, we still want to make the
atmosphere more powerful to give a real impact and complement the piece. To
do this, set Highlight Coverage to 9, Highlight Strength to 57, Highlight Radius to
100 and Dreamy Colors to 35. This gives a bit more contrast and vibrancy to the
overall effect.

The Digital Art Book 163

PHOTO EDITING
USE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS
AS A BASE FOR YOUR
DIGITALART PROJECTS
170
AND MAKE INCREDIBLE
CREATIVE EDITS
166 Turn photos to sketches
Sketch effects and editing skills

170 Make art with layers

The power of layer masks

174 Compose textured portraits

Filters, blend modes and masks

178 Make stunning panoramas

Merging photos

182 Create matte artwork

Photography and painting

188 Use brushes for surreal

composites
Complex compositions

188
164 The Digital Art Book
 182

174

178

166
The Digital Art Book 165
Photo editing

Original

166 The Digital Art Book

 Photos to sketches

TURN PHOTOS PHOTOSHOP

TO SKETCHES
GO A STEP FURTHER THAN BASIC FILTERS TO ACHIEVE AN IMPRESSIVE
SOURCE FILES 
AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

SKETCH EFFECT AND LEARN EFFECTIVE EDITING SKILLS ON THE WAY

U
sing sketch filters is a good place to start when trying to you will soon be creating digital art masterpieces effortlessly with
re-create a hand-drawn look in portraits, but with a few extra new-found skills.
layers and a little bit of time you can create a really vivid and You could call it cheating, but it’s better to think of it more like using your
professional result. The style reflects a thick sketch, emphasising initiative. The main focus here will be on working with layer masks and
the hand-drawn, rough nature of a graphite pencil – a realism that will leave using artistic license to manipulate the contours of the portrait, accentuating
your friends wondering if you did actually draw it! Instead of spending years the shadows in a lovely two-toned digital painting. If you have a graphics
and years honing your drawing skills, getting high-quality paper and pencils tablet to hand then it will be invaluable, otherwise a mouse will work fine.

SKETCH OUT YOUR PHOTO

ADD LAYERS TO YOUR SKETCH FILTERS FOR IMPRESSIVE RESULTS

01 02%0!2%Ĉ9/52Ĉ0/242!)4
Open ‘model.jpg’ in Photoshop and, using
the Heal tool (J), neaten up your image – focus on
02 '%4Ĉ2)$Ĉ/&Ĉ4(%Ĉ#/,/52
Duplicate the Background (Cmd/Ctrl+J) and
desaturate (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+U). For a better texture,
03 '%4Ĉ!Ĉ()'(Ɏ#/.42!34Ĉ"!3%
Duplicate your black and white layer by
pressing Cmd/Ctrl+J and invert it by pressing
things that you wouldn’t include if you were drawing hit Filters>Noise>Add Noise, set to Amount: 12%, Cmd/Ctrl+I. Set the blend mode to Color Dodge.
a portrait, like blemishes, scratches, dust, etc. Distribution: Gaussian, Monochromatic. Your canvas will go white, which is normal.

04 !$$Ĉ'!533)!.Ĉ",52
With the inverted layer selected, go to Filter>
Gaussian Blur and set the Radius between
05 02%0!2%Ĉ&/2Ĉ3+%4#().'
Add a new layer by pressing Cmd/
Ctrl+Shift+N; call it Paper and drag it beneath 06 ,/!$Ĉ$29Ĉ-%$)!Ĉ"253(%3
Set the blend mode to Multiply and add a
150-250px. Create a new group through the Folder your existing layers to stop any colour coming layer mask through Layer>Layer Mask>Hide All.
icon an the bottom of your Layers palette called through. Now duplicate your original black and Now select the Brush tool, expand the Brush Preset
Base Image, and then drag these two layers into white layer then drag it to the top, outside the window and click on the arrow on the right-hand side
the group. group. Call it Texture. of the panel. Select Dry Media Brushes.

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Photo editing

07 SETTING UP THE BRUSH

The brushes appear at the bottom of your
Brush Preset Picker. Choose Small Pastel on
08 EXTRA BRUSH CONTROL
Select Shape Dynamics and set the Size
Jitter to 100%, Angle Jitter to 2% and Minimum
09 ADD IN THE DETAIL
Using your custom brush, paint just the
main shadows on your Texture layer mask in white.
Charcoal Paper and open the Brush palette. Drag Diameter around 10-20%. All other settings can be Use varying opacities of 5-35% and alter your brush
the adjustment circle into an oval using the anchors left at their defaults. Elements users: just increase size using [ and ] to give it a more realistic
on the sides to stretch, then rotate to a diagonal. Spacing by 5%. hand-drawn look.

QUICK TIP
+%%0ď)4ď2%!,ď˻ď0!9ď!44%.4)/.ď4/ď$%4!),

Always bear in mind that your intention with this

tutorial is to make your image appear to be
genuinely hand-drawn. Don’t neglect the ‘paper’
background, and be sure to add larger, softer
tones to give the impression that the greys have
been blended using smudges, or have been
rubbed by hand while drawing. Also, the
majority of people will tend to draw with strokes
going diagonally from the top-right to the

10
bottom-left – try to keep this consistency
START WITH BASIC SHADOWS
Keep it simple for now. This layer is only the
second layer to keep the Noise texture in the shading,
11 BOOST THE CONTRAST
To quickly increase the contrast, Ctrl/
right-click and duplicate the Base Image group, then
throughout the image by using only a few
strokes that run in the opposite direction in
so strokes here can be quite big and messy, focusing Ctrl/right-click on the copy and select Merge Group. order to emulate a realistic drawing style.
on larger areas. Midtones, highlights and shadows Drag this layer to the top, set the blend mode to
are to be added soon. Overlay and the Opacity to 50%.

12 UTILISE
GLOWING EDGES
Go back into your Base
Image group and duplicate
the black and white layer
via Cmd/Ctrl+J. Drag it to
the top and call it Brighter.
Now go to Filter>Filter
Gallery>Stylize>Glowing
Edges, and set Edge
Width: 1, Edge Brightness:
20, Smoothness: 7.

