2DARTIST MAGAZINE | ISSUE 13612105
The pose of the dragon: So you
have your dragon head and the rest of
the body is starting to appear, what next? You
should think about what the dragon is doing,
is he walking or attacking? I go for attacking!
Paint the wings spread out in a menacing
pose – they will lose their definition in the
background. Work with the Brush and Smudge
tools to give a mysterious atmospheric feeling.06
Emphasize the mood: The mood
of the painting is given through the
colors, lighting, and shapes. As this photo is
overcast we have more room to play with the
variables. Losing the shape of the dragon witha particular shape, just be impulsive and
painterly. You can play with the same brush
in Mixer Brush mode to soften the edges and
add more color mixing – this mode is great
for a more traditional look for your work.04
Happy accidents: A really great way
of finding new shapes is through
“happy accidents”; this can happen when
you are playing around with the brushstrokes
(or adding photo textures) and you see
something interesting, such as a person or a
creature. The first of the darker smokey strokes
revealed a creature’s head, so I continue to
work on it until a dragon shape appears.image on the canvas using the Transform
tool (Ctrl+T) to find a good composition.
Try not to distort it too much as you don’t
want it to become blurry or unfocused.
Following the basic rules of atmospheric
perspective, you want the background
to be brightest, the middle ground to be
warm, and the foreground to be dark.
03
Add the first strokes: Use the
Color Picker to select the color of the
smoke and on a new layer put down some
big brushstrokes with your favorite brush. You
don’t need to be too concerned with defining
Using the Smudge tool you can soften edges to integrate them into the background, giving a greater sense of atmosphere The definitive pose of the dragon after making some failed attempts. This one leaves more room for the imagination