3
Adjusting the hue and saturation in the piece
During this step I further define the final colours as well as the general colour interactions between areas and
planes. I believe the scene should be warmer to better emphasise fields and crops. In the Hue/Saturation dialog I move
the slider right, to +166, which brings out a bit of detailing on the rocket. These are basic blocking shapes and give the
impression of complex details, yet they comprise only a few brush strokes.2
Add colour to the black and white sketch
I now incrementally add colours to the image, using Lighten and
Color layers. The goal is to tint the underneath grey values, and
progressively stack subtle colour variants that originate from either a
personal image that I’ll copy on to the top layer, or obtained by simply
painting using textured brushes. The properties of the Lighten and
Color layers enables me to always keep the image bright and subtle,
rather than slipping into a murky morass. During this stage I also paint
the sky with a blue colour that’s similar to the rest of the image, which
increases cohesion and helps to bring the composition together. These
colours are often placeholders, but I need them in place to proof-test
the image, and make sure it’s worth continuing with.RESOURCES
PHOTOSHOPHere are some of the 10
custom brushes I created
for painting elements
such as the clouds, fields
of grass, and the rocks in
the foreground.CUSTOM BRUSHES:
SPARTH’S BRUSH SETColor layerLighten
layerBackground sketch layerWorkshops