168 The Digital Art Book

 Photos to sketches

13 ADD IMPORTANT HIGHLIGHTS

AND MIDTONES
Hit OK. Invert the Brightness layer by pressing Cmd/
14 GET THE BALANCE
Remember that we are emulating a
hand-drawn style. Effectively, this layer is the
15 REMOVE DETAIL FOR REALISM
To keep it looking like a drawing, remove the
edges of the brightest side in order to make it fade
Ctrl+I and set the blend mode to Screen. Add a layer equivalent of using an eraser, or of not drawing at into the paper. Select the Base Image group and
mask through Layer>Layer Mask>Hide All. Go back all. Avoid drawing bright lines in order to create then go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. Now all
to the still-customised brush tool; begin to paint shapes, and use the highlights simply to enhance you need to do is draw in black at a low Opacity over
bright areas with a low-Opacity brush. the shadows. some of the edges.

16 PREPARE FOR MAIN TONES

Duplicate the original colour layer and 17 ADD ESSENTIAL TONING
Add a Hide All Layer Mask to this layer,
18 KEEP ADDING SHADOWS
Spend a bit of time getting the texture and
look right on this layer. Then, you can add even more
desaturate. Drag to the top and name it Smoother; select the Brush tool (B) and begin to paint in white shadows using a Curves adjustment layer (by
this layer will be for the main tones without the more details and shadows onto the image at a low dragging the centre of the curve down) and also the
Noise texture. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+L and make the Opacity. With this layer, concentrate on smaller, same layer mask technique. Imagine yourself
Midtones darker. rougher strokes and focus on edges and features. actually shading the photo.

QUICK TIP
ROUGH IT UP, NEAT, PERFECT STROKES LEAD TO IMPERFECT IMAGES

Be careful to avoid harsh edges

within the image; these will give it
away as a photograph. Instead, be
sure to utilise the manual black
and white strokes to give the
impression that the edges have
been hand-drawn – so keep it
slightly shaky, imperfect and a bit
more tonal. Don’t forget to zoom
in while doing details like this:
what might look good at 20% may
look very amateurish at 100%.
Hold the Spacebar to move
around the image while working. Incorrect Correct

The Digital Art Book 169

Photo editing
Original

170 The Digital Art Book

 Layers

MAKE ART SOURCE FILES 

AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

WITH LAYERS
HARNESS THE REAL POWER OF LAYER MASKS TO TURN YOUR
PHOTOSHOP

PHOTO INTO A COMPELLING IMAGE

E
ye-catching images can be created from almost any subsequent layer, you can change the colour of your shapes to
photo with the right use of layer blend modes, match, contrast or complement your image, as you prefer.
brushes, shapes, stock photos and lighting effects. The following tutorial will show you how to create special
In Photoshop, an image can be altered with new effects, and once you have learned the techniques you can let
layers, where each layer adds a special effect. Each new layer your imagination run wild. You can play and experiment with
is a separate image that can have an effect on all the previous boring stock photos and turn them into stunning artwork.
layers, like an acetate sheet, so you can gradually build up an Download the supplied resources from your disc to
increasingly pleasing image one change at time, one layer at a re-create this yourself – we’ve included all the images and
time. For example, you can add shapes to the background to brushes you’ll need, as well as a special cosmic lights pack
create a bespoke feel for your image and then, in a courtesy of www.psdbox.com.

CREATING THE EFFECT

GO A STEP FURTHER WITH YOUR OWN ADDED IMAGES AND ELEMENTS

Make this piece unique with your own added images. We tried flowers and beach scenes using layer masks to cut and position them. Place new images
on separate layers with the blend mode set to Overlay and varying opacities. Add texture for interest and a Levels adjustment for a warm magenta hue.
For a final touch, duplicate all layers and merge them into one. Apply a Halftone Pattern filter to that filter with blue as the Foreground colour and
magenta as the Background. Again, use a layer mask to erase areas to suit, adjusting the opacity as you go.

01 CUT THE MODEL OUT

Place the model on top of ‘background.jpg’.
Go to Select>Color Range, use the ‘+’ Eyedropper 02 REFINE THE MASK
Use a black soft-edged brush set at 30% 03 RETOUCH THE MODEL
Go to Layer>Duplicate Layer, click on the
tool and click OK. You can use Magic Wand tool (A) in Opacity and with Flow set at 50% to erase the layer mask, hit Cmd/Ctrl+I and set the blend mode to
Photoshop Elements. Now go to Layer>Layer Mask> unwanted remnant of hair that are still visible in the Vivid Light. Go to Filter>Other>High Pass and set
Hide Selection. You will see that the background has background. Set the brush’s Size to 200px for the Radius to 10. Select Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, set
disappeared. That is how you create a layer mask. best effect. Radius to 2, then mask out the eyes, lips and hair.

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04 DESATURATE THE IMAGE

Hit Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift +E to duplicate
the entire image, then Cmd/Ctrl+U to bring up Hue/
05 INTRODUCE SOME SHADOWS
AND HIGHLIGHTS
Go to Layer>New>Layer, hit Shift+F5 to bring up the 06 ENHANCE THE EYES
Add a new layer and brush in any colour you
Saturation. Set Saturation to -100, set the blend Fill dialog, select 50% grey and apply. Set the Overlay like for the eye make-up. Set the blend mode to
mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 72%. Go to blend mode and paint some shadow with a soft Color with an Opacity of 50%. Go to Layer>New
Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. Now brush out the black brush at 200px and 5% Opacity. Use a white Adjustment Layer>Curves, click and hold on the line
hair, eyes and lips with a soft black brush. brush at 70px and 5% Opacity for highlights. and then drag it up to Input: 81, Output: 160.

08 LIGHTEN THE HAIR

Import the ‘light.jpg’ image and set the

07 REFINE YOUR EDITS

Click on the mask and then hit Cmd/Ctrl+I
to invert the mask to black. Paint onto the eye area
blend mode to Screen. Go to Edit>Transform>
Warp and warp the layer into the desired shape,
then hit Return. Place the warped light onto the
09 INCLUDE SOME SWIRLS
Download some custom brushes; http://
aka-joe.deviantart.com has some great ones. Use
with a soft-edged brush to bring the Curves effect model’s hair, then hit Cmd/Ctrl+U and play with one on a new layer, then transform your swirls and
back in. Reduce the layer’s Opacity if necessary to the Hue slider to change the colour. Try to add place where desired. Duplicate the layer, add a
get a better, more natural result. more variation. Gaussian Blur and set Radius to 10 for a nice glow.

