PRO SECRETS
LIMITING YOUR
COLOUR PALETTE
If you’ve started a
drawing and find
yourself uncertain
how to proceed,
building your values
up in greyscale then
applying limited
colour using either
an Overlay layer or
Gradient Map
adjustment layer can
help to find a mood
and focus for your
piece. Experimenting
with complementary
warm and cool tones
can be helpful, too.9
WARMTH IN THE COOL AREAS
I need to bring some warmth and glow to the sculpture in the background.
Using a gradient map adjustment layer and careful layer masking, I begin painting out
the glow from the flames on the affected stones behind Tintin. I go in over the top of
a Normal layer to add some specular highlights to the sculpture.13
ADDING THE TITLE CARD
Customising and incorporating the title design
into the image is one of the perks of the job I’ve luxuriated
in most with my covers. It’s a nice way to cleanly and
cohesively wrap everything up. Since my execution is such
a departure from Hergé’s original creation, I decide that a
simple traditional title treatment in Illustrator will be best.8
BRINGING IN ANALOG ELEMENTS
Usually by this stage of the process I start to worry
about that dreaded static feeling coming in. So I begin
reintroducing textures over the top of different layers to
vary the look or enhance the inherent grit of the paper. In
this case, I place two textures from a grunge set with
reduced Opacity over the top of the sculpture layers.
12
BRINGING HARMONY BACK
At this final stage, I look for any adjustments that
bring balance and flow back to the composition as a whole.
I decide that the foreground elements need to be further
separated, so I go back into the midtones and I repaint the
shadows of the layers to bring the cooler eggplant tones
in. I then apply a texture Overlay layer with a low Opacity.
10
ATTEMPTING TO SPARK AN IDEA
Dissatisfied with how plain the colour palette has
turned out, I try introducing more destructive adjustments
to the image, trying to spark an idea or any kind of change,
using Selective Color, Channel Mixer, Curves and so on. It
does away with much of the work I’ve already done, but I
find that Gradient Map offers the change I’m looking for.
11
LIGHTING A FIRE
Once I’ve finessed the colour choices from the
original Gradient Map – the main goal being to find a
complementary palette that unifies the image and keeps
the warmth intact, using the flat selections in the layer mask- I begin dividing up the composition. This way I can reduce
the effect of the Gradient Map on elements, such as the fire.
SHORTCUTS
Stepping back
Cmd+0 (Mac)
Ctrl+0 (PC)
In Photoshop, it’s the
equivalent of stepping
back from the
easel.In depth | Tintin cover