A (98)

CREATING THE ILLUSION

GIVING YOUR ILLUSTRATION THE FEELING OF LIGHT

QUICK TIP

To quickly adjust a layer’s hue

and saturation, use the hotkey

Cmd/Ctrl+U. Learning

hotkeys can significantly

speed up your workflow.

There are many hotkeys in

Photoshop and lists for both

Windows and Mac can easily

be found online.

14

ADD A GRADIENT

Create a new layer above your line work layer. Using the Gradient tool, select

a dark colour that complements the colours in your illustration, but try to avoid black.

For this illustration, a dark red is selected. Use the Linear Gradient option and create a

gradient from one border in towards the centre of the canvas. The gradient should not

extend too far (here it’s only about one inch). Repeat on all four sides. In the Layers

window, set this layer to Multiply and drop the Opacity to 30%.

15

KEEP IT WARM

Above your colour layer, create a new layer, change the blending

mode to an Overlay layer and adjust Opacity as needed (for this piece it is

set to 20%). Grab a light yellow colour and fill the layer using the Paint

Bucket tool. Because this illustration is warm, it is important to keep all the

colours (even the cool ones) warm. This overlay keeps things hot and

maintains colour harmony. Don’t worry if it is looking too warm though; it

will be brought down to a cooler temperature later.

16

LINE EFFECTS

Select your line work

layer, navigate to Layer>Layer

Style>Outer Glow. In the Layer

Style window, change the blend

mode to Multiply with the Opacity

at 60-75%. Select a dark colour,

but again try to avoid black. This

layer style will give the illusion

that less light is hitting near the

line work and will help sell the

stained glass effect. Play around

with the Spread and Size until you

find something that works well

and does not make everything

feel overly dark.

DIGITAL PAINTING