10 GRAPHIC SHAPE
Create a new layer underneath the hair light
layers and trace the model’s clothes using the 11 USE MORE GRADIENTS
Duplicate the layer and go to Select>Load
12 RED SHAPE
Make another shape in a new layer and fill
it with red. Set this to 44% Opacity, then mask out
Polygonal Lasso tool (L). Fill this with white and go Selection to create a selection marquee. Choose the arm area and paint the right side of the arm
to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection. Now remove black from the Swatches palette, Radial Gradient with a soft black brush set to 20% Opacity to
the part where the arm was supposed to be, using a from the Gradient palette and set Opacity to 30%. soften it. Now duplicate the layer and set the blend
soft-edged brush at 30% Opacity. Now click and drag from right to left. mode to Vivid Light.

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13 APPLY A WHITE STROKE

Duplicate the layer, go to Select>Load
Selection. Now go to Edit>Stroke. Set the Width to
14 INCLUDE MORE GRAPHICS
Experiment with different shapes and place
them behind the model. Don’t limit yourself to just
15 TURN UP THE LIGHTS
Go back to the top layer and create a new
layer. Paint a subtle white glow using the Radial
11px, Color to White and Location to Inside. Change the blend modes mentioned so far – explore the Gradient tool (G) with 20% Opacity. Choose White to
the blend mode to Screen, create a layer mask and whole range. Also experiment with masks, lightly Transparent and then put the glow at the bottom of
then mask out the unwanted area. brushing out areas so the image doesn’t look flat. the canvas.

16 INJECT SOME SPARKLE

Make a new layer, load the supplied Sparkle
17 GET A COLOURFUL BACKGROUND
Create a new layer and grab a soft brush
with 30% Opacity. Pick the colour you want to use 18 USE MORE COLOUR
Now repeat Step 17, this time placing the
brush and paint in some sparkles. Change the Size and then paint where you like; we used magenta, new layer below the white lights layer created in
of the brush for each sparkle to simulate the random, white and yellow. Bring the layer’s Opacity down to Step 15. Paint in magenta and yellow, and then
visual nature of sparkles. Scatter these sparkles 54%, then click and hold it to drag it down and place change the blend mode to Color. You can add several
around the canvas. it above the background layer. different layers to build colour depth, if desired.

19 INSERT LIGHT STREAKS

Import ‘color-spectrum.jpg’ to the top layer
and change its blend mode to Screen. Place the 21 ADD A HIGH PASS FILTER
After adjusting the brightness to suit, 22 MORE CONTRAST
Hit Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift+E to duplicate
image in the top-right corner, then duplicate the duplicate the entire image to a new layer, by clicking the entire image to a new layer one more time, as in
layer and place that somewhere else. Vary the size on topmost layer. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift+E, go the previous step, but this time don’t use High Pass.
to avoid uniformity, and also include further streaks to Filter>Other>High Pass and set Radius to 2.8. Set Instead, change the blend mode to Soft Light and
and place them around the canvas. the blend mode to Soft Light to sharpen the image. then set the Opacity to 30%… and you’re done!

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Editing

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 Textured portraits

COMPOSE TEXTURED
PORTRAITS
CREATE A FUN, COLOURFUL IMAGE USING ONLY TWO PHOTOS
PHOTOSHOP SOURCE FILES 
AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

AND A HOST OF FILTERS, BLEND MODES AND MASKS

S
tarting with a few photos, we can come up with a lively, textured circles as a final touch. After completing the tutorial, you may want to try it
piece of artwork by utilising Photoshop’s filters and tools. again with your own photos – just use the steps and filter values as a rough
Using a dandelion as a backdrop, we’ll introduce a model photo guide, and check out the alternate image we came up with for further ideas.
and go bonkers with filters. The Texture filters will enable us to Experiment with other effects and filters. Your only obligation is to stick with
introduce roughness and depth without the need for texture photos. We’ll use the ‘two photo’ restriction.
blend modes and layer masks to mix each filtered reinvention of the original Any users of Photoshop versions lacking Smart Objects are able to simply
photos with the evolving composite. apply filters directly to layers instead. In addition to this, Vibrance can be
You will see the incredible value of merging layers together as a flattened replaced with Hue/Saturation, if needed. With Photoshop’s tools as faithful
stamp, in order to apply overall sharpening and to fill in some decorative allies, though, you are bound to surprise yourself with what you can achieve.

INJECT SOME FUN INTO YOUR PORTRAITS

MAKE THE MOST OF FILTERS, BLEND MODES AND MASKS

01 DANDELION DROP
Open the supplied ‘Dandelion.jpg’. To vary
our colours, let’s punch out a transparent hole.
02 MOSAIC TILES FILTER
File>Place the supplied ‘Model.jpg’. Go to
Filter>Texture>Mosaic Tiles. Set Tile Size: 52,
03 FACIAL RESTORATION
Duplicate the Model layer via Cmd/Ctrl+J.
Drag the layer’s Smart Filter to the Trash. Fill the
Add a layer mask via the Layers palette icon. Use Grout Width: 7 and Lighten Grout: 7. Add a layer mask with black to hide everything, switch your
a soft, round brush at 80% Opacity to paint out mask, paint a little black in the bottom right and Foreground to white, then paint to reveal the
over to the right. set to Vivid Light. unaltered face.

04 EERIE COLOURS
In the Layers palette, hit the Create New Fill/
Adjustment Layer button and choose Solid Color.
05 LIGHTEN UP
Add a Levels adjustment layer using the
same button in the Layers palette. Drag the Midtone 06 RESTORE LIGHTER COLOUR
Opt/Alt-click and drag the Model layer
Input #c4ac81, set the blend mode to Difference and and Highlight sliders to the left to brighten the image. above the Levels adjustment layer. Now Ctrl/
drop the Opacity to 90%. It’s an interesting effect, but Notice we still need to restore the skin tone and right-click on its mask and choose Delete Layer
the image is now a tad dismal. We’ll correct it. lighten colours from the original photo. Mask. Set the blend mode to Lighter Color.

