2D Artist

2DARTIST MAGAZINE | ISSUE 129``````10304Use layer masks: Layer masks areincredibly useful as they enable quickediting of layers without destroying what isin the layer itself. Both mask and layer can beedited independently by simply clicking oneither one in the Layers panel. In this instancehowever we need to move the photo but notWith your thumbnails done you can pick theone which speaks to you the most. I choosethe one shown in image 01b to be the basethumbnail because the cliffs framing theimage have the most interest and potential.Resize the image to about 6000 × 2400pixels at 300 dpi; this should be an amplesize, especially if you decide to take thepainting to a finished illustration. I think thatif your machine can handle it, you shouldalways try to work big as it is much easier toshrink an image than to make it bigger!02Add the photos: To introduce morecolor you can use reference photoswhich can be found with a quick online searchor by taking your own. If you look at image02a there are two photos I have taken on asmartphone. These will be mostly painted overso the resolution isn’t important. If the intentionis to leave the photos intact then the sourcematerial would need to be of a high resolution.Paste the reference photos in a separatelayer on top of your base image. You mayneed to edit the images to fit your idea. Istretch the sunset photo and partially paintover it to edit out the street lights and othererroneous material (see image 02b).03Fit the photos in: After erasing someof the smaller cloud image so that it fitsin, turn off the photo layers and go back to thethumbnail image. Select the sky area that will bereplaced with the photo using the Magic Wandor Selection tool. This does not have to be tooneat at this stage as it will be painted over later.Once this selection is made, create a layer mask.This will mask out anything not in the selection.Partially paint over the sunset``````Use the digital masking tools to edit the photo layers``````The image once the photos have been added in``````the mask to make full use of that sunset. Clickthe link between the photo and mask in theLayers panel (image 04a). This unlinks themand allows us to move the photo slightlyto the right. If we had simply deleted whatwas not in the selection before, this wouldnot have been possible (image 04b).``````Masking tools allow flexibility in deciding on the best use for the photo layer