2D Artist

2DARTISTMAG.COM2DARTIST MAGAZINE | Design a bicycle power generatorlayers, copy and paste in another part of myprevious painting and match the perspective, butthis time it is set to Darken with a Transparency of65%. You could change the look of such a Darkenlayer by either reducing the transparency or byadjusting the levels. Press Ctrl+L and play aroundwith the high tones, mid-tones, and shadows.11Flipping the canvas: After the previousstep, merge all visible layers into oneby pressing Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E. This keeps all theother layers and adds a merged layer on top. Flipthe layer to refresh your eyes and to see how thecomposition in this direction looks. I actuallylike it more this way. It has more dynamismand leads the eye a bit more comfortably.On top, add a photo filter from the adjustmentoptions at the bottom of the Layers paneland choose the Cooling Filter 82 option andUnderwater. This is a simple way to play aroundwith color moods and slight (or sometimesdramatic) changes of the color values.12Telling the story: The scene is mostlyset up so it is now a good point tostart to tell the story. This can be achievedthrough simple hints, personal elements, or,since we are talking sci-fi, UI elements.On a new layer paint in some really simple strokesthat give a hint of clothing lying on the floor.Like the bike, this also points in the direction ofthe shower. To communicate the functionalityof the power generator add UI elements to it,such as the Bike Locked indicator you can see inimage 12. I mentioned earlier that my idea wasnot to just focus on the generator and how it willwork. Instead I want to create a scene where thegenerator is part of the story and is shown in amore subtle way. This is another reason I onlyoffer hints of how and why it exists in the scene.13Big-screen user interface: UIs are areally great way to tell a story or givehints of a story. Sometimes you see an image andask yourself: What? Why? A small UI element in asci-fi scene tells you only a little bit of the story,but suddenly the whole scene can make sense.Simple things are often the most important ones.For the UI elements on the large screen in thebackground make a new document of 2,500 ×2,500 pixels (we will copy it back to the scene lateron). Don’t worry too much about how it looks aslong as it has the right information in it. However,the nicer it does look, the more attention it willreceive, and the faster the information will be``````transferred. I really enjoy working on graphicdesign (I was a graphic designer for twenty years),but keep in mind that you can easily becomelost in details. It is all about the story and not justthe UI element in the background. In this case,it is necessary to point the story towards thebike, the fully recharged energy generator, and``````“UIs are a really great wayto tell a story or give hintsof a story”``````Sometimes loose brushstrokes create interesting effects, shapes, or overlays leading to reallyinteresting results``````Flipping the canvas from time to time not only refreshes the eye, but it can also lead to a morepleasing composition``````Little elements can tell a story or give a hint of a story, which allows the viewer to maketheir own interpretation