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07 A BIT OF COOL
Duplicate the layer again with Cmd/Ctrl+J.
08 STAINED GLASS FILTER
Duplicate the layer once more then set its
blend mode to Color Burn and Opacity to 80%. Go to 09 EVEN MORE BURN
Duplicate the layer, bump the Opacity
Set the blend mode to Hue to add some cool Filter>Texture>Stained Glass. Set Cell Size: 19, back up to 100% and then fill the mask with black.
colouring. Add a layer mask, switch the Border Thickness: 4 and Light Intensity: 3. Click OK After that, set your Foreground colour to white
Foreground colour to black, then paint out areas and paint black onto a new mask at the top, reducing and then lightly paint some of the central area
surrounding the model. the impact in areas. back into the image.

10 MERGE LAYERS
Press Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift+E in order to
12 LOOKING SHARP!
create a merged copy, then Ctrl/right-click and
choose Convert to Smart Object. Next, go to Filter>
Texture>Stained Glass. Set Cell Size: 19, Border
11 DUPLICATE AND BLEND
Duplicate the layer and drag the Smart Filter
to the Trash. Set the blend mode to Multiply and
Merge your layers again and convert to a
Smart Object. Now apply Filter>Sharpen>
Unsharp Mask. Set the Amount to 80% and the
Thickness: 4 and Light Intensity: 3, and then set it to layer Opacity to 50%. Now paint with black onto the Radius to 5.5px. Click OK and, with a black brush,
Hard Light. mask to reduce some of the darkened areas. paint over any areas that you don’t want sharpened.

13 ADD AN ILLUSTRATIVE TOUCH

Merge your layers and convert to a Smart
Object again. This time, head over to Filter>Stylize> 14 VIBRANCE CONTROL
Pick Vibrance from the Adjustment layer list 15 CIRCLING SHAPES
Merge and convert to a Smart Object, then
Find Edges. Now add a layer mask, fill it with black, in the Layers palette. Drop Vibrance to -50. Paint tick the eye icon to hide the layer. On a new layer, use
then paint over some of the areas with white at black in the mask to restore some colour. Add the Ellipse tool (set to Shape in the Options bar) to
80-100% Opacity in order to add some illustrative another Vibrance adjustment, this time with Vibrance: create a circle, holding Shift as you drag. Add a slight
flair to your growing mosaic artwork. 30 and Saturation: 20, then tweak with the mask. Drop Shadow via Layer>Layer Style.

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16 ZOOM EFFECT
Turn the visibility back on for the merged
layer. Opt/Alt-click between the circle and 17 THREE’S COMPANY
Now create two more circles of differing 18 LEVELS TO FINISH
We’ll finalise with a Levels adjustment. Use
merged layers to clip them. Use Free Transform sizes. Apply Drop Shadows. Duplicate the merged the sliders to fine-tune contrast, then paint black on
(Cmd/Ctrl+T) in order to scale and position the layer twice, then position and clip with the other two the adjustment’s mask over areas that don’t benefit
merged layer. Enlarge and zoom in on an circles. Free Transform the merged layers to scale from the adjustment. You can even add another
interesting area of the effect. and rotate, or even try warping them. Levels adjustment for extra tonal control.

QUICK TIP
VARY SHAPES AND COLOUR SETTINGS FOR A MORE SUBTLE RESULT

This tutorial is just one

of many possibilities.
Every step can be Experiment
modified, replaced or By means of trial and error, you can
edit the settings at the Mosaic Tiles
discarded – it’s all up to stage to achieve a lighter outcome
you! Here we have
used the same model
and tried a lighter
approach. The Mosaic
Tiles and Stained Glass
filters were used, but
with different settings.
As a counterpoint to
the inverted triangle
(formed by the model’s
arms), we have created
some upward-pointing
triangles, with a few
of them facing down
for variation.
Go ahead and use
the same photograph
(or your own) to create
Retro shapes
a new outcome. Use Vary the shapes for a different effect
and copy/paste your main image for a
the Texture filters or try ‘magnifying glass’ result
some from other
categories, such as
Artistic and Stylize.
Keep it themed
When it is time to blend Replicate shapes to continue the
theme throughout and use
layers, cycle through similarly-toned colours to
highlight them
the various blend
modes (Shift and +/-)
until you get the
right mix.

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Photo editing

Create a panorama
Our first steps are to use
Photomerge to seamlessly stitch
images into a panorama. The
result is then cropped and tidied
up before any visual effects are
then added

Original New skyline

The original sky isn’t
dramatic enough, so we
bring in a new one and
blend it into the scene
using layer masks

SOURCE FILES 
AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

PHOTOSHOP
MAKE STUNNING
PANORAMAS
TURN SOSO CITY SCENES INTO ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENTS
USING FILTERS, ADJUSTMENT LAYERS AND SOME NIFTY TRICKS

P
anoramic images are dramatic in their own together, we neaten it up by filling in any holes left by the
right. However, sometimes they are crying out Photomerge process.
for a bit more atmosphere. Here we will show When the groundwork is done, effects can be added.
how you can get creative with panoramas. We are going to replace the sky using layer masks. We
First, we will look at creating a panoramic using are then going to darken the rest of the image so it all fits
Photomerge. We have provided you with the start images, in. From here, we can paint in a little light to shine through
but you can skip this step as we have also supplied the the dark. We finish with a little weather – some mist and
ready-made panorama. Once the image is stitched rain to set it all off.

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 Panoramas

Rain and mist

As a final step we
add some rain
using filters, and
mist using a soft
brush in order to
help bring the
image together

Remove unwanted objects

Our original image has a
lamppost running right down the
middle, so we use the Content
Aware Fill and Clone Stamp
options to remove it

Moody effects and toning

We darken the image before
adding a blue tint to go from day
to night, before bringing some
light back into the streetlamps

STRETCH YOUR SHOTS

TAKE YOUR LANDSCAPE IMAGES AND MAKE THEM MORE ATMOSPHERIC

01 CREATE THE PANORAMIC

Collect the images for the panoramic. Go to
03 THE ELEMENTS METHOD
File>Automate>Photomerge (in Elements it’s
Enhance>Photomerge>Photomerge Panorama).
Then you just need to hit Browse under Source
02 TIDY THE PANORAMIC
Photoshop will create a panorama. Grab the
Crop tool to remove the blank areas at the edges. For
In Elements, once Photomerge has finished,
you will be asked if you want to automatically fill in
the blank areas. This does the same job as Content
Files, choose the panoramic images, select Auto the remaining blank areas, select with the Magic Aware in Photoshop. Select Yes and then crop out
and then OK. Wand tool, then use Edit>Fill>Content Aware. the required composition.

