12
Adding effects to the creatures
I’ve left the f lying creatures for last. I swap the green
and purple ones around so that they stand out more from
the background. I smooth out the shading, and define the
faces and wings, then add some movement lines on a
separate layer, which I blur with Motion blur and set to
Screen. I use gradients to give them a magical glow.9
Bringing in details to the hair
I’m now ready to add more detail to the hair. I zoom in and start shading in
detail, using the ribbon principle when adding highlights (see reference image). I
also smooth out colour gradients. As the level of detail increases, I feel like it’s a
good idea to add more clumps of hair. This enhances the sense of movement the
hair gives, and bring some more detail to the image.10
Smoothing the edges
I now need to finalise the paintwork and details,
which can get pretty boring and time consuming. I find
that it’s helpful to focus on the edges, rather than all of
the details at once. I zoom in and define the edges of the
face, the hair, the clothing and so on. To add colour and a
playful feeling, I sometimes choose a bright colour rather
than dark lines for these edges.11
Painting loose strands
I select a smaller brush and paint strands over various parts of the hair, which
gives the hair a more realistic look and also adds movement. I usually pick a lighter
colour, such as a highlight, to make these strands stand out.64 August 2017
Workshops