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QUICK TIP
TAKE YOUR OWN IMAGES

If you want to try this on your

own photos, you will need a
tripod or level surface. Set your
camera up at one edge of your
scene and take the first photo.
Move it along a bit, overlapping
with the first photo’s edge, and
take the next. Continue until
you have a minimum of three
images (but more is better)
taking in the whole of the
scene that you want to capture.
The overlap is very important,
as this will help Photoshop
figure out how the images
should be stitched together. 04 TIDY UP THE IMAGE
To remove unwanted objects, duplicate the Background
layer. Select the whole of the lamppost using your favourite
05 REFINE THE REMOVAL
Content Aware Fill does a decent job (also see
the Remove Objects in Elements boxout). Select the
selection tool. We used the Pen tool, but you can get pretty good Clone Stamp and zoom in. Use Opt/Alt-click to select a
results with the Magic Wand. Next go to Edit>Fill>Content Aware. source area and clone away imperfections.

06 AND REPEAT…
It takes quite a bit of time to achieve a good
result. Once the lamppost is removed, do the same
07 SELECT THE SKY
Duplicate the Background copy layer and
use the Magic Wand tool to select as much of the
08 BRING IN A NEW SKY
Open the sky image. Copy and paste it into
the panorama and place it underneath the layer with
on any other unwanted object. We are getting rid of sky as possible. Adapt the Tolerance value to suit. Go the mask. Align to the right. Paste the sky in a
the A-board in the bottom-left corner and one of the to Select>Inverse and hit the Add Layer Mask button second time, but rotate it 180 degrees and place it on
uglier buildings. at the bottom of the Layers palette. the left-hand side to fill the whole sky.

09 BLEND THE SKY

Add a layer mask to the top sky layer, then
select a 50% Opacity brush with black paint. Carefully
10 MORE SKY WORK
Set the black brush back to 100% Opacity.
Zoom right into the sky line, and then paint on the
11 ADD SOME ATMOSPHERE
The rest of the image is too bright now. Hold
down Cmd/Ctrl and then simply click on the layer
paint over the join of the two sky layers to blend mask where the original sky shows through to help mask on the top Background layer to create a
them together. Now, go back to the top Background blend in the new sky perfectly. This will take a bit of selection of everything bar the sky. Add a Levels
layer and select the layer mask there. time to get right. adjustment layer.

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12 CONTROL THE LEVELS

Take the left-hand Levels control and pull it to the right to darken the
shadows in the image. Do the same with the middle control to darken the midtones.
13 TONE THE IMAGE
Give the image a slight blue tone to make it more dramatic. Add a
Hue/Saturation adjustment layer at the top of the layers. Tick Colorize and
You can go for any value you like; ours is 74, 0.76, 255 for the values from left to right. make Hue: 201 and Saturation: 37. Change the Opacity of the layer to 55%.

14 TURN ON THE LIGHTS

Add a new blank layer, setting its blending mode to Screen and Opacity to 80%.
Select a small, soft-edged brush and choose an orange/yellow shade. Zoom in on the
15 DODGE THE LIGHT
Create a merged layer at the top of the stack (Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/
Alt+Shift+E). Select the Dodge tool, set to Highlights and 50% Exposure.
lamppost to the right of the church, and carefully paint into the glass. Paint over your streetlights and areas that would be hit by the light.

QUICK TIP
REMOVE OBJECTS IN ELEMENTS

Photoshop Elements does have some Content

Aware features, but it doesn’t yet have the option
to fill an area with the technology at your request.
Therefore, when it comes to removing objects
from the panoramic, you will need to try other
methods. The most accurate is to simply use the
Clone Stamp tool very methodically. However,
you can get a good start with the Healing Brush
tool which fills the area using information from a

16 LET IT RAIN
Add a new layer and fill with black. Go to
Filter>Noise>Add Noise, tick Monochromatic and
17 FINAL MIST
Set the Rain layer to Screen and lower the
opacity. Create one last blank layer and select a large
source point. It’s not perfect, especially on bigger
objects, but used in conjunction with the Clone
Stamp tool, you can get decent results.
add a lot of noise (250). Use Levels to emphasise soft brush filled with white set to 20% Opacity. Paint
tone, then apply Filter>Blur>Motion Blur to get the in some mist along the bottom of the image and
rain effect, changing the Angle to around -50%. change the layer blending mode to Overlay.

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CREATE MATTE PHOTOSHOP

ARTWORK
CREATE REALISTIC DIGITAL MATTE ARTWORK USING SOURCE FILES 
PHOTOGRAPHIC REFERENCES AND DIGITAL PAINTING WWW.SXC.HU
WWW.CGTEXTURES.COM

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 Matte artwork

D
igital matte painting is achieved by combining them with digital painting techniques to get the most out
digital painting with photography to achieve every piece. Achieving photorealism does not happen
photorealism. Today, this process is widely used overnight, so use this information as a starting point to build
within the film industry to create fantasy settings or upon. Once a firm grasp has been made, there are little to no
landscapes which would otherwise be impossible to shoot. In limits as to what can be done with these techniques.
this tutorial, you will learn how to edit, manipulate and paint This tutorial will require some prior knowledge of layer
over photographic imagery and tailor them to a specific need masks and how to apply them via selection, quick masks and
in order to create your own fantasy matte painting. painting and erasing. Other knowledge includes colour
Once this has been completed, you will have a better grading and correcting, clipping masks, basic brush and
understanding of how to use and manipulate photographs to toolbar settings, Transform tools, and some usage of the
your advantage in several different ways, and how to combine Clone Stamp tool.

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Photo editing

REALISTIC EDITING TECHNIQUES

DISCOVER HOW TO CREATE MATTE ARTWORK THAT LOOKS BELIEVABLE

01 SETTING UP
The first thing that needs to be done is to create a new document and place the
photographic plate. Go to File>New and set the image size to 3000 x 1136px. Download
image ID 1252246 from www.sxc.hu and place it into the scene. Use the Transform tools
to adjust and tilt the layer. Name the layer ‘Plate’.

02 THE PLATE
Now to paint over parts of the layer that aren’t needed. Select a
soft round brush and with a dark green colour (not too saturated), paint
over the water portion of the plate. Create a new layer and place it
under the Plate layer. Use the Eyedropper tool to select a dark blue
colour from the sky and using the Brush tool, paint in a small portion of
the sky. Merge this layer with the Plate layer.

The goal is to create realism, but going

too far or too short will break that.
Giving an even balance to everything is
absolutely essential

03 REPLACING THE SKY

Now it’s time to import the new sky. Since the old one is dull
and doesn’t tailor to the scene’s needs, it needs to be replaced with one
that is able to fill the void. Go to www.cgtextures.com and download
image ID 35830, then place it into the scene as seen in the example
image. Depending on its size, it might need to be scaled down. Use the
Transformation tools (Ctrl/Cmd+T) to adjust the scaling and tilt.

QUICK TIP
LET YOUR PHOTOS DO THE WORK
04 PLACING EXTRA CLOUDS
Download the additional cloud image from www.sxc.hu/profile/ukunurk (the
large cloud is in the centre, while the smaller one is on the left). Extract and paste them into
It’s tempting to paint as much as you can, but unless you’re working
in a high resolution, the best way to obtain photorealism is to let the the scene file. Scale and place them as shown in the image. Select the Brush tool and a
photographs do most of the work. As your painting skills increase, nice cloudy brush, then paint dark and light tones on the larger cloud to create a more
so too will your knowledge of how to use those references. dramatic effect. The entire cloud does not need to be painted, so only paint as much as is
necessary, as shown above.

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 Matte artwork

05 BUILDING THE BASE

Now start building up the base where the main mountain will be. Take the Brush tool and a good
tree-shaped brush (with some Scatter) and paint a mountain similar to the example image. Colour doesn’t
06 TEXTURING THE MOUNTAIN
Search for images 1273649 and 1252247 on
sxc.hu. Extract and paste them into the scene. Using
matter, as you’ll be overlaying it with texture later. At this point it’s a good idea to map out how the light will hit the Transformation tools, set them into place as you
the mountain, which will be useful when texturing later on. Paint lighter tones to simulate where light will be. see in the example. Use the Clone Stamp tool and
begin cloning parts of the textures to cover the
painted areas. Make certain that there are no
repeating patterns. Clone parts of the tree texture
over to the front of the mountain to make it match
the example. If necessary, paint extra detail into the
rock to make it look more rigid.

07 LIGHTING THE MOUNTAIN

Grab the Brush tool and select a tree-shaped brush or something equivalent. Change the colour to a
light yellow (not too saturated) and begin painting in the highlights on the mountain. Pay attention to where
the sun is coming from in the base plate: right to left. If needed, lower the opacity and fill of the brush. This will
lower the density of the brush stroke to allow a slower build up and make painting more forgiving and natural.

09 ADDING WATERFALLS
Download image 1337592 from sxc.hu and
paste it into the scene. Use the Transformation tools
to adjust and tilt the image appropriately. Use a layer
mask to hide the top, bottom and side areas. With

08 BUILDING THE BACKGROUND

There are several different ways to create the mountain shapes. One is to create a selection and fill it
with a colour, and another is to use the Brush tool and paint it. Use whatever is most comfortable. The goal is
the Brush tool and a dark cool blue, paint a shadow
on the top half of the waterfall, just above the rocks.
This will act as the cast shadow from the castle. On
to create realism, but going too far or too short will break that. Giving an even balance to everything is the lower half, paint in the remaining highlights and
essential. Download image ID 78057 from www.cgtextures.com and paste it into the scene. Clip it to the shadows. Remember what direction the sunlight is
base layer and position and scale it as needed. Create a new layer, clip it and paint highlights and shadows coming from. The other waterfalls were painted with
onto the mountains. a chalk brush.

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11 ADDING TEXTURE
Go to CGTextures and search for image ID 82231. Click on the
image and choose any of the ones that appear. Then repeat for ID 82144

10 CREATING FOREGROUND MOUNTAINS

Much like in the background, you can create the foreground mountains by making
a selection and filling that with a colour, painting, or any other method. The main idea
and choose the image on the far right. Extract and paste them into the
scene. Place them above the FG mtn base layer you just created and
clip them to the layer. The textures will now only appear where the base
behind these mountains is to lead the viewer’s eye up towards the castle (main focal point). layer is. Position the textures into place and use the Transformation
By pointing them upwards, it would create an implied line that leads to this focal point. tools if needed. Unclip the layers from the base if there is difficulty
Once the mountain bases are created, they will be used as a clipping mask for the textures. positioning them, and then re-clip them. The goal here is get as much
Name this layer ‘FG mtn base’. balance between rock and grass as possible.

Paint along the

edge where the Use multiple dark Colour pick from the The edges should
light meets the colours to paint texture and adjust it not be too bright or
shadow to create a extra cracks in the to a lighter tone for the mountain will
crisp line mountain rock the highlights appear flat

QUICK TIP
USE LAYER MASKS

Layer masks are a great way

to edit non-destructively. They
can hide and show parts of a
layer at any time due to the
contents of the layer itself

12 PAINTING AND LIGHTING

Use the Eyedropper to grab a selection of grass and stone colours from the texture and store them in the Swatches tab.
Get your brush and use these colours to paint extra grass and rock to create added detail. Once done, create a new layer and clip
never being erased, but only
hidden. If needed, they can
always be merged with the
it to the base layer. Get a light yellow-orange colour (not too saturated) and paint highlights onto the front side of the mountains. layer to lower the file size.
Paint shadows using a dark blue colour on the other side so that they don’t appear flat.

13 PLACING THE TREES

Download the trees 35864 from CGTextures
and 841073 from www.sxc.hu. Extract and paste 14 CREATING THE CASTLE
The 3D model of the castle was created in 15 IMPORTING THE CASTLE
Once the castle has been created either by 3D
them into the scene. Go to Layer>Matting>Defringe, Autodesk Maya. It was box-modelled from a cylinder modelling or piecing together photographic
set it to 2px and hit OK. Use the Transformation tools and primarily extruded and bevelled to give the references, paste it into the scene and make it a
to scale and position them according to the example desired look and feel. Other objects were created group if it contains multiple layers. Adjust its position
image. Create two new layers, set them to Overlay from spheres and spline elements. Texturing and tilt using the Transform tools. Create a layer
and clip each to their respective tree layer. Grab the consisted of Substance materials within Maya and mask for the castle layer. Select the Brush tool and
Brush tool and with a light yellow-orange colour, rendered with V-Ray. Before rendering, the main with the colour black, paint near the bottom of the
lightly paint in highlights on the trees. With a dark castle was duplicated, scaled, rotated and reordered castle to hide this part. Be sure to paint on the layer
cool blue, paint shadows on a separate layer (set to several times to create a denser look for the final mask and not the layer itself. Use tree-shaped
Normal blending mode). matte painting. brushes if possible for added detail.

186 The Digital Art Book

 Matte artwork

17 CONSTRUCTING THE ARCH

Use the Elliptical Shape tool to draw a circle. 18 ADDING THE TEXTURE
Download http://farm3.staticflickr.com/228
2/2179154776_65a486debe_o.jpg, clip it to the
Copy it, make the duplicate smaller and place it in
the centre of the larger circle. Cmd/Ctrl-click on the arch base layer and set it to Overlay. Set Opacity at
smaller circle to make a selection and delete it from 70%. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+T to activate the Transform tools.
the larger circle. Delete the small circle and the lower Ctrl/right-click and select Warp. Now adjust the
texture to the shape of the arch. Hit Enter to apply

16 LIGHTING THE CASTLE half of the original. Duplicate it, scale it down and
place it under the arch. Set its Opacity at 70%. Group the warp. With the texture adjusted, feel free to erase
Even though the castle itself has been
these together and position them in between the the remainder of it that is not being used. If needed,
previously lit, it could still benefit from some
background mountains. desaturate the texture by hitting Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+U.
dramatic lighting and increased intensity. With the
Brush tool, a soft round brush and a dark cool blue,
lightly paint a shadow at the top of the castle. This
will decrease the focus brought to this area and
19 LIGHTING AND EXTRAS
Create a new layer above the arch group and
clip it to it. Select a soft round brush at about
increase the focal point. Next, pick a light yellow- 200-400px and change its colour to a light yellow
orange (not too saturated). Create a new layer and (not too saturated). Lightly paint a highlight near the
set it to Overlay/Soft Light. Now lightly paint in middle of the arch to simulate the sun lighting it. The
stronger highlights on the castle to simulate harsh triangle was achieved by painting with a hard brush.
sunlight. If needed, paint additional shadows on the Inner Shadow, Drop Shadow and Inner Glow were
other sides. used as layer styles to create the outer bevels.

The main castle was duplicated, scaled, rotated and

reordered several times to create a denser look

20 FINISHING DETAIL
Like the Arch, use the Elliptical Shape tool and draw out a circle. This will be the
21 COLOUR GRADING
Go to ‘Photo Filter’, change the colour to a greenish cyan and
set the Density at 32%. Create a new Color Balance and change the
rainbow. Copy it, make the duplicate smaller and place it in the centre of the larger circle. following; Shadows: Magenta/Green +1, Yellow/Blue +4, Midtones:
Cmd/Ctrl-click on the smaller circle to make a selection and delete this portion from the Cyan/Red +16, Highlights: Cyan/Red +1, Yellow/Blue -16. Create a
larger circle. Now apply a Rainbow Gradient Layer Style to the larger circle and Gaussian Gradient Map and set the left side to black and the right to white. Now
Blur it 10-40px. For the low-lying clouds, select the Brush tool and get a soft cloud-shaped change its layer Opacity to 40%. This is a good base to work from, so
brush. Using real clouds as a reference, paint them along the bottoms of the mountains. feel free to make changes and experiment.

The Digital Art Book 187

Photo editing

188 The Digital Art Book

 Surreal composites

USE BRUSHES SOURCE FILES 

AVAILABLE ON THE FREE DISC

FOR SURREAL PHOTOSHOP

COMPOSITES
LEARN HOW TO USE SIMPLE TECHNIQUES TO CREATE A
COMPLEX COMPOSITION, COMBINING IMAGES AND BRUSHES

I
n this tutorial we’ll demonstrate how to use a variety of images flourish, we will pay a visit to the layer styles. We created this in
and brushes to create a stunning composition. We’ll start with the Photoshop Elements, but if you happen to be using Photoshop CC you
basics, creating a gradient background and then we’ll enhance the have more professional features to go even further. When creating the
images using the lighting and colour adjustments. Another great water drops, for example, add an Inner Shadow and also modify the
technique used in this tutorial is adding shadows and highlights with contours, trying different settings to create a more realistic effect. One
the Dodge and Burn tools. We’ll also be calling upon custom brushes to of the secrets of a great composition is to use good quality images. You
apply over the image to add a dramatic effect. To supply the final will find all the images and brushes to work with in the supplied files.

TAKE YOUR COMPOSITION OUT OF THE REAL WORLD

USE STRAIGHTFORWARD TECHNIQUES TO MAKE A PHOTOMANIPULATION

We created this surreal

composite using
Photoshop Elements, which just
goes to show what can be
produced if you use simple
techniques wisely. If you happen
01 SET UP THE FILE
Go to File>New>Blank File or hit Cmd/ 02 MAKE A GRADIENT BACKGROUND
Grab the Gradient tool (G) and click Edit to to be using Photoshop CC you
Ctrll+N. Name it Storm in a Tea Cup, setting the
Width to 230mm and Height to 300mm. Set the
open the Gradient Editor. Create a new gradient
using the colours #000000 and #5a5a5a, set it to
have even more professional
Resolution to 300 then click OK. Linear and then click OK. features to go further

03 PLACE THE IMAGE

Go to File>Place, find the ‘Teacup.jpeg’ file
05 RELOCATE THE IMAGE
and hit Place. Grab the Quick Selection tool (A) and,
using a hard brush, select the background.
Right-click on the Smart Object thumbnail and
04 REFINE YOUR SELECTION
Go to Select>Refine Edge, check Smart
Radius, change Radius to 0.2px, Smooth to 35,
Hit Cmd/Ctrll+T to open the Free Transform
tool. Drag the image down to the bottom of the
canvas, and check the Constrain Proportions box,
choose Simplify Layer (CC users choose Rasterize Feather to 1px, Contrast to 0%, Shift Edge to -25%, set the Width to 150% and then rotate the image
Layer), and then press backspace. and Decontaminate Colors to 50%. Click OK. around 2 degrees.

The Digital Art Book 189

Photo editing

06 SAVE THE SELECTION

Grab the Elliptical Marque tool (M), set
07 INSERT IMAGE
Head to File>Place and select ‘Waves.jpeg’.
Right-click the Smart Object thumbnail and choose
08 CUT TO FIT
Press Cmd/Ctrll+D to deselect the image.
Grab the Move tool (V) and drag the waves image
Feather to 0 pixels, and select the top part of the cup. Simplify Layer (CC users choose Rasterize). Go to down to create the idea of depth. Go to Select>Load
Go to Select>Transform Selection and use the Select>Load Selection, on Source dropdown menu Selection and choose the Ocean selection again,
handles to adjust. Go to Select>Save Selection, name choose Ocean, check the Invert box and click OK. Hit check the Invert box, click OK and press the
it Ocean, choose New Selection, and click OK. backspace on your keyboard. backspace key on your keyboard.

09 CREATE THE WAVES

Right-click on the Waves layer and then
choose Duplicate Layer. Grab the Smudge tool (R)
10 ADD BRUSHES
Now let’s load some brushes. Go to
Edit>Preset Manager (CC users go to Edit>
11 ENHANCE THE WAVES
Create a new layer. Grab the Brush tool (B)
and open the Brush Preset Picker. Choose the Splash
set the Size to 125 pixels and the Strength to 50%. Preset>Preset Manager), click Append, and locate brushes, resize and paint some splashes over the
Drag the Smudge tool around the edges to create ‘Teacup storm.abr’ from the supplied files. Click Load image. Use the Brush Settings to change the angle
some waves. and then Done. and the Eraser tool (E) to rub out the image.

12 PLACE THE BOAT

Head to File>Place and add ‘boat.jpeg’.
Right-click on the Smart Object thumbnail and
choose Simplify (CC users choose Rasterize). Check
the Constrain Proportions box and resize the image
13 ERASER TOOL
Grab the Move tool (V) and drag the boat to
the centre. Now grab the Eraser tool (E), choose a
14 DODGE TOOL
Now grab the Dodge tool (O), set the Range
to Highlights, the size to 200 pixels and Exposure to
around 25%. Grab the Quick Selection tool (A), select soft brush and a small size, and rub out the ocean 20%. Paint over the boat image, overexposing a little
and delete the sky. part of the image. at the top of the main mast.

190 The Digital Art Book

 Surreal composites

15 ADD CLOUDS
Go to File>Place and pick ‘Clouds.jpeg’.
Right-click on the Smart Object thumbnail and
16 ADJUST LIGHTING
Click Cmd/Ctrll+T to open the Free
Transform tool. Rotate the image to -10 Degrees.
17 DODGE AND BURN
Change the blending mode of the Clouds
layer to Lighten. Grab the Burn tool (O), set the
choose Simplify Layer (CC users choose Rasterize). Now click Cmd/Ctrll+U to open Hue/Saturation, set Range to Highlights, Size: 500, Exposure: 40%, and
Grab the Polygonal Lasso tool (L), set the Feather to the Saturation to -100. Hit Cmd/Ctrll+L to open the paint over to underexpose around the cloud. Select
10px, and select around the cloud. Go to Levels, and set the Input Levels to 78, 1.00, and 255, the Dodge tool and, using a smaller brush, paint to
Select>Inverse and press backspace. click OK. overexpose some areas.

18 BRING THE STORM

Create a new layer name and name it
19 LAYER STYLE
Let’s add a glow effect on the lightning layer.
Go to Layer>Layer Style>Style Settings. Click on
20 RAINSTORM
Create a new layer, name it Rain. Grab the
Brush tool (B), open the Brush Preset Picker and
Lightning. Now select the Brush tool (B) and open Glow and check the Outer box, set the Size to 24px, choose the rain brush to paint over the image. Press
the Brush Preset Picker. Choose any of the Lightning click on the Color box, pick a light blue colour, set the Cmd/Ctrll+T to rotate and resize the image and use
brushes, resize and paint over the cloud image. Opacity to 75%, and click OK. the Eraser tool (E) to rub out the borders.

QUICK TIP
APPLY THE LAYER STYLES TO CREATE REALISTIC WATER DROPS ON THE IMAGE

Use the Layer Styles window to

create a variety of effects. Create a Layer style settings Layer structure
Within Layer>Layer Style> As always, the order in
new layer and name it Water Drops. Style Settings you can edit which your layers are
specifics for effects such stacked is of the
Go to Layer>Layer Style>Style as droplets upmost importance!

Settings. Set the Lighting Angle to

45º Check Drop Shadow, set the
Size: 3px, Distance: 1px and Opacity:
60%. Now check the Bevel, set the
Size: 15px, Direction: Up, and then
21 ADD SHADOWS
Create a new layer, name it Shadow and
place over the Background layer. Grab the Elliptical
click OK. Change the blend mode to
Multiply and the Opacity to 60%. Grab
the Brush tool, pick a bush with a Brush in the water
Marquee tool (M), set Feather to 25px and create a Once the right settings are
hardness of around 50% and start added water droplets are
selection that is almost the same size as the teacup simply painted on with the
painting the water drops around the Brush tool
plate. Fill with black colour, and change the layer
border and over the teacup plate.
opacity to 60%.

The Digital Art Book 191

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 Digital Art
DIGITAL PAINTING MIXED MEDIA
Learn to paint digitally from photographs or Combine traditional art with
from scratch digital techniques

CHARACTER 3D ART
Create character concepts and then bring Make your artwork
them to life truly stand out

TYPOGRAPHY PHOTO EDITING

Use text effects in personal and professional Turn your images into more creative pieces of
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VOLUME